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's character basis are Dumbledore of Harry Potter series, Yoda from Star Wars, Merlin from The Sword in the Stone, and Yen Sid from Disney's Fantasia (as well as The Sorcerer from the poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Yen Sid based of).
- Soon after escaped 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 Nicholas Cage, whom 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 undergo 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 all ended in a 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 knows 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.
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