Horned King

The Horned King is the main antagonist of The Black Cauldron and voiced by John Hurt. His main plan in the movie was to find the Black Cauldron and use it's power to unleash an army of deathless Cauldron Borns. The Horned King has a vast army at his disposal including the troll-like Creeper, the Huntsmen of Annuvin, the dragon-like Gwythaints, and of course his Cauldron Born.

Personality
The Horned King is in great contrast with his predecessors and successors as he exhibits very few of their outwardly arrogant and narcissistic qualities. He is cold and very composed, showing no outward anger until his plan failed and lunges at Taran when he believes it was his doing (on Creeper's suggestion). He has no attachment to his henchmen (who fear him greatly), throwing them away once he has the Cauldron Born and constantly strangles Creeper (the only comedic aspect of his character) with no retorts. Also, he has no reservations about his intentions, as he is very open on his dream of becoming "a god among mortal men" and then wiping out all living things with an undead army. He is notable for lacking any sense of humor, as he doesn't do any evil laughs. Also, he is driven by personal desire, unlike a lot of Disney villains who are instead driven by revenge.

Background
It is debatable whether the Horned King was undead or living; since Creeper served him wine at some point during the film, it can be assumed he requires some sort of sustenance to survive, implying he is a living being. His exposure to the Cauldron, however, revealed he was little more than a scrawny, green-skinned skeleton. It's possible that in his quest for power he tried several dark magical approaches, which left his physical appereance detoriating, in a similar way to Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort.

Production
The main villain was supposed to be Arawn, however the animators felt people would like him better since he has horns (notable examples include Maleficent and Chernabog). They combined the elements of the two to create a lich, though the narrator implies the spirit within the Cauldron is Arawn himself.

The Black Cauldron
He desires to find the Black Cauldron and use its power to unleash an army of deathless Cauldron Born to rule the world. He goes to many lengths to find it, kidnapping Eilonwy for her bauble and Hen Wen because he believes they have powers to locate the Black Cauldron. He is first seen talking to his currently non-animated Cauldron Born on his goals. He is seen again when he enters the mess hall of his castle via magical teleport teleportation. When Taran falls into the room, he instructs him to show the location of the Black Cauldron. Taran then splashes water into the King's eyes (which have an agonizing effect on him) to lead Hen Wen into a chase where they manage to keep Hen Wen away and he is thrown into the dungeon. Creeper reports that Taran and his company have escaped and quietly tells him to send the Gwythaints to follow them. The three are ultimately captured along with the newly acquired Black Cauldron which he then summons the Cauldron Born. He sends them to destroy all opposition, however Gurgi flings himself into the Cauldron to negate its necromancy ability. The Horned King returns to the room where the ritual was performed and finds Taran who he believes the Cauldron's failure was his doing. He grabs for Taran, but is pushed into the pull of the Cauldron which rips him to a skeleton and explodes.

Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse
The Horned King appears as the final boss of the game under the name The Phantom, having stolen a magical gem from a village. He is clad in blue and purple robes instead of his red and brown robes.

House of Mouse
The Horned King makes appearances in several episodes of House of Mouse.


 * In one episode, he enters the club and shakes hands with Donald.


 * In another episode, he sits at a table and laughs with other characters after seeing Goofy fall into a gopher hole dug by Gopher.


 * In another episode, while Goofy sings a song that's a spoof of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!", he is seen at a table where a penguin waiter serves him his dinner.

Disney Parks


The Horned King appeared in the Tokyo Disneyland attraction Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour. In this tour styled walkthrough attraction, the Horned King is the final Disney villain the guests confront. The tour guide will tell a guest the magic words to defeat the Horned King and his Cauldron Born army. At the end of the tour the guest was awarded a medal for defeating him. The attraction served as inspiration for the final level of a Tokyo Disneyland-based game on the Super Famicom where Pete played the part of the Horned King.

Abilities
Although it is implied the Horned King is a sorceror of some sorts, he actually performs very little magic, only displaying his powers to teleport into his castle's mess hall and calling upon the spirit of the Black Cauldron. How he got into the position of King is unknown. Perhaps he was a great warrior or soldier, but then again he is never seen wielding a sword. He did have great physical strength, however, as he used that to assault Taran in the climax.

Trivia

 * Arguably, the Horned King is somewhat similar to Doctor Facilier in the way that both are motivated solely by personal desire and have a hatred for those they are trying to defeat. Also, both end up absorbed and killed by the source of their powers; the Horned King by the Cauldron and Facilier by his loa.


 * The Horned King is one of the few villains without a song. He shares this trait with the likes of Shan-Yu.

El Rey del Mal