Governor Ratcliffe

Governor John Ratcliffe is the main antagonist from Pocahontas and its sequel. He is voiced by David Ogden Stiers.

Personality
Like all Disney villains, Ratcliffe is incredibly power hungry. He is unbelievably greedy, as evidenced by his insatiable craving for gold. He is also highly xenophobic even for the period in which he lives, ruthless and incredibly manipulative. While he exudes great confidence and gives the impression of being rather vain, Ratcliffe in fact seems to take a rather dim view of himself, admitting in a rather sad tone of voice that he has never been a popular man. This, in addition to the fact that his fellow members of the court consider him a "pathetic social climber" make him quite a sympathetic character. His mission to colonise the Native-Americans is his last chance to make a name for himself. Ratcliffe's lack of self-esteem stands in contrast to the egomania of most Disney villains, making him somewhat unique. Despite his self confessed lack of popularity, Ratcliffe seems quite charismatic and commands the respect of his troops.

Pocahontas
Ratcliffe leads an expedition to Virginia to find gold and other riches (which he wants to keep for himself). He fails to tell any of the other crew of his real reason of going to Virginia and recites the "Adventure of our lives" and "Freedom" speech to cover it. When they see land, Ratcliff meets with John Smith, whom the crew admire, about his plan on dealing with the "savages" and "filthy little heathens" (what he calls the Native Americans and Smith assures his success and the meetings through. Ratcliffe arrives on the Shore of Virginia shortly after Smith and Thomas, a new recruit, then takes some land in the name of King James and calls it Jamestown.

After Smith leaves to search for the Indians, Ratcliff orders men to build a fort and clear the ship while he has the rest men dig for gold. When he sees John Smith running off somewhere, he sends Thomas to follow him, hoping the "poor excuse for a soldier" will be able to prove his worth. He later overhears the men talking about Smith's capture (Smith had been attacked by a warrior named Kocoum, whom Thomas had promptly shot dead during the fight, but had been ordered to flee the scene for Smith to take the blame) and wages war against the Indians to rescue Smith and take their gold for himself (although he merely tells his men it is a rescue mission to ensure their support). After the two sides march their way to one another, they are stopped abruptly by Pocahontas who tells everyone that they were led onto the path of hatred. All the men on both sides are deeply touched by the woman's love and wisdom, and lower their weapons. The would-be combatants now make it clear that the battle will not occur.

Ratcliff is the only one not moved by this, and orders his men to open fire anyway, but they refuse. Outraged, Ratcliff grabs the gun of one of his men and prepares to shoot Powhatan himself. John Smith jumps in the way and takes the bullet (although not fatally). Finally seeing Ratcliffe for the corrupt, greedy monster that he truly was all along, Thomas and the other settlers rebel, bounding and gagging him and sending him back to England to await punishment for his crimes.

Journey to the New World
Ratcliffe, however, returns in the sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Apparently, he has fabricated his own version of the events in Jamestown to implicate John Smith as the traitor, and despite the impossibility of his honesty, he is easily believed by King James (mostly due to their close, personal friendship) and sent to capture Smith for questioning along with some soldiers. In the ensuing fray, Ratcliffe tells Smith "Pity. I so would have preferred to see you in hang", and knocks Smith off a building to his apparent death, and tells James that he had tried to stop Smith from committing suicide.

When John Rolfe, who had been sent to Jamestown to bring back Powhatan for questioning, returns with Pocahontas, Ratcliffe immediately plots to get rid of her, convincing James to invite Pocahontas to the Hunt Ball, where he has planned a bear baiting with a jester. Pocahontas, at first, impresses the King with her manners taught by Rolfe, but naturally becomes outraged at the bear baiting, especially when the snobbish aristocrats attending do nothing but laugh at the creature's torture, and openly insults Ratcliffe and James, calling them savages. Ratcliffe convinces James to imprison her and sentence her to death, and is allowed to take his armada to Jamestown for war with the Powhatans. However, Ratcliffe's lies are finally exposed when John Smith, who survived his ordeal with Ratcliffe, aids Rolfe in breaking Pocahontas out of prison and shows himself in the King's court. Realizing that he has been fooled, James orders Ratcliffe to be stopped.

In the subsequent battle, Ratcliffe duels Smith and almost kills him for real, but is subdued by Rolfe and thrown overboard. Before he falls into the ocean, Smith says to Ratcliff the same thing Ratcliff said to him: "Pity. I so would have preferred to see you hanged." Governor Ratcliff makes it to shore where King James and his soldiers were waiting. When Ratcliff tells King James that the "fugitives are getting away," King James quotes "No more lies" and has his soldiers arrest him. His sentence for high treason is currently unknown, though it is possible he could have been put in prison for life and/or executed.

House of Mouse
Ratcliffe appears as a minor guest character in the show.

Disney Parks
Ratcliffe can be found at the Disney Parks as a meetable character usually rare depending on the park.

Fantasmic!
Ratcliffe plays a notable part in Disney Hollywood Studios' version of the show. Ratcliffe and his men claim the mountain as King James' land and battles the Indians, whom he still believes are savages.

Wiggins
Wiggins, also voiced by Stiers, is Ratcliffe's manservant. In sharp contrast to his villainous master, Wiggins is light-hearted, timid and very playful (in one scene, he is seen cutting topiary from Virginian shrubs). Although he could in no way be considered an "evil" character, he nonetheless appears to be very loyal to his master and Ratcliffe, though constantly annoyed by his shenanigans, seems to trust him implicitly. At the first film's end, he expresses regret at seeing Ratcliffe for the greedy monster he truly is, and even sobs. He does not appear in Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.

Percy
Percy was originally Ratcliffe's pet pug. He appears spoiled and seems to have an irritable personality, especially in the first film. Percy and Meeko spend most of the first film fighting, usually over food with Meeko always coming out on top, only to apparently become friends by the film's end. Percy leaves Ratcliffe at this point and remains with Pocahontas and her people. Ratcliffe never reacts to the fact Percy isn't with him anymore in Pocahontas II. Percy, on the other hand, seems to have had a change of heart and does not want to go back to Ratcliffe, at one point cowering underneath a carriage in Ratcliffe's presence.

Songs
Ratcliffe has been part of a couple of Pocahontas songs during the two films.


 * "Mine, Mine, Mine"
 * "Savages (Pt. 1)"
 * "Savages (Pt. 2)"
 * "Things Are Not What They Appear"

Trivia

 * Ratcliffe's confession that he is not a popular man, ironically also seems to apply to real life. While he has a small, but dedicated fanbase and in spite of his obvious panache, he is in fact one of Disney's greediest and most unpopular villains.
 * As Ratcliffe first appears, he is seen boarding the Virginia Company in a dignified, yet snobbish manner. In the foreground, a rat can be seen boarding the ship in the exact same manner (thereby pronouncing the 'rat' in 'Ratcliffe').
 * Governor Ratcliffe is the third 'John' in the Pocahontas series. Due to this fact, his first name was never mentioned.
 * Ratcliffe and Pocahontas don't interact with each other until the end of the first film.
 * In the final scenes of both films, Ratcliffe is wearing his armor.
 * The Governor Ratcliffe action figure doesn't come with the hat or cape.
 * He appears in Disneyworld as a meetable character.
 * In Pocahontas, He was voiced by David Ogden Stiers. He reprised the role in Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.
 * Governor Ratcliffe wasn't among the antagonists in Mickey's House of Villains.
 * Ratcliffe symbolizes the deadly sin of Greed, due to his obvious and insatiable craving for gold.