- “A king does not take orders from a winged elf!”
- ―Henry, to Maleficent
King Henry is the overarching antagonist of the 2014 live-action film of Maleficent. He attempted to conquer the Moors with his army, but was thwarted by Maleficent and the Forest Army. He was introduced as the main antagonist (only to be replaced by King Stefan after his death).
Appearances[]
Maleficent[]
King Henry was a ruthless king who desired to take over the Moors, and led a large army of knights and soldiers in an attempt to conquer it all. But Maleficent, who lived there, stood up to him as the forest's fiercest defender and rallied an army of tree-men like warriors to drive back his forces.
King Henry becomes wounded in battle, but manages to briefly wound Maleficent when he pushes her back with his iron gauntlet. On his deathbed, the King demands to be avenged and promises whoever kills Maleficent shall become the new king of his country and marry his daughter Lelia. Stefan takes the task by pretending he killed her to claim the throne for himself. He just ends up stealing Maleficent's wings, however King Henry believes his lie and declares him his new sucessor, who is crowned king after his death.
Trivia[]
- He was created solely for Maleficent and has no animated counterpart, but his design seem inspired by King Hubert, who has however a completely different personality.
- King Henry shares many similarities with King Runeard:
- Both were kings with a strong hatred of magic, and therefore they tried to conquer a magical forest, and kill all its inhabitants because of their connection to magic, but both failed (King Henry wanted to conquer The Moors and to kill The Fairies, and King Runeard wanted to conquer The Enchanted Forest and to kill The Northuldra).
- Both are the grandfothers of the main protagonists (King Henry is the grandfother of Aurora, and King Runeard is the grandfother of Elsa and Anna).
- They both had a descendant who was saved by someone from the Magic Clan, and thanks to the close bond that formed between them, the conflict with the Magic Clan ended (Maleficent saved Aurora and adopted her as a daughter, and Iduna saved Agnarr and they got married).
- Both are no longer alive at the time of the main story, but the bad deeds they did in the past have a great effect on the plot, and their descendants try to correct them (Aurora try to correct his actions of King Henry, and Elsa and Anna try to correct his actions of King Runeard).
Gallery[]
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