Robin Hood (character)

"Oh, Friar Tuck. It appears that I now have an outlaw for an in-law."

- King Richard, talking with Friar Tuck about Robin Hood

Robin Hood is an anthropomorphic fox who is the protagonist of Disney's 1973 feature film of the same name. Although Robin Hood is often shown as an outlaw who chooses to rob from the rich to help the poor people, in this animated version, he is shown mainly attacking Prince John and his agents, who have impoverished Nottingham with high taxes. Robin Hood and Little John steal the tax caravans and give it back to the peasants while trying to avoid capture by both Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. He is voiced by Brian Bedford.

Personality
Robin Hood is based on the character from the Robin Hood legends. Like the character of legend, Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. He is known for his mastery of archery as well as his talent for disguising himself. Despite being declared an outlaw, Robin Hood is a good and generous person at heart, and is beloved by the townspeople for his deeds.

Little background is given as to Robin Hood's early life. It is mentioned that he already have meet Maid Marian in the past, and they were in love. At some point after this, Robin Hood became an outlaw, and was already being sought by the Sheriff of Nottingham at the opening of the film.

Physical appearance
Robin Hood is a slender red fox with brown eyes who wears a yellow hat with a red feather on it, but later changed to green, and wears green clothing and shoes.

Abilities

 * Fox Physiology: Robin Hood is an anthropomorphic fox.
 * Human Mimicry: As an anthropomorphic fox, Robin Hood walks on his legs and wears human clothing.
 * Agility: Robin Hood is agile and uses it to outmaneuver his opponents.
 * Master Archer: Robin Hood is a mastery of archery, he was able to hit every target in the "Archery Tournament".
 * Disguise Mastery: Robin Hood is a master of disguising himself, he once disguise as a stork to avoid detection and a blind man to fool the guards.
 * Skilled Swordsman: Even though he relies on a bow and arrow, Robin Hood is skilled in sword fighting.
 * Skilled Woodsman: Due to spending most time in the woods, Robin Hood is very persistent in working in the woods.

Robin Hood
His first appearance in the film is running with Little John from the Sheriff of Nottingham and his posse. After escaping, he and Little John disguise themselves as gypsy fortune tellers. Together, they successfully rob the royal caravan of the tyrannical, ruthless Prince John, earning him the prince's ire. Robin Hood becomes Prince John's most wanted figure in Nottingham. While disguised as a blind beggar, Robin is seen giving the money to Nottingham residents who suffer from the oppressive taxes of Prince John.

Later, Robin Hood and Little John are at their hideout in the forest. Robin is supposed to be cooking dinner, but instead he daydreams about Maid Marian and starts to burn the food. Robin apologizes and admits that though he loves her, he says he can't be with her as he doesn't have anything to offer Marian and doesn't want to involve her being an outlaw. Soon Friar Tuck arrives and says that he is no outlaw but instead a hero. Friar Tuck reveals to them that Prince John has organized an archery tournament and the winner will also receive a kiss from Maid Marian. Seeing this as chance to see her again, Robin decides to enter and knowing it is clearly a trap meant to capture him, Robin Hood attends, disguised as a stork.

As the tornament is about to begin, Robin goes to see Maid Marian where he gives her a flower and expresses his hope that he wins the contest. Maid Marian easily sees through his disguised and wishes him luck. Robin also talks with the Shrieff about capturing him where the Shrieff admits his belief he scares Robin as he is no where in sight of the tornament, unaware that he's talking to Robin Hood himself in disguise. The Tornament goes on and it's not long before Robin and the Shreiff are the finalists in the contest and soon Robin wins.

However, his masterful archery skills reveal his identity, and he is captured and sentenced to death. Little John interrupts the execution by threatening Prince John, and after a battle, Robin Hood escapes into Sherwood Forest with Little John, Maid Marian and others. Robin Hood and Maid Marian are walking in the forest, happy to finally be with each other again, where the spend the night catching up with each other since it's been so long since they've seen the other. Robin later takes Marian to his and Little John's home and much to their surprise, find the people of Nottingham there where everyone holds a celebration in honor of Robin Hood.

Later, after discovering that Friar Tuck has been imprisoned by Prince John for treason and is to be executed in the morning, Robin Hood attempts a rescue to both the friar from death, and to rescue the residents of Nottingham who have been imprisoned for failure to pay taxes. The jail break goes successfully, until it is revealed that Tagalong was left behind. Though Robin Hood is able to rescue the child, he is trapped in the castle. He is stalked in the tower by the Sheriff of Nottingham who engulfs the tower in flames while trying to hit Robin Hood with a flaming torch. Robin Hood manages to run, and eventually jumps from a tower into the moat, while being shot at by the sheriff's posse. Though originally believed to be dead, Robin Hood survives, much to the anger of Prince John.

At the end, King Richard returns, pardons Robin Hood for his heroic deeds, and allows him to marry Maid Marian.

House of Mouse
He makes recurring appearances as a guest on House of Mouse.

In the episode "Thanks to Minnie", Robin Hood was part of the rumor chain, mainly the end of the rumor that Clarabelle Cow sends from Mickey Mouse to Donald Duck to Daisy Duck to Goofy to The Queen of Hearts to Pocahontas and finally to Robin Hood, who wrote a message with a feathered quill and sent it back to Clarabelle saying that "We'd be better off without Minnie."

Once Upon a Time
Robin Hood, portrayed by Tom Ellis, appeared on the second season of Once Upon a Time in the episode "Lacey". He is introduced as a thief who attempts to steal a powerful magic wand from Rumplestiltskin, however he is caught in the act and kept prisoner. Belle, believing that there is good in Robin Hood, frees him from his jail. An angered Rumplestiltskin returns and reveals that Robin Hood has, in fact, taken the wand. Upon finding the thief in Sherwood Forest, his life was spared by Rumplestiltskin when he discovers what the thief had stolen the wand for Maid Marian, who was gravely ill.

He has been recast for Season 3, and is played by Sean Maguire.

After Regina loses her love Daniel, Tinker Bell leads her to Robin Hood, claiming he is her true love. However, Regina is scared to love again, and refuses to meet him. Marian is later killed by Regina (now the Evil Queen) for supporting Snow White, leaving Robin to raise Roland alone.

Whilst looking for a globe belonging to Rumplestiltskin, Neal and Mulan encounter Robin Hood in Rumplestiltskin's castle. He reluctantly uses Roland as bait to call Peter Pan's shadow to allow Neal to travel to Neverland, and offers Mulan a place in his Merry Men. When Peter Pan's curse takes everyone from Storybrooke back to their original worlds, he rescues Regina and Mary Margaret in the Enchanted Forest from a flying monkey. He later offers them shelter as they plan to take back their castle from Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West. He gradually forms a bond with Regina, and after Snow and Charming reluctantly enact a curse to save their baby from Zelena, Robin is sent to Storybrooke with no memories of the past year. He again likens to Regina who gives him her heart to hide from Zelena after she learns he is her soul mate. The two later begin a romantic relationship. However, this relationship is shattered after Emma, who traveled to the past with Captain Hook, unintentionally saved Marian before she could be executed by Regina and brought her back to the present. Robin Hood and Roland are reunited with Maid Marian which hurts Regina. Robin decides return to Marian, leaving Regina on a quest to remove her. Ironically, when Marian is hit with a freezing spell caused by the Ice Queen, Ingird, Regina is called by Robin Hood to help save her. He tries to save Marian, with true love's kiss, but it doesn't work. Robin Hood confessed that it didn't work because he is in love with Regina. Upon agreeing with Robin Hood, Regina and Henry had to remove Maid Marian's heart until Regina can find another way to unfreeze her. While Marian is frozen, Robin tries to remain faithful, but his love for Regina over powers him. Robin Hood later encountered Will Scarlet again at Granny's diner. The two of them have a discussion, and Will says to Robin if you find true love, you must fight for it every day, and after hearing that, his feelings for Regina take hold, and he finds Regina in her vault, and the two share a night of passion. After Robin and Regina reunite, Regina tells Robin of her quest to find the author of Henry's book because she believes the author is causing her unhappy ending. Robin then finds Will Scarlett again, and the two end up investigating in the Storybrooke Library. There Robin finds a missing or alternate page of Henry's book, which indicates that Regina has a bright future behind every turn. Later on, When Ingrid's spell is broken, Robin is reunited with Marian, who was aware that of his love for Regina, and she gives her blessing for Regina and Robin to be together. Robin chooses to be with Regina, however, Marian begins to faint due to the remnants of the freezing spell in her heart that would cause her to die if she did not leave Storybrooke, Regina tells Robin that he has to take Marian over the town line to save her life. Unfortunately, the town line had a curse, if anyone crosses it, they can't come back. Regina informs Robin and that he must take Marian and Roland out of Storybrooke and into our world but they won't be able to come back due to the curse. Before he leaves, Robin become emotional and kisses Regina one last time.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
With his group of Merry Men, Robin Hood pulls off a scheme on the road to stop a wealthy man's coach and steal money and jewels. A new recruit, Will Scarlet, comes by to drop a chestful of goods he procured for them. Robin Hood accepts him into the group with a bit of advice; that Merry Men are not thieves and do not steal for themselves, but for others. Will proposes the next place they should go is Maleficent's castle, which is rumored to contain enough gold to feed the whole kingdom. Robin dislikes the plan since the expedition is incredibly dangerous, but is tempted into accepting by both the amount of gold they will receive to help the poor as well as the fact Maleficent is currently away from the castle. Inside the castle, Robin Hood warns his group against taking that is not necessary. With their mission a success, they return to camp to celebrate. Suddenly, the displeased voice of Maleficent booms all around the camp site stating she cares little if they keep her gold, but demands the other item be returned or there will be consequences. In anger, Robin Hood calls the thief among his men to step forward, but no one does. That night, after catching Will sneaking away, he realizes his comrade had stolen something from Maleficent. When Robin Hood questions if he did it for a woman, Will guiltily looks down. Disappointed, he allows Will to go with the warning that his punishment for stealing will come in the near future.

Disney Universe
A playable, costume add-on of Robin Hood was available for the game.

Disney INFINITY
Robin Hood appears in the Disney INFINITY game as a townsperson. In the 3DS version, he appears as a cameo. He steals coins from the player with the highest amount of coins, and then gives it to the player with the lowest amount of coins. It is his trademark of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

Disney Parks
Robin Hood is a rare character in the Disney theme parks around the world. He can occasionally be spotted in some of the parks for random meet-and-greet appearances.

At Walt Disney World and Disneyland, he appeared during "Long Lost Friends Week" for special meet-and-greet opportunities.

Robin Hood also has his own spell card known as "Robin Hood's Magic Arrow" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Trivia

 * The costume that Robin Hood wears is similar to that of Peter Pan albeit without the tights.
 * Robin Hood is similar to Merida from Brave.
 * In the Phineas and Ferb season 3 episode "Canderemy", Stacy Hirano wore an outfit very similar to Robin Hood's.
 * Robin Hood was the second hero to have first known his love interest (Maid Marian) in childhood, but later separated and fallen in love with her, with the first being Bambi from the film of the same name, and the third being Simba from The Lion King.
 * Interestingly, all three of them are animals.
 * Prince Phillip, from Sleeping Beauty, may or may not count, as his love interest (also his betrothed) Princess Aurora was only an infant at the time.
 * Robin Hood is the first Disney character to be skilled in archery, with Gaston being the second, Hercules being the third, Li Shang being the fourth, and Merida being the fifth.
 * The fact that Robin Hood is portrayed as a fox may be a reference to Reynard the Fox, a fox trickster of Western folklore. More probably, the animators of Robin Hood reused the design of Renard, the antagonist of the unfinished film Chanticleer, which was a great help for  Robin Hood: the sheriff's design is the one of Ysengrimus from Chanticleer, and Alan-A-Dale's the one of Chanticleer himself.
 * Unlike a real red fox, Robin Hood, as well as Maid Marian to a much lesser extent, for some reason has red ears instead of black ones, and does not sport the brown "gloves" on his arms and legs and the white tip on his tail. This was eventually corrected with Tod in The Fox and the Hound.
 * Robin Hood is an inspiration of the real Robin Hood from the legend.
 * Robin Hood had the same hat like Prince Phillip, but in a different color: Robin Hood has it in green, and Prince Phillip has his in red matching with his cape.
 * Robin Hood calls Little John, "Johnny", the same way Maid Marian calls Lady Kluck, "Klucky".
 * Robin Hood is considered the best archer in the Disney universe.
 * Robin Hood is similar to Phoebus from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Even though they are a serious character, they still have time to tell a joke.
 * It is possible that Disney chose a fox for Robin Hood because foxes are considered:
 * Tricksters; dresses as a fortune teller and a blind beggar.
 * Thieves; robs the rich (but gives to the poor).
 * Cunning; able to get away often from the Sheriff of Nottingham.
 * Robin Hood is the second protagonist whose movie is a musical, but does not have a song in the feature. The first was Arthur Pendragon, and the third is Oliver.
 * During the song "The Phony King of England", there is a gray cat that is similar to Scat Cat (The Aristocats) that dances like him.
 * Cary Elwes portrayed Robin Hood in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
 * Robin Hood is apparently ambidextrous, as he can shoot an arrow with both hands.