King Henry

"There they are! The mysterious Moors where no one dares to venture for fear of the magical creatures that lurk within! Well, I say: Crush them!"

- King Henry (to the soldiers, preparing to attack Moors). "A king does not take orders from a winged elf."

- Henry, mocking Maleficent. "She is vanquished? You have done well, my son. You have done what others feared to do. You will be rewarded."

- King Henry's last words to Stefan before he passes away.

King Henry was the secondary villain of the 2014 Disney live-action film, Maleficent. He was introduced as the main antagonist, only to be replaced by King Stefan in the second half after his death. He is the father of Queen Leila, the father-in-law of King Stefan, and the grandfather of Aurora.

Role
He was a ruthless, vain and greedy king of a neighboring human kingdom who desired to take over the Moors and claim all of it's treasures by force as he 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 and was gasping and in great pain as he lays on the battlefield helplessly as a weak peasant boy. Before Maleficent could make a choice of letting King Henry go or kill him as she stands over him, he pulled his right arm and touched her shoulder. Maleficent flies back away from King Henry as she realized the royal armor he was wearing was made of iron, the same element harmful to fairies, before King Henry's weakened soldiers rescued their injured monarch and retreated back to their homeland following their defeat in battle.

On his deathbed, after his unsuccessful war against the magical people of the Moors, the King contemplates on his failure to his people that they would take the Moors and its riches since he made that "promise" when he ascended to the throne. He demanded 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 stealing Maleficent's wings and pretending he killed her so he can claim the throne for himself and so he at least succeeded.

Trivia

 * King Henry's death has had a major influence in the film.
 * His death paved way for King Stefan to become the main antagonist of the film.
 * After Stefan's betrayal and ascension to the throne, Maleficent planned to have her revenge on King Stefan, resulting in Aurora being cursed.
 * King Henry is an original character made for the film.
 * King Henry gets mistaken for Prince Phillip's father "King Hubert" from Disney's Sleeping Beauty by some fans. This is due to that he nearly bears a resemblance to the said latter.
 * King Henry is similar to Pharaoh Seti I; they were the original rulers of their kingdom, but ironically served as the secondary antagonists in their respective films. Their deaths paved the way for someone else to take over and become the main antagonist (King Stefan in King Henry's case, Rameses in Seti's case). However, they both served as Bigger Bads because if it weren't for their actions, the plot wouldn't make any sense.