Characters / The Emperor's New Groove

aka: The Emperors New School

Introduced in The Emperor's New Groove

Emperor Kuzco

^{Click here to see his llama form}

"BOOM, baby!"

Voiced in English by: David Spade, Nik Ranieri^note provided uncredited ADR work via Kuzco's sobbing in the opening scene of the first film, J. P. Manoux (The Emperor's New School, House of Mouse, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, video games), James Arnold Taylor (merchandise)

Voiced in European French by: Didier Gustin

Voiced in Japanese by: Tatsuya Fujiwara (first movie), Showtaro Morikubo (sequels and The Emperor's New School)

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Jesús Barrero (most appearances), José Gilberto Vilchis (Once Upon a Studio)

Voiced in European Spanish by: Ángel Garó (first movie), David Robles (sequels and The Emperor's New School)

Voiced in Swedish by: Figge Norling

Voiced in Hebrew by: Ido Mosseri

This is Kuzco. Emperor Kuzco. A guy whose groove and style is equaled to only by his ego and inversely proportional to his sense of empathy. Kuzco was born and raised to rule but treats his kingdom as a giant toy, demanding constant pampering, belittling his subjects, and callously punishing them for "throwing off his groove". He spends most of his time just admiring himself at the expense of pretty much everyone. Kuzco's flippant attitude finally bites him in the butt after his embittered ex-advisor Yzma tries to kill him, only to accidentally turn him into a llama and lose him, setting off the story of this jerk of an emperor trying to regain his throne, body, and maybe learn a few lessons in humility and friendship along the way.

To hear him describe himself as only he can, click here.

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• 0% Approval Rating: What he actually has; everyone in his empire hates him for being a selfish, narcissistic Spoiled Brat. When Yzma holds a funeral for Kuzco's presumed death, none of the attendees even pretend to be mournful, with Yzma and Kronk themselves remarking that nobody seems to care that Kuzco is gone and Yzma has taken his place. However, the people's low opinion of him isn't enough to satisfy Yzma, because she wants him dead no matter what.
• Aesop Amnesia: By the time of The Emperor's New School, Kuzco has completely forgotten the lesson he learned in the movie, that it's not all about him, and relearns the same lesson in the series at least Once an Episode. To be fair, it's shown in flashbacks during the film that Kuzco has been spoiled rotten since he was an infant; eighteen years of self-absorption and Jerkassery don't just go away overnight. With all said and done, however, while he is still incredibly self-absorbed, conceited, and narcissistic in The Emperor's New School, he is also more solidly a Jerk with a Heart of Gold rather than a completely unlikable Hate Sink like he was in the early movie. He is still best friends with Pacha and gets along great with his family, treats the peasants with more respect than he originally did, and his selfish antics tend to be more dorky than truly mean. Because of this, he at least kept some of his character development from the movie.
• Affably Evil: Pre-Heel–Face Turn, when talking to people Kuzco tends to be casual, generally friendly, and even warm at times - despite being callously self-absorbed and uncaring towards others. This makes a lot of sense: rather than the typical villain pretending to be polite, Kuzco legitimately believes that the world should revolve around him, so he can be as pleasant (if tactless) as he wants because people will get with the program no matter what. When people don't get with the program even the slightest bit, that's when he starts getting snide and showing how cruel he really is.
• Ambiguously Bi: While he's extremely attracted to Malina in The Emperor's New School TV series (which was probably Disney making sure Kuzco had a case of the not-gays), he's had plenty of moments that hint at something else: he's disgusted by the women presented to him as potential brides at the beginning of the movie (rejecting one bride because of her hair), and his relationship with Pacha has some odd overtones.
• Animorphism: Over the course of the movie, he gets turned into a llama, a tortoise, a bird, a whale, and then back into a llama before eventually regaining his humanity.
• Animal Motifs: A llama, an iconic and culturally important beast of burden to Andean civilizations. Transformation aside, his non-royal garb post-movie has a llama on it as well.
• Anti-Hero: He starts out as a Nominal Hero, but later on he becomes a better person and more of an actual hero.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Before his Heel–Face Turn, he was an extremely narcissistic Royal Brat who had absolutely no care or concern for all the peasants whom he ruled (and screwed) over.
• Asshole Victim: After being turned into a llama, kidnapped and then disappeared by Yzma and Kronk, nobody seems to really care about his absence at all. When Yzma holds a funeral for Kuzco's presumed death, none of the attendees even pretend to be mournful; and they accept Yzma's ascension to power without any fuss, before immediately getting back to work.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: When Yzma tries to make up an excuse for running the kingdom behind his back, he's more focused on studying her face. And a piece of food stuck in her teeth.
  Kuzco: [thinking] Whoa. Look at these wrinkles. What is holding this woman together? What the— how long has that been there?
• Beauty Is Bad: He's pretty handsome, and is a total asshole at the film's beginning.
• Becoming the Mask: Attempted by Kuzco upon reaching his Despair Event Horizon, when he decides he has no choice but spend the rest of his life as a llama. When he attempts to make friends, however, not even the llamas seem to accept him. Fortunately, he's found by Pacha, and manages to subvert this trope.
• Beg the Dog: Kuzco spends the first part of the movie trying to get back to his Treacherous Advisor Yzma, convinced that she'll help him out despite having fired her. Then he realizes that no, she was the one who turned him into a llama in the first place (in the process of trying to kill him). Complete with Ironic Echo to boot.
  Kuzco: Okay, I admit it. Maybe I wasn't as nice as I should have been. But Yzma, you really wanna kill me?!
  Yzma: Just think of it as...you're being let go. That your life's going in a different direction. That your body is part of a permanent outplacement.
  Kronk: Hey, that's kinda like what he said to you when you got fired.
  Yzma: I know. It's called a "cruel irony". Like my dependence on you.
• Berserk Button: Seriously. DON'T THROW OFF KUZCO'S GROOVE! He'll have you thrown out a window for it.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: Poor kid spends his eighteenth birthday miles away from home in the jungle, almost dies, has his worldview questioned for the first time in his life, has two people trying to kill him, and passes Despair Event Horizon-all while trapped in the body of a llama.
• Break the Haughty: Getting turned into a llama is just one step into Kuzco learning to be a better person.
• Breaking Old Trends: In terms of Disney Animated Canon protagonists. In the decade leading up to Emperor's New Groove, nearly every Disney protagonist originating from the Disney Renaissance, while distinct in their own foibles and desires, were archetypal heroes with genuine, friendly personalities and noble intentions. For much of his own movie, Kuzco is someone who would be a bit villain in films like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast: an immature, derisive, and delusional tyrant whose arrogance would be his downfall if not for a) someone like Pacha to give patient counsel and b) someone like Yzma who shatters all of the egotistical preconceptions he had about himself.
• The Caligula: Kuzco has an elderly man defenestrated for the crime of "throwing off the emperor's groove". Also, his plan to make Kuzcotopia involved wiping out the village that (according to Pacha) made most of the food that he himself lives on in the palace, just because it got the best sunshine.
• Casanova Wannabe: To Malina in the series.
• Celibate Hero: In the original movie, he verbally swats away an array of bride candidates that had been presented to him, and expresses no serious romantic interest throughout the film. Averted in the TV series, where from the beginning it's clear that he has his eyes on Malina.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "Boom, baby!"
  • "No touchy!"
• Character Development: He goes from being a self-absorbed, spoiled Jerkass at the beginning of the movie to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who subtly apologizes for his actions at the end. Likewise, in the TV series, he acts nicer in the three last episodes, to the point of defending Yzma of all people.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: He's 17 in the movie and it's stated that he's been ruling since he was a baby after his father supposedly disappeared at sea, although Yzma acted as his regent.
• Conveniently an Orphan: His parents and their absence are never addressed or even mentioned in the movie itself. One of the only clues we have is Yzma's claim that she "practically raised him" - which just provokes further questions. The TV show implies Yzma was the advisor of Kuzco's father, who died at sea in a crash she may have caused. Afterwards she was the infant Kuzco's regent. Which sort of explains why we first meet her doing Kuzco's job- it's probably what she did until he came of age.
• Deadpan Snarker: As part of his massive ego he snarks at everyone almost constantly. It eventually gets toned down a fair bit with his Character Development.
• Demoted to Extra: In the sequel, when Kronk takes the lead. Kuzco only makes sporadic appearances to stop the film and comment on what's going on, and makes a brief appearance in the climax to help out Kronk.
• Despair Event Horizon: After he and Pacha split, Kuzco attempts to talk to Yzma and Kronk. However, he immediately overhears Yzma wanting to kill him and Kronk bringing up how no one cares that Kuzco is gone. This completely shatters him for several reasons. First, he realizes that Pacha was telling the truth about Yzma and Kronk trying to kill him and accused him of obstructing him. Second, the parental figure who raised just admitted she wanted to kill him in revenge for firing her. Third, Kronk states that no one truly mourned Kuzco and don't care that he's gone. This makes Kuzco realize that he is not the Emperor he thought he was and how truly cruel and heartless he had been before.
• Didn't Think This Through: Firing Yzma. She's only a slightly worse administrator than he is, the only difference is she actually seems attached to the work. She doesn't even hit upon the idea of usurping him until Kuzco gets rid of her, and his decision to do so seems predicated more on pride and ego than any genuine fondness for dealing with petitioners. Had he just let her have her fun, she'd have saved him a few headaches and he'd never have become a llama.
• Disguised in Drag: As a llama, no less, when he and Pacha make a pit stop by Mudka's Meat Hut.
• Disney Death: After falling down a waterfall, he seemingly drowns. However, when Pacha tries to give him CPR, we find out that he was just knocked unconscious.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Done hilariously, where a homeless man accidentally bumps into him during his song number, and gets promptly thrown out of the nearest window.
  Kuzco: You threw off my groove!
  Guard: I'm sorry, but you've thrown off the Emperor's groove.
  Old Man: [as he is falling through the air] SOOOOOOOORRRRYYYYYYYYY!

  To add insult to injury, if you pay attention, Kuzco actually runs into the old man in the process of his groove. The old man tries to hobble out of the way and can't move fast enough.

• Disappeared Dad: Background material state that his father, the previous Emperor, mysteriously disappeared while at sea. His mother's non-presence alludes to her being dead, leaving Kuzco to be raised by Yzma...which explains a lot about his personality, honestly.
• Does Not Like Spam: He doesn't like cheese on his potatoes.
  Kuzco: "Cheese me no likie."
• Eccentric Millionaire: More like "Eccentric Emperor". He spends most of his wealth on luxurious things and orders his citizen to plaster his face everywhere. He fails to see the problem with destroying Pacha's home at first.
• Effeminate Voice: David Spade, a tenor, voices Kuzco with some really campy inflections, giving off this vibe.
• The Emperor: Kuzco is the ruler of an empire in Pre-Columbian South America (implied to be, or at least based on, the Incan Empire in what's now modern-day Peru).
• Entitled Bastard: After being turned into a llama, he genuinely expects Pacha to help him even while he openly intends to destroy Pacha's village so he can build a summer home in its place once he's back to normal.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • After he saves Pacha from falling, Pacha points out that he could have just let him fall. Kuzco responds by saying "Nobody's that heartless!"
  • Even at his worst, Kuzco did seem to understand (at least on a basic level) that being an emperor comes with duties in addition to privileges. During his intro song, we see him do things like christen newborn babies, cut the ribbon for a new shopping mall, and toss a wine bottle against a trade ship so it can set sail (all from the comfort of his throne, of course); and the film's plot was kick-started by Kuzco firing his grand vizier after getting fed up with her attempts to run the empire behind his back.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Subverted. He starts out being completely unable to realize how selfish his plans of demolishing Pacha's village to build his summer home are, and refuses to admit there's any goodness inside him. But by the end, he finally starts to have a change of heart and becomes a better person as a result.
• Evil Gloating: When Pacha falls through the crumbling bridge and Kuzco leaves him to die, he initially crosses safely and sets off home free only an hour away from the palace. Then he turns back and crosses the bridge again just to gloat a little more. This immediately comes back to bite him hard, as he doesn't make it across the bridge a third time and ends up in the same situation.
• Evil Versus Evil: How Kuzco's conflict with Yzma begins. Neither of them are nice people, and they both want to rule the empire while stepping over each other and anyone else who gets in their way. Yzma just happens to be far more Obviously Evil than Kuzco is. By the end though, Kuzco changes into a genuine good guy, while Yzma remains completely unrepentant for her actions.
• Family of Choice: He comes to think of Pacha's family as his family and vice versa. He even invites them to live with him in the palace after he's crowned emperor, which they accept.
• Fat and Skinny: The skinny to Pacha's fat.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Lack of Empathy at the start of the movie. Because Kuzco lived his life always getting whatever he wanted with an inflated sense of self (most likely due to Yzma raising him), Kuzco only cared about himself and didn't see anything wrong with his amoral actions, especially destroying Pacha's village so he could build Kuzcotopia. Halfway through the film, Kuzco finally realizes how selfish, cruel and arrogant he had been and even calls himself out on it for trying to claim he did nothing wrong. His Character Development involves overcoming this Fatal Flaw, even though he still retains some arrogance and selfishness.
  • Never having a single form of forethought. Kuzco has an unlucky tendency not to think things through due to his stupidity and arrogance, which Pacha brings up to him. At the start, Kuzco agrees to eating dinner with Yzma and Kronk, even though he had just fired her in a very unceremonious way. Then against Pacha's warnings, Kuzco wonders off into a jungle, where he's almost killed by jaguars. Later, during the bridge scene, Kuzco takes the opportunity to gloat about how he has no remorse for his amoral actions, leading to him and Pacha falling down the chasm. Throughout the film, even though Kuzco knows Yzma has a secret lab, he never once suspects that she's the one who turned him into a llama, although because Yzma did raise Kuzco, he most likely believed that she would never betray him and was genuinely shocked when he overheard her say she wanted him dead.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Pacha during their adventure in the movie.
• Foil: To Yzma and Pacha.
  • Kuzco was raised in the Royal Palace and spent his life getting anything he ever wanted, but ended up spoiled, selfish, uncaring, arrogant and vain while Pacha lived his life as a peasant, but was kind, humble, good-hearted and empathetic. Kuzco goes through Character Development where he learns to care about others and stop making everything about him while Pacha remains static due to his already stable personality and serving as Kuzco's Morality Pet. It is implied that Pacha was raised by very good parental figures, resulting in his kind and empathetic behavior while Kuzco was raised by Yzma, whose parenting undoubtedly turned him into the Jerkass he was at the beginning.
  • Both Kuzco and Yzma start out as selfish and arrogant people who are often very unpleasant to others. In terms of leadership, Kuzco often treats the Empire like his toy and cares more about having fun while Yzma is heavily implied to take her leadership seriously. As for their partners, both Pacha and Kronk were treated badly by Kuzco and Yzma, though Kuzco came to view Pacha as a friend after his Character Development while Yzma is always a Bad Boss to Kronk, even going as far as to insult his cooking after she gets fed up with him. Yzma is an Evil Genius who is very intelligent, but is hindered by her arrogance and tendency to overcomplicate her plans while Kuzco is often Too Dumb to Live, resulting in him getting into dangerous situations.
• Forced Transformation: He spends most of the movie transformed into a llama.
• Freak Out: When he learns he’s been turned into a llama, he tries to tear his skin off, slaps himself across the face in a desperate attempt to calm himself down, laughs hysterically when he realizes he can no longer walk on two legs, and panics that he “can’t remember anything” because of the confusion being knocked out caused him.
• Friendless Background: Kuzco's high station as Emperor, his narcissistic and condescending attitude towards pretty much everyone, and Kronk's comment that nobody seems to care about Kuzco's apparent death all heavily imply this.
• Freudian Excuse: He was not only spoiled positively rotten during his childhood, he was also raised by Yzma: it goes a long way in explaining his vanity and selfishness, not to mention his contempt towards the peasantry. And, while it isn't directly mentioned, it is heavily implied that a good portion of his selfishness and initial inability to connect to others comes from the fact that he grew up without anything even closely resembling a friend until he met Pacha.
• Fun Personified: Kuzco just loves dancing, parties and having fun in general. His idea of a perfect kingdom is one where his people constantly indulge and entertain him.
• Hates Being Touched: He's very particular about people entering his personal bubble, or trying to pal up with him. Towards the end of the movie, he allows certain people to hug him or playfully hit him.
• Heel–Face Turn: About midway through the movie, he begins to realize just how awful he was, and changes his ways for the better.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: He saves Pacha from nearly falling to his death... despite him looking for an opportunity to kill him earlier then.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Not only does he agree to have dinner with Yzma after he both fired and flat-out insulted her, kicking off her scheme of killing and usurping him for control over the empire, but he also believes that she and Kronk are trying to locate and bring him home rather than kill him, as Pacha attempted to warn him. Also, it never seems to occur to him that Yzma could be the one behind his transformation into a llama, even when he knows full well that she has a "secret" laboratory where she would be able to create a potion that could change him into a different creature. It takes him overhearing Yzma berate Kronk for botching the poison attempt to break him out of this trope. However, this case is justified, as Yzma is actually the person who raised him. Not many people would consider their parental-figures meaning them harm and with Kuzco's It's All About Me attitude, it doesn't occur to him that Yzma might be angry he fired her.
• Hypocrite:
  • It's played for laughs. He states, very pointedly, that he's "the victim here" and was so put-upon by everyone who wants to take him down, and yet sees no problem with endangering hundreds and destroying an entire mountain village for the sake of building his own summer home and water park.
  • It's also played seriously once in the movie. After escaping the diner, Kuzco accuses Pacha of only caring about his 'hilltop' and not caring about him at all, painting him as the selfish one. This is coming from the same person who only cared about himself and what he wanted while showing no care for others.
• I Hate Past Me: Something he displays when he calls out himself. Early on, his narcissistic side serves as the narrator for the story, claiming that his life was ruined for no reason, which is a total and complete lie. Later in the story, however, Kuzco undergoes a Heel Realization, understanding how heartless he was, and tells himself off.
  Kuzco Narrator: So, this is where you came in. See, just like I said, I'm the victim here. I didn't do anything, and they ruined my life and took everything I had.
  Kuzco: Hey, give it a rest up there, will you?
  Kuzco Narrator: What? I'm just telling them what happened.
  Kuzco: Who are you kidding pal? They saw the whole thing. They know what happened.
  Kuzco Narrator: Well, yeah, but...
  Kuzco: Just leave me alone.
• Idle Rich: Very much more concerned with indulging himself than actually taking care of his empire at first.
• Ignored Epiphany: The film starts with him narrating how everyone else ruined his life, but as we flash back we see that most of Kuzco's misfortune is his own fault. However, this is Defied when we catch up to where the beginning of the film started and the real Kuzco calls out his narrator self.
• Intergenerational Friendship: He’s an eighteen-year-old emperor who eventually becomes friends with Pacha, a man with two (later three) children.
• It's All About Me: There's a reason he graces the trope image. He has an entire theme song dedicated to his huge ego. I.e. "his perfect world will spin around his every little whim, because his perfect world begins and ends with..." "ME!" That's right, he doesn't even let his "theme song guy" have the last word.
• Jerkass: Pre-Character Development. Kuzco starts out as a comically conceited, ignorant, greedy, narcissistic, sarcastic, cowardly, and stubborn brat.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His reasons for firing Yzma are reasonable given how she was doing his job without his permission.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Post-Character Development. Kuzco becomes more nice, loyal, good-natured, fun-loving, and polite. He's still comically conceited and ignorant, but not as much as he was in the beginning.
• Karmic Transformation: A vain, selfish emperor gets turned into an ugly farm animal commonly kept by peasants in his country, which represents how far he fell from the top to the bottom of society. This transformation also beats some well-deserved humility into a guy with an ego bigger than the Sun.
• Keet: The guy's full of energy and enthusiasm — for the most part.
• Lack of Empathy: His biggest character flaw at the beginning of the story. He's perfectly aware that building a lavish summer home on top of an already-populated mountain village would make Pacha's family and all their neighbors homeless — and he doesn't care, even admitting such to Pacha's face without shame. However, he does eventually prove to not be completely heartless and realizes just how wrong he was.
• Laughably Evil: As an Unsympathetic Comedy Villain Protagonist, he engages in acts of Comedic Sociopathy such as having an old man thrown out a window just for interrupting his song-and-dance routine.
• Lean and Mean: Pre-Character Development he's a skinny brat.
• Loophole Abuse: At the end of the film, it's how he rescinds building Kuzcotopia on Pacha's land, by way of Exact Words. He claims he was being literal about wanting a "hill that sings," and the lack of magical music heard on Pacha's property is why he claims that he won't build his summer home there. He does repurpose the Kuzcotopia model into a birdhouse.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Kuzco/Cusco/Cuzco means "the center of the world", and is also the capital of the ancient Incan empire which seems to be where the movie takes place.
  • Yacana, the Incan constellation of the llama and one of the Incan's most important constellations, rises above Cusco in November.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Selfish, greedy, and lazy.
• Narcissist: When he realizes he got turned into a llama, the very first thing he throws a tantrum about is that he doesn't have his good looks anymore.
• Never My Fault: At the beginning of the film, Kuzco blames what happened to him entirely on Pacha and Yzma, stating that they ruined his life for no reason. While both indirectly played a part in leading him there, it was largely his own selfish ways that resulted in where he was. Even he calls himself out on it as part of his Character Development.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: At least later on. Selfish he may be, but once he is out of his element Kuzco slowly shows nicer sides to his character and as the film progresses it becomes clear that deep down he isn't truly evil and is merely acting like it due to the way he was raised by Yzma.
• Odd Friendship: He eventually forms this dynamic with Pacha; Kuzco is a self-centered and snarky Emperor, while Pacha is a modest, peasant village leader. The end of the film even shows that Kuzco is considered a more or less official member of Pacha's family.
• Official Couple: With Malina by the series finale.
• Parental Abandonment: No mention whatsoever is ever made to Kuzco's parents, presumably the previous rulers of the empire. Apparently, he was raised by Yzma: it's easy to see where he got his mean streak from. It's implied in one episode of the series that Yzma offed Kuzco's dad.
• Pathetically Weak: Kuzco is somewhere between this and Averagely Weak. If he weren’t affected by Yzma’s potions, larger characters could easily pound him that he’d end up end up in the hospital, and he is aware Kronk could kill him in a fight. As a llama, he does get some level of added strength that he can evenly match Pacha who is giving him a beating. Though Kuzco admits he’d have so much trouble if Pacha were heavier. In the series, he was only able to win against Kronk in arm wrestling because he secretly sipped the potion he was going to wrestle him for.
• Pretty Boy: He's lithe with some traditionally effeminate features such as shoulder-length hair and a pretty precise grooming process.
• Pride Before a Fall: His pride sets him up for all the hilarious trauma of the movie.
• Primary-Color Champion: Subverted; he primarily dresses in red and yellow with a touch of teal in his earrings, but the dominance of red in his design points to his more antagonistic qualities. By the end of the first film, the biggest visual indicator that he's changed is when Chicha gifts him with a green poncho just like Pacha's.
• Prince Charmless: To the potential brides in the opening. Subverted in that he's already the Emperor at this point. Also to Malina a lot of the time in the show.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: In the movie, he's a selfish, self-centered jerk who plots to bulldoze the entire village for his own profit and almost leaves Pacha for dead, but has a change of heart and becomes good friends with Pacha. In the series, his selfishness is toned down, if still apparent at times. Similarly, in Kronk's New Groove, he acts nicer but is flamboyant as ever.
• Riches to Rags: Happens to Kuzco after being turned into a llama. At least most guys will be left with the shirt on their backs, Kuzco doesn't even have hands left! It says a lot about Kuzco that he gets over this pretty quickly under the assumption that he can still boss people around and that Yzma is still loyal.
• Ridiculously High Relationship Standards: The Royal Matchmaker presents six lovely candidates to Emperor Kuzco, who's such a spoiled Royal Brat that he dismisses all six in six seconds as though they were hip-flask ugly. "Is this the best you can do?" he chastens the matchmaker. Most of the cute, shapely girls are stunned at being so blithely eliminated, but they're smart enough to say nothing. It says something that the one girl who actually retains his attention in the franchise, Malina, is a gorgeous, athletic, straight-A student.
• Royal Brat: He has a tiny, elderly man defenestrated for throwing off his groove, rudely rejects all of his potential brides, and it's implied stuff like this happens on a daily basis. He seems to be oblivious to what others think of him until he overhears Yzma and Kronk speak of their plot to kill him, and Kronk mentioning how no one cares that he is seemingly dead. It's suggested that Yzma deliberately raised him to become this so that she could have greater control over him, but if this is true, it eventually backfired on her since his brattiness is part of the reason she ends up getting unceremoniously fired.
• Ruler Protagonist: He's the titular Emperor of course.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: In the TV series, he has quite the high-pitched scream. Malina even lampshades it in one episode. In another, he screams just like her.
• Single-Target Sexuality: The only woman that Kuzco is remotely attracted to is Malina, and, in one episode, a princess who looks exactly like her, but her personality makes sure he doesn't stay with her.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Downplayed in that he is an emperor, but at the start he seems to more consider himself a god with just how much he acts like the world revolves around him.
• Smug Snake: Despite his emperor position, it's very hard to take him seriously as a threat to anyone.
  • He is at least a head shorter (if not more) than the other three leads of the film.
  • He is very thin and seemingly unfit (though obviously not as bad as Yzma).
• Talking Animal: All of the animals he gets transformed into still leave him with the ability to talk. This is used to pinpoint him down, as Yzma knows the “talking llama” has to be him.
• Teens Are Monsters: Kuzco is a 17-year-old petty tyrant. He is incredibly immature, spoiled, selfish, egotistical, and entitled as the result of his luxurious upbringing, holding absolute power, and not even once, was he ever being told "no" throughout his entire life. And his idea of an 18th birthday gift for himself? Destroy an entire village just to make room for another palace that he doesn't even need.
• Took a Level in Kindness: His ego gets a heavy, but good drop throughout the movie. And then comes the Aesop Amnesia for the TV series. However, it should be noted that he acts nicer by the three last episodes, showing that Kuzco did come to learn his lessons over time.
• Too Dumb to Fool: This is what kicks off the plot with Yzma properly; she spins a story about why she's doing imperial duties without consulting him, but Kuzco doesn't pay attention and spends the whole conversation focusing on how old and ugly she is. As a result, her attempt to win him over falls on deaf ears, and he unceremoniously fires her.
• Too Dumb to Live: Making fun of someone's failed attempt of waking up the jaguars who surround you in order to get you killed is apparently important enough to forget that you shouldn't make a noise in the vicinity either. It very nearly leads to Death by Mocking.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kuzco's love for Mudka's Meat Mugs, to the point where he tries to eat nothing else in one episode.
• Troubled Abuser: Yes, Kuzco is a selfish, cruel, conceited Spoiled Brat who thinks the world revolves around him, but he became that way as a result of being raised by Yzma, who's much the same. With that in mind, he's lucky he didn't turn out even worse.
• Tsundere: A surprising platonic male version:
  • After saving Pacha's life when he could have let him fall, he claims he was just doing it so that he could still lead him to the Palace. Not because he likes him or anything.
  • At the end, when he tells Pacha he's decided against bulldozing his village to make room for his summer getaway, rather then say it around he claims it's because Pacha said the hills would sing when the sun hits the ridge and he didn't hear any singing. It's obvious though that they both know the real reason why he's doing this.
• Universally Beloved Leader: He thinks everyone loves him. Emphasis on "thinks." A big thing that kicks off his Character Development is realizing his old personality made it so no one missed him when he "died". He actually becomes this by the time of the series; while people in his personal life are annoyed by him, almost everybody supports him in becoming Emperor again.
• Unreliable Narrator: At the beginning of the movie, Kuzco makes it appear as though he was an innocent victim who did nothing to deserve the misfortunes he suffered. However, as the movie goes on, it becomes clear that Kuzco is lying. While Yzma did turn him into a llama in a failed assassination attempt, it was ultimately Kuzco's selfishness, arrogance and Lack of Empathy that landed him where he is. Kuzco would later call the narrator out for this. Narrator Kuzco disappears from the movie entirely after the onscreen Kuzco tells him to leave him alone.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: A narcissistic jerkass at first, who gets a fair share of humiliation before getting better.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero: Inverted. Kuzco was raised by the selfish, cruel, arrogant and power-hungry Yzma. That would explain why he turns out the way he is now.
• Uptown Guy: Kuzco, a cocky young South American emperor, and Malina, a beautiful peasant girl.
• Villain Ball: The second act has him grab this trope several times, and it always backfires on him.
  • He could have politely turned down the acorn that Bucky offered him, but preferred to bonk him on the head with it and tell him to hit the road, thus turning the squirrel into an enemy.
  • Right after the above, he can't resist blowing raspberries at Bucky as he's walking off, which results in him falling into an area populated by sleeping jaguars because he wasn't looking where he was going as he conducted his razzing.
  • Bucky pops a llama-shaped balloon to wake the jaguars so they'll maul and eat Kuzco. When this fails to wake them, Kuzco chooses to give a loud and triumphant "Ha!" instead of quietly slipping away, which rouses them instead.
  • After cheerfully revealing to a trapped Pacha that he intends to leave him to die, Kuzco actually makes it across the bridge and is less than an hour away from the palace. But when Pacha angrily shouts at him for his treachery, Kuzco gets back on the bridge to taunt him further, resulting in him getting stuck as well.
• Villain Protagonist: A rare Disney example. Kuzco starts out as being a cruel, selfish tyrant who treats all of his subjects as being beneath him; and he has no problem with defenestrating an innocent old man, or making an entire peasant community homeless. Though he eventually becomes far more kind and heroic after spending time with Pacha.

Pacha

"When the sun hits that ridge just right, these hills sing."

Voiced in English by: John Goodman (film series, TV series; Season 2), Fred Tatasciore (TV series; Season 1), Bill Farmer (video game)

Voiced in European French by: Jacques Frantz

Voiced in Japanese by: Naomi Kusumi

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Mario Sauret (movies), Mario Arvizu (TV series)

Voiced in European Spanish by: Pepe Mediavilla (movies), Carlos Kaniowski (TV series)

Voiced in Swedish by: Allan Svensson (movies), Göran Berlander (TV series)

Voiced in European Portuguese by: Fernando Luis

This is Pacha, a soft-spoken, roly-poly peasant who helps Kuzco find his way back to his empire. Pacha is the head man of his village and a loving husband and father. He values the traditions of his people and wants to make a good future for his kids. And he's the first person Kuzco's met (maybe ever) to not put up with his Imperial nonsense for a minute. Being opposed to the emperor's plans to replace the peasants' village with his own summer house, Pacha initially refuses to help bring Kuzco back home, but changes his mind out of the goodness of his heart. During their long journey back to the palace, Kuzco learns to care for other people thanks to Pacha's kind and forgiving nature.

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• All-Loving Hero: He's very fervent in his belief that there's some good in everybody, including Kuzco.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Or the hulking, nice ones who can deliver one hell of a punch.
• Bumbling Dad: Averted. Despite the things that happen to him, he proves to be an effective parent to his kids.
• Deadpan Snarker: He gets some pretty good quips in the film as it progresses.
• Demoted to Extra: He's reduced to a supporting player in Kronk's New Groove, but he does play a role in helping out Kronk in the climax. He's also demoted from Deuteragonist and Kuzco's best friend to much more of minor character - if occasional father figure - in the TV show.
• Fat and Skinny: The fat to Kuzco's skinny.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Kuzco during their adventure in the movie.
• Foreshadowing: After the waterfall scene, Pacha tells Kuzco "Someday, you're going to wind up all alone and you'll have no one to blame but yourself." This is played straight when Kuzco accuses Pacha of obstructing his return to the Palace and then overhears Yzma and Kronk admitting they tried to murder him. To add salt to the wound, Kronk brings up how no one seems to care that he's gone. As Pacha told Kuzco, he was left all alone and he can’t blame anyone except for himself.
• Gentle Giant: Tall and husky, and definitely pretty strong, but mostly enjoys playing with his kids and talking to llamas.
• Good Is Not Soft: He's a caring and protective All-Loving Hero, but when Kuzco double-crosses him by attempting to leave him to die in a canyon during the beginning of their journey together, Pacha socks him in the face very hard.
• Good Parents: Along with Chicha, he is a kind and loving parent.
• Happily Married: Has a close and honest relationship with Chicha.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Subverted. At first it appears his decision to trust Kuzco's word that he wouldn't destroy his village if he brought him back to the palace was painfully naive, with Pacha even berating himself for it at the bridge, let alone his insistence on continuing to help even after Kuzco's deception is revealed. Hell, Kuzco himself vehemently protested Pacha's continued claims that he wasn't completely selfish, but as it turns out, his faith that there really is some goodness deep down in Kuzco's heart ultimately bears fruit and the movie ends with Pacha's village spared and the emperor coming out of it a better man.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The Huge Guy to Chicha's Tiny Girl.
• I Gave My Word: Even after Kuzco nearly abandons him, Pacha still agrees to take him back to his palace because they shook on it.
• Ink-Suit Actor: He certainly looks a lot like John Goodman.
• Large and in Charge: A large man and the head man of his village.
• Meaningful Name: Pacha means "earth" or "world" in Quechua, and is closely associated with Pachamama, an earth and fertility goddess who's one of the most important figures in indigenous Andean mythology. All of these denote Pacha as a person of solid and generous character, and a grounding presence in his family and community.
• Morality Pet: It's because of Pacha's endless patience and fatherly nature that Kuzco becomes a better person.
• Nice Guy: Pacha is a Gentle Giant who always sees something good in everyone, including Kuzco. It's because of his saintly patience that Kuzco starts to develop compassion for others.
• Odd Friendship: He eventually forms this dynamic with Kuzco; Pacha is a modest, peasant village leader, while Kuzco is a self-centered and snarky Emperor. The end of the film even shows that Kuzco is considered a more or less official member of Pacha's family.
• One Head Taller: He's a full head taller than his wife Chicha.
• Only Sane Man: Pacha acts as the sane one during his and Kuzco's adventure.
• Parental Substitute: He acts as a father figure to Kuzco.
• Silk Hiding Steel: A rare male example. At first Pacha is very polite and affectionate, not saying more than he needs to and even helping a defenestrated old man. But he actually tends to pull Big Damn Heroes moments.
• Stout Strength: While Toon Physics may be at play here, adult llamas weigh between 280 to 450 pounds, and yet Pacha's able to carry Kuzco around as effortlessly as if he were still a small human teenager.
• The Straight Man: To Kuzco, whenever the younger man acts selfish.

Yzma

"It's brilliant, brilliant, brrrrilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!"

Voiced in English by: Eartha Kitt, Mark Dindal (as a cat), Grey DeLisle (as a teenager), Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (currently)

Voiced in European French by: Élisabeth Wiener

Voiced in Japanese by: Hisako Kyoda

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Mayra Rojas (movies), Lourdes Moran (The Emperor's New School)

Voiced in European Spanish by: Roser Cavallé (movies), Lucía Esteban (The Emperor's New School)

Voiced in Swedish by: Siw Malmqvist (The Emperor's New Groove), Ewa Fröling (Kronk's New Groove, The Emperor's New School)

Yzma is the emperor's royal advisor, who raised Kuzco from his early childhood, preparing him for the throne while running the empire herself. She's served the royal family for many years... a lot of years... how old is this lady, anyway? If her liberal use of Purple Is the New Black in her wardrobe didn't give it away, Yzma's the baddie and a sorceress of dastardly potions. Kuzco eventually becomes annoyed with her constantly going behind his back and fires her. Enraged at this callous discarding, Yzma concocts a plan to assassinate Kuzco and take the throne for herself.

To see how she would describe herself, click here.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Yzma has this possibly more than Kuzco, given she is a lot like him in many ways, only more heartless and cruel than him. While the subjects didn’t like Kuzco that much, they still weren’t at all happy when Yzma made herself the new ruler of the empire as she is a worse ruler than Kuzco.
• Absent-Minded Professor: It becomes a running gag that whenever Yzma comes up with a new plan to get rid of Kuzco, she will stray away in her thoughts and the plan will either doom to fail or has nothing to do with her goal. Kronk has to point that out to her at times.
• Abusive Parents: She raised Kuzco, thus making her his parental figure, but she tries to usurp his throne and kill him.
• Actor Allusion: Yzma turns into a cat at the end of the movie. Her voice actress Eartha Kitt played Catwoman on Season 3 of the Adam West Batman show.
• Affably Evil: Usually she's Faux Affably Evil, but when a group of her henchmen are turned into animals, one of them asks to go home and Yzma politely excuses him without any hint of anger or annoyance and even asks the others if any of them would like to leave. She also becomes this in the TV show where she is less murderous and homicidal.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: She is a pale shade of lavender, whereas everyone else has a human skin tone.
• Animal Motifs:
  • Between her design, the allusions for her actress and her transformation at the end of the film, Yzma definitely has a Cats Are Mean motif going on.
  • She has a snake motif as well. After she becomes Empress, several artistries of her are depicted with snakes and the pack that Kronk carries her has the pictures of snakes on it. As an added bonus, she is a very treacherous person who initially planned to kill Kuzco with poison, similar to how venomous snakes kill their prey.
• Animorphism: She gets turned into a cat during the climax of the movie.
• Asshole Victim: Yzma gets put through the wringer a lot throughout the movie, but she does have it coming.
• Bald of Evil: She wears a variety of extravagant, colourful wigs throughout the movie, but she's shown to be bald when Kronk barges into her tent late in the movie.
• Benevolent Boss: At least to the royal guards, if not to anyone else. When one of them asks if he can go home on account of being turned into a cow, she excuses him without a second thought and even asks if any of the other guards (who had all been turned into a variety of other animals) would like to be excused.
• Big Bad: Her efforts to take the throne from Kuzco end up turning him into a llama and putting him far away from the palace. Yzma spends the rest of the film trying to hunt down Kuzco to kill him.
• The Caligula: Yzma fits this trope during her time of regency: it's likely where Kuzco got it from.
  Yzma: It is no concern of mine whether or not your family has... what was it again?
  Peasant: Umm... food?
  Yzma: HAH! You really should have thought of that before you became peasants!
• Cats Are Mean: In her cat form, she's now a Cute Kitten but still the same selfish, evil Big Bad.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "It's brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!"
  • "To the Secret Lab!"
  • "Pull the lever, Kronk!"
  • "Wrong lever!" when Kronk pulls the wrong lever and results in her getting injured.
• Chaste Toons: She has twin nephews, Zim and Zam, who are voiced by Dylan and Cole Sprouse.
• The Chew Toy: Yzma goes through a LOT of abuse throughout the movie, to getting stuck in a swamp with flies, to rolling down a hill, picking up tar and feathers and becoming a human piñata as a result, to getting zapped by a small raincloud that appears out of nowhere while she and Kronk are gliding across a chasm, leading to them falling into said chasm, to getting a chandelier dropped on her (she fits through the hole in the middle of the chandelier). And that's not including her transformation into a kitten and getting slammed into the wall, before ending up a squirrel scout and firmly losing any control she had over Kuzco's empire.
• Color Motifs: The color purple is throughout her design.
• The Comically Serious: Particularly when she has to deal with Pacha's kids.
• Complexity Addiction: Her Fatal Flaw. Yzma has a tendency to overcomplicate her plans for the sake of showing off her genius. Because of this, she is prone to ignoring factors in her plans that cause them to fail. It isn't helped by the fact that her arrogance hinders her ability to scheme and plan.
• Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Yzma's voice is already quite energetic and high-pitched compared to previous female Disney villains such as Maleficent and Ursula. However, this trope is exaggerated and Played for Laughs late in the movie when Yzma is transformed into a kitten. She gets a chipmunk-like voice, but still attempts to kill Kuzco.
  Yzma: Is that my voice? Is that... my voice? Oh well.
• Cute Is Evil: During her cat form and even a bunny in Kronk's New Groove.
• Delusions of Beauty: Despite her ancient body, the main villainess Yzma is both a Fashion-Victim Villain and proud of her looks. Of course, this doesn't convince anybody and cements her reputation as a being "scary beyond all reason".
• Demoted to Extra: She only plays a brief role in the first act of Kronk's New Groove, and she vanishes from the film after the fact, save for a brief appearance at the very end.
• Dirty Old Woman: Downplayed. While she certainly didn't hire Kronk for his brains, it's implied that it was because of his good looks. Keep in mind Kronk is young enough to be her grandson...That being said, they have a firmly, if toxic, Platonic Life-Partners relationship.
• The Dreaded: Yzma just oozes terror in all the Empire’s subjects. Even Kuzco admits she’s quite intimidating.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Implied. When Yzma chews out Kronk after Kronk spares Kuzco's life, Yzma's annoyed tone seems to indicate that she thinks Kronk tried to carry out her order but failed out of his own incompetence. It doesn't seem to occur to her that Kronk would have any qualms about committing murder.
• Evil Chancellor: Power-hungry and apathetic, she's quite evil in her role as Kuzco's regent.
• Evil Sorceror: Despite her styling herself as a Mad Scientist, her scrapped Villain Song makes it more obvious that her potions are magical in nature. She learned her skills from her father, a Necromancer mortician. Given that she seeks to attain eternal youth this way in the original version, this may in fact explain her purple skin.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • When she's fed up with Kronk's ineptitude, she snaps at him viciously— and just for meanness' sake, she insults his cooking.
  • At Pacha's house, Yzma deliberately knocked over her teacup, forcing the heavily-pregnant, already-exasperated Chicha to struggle to pick it up. Purposeful, yes, as a diversion— also just plain mean!
• Evil Laugh: She's fond of gloriously sinister chuckling as she plots Kuzco's demise.
• Evil Plan: In the movie, poison Kuzco and take over as empress. In the series, it is prevent Kuzco from graduating, thus preventing him from becoming emperor again, and then become empress!
• Evil Old Folks: So old that Kuzco calls her "living proof that dinosaurs roamed the earth".
• Evil Principal: In The Emperor's New School, Yzma has become the principal of Kuzco Academy under the pseudonym of Principal Amzy. She has her sights on becoming empress and so will do whatever it takes to sabotage Kuzco's attempts of passing his classes so that he will fail and be disqualified from continuing as emperor.
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: She uses too much eyeshadow, which is a good reason why people say she's scary beyond all reason.
• Failure Is the Only Option: In the TV series, Yzma’s every attempt to kill or render Kuzco ineligible to reign fail rather spectacularly.
• Fan Disservice: Until she gets turned into an absolutely adorable little kitty. This is, naturally, lampshaded:
  Yzma: Then I bet you weren't expecting this!
  [hikes up her skirt]
  Pacha: GAAAAH!
  Kuzco: ACK! NOOOO!
  Yzma: Ah-HA! [pulls out a dagger]
  Pacha: Phew.
  Kuzco: Oh, okay.
• The Fashionista: She may be scary beyond all reason, but she has a great sense of style. Undoubtedly another trait Kuzco picked up from her.
• Fatal Flaw: Her Complexity Addiction. Many of her plans would've succeeded if it weren't for two major factors. First, because she believes herself an evil genius, she often makes her plans more convoluted than necessary, which especially comes into play when Kronk is involved. Second, she never considers factors that could cause her plans to backfire, which ultimately dooms them from the start. Unfortunately, she's too arrogant and self-absorbed to consider the flaws in her planning, so her plots almost always fail.
• Gonk: Commonly described as "scary beyond all reason", Yzma is a pencil-thin and ghoulish woman whose appearance is a target for bystanders to let out their horrified comments on. Her Gross-Up Close-Up accentuates her ugliness by giving more attention to her countless wrinkles and food stuck between her teeth.
• Hartman Hips: Used to demonstrate how bone-thin she is rather than for fanservice purposes.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: A platonic example. The Lean and Mean body-type Big Bad to Kronk's hulking giant.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: High on the "ineffectual", low on the "sympathetic". But we love her anyway.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Word of God says that her appearance was based on Eartha Kitt herself. They were worried that this would offend her, but it turned out that she actually found it hilarious.
• I Was Quite a Looker: In the original version of the movie this was her motivation, as evidenced by the Cut Song written by Sting, "Snuff Out the Light". And the TV show confirms it; her teenaged self was a cutie◊. invoked
• Karma Houdini: In Emperor's New School, her being the Principal is an Open Secret, yet no one seems interested in arresting her for conspiracy to kill the Emperor (among her many other crimes). It's also treated as a given that she'll become the new Empress should Kuzco fail.
• Karmic Transformation: Her attempts at killing Kuzco end up getting her transformed into a cat in the end.
• Kick the Dog: She raised Kuzco as a narcissistic Spoiled Brat, while aiming at his throne. Then, after Kuzco fires her, she tries to poison him.
• Large Ham: Comes with the territory of being a villainess played by Eartha Kitt.
• Laughably Evil: She's arguably the most comedic character in the film, even though she wants to assassinate her former boss and seize his throne for herself.
• Lean and Mean: She isn't the trope picture for nuthin'. Taking a cue from characters like Jafar and Maleficent, Yzma is positively spindly - likely as a call back to their designs. This actually works to her advantage when Kronk turns on her: he drops a chandelier on her, but she's so skinny that her body passes perfectly through the middle.
• Mad Scientist: She has a secret lab, a maniacal laugh and everything. The anachronistic dissonance is Played for Laughs, of course.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Yzma plotted to have Kuzco killed for firing him despite her loyalty, and she's hated him since. But this is rather subverted when Kuzco tries to reason with her at the lab and he's willing to change, she very much makes it clear she'll hate him no matter what, and the fact that she's actually enjoyed her reign with Kuzco gone shows her desire for power is all her.
• Never Mess with Granny: She may be unusually old, but she's very agile and can still perform acrobatic feats.
• Never My Fault:
  • She often blames the failures of her evil plans on Kronk; while he does hold some of the blame, a lot of it usually has to do with the fact that her plans tend to be either a) too convoluted to actually work, b) doomed to fail from the start, c) irrelevant to what she wants to accomplish in the first place, or d) all of the above.
  • She also treats Kuzco firing her as an act of pure betrayal and calls him an "ungrateful little worm" while lamenting that he would do such a thing to her when she "practically raised him". She fails to acknowledge the fact that 1) he fired her for trying to rule behind his back, and 2) her raising him was probably what caused him to turn out this way in the first place (something Kronk unwittingly lampshades).
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: The TV series sees Yzma owning a pet alligator.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: At the climax of the movie, she goes from bumbling and ineffectual to threatening enough to send Kuzco and Pacha running for their lives.
• Odd Friendship: With Kronk in the TV series—they get along surprisingly well beyond just being partners, and she's even referred to as his best friend, which Kuzco is naturally baffled by.
• One-Winged Angel: Hilariously parodied when she gets turned into a fluffy little kitten, doubling this with Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Her alter-ego of Principal Amzy doesn't really fool Kuzco, but Kronk can never seem to recognize her until the series finale, where he reveals he knew all along and sums up why her disguise was so weak.
• Parental Substitute: She actually raised Kuzco since he was a baby, thus explaining where most of Kuzco's faults come from; it's implied she was going to pull a The Woman Behind the Man act when he was finally crowned and rule the kingdom through him, but his firing her put a stop to that. It's also implied that she offed Kuzco's parents in order to do so.
• Percussive Therapy: After Kuzco fires her, Yzma takes out her rage by repeatedly smashing stone busts of his head with a hammer (both of which are thoughtfully provided by Kronk). She only stops when Kronk gives her the idea to assassinate Kuzco.
• Pet the Dog: Willingly allows one of her henchmen to leave after he turns into a cow, and asks if any other henchmen wanted to leave while he did (they didn’t). More frequently in the TV show like in "Evil and Eviler".
• Phrase Catcher: Not an episode of the TV series goes by without calling her "scary beyond all reason".
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Yzma's role in Kronk's New Groove is reduced to being a small time crook in the first act, she vanishes from the film after the fact, save for a gag at the very end. The real conflict is Kronk trying to earn the approval of his aloof father.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: While it's not addressed as much as other examples, her Establishing Character Moment has her dismissing a villager's concerns over food by stating that he should have "thought of that before [they] became peasants" before having the guards carry him off. Considering she "practically raised" Kuzco, this might also explain a few things about Kuzco's own narcissistic tendencies.
• Rasputinian Death: Played with. While she ultimately doesn't die, there are several things that happen to her in the climax that you would expect to be her defeat. First she gets transformed into a kitten, but then it turns out that she has retained her intelligence, and she continues trying to kill Kuzco. Then she falls from the top of the palace, teasing a Disney Villain Death, only to be bounced back up on a trampoline. Then she grabs the potion, only to hit her head on part of the palace. Then she comes back and grabs the potion again, only for Kronk to slam open the window next to her, accidentally crushing her. Then, finally, at the end, she is simply forced to join Kronk's Squirrel Scouts, even though she clearly hates it.
• Regent for Life: Attempts this, but when Kuzco fires her she moves to a more direct method and tries to kill him to be the official ruler.
• Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear: Yzma is transformed into a nearly harmless kitten near the end of the movie.
• Sexy Slit Dress: Yzma wears such a dress in purple, but, because she's an old woman "scary beyond reason", she is less sexy and more Fan Disservice. To prove this point, Kuzco and Pacha are seriously disturbed when Yzma appears to be raising the slit of her dress to Show Some Leg... and then relieved to see that she was just revealing a dagger tied to her leg instead.
• Shadow Archetype: She represents what Kuzco will be if he never learns to overcome his ego and stays so unsympathetic to everyone around him.
• Smug Snake: All of her plans are either too convoluted to actually work or doomed to fail from the start, and yet she's under the assumption that she's an evil genius.
• The Smurfette Principle: She’s the only female in the main cast.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Or rather one idiot, Kronk, but the effect is the same.
• Treacherous Advisor: Yzma certainly enjoys throwing her weight around, but the notion of actually usurping Kuzco only seems to hit her after he fires her. Granted, she did raise him (and as above mentioned, may have offed his parents) so perhaps she was trying to use him as a puppet.
• The Usurper: She decides to become this after Kuzco fires her.
• Vague Age: We know she's old, but not how old. According to "The Emperor's New School Spirit" from the TV series, she's 48. A flashback in the Halloween Episode makes it more confusing, as Yzma is shown to have looked exactly the same as she does now back when Kuzco was a toddler. If anything, she's older than anyone can possibly imagine. Maybe she can't remember.
• Vain Sorceress: Vain is one of the more accurate words to describe her, if her outrageously extravagant and tacky outfits along with all beauty creams are any indication. The "sorceress" part is more downplayed, being more of a Mad Scientist with her potions and secret lab.
• Villain Decay: She goes from being the driving threat of the first film to a small time crook in Kronk's New Groove. As of the TV show she usually just tries to get Kuzco to fail as opposed to trying to kill him with a few exceptions and she even has times where she will team up with or even save Kuzco.
• Villain Raises a Toast: Yzma's plan to kill Kuzco is to poison his drink. At dinner, she gives the ironic toast "Long live Kuzco!" as he's about to take the fatal drink. Unfortunately, her Minion with an F in Evil Kronk mixed up the potions and Kuzco got turned into a llama instead.
• Villainous Friendship: Interestingly, she has a few scenes with Kronk in the film where they actually seem to be legitimate friends, such as when they take a detour on their hunt for Kuzco to go to the local restaurant while having small talk for the entire time.
• Villainous Valor: During the last fight. Not even the risk of dying by falling 100 feet down from a building, or turning into a small cat will stop her.

Kronk

"Oh yeah: it's all coming together."

Voiced in English by: Patrick Warburton

Voiced in European French by: Emmanuel Curtil

Voiced in Japanese by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Ruben Cerda

Voiced in European Spanish by: David García Vázquez

Voiced in Swedish by: Fredrik Hiller

Yzma's current sidekick (she swaps them out every decade or so), who was clearly hired more for muscles than for brains. Despite working for Yzma, he's a chill guy with a sunny demeanor who'll go with her Zany Schemes no matter what they require of him. Also a Friend to All Living Things, a Supreme Chef, and a Nice Guy who struggles with deep theological conundrums. Wait... why is he a bad guy again?

To see him help Yzma describe herself, while also describing himself to her chagrin, click here.

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• The Ace: An athletic, handsome survivalist. Spotlighted in the series, where he's portrayed as a Lovable Jock who excels over Kuzco in all things athletic.
• Affectionate Nickname: "Kronkie-Poo" by Birdwell.
• All-Loving Hero: Especially in his own movie, where he donates his new house on a hill to his elderly friends and takes the fall for Tipo's prank to spare the boy getting yelled at by Birdwell.
• Ambiguously Jewish: His last name is Pepikrankenitz, and he imagines himself getting married by a rabbi in a traditional Jewish ceremony. What a Jewish character is doing in pre-Columbian South America is anyone's guess. Word of God is he's possibly the descendant of a converso (Jewish convert to Roman Catholicism) who married an Indigenous South American.
• Anti-Villain: He's only a villain by virtue of working with Yzma. Otherwise, he couldn't be a nicer guy. The closest thing he does to an evil act is knowingly trying to poison Kuzco and acting apathetic to his (supposed) death, but it's clear he's only going through with it out of misguided loyalty to Yzma. It backfires, and his conscience eventually sets him on the straight and narrow and keeps him from finishing off Kuzco.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has thick, black eyebrows.
• Birds of a Feather: With Birdwell. Both are friendly chipmunk scout leaders (making them both Friend to All Children), love baking, are Spirited Competitors, and are amazing dancers.
• Brainless Beauty: Zigzagged. While Kronk is a genuine Dumb Muscle archetype, his Hidden Depths sections (as seen below) also shows he has intelligence in different fields.
• Breakout Character: To the point that he even got his own Direct to Video sequel.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Kronk is capable of incredible superhuman athletics, such as running from a school to his house and back in mere seconds, and running up a mountain (while having a seat tied to his body with Yzma riding atop). Through the series, it is learned that Kronk comes from a family of athletic health and fitness advocates.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Kronk's ditzy nature is quite unique. He can talk to squirrels, acts like nothing in the world bothers him, and constantly talks to himself. He even manages to pick right up as the chef at a greasy spoon diner after the chef quits.
• Deadpan Snarker: High on the 'deadpan', low on the 'snarky'. But he still has some of the funniest lines in the film. Slightly moreso in the TV series:
  Yzma: (regarding her age) I'm only 48!
  Kronk: In dog years, maybe.
• The Ditz: To the untrained eye anyway, he's rather untrained himself.
• The Dragon: To Yzma, being her right-hand man and the secondary antagonist of the first film and TV series.
• Dumb Muscle: Kronk is very muscular, but also incredibly naïve and childish. It takes him many hours before he recognizes Pacha from the diner in the movie, only managing to figure this out after he'd fallen asleep and Pacha and Kuzco had a multiple-hour head start.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Yzma lays into him when she realises that he mixed up the poison for Kuzco with extract of llama, but Kronk reasonably points out that all her concoctions look the same, plus they're not very efficientally labelled.
• Everyone Has Standards: When he drops Llama Kuzco in the river, he's genuinely concerned about him dying. Even though this is what Yzma wants, Kronk can't bring himself to kill someone. In the TV series, he also refuses to take part in any of Yzma's plans if they involve harming Bucky or interfering with Junior Chipmunk business.
• Extreme Doormat: Him being so docile and accepting is what makes him put up with all of Yzma's constant abuse and Kuzco's constant egomania. Of course, after his Heel–Face Turn, he stops being a doormat to Yzma.
• Friend to All Children: Kronk turns out to be great with kids, as seen when he plays jump rope with Tipo and Chaca. He's also a Chipmunk Scout leader.
• Friend to All Living Things: He can communicate with animals and is especially fluent in speaking with squirrels. He even plays "Exotic Bird Bingo", getting distracted by one of nature's creatures.
• Genius Ditz: While the ditzy part is unquestionable, he knows how to be liked by anyone he meets (another kind of intelligence), is a great cook, has a lot of practical knowledge about things and can survive in the wild all by himself, plus he's fluent in squirrel and Hash House Lingo. Moreover he as a surprising analytical insight where many others seem to fail, he was the first to figure out that Pacha was with the transformed Emperor trying to help him get back. Although he's a little slow on the uptake he can figure things out pretty quickly too, even guessing what the evil Yzma was planning beforehand ahead of anyone else.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: Has a pair of these, which basically look like himself dressed as a stereotypical angel and devil respectively. They're also Cloudcuckoolanders like him, so their conversations tend to quickly go off the rails. He's the only one who can see them, so it deeply confuses others when they see him talking to them.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Despite making a Heel–Face Turn at the end of the movie, he does frequently go back to working for Yzma on several occasions in the TV series, and he also briefly teams up with her for one segment of his own movie.
• Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the movie, he quits working for Yzma. Unlike Kuzco though, Kronk was already an otherwise decent person, so it wasn't quite as difficult for him to leave the evil henchman lifestyle behind.
• Hidden Depths: Let us count the ways:
  • He's a Supreme Chef and he gets Hash House Lingo right away.
  • He used to take interpretive dance, though he usually had to be in the back due to weak ankles.
  • He's fluent in the languages of woodland creatures, including squirrel.
  • He's quite skilled at various kinds of jump rope and seems to genuinely bond with Pacha's kids over it.
  • He balks when Yzma orders him to break down the closet door in Pacha's house, pointing out that it's hand-carved mahogany.
  • It was revealed in The Emperor's New School episode "Oops, All Doodles" that Kronk has a talent for drawing.
  • Kronk is familiar with exotic bird species and documents one on a clipboard he brought with him.
  • One exchange with Yzma indicates about correcting one’s grammar:
    Yzma: Tell us where the talking llama is, and we'll burn your house to the ground!
    Kronk: Uh, don't you mean "or"?
    Yzma: [sigh] Tell us where the talking llama is, OR we'll burn your house to the ground!
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl:
  • A platonic example. The hulking giant to Yzma's Lean and Mean body-type Big Bad.
  • Kronk is the same One Head Taller giant when he becomes an Official Couple with the lean, but nice Birdwell.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Yzma thinks he's a Bumbling Sidekick, but he's actually this. She wouldn't have survived the trek through the woods without him.
• Intergenerational Friendship: The sequel shows that he is close with the town seniors. Rudy in particular is, according to his shoulder angel, his best friend.
• Implied Love Interest: In the first film Kuzco snarks that Yzma get a new young, handsome male assistant "every decade or so"; and during their dinner small talk remarks "He's nice. What is he, 20?" Kronk turning against her after her verbal abuse plays a bit like the end of a toxic romantic relationship. However, Kronk's New Groove does away with this by having him disgusted at the mere thought of a "proposition"; and the series had them firmly as Platonic Life-Partners.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Yzma insults Kronk's intelligence in numerous ways, and he just brushes it off. But then, she says that "I never liked your spinach puffs!" and Kronk starts to cry.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: So much so that you can barely even call him a villain.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: A villainous example, though "villain" is kind of a stretch with Kronk. Which is exactly why it works; the audience knows Kronk isn't that bad of a guy because he doesn't look that evil. Especially when standing next to Yzma.
• Late to the Realization: Double subverted. Kronk wakes up in the middle of the night after meeting Kuzco and Pacha in a random diner, seemingly recognizing Pacha... and then falls right back asleep. A few moments later, Kronk wakes up again, and this time, he gets it.
  Kronk: The peasant! At the diner... He didn't pay his cheque! (falls back asleep for a few moments, then suddenly wakes back up) It's the peasant who I saw leaving the city, who disappeared into the crowd with Kuzco on the back of his cart! (gasp) He must have taken him back to his village. So if we find the village, we find him. And if we find him, we find Kuzco. Oh yeah. It's all coming together.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: Kronk is a huge man who enjoys baking and other similar hobbies. His father who is introduced in the sequel is a short statured man who doesn't view such things as being merits of someone he would consider as successful. Upon seeing the lengths Kronk's friends would do to help him out and their overall view of him however, Kronk's father gives his approval in light of his son's character rather than the standards that he personally believes in.
• Loved by All: Despite being Yzma’s minion, Kronk is a very well liked individual in the empire. In Kronk's New Groove, Kronk has tons of friends who are more than willing to help him impress his father by posing as his wives and children, including Pacha and his family. Kronk even has animal friends like Bucky and jaguars due to learning how to talk to them as a junior chipmunk.
• Minion with an F in Evil: He couldn't be much nicer. The guy is only a villain by virtue of working for the Big Bad. When he makes a Heel–Face Turn, it's believable because it's not like he had all that far to turn in the first place.
  • When Yzma infiltrates Pacha's house by saying they're distant relatives, it seems Kronk actually believes this. He plays games with the kids, has a blast, and doesn't leave without urging Chicha to not wait until the next family reunion for a get together.
  • In spite of going through with the plan to poison Kuzco, Kronk seems to be concerned about the emperor dying.
• Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: Kronk disowns Yzma after she makes an acerbic comment about his beloved spinach puffs. The insult is so harsh that even Kronk's Shoulder Devil is disgusted by it.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Yzma criticizing his spinach puffs is enough for him to turn against her in the climax.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Zigzagged. Kronk is muscular, and he’s fairly athletic, that he can clear long distances in a few minutes, and even Kuzco knows he’d easily lose to him in an arm-wrestling match. But, most of the time, he’s portrayed as averagely strong as the rest of the cast, who are fairly lean in stature.
• Nice Guy: Kronk is a good-hearted man who's quick to make friends with anyone he meets despite working under the Big Bad. He's quite possibly the farthest thing from a villain in any Disney film to date, holding absolutely no grudges or malice against the heroes.
• Nominal Villain: He's only a "villain" because he's working for Yzma, but doesn't actually have an evil bone in his body.
• Odd Friendship: Hits it off pretty quickly with Bucky the Squirrel. Helped by the fact that Kronk is fluent in squirrel.
• Official Couple: With Birdwell in the sequel.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Working for Yzma is just a job for him. He doesn't hold any malice towards Kuzco.
• Real Men Cook: Kronk is revealed to be a great chef, who can make such things, as spinach puffs and fondue. He also has a secret recipe for foie gras. Kronk knows a variety of recipes, as revealed in the first film when he takes over for the chef when the chef quits his job after being criticized by Kuzco. He's also surprisingly good with kitchen talk.
  Kronk: "Three oinkers wearing pants, a plate of hot air, basket of Grandma's breakfast, and change the bull to a gill. Got it."
• Real Men Wear Pink: In addition to baking, some of Kronk's other hobbies include ballet and jump rope.
• Redemption Equals Death: Averted, for comedy. At first it seems that Yzma has killed Kronk by throwing him down a trap door to his death, but he actually emerges from it alive and completely unharmed... in the process, hitting kitty Yzma.
• Smart Ball: Kronk typically ends up being the Only Sane Man in his Good Angel, Bad Angel scenes.
• Spanner in the Works: Due to mixing up the labelling on the potions, Kronk accidentally spiked Kuzco's drink with llama extract instead of poison, which saved the emperor's life at the cost of transforming him into a llama. Kronk is then ordered to dispose of Kuzco, but he doesn't go through with dropping him off the city's canals after a change of heart, and while thinking of another way to get rid of the emperor he accidentally drops him off on Pacha's moving carriage. Knowing he's screwed up, Kronk doesn't tell Yzma what happened until Kuzco gets a head start on his return home.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Kronk can talk to little woodland creatures, thanks to his Junior Chipmunk training.
• Strong Family Resemblance: When his father is shown in the DTV sequel, Kronk looks exactly like him. The only differences are his father's grey hair and short stature.
• Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: He talks to squirrels.
• Supreme Chef: He can cook anything. He even gets Hash House Lingo instantly, and takes over for a missing chef without missing a step.
• Top-Heavy Guy: He mentions that he's a nightmare to tailor for, being a 66 long, 31 waist — meaning, his chest is five and a half feet around.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kronk's affinity for spinach puffs, which he is borderline obsessed with.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Subverted. Kronk lacks some basic common sense and basic intelligence - considering that he cannot follow a conversation for much more than ten seconds - but he is fluent in woodland creature languages (particularly skilled in squirrel), is a Supreme Chef, and even has his own moments of genius clarity and realization. And he fits the "strong" part to a tee.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He accidentally gives Yzma the idea to kill Kuzco.
• Vague Age: According to this exchange:
  Kuzco: He's, what... in his late-twenties?
  Yzma: [uncomfortably] I'm... not sure.
  • However, in Emperor's New School season 2, episode 22, flashbacks indicate that he was in his late teens when Kuzco was just a baby, making him close to twice Kuzco's age.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: All he wants is a thumbs-up from his dad. Granted, the guy isn't very hard to please, as Papi claims that seeing Kronk seemingly having forgotten about cooking and talking animals is more than enough for him. He gets one.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Astoundingly, after he forgets which goblet holds the poisoned drink, he manages to play a mean game of this. Kronk proceeds to mix all three drinks so that they are all poisoned, communicate this fact to Yzma, and covertly dispose of his own drink while Kuzco remains none the wiser.

Kronk's Consciences

Devil Kronk: "Don't listen to that guy, he's trying to lead you down the path of righteousness. I'm gonna lead you down the path that rocks!"

Angel Kronk: "Oh, come off it!"

Devil Kronk: "You come off it!"

Voiced in English by: Patrick Warburton

Voiced in European French by: Emmanuel Curtil

Voiced in Japanese by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Ruben Cerda

Voiced in Swedish by: Fredrik Hiller

Kronk's shoulder angel and shoulder devil. They appear whenever he faces a moral dilemma, but their constant bickering and questionable logic don't help him come to a conclusion.

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• Big Bad: Kronk's shoulder devil in Kronk's New Groove, since Yzma plays a more minimal role this sequel and is barely working against Kronk. While Papi's impending arrival and Kronk's fear of disappointing him are what drives the main conflict, the shoulder devil continuously encourages Kronk to take the selfish and easy path to winning Papi's approval, nearly causing Kronk to compromise his morals.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: They're not any less outlandish than their Ego. Sometimes he even acts as their Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder.
• Crossdresser: Kronk's shoulder devil teases his good counterpart for being this, though Angel Kronk insists he's wearing a robe.
• Dramatic Gun Cock: Devil Kronk manages to do this with his trident when he turns on Yzma.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As eager as he is to make his Ego commit bad acts, Kronk's shoulder devil is appalled at Yzma for insulting her sidekick's spinach puffs and decides to turn on her.
• Evil Is Cool: In-universe example. The shoulder devil wants Kronk to do evil because it's "the path that rocks".
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: They appear when Kronk has conflicted thoughts, but they're not good at their job and usually leave Kronk to make decisions by himself.
• Good Feels Good: Angel Kronk wants Kronk to become a better person, but his evil counterpart makes fun of him for it.
• Harp of Femininity: Angel Kronk also gets teased by Devil Kronk for using one of these. He calmly, but clearly frustratedly tells his evil counterpart that it's not called a "sissy stringy music thing".
• Heel–Face Turn: Devil Kronk undergoes one after Yzma insults Kronk's spinach puffs. He goes back to being the traditional shoulder devil in the sequel, though.
• Inner Thoughts, Outsider Puzzlement: They're only visible to Kronk, so while we see a man having an inner conflict through his eyes, through everyone else's we see a deluded buffoon talking to himself.
• Insane Troll Logic: Devil Kronk's reasons to not listen to Angel Kronk are 1) his good counterpart uses a harp and wears a robe, and 2) he can do a one-armed handstand. Somehow, Angel Kronk agrees with his evil counterpart on the latter.
• Insistent Terminology: Angel Kronk's "sissy stringy music thing" is called a harp, and he's wearing a robe, not a dress.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Kronk's shoulder angel is just as musclebound as his Ego, and he likes to get his hair dressed when off-duty.
• Significant Double Casting: Since they're figments of Kronk's imagination, they have the same voice actor as him.

Chicha

Voiced by: Wendie Malick

Voiced in French by: Frédérique Tirmont (European French dub)

Voiced in Spanish by: Rebeca Patiño (Latin Spanish dub

Voiced in Swedish by: Anna Rydgren

Pacha's frustrated wife. Despite being pregnant and busy raising two kids, she's a true spitfire who wouldn't think twice about giving the Emperor himself a piece of her mind! A loving mama and loyal wife who, in a pinch, proves she's not to be messed with. Ever.

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• Action Mom: She's very pregnant, so she doesn't do much in terms of action, but she's pretty quick with a Frying Pan of Doom.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: Not for Kuzco's death but celebrated with her children when Kuzco was graduating and finally going to move out of their home.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's a very loving mother and wonderful woman, but can be quite fierce when angered and sadistic when given free reign to torture Yzma.
• Brutal Honesty: Considering how selfish Kuzco had been and with him living under her roof, she doesn't hold back against him.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Uses a frying pan to hit Kuzco (still a llama) after he accidently scared her.
• Good Parents: Along with Pacha, she is a kind and loving parent.
• Happily Married: Has a warm and loving relationship with Pacha.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The Tiny Girl to Pacha's Huge Guy.
• Neat Freak: When Pacha reports that Kuzco refused to see him, Chicha gets so frustrated that the only thing she can do to let off steam is to go and wash something. Naturally, Kuzco's slovenliness tends to irk her.
• Nice Girl: She's a loving wife towards Pacha and a loving mother towards her children.
• Parental Substitute: She admits to Kuzco in one episode that he's like a son to her, though she doesn't want him to call her mommy.
• Pregnant Badass: Yes, in a Disney animated film. Played more realistically than usual since she's almost at term, but she still clocks Kuzco and makes a fool of Yzma with the help of her other kids.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: According to Pacha, she crochets. At the end of the film she presents Kuzco with a poncho (decorated with a llama, naturally).

Chaca

Voiced by: Kellyann Kelso (1st film), Jessie Flower (2nd film and series)

Voiced in French by: Camille Donda (European French dub)

Voiced in Spanish by: Anaís Portillo (Latin Spanish dub, first movie); Jessica Ángeles (Latin Spanish dub, second movie and TV series)

Voiced in Swedish by: Linnea Järpestam (first movie), Norea Sjöqvist (second movie, TV series)

Pacha and Chicha's oldest child and only daughter. Chaca gets into fights with her brother, Tipo, and is quite talkative.

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• Girlish Pigtails: She has two pigtails, but isn't exactly girly.
• Improbable Hairstyle: How do her pigtails stand up like that?
• Motor Mouth: Can out-talk anyone.
• Nice Girl: Chaca is a fun-loving and sweet person.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: Together with Tipo. They both agree to hit the hay rather than listen to Pacha and Chicha talk about how much they love each other.
• Sibling Team: With Tipo when they distract Yzma with their mother.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: A sibling version. With Tipo. Justified since she's older.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Both she and Tipo are very smart and help their mother in her plan to stall the villains so Kuzco and their father can get back to the palace. It's revealed in the series that she's a straight-A student.

Tipo

Voiced by: Eli Russell Linnetz (1st and 2nd flm), Shane Baumel (series)

Voiced in French by: Matthias Mella (European French dub)

Voiced in Spanish by: Raúl Garduño (Latin Spanish dub, first movie); Manuel Díaz (Latin Spanish dub, second movie and TV series)

Voiced in Swedish by: Anton Nyman (first movie), Daniel Melén (second movie, TV series)

Pacha and Chicha's middle child and oldest son. Tipo gets into fights with his sister, Chaca and wants to be just like his dad.

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• Adaptational Modesty: He was shirtless in the first movie, but wears a shirt in later installments.
• Ascended Extra: Tipo gets more screentime in the sequel.
• Cassandra Truth: "I had a dream that Dad was tied to a log and was careening out of control down a raging river of death!" Turned out he was right.
• Friend to Bugs: One of the things Tipo likes is bugs.
• Nice Guy: Tipo has a kind and fun-loving personality.
• Sibling Team: With Chaca when they distract Yzma with their mother.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: A sibling version. With Chaca. Justified since he's younger.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Implied. Tipo greatly admires his father and wants to be just like him.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Like Chaca, Tipo is very smart for his age and helps his mother and sister distract Yzma so his father and Kuzco can escape back to the palace. He and Chaca also very often help Kuzco out in the TV series.

Bucky the Squirrel

Voiced by: Bob Bergen

Bucky is a kind, happy squirrel who enjoys eating nuts and has a good sense of friendship, good enough to make him hate arrogant people like Kuzco and act cross with them. He is also a great friend of Kronk's and is a tutor on Squirrel Speak in Kuzco Academy.

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• Beware the Nice Ones: Best shown when he first meets Kuzco as a llama. Bucky arrives and amiably offers him an acorn. Kuzco takes the acorn in mock pleasantry but then hits Bucky on the head with it and tells him to hit the road. Right after, Kuzco falls into an area filled with sleeping jaguars. Bucky blows up a balloon animal and threatens to pop it. He does so but it fails to wake up the jaguars until Kuzco screams "Ha!" He later tells Kronk, and by extension Yzma, which way Kuzco went, where before they were utterly lost.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Kuzco was undoubtedly a complete jerk to him for no reason whatsoever, but trying to feed him to a pack of jaguars borders on Comedic Sociopathy. Beware the Nice Ones, indeed.
• Jerkass to One: We only see his dark side around Kuzco, but it is justified because this is Kuzco we're talking about.
• Meaningful Name: He is a squirrel with buck teeth named Bucky.
• Nice Guy: Offers an acorn to anyone he meets. Just make sure you appreciate his gift, or else he'll wake up a pack of jaguars as revenge.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Bucky reappears in the sequel as Kronk's "sidekick" of sorts. He is also a part of Kronk's Squirrel Scouts organization.
• Odd Friendship: With Kronk. Helped by the fact that Kronk is fluent in squirrel.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Kuzco refers to him as "Bucky".
• Screwball Squirrel: He is first nice and friendly, but when Kuzco tells him off, he goes into full sadist mode, making a llama-shaped balloon animal and popping it to wake up a pack of jaguars.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Like any squirrel, Bucky is fond of nuts and acorns.
• Troll: If threatening to wake up a sleeping pack of killer jaguars with a balloon animal wasn't enough, Bucky also makes it into the shape of a llama and mercilessly taunts Kuzco before popping it.

Introduced in Kronk's New Groove

Papi

Voiced by: John Mahoney (film), Jeff Bennett (series)

Voiced in French by: Marc Cassot (European French dub)

Voiced in Spanish by: Jesse Conde (Latin Spanish dub)

Voiced in Swedish by: Torsten Wahlund

Introduced in Kronk's New Groove, Papi is Kronk's father, and while he can be a very harsh, overly strict individual, he does have a more benevolent side too.

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• Abusive Parents: Kronk's quite terrified of him, and sure enough, he comes across as being rather awfully stern and domineering toward his son, not to mention he always rubbed in young Kronk's face his distaste regarding Kronk's hobbies such as cooking and talking to animals, which he seems to consider stereotypically girly and unfit for a man. However, his care for his son is genuine nonetheless, and he does love Kronk, albeit in his own Drill Sergeant Nasty manner.
• A Dog Named "Dog": A dad named Papi (The word Papi being a diminutive of "Papá", the spanish word for dad).
• Anti-Climax: His imposing silhouette in Kronk's flashback seemingly makes him out to be a rather tall, almost monstrous individual. Sure enough, when Papi comes to Mudka's near the end of the movie, we hear gigantic footsteps coming from him as he approaches the restaurant... and he turns out to be a rather short-sized man. Don't let that fool you though.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Papi may act like an army general toward Kronk most of the time, but his love for his son is genuine, and he happily gives Kronk the thumbs-up he desired so much upon seeing how far he has come, followed by him and Kronk embracing.
• Beta Couple: He eventually meets and falls in love with Mudka's waitress.
• Disappointed in You: He frequently gives Kronk the dreaded 'Nostril Flare of Total Rejection' whenever Kronk doesn't live up to his expectations of him in his childhood.
• The Dreaded: Kronk is utterly scared of what will happen to him if Papi sees he did not live to his expectations, and even shows a list of furious expressions he might make when he finds out Kronk is a cook. Even Pacha and others seem to find him slightly intimidating.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: He constantly behaves like this around Kronk, barking out military orders to him, and when he meets Chaka and her little brother under the lie that they are Kronk's children, he angrily orders them to stand tall and say their name and ages. Granted, this one is more understandable, as Papi first asked them kindly to introduce themselves, but since they refused to answer out of fear, he had to yell at them.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: He greatly disaproves of Kronk's fondness for cooking and talking to animals, and would rather prefer for him to settle down with a family on a nice house on a hill, but eventually changes his mind in the end, and tells his son he's proud of the man he's become.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Indeed, upon finding out his son ultimately did not achieve any of the things he hoped for him (Wife, children, and a house on the hill) and became a cook, Papi's utterly furious and disappointed, and even outright says that Kronk caring more for his friends prevented him from obtaining the whole house-on-the-hill-and-family thing. However, once he hears Kronk did win those things, but lost them by making many sacrifices for the ones he cared about, he comes to terms with this, and rewards his son's selflessness with a thumbs-up and a hug.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: He seems somewhat elderly and is very short.
• The Napoleon: What he lacks in height, he makes up for it with his belligerent attitude.
• Skyward Scream: After the fondue explodes and floods everything, pretty much destroying Kronk's lie:
  —KROOOOOOOOONKEEEEEERRRR!!!!!.
• So Proud of You: After realizing Kronk legitimately earned a house on a hill and a girlfriend, but gave them up by making sacrifices for his friends, Papi finally awards him the 'big thumbs-up' he deserved, and tells his son he's proud of him before giving him a hug.
• Stout Strength: He's a little portly, but far from a slob.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Kronk looks quite a good deal like Papi, having a similar head, upper body and even the same hair style as him.
• Tempting Fate: Upon meeting Kronk's "family" at Mudka's, he says he's starving and hopes the chef knows what he's doing, completely oblivious at that moment of Kronk's poor attempt at maintaining his lie.

Birdwell

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Voiced by: Tracey Ullman

Voiced in French by: Laëtitia Lefebvre (European French dub)

Voiced in Spanish by: Patricia Palestino (Latin Spanish dub)

Voiced in Swedish by: Myrra Malmberg

Birdwell is the troop captain of her "Chippers" and the Love Interest of Kronk in the sequel.

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• Affectionate Nickname: "Miss Birdy-poo" by Kronk.
• Animal Motifs: Like her name suggests, she has some avian qualities.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Birdwell is an absolute sweetheart...until you harm any of her Chippers.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Like Konk, she has black and thick eyebrows.
• Birds of a Feather: With Kronk. Both are friendly chipmunk scout leaders (making them both Friend to All Children), love baking, are Spirited Competitors, and are amazing dancers.
• Color Motifs: The color orange surrounds her a lot.
• Dub Name Change: She is named "Avelinda" (Pretty bird) in the Latin American dub.
• Establishing Character Moment: When she helps her youngest charge get over a fear of swimming by talking it out and using a doll as an example.
• Et Tu, Brute?: She's furious that Kronk told Tipo to 'do whatever it takes to win' in the final round of the competition, and breaks up with him as a result.
• Everyone Has Standards: She may be the competitive type, but she draws the line at cheating.
• Foil: She is as devoted to her charges as Kronk is to his. She's just more concerned about the rules and procedure, whereas he's more fun-loving. Design-wise, she's almost the perfect foil to Kronk, too. While he's a wide, muscular man with a thick neck, narrow head, small hips, nose and feet, she's a really thin and lean woman with a very thin long neck, wide head, and really big hips, nose and feet.
• Friend to All Children: Why she became a troop captain. She is very kind and helpful to her "Chippers", and would not let anything happen to them, especially to the point of not letting Kronk and his Chipmunks ruin their events.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The lean and trim Birdwell becomes an Official Couple with Kronk, the One Head Taller Gentle Giant.
• Love Interest: To Kronk in the sequel.
• Meaningful Name: Birdwell's animal motif are of avian qualities.
• Nice Girl: Has a caring and loving personality.
• Odd Name Out: In a cast filled with ancient Mesoamerican and Spanish names, she sticks out like a sore thumb.
• Official Couple: With Kronk at the end of his movie, where Tipo, feeling guilty over the prank he pulled on the Chippers, reunites them.
• Prim and Proper Bun: She wears her hair in a tight bun.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She initially didn't like Kronk because she thought he was a careless troop leader. After they make bread together, she realizes that he's more than what she thought: Kind, romantic, and loves his "chippers". She falls for him as instantly as he falls for her.

Introduced in The Emperor's New School

Malina

Voiced in English by: Jessica DiCicco

Voiced in European French by: Dorothée Pousséo

Voiced in Japanese by: Yuu Asakawa

Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Gaby Ugarte

A new main character in the spin-off series. She's Kuzco's Love Interest, which isn't a well kept secret. Malina is a cheerleader and the school council president who also is very smart and prints the Academy's news scroll. She is also a straight-A student, which is apparently a requirement for the cheerleading squad (which is a twist to most stereotypical "airheaded" cheerleaders).

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• The Ace: Head cheerleader, school council president, attractive.
• Animal Motifs: It's subtle, but she's loosely associated with birds. She is seen wearing a poncho with a bird on it at one point, matching Kuzco's llama poncho, and about the only time she's transformed by one of Yzma's animal potions, she becomes a parrot.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: She has black, rectangular-shaped eyebrows.
• Broken Ace: Shows this in Season 2. She is driven to excel almost to the point of having a nervous breakdown if she doesn't do everything perfectly perfect (a prime example of a Type A personality).
• Characterization Marches On: Eventually is given flaws; notably, she's made into a perfectionist and occasionally a control freak. And she's noted to be a bit competitive, to the point that even Kuzco thinks she's scary.
  Malina: I love winning!
• Control Freak: On a bad day, she will leverage her "Malina Stare" to make sure everything goes the way she wants without consideration for others.
• Death Glare: The "Malina Stare", something that both Kuzco and Kronk are terrified of. It's even accompanied by "Psycho" Strings.
• Dude Magnet: Malina has attracted a number of men, including Kuzco; if you remember from the first movie, he showed absolute disinterest in all of the attractive women who he was to choose for a bride.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: She's constantly annoyed not just by Kuzco constantly calling her his girlfriend, but the fact that others seem to believe it. Though she gets less frustrated with it as the series goes on.
• Literal Split Personality: At one point, Kuzco splits her in dozens of parts of her personality so he could date the part that was in love with him. Naturally, this ended in disaster.
• Morality Pet: The only times Kuzco will do something selfless is when Malina wants him to.
• Nice Girl: Malina has a very high moral mindset.
• Not So Above It All: Though usually the Only Sane Woman, occasionally she would fall into her own faults and oddball traits, especially later on in the series - for example, one episode deals with her getting increasingly obsessed with getting first place in a meaningless contest to the point of cheating.
• Official Couple: With Kuzco by the series finale.
• Only Sane Woman: She will usually be the one to be the most rational when it comes to some kind of craziness or Kuzco's selfishness.
• The Perfectionist: Increasingly as the series went on. A few later episodes dealt with how she got in her own way because of this.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Malina admits that she does like Kuzco and would really like him, if it weren't for his arrogance and egotism.
• Smarter Than You Look: While not looking "dumb", being a straight-A student while also being the head cheerleader is unusual.

Mr. Moleguaco

Voiced by: Curtis Armstrong; Roberto Mendiola (Latin Spanish dub)

Kuzco's teacher.

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• Apathetic Teacher: He becomes this over time. He's usually pretty reasonable and good with students, but he's often exasperated by Kuzco's antics and eventually worn down. By Season 2, he acknowledges how he encourages Kuzco to skip class and welcomes the idea of being fired.
  Mr. Moleguaco: [to class] Wake me when I have to do something.
• Punny Name: Mr. Moleguaco. Get it? Like the word guacamole?
• Stern Teacher: He often finds himself constantly lecturing Kuzco on his various shenanigans and forces Kuzco to learn from them with an assignment.

Kavo

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson; Francisco Colmenero (Latin Spanish dub)

The school bully whom Kuzco loves to pick on, resulting in him often being targeted.

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• Bullying a Dragon: He frequently harasses Kuzco, but it's often because of Kuzco bothering him first.
• Hidden Depths: He can sing very well and is a member of the Kuzco Academy musical club, as revealed in Girls Behaving Oddly.
• Hulk Speak: Among the things about Kavo that Kuzco makes fun of is the way he talks, which is in broken sentences and in third person.

Guaca

Voiced by: Justin Cowden; Víctor Ugarte (Latin Spanish dub)

Kuzco's biggest fanboy from the spin-off show, who is often taken advantage of by Kuzco.

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• Ascended Extra: He was a mere background character in the first season. In the second season, he has a more prominent role.
• Character Catchphrase: "Kuzco rules!"
• Everyone Has Standards: While a real Fan Boy to Kuzco, there are times when Kuzco makes him angry. He even joined everyone in saying they hated Kuzco when his scheme to get them out of work only succeeded in getting them a mean substitute teacher who octupled their homework.
• Fan Boy: To Kuzco.

Yatta

Voiced by: Miley Cyrus; Georgina "Gina" Sánchez (Latin Spanish dub)

A waitress at Mutka's introduced in the second season.

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• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Despite being voiced by Miley Cyrus, she gets rejected from the school musical.

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