Zigzag

"Oh, great King Nod, have no fear. Zigzag, your Grand Vizier, is here."

- Zigzag presenting himself to King Nod. "Oh, Mighty One-Eye.... I, I, I, I'm Zigzag the Great of the Golden Land!"

- Zigzag introducing himself to King Mighty One-Eye.

Zigzag is the secondary antagonist of the 1993 animated fantasy film, . He is King Nod's former Grand Vizier, and later, King Mighty One-Eye's henchman, who usually speaks in rhymes in a manipulating fashion before allying himself with the notorious One-Eyes. He also has a pet vulture named Phido, whom he sometimes abuses and rarely feeds.

He was voiced by the late legendary actor, Vincent Price (his final role before his death), who also played Professor Ratigan.

Personality
Zigzag is a cruel, scheming, manipulative, deceitful, and pompous sorcerer who supposedly tries to marry Princess Yum-Yum, so he could become king of the Golden City. He is very blasphemous, perfidious, calculating, hypocritical, and materialistic, so he can take over the Golden City by force. One of his most diabolical and objectionable plans is when he teams up with King Mighty One-Eye. Although he describes himself as a sorcerer, his magic is fairly delicate and weak, and he occasionally slips up on his tricks. He relies more on smooth-talking and manipulation to get what he wants, dazzling people with an impressive performance to convince them that he is more powerful than they think.

Appearance
Zigzag is an evil sorcerer with strangely light blue skin, green eyes, several colored rings on his fingers, five fingers and a thumb per hand, and long shoes that extend as he walks.

Role
At the beginning of the film, Zigzag accidentally stepped on one of Tack's nails and had him taken to the palace, intending to have his head cut off. He was planning to marry Princess Yum-Yum so he could become king and take over the kingdom. When Tack (who was fixing Princess Yum-Yum's shoe) chases after the Thief (who stole it), he runs into Zigzag, who took the opportunity to lock him in a cell. Later in the film (in the original workprint), he takes Phido into Tack's cell to have him eaten, but he had to leave due to being summoned by King Nod.

After the Thief stole the three golden balls that protected the Golden City, he lost them, and Zigzag sent his sycophants to retrieve them. He asked King Nod for Princess Yum-Yum's hand in marriage should he return the Golden Balls, but King Nod laughs at him, claiming that his advisor marrying his daughter is absolutely ridiculous and rejects his request, to Zigzag's fury. So Zigzag tracked down King Mighty One-Eye and teamed up with him, charmed his alligators, and gave One-Eye the Golden Balls.

During the climax, King One-Eye made Zigzag ride in the front during the battle, but when Tack set off a chain reaction that destroyed One-Eye's war machine and his entire army, Zigzag attempted to kidnap Princess Yum-Yum, but was stopped by Tack, who defeated him in combat by tying his robe together. In the end following King Mighty One-Eye's death, Zigzag fell into a dark pit after stepping on another tack, meeting the hungry crocodiles (joined in by Phido) who are about to devour him. Realizing now that he has lost, Zigzag accepts his fate saying "You too, Phido? Man's best friend. For Zigzag, then, it is.... the end.", just as Phido and the crocodiles finally devour him to his death.

Trivia

 * He was voiced by the late Vincent Price. The film was released posthumously in 1995 (two years after his death in 1993), which would make this his final role.
 * Vincent Price also voiced Ratigan from Disney's 26th full-length animated feature film, The Great Mouse Detective.
 * In all three versions of the film, Zigzag's role, voice, and death are the same.
 * Zigzag had possibly inspired the Disney villain, Jafar from Disney's 31st full-length animated feature film, Aladdin. Both of them are evil magical advisers to the king, want to take his place as king, marry his beautiful daughter, and kill the hero.
 * His death is similar to Scar from Disney's 32nd full-length animated feature film, The Lion King, as both were eaten by their henchmen (who they address as "friends") in return of their promise of food.
 * During the development of The Majestic Fool, a scrapped animated movie from the 1960s that would eventually become The Thief and the Cobbler, Zigzag was originally known as "Anwar", who served as the Grand Vizier to the King of Persia, as well as the main antagonist.
 * Zigzag is similar to Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog: They are sorcerers who mainly use smooth-talking and manipulation to get what they want, and even though they serve more evil entities, they're the ones driving the plot.
 * Even though Mighty One-Eye was the true main antagonist of the film, Zigzag served as The Heavy because it was his quest to marry Yum-Yum and conquer the Golden City that drove the plot, which makes Mighty One-Eye the Big Bad, and the one behind the plot.