Tybalt

'''"Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford No better term than this,—thou art a villain."

- Tybalt '''

Tybalt is the aggresive cousin of Juliet from Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. He is the cousin of Juliet, the rival of Romeo and one of the most prominent antagonists of the play - after his death, Lord Capulet displaces the late Tybalt as the primary antagonist. He constantly likes to pick fights to defend his honor and take revenge on those who offend him.

In the Play
Tybalt first appears at the beginning of the play, during a fight between the servants of the Montagues and the Capulets, two rivaling, aristocratic families. Benvolio, a friend of Romeo's, tries to stop the fighting, but Tybalt challenges him, and they both fight, until the battle is stopped by the Prince of Verona. Later in the play, Tybalt spots Romeo (a Montague) at a Capulet party, he wishes to duel him then and there, but is stopped by Lord Capulet. Furious, he vows to get revenge on Romeo at the earliest opportunity.

Later, Tybalt looks for Romeo and finds Benvolio and Mercutio, another one of Romeo's friends. They insult each other before Romeo shows up. Tybalt purposely tries to provoke Romeo into a fight. Romeo responds mildly to his abuse and refuses to fight. Tybalt attacks him, so Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel instead. Romeo tries to stop them from fighting, and after a violent brawl Tybalt wounds Mercutio while he is distracted by Romeo’s interference. When Mercutio falls, seriously wounded, Tybalt exits. But he comes back in time for Romeo to challenge him to a duel to avenge Mercutio’s death. After an intense struggle, Romeo manages to stab Tybalt, killing him.

Because Romeo kills Tybalt, the Prince of Verona elects to banish Romeo.

Personality
Tybalt was extremely violent, warlike, aggressive, pugnacious, calculating and possessed a legendary temper. He was intelligent, and quickly recognised Romeo at the party and felt he was there to disturb the peace. He was impulsively quick to start a fight with whom he viewed as an enemy, and freely admitted that he hated peace. Tybalt possessed a misplaced sense of honor to his family: his actions throughout the play are motivated by his exaggerated sense of duty to his family.