Percival C. McLeach

Percival C. McLeach is the main antagonist in Disney's 1990 feature film The Rescuers Down Under, the sequel to The Rescuers, voiced by the late George C. Scott. He has much in common with the original film's villain Madame Medusa.

Personality
He is an evil poacher who captures rare animals and sells them, usually for their hides. Truly cruel, he clearly enjoys killing animals, at one point even singing a twisted version of the song "Home on the Range" which is sung "Home, home on the range where the critters are tied up with chains. I cut through their hides, I rip off their hides and the next day I'll do it again" . He is an excellent hunter and tracker, and although he has only a third grade education (which he considers to be an accomplishment on his part), he is very cunning, able to lie and cheat effectively, also tossing Cody's backpack into the water so that he will be presumed to have been eaten by crocodiles, coming up with the plot to trick him into leading him to the eagle, and being aware that Cody will never believe he is just letting him go out of the 'goodness of his heart', maintains a nasty demeanour even as he releases him. McLeach appears to be perfectly fine with up and slaughtering Cody, as shown in the epilogue and his plots to snuff out information from the child.

He has, for some reason, chosen not to kill his pet lizard, whom he calls Joanna, and although he threatens her on several occasions it is always when she misbehaves or does something stupid. He is plucky and appears to have a decent sense of humor, making grim jokes and comedic movements, not to mention singing at odd points.

At first glance he does not appear healthy. He seems to be balding, sports a pot-belly, and is tall and quite lanky despite the gruelling nature of his job. However, he is actually quite strong, able to fight off several saltwater crocodiles, which are considered among the most dangerous animals in the world.

Design
He is dressed like an Australian stockman. He wears an akubra hat with crocodile teeth in its leather band decorated with a rare golden eagle feather. Around his neck is a backwards facing bandana. He wears a vest over his shirt. As seen, from capturing Marahute to trying to feed Cody to the crocodiles in Croc Falls, he wears a drizabone riding jacket but seconds before falling into the river, he took it off.

Role in the film
He is first seen on a wanted poster (suggesting that he had committed enough poaching crimes for him to be on the run from the law). His first on-screen appearance is him approaching one of the traps he has set, only to be surprised by having caught Cody. At first, he tries to persuade him that he's not a poacher, and seems prepared to let him go, but when he realizes he knows the location of the great Golden Eagle Marahute, he admits that he is a poacher, and has already caught the father. He tosses his backpack to the crocodiles to trick the authorities into thinking Cody was eaten and kidnaps him.

At first, he tries to persuade Cody to reveal the location, offering him a 50/50 split. However, Cody continues to refuse his deals, and he contemplates torture, but when Joanna steals his eggs, he is inspired to tell Cody that Marahute is dead, and that there's no point to keeping him, then mentions casually that her eggs will go cold without her.

At the film's end, as he tries to kill Cody to keep him from tattling on him about his capture of Marahute by feeding him to the crocodiles of Croc Falls, he's knocked into the river by Joanna, who was chasing Bernard. There, the crocodiles then turn their attention from Cody to him, and attack him and Joanna. At first, he seems to manage to fight them off, saying "You'll think twice before messin' with Percival C. McLeach!". However, as it turns out, the large reptiles were trying to escape a huge waterfall, and even Joanna, who has swam safely to shore, waves him goodbye. He then discovers his fate, and tries to escape, but he is eventually swept over the falls to his death.

House of Mouse
Percival C. McLeach and his pet, Joanna, appeared in only one episode, "House of Crime", where he is seen arguing with Stromboli. Later in the same episode, Percival was imprisoned with other Disney Villains as suspects of the mysterious disappearances.

Trivia

 * During the "Home on the Range" song, his singing voice is not provided by George C. Scott but Frank Welker, who provided the voice of Joanna in the movie.
 * When he first appears, he pulls a feather out of Cody's jacket and puts it in his hat, but in previous shots there was already one there.
 * He was left out of Mickey's House of Villains despite appearing in the aforementioned House of Mouse episode.
 * He is very similar to his predecessor Madame Medusa from the first film The Rescuers. He kidnapped a young boy in order to find the Golden Eagle while she kidnapped a young girl in order to find a precious diamond. They both own reptiles as he owns a female goanna, Joanna, while she owns two male crocodiles, Brutus and Nero. They both have shotguns. Although, he's more contemptuous and evil as he is willing to kill Cody after he caught Marahute to keep him from being arrested, while she never attempted to kill Penny. She just wanted to make off with the diamond and leave Snoops and Penny on Devil's Bayou, stealing Penny's teddy bear in the process. He is also a slightly superior shot than her, though probably only because his gun has a scope. However, she is more intelligent than him as she was ranked as the #16 Disney villain, but he has not been ranked although fans feel he should have been; especially when McLeach was given the traditional Disney Villain Death, while Madam Medusa did not. He is also similar to Gaston, as they are both skilled huntsmen.
 * His shotgun is a Winchester Model 1912 but with heavy modifications, such as a scope. One weird fact is when he first appears, it has two barrels. However, when he tries to shoot the rope holding Cody over the crocodile-infested waters, it only one but still has a scope.
 * Despite the movie's poor box office performance, he became a popular villain.
 * McLeach shares much in common with Bill Sykes as they both kidnap children (McLeach Cody and Sykes, Jenny Foxworth) and like money. They also possess guns however although McLeach wants money the money Sykes wants is his own.
 * McLeach is also similar to John Clayton. Both are hunters, both like money and both own shotguns.