History YMMV / TheTaleOfDespereaux

[[AC: Book]]

[[AC: Film]]

* UncannyValley: Princess Pea. Her body is the same proportion as the other humans, yet her head is about twice as large with a forehead that could hold a heliport.

* MagnificentBastard: Roscuro used to be a rat living in a ship, accidentally causing the death of the Queen of Dor due to his imprudence and causing Dor to become a gloomy place. Taken by the tyrannical Boticelli Remorso, Roscuro becomes his servant, helping him in the oppression of the other rats of the rat world with guilt, even helping Despereaux due to their mutual curiosity for the outside world. Intending to atone for his actions, Roscuro tries to apologize to Princess Pea but is harshly rejected. Resenting that, Roscuro manipulates the naive Miggery "Mig" Sow to kidnap the Princess by faking kindness before locking her in a room. Realizing his own awfulness after seeing Pea's despair, Roscuro betrays Boticelli and dooms him to his death, apologizing for his actions and returning to his life at sea after Dor returns to its former radiance.

* TearJerker: You will cry. You will cry a ''lot''.

* JerkassWoobie: Roscuro qualifies, although [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn drops the Jerkass part.]]

* TheWoobie: Despereaux and Mig both qualify.

* CompleteMonster: [[YouDirtyRat Boticelli Remorso]] is the cruel leader of the lower rat world. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces [[NiceMice innocent mice]], such as the protagonist, Despereaux, into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to [[DevouredByTheHorde eat her]], trample her and cause her great pain. Boticelli's evil is further cemented by the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld.

* CompleteMonster: [[YouDirtyRat Boticelli Remorso]] is the cruel leader of the lower rat world. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, Despereaux, into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. Boticelli's evil is further cemented by the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld.

** JerkassWoobie: Roscuro qualifies, although [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn drops the Jerkass part.]]

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Boldo the MAN MADE OF FRUIT? Although it's not technically a moment, he could be a BLAM character. WTH?
** Judging from the way he appears, Boldo could well be a ghost whose particular gimmick involves "possessing" food.
** Magical Soup Genie, actually. The DVD says so, with the Build-a-Boldo game.

* CompleteMonster: Boticelli Remorso is the [[YouDirtyRat cruel leader of the lower rat world]]. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, Despereaux, into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. Boticelli's evil is further cemented by the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilAlbino Boticelli Remorso]] is the [[YouDirtyRat cruel leader of the lower rat world]]. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, Despereaux, into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. Boticelli's evil is further cemented by the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilAlbino Boticelli Remorso]] is the [[YouDirtyRat cruel leader of the lower rat world]]. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, Despereaux, into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic to them cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. A detail throughout the movie that adds to Boticelli's status as a monster is the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld; it is made clear this is his and his subordinate's doing.

* MagnificentBastard: Roscuro used to be a rat living in a ship, accidentally causing the death of the Queen of Dor due to his imprudence and causing Dor to become a gloomy place. Taken by the tyrannical Boticelli Remorso, Roscuro becomes his servant, helping him in the oppression of the other rats of the rat world with guilt, even helping Despereaux due to their mutual curiosity for the outside world. Intending to atone for his actions, Roscuro tries to apologize to Princess Pea but is harshly rejected. Resenting that, Roscuro manipulates the naive Miggery "Mig" Sow to kidnap the Princess by faking kindness before locking her in a room. Realizing his own awfulness after seeing Pea's despair, Roscuro betrays Boticelli and dooms him to his death, apologizing for his actions and returning to his life at sea after Dor returns to its former radiance.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilAlbino Boticelli Remorso]] is the cruel leader of the lower rat world. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, [[WouldHurtAChild Despereaux]], into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic to them cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises Princess Pea for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. A detail throughout the movie that adds to Boticelli's status as a monster is the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld; it is made clear this is his and his subordinate's doing.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilAlbino Boticelli Remorso]] is the cruel leader of the lower rat world. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, [[WouldHurtAChild Despereaux]], into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic to them cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises [[DamselInDistress Princess Pea]] for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to eat her, trample her and cause her great pain. A detail throughout the movie that adds to Boticelli's status as a monster is the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld; it is made clear this is his and his subordinate's doing.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilAlbino Boticelli Remorso]] is the [[EvilOldFolks cruel leader]] of the lower rat world. Believing the only true meaning of life is [[{{Sadist}} other people's suffering]], he forces innocent mice, such as the protagonist, [[WouldHurtAChild Despereaux]], into incredibly one-sided [[GladiatorGames gladiator-like games]] in a Colosseum, pitting them against a gigantic (to them) cat where the only outcome is being eaten and dying in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty rats. He despises [[DamselInDistress Princess Pea]] for no apparent reason, and as such orders his hundreds of rats to [[ImAHumanitarian eat her]], trample her and cause her great pain. A detail throughout the movie that adds to Boticelli's status as a monster is the skulls and bones littered throughout Ratworld; it is made clear this is his and his subordinate's doing. Throughout all of these events, Boticelli is happy with it, because, as mentioned, he [[AxCrazy loves other people's suffering]].

* MagnificentBastard: Roscuro used to be a rat living in a ship, accidentally causing the death of the Queen of Dor due to his imprudence and causing Dor to become a gloomy place. Taken by the tyrannical Boticelli Remorso, Roscuro becomes his servant, helping him in the oppression of the other rats of the rat world with guilt, even helping Despereaux due to their mutual curiosity for the outside world. Intending to atone for his actions, Roscuro tries to apologize to Princess Pea but is harshly rejected. Resenting that, Roscuro manipulates the naive Miggery "Mig" Sow to kidnap the Princess by faking kindness before locking her in a room. Realizing his own awfulness after seeing Pea's despair, Roscuro betrays Boticelli and dooms him to his death, apologizing for his actions and returning to his life at sea after Dor returns to its former radiance.

* DeconReconSwitch: At several points in the book, the author points out how ridiculous love is, how contradictory forgiveness seems, and how foolish courage appears to be, but she always turns right around and says that even so, they are powerful forces and often even necessary to the world. Indeed, these three ideals are what end up saving the day in the end.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Bolba the MAN MADE OF FRUIT? Although it's not technically a moment, he could be a BLAM character. WTH?
** Judging from the way he appears, Bolba could well be a ghost whose particular gimmick involves "possessing" food.

* DeconReconSwitch: At several points in the book, the author points out how ridiculous love is, how contradictory forgiveness seems, and how foolish courage appears to be, but he always turns right around and says that even so, they are powerful forces and often even necessary to the world. Indeed, these three ideals are what end up saving the day in the end.

* DeconReconSwitch: At several points in the book, the author points out how ridiculous love is, how contradictory forgiveness seems, and how foolish courage appears to be, but he always turns right around and says that even so, they are powerful forces and often even necessary to the world. Indeed, these three ideals are what end up saving the day in the end.

* AdaptationDistillation / AdaptationDecay: Many plot elements and characters were removed or changed for the film. Whether or not this was a good thing is [[YourMileageMayVary up to you]].

* HeyItsThatVoice: Despereaux is [[FerrisBuellersDayOff Ferris Bueller]]. The princess is [[HarryPotter Hermione Granger]] and the mouse with the thread is ChristopherLloyd. And the narrator is SigourneyWeaver.