Mother and Father are antagonists in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. They are an enigmatic couple who dwell in a cottage in the woods.
Background[]
Mother and Father are a mystery. Who or what they are is unknown but they seem to be a husband and wife, given their name. Their most precious possession is a teapot with a bird motif. The teapot had magical properties and it granted the couple a house in the woods, giant toadstools and everything else they owned. Most importantly, with it, Mother and Father could brew a magic tea that would turn whoever drank it into a bird. The spell would last for an hour but once the time limit is exceeded, the person would gain the mind of a bird and forget their human lives. They also owned a basket of blue eggs which could restore birds to their natural form.
Mother and Father were avid avian collectors. They would offer their tea to travelers with the promise of restoring them after an hour but would capture them and add the unfortunate souls to their collection as humans make the most unique birds.
Powers and abilities[]
With the magic they consume from the tea in their magic teapot, Mother and Father can transform into birds, which gives them the ability of flight and using that form's beak and talons as weapons. To help them build their bird collection out of the people that they encounter, they use their skills of deception by putting on an act of kindness while displaying the power they hold and making their victims believe that they would "happily" turn them back. It is implied they are, in some way, magically connected to their teapot, given that they disappeared, along with their cottage and toadstool table and seats, the moment after their teapot was destroyed by Cassandra.
Role in the series[]
Mother and Father appear in "Freebird". While exploring the woods, Rapunzel and Cassandra run into Mother and Father who invite them to tea. Father displays his ability to become a bird by drinking magical tea and revert to human form via a blue egg. The couple offers the girls the chance to become birds for an hour but warn them that if they don't return within the hour, they will gain a bird brain and forget their human lives.
Near the hour's end, Rapunzel and Cassandra rush back to Mother and Father as the effects of bird brain begin to surface. Mother and Father reveal their true intentions and put them in a cage. Also in the cage were Eugene, Lance Strongbow, and Hook Foot who had been captured only moments before. The group manages to push the cage to the ground. The boys manage to bend the bars enough to make an opening. Seeing their escape attempt, Mother drinks the tea and transforms into an hawk. Cassandra lures Mother away and Rapunzel uses the eggs on her friends and the other birds. With the help of Owl, Cassandra defeats Mother while the boys stop Father. With only one egg left, Rapunzel sacrifices her human form to save Cassandra. Furious and heartbroken at losing her best friend, Cassandra destroys the teapot. This causes the cottage, toadstools, and both Mother and Father to disappear.