TTS Character Analysis

Fredric's Analysis 2.0 (Because I love ranting about him)

I am going to explain who the true villain of Tangled the Series Season 1. No, it's not about Varian, we know what he did was obviously not good, but I don't see him as the main villain. So who am I talking about then? I'm going to talk about the person's decisions that caused the entire issue that led to Varian's downfall.

When I first watched the series I put the blame on Rapunzel; but as I rewatched it, the true villain was suddenly waving in my face in plain sight. He was hidden before because I hadn't priced everything together and had forgotten minor details. New things appeared before me that I had missed.

I am convinced that the true villain is none other than King Fredric.

I didn't hate Fredric at first. In fact, I actually only saw him as an overprotective father. A typical Disney father. In the beginning of the series, I understood why he was like what he was and I realized that he just needed to learn to let Rapunzel breathe. However, once he locked Rapunzel in the tower with iron bars on her window, I was done giving him excuses.

Rapunzel is an adult that has been trapped her entire life. Now that she was free from the tower and her abusive kidnapper, she was being held back by a stranger. She didn't actually know Fredric, but here he was keeping her in a castle. Rapunzel basically traded her tower for a bigger cage.

Fredric had good intentions to protect his family, specifically, Rapunzel. But there are times when you can take it too far when protecting the ones you love. One way is by literally locking them away. Another is when you harm innocent people for the sake of keeping them away from your family. And there are more ways to cross the line (pun intended), but I want to discuss these two in particular. Two boundaries that Fredric overstepped big time.

Fredric, by the end of season 1, has eventually made it to the point where he's no longer protecting Rapunzel. Rather, he's no longer doing what's best for her, but doing what's best for himself without realizing it. And he has very good reasons to want to protect Rapunzel, but he's recreating the very thing that kept his daughter from him. Fredric basically imprisoned Rapunzel, which is absolutely awful; but the worst thing Fredric does is what he does to the people surrounding Rapunzel. That is what we're going to talk about.

1. He took the sundrop flower after being warned what it would do to the kingdom.

Because of this, he decided to risk the lives of his kingdom for the sake of his wife and daughter. Although he had good intentions to save two people, he also threw out the fact that he was willingly hurting good and innocent people for the sake of two. Now if the majority kingdom had been in agreement with this decision, then it would be fine, but this was a hush, hush ordeal.

This act, I can forgive, though. I really do understand how hard it is to choose between your loved ones and everyone else. Putting myself in his shoes, I would have tried a different way, but he was honestly desperate. However, it doesn't exclude the fact that he was hurting innocent people for the protection of Rapunzel.

2. Fredric killed people and was a tyrant king.

Although these people were criminals, they were given way too harsh of punishment, such as death. Lady Caine's father is merely an example. No doubt that there were others from how the people talk in the series. He was a petty thief, probably stealing for the sake of keeping his daughter alive. Jail time was fine, but his death was uncalled for. Fredric was a hypocrite to do this if this was true.

3. Fredric blames Varian, a mere child (his currently dead friend's son) for a crime he did not commit.

The series doesn't actually say this specifically, but the facts lead to it. Fredric uses the rumor to give him the excuse to send the undercover guards to keep Varian and Rapunzel apart. He did this because he read Rapunzel's diary, therefore learning that Varian had knowledge about the black rocks. Thus, Varian was seen as a threat to Rapunzel's safety, even though he was not a threat at this time.

I originally thought the rumors were spread by Nigel, but when I thought about it, it doesn't make sense. Fredric was the one that sent the guards after Varian, which means Fredric probably got the rumor from Nigel, but it wasn't exactly Nigel's fault. Nigel gave the king his side of the story, and no doubt Fredric had Rapunzel's side of the story. Fredric knew Varian was innocent.

It was important for Fredric to keep Varian away from Rapunzel, because the prodigy knew too much. He had information on the black rocks, and black rocks meant danger for Rapunzel. This is where my next point comes in.

4. Fredric lied to Rapunzel and manipulated her so that she wouldn't think about going to see Varian.

Fredric obviously had to keep Varian away from Rapunzel, but he also had to keep her away from Varian. Originally, I was super angry at Rapunzel for not going to Varian directly after the storm, but I realized she didn't have the chance or choice.

Fredric told her that Varian's situation was taken care of. He then tasked her with "Important Royal Duties". Things that weren't actually important. In fact, Nigel was even super confused and asked Fredric why he was making such a big deal about the Griffin. Of course, Fredric gave an answer, his true reason was to make Rapunzel think that the fate of Corona depended on her to make Griffin agree to their terms. He was also very forceful about the painting. He did this to keep Rapunzel from going after Varian, so I can't exactly blame her since Fredric made it sound like both these events were important for the entire kingdom's greater good even though they actually weren't that important.

Fredric made it very clear that he had no regard for helping Varian or even his own friend. He was willing to lie and manipulate his own beloved daughter to keep her from doing so as well.

5. He sends Cassandra away.

Since he read Rapunzel's diary, he learned that Cass was the reason she learned about the black rocks. So he sends her off to a covenant (which doesn't end up playing out). This, much like what he did with Varian but not as extreme. The plan was to keep her away from Rapunzel, due to the black rocks. Of course, this was under the agreement of the Captain of the guard. However, in doing this, Cassandra's whole career that she wanted was ruined. If this had played out, her dreams would have been utterly crushed as she was forced to live the life of a nun. The life of a nun is something you should choose not be forced into, because once you commit yourself, there is basically no getting out. Which is basically just unofficially locking Cassandra up.

Cassandra was a threat to Rapunzel's safety in Fredric's eyes. She could sneak his daughter in and out without his knowledge, and he probably assumed that Cassandra influenced Rapunzel to want to go out. He probably thought that separating them would solve Rapunzel's wish to explore beyond the walls of Corona. The latter is more of a speculation, but I think that it's fine to assume that this was going through his head.

Season 3 was wise to erase his memories. This gave us a new start with Fredric's character, and I like him much better in that season. He was fun and even a little relatable in the Queen of Hearts episode.