Rapunzel

"I am the lost princess aren't I?"

- Rapunzel to Gothel

Princess Rapunzel is the protagonist of Disney's 2010 animated feature film Tangled. She is a beautiful princess with long, magical, golden hair who, with the aid of the handsome thief, Flynn Rider, leaves her isolated tower to explore the outside world.

Rapunzel is loosely based on the protagonist of the classic German fairy tale "Rapunzel" by the Brothers Grimm. She is the tenth official Disney Princess and the first CGI-animated princess.

Background
Rapunzel is not a typical Disney Princess; her blonde hair, which is 70 feet long, has the magical ability to heal and to reverse aging when she sings the special Healing Incantation. Kidnapped by Mother Gothel as an infant, Rapunzel is raised by Gothel and locked away in a tall tower up until her 18th birthday, when she is 'rescued' by Flynn Rider. Rapunzel spends her time painting, cooking, candle-making, reading, brushing her hair, playing with Pascal, observing the outside world from within the tower, singing, and interacting with Mother Gothel. Being immensely fascinated by the floating lanterns that take place on her birthday each year, Rapunzel begins to develop a sense of curiosity and seeks to pursue her dream of seeing those "lights in the sky" one day. However, she has not overcome Mother Gothel's strict guardianship and thus has been staying in the tower, longing for the day when her life "begins."

Personality
Rapunzel is a spirited and determined young woman. Throughout her life, she's dreamt of escaping her tower to experience the outside world, but due to the strict order of her sole parental figure, Gothel, she's remained inside the tower. The use of manipulation and emotional abuse in her upbringing by Gothel has led her to believe that the world outside of her tower is highly dangerous, and that remaining in the confines of her sheltered walls is in her best interest. Additional misfortunes born through her upbringing would include such traits as anxiety, low self-esteem, and excessive guilt that would often overcome Rapunzel when interacting with Gothel—especially when making attempts to realize her dream of seeing the "floating lights". This was all according to plan for Gothel, who relied on Rapunzel's emotional instability to forever maintain control over the latter. With Gothel possessing such a strong emotional hold over the princess - having forced Rapunzel to believe she was her only source of security and comfort in a dangerous and unforgiving world - the odds against Rapunzel were high.

Nevertheless, what separates Rapunzel from what could be classified as a "damsel-in-distress" is her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone and take on the mysterious for the sake of experiencing her dreams. Despite being fearful and at times hesitant, she pushes herself forwarded at last pursue her lifelong dream. Additionally, she takes matters into her own hands several times throughout the film, and cunningly takes advantage of situations to end in her favor, such as convincing the thief Flynn Ride to act as her guide to the kingdom of Corona after he broke into her tower. This is further proven by Rapunzel's reaction to learning the truth behind Mother Gothel and her motives, which would prompt the former to become fierce and strongly disapprove of any further abuse. With such will and devotion towards what she values, Rapunzel proves to be a force of nature, in her own right.

As mentioned above, Rapunzel is spirited, and is often seen taking great enjoyment in virtually everything life has to offer. When trapped in her tower, she engaged in various activities such as art and music, proving herself to be talented and expressive as she made her mark on the prison through countless wall paintings, creating a vibrant home filled with color and personality. When she finally escapes her tower, Rapunzel finds beauty in all she sees, from nature to a group of seemingly gruesome thugs. Such positivity would influence those around her, with her presence radiating happiness to all around her and literally igniting uplifting parties so jovial that practically every bystander would join in with zeal. This is seen during "I've Got a Dream" and during the Festival of Lights.

Rapunzel is very social in this regard, and values her loved ones deeply. This is especially seen through her relationship with Eugene. Rapunzel was able to bypass the thief's supposedly roguish nature, and managed to bring out his more noble and genuine side. With love and respect for one another, Rapunzel and Eugene formed a relationship built on trust, understanding, and devotion—a relationship that would better themselves individually and lead to the ultimate realization of their dreams.

Physical appearance
Rapunzel is 18 years old during the film, and is considered a beauty. She has fair skin with a light tint of blush to it and is mostly known for her golden blonde hair which in length is around 70 feet, though her hair is naturally brown like her parents'. The hair is noticeably shiny, like satin. Rapunzel also has light freckles, mostly around her nose, large, bright green eyes, and a playful smile.

Rapunzel's dress is a traditional German dress called the "Dirndl", with a longer skirt than that of a normal Dirndl; her dress also has a purple theme, with a pink accent. The dress consists of a lavender corset top laced with a pink ribbon. The skirt is purple and decorated with swirling and floral designs, in pink, dark purple and white. She also wears a white petticoat underneath. The skirt's hemline is above her ankles, but well below her calves. Her sleeves at the top are puffed and striped with pink and lavender, and the rest, is a pale, baby pink with white lace at the end. Rapunzel does not wear shoes, preferring to go barefoot. At the Kingdom Dance, she wears her hair in a thick braid with smaller braids woven in and adorned with flowers.

Rapunzel's homecoming dress has white lacing on the neckline and the sleeves, and has a pink bodice that has swirly patterns on it and a corset lacing at the back. The skirt is purplish-pink with similar patterns that are found on her old dress.

Powers and Abilities

 * Regeneration & Healing: Supposedly channeling the power of sun itself, once Rapunzel's hair is in contact with a living being, the hair scans the body for damage & reconstructs it on a cellular level as well as reverse ageing to a certain degree. The subject must physically be in contact with the hair in order for the magic to work when the special song begins; her hair also emits a glowing golden yellow light when the magic activates. Even though she lost her hair powers, her tears are also revealed to have resurrection and healing powers. It is unknown if Rapunzel's body has the sun's regeneration abilities, as well.
 * Superhuman Prehensile Hair: Rapunzel's hair also possesses a limited prehensile ability: grappling and grabbing objects that easily outweigh herself without straining or hurting in any way. She revealed that her hair would turn brown should it be cut, and such an act also warrants immediate loss of magic. However, as mentioned above, the powers remain in her tears.
 * Superhuman Strength: Rapunzel also has superhuman strength to a lesser degree; swinging from one cliff to another and suspending herself in the air using leverage of her hair as well as hoisting Gothel up into the tower day after day, to her amazement. Additionally, her hair appeared almost weightless whenever she carried it; needless to say, a normal person cannot, by any means, perform any of the stunts done by Rapunzel with this much hair. Considering the extraordinary amount of hair, she had shown a great deal of agility and dexterity with her hair, such as climbing to high altitudes, jumping off such without much effort, and running just as fast as Flynn, who was a professional thief and does not possess the same amount of hair as Rapunzel did.
 * Superhuman Adaption: Like Ariel, Rapunzel has shown high adaptability; she took roughly two seconds to adjust to the environment of the world. Additionally, she was once trapped in an underwater cave and seemingly was able to swim, which is humanly impossible because she was never taught to. It is observed that her power could still be channeled through her tears even after her hair has seemingly completely lost the magic. It may be that the actual source of energy is in her heart, and as such will only activate and supply when love is involved. However, another interpretation is that channeling her power through her tears was actually releasing the drop of sunlight that created the magical flower which gave Rapunzel her astounding abilities of healing and life. Viewed in this light, such an effort was a once-off ability.

The Lost Princess
Eighteen years before the events of Tangled, Rapunzel's parents, the beloved King and Queen of Corona, were anticipating their firstborn. Unfortunately, very late in her pregnancy, the Queen fell ill with what would surely result in her death, as well as her child's. Fearing the death of his love, the King dispatches multitudes of soldiers and villagers alongside the populace to search for a rumored magic flower, created by a single drop of sunlight, with the potential to heal illnesses.

After much searching, the flower, long hoarded by a woman named Mother Gothel, who has kept herself young by singing a song to it, is miraculously located and boiled into a medicine to cure the queen of her ailment. With the help of the flower, the queen makes a full recovery and soon gives birth to a healthy baby girl, named Rapunzel who, unlike her parents, has beautiful, golden hair. To celebrate her birth, a floating lantern with the emblem of the sun was released into the sky amongst the people of Corona. The peace did not last long, however. Determined to retrieve the flower that has kept her young for hundreds of years, Mother Gothel broke into the castle late one night, and recited the song to Rapunzel. Discovering the child's hair retained the flower's healing powers. Gothel attempted to cut a piece off, only to find that the hair lost its magic and became brunette. Frustrated and desperate, Gothel kidnapped the princess and fled to her tower, hidden within an alcove deep in the forest. To protect Rapunzel's hair, Gothel raised Rapunzel as her own daughter and taught her to sing the flower's song. To further ensure her magic supply was plentiful, Gothel continuously brushed the hair to further its growth. Although Rapunzel wished to leave the tower, Gothel warned her of a dangerous world beyond the tower walls, full of selfish people that desired to steal her hair and abuse her power.

Meanwhile, the kingdom searched far and wide for their missing princess, but to no avail. As a result, each year on Rapunzel's birthday, the King, Queen, and the entire kingdom release thousands of lanterns into the night sky, in hopes that, one day, their lost princess will return.

When Will My Life Begin
Almost eighteen years later, Rapunzel, now a young woman with 70 feet of hair, plays a quick game of hide-and-seek with her pet chameleon, Pascal, and begins her daily seven AM routine of chores inside of the tower, while Mother Gothel (whom she views as her mother) is away. Through the morning, Rapunzel does many tasks, including sweeping, shining, candle making, baking, and brushing her hair, but after living in the tower all of her life, the tasks and time seem to pass by quickly for her. As a result of the constant down time, Rapunzel has numerous creative ways to entertain herself. Though she is happy with her life in the tower, Rapunzel longs to someday explore the outside world. Since childhood, she has become fascinated by an annual event that seems to happen only on her birthday. That night, every year, she witnesses thousands of beautiful floating lights in the sky, brighter than the stars, rise over the tops of the alcove and into view of the tower's largest window. Wanting to know the meaning behind this phenomenon, Rapunzel develops a dream to see these lights in person, and she even draws a picture of herself watching them on a tower wall. The day before her eighteenth birthday, she decides with Pascal that she will finally ask Mother Gothel to see the lights.

Soon after, Mother Gothel finally arrives at the base of the tower and calls for Rapunzel to let down her long hair. Rapunzel complies, and uses her hair and a lantern holder as a rope and pulley to bring Gothel to the window. Gothel then insensitively teases Rapunzel for her slowness and decreases her confidence in front of a mirror, before saying she loves her, as usual, and asking her to sing the incantation to her hair. Instinctively, Rapunzel pulls up a chair and sings the incantation hurriedly, causing Gothel to become younger almost instantly. With her eighteenth birthday arriving, Rapunzel has gained the courage to ask Mother Gothel if she can see the floating lanterns because she believes they are somehow connected to her, and does so. Gothel spurns her request, however, informing Rapunzel through song that the world is much too dangerous for someone as naïve and gullible as her and that she wants to keep Rapunzel safe. She proceeds to warn and frighten her of men with sharp teeth, ruffians, poison ivy, snakes, cannibals, and even the plague and harshly request that she never ask her to leave the tower again. Her previous courage shattered, Rapunzel solemnly promises not to ask to leave the tower again and helps Gothel depart from the tower.

Meeting Flynn
Back at the tower, a young thief by the name of Flynn Rider has just completed a daring daylight robbery at Corona Castle, successfully stealing the crown of the lost princess, betraying his partners, and alluding the palace guards, as well as a fierce military horse named Maximus. Seeking refuge from his combatants, the bandit accidentally stumbles into the clearing where Rapunzel's tower resides. Deciding too hide within the tower, he proceeds to scale the the wall of the tower with arrows, and enters into what turns out to be Rapunzel's room. Seemingly alone, Flynn pulls the crown from his satchel to admire his successful stolen prize, but is instantly knocked out cold by Rapunzel's frying pan. Shocked by her own actions, Rapunzel cowers behind a dress form, before stepping forward to investigate the intruder with Pascal. Pascal advises Rapunzel to be wary of the young man since Gothel has often told stories of men bearing sharp teeth, and they both fear he is a monster from the outside. However, Rapunzel finds nothing outwardly menacing about Flynn.

Concluding that he is just another person, she decides to hide him in her wardrobe, before Mother Gothel returns. It takes the poor girl many times to cram the thief into her wardrobe, but after multiple attempts, she manages to stuff him inside the closet by propping up a chair. After she finally gets him stuffed inside, she finds his satchel containing the crown. Although she has never seen a crown before and doesn't know what one is, she tries to wear it in a few different ways and sets it on her head, before being interrupted by Gothel calling to her from outside. She swiftly hides the crown and satchel, and brings Gothel up the tower once more.

Invigorated by all that has transpired, Rapunzel decides she will show her mother the young man she has captured, proving that she can take care of herself, and again hopes that she will be let out of the tower for her approaching 18th birthday. Unfortunately for Rapunzel, Gothel becomes enraged when she brings up the subject of leaving again and shouts that she will never leave the tower as long as she lives. Rapunzel is crushed by her words, as her dreams of exploring outside the tower and watching the lanterns are dashed to the ground. Realizing that Gothel will never let her see the world, she keeps from telling her that she has a stranger locked away in her closet. She instead informs her that she has changed her mind about what she wants for her birthday, and asks for paint made from special white seashells as a gift instead. Although Gothel is hesitant at first and bemoans the fact that the paint requires a three day journey, she agrees to retrieve the paint to appease her and bids her disappointed "daughter" farewell.

Once out of sight, Rapunzel takes Flynn out of her closet and uses her hair to tie him up to a chair. Pascal wakes him up by sticking his tongue in his ear, and Flynn, not seeing Rapunzel at first, is frightened by his current predicament. When she steps into view, however, he realizes that she is just a beautiful young girl and starts hitting on her, much to her confusion. She immediately assumes he's there to kidnap her and steal her hair and interrogates him, but he has no knowledge what she's talking about. When she realizes he's telling the truth, Rapunzel decide that she has found her chance to see the lanterns. Knowing that he wants his satchel, she strikes him over the head, hides his satchel with in the tower, and proposes a deal. The two of them will leave the tower together and he will take her to see the floating lights the next night. He will then bring her back to the tower the following day before Gothel returns. In exchange for his efforts, she promises to give him back the crown and let him leave. Flynn reluctantly agrees, simply to retrieve his loot.

The Outside World
"For like the first time ever, I'm completely free!"

- An excitable Rapunzel, after leaving the tower

Outside the tower, Rapunzel nervously digs her toes into grass for the first time and runs about the forest in bursts of elation and panic, like a child, while Flynn can only watch. While excited to be out in the world for the first time, Rapunzel feels equally ashamed for having defied her mother. She thinks she is a terrible daughter for disobeying her mother's directions, and worries that her misbehavior will break her mother's heart. Flynn attempts to discourage her from traveling away from the tower by guaranteeing that her rebellious actions will break her mother's heart and crush her soul. He suggest she should simply give him the satchel back and return to the tower, but Rapunzel's desire to see the lanterns sees through his ploy. Despite her guilt and confusion, she assures Flynn that she is fine enough to continue the journey.

Hoping to dissuade her, Flynn takes her to the nearby Snuggly Duckling: a local tavern which is frequented by an assortment of ruffians and thugs like the ones Gothel warned of. Flynn's plan to scare Rapunzel into going back to the tower backfires when the thugs recognize him from wanted posters and attempt to hold him for a reward while one of their associates goes to tip off the guards. With the ruffians ready to tear Flynn apart, Rapunzel pleads with them to release him because she needs him to fulfill her dreams of seeing the lanterns, and asks if they've ever had a dream. Their leader Hook Hand approaches as if he will strike her, but Rapunzel's innocence melts his heart and he admits he has a dream to become a pianist. The entire pub soon begins to come alive as the other members confess their dreams alongside Rapunzel, who is know jubilant that she left her tower.

Unknown to Rapunzel, however, Mother Gothel has discovered she is missing and overhears the events within the pub. Although furious at her daughter, she does nothing as the associate returns with the guards and the Stabbington Brothers. Having become bonded with Rapunzel, the thugs stage a distraction to help Rapunzel and Flynn escape through a secret cellar tunnel and encourage Rapunzel to live her dream. As they traverse the cavern, Rapunzel curiously asks Flynn where he has come from, but Flynn casually refuses to answer. While he acknowledges that she too has secrets she doesn't want to tell, he can't help but ask her why she hasn't gone to see the lanterns before. She hesitates, but just then, they realize they are being rapidly pursued by the palace guards.

Eugene Fitzherbert
"Eugene Fitzherbert, huh?"

- Rapunzel to Eugene

Heading outside the tunnel, the Rapunzel and Flynn find themselves on a ledge overlooking a quarry created below a massive dam. Rapunzel is very surprised to find that besides the palace guards, the Stabbington twins are also giving chase, having escaped their chains, and the horse, Maximus, is also on their path. Appearing to be cornered, Rapunzel uses her hair to swing to an opposing ledge and leaves Flynn her frying pan, enabling him to fend off the guards and sword fight with Maximus. As Maximus disarms Flynn and corners him, Rapunzel lassos him with her hair and pulls him to safety. Unable to reach him, the furious horse unhinges a large wooden beam from the dam in an attempt to reach them but renders the dam overlooking the quarry unstable. It soon collapses and a wave of water surges into the quarry, quickly flooding it. The pair narrowly outruns the massive wave, but become trapped inside a small dead end tunnel, as a massive pillar of stone collapses and blocks the entrance.

Water rapidly begins to flood into the cave and, realizing their doom, they try to pull at the rocks to no avail, and Flynn only manages to cut his hand. They both try to look for an escape under the rapidly-rising water, but there's no light in the cave and they can barely see each other above it. As they think they're about to die, Rapunzel cries and apologizes to Flynn for dragging him into this, and Flynn admits that his real name is Eugene Fitzherbert, because he thought someone should know before he died. Rapunzel tries to make him feel better by admitting that she has magic hair that glows, only to realize that they can use her hair to search for escape in the dark water. She sings the magic song just as their air pocket disappears, and they end up underwater, where Rapunzel's hair illuminates the cave. In the lit water, Flynn discovers a break in the rocks where water flows out and manages to dislodge them, releasing them out the other side.

That night at the campfire, Rapunzel heals Eugene's hand with her hair. The dumbstruck thief just manages to keep his cool, and Rapunzel explains everything to him, including her lifelong imprisonment by Gothel to protect her magic hair, and that if the hair is ever cut, it will turn brown and lose its power. Flynn is empathetic toward her ambiguous feelings over returning to the tower. When questioned about his real name, Flynn tells his childhood story of growing up as an orphan and reading a book called "The Tales of Flynnagan Rider", the escapades of a daring adventurer with every benefit to an exciting life full of dangers, riches, and ladies. Flynn has chosen to adopt the name and lifestyle, even though the real Flynn Rider wasn't a thief, and feeling anything would be a better option than being a helpless orphan. Rapunzel tells him that she likes the name Eugene Fitzherbert much better than his adopted name, and the pair form a close bond. When Eugene leaves to collect more firewood, Gothel appears and tells Rapunzel they are going home. Rapunzel refuses, believing that Eugene is beginning to like her. Gothel presents Rapunzel with Eugene's satchel and challenges her to return it to him, warning her that he will simply abandon her as he only wants the satchel back. Gothel then disappears, leaving Rapunzel feeling doubtful about her new romance.

The Kingdom
"All at once, everything is different... Now that I see you."

- Rapunzel and Eugene

The next morning, Rapunzel wakes to find that they have been discovered by Maximus, a high-ranking palace horse on a personal mission to bring Eugene to justice. Rapunzel calms and befriends the frenzied horse, and requests that he refrain from arresting Eugene for the next 24 hours so that they can see the lanterns. Maximus and Eugene make a reluctant truce and journey into the kingdom with Rapunzel and Pascal. Eugene and Rapunzel enjoy each others' company greatly as they spend the day touring the kingdom and indulging in everything it has to offer. Along with that, Rapunzel makes a wondrous impression on the villagers, bringing whimsy and excitement to their already enjoyable festival, winning their hearts instantly. She also learns of the Lost Princess, though she doesn't recognize it's her in the mural of the royal family, and before she has time to ponder further, she engages in more fun-filled activities with the villagers and Eugene. During the day, their feelings for each other become strong. At dusk, Eugene and Rapunzel row out onto the lake to watch the lanterns rise into the sky.

As they wait for the lanterns to appear, Eugene notices that Rapunzel is not too happy; in fact she's terrified. She confesses that after all of the excitement that has built up inside her about seeing the floating lights, she is worried that they may not be everything that she expected. Eugene assures her they will be, and if they are, she gets to go find herself a new dream afterwards. That night, Rapunzel is overjoyed to finally be living her dream as she enchantingly watches the lanterns float from the streets of the kingdom to the boats on the lake. When Eugene presents her with a pair of their own lanterns, Rapunzel shows him his satchel, saying she was scared to give it to him before. Eugene refuses the satchel and says he knows how she feels. As Rapunzel watches the lanterns, Eugene unexpectedly takes her hand, much to her delight, and they finish singing "I See the Light" together. They are just about to kiss, when Eugene pulls back apprehensively as he sees the Stabbington Brothers on the other side of the lake, unbeknownst to Rapunzel. He assures her everything is fine and quickly takes the boat ashore. He then takes the satchel and walks off into the fog, promising to return. Rapunzel becomes worried as Eugene leaves, and she ruminates on Gothel's warnings.

Gothel Takes Charge
"No! You were wrong about the world, and you were wrong about me! And I will never let you use my hair again!"

- Rapunzel to Gothel

After a moment of waiting, she sees a figure returning to her through the fog. She sighs with relief that Eugene did not take the crown and leave her. But the figure actually turns out to be two tall and brutal thugs whom she recognizes as two of the men from the dam. They inform her that Eugene did actually leave her. At first she doesn't believe them, but they show her a boat sailing across the lake towards the kingdom with Eugene's silhouette at the helm. Rapunzel has little time to grieve as the two men show interest in her magical hair. They scheme to kidnap her and use her powers to earn them money, but Gothel appears and rescues her. Believing that she has been deserted by the man she thought loved her, a heartbroken Rapunzel goes with Gothel back to the tower.

Back at the tower, as she mourns over losing Eugene, Rapunzel discovers that the emblem of the kingdom of Corona has been unwittingly sketched into all of the pictures she has painted over the years in her room. A sudden wave of memories and emotions from lying in her royal crib to trying on her tiara floods her mind, causing her to realize that she is the lost princess of Corona. Rapunzel then confronts Gothel, expressing her repulsion at everything Gothel has done and that she has been hiding with the person she should have been hiding from all along. Gothel says that she only wanted to protect Rapunzel and informs her that Eugene is scheduled to be hanged. Rapunzel becomes even angrier and states that she will never let Gothel use her hair again, but before she can leave, an enraged Gothel gags her and chains her to the wall.

A little while later, she hears Eugene calling to her from outside, but can say or do nothing as Gothel throws Rapunzel's hair out the window for him to climb up. As Eugene gets to the top, Rapunzel attempts to warn him through her gag, but Eugene is fatally stabbed in the stomach by Gothel before he can do anything. Rapunzel's attempts to reach him are in vain as Gothel leaves Eugene clutching his side on the floor and prepares to make her escape with the captive Rapunzel and leave Eugene to die in the tower. Rapunzel, with a lot of struggling and fighting, manages to get the gag off and declares that she will never stop fighting Gothel as long as she lives, but makes a promise to submit to her if only she is allowed to heal Eugene. Gothel, knowing Rapunzel never broke her promises, agrees and chains Eugene down to prevent him from following them. Eugene begs Rapunzel leave him and escape, but Rapunzel refuses, saying she won't let Eugene die and promises him that everything will be alright. Eugene, however, chooses to die rather than let Rapunzel be a prisoner again, so he cuts her hair before she can heal him. Rapunzel reacts in shock and watches in despair as the endless lengths of golden hair turn brown and lose their magic.

My New Dream
With her source of magic gone, Gothel begins to rapidly age, losing her youth and beauty in a matter of seconds. Seeing her true form revealed, Gothel falls into a fit of hysteria, shrouding her face with her hood as she does so, and failing to realize Pascal tugging on a length of Rapunzel's dead hair, which she immediately trips over, falling out of the tower's entrance and plummeting to the ground. By the time she hits the surface, all that's left of the witch is her cloak and piles of dust. After a brief moment of shock over the death of her false mother, Rapunzel rushes to the side of a dying Eugene, in hopes of saving him. Rapunzel desperately cradles the dying Eugene and sings the healing incantation, but Eugene interrupts her as he weakly tells her, with his dying breaths, that she was his new dream. Rapunzel, in reply, says that he was hers as well. Eugene then dies in her arms, leaving a heartbroken Rapunzel to hopelessly finish singing the incantation. She begins to cry over his body, letting a single teardrop fall onto his cheek, which is revealed to have the same power of the magic flower, as it glows as it sinks into Eugene's body and heals his chest wound, reviving him. An overjoyed Rapunzel jubilantly embraces him, and the two then share their first kiss, finally proclaiming their love.

Eugene accompanies Rapunzel back to the kingdom, Though the King and Queen fail to recognize her, at first, the Queen takes a closer look and takes note of the striking resemblance; realizing her daughter has finally returned. It wasn't long before the King learns the truth, as well, and the family is reunited for the first time in several years. Eugene watches on, and knowing the former thief played a part in the safe return of their daughter, the Queen welcomes him into the reunion, as well. In celebration of Rapunzel's return, the kingdom rejoiced with a party lasting an entire week. In the closing narration, it is said that Rapunzel became a beloved ruler and governed her land with grace and wisdom. Meanwhile, Eugene is accepted into the royal family and pardoned for his crimes. According to the former thief, after "years of asking, and asking, and asking", he finally accepted Rapunzel's proposal to marry, only to be corrected by his bride. Eugene then amends that he asked her, which Rapunzel supports by stating that they are living happily ever after.

Tangled Ever After
Rapunzel, along with Eugene, appears in this short sequel to the first film. In the story, Rapunzel and Eugene are getting married, narrating the opening of the short as they claim it to be the happiest day of their lives, with the events of the ceremony nearly proceeding with perfection.

She first appears in her wedding attire and standing at the entrance of the wedding hall, attracting the attention of everyone in attendance. Her father, the King, then walks her down the center aisle, so that she can join her groom at the altar. The priest starts his speech, but Maximus sneezes and accidentally loses their wedding rings. The two appear in a vision of Maximus and Pascal where everyone in attendance becomes upset at the loss of the rings, though in reality, neither Rapunzel nor Eugene notice the dilemma, or their animal companions leaving the ceremony to retrieve the missing rings.

Rapunzel and Eugene are shown later after Maximus and Pascal manage to get the rings back, but the couple (and everyone else) are shocked at the grotesque-looking Maximus and Pascal, both covered with tar, who offer the rings. The two exchange their rings as the priest pronounce the couple husband and wife. Eugene and Rapunzel kiss, and everyone in attendance rejoice.

Sofia the First
Rapunzel appears in the special Sofia the First: The Curse of Princess Ivy as part of a Disney Junior movie event. She is the first non-traditional animated princess to appear on the show and has her 70 feet long, mystical golden blonde instead of her short natural brown hair, including her tiara, and lavender flat shoes on her feet.

When Sofia and Amber are unable to stop Princess Ivy from taking over their kingdom, Rapunzel gives them a helping hand and a plan that will help them save the day. She tells Amber as they fly to Enchancia that Flynn Rider had to make up for his bad deeds during the song "Dare to Risk it All". Rapunzel then tells Amber that if she really loves Sofia as a sister, she will know what to do when the time comes and then magically disappears.

Tangled: The Series
Rapunzel is set to appear in the upcoming animated TV series. Taking place after the events of the film, and before Tangled Ever After, Rapunzel returns to her kingdom to resume her rightful place in the royal family, but feeling she still has a lot to learn about the world outside of her tower prison, the formerly lost princess decides to delay her crowning and marriage to Eugene to explore the world and seek out adventure. Accompanying her on her journeys will be Eugene, Pascal, Maximus, the Pub Thugs, and her new handmaiden, Cassandra.

Cameos and other appearances
In Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, Grace Goodwin wears a Disney Princess shirt that has a picture of Rapunzel, Snow White and Cinderella. Rapunzel makes a cameo appearance along with Eugene in Frozen. They are seen entering the castle of Arendelle for Elsa's coronation and pass by Anna, when Anna is singing "For the First Time in Forever".

Rapunzel was also set to appear in the cancelled short, Princess Academy. In concept art for the project, she can be seen sailing on a boat whilst listening to a story being told by Alice's sister.

In a 2015 holiday advertisement for Target, a doll version of Rapunzel, alongside Belle, makes a brief cameo appearance as part of the cheering crowd when the kids successfully put the star on top of the Christmas tree.

An emoticon version of Rapunzel appeared in the Tangled entry of the As Told by Emoji short series.

A horse version of Rapunzel appeared on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Wrangled in the film Zootopia.

Once Upon a Time
Rapunzel appeared in the 14th episode of Season 3 titled "The Tower" and was played by Alexandra Metz.

Before the Dark Curse was cast, Rapunzel was born as the second child to her parents, the King and Queen of an unnamed kingdom, and lives an unworried life knowing that her elder brother, instead of herself, will ascend the throne in the future. Though her parents warn Rapunzel against swimming in the stream, she disobeys them, becoming entrapped in the river, and is later saved by her brother. Tragically, her brother dies as a result, leaving Rapunzel as the next heir to the royal seat. Many years later, Rapunzel, afraid she won't live up to her parents' names as a ruler, digs up and ingests a plant called night root, which is rumored to rid the user of their fears, but it has no effect. Before leaving for home, she is chased up a tower by a cloaked witch, who refuses to allow her to ever leave. Unbeknownst to Rapunzel, the witch is a manifestation of herself as her own greatest fear as a consequence of consuming the night root. After the curse was undone, Rapunzel notices from her tower window a man digging up night root. Since he is the first person she's seen in a long time, the princess calls to him for help. The man, Prince Charming, climbs up the tower using her long, braided hair as a scaling rope. After she tells him of her past, he promises to rescue her. When the cloaked witch climbs up the tower, she is finally unmasked as Rapunzel herself due to the effects of the night root. While Prince Charming pushes Rapunzel to fight this manifestation of her own fear, the witch throws him out of the tower. As he is clinging onto a vine, the witch begins ascending up using Rapunzel's hair. Advised by Prince Charming to fend off the fear or risk dying alone, she severs the length of her hair, causing the witch to fall and dissipate. Prince Charming helps Rapunzel out of the tower, bringing the princess to her parents, whom she happily reunites with.

Celebration of the Lost Princess
After being freed from the tower and Gothel, Rapunzel, Pascal, Eugene, and Maximus begin returning to Corona to reunite with the King and Queen. However, anxiety begins overcoming the princess as she fears the life of royalty, believing it to be overbearing. As Eugene explains what palace life is like, Rapunzel's imagination gets the better of her, making the simplest of things seem too much to handle.

She also learned of the royal tiara, and the symbolism its crystals held. The tiara's white crystals stood for a strong, adventurous spirit; green represented gentleness and kindness; red stood for courage; and the round golden crown itself stood for leadership. Eugene further explained that the crystals perfectly represent Rapunzel, reminiscing the heroic deeds she performed during their adventure together during the original journey from the tower to the kingdom. Even so, Rapunzel felt those actions couldn't have been done without her long, magical hair, and just then, the group was attacked by bandits, who were after Maximus. Using her quick wit and physical strength, along with Maximus' assistance, the bandits were defeated, and it was revealed their leader merely needed a horse to rush his son to the doctor.

With that said, the group returned to the lead bandit's home, where Rapunzel tended to the boy's injuries. And afterwards, Maximus escorted him to the medics. The entire event showed Rapunzel Eugene's words were correct, and in the end, she was finally crowned.

Ghost of Christmas Past
As Corona is preparing for the most wonderful time of the year, Rapunzel seems apprehensive about celebrating Christmas, much to the confusion of Eugene. She recalls that during the time she spent in the tower, Mother Gothel would tell her of "Nicholas the ghostly Christmas elf," who supposedly kidnaps children on Christmas Eve, and the eerie songs written in honor of the holiday. But, after hearing her story, Eugene quickly realizes that the story was just another one of Mother Gothel's tricks to keep Rapunzel away from the outside world and confined in the tower. So, Eugene decides to take Rapunzel out on a stroll through the kingdom to show her what Christmas is truly all about.

First, Eugene shows her that the music is actually sweet and heartwarming, and not as spooky as she first thought. Then, the presents are real gifts, as oppose to being a trick package. Next, the so-called charms that, according to Rapunzel, scares away the Christmas elf on the Christmas tree are really ornaments used for decorations. Finally, Eugene shows her that St. Nicholas is a jolly old fellow who gives presents to kids all around the world, and not a ghostly Christmas elf who kidnaps them as she was told before. With the actual knowledge of Christmas finally given to her, Rapunzel now goes from wary to excited as she spends the next few weeks getting ready for the holiday.

On Christmas Eve, Rapunzel is finally able to celebrate the holiday with Eugene, Pascal, and her parents as it truly is: joyful, warm, and loving. Rapunzel then happily thanks Eugene and falls asleep on his lap as they wait for Christmas Day to come.

Comics
As the title New Year's Party suggests, Rapunzel and Eugene joined the royal family for a New Year Eve's party. However, as midnight approached, the couple realized they have yet to make a New Year's resolution. Rapunzel quickly decided on learning to sing, and Eugene decided on learning how to cook. However, on both ends, they were abysmal. After a while of constant lessons, Rapunzel was prepared to perform her "newfound singing skills" for Eugene, just as much as Eugene was prepared to serve Rapunzel a meal he specially cooked. However, despite their eagerness, Rapunzel found Eugene's cooking terrible, and nearly choked taking a bite, whilst Eugene's reaction to her singing eventually informed her that her singing wasn't all that fantastic, and she vocally acknowledged the enlightenment. Fortunately, the two were able to see pass their flaws, passing them off anyway.

After returning to the palace in Rapunzel the Princess, Rapunzel has a difficult time adjusting to the life of a princess. For instance, she's forced to wear shoes for the first time (though she eventually becomes accustomed to it), as well as being told she no longer has to sweep and clean, like she did in the tower. Eugene and the Pub Thugs also had a difficult time fitting in, using thieving mechanisms to visit Rapunzel in the castle, much to the guards' distress. She also discovers people aren't too fond of Pascal, and that painting on the wall (as she did in the tower) is considered disgraceful. However, despite her apparent mishaps, the King and Queen confess that the habits of their daughter make her special and more than desirable, believing she's the greatest princess they could ask for, no matter what.

About a decade before the release of Tangled, Rapunzel was given her first mention in the first issue of New Adventures of Disney's Beauty and the Beast by Disney Comics, where Belle compared her current situation of being trapped in a cellar with a bear outside to Rapunzel's situation in the story.

Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
In this story, taking place during the time of the film, Rapunzel is on her way to Corona to live her dream, but various obstacles prove to make the journey difficult, such as Flynn's wanted posters being plastered throughout the forest, Pascal going missing, and evil imps causing havoc. However, with the help of the game's heroine, Rapunzel and Pascal are able to overcome the challenges, eventually making it to the kingdom and rewarding the heroine by helping her find a magic crystal.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
In the game, Rapunzel and Pascal have been kidnapped to the World of Illusion by an evil witch known as Mizrabel, as part of a dark scheme to steal the essence of beloved Disney characters for her own selfish purposes. Fortunately, however, they are soon rescued by Mickey Mouse and remain within a sanctuary with the other rescued Disney characters until Mizrabel's eventual defeat, allowing the characters to return back to their homes.

Disney INFINITY
Rapunzel appears as a playable character in Disney INFINITY, playable in the Toy Box mode of the game. She was released as a stand alone character on November 22nd 2013, and was released in the UK in the "Girl Power" pack alongside Violet and Vanellope von Schweetz on April 4th 2014.

Quests featuring Rapunzel as a playable character include the following: Rapunzel's exclusive adventure in the first game is called "Rapunzel's Rail Ride", which has her competing in a timed event to gather floating lanterns. The board features multiple lengths of piping with some of the floating lanterns on them, resulting in Rapunzel having to jump from pipe to pipe so to retrieve them.
 * Rapunzel's Rumble - Rapunzel must defeat and numerous ruffians and thugs with items within the level and get back to her tower.
 * Hidden Worlds - Rapunzel must find a flamingo, golden flower, tiki statue, and plush hearts in this Tangled-themed hidden object game.
 * Tangled Adventure - Rapunzel has long journey through obstacles to get to Cinderella's castle.
 * Tangled Hair - Ride up and down leftover strands of Rapunzel's hair to get to the top of her tower.
 * A Tangled Race - Race around the kingdom and visit Rapunzel's Tower.
 * Maximus Speed - Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns, but they've already started! Get her and bring her to see them before they're over!

Kingdom Hearts III
Although she has yet to make an official appearance, an interview by Tetsuya Nomura at E3 2015 has confirmed that Rapunzel will appear in Kingdom Hearts III due to her unique abilities and gameplay.

Disney Parks
Rapunzel is a face character in various Disney parks around the world. Retaining long blonde hair as opposed to the short brown cut at the end of the film, the official explanation for her park appearance is remnants of the magic within her after healing Flynn gradually allowed her to grow some hair back (down to her ankles it seems).

Disneyland Resort
In 2013, Rapunzel became part of the Fantasy Faire meet-and-greet at the former Carnation Gardens Plaza site, working in an interactive version of her story with Flynn and Smythe and Jones at the Royal Theater. Rapunzel also appears in Mickey's Soundsational Parade—with Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora and Belle on the princess-themed float— is part of the "Mickey and the Magical Map" show at Fantasyland Theater, and appears during the nighlty Paint the Night parade.

She is also featured in World of Color during the "So Close" sequence, replacing Tarzan.

Walt Disney World Resort
In Florida, she can be found in the Magic Kingdom at the Princess Fairytale Hall for meet-and-greets. In the same park, she makes daily appearances during Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire, as well as the Festival of Fantasy parade.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Rapunzel makes appearances in the Happiness is Here parade and Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights. She also appears in a Tangled segment of Once Upon a Time at Tokyo Disneyland.

Disneyland Paris
Rapunzel and Flynn also made a special appearance near the finale of Mickey's Magical Celebration, and are currently seen in the nighttime show Disney Dreams!.

Hong Kong Disneyland
Rapunzel debuted on January of 2011, as part of the festivities celebrating the park's 5th anniversary. She also appears in the show Mickey and the Wondrous Book, performed in Storybook Theater. Here, she performs "When Will My Life Begin" with Ariel and joins Merida's performance of "Touch the Sky".

Shanghai Disneyland
In Shanghai, Rapunzel can be found in several spots, including Mickey’s Storybook Express parade, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, and on the Tangled mosaic display inside of Enchanted Storybook Castle.

Disney Cruise Line
Aboard the Disney Cruise Line ships, Rapunzel and Flynn have been added to the long-running show The Golden Mickeys and are featured on the Disney Fantasy cruise show Wishes. She also stars in a stage adaptation of Tangled.

Disney Princess
Upon the release of Tangled, Rapunzel instantly became one of the most popular Disney characters of all time, especially amongst fans of the Disney Princess franchise.

On October 2, 2011, an official coronation ceremony for Rapunzel's induction into the line-up was held in London at the Kensington Palace. Among the other guests included thousands of fans, the other (then nine) official members of the Disney Princess Royal Court, and Flynn Rider, who had the honor of crowning Rapunzel.

Redesign
Rapunzel received very few changes for the "deluxe princess" redesign. Her dress simply had glittery floral designs added onto the them. The dress is also a little longer, extending to floor length and the colors seem to be a brightened. Rapunzel's hair is long and blonde, reaching floor length despite the fact that it was cut in the film. Rapunzel has also been given shoes for her redesign, something that differs greatly from the film, where she is persistently seen to be barefoot.

Palace Pets
Rapunzel's Palace Pets are Blondie, Summer, Meadow, Daisy, Gleam, Sundrop and Truffles.

Differences from the source material
Although Rapunzel is based on the character from the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, she is altered quite a bit in order to develop a more adventurous and outgoing personality, and further complicate the romantic relationship between her and her love interest.
 * In the original tale, Rapunzel is named for the Rapunzel (German) plant, known as corn salad or lamb's lettuce in English. Her mother had craved them during the pregnancy and her father had stolen them from Gothel's garden, which is why she claimed ownership of Rapunzel in the fairy tale.
 * In the Grimm story, Rapunzel's hair is cut by Gothel when she finds out about the prince.
 * In the fairy tale, Rapunzel was not of royal birth, but born a commoner.
 * Rapunzel was far less rebellious in the fairy tale.
 * Rapunzel did not own a chameleon in the story.
 * The parents are never mentioned after Gothel comes to take the baby girl away as agreed upon.
 * Her love interest was not a thief, but a prince who is never given a name and was stereotypically simply referred to as "the prince".
 * In the story, there is no mention of Rapunzel using frying pans as a weapon.
 * Her hair did not possess any powers nor did it glow at all.
 * In the fairy tale, Rapunzel is cast away. The Prince must find her even when he's blind from thorns that results from escaping from Gothel lurking in the tower. After some years he finally finds her and he can see again.
 * In the original story Rapunzel's tears restore her lover's sight.
 * At birth in the source material, Rapunzel's father agreed to give her to Gothel after stealing her rampion for the second time to help his wife.
 * In the source material, Rapunzel becomes pregnant and given birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
 * Rapunzel was a natural blonde in the original fairy tale.
 * In the original story, Rapunzel was 12 when she was shut in the tower. In the film, she was only a baby when locked in.
 * In some versions of the story, her hair grows back after the prince touches it.
 * The fairy tale character never leaves her tower, not until she is send far away from it to the desert by Gothel.
 * Rapunzel was impregnated by the prince, and Gothel only found out when Rapunzel's clothing could no longer fit.
 * This is from the first edition, 1812. The 1857 edition is changed. In that version, Rapunzel unwittingly asks Frau Gothel why it took so long for her to climb up, but not so with the prince.

Trivia

 * Rapunzel was originally going to be voiced by Broadway actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth, but she was later replaced by pop singer-songwriter and former teen idol, Mandy Moore.
 * Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel were once considered for the role of Rapunzel.
 * Coincidentally, the latter two actresses would go on to voice Anna and Elsa respectively in the 2013 film Frozen.
 * It is never made clear in the film whether Rapunzel was the name given by her parents or Gothel.
 * Rapunzel is the first Disney Princess to be computer-animated. In fact she is the first Disney Princess to make her debut as a computer-animated character. Special software was used specifically to animate Rapunzel's hair because no one ever animated that much hair before.
 * Animators have said that Rapunzel's hair is approximately 70 feet long and holds about 100,000 strands. Despite having her hair cut and turn brown in the movie, Rapunzel's hair is kept long and blonde in many of the promotional images and in the Disney parks. This also makes her the first Disney Princess to have her hair change color.
 * The color purple is often said to be the color of royalty. During the film, Rapunzel only wears purple, which can be a reference to Rapunzel's true royal identity.
 * At the Disney Princess Fairytale Hall, Rapunzel claims to have painted all of the portraits of the other Disney Princesses that guests see when they first enter the hall.
 * Rapunzel is the last protagonist that animator Glen Keane created before his resignation from Disney. Keane was famous for animating other protagonists over the years as well, such as Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Tarzan.
 * Rapunzel not only happens to have an interest in art, but also in astronomy as well, probably as a result of her trying to keep track of how long she remained in Gothel's tower since she was kidnapped by observing the nights the lanterns are released from her kingdom to signal her to come back.
 * In the original trailer, it was planned that Rapunzel's hair, in addition to healing, would be able to move on its own and act like another appendage similar to The Marvel Comics' character Medusa which Disney also owns.
 * Although her feet aren't shown in the short, several promotional artwork made for Tangled Ever After reveal that Rapunzel is indeed barefoot underneath her wedding dress.
 * Rapunzel has a distinctive meaning to her name; "Rapunzel" is a kind of German lettuce as in the original German fairy tale Rapunzel's peasant father is stealing rampion for her mother from a witch.
 * Some Rapunzel wedding media depict her with long blonde hair instead of short brown hair.
 * Rapunzel and Flynn are said to have the widest age gap of any other couple in the Disney Princess line-up. According to the creators, Eugene is 26, which would make him at least eight years older than the 18-year old Rapunzel.
 * Some Rapunzel crown media depict her with a purple crown instead of the typical gold, platinum and diamond type.
 * Rapunzel was originally planned to have a red dress, which was changed into pink. When animation started at work, the dress was then recolored into blue. When the concept was later abandoned, the dress was finalized to a purple dress, which has become the dress color of most variations of other Rapunzel characters, since the flowers of a Rampion (Rapunzel) plant have violet hues.
 * Rapunzel's favorite food is hazelnut soup, as alleged by Mother Gothel.
 * A character model of Rapunzel without her dress revealed that the top part of her white underdress (the bottom of the underdress is clearly shown under her skirt) resembled a white version of the bodice of her pink and purple dress, right down to the pink laces, but sported lace-trimmed straps instead of sleeves.
 * In the film Enchanted, released three years before Tangled, a foreshadowing reference to Disney's then-upcoming incarnation of Rapunzel was made during "That's How You Know".
 * During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Rapunzel was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.