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Eugene Fitzherbert / "Flynn Rider"

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"I have dreams like you, no really—just much less touchy-feely: on an island that I own, tanned and rested and alone... surrounded by enormous piles of money!"
Voiced by: Zachary Levi, Sean Giambrone (teenage in The Series);
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): José Gilberto Vilchis (trailer and The Series), Elmer Figueroa Arce aka Chayanne (film)
Voiced by (French): Romain Duris, Emmanuel Dahl (singing)/(French series): Alexis Victor, Emmanuel Dahl (singing)
Voiced by (German): Moritz Bleibtreu
Voiced by (Korean): We Hoon
Voiced by (Japanese): Hiroshi Hatanaka
Voiced by (Swedish): Mans Zelmerlow (Movie), Jonas Bane (Show)
Voiced by (Hebrew): Michael Einav
Appearances: Tangled | The Series | Ever After | Frozen (2013)note 
Appearances in alternate continuities: Kingdom Hearts IIInote 

The film's Deuteragonist, a career thief on the run for stealing the missing princess's tiara, who finds himself trying to hide out in her tower. Rapunzel, with no previous knowledge of the outside world, convinces him to accompany her to see the lanterns.


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    #-G 
  • #1 Dime: He carries a small hair comb, which he claims is the first thing he ever stole. He even went so far as to have it personalized with his alias's name.
  • Achievements in Ignorance: Without trying to, he discovers the Kingdom of Corona's lost princess who the royal guards have been trying to find for the past 18 years.
  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the original tale, "the prince" (whom Flynn is based on) apparently had no sort of troubles given his royal status. Here, he grew up in an orphanage with a desire to make money.
  • Adaptational Badass: In a fighting sense. The prince from the original doesn't do much aside from climbing Rapunzel's hair. Here, he is an excellent fighter when he needs to be.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: In the original tale, "the prince" (whom Flynn is based on) is the stereotypical heroic character. Here, he is a selfish anti-heroic thief, but becomes less selfish after spending time with Rapunzel and steps up to true blue heroism.
  • Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. Not in a fighting sense, but his original version is royalty, not a peasant. That is, until Season 2 of the series reveals that he was royalty all along.
  • Age-Gap Romance: With Rapunzel, kinda, albeit a small gap. She is clearly stated as being 18-years-old, but his age is more complicated. In short, his age is somewhere between 18 and 26. It's clarified in the series. By the season 2 finale, it is shown that he is 25 years old. Since the season 2 finale is almost a year after the 1st season finale (Rapunzel says they've been on the road for nearly a year), which is stated to be almost exactly one year after the movie, Eugene is 23 in the movie; making him 5 years older than Rapunzel.
  • Amazon Chaser: He admires Rapunzel's Action Girliness.
    • He meets Rapunzel in a Love at First Punch nature. He compliments her gutsy nature when confronting the Pub Thugs, thinking she wouldn't have it in her, and it's only after this moment that he starts to fall for her. During their escape from the royal guards and Maximus, a quick moment shows Eugene looking in admiration at Rapunzel using her hair as a means to escape.
    • In "Cassandra's Revenge," he gets to see Rapunzel as she unlocks the full power of the Sundrop, faces off with Cassandra, and wins. He says it was awesome.
    • In "Flynnposter", when the fake-Flynn Rider comments in awe about how they were supposed to save Rapunzel, Eugene proudly declares that Rapunzel is the one who normally does the saving.
  • Anti-Hero: He's a greedy and self-centered thief; he's shown early in the movie to be perfectly fine with leaving his fellow thieves behind to keep all the goods for himself. He starts out helping Rapunzel for his personal gain, but as the story goes on, Flynn reveals that he's not really a bad person deep down. His growing love for Rapunzel is enough for him to change his ways and leave his criminal life behind.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: When he first meets Rapunzel. "I know not who you are..."
  • Ascended Extra: In the original, the Prince doesn't show up until at least halfway through the story, here he's present from the very start and rescuing Rapunzel from the tower is only the beginning of the story.
  • Audience Surrogate: Flynn can be seen as this, especially during the "I've Got A Dream" song, where he is the only one (besides Pascal) who wonders why all the bar tenants of the Snuggly Duckling broke out into a Crowd Song all of a sudden. His reaction to Rapunzel's magic hair, full of shock, is also relatable. Out of all the characters, he seems to be the one that understands how bizarre the situation is like fighting Maximus (who is a horse using a sword) with a frying pan in a duel.
    Flynn: you should know that this is the strangest thing I've ever done!
  • Back from the Dead: He initially dies in the film's climax from a fatal stab wound. But, Rapunzel's tear (which also had her healing ability) brings him back to life.
  • Balls of Steel: During his escape from captivity at the climax, he is launched high in the air and lands on Maximus on his pelvic area. He doesn't show any pain from landing like that afterwards.
  • Battle Couple: With Rapunzel. They help each other fight off the guards chasing him and save each other several times as they fall in love with each other. The pilot movie for The Series shows that the two of them have lost none of their stride. When Lady Caine attempts to kidnap the royals, a few eye gestures between Eugene, Rapunzel, and handmaid Cassandra are all they need before they leap into action to save the day. Rapunzel even tosses Eugene a frying pan, at which point, the tide of battle really begins to turn in their favor.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Eugene mentions Rapunzel is the first person to like his real self better than whom he pretends to be, which is why he falls in love with her.
  • Berserk Button: While Eugene doesn't completely fly off the handle, he really doesn't like having his abilities as a thief questioned. He reacts deeply insulted when Angry suggests he was bad at thievery, and shows only disdain towards people labeled a "master thief", dryly refusing to call the Silent Swiper by that name.
  • Be Yourself: His character development is kicked off with Rapunzel saying she prefers "Eugene" to "Flynn".
  • Big Brother Instinct: Develops this towards Varian in the third season, to the point of protectively holding his hand when Cassandra pulls them into her black rock tower.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Eugene speaks fluent Italian and this is what tips him off when a fake Italian arrives at the castle. Eugene notices that the impostor fails at basic Italian grammar/sentence structure and thus can't be who he claims he is.
  • Book Dumb: The series notes that as an orphan, Eugene has had very minimal schooling (he claims three days) and so he's actually quite bad at math. He's street smart to make up for it thankfully, and surprisingly is multilingual and good enough at spelling to recognize a homograph pun.
  • Brainy Brunette: No, he's not academically smart compared the other characters. But, Eugene is very quick-witted (and has dark brown hair). He has the most street-savvy, knows every criminal trick (and invented a great deal of them) and will usually rely on his wits to get out of a sticky situation. What he lacks in book smarts, he more than makes up for in street smarts.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Considering he was a selfish thief, he doesn't really remember half the things he did, including to other people. This royally serves to bite him throughout the TV show, which include:
    • He doesn't recall having robbed the Queen eight years prior, because for him back in the day, she was just another noblewoman victim to his routine business. But, since he wants to marry her daughter, he has sudden reason to care.
    • Years ago, he left his then-fianceé Stalyan stranded at the altar when they were supposed to marry. Now, she's still understandably very pissed about it, while he acts nonchalant about it and insists they let it go.
    • Lampshaded in "Rapunzel and the Great Tree" when he is being pursued by Hector and rescued by Rapunzel, and he's more accustomed to events that would have fazed him in the past:
      Eugene: Two years ago, I'd call fighting jackal monsters on the back of a speeding carriage whilst a rhinoceros chases the woman I love absolutely bonkers. Now I call it Tuesday.
  • Butt-Monkey: He takes a lot of comedic abuse in the movie and the series as well. Though this is only of the comedic variety (with some exceptions); he considers himself an extremely fortunate person to have met Rapunzel and gained a better life.
  • Cannot Keep a Secret: Eugene isn't very good at keeping secrets. This is one of the reasons why Cassandra didn't want to trust him with her and Rapunzel's secret of how her hair grew back.
  • The Captain: In "Flynnpostor", the Captain of the Guards passes his title to him due to not wanting to fight Cassandra, despite him being a former thief. The following two episodes have Eugene putting his new position to very good use.
  • Character Development: He stops caring only about himself and learns to love and care for others, as well as to just be himself. While he still maintains his aloof and narcissistic facade in company, he proves to be very insightful whenever Rapunzel's having trouble and does whatever he can to protect her and others. This is a large improvement from his originally selfish and greedy character.
  • Character Name Alias: His real name is Eugene Fitzherbert or so he thinks. "Flynn Rider" is the name of the hero of "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider", a story he loved as a child. He starts going by Eugene again later in the movie. However, it led some people like Varian to believe he's the real deal.
  • The Charmer: Played with. Flynn tries (and fails) to be this when first meeting Rapunzel, using his smolder, which he even attempted on her mom in the past. However, it's implied outside of the movie that he really was a successful charmer, as he really got around prior to meeting and settling with Rapunzel. He calls himself the "dating master" and says his trick was "about the charm". On one occasion, Rapunzel orders Eugene to charm everybody out of a room. He succeeds within seconds. Later on in the series, we finally get to see the smolder to its full effect. The conclusion seems to be that rather than him simply being bad at it, Rapunzel has no experience or understanding of seduction of any kind, so she's completely immune to his moves (including said smolder) due to her innocence.
    • He later uses the Full Smolder on Rapunzel's evil doppelganger clone to distract her. She's so stunned with adoration, she literally cannot move and is stuck in a love-struck daze. In season 2, while on the island, he practices the smolder on a group of (implied female) crabs. One crab gasps from awe and faints. Even pure evil (and female island creatures) cannot resist the impact of this charm!
  • Childhood Friends: He has known Lance Strongbow/Arnwaldo Schnitz since his childhood at the orphanage. They're very close friends, though their relationship went a bit rocky for a while when Eugene gave up his life as a thief.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Flynn, at least at the start of the film, cares more about what will work out best for him than keeping alliances. Right at the beginning, he betrays the Stabbington brothers by taking the tiara for himself and leaving them to get caught by the royal guards. After "agreeing" to take Rapunzel to the lights, he at first attempts to manipulate her and scare her off.
  • Conveniently an Orphan: Part of his backstory is being an orphan to simplify his character in the movie. Though he does hint that there was an Orphan's Ordeal back there.
  • Cunning Linguist: Eugene states that he's been all around the world. In "Fitzherbert P.I." Eugene, who speaks fluent Italian, smells a rat about the impersonator painter because the latter messes up his subject-verb tense. Eugene explains his skills with, "Italy has stuff to steal too!" He sometimes drops in some Spanish words, too.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: He grew up in an orphanage and became a criminal in order to support himself and achieve his dreams of a better life.
  • A Darker Me: Flynn Ryder is a Chronic Backstabbing Disorder Gentleman Thief who thinks of himself as a Lovable Rogue but really is more like a Smug Snake who is not as cool as he imagines himself to be. He merely adopted a Character Name Alias of a Childhood Hero persona (A fourth grader idea of someone cool) to cover for Eugene Fitzherbert, a guy who suffered an Orphan's Ordeal and considers himself a This Loser Is You protagonist who whenever is afraid, becomes Flynn Ryder to cover for his Hidden Heart of Gold.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He takes every opportunity to snark about his current situation.
  • Death by Adaptation: Subverted. His counterpart in the source material suffers a nasty Eye Scream instead of dying. The problem is still sorted by Rapunzel's tears, though.
  • Decoy Protagonist: The trailers made it seem like Flynn was the star, even though he is very much the deuteragonist. In-movie, Flynn is the leading narrator, but he quickly denounces himself from being the main character and goes on to tell that yes, this is the story of Rapunzel.
  • Defrosting Ice King: At first, Flynn comes across as a self-centered jerk who doesn't really care about Rapunzel and her dreams. He only helps her because she hid the princess' tiara he stole and will only give it back to him once he takes her to see the kingdom lanterns. He even tries to trick her into giving up on seeing the lanterns just to speed up the process. But, he slowly warms up and falls in love with Rapunzel as she convinces him to just be himself.
  • Deuteragonist: He's the second main character after Rapunzel.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: He dies in Rapunzel's arms, albeit temporarily, as he's revived moments later. Speaking of which...
  • Disney Death: He is stabbed to death by Gothel, but Rapunzel is able to revive him with her tears.
  • Distressed Dude: Rapunzel's interventions save Flynn on a few occasions, most notably during the Snuggly Duckling scene. That said, he is able to hold his ground against the palace guards and he kind of repays the favor by performing a Heroic Sacrifice, thereby freeing Rapunzel from Gothel.
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": After his Meaningful Rename, he insists that his name is Eugene. In the series, he corrects Stalyan who calls him "Flynn" and his father king Edmund who calls him "Horace".
  • Doesn't Know Their Own Birthday: Since he's an orphan, Eugene doesn't know when his birthday is and has never celebrated it, although it doesn't bother him. "Lost and Found" has Rapunzel giving him a birthday so they can start spending it together as a special day. After meeting his father, King Edmund, he finally learns when his birthday is... and also finds out that he's a year older than he thought he was.
  • The Dreaded: There's a reason why Flynn Rider was one of the most feared thieves — he's evaded capture quite easily (even alerting guards to his presence just to keep things interesting), invaded one of the most impenetrable and heavily guarded castles in another kingdom (he's stated to be the only person to ever achieve this), and no prison can hold him.
  • The Drifter: This was very much his life before meeting Rapunzel, living a solitary life on the run, never forming attachments to people he meets.
  • Dying Declaration of Love: He confesses his love to Rapunzel right before he (briefly) dies.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending the majority of his life as an orphaned thief, Flynn/Eugene finally gets his happy ending once he marries Rapunzel and "lives happily ever after".
  • Easily Forgiven:
    • Between the start of the movie and the epilogue, Flynn goes from being wanted for grand theft, to presumably becoming Prince or Prince Consort, and eventually King of the same country. Wow. Well, given that he did bring back their daughter who had been missing for 18 years, you can see the King and Queen issuing a pardon there.
    • Downplayed in the series. The fact that he's just the princess's unemployed former thief almost-fiancé leaves him without much of a place in the castle. The guards still don't trust him much (especially the Captain), past transgressions sometimes pop up to make things rough for him, and Rapunzel's dad takes a while to give him any true respect while Cassandra, Rapunzel's new best friend, initially sees him as a Gold Digger.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Believes this of his real name, Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel doesn't think so. By the end of the movie, Eugene has embraced his real name.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Eugene almost dies no less than six times, but stays calm and self-assured every time.
    • First, when he's trapped with Rapunzel in a slowly flooding cave. Rapunzel sheds Tears of Remorse while apologizing to Flynn. He replies invoking Dying as Yourself:
      Flynn/Eugene: Eugene Fitzherbert is my real name. Someone should know.
    • The second time when the Captain of the Guard is leading him away to be executed. Though a bit unnerved and scared at first, Flynn doesn't resist, struggle, or cry, just marches along with the guards quietly... until he sees the Stabbington Bros. in a cell and realizes that Rapunzel is in danger.
    • The third time is when he performs his Heroic Sacrifice, choosing to die in order to save Rapunzel instead. He even attempts to smile and comfort her as he passes.
    • In "What the Hair!?", one of Varian's malfunctioning inventions causes a building to collapse. Eugene refuses to leave a stuck Rapunzel behind when she pleads for him to save himself, bravely choosing to stay with her instead. They declare their love for each other and embrace each other as the place collapses all around them.
    • In "Flynnpostor", he solemnly closes his eyes when the Baron attempts to drown him and he fails to break free from the handcuffs keeping him tied to a pole.
    • In "Plus Est en Vous", when he's about to be axed by his Brainwashed and Crazy father, courtesy of Cassandra, he simply tells him he forgives him and accepts it. This breaks through to Edmund, who promptly destroys the Mind Trap.
  • Facial Composite Failure: A running gag is that the "Wanted" posters he's on don't correctly portray his nose. Each time he spots such a poster, it is worse. An episode in Season 3 of the series reveals that the artist is old with cracked glasses, thus warping the way he sees Eugene.
    Eugene: They just can't get my nose right!
  • Family Eye Resemblance: He and King Edmund have the same eyes.
  • Fingore: He isn't awake when it happens, but Rapunzel accidentally slams his fingers in the doors of her closet.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: He and Rapunzel start to become more friendly with each other after escaping the guards chasing after them and nearly drowning together.
  • First-Person Peripheral Narrator: He claims, when narrating the opening, that it's not his story, it's Rapunzel's. Which in important respects is only technically true.
  • Flynning: Besides the obvious Pun, he engages in some of this with Maximus when he's wielding a Frying Pan of Doom and the horse is dueling him with a sword. He even lampshades the absurdity of it.
    Eugene: You should know that this is the strangest thing I have ever done!
  • Foil: His interactions with Rapunzel make him this to Mother Gothel. Gothel is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who keeps the lost princess imprisoned into a tower by demolishing her self-confidence, Flynn is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who encourages the girl to explore the world by building her will up. Gothel is obsessed by Rapunzel's magic powers to the point she cares more for the girl's hair than her adoptive daughter, while Eugene is openly freaked by magic and falls for Rapunzel in spite of this. Gothel had Mortality Phobia that led her to exploit an innocent girl, and Eugene bravely sacrificed himself for said innocent girl's sake.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: The phlegmatic. Charming, mellow, and even-tempered, but a bit lazy.
  • Freudian Excuse: In the pilot movie for the series, he proposes to Rapunzel, unaware of how stressed she is about being a princess, and the fact that he's putting her on the spot in a royal banquet doesn't help matters. It leads to her temporarily rejecting it. Cass calls him out for this, and he explains later to Rapunzel (actually Pascal in disguise) that the reason why he proposed is because he grew up in an environment where he had nothing and he wants their future family to have everything. He learns to be patient with her, though, and to go at her own emotional pace.
  • Friend to All Living Things: In the third season of the series, he becomes increasingly attached to animals, in spite of his initial antagonism against Pascal and Maximus.
  • Gentleman Thief: He exhibits some traits of this trope. The two times we see him actively stealing, it's from the king and queen of Corona, who wouldn't exactly be financially ruined by the loss of a tiara and a ring. Given his background as an orphan and his desire to be as rich as possible, it's likely Eugene was always after bigger fish. Furthermore, he uses violence as a last resort, preferring to either charm his victim, make a run for it, or otherwise outsmart his opponent. And he's very snarky, too. What doesn't fit is his betrayal of the Stabbington Brothers (and given their distrust of him, it's probably not the first time he tried it), seeing how it could have gotten them hanged.
  • Given Name Reveal: Twice.
  • Gold Digger: Subverted. He isn't with Rapunzel for her wealth or status, but fell for her before finding out who she really was. In the show, he's still initially seen as one by Cass, due to his unemployment and shady past. She comes to respect him more as he starts training the guards to better their technique at catching thieves.
  • Good Feels Good: Is a staunch believer of this after putting aside his criminal ways, especially in the TV show. This is the lesson he tries to - and ultimately succeeds in - teach Red and Angry when they first meet, and whenever he meets anyone else at the cusp of changing sides he'll always say something about how being and doing good feels better and makes one happier than the alternative.
  • Greed: His original motive is to be "surrounded by enormous piles of money". He gets better with Character Development.
    H-M 
  • Has a Type: Or so he says. After Rapunzel's hair turns brown, he tells her he has a thing for brunettes. Still, Rapunzel was blonde when he fell in love with her, and his Psycho Ex-Girlfriend in the series has dark red hair.
  • The Heart: Flynn Ryder is A Darker Me personality to cover for Eugene Fitzherbert, who turns out to be a highly empathetic guy. At season 2, Adira names Eugene as Fish Skin as the glue that keeps everything (everyone) together. He is also a Deconstructed Character Archetype: Eugene, a highly empathic person, uses A Darker Me in the Flynn Ryder character to confront The Rival Cassandra, and even when Eugene understands Cassandra and forgives her constant Snark-to-Snark Combat, Cassanda and him still remain Headbutting Heroes. The result is that Eugene cannot connect with the person who needs him the most. This would be resolved at the Series Finale, when Eugene, after being set up in a cruel trap by Cassandra, forgives her and hugs her with Rapunzel.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He sacrifices his life for Rapunzel's freedom at the end. He is saved from his fatal wound though.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • He casually mentions reading to the other orphans in the orphanage, and how he wants money to be able to do things and go places like a character he read to them about.
    • He correctly suspects that the supposed painter from "Fitzherbert P.I." is not whom he claims to be because he can speak Italian.
  • Hidden Heart of Gold: "You can't tell anyone about [his real name]. It could ruin my whole reputation." This, of course, is toned down afterwards. While he remains aloof and sarcastic in company, especially towards Cassandra, he provides important insight for Rapunzel in a moment of quiet. Interestingly, whenever his Rapunzel is having trouble understanding her best friend, Eugene usually knows what makes Cassandra tick.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: The Snuggly Duckling backfired badly on his desire to scare Rapunzel back into her tower.
  • Hot Consort: Through his marriage to Rapunzel, Eugene is currently Prince Consort of Corona. However, since his father is King Edmund, this means that Eugene could possibly end up as King of the Dark Kingdom, and therefore hold the title of King Consort of Corona.
  • Hunter of His Own Kind: In the cartoon series, it's shown that Eugene's history as a successful career thief means he knows how thieves think and therefore knows how to catch them. He ends up being assigned to teach the Royal Guard how to better anticipate and catch thieves.
    • Ends up going a step further in "Flynnposter" where he becomes captain of the guard at the old Captain's insistence no less. He even goes so far as to hunt down another Flynn Rider imposter.
  • Hypocritical Heartwarming: Insists he is the "only guy allowed to annoy Cass" and will leap to her defense if another man causes her misery.
  • I Am What I Am: Eugene's arc across the series is him coming to terms with various parts of himself. Firstly, accepting his own name instead of the Flynn Rider person, then coming to terms with who "Eugene" is and what he can do with his life now that he's no longer a thief.
  • I Just Want to Be Badass: He's a thief in the first place because he wants to emulate swashbuckling adventurers.
  • Improbable Weapon User: He does pretty good at fencing with a frying pan. Better, in fact, than with an actual sword.
    Flynn: I have GOT to get me one of these!
  • Inferiority Superiority Complex: Hinted at. In full "Eugene-mode" he is very sensitive and understanding, but he only shows that side around Rapunzel, whom he loves and trusts deeply. Even now that he's going under his birth name again, he acts more like Flynn Rider, uncaring, aloof and superior, especially around Cassandra, around whom he feels quite unsure. This dynamic changes at Season 3, that chronicles Eugene learning to Be Yourself and becoming The Heart.
  • Iron Butt-Monkey: He seems to be Made of Iron when it comes to physical comedy. Not so resistant to stabbing, though.
  • Ironic Echo: In the trailer, Eugene calling for Rapunzel to let down her hair is humorous. Less so for the single time he uses it in the movie.
  • It's All About Me: Heavily accused of that by Cassandra. And while he does still have an impressive ego, she's not entirely correct, though, since Character Development already heavily kicked in to bring out Eugene's more considerate side.
  • Jade-Colored Glasses: Due to growing up an orphan and becoming a thief, Eugene is a great deal more cynical in the world, and became somewhat of a jerk before meeting Rapunzel.
    Teenage!Eugene: Yeah, well, being a selfish jerk is how you get ahead in this world!
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's not exactly malicious, he just gets himself in a lot of trouble thanks to his thieving and he's greedy, self-centered, and really sassy. He gets better.
  • Karma Houdini: Justified. Since he helped Rapunzel return to her birth parents, he's pardoned from stealing the princess's tiara. However he's worried about some of his other past crimes, such as robbing the queen eight years ago (he thought she was a random noble), and tries to not get into any more trouble these days.
  • Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Gothel stabs him and leaves him to die to keep Rapunzel's existence a secret.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Implied. When first meeting Rapunzel, she ties him to a chair for invading her home, and he tries to flirt his way out. He remarks that it's an "off-day" for him when his smolder fails on her. In the TV series, there are several remarks about his past; Lance mentions Eugene having had a fling with twins, then there's his standing up ex-fiancee Stalyan at their wedding along with his implications of a lot of ex-girlfriends and dates. However, ever since meeting Rapunzel, he's only been devoted to her and (throughout the TV show) repeatedly states his full intention to marry her. In fact, he proposes to Rapunzel three times (and had one planned proposal get interrupted, technically making it four times) throughout the show while anxiously hoping she'll accept.
  • Land in the Saddle: Eugene is catapulted over a high wall as part of his prison breakout and lands in Maximus's saddle. Thanks to Rule of Cool, nobody gets hurt. He's just as surprised as anyone else about that.
  • Lazy Bum: Downplayed. He starts out the series perfectly content to lounge around the castle, getting massages and manicure and enjoying the finer things in life. However, he also puts in lots of effort to support Rapunzel and look out for her. It isn't long at all until Character Development hits and Eugene starts to become a more productive member of the castle.
  • Le Parkour: Flynn and the Stabbington brothers use this at times in the movie, perhaps most noticeably while climbing on the palace roof in their first scene. He uses it more often in the series.
  • Like Brother and Sister: He eventually comes to see Cassandra as like a sister to him, even if she's an annoying one. He also becomes hurt by her betrayal, though not quite as much as Rapunzel, and readily forgives her after she helps save Corona from Zhan Tiri.
  • Loners Are Freaks: Complete with the usual aesop. Flynn even admits that his dream involves him being alone and has to be forced into participating in the Crowd Song and the Dance Line at sword point.
  • Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: He briefly loses a boot when he's used as a human tug-of-war rope between Rapunzel and Maximus.
  • Lost Orphaned Royalty: He was orphaned as a baby, but it is later revealed in the Season 2 finale of the show that he's really King Edmund's lost son.
  • Lovable Rogue: Invoked. He tries to cultivate this image, but his wanted posters just can't get the nose right.
  • Love at First Punch: Rapunzel and Eugene's relationship kicks off with her knocking him out with a frying pan after he breaks into her tower. Then she proceeds to knock him out two more times afterwards. He remembers it, ironically, as a fond memory and "first date".
    Eugene: Rapunzel, from the moment I first met you and you knocked me out with that frying pan, I knew it was love.
  • Love Redeems: His growing love for Rapunzel causes him to change his thieving ways and return to bearing his old name Eugene Fitzherbert. He also leaves his criminal past behind and goes fully legit in his life.
  • Lying by Omission: His opening narration includes the phrase "This is the story of how I died." He then hurriedly adds that the audience shouldn't worry because it's actually a very fun story and it isn't really even about him, thus leading you to understand that he was pulling your leg. Except he wasn't. He does die, in point of fact. He omits that he doesn't stay dead.
  • Made of Iron: Flynn should at least be bruised from head to toe with many broken bones and concussions from all the abuse he goes through in this movie, but most of it doesn't leave a scratch on him. Though, he's still vulnerable to daggers and pointy rocks.
  • Malicious Misnaming: While "malicious" might be a strong word, as they just don't get along, it's notable that Eugene mispronounces Cassandra's name- he pronounces her name as "Cas-sandra", while every other character, including Cass herself and both her known parents, pronounces it "Ca-saundra".
  • Meaningful Echo:
    • When Flynn and Rapunzel are about to see the lights appear, Rapunzel is worried about what to do with her life after she realizes her dream of seeing the lanterns. He consoles her by telling her, "Well, that's the good part I guess. You get to go find a new dream." This turns up again later when Eugene has returned to the tower in an attempt to free Rapunzel. After being fatally wounded, he admits to Rapunzel, "You were my new dream." Rapunzel responds, in a tear-filled voice, "And you were mine."
    • In the TV show, they use the "you're my dream" line as their special way to re-confirm their love for each other.
    • The first and last times Flynn sees Rapunzel's long hair emerge from her tower are nearly identical, with her golden hair forming a loop as it flies out of the window into the sunlit air as he clings to the wall of the tower. The second time, it's not Rapunzel.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Eugene is Greek for "well born", so it's only fitting that he later marries the princess. In "Destinies Collide", Eugene learns that his father is King Edmund, who sent him away to avoid being corrupted by the Moonstone opal's power, with his ancestors serving as mystical guardians to protect the world from the opal's power.
    • Subverted. Fitzherbert is a patronymic surname that means "son of Herbert", but he neither knows who his biological parents are nor is his father named Herbert anyways. It turns out that his father's name is Edmund.
  • Meaningful Rename: He reveals in the epilogue that he goes back to his birth name, which we see happen in the series. After all, Rapunzel says she likes "Eugene" better.
  • Money Fetish: He admits his dream is to be "surrounded by enormous piles of money".
  • Motor Mouth: Anytime he's freaking out.
    Eugene: I'm-not-freaking-out-are-you-freaking-out-no-I'm-just-very-interested-in-your-hair-and-the-magical-qualities-that-it-possesses-how-long-has-it-been-doing-that-exactly?
  • Mr. Fanservice: According to an interview, Flynn's design came from the artists having the female staff members writing down all of the celebrities they thought were most good-looking and borrowing from that. The creators called the gathering of female staff members "The Hot Man Meeting".
    N-S 
  • Named by the Adaptation: He's only ever referred to as "the prince" in the original tale.
  • Nice Guy: In the series, his heart of gold shines brighter in the later seasons. In addition to being a wonderful boyfriend towards Rapunzel, he becomes regularly compassionate towards others, even to those he can't stand (Calliope, Brock Thunderstrike), or even have deeply hurt and wronged him (the Stabbingtons, Hector, Cassandra). He also helps former criminals turn their lives around, and becomes a kind and responsible Captain of the Guard. Of course, he's still a Deadpan Snarker.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Rapunzel (nice), Cassandra (mean), and Eugene (in-between). He's not a saint like Rapunzel, but Eugene is still consistently loyal and selfless.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Despite being Rapunzel's boyfriend, The Series paints him as friendly and interactive towards the members of the castle staff.
  • The Nicknamer: He loves giving various clever nicknames to people, but is especially affectionate with Rapunzel and Varian.
  • No Honor Among Thieves:
    • He betrays his original partners in the film's opening.
    • Averted in his relationship with Lance Strongbow. They're like brothers and help each other out often.
  • Not with Them for the Money: He falls in love with Rapunzel before finding out she's the lost princess. He clearly appreciates the benefits of being the princess' boyfriend, but he makes it clear that all he truly wants is to be with Rapunzel and to make her happy. (It still doesn't stop others from believing he's a Gold Digger though.) If he wants money, he prefers to get it from somewhere else; like from a treasure hunt or a legit job.
  • Official Couple: With Rapunzel. They become a couple towards the end of the movie and get married in the sequel short taking place several years later. The TV series takes place in between the two, with the two as a not-yet-engaged but still very serious couple.
  • Oh, and X Dies: The opening narration starts off with Flynn stating, "This is the story of how I died." By the time it comes up in the story, odds are good you've forgotten about that line. Additionally, the first-time viewer, after observing his personality, would think he was exaggerating for drama.
  • Oh, Crap!: He gets a lot of these reactions.
    • It's played for laughs during his encounters with Maximus.
    • It's played for drama when the guards reveal he's going to be hanged for stealing the crown.
    • Subverted anytime he sees one of his "Wanted" posters — which would cause most people an "Oh, Crap!", but he only fusses about how his nose is badly drawn.
    • He also has some of these reactions throughout the series, given the situation.
      • In "Cassandra vs. Eugene", when he and Cassandra are confronted by the Stabbington brothers.
      • In "The Return Of Strongbow", when he realizes that the ring he stole eight years earlier belongs to Rapunzel's mother, Queen Arianna.
      • In "In Like Flynn" when he and King Frederic are surrounded by King Trevor's guards.
      • At the end of "Lost and Found", Eugene receives a fortune slip from Vigor the Visionary that warns him of impending betrayal once Rapunzel reaches the end of her journey in the Dark Kingdom. He takes a long look around their group and ganders at Cassandra, who bears a sinister smile. Eugene is shocked and his eyes widen, beginning to suspect that Cassandra will turn against Rapunzel.
  • Only Sane Man: Just check out his expressions during the "I've Got A Dream" song. He's the only Disney character (along with Robert from Enchanted) to question why everyone is randomly singing during a Crowd Song.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the movie, Eugene has been arrested and is being escorted out of prison for his execution. He encounters the Stabbington Brothers again in a passing cell. Rather than normally being intimidated by them, Eugene is furious because they found out about Rapunzel's magical hair and put her in danger. He wants to know how they found out about her right now. He easily breaks free of the guards and cows two men twice his size and strength who are behind literal cell bars into answering his questions. Why do they suddenly cave so quickly? Because he's just that furious.
  • Opposites Attract: With Rapunzel. He's a jaded, worldly-wise thief, she's a spirited, innocent princess.
  • Parental Abandonment: He's an orphan, and he never really knew his parents. He eventually gets to meet his father, King Edmund, who is the guardian of the Moonstone.
  • Pretty Boy: Intentionally invoked; his design is a composite of many men the women in the studio deemed attractive. The Stabbington brothers mockingly refer to him as "Pretty boy" in the movie.
  • Prince Charming: Back in the day, Flynn Rider was a lying, cheating jerkass. But as Eugene, he proves he doesn't need to be a prince to embody the spirit of this trope, taking it even further than other Disney Princes by going as far willing to die out of love for Rapunzel. That said, the animated series reveals that he actually is one, but Rapunzel doesn't care because in her eyes, he was always her Prince Charming.
  • Protector Behind Bars: His imminent execution doesn't bother him as much as when he realizes that Rapunzel is Mother Gothel's captive.
  • Proud Beauty: A contrast of Mother Gothel. He's proud of his handsome features, but not to the point that he will take advantage of Rapunzel like Gothel insinuates he will. In turn, when Rapunzel offers herself to Gothel to save his life, he cuts her hair, rendering its magic no more, ensuring no one will ever use Rapunzel to keep their youth and beauty like Mother Gothel ever did. That said the series establishes he has a slight vain streak, in trying to keep his good looks heavily pronounced, but not to the point its his entire personality.
  • Rags to Royalty: He is an orphan and a thief who marries a princess (though he didn't know that she was royalty when he fell in love with her). Though it turns out that he was royalty all along.
  • Really Gets Around: It's implied he has quite a number of ex-girlfriends from his old days as a thief, if Lance's account of a warlord's twin daughters was any indication. The fact that he got with a crime boss' daughter (only to dump her and run) and his season 2 comment about how he's had "tons of dates" while giving dating advice only increases the implication. Whenever his past gets brought up in front of Rapunzel, he tries to immediately change the subject and appears embarrassed.
  • Really Royalty Reveal: The show's Season 2 finale reveals that he is the lost son of King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom, making him a prince.
  • Rebellious Spirit: Due to growing up as a thief, Eugene doesn't get along with rules, procedures, or any kind of authority. This shows in "Fitzherbert P.I.", where he can't keep a job because he keeps refusing to do things by the book.
  • Red Herring Mole: In the Season 2 finale, Eugene briefly attempts to prevent Rapunzel from reaching the Moonstone out of fear that its power might kill her like his mother. With Pascal's scolding, Eugene realizes he's turning against Rapunzel as Demanitus' prophecy warned and he decides to have faith in his girlfriend instead. In the end, it turns out the prophecy wasn't referring to Eugene... but Cassandra.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The laid-back and snarky Blue Oni to Rapunzel's energetic and emotional Red Oni.
  • Recruiting the Criminal: After the movie, Eugene puts his skills as a former thief to use by eventually getting a job as a consultant for the Royal Guards and helps train them to catch thieves better.
  • Reformed Criminal: By the end of the movie, Eugene turns his life around, stops thieving and goes legit. In the TV show, he's able to take his changed life a step further by eventually becoming the official Captain of the Royal Guard.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Near the end of the third season, he takes on this role after becoming Captain of the Guard. He pardons Brock Thunderstrike, makes sure the people of Corona flee to safety when Cassandra attacks the kingdom with her black rocks after appealing to her doesn't work, and lets her off the hook following her Heel–Face Turn and rescuing of Corona with Rapunzel.
  • Reverse Psychology: Flynn uses this, trying to get rid of Rapunzel by using her fear of disobeying her mother by encouraging her to do it:
    Flynn: Overprotecting mother, forbidden road trip... But let me ease your conscience: this is part of growing up. A little rebellion, a little adventure. That's good, healthy even. [...] Does your mother deserve it? No. Would this break her heart and crush her soul? Of course. But you've just got to do it.
  • Runaway Groom: The series reveals that he left his one of his ex-girlfriends at the altar.
  • Running Gag: In the movie, whenever he encounters a wanted poster, they never can draw his nose right.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Rapunzel. He just stands there and snarks at her naivety as she's excitedly running around and exploring the world.
  • Secret-Keeper: Rapunzel lets Eugene know her secret that Cassandra sneaked her out of the kingdom the night she got her hair back. Eugene would love to see Cassandra getting in trouble for this, but he promises Rapunzel to keep the secret.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: While he does have a fair amount of wit and charm, it pales in comparison to how witty and charming he thinks he is.
  • Snark-to-Snark Combat: His antagonism with Cassandra leads to much verbal snipping at each other. In any other Power Trio series, this trope would be used to showcase the Vitriolic Best Buds vibes between them and show the wit of the writers. Here it's deconstructed, showing the real consequences of verbal abuse: Cassandra is Rapunzel's First Friend and Eugene is Rapunzel's Love Interest. Both of them snark so much they constantly Kick the Dog one to another: Jerkass Cassandra barely tolerates Eugene — She becomes a constant Shipping Torpedo with him and Rapunzel in all the seasons, at Season 1 Cassandra's snarkiness makes her a Unwitting Instigator of Doom that inspires Eugene to walk into a Suicide Mission. At season 2, she barely tolerates Eugene and pulls a The One Thing I Don't Hate About You. As for Eugene, whenever he is verbally attacked, he pulls his A Darker Me persona of Flynn Ryder, who Kicks The Dog a lot with Cassandra. Eugene displays Hypocritical Heartwarming to Cassandra, but Cassandra is The Paranoiac and she never acknowledges it. The worst part is that when Eugene is not putting his A Darker Me persona, he becomes a Hidden Heart of Gold. This means that Eugene gives emotional support to everyone except Cassandra, the person who needs it the most. Cassandra makes a Face–Heel Turn at season 3, betraying Rapunzel and Eugene. That season shows Cassandra geographically far from Rapunzel and Eugene. Without Cassandra's constant Snark-to-Snark Combat, Eugene feels confident enough to Be Yourself and experimentes true Character Development and becomes The Heart. When Cassandra comes back, she tries her best to use Snark-to-Snark Combat to hurt Rapunzel, and prepares a Disproportionate Retribution trap for Eugene, but Eugene is now enough of The Heart to forgive Cassandra when she makes her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Spanner in the Works: Flynn entering her tower to escape the guards with the stolen tiara is what leads Rapunzel to discovering her true identity.
  • Sticky Fingers: Lifts the loot from his partners early in the film and Rapunzel's tiara in the epilogue.
  • Street Smart: Eugene knows any criminal trick to run from the law, mostly because he invented some of them. This proves helpful to catch some criminals and eventually, he's assigned to teach the royal guards how to think like a thief.
  • Strong Girl, Smart Guy: The quick-witted and crafty Smart Guy to Cassandra's Strong Girl. While Eugene is capable of impressive athletic feats and skilled in combat, it's more of a last resort, as he usually prefers to make a run for it or outsmart his opponents, as opposed to Cassandra, whose go-to move is a direct confrontation likely involving violence.
  • Swashbuckler: He wants to be one of these so much he called himself "Flynn Rider" after a swashbuckling hero in a story he read. Thus, his initial portrayal is one of a dashing thief who uses trickery and "the smolder" to charm his way through adventures. Albeit a bit more anti-heroic and snarky than usual for this kind of character.
    T-Y 
  • That Man Is Dead: Flynn Rider dies as Eugene begins embracing his true name and personality. So the Tonight, Someone Dies warning at the beginning is very true; it is the story of Flynn's death and his rebirth as Eugene. However, everyone he's ever met in the past will still refer to him by his previous name. In "Beyond the Corona Walls", after Stalyan attempts to persuade him to marry her, only to be stopped by Rapunzel and Pascal saving him, he embraces his future with Rapunzel as Eugene Fitzherbert.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Thanks to Rapunzel. As a career thief, he used to say, "Every man for himself," and leave his partners in crime behind without a second thought, and that included not only the likes of the Stabbingtons but even his best friend Lance. In "Return Of The King," he decides to save the Stabbingtons because thanks to Rapunzel he now believes in second chances, and in the series finale, he warmly forgives Cassandra.
  • Tranquil Fury:
    • When Flynn gets angry, his voice gets more intense, but he doesn't devolve into shouting or a mindless rage. He's basically still himself, but suddenly a lot more willing to get physical.
    • He doesn't have this in the film when he's confronting the Stabbingtons in prison, due to his anger there being fueled by fear and anxiety, but he still maintains enough control to get the information he needs.
  • Unfortunate Names: His real name, Eugene Fitzherbert. The poor bastard... Then he finds out his actual real name is Horace, which he finds even worse.
  • Unreliable Narrator: He announces that the story isn't about him, but rather Rapunzel. It's actually about both of them.
  • Vague Age: His official age is less than clear. One popular rumor spread that Eugene was imagined by animators to be 26 years old during the movie, making an eight year age gap between him and Rapunzel (the largest age gap between any Disney couple). However, directors Bryan Howard and Nathan Greno stated their belief that Eugene is 24 years old at his oldest and the story writers see him as 22 or 23. Basically, Eugene's age is between 18 at his youngest and 24 years old at his oldest depending on whose opinion you go with. As a flashback from "The Return of Strongbow" shows, 8 years prior to the present events, Eugene is still an adult while Rapunzel is at least 10 that time around. "Destinies Collide" reveals that he was a newborn child 25 years before that episode, which itself takes place about two years after the movie.
  • Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: This dialogue from In Like Flynn:
    The Captain: Your dad's lifetime rival King Trevor of Equis likes to play pranks on him.
    Rapunzel: By just drawing a silly face on dad's statue? I can't imagine any intelligent person finding this funny.
    Eugene:: Ha ha ha ha ha.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Downplayed. He sees Varian experimenting with Rapunzel's hair's durability using a machine that looks like a torture device and assumes the princess is in danger. Eugene then bursts in and threatens the boy, stating Rapunzel's hair might be unbreakable but Varian himself isn't.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Played for laughs. "What The Hair" finally has a wanted poster where they got his nose right, only for it to be destroyed in Varian's lab, much to Eugene's chagrin.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
    • Courtesy of Rapunzel: Flynn really starts to grow after Rapunzel tells him that she likes Eugene better. She also takes to calling him by that name as well, a gesture of respect that greatly fosters Flynn's later Character Development.
    • When Maximus rescues Flynn (with the help of the thugs), Eugene is truly pleasantly surprised, because he has not been nice to him.
    • Eugene also is very surprised when Queen Arianna offers her hand and pulls him to be part of the group hug.
      • It's the same at the series:
    • When Cassandra helps Eugene at Fitzherbert, P.I., he is again surprised,
    • When the King assures Eugene that he takes him seriously at In Like Flynn, he is again surprised.
    • When Adira tells Eugene he is The Heart at Season 2, he is again surprised.
    • When the Captain selects Eugene to be his replacement, he is so surprised he does a Spit Take.
    • It's not until the third season he will become someone who doesn't get surprised when others think well of him.
      That's when I realized that if they believed in me, well, darn it, it's okay for me to believe in me.
    • And you can see the Character Development Eugene gets after they destroy Zhan Tiri, when he applies this trope to a reluctant Cassandra, offering her his hand and pulling Cassandra into the group hug with Rapunzel.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: The only appropriate response to seeing your not-quite girlfriend making friends with the hell-beast of a horse that's been chasing you all over the place.

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