As always, a spoiler alert is in effect from here on out.
The Snuggly Duckling Crew
- Shorty: To be honest, I really don’t know what he’s doing in so many episodes. Is he perpetually drunk? Or high? Or both? Seriously, he might as well be exchanged for a talking dummy for how much he actually contributes. Frankly, he kinda drives me crazy, and I would’ve been perfectly happy with him being kicked to the curb very early on
- Attila: He’s a baker … and that’s about the extent of his characterization. He does get a solo episode, which is more than can be said for other characters. But still, it’s probably a good thing he fades to the background
- Hookfoot: An absolute dork with horrible hygiene issues, and one of the various Pub Thugs that pop up during the series. After the mermaid episode in Season 2, he joins his brother on the road as their own two-man show. Which makes sense — it fulfilled his dream, and he didn’t have much more to contribute to the quest. Plus, he didn’t have to deal with the evil demon invading Corona
The Antagonists and Villain
- Stalyan: Honestly, she wasn’t bad by the end of the series. She actually had some character development, very rare for a Disney antagonist. Plus, she recognized that Eugene wasn’t the one for her. The Baron (her father) was way less interesting. He was more of a generic antagonist, while she actually got a character arc
- King Trevor: More of an antagonist than a villain. He’s supremely annoying—even more annoying than other popular characters I could mention. He has a pet seal and a flair for the dramatic, and a tendency to make extremely cringey seal jokes
- Hector: His nickname is Rhino Man, which is pretty spot on. I’m about 90% sure he’s completely insane, and I don’t think that ever really goes away until the moonstone is destroyed. Hector and Adira are excellent foils for one another, which makes sense — they are part of the same team
- Zhan Tiri: A classic pure evil Disney villain, complete with plenty of evil laughter and creepy expressions. She had the manipulative factor down pat, which is kinda just par for the course at this point
There are a bunch more assorted antagonists, who are all eventually sent to prison together—except the Stabbingtons, who just will not stop coming after Eugene. But there’s not enough about them for an entry here.
The Quest Crew
- Calliope: I’m with Eugene on this one. It’s as if Hermione were shrunk down to about three feet high and divested of all her good personality traits. She was incredibly annoying for so many reasons — the only good thing was that she was only in two episodes
- Demanitus: Kinda the old, wise mentor figure of the second season, who put his spirit inside a monkey called Vigor so he could help the future sundrop (it makes a lot more sense in context). Ancient counterpart to Zhan Tiri, whose entire motivation is basically to spite him
- Adira: Another mentor figure of the second season and a sixth ranger to the quest group, who shows up a handful of times, mostly when the group is in trouble. She’s mainly a foil for Cassandra. Very much a stoic warrior woman, although her blossoming sorta-kinda-maybe affection for Lance (that didn’t go anywhere) did round out her character
- King Edmund: Eugene’s long-lost dad, ruler of the Dark Kingdom and an adorably awkward guy who tends to say his thoughts out loud. Also continues the trope of someone-in-the-Disney-couple-not-having-a-mom. Although what I will never understand is why he thought it was a good idea to name his kid Horace
The Village
- Xavier: The village blacksmith and storyteller. Serves as the wise mentor figure throughout all three seasons, in one capacity or another (although he plays a progressively smaller role as the seasons go on)
- Quirin: Varian’s dad, part of the Brotherhood along with Adira and Hector, who used to live in the Dark Kingdom before King Edmund made everyone leave. A single father, he raised his son on his own in Old Corona. His arc centers around his son, specifically being able to acknowledge that he’s proud of him
Finally, let’s talk about the more significant supporting characters:
Max
- Good ol’ Maximus. Definitely a static character, but still important, as he appeared routinely throughout the show to contribute valuable … horsepower to the plot
- Fidella is kinda a lancer to Max, so I’ll lump her in here as well. Honestly, aside from being Max’s maybe crush, she doesn’t have much of a personality
Pascal
- He’s a static character like Max, but he contributes a lot to the show despite being so small. He’s also definitely one of the reasons Rapunzel is still happy and sane by the end of everything
Lance
- Ah, Lance. A big, hulking guy, who’s Eugene’s best friend from their thieving days and beyond. Like Eugene, he’s a reformed criminal who’s on the up and out—and actually takes the blame for their little thieving escapade whenever he enters the picture. He’s also an amazing singer
- His happy ending is adopting Catalina/Red and Angry/Kiera, two adorable children who also happen to be ex-thieves, and living with them in their AMAZING treehouse. Honestly, it makes perfect sense. Eugene also had a bond with them, but he’s a bit busy being Captain of the guard
During Season 2, he mostly plays the role of Eugene’s lancer, more specifically the Big Guy of the group. He’s also very much the comic relief, though a bit less so after Cassandra leaves at the end of Season 2, where he has to play more of a supporting role.
That’s it for this post!
Your fairytale enthusiast,
Kirsten Hardin
Citation: Tangled the Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. Created by Chris Sonnenburg and Shane Prigmore. Disney Television, 2017–2020.