- “Magic makes people feel too powerful, too entitled. It makes them think they can defy the will of a king!”
- ―Runeard voicing his disapproval of magic.[src]
King Runeard is the posthumous main antagonist of the Frozenfranchise.
He was the ruler of Arendelle, the father of King Agnarr and the paternal grandfather of Queen Elsa and Anna. In his lifetime, Runeard was revered as a noble and generous leader. In truth, however, he was a ruthless and paranoid tyrant who believed magic to be a threat to his kingship. In his attempt to eliminate the Northuldra, Runeard sparked a decades-long catastrophe that was then left to his granddaughters, Anna and Elsa, to rectify.
Role
- He is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside King Westergaard) of the first film. Runeard is the posthumous main antagonist of the 2019 sequel Frozen II, as well as its novelization and its manga adaptation.
- In the prequel novel, Dangerous Secrets: The Story of Iduna and Agnarr, Runeard is a crucial antagonist.
History
Background
Years before the events of the film, Runeard had built what would become known as Arendelle Castle, and became its king. Runeard was in charge of expanding the location of the kingdom, although his many ancestors, such as his great-great-grandfather Eric, his grandmother Else, or the mythical first ruler of Arendelle Lord Aren, had other previous locations. His castle was full of secret passages that led to a secret library, where he obsessively studied magic, its causes and whereabouts. He also established a proud annual naval tradition where the Arendellian fleet would navigate the close-lying seas.
At some point, Runeard arranged marriage with a woman from another kingdom named Rita, whom he married and became queen of Arendelle. From this marriage, born their and only child, Agnarr. While Rita loved much her son, she eventually grew depressed, regretting having left her kingdom behind and wishing to be free. Runeard only tried to satisfy her with royal gifts, but after Rita cried incessantly in her room because she felt trapped in her marriage and not being able to visit her kingdom, Runeard became upset and impatient with her, not understanding why she would be sad after he gave her everything she could seemingly want. Aware that Runeard would never give her love, Rita left one night and asked the trolls (including their leader Pabbie) to remove her memories of her life in Arendelle. Eventually, she left the castle and was forced to leave Agnarr behind her, knowing that if he took him with her, Runeard would seek them out and wage war against her kingdom, thus Agnarr's life would be at stake. Having erased her memories, Rita disappeared.
Rather than accept responsibility for being the reason behind Rita's departure, Runeard erased all memory of her existence, hid her possessions, barred the door to her room, and forbade the mere mention of her name: anyone who mentioned Rita, would face immediate banishment. When Agnarr was only 5 years old, Runeard lied to him saying that his mother was taken away by evil spirits (she was actually dead). This made Agnarr feel bad, and he prayed every day in his room for his mother to return, fearing that the evil spirits would also capture him. When Agnarr felt sad for his mother, Runeard shamed him for crying, causing him to lock himself in his room for a time. Rita had made Agnarr a puffin called Sir JörgenBjörgen which Runeard didn't know about, and the royal servant Gerda quickly hid it away so she could return it to Agnarr years later. Runeard also incited the hatred of magic in his subjects, portraying it as the scapegoat for all Arendelle's troubles.
Personality
At first, Runeard was seen as a peaceful and benevolent ruler, welcoming the people of Northuldra and building a dam to act as a peace treaty between the tribe and Arendelle. Even his son Agnarr and his granddaughters, Anna and Elsa, considered him "a hero" and idolized him as the great founder of Arendelle. However, this was nothing but a cover to hide his true nature as a hostile, arrogant, manipulative, xenophobe, selfish, and vile tyrant who is obsessed with expanding his power and doesn't care about no one but himself, his position as king, and the power and authority it gave him. In reality, Runeard hated the Northuldra tribe for being connected to magic, and feared that magic would make people feel too empowered and might challenge his legacy as king. As such, his motivation for building the dam was to weaken the Northuldra's resources so that he could starve and force the tribe into his rule. All this was evident when he murdered the Northuldra tribe chief in cold blood when the latter developed suspicions over the dam, then sparking a war against the Northuldra in order to cover his tracks.
While it's speculated that Runeard actually concerned Arendelle's destruction at the hands of the Northuldra, this is actually false, as Runeard was truly worried that magic would cause the people to oppose his rule or even overthrow him as king, making his motivations selfish, paranoid, and one-sided. In conclusion, he only cared about how Northuldra and their magical bonds represented better competition, challenge and risk to his royalty, and not about how it could harm and/or threaten the people of his kingdom. To make things worse, Runeard also refused to take responsibility for his sins, instead blaming magic, as blaming magic is much easier for him than taking responsibility for his actions since magic cannot defend itself. As time passed, Runeard's xenophobia caused the Arendellians to carry on his propaganda against it slowy, meaning that they started to blame their own problems on magical spirits as well, just to take the easy way out. This shows that Runeard made the Arendellians follow in his footsteps by using magic and anyone associated with it as a scapegoat, and the reason for their troubles. He was also willing to trick his army after murdering the Northuldra chief into believing that he had attacked him, and then ordered an unwarranted offensive on the people even though the Northuldra were defending themselves and both sides wanted peace, which triggered dozens of meaningless casualties on both factions for no reason but to protect his power. In the novelization of the film, Runeard's spiteful side is more noticeable, as he shook his head in disgust while seeing the Northuldra children happily play the spirits in front of him, (causing the Northuldran Yelena to discover his dislike).
Furthermore, it was revealed that Runeard was a neglectful, distant, and abusive man towards his own family. He always showed himself to his wife Rita, a princess from another kingdom who had been forced to marry him for political reasons, with no love, consideration or understanding. When she felt depressed cause she longed for her freedom and return home, Runeard was simply impatient with her while Rita was crying incessantly in her room, despite showering her with perfunctory royal gifts. His refusal to give Rita her freedom eventually brought her to a breaking point, forcing her to flee Arendelle Castle and go to the magical trolls to ask them to erase her memories of her claustrophobic marriage to Runeard and who she once was, as she couldn't bear to live with this and having to leave her son Agnarr behind, knowing that Runeard would hunt them both down and unleash a war against her home kingdom, endangering not only its inhabitants, but also Agnarr. Instead of accepting his guilt and that he'd been a horrible husband, Runeard erased everything that had to do with Rita and her existence, hiding her belongings, barring the door of her room and banishing anyone who spoke her name. Not content with that, Runeard then manipulated his son Agnarr, who was 5 years old at the time, by falsely claiming that Rita was taken by evil spirits, traumatizing his son and instilling fear in him that the spirits would capture him, and prayed every nights for his mother to come back alive. When Agnarr was sad upon learning his mother wasn't coming back, Runeard psychologically humiliated him and shamed him for crying, which made him feel worse than before. He denied his son any memory of his mother and would've even locked away his cherished stuffed puffin Sir JörgenBjörgen, (if not for the servant Gerda hiding it, aware of her king' coldness).
Trivia
- Runeard is arguably the overarching antagonist and greatest threat of the entire Frozen franchise, as his heinous actions against the Northuldra not only led to the main events of Frozen II, but also to the events of Frozen. The other overarching Villain is King Westergaard, who influenced the events of Frozen I and the novel "A Frozen Heart" by tormenting his son Hans and transforming him into the villain he became.
- Runeard is the first Disney animated movie villain to die since King Candy/Turbo in Wreck-It Ralph.
- King Runeard is the first main antagonist in the Disney canon to be a posthumous character, as he dies a long time before the events of the film. In addition, he is the first and only villain in said canon that doesn't face, interact, or make any contact with the heroes.
- Runeard is the third main antagonist in the Disney animated canon to be related to the main protagonists (Elsa and Anna), followed by Scar from The Lion Kingand Hades from Hercules, who are both uncles of the titular characters, Simba and Hercules
| Frozen | ||
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Original Film: Elsa • Anna • Olaf • Kristoff • Sven • Prince Hans of the Southern Isles • Duke of Weselton • Erik and Francis Once Upon a Time: Elsa • Anna • Kristoff • Sven Sequel: Yelana • Honeymaren • Ryder Nattura • Lieutenant Mattias • Gale • Brui • Earth Giants • the Nokk • King Runeard | ||