User blog:DarkClaw3/PE Proposal: Black Wolf

This is my last proposal of the decade, get hyped. Anyway, this proposal is one I'm quite genuinely surprised hasn't been made yet, especially considering the fact that the villain in question both stars in a Christmas movie, and has something of reputation as one of the nastier villains to ever appear in a holiday film. Of course, said villain would be Black Wolf from The Flight Before Christmas.

What's the Work?
The Flight Before Christmas--not to be confused with the 2015 television film--is a 2008 Finnish-animated Christmas film (because Finland has an animation industry, apparently) that centers around a young reindeer named Niko who wishes to join Santa's "Flying Forces" and find his absent father (spoilers: it's Prancer), while overcoming his ironic fear of flying along the way. Sounds pretty much exactly like your average kids movie. And it is! For the most part, anyway...

Who is He?
Black Wolf (creative naming right there) serves as the leader of a pack of reindeer-hunting wolves who hap[pen to live in the North Pole. He first appears close to the opening of the film coldly ordering his minions Smiley and Specs to go and hunt some reindeer for them to eat, which later leads to the leader of Niko's herd/Saga's father being injured while defending the herd from the former, causing Niko to abandon the herd out of guilt and his flying squirrel father-figure Julius to pursue. Black Wolf later berates his minions for their incompetence when they return empty-handed, only to be met by Essie, a lost pet poodle who happened to stumble upon his cave (and apparently didn't realize he and the others were wolves...just roll with it). Black Wolf immediately threatens to eat her until Santa and his Flying Forces soar through the cave while on their route, much to his annoyance. Essie subsequently tries to point out that the Flying Forces are good and that if Black Wolf and his pack tried to be nicer they would be able to work for Santa as well and get food to eat, causing him to suddenly get inspired and deem her his pack's "good luck charm", further declaring to his minions that they will head out to Santa's Fell in the morning.

Black Wolf and his pack are next seen travelling through a blizzard that happens to separate Niko from Julius; and, in the morning, Niko, while covered in snow, bears witness to Black Wolf announcing his plan to eat the Flying Forces and thus take their flying abilities for themselves. Essie questions his plan by pointing out that Santa would be upset if he did such a thing, and Black Wolf further reveals that he intends to eat Santa as well and take his place, then using his new position to devour the children of the world. As his pack is howling about the plan, Niko is discovered, and Black Wolf and his minions give chase, eventually cornering him and Julius. He decides to have Niko killed for knowing too much of his plan, however, his and Julius' friend Wilma saves them by triggering an avalanche with her singing, leaving the pack buried in the snow while they escape, with him furiously declaring that Niko must be destroyed. The wolves chase after Niko and his friends again, resulting in them seemingly perishing upon falling into a ravine, much to B;lack Wolf's delight. Later, when faced with a potentially dangerous cave leading to Santa's Fell, Black Wolf orders Essie to go in first due to her good luck ("If there are any surprises in there, you get them first. Lucky for us."), although Specs, having grown attached to Essie, decides to go in first himself--Black Wolf sarcastically remarking that he's going to miss him.

Despite some setback, the wolves are able to make it through the cave and into Santa's Fell, where, upon entering, they corner the Flying Forces (who are rendered flightless by their fear...again, just roll with it) while Black Wolf, taking one of Santa's hats, declares himself the new Santa and permits his henchmen to feast on the reindeer, although things end up being disrupted due to Niko and Wilma. In the ensuing chaos, Black Wolf chases after Niko through a cabin and then up a tree until he is left to fall, only to be saved by Julius and the Forces. Unfortunately, he latches onto the back of Santa's sleigh in a last bout to kill Niko, before ultimately being launched off when Julius unhooks the back of the sleigh, sending both of them flying off. Black Wolf then prepares to devours Julius as to "not go out on an empty stomach", only for Niko to swoop in and save him, leaving Black Wolf to fall to his death...while still hungry, presumably. Despite his death, however, he serves as a major catalyst for the events of the sequel, Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure, where his sister White Wolf seeks vengeance against Niko for her brother's death.

What Has He Done?
Black Wolf is definitely a prime example of one of those villains who makes you stop and go, "wait, this guy's in a kid's film?" Because yeah, he is really that off-puttingly disturbing. He's also a rare example of a villain who genuinely gets worse and worse every second that he's on-screen--first starting out as a rather one-note pack leader who merely orders his minions to hunt down some food, and ending as a sadistic and depraved sociopath with ultimately one of the most heinous evil schemes ever put into a Christmas film. Even though he doesn't have a known bodycount like many other similar villains, the sadism he shows during his attempts to kill the protagonists and the destructive scale of his plan takes him to another level. Because yeah, as if eating Santa and his reindeer wasn't bad enough, Black Wolf, as previously mentioned, takes his villainy leagues further by plotting to devour innocent children the world over in order to satisfy his hunger. No mention of eating the parents or lord-knows all the different kinds of people he could access with such magical powers, only defenseless children (and the way the line is delivered makes it seem like children are rare delicacies to him, which makes it all the more terrible).

It's not like anything else he does makes him appear any better. He spends a large amount of the movie trying to hunt down and kill Niko and his friends simply for knowing too much about his plan and thus providing a threat, coldly stating that there are to be "no survivors" when cornering him and Julius the first time. By the end of the movie, he seems to be after Niko out of pure spite even though he no longer provides a threat, and expressed joy both times that he supposedly falls to his death. He isn't shown to be affectionate or caring towards the rest of his pack (even though the whole aim of his plan is to get them some grub, it comes off more as him wanting them to gain the reindeer's flight in order for him to become more powerful as a result), which shows when he bails on them when they're about to be covered by the avalanche and later shows no care for Specs when he offers to go into the cave first and possibly face death. He spares Essie during their first encounter, although that was only because he saw her as a "good luck charm" that would help him and his minions, and he shows no affection to her afterwards. Besides, he nearly sends her into the cave first with the belief that if she gets herself killed by something in there he and his pack won't make the same mistake, which nullifies that one act of mercy anyway.

Heinous Standard?
The main villain of the first movie, so he sets it (and he sets it pretty darn high on top of that).

Redeeming Qualities?
He's a sadistic, scheming predator who wants to kill Santa and his reindeer, take their powers, and bring death to children instead of toys. There's nothing redeemable to be found here. The closest thing he has is that his sister in the sequel wants to avenge his death, which doesn't mean much considering it was never made clear by White Wolf that he actually cared for her. It's more akin to a Die Hard 3-Simon Gruber situation than an actual, loving relationship she seeks to avenge.

Verdict?
Yes. Definitely one of the nastiest villains to have ever been put into a holiday film, and as such certainly worthy of an official PE label.