- “Everything you thought you knew about the world is about to change.”
- ―Balthazar Blake
Balthazar Blake is one of the two main protagonists in Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. He was a student of Merlin and a sorcerer. More than 1,000 years old, Balthazar has been searching the globe until he finds the Prime Merlinean, the descendant of Merlin and inheritor of his great magic powers. When Balthazar finally discovers him in 10-year-old Dave Stutler, he finds himself with a very reluctant sorcerer’s apprentice.
Background[]
Personality[]
Balthazar is kind and gentle, but stern and solemn. When he sees Dave trying to win the affection of Becky Barnes, Balthazar chastises Dave for distracting himself from their study of sorcery, and doubts whether Dave would able to fully embrace his destiny as Prime Merlinean; though he managed to convince Dave to study under his tutelage, Balthazar only told him to defeat Horvath, instead of destroying Morgana and freeing Veronica altogether, until Dave's confrontation with Stone and Horvath made him demand the true purpose of his study. Balthazar's love for Veronica, and his sense of duty to Merlin, serve as his principal motivations.
Trivia[]
- Balthazar was based on the Sorcerer from the poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and his Disney's Fantasia counterpart Yen Sid.
- Soon after escaping from the Grimlock, Balthazar was shown wearing his signature fedora which implied to be conjured out of thin air (he never wore one prior to sealing himself with Horvath).
- He is portrayed by Nicolas Cage, who also proposed the idea about the movie as he wanted to explore a mystic world with a magical character.
- Like other main characters in the film, Balthazar's character has undergone some changes in the film's scripts. In the early script of the film, Balthazar's background greatly contrasted to the final version: He is neither a centuries-old sorcerer nor even Merlinean from start, but rather former Merlinean wizard under Horvath's tutelage who sided with Merlineans after humbled by his ill-fated attempt to assassinate Aurelius Flood (Merlin's modern day successor before the Prime Merlinean) and his daughter Veronica Flood (early version of Veronica Gorloisen in the same script). Balthazar's exposure to Merlinean ways allowed him to see errors in his own path and fell in love with Veronica, only for it to all end in tragedy during a fateful battle against Morganians in which he lost his newfound allies after Veronica perished in the fight and Aurelius dying from exhausting his strength to reseal their enemies along with Morgana's spirit. Little did he know that Morgana took Veronica with her as her host at that moment and he remained oblivious to her fate until the later part of the story.
- As implied by Arcana Cabana Catalogue, tie-in book containing curious wares of Balthazar's namesake store, the reason Balthazar established Arcana Cabana in New York City was not jist to make a living while continuing his search for Prime Merlinean there, but also the area where the building stood at being the hotspot of supernatural phenomenon which prevented anyone from staying there very long. Among unfortunate previous inhabitants of the building was a doctor who faced shortcomings in his business due to strange activities in the building's basement and finally left after his wife's passing. Since such information was written through perspective of those who live near what would become Arcana Cabana, the nature of supernatural phenomenon Balthazar eventually contained before it could cause major problem remained to be seen.
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