The Bear

The Bear is the true main antagonist in Disney's 1981 animated film The Fox and the Hound. He only appears in the climax of the film where he replaced Amos Slade as the film's final antagonist. He is a giant black-furred bear with red eyes. He does not tolerate intruders and/or trespassers, and he will kill them if they do so, and he is accidentally woken up by Amos Slade and Copper.

Physical Description
The Bear is a gigantic and slender grizzly bear with burly, black fur, red eyes and silver hair. He is likely a melanistic grizzly bear, Kodiak bear or an American black grizzly bear. He is a very unique looking grizzly bear due to the fact that no real grizzly bear has red eyes.

Personality
The Bear does not tolerate intruders and trespassers and if they crossed into his territory, he will kill them if they do so. He might have been the inspiration for that of Mor'du, the main villain of Disney/Pixar's film Brave.

Role in the film
The Bear first appears while Copper and Amos are trespassing in the woods to find Tod and Vixey, but while trying to get them, they accidentally antagonize the wrathful beast, that awakens and attacks Copper's owner. He swipes at Amos, causing him to tumble down a hillside, and the Bear continues to pursue him. Whilst trying his best to escape from the Bear, Amos is caught in one of his own traps and his gun is caught on a tree, slightly out of his reach. Furious that the intruders aren't leaving his territory, the grizzly continues to attack them. Copper bravely tries to protect his master and attacks the Bear, but despite being smaller and more agile, he is no match for the giant bear, and Copper is soon overwhelmed in a very vicious fight. Tod hears Copper's yelping echo and turns and is horrified to see his childhood friend getting nearly killed. Against his better judgement, Tod quickly intervenes to save his friend. Leaping on the bear's back and biting his hear, Tod distracts the bear from Copper. Eventually, he mangages to lure the much larger bear up on a fallen trunk. While Tod hangs for dear life on the trunk, the Bear tries to deliver the final blow, but the log cannot support his weight. It breaks, sending the two animals falling down into the huge waterfall hundreds of feet below. Tod survives, while the bear most likely drowns and/or is driven away by the current.

Trivia

 * The Bear's snarls, roars and growls are the same snarls, roars and growls of Brutus and Nero from The Rescuers and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.
 * When Copper bites him on the muzzle, blood is shown on the north side of the bear's muzzle. This is one of the film's controversial points. When Amos Slade fires his shot at the Bear, hitting his right shoulder, blood is shown as well.
 * The Bear was animated by Glen Keane. Henry Selick did work on the character since he was being trained under Keane and Eric Larson. Selick would later become the director of films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.
 * The Bear's design may have been the original inspiration for that of Mor'du, the villain of Disney/Pixar's film Brave.
 * Although it only appears in the climax, the Bear replaces Amos Slade as the main antagonist because it was more vicious and had bigger plans.
 * The Bear is very similar to Lumpjaw. Both are big bears, they have the same goal of killing the film's main protagonists (for Bear, Tod; for Lumpjaw, Bongo), and both of their defeats results in falling. The main difference is that Lumpjaw is a big brown grizzly bear, while Bear is a huge black furred bear. The other difference is when Bear falls, he falls down a waterfall, and when Lumpjaw falls, he's swept away in a river.
 * Due to the color of his fur, the bear is often believed to be an American black bear. But judging by his behavior towards trespassers and the visible shoulder hump, he is a grizzly with, for some reason, black fur (probably a melanistic grizzly bear).
 * Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, provided the roars and snarls of the bear, while Candy Candido did the growls.
 * The Bear is the sixth Disney Villain to solely appear in the climax; the first being Monstro, the second being the Giant Magnet, the third being Dragon Maleficent, the fourth being Madam Mim, the fifth being the Rat, and the seventh being the Queen of Hearts.