King Gristle Sr.

"(Prince Gristle: What will make me happy now?) Come here, son...... nothing. Absolutely nothing. You will never, never, never, never be happy."

- King Gristle Sr. to Prince Gristle after the latter asks what will make him happy after the Trolls escaped.

King Gristle Sr. is a supporting antagonist of DreamWorks's 33rd full-length animated feature film Trolls. He is the father of Prince Gristle and the former King of the Bergens.

He was voiced by John Cleese who also played Cat R. Waul and Dr. Glickenstein.

Personality
King Gristle Sr. has dual responsibilities: leading the fickle, easily distracted Bergens and raising his only son, Prince Gristle, whose primary mission in life is to get his first taste of a troll.

Appearance
King Gristle Sr. is an ugly, dark green Bergen with some gray hair. He wears a purple cape with fur on it, a burgundy jacket, burgundy trousers, yellow flip flops, and a gold crown on his head.

Role in the Film
King Gristle Sr. is awoken on the day of Trollstice (the one day when Bergens can feel happy by eating a troll) by his toddler son Prince Gristle, who is getting excited for his first taste of troll. However, the trolls (led by their own leader, King Peppy) escape Bergentown. Angered, King Gristle blames Chef for this and banishes her from Bergentown, before sadly telling Prince Gristle that he because of the Trolls' escape, he will never feel happy.

20 years later, Prince Gristle is now King of the Bergens, hinting that his father either died, stepped down or was dethroned. He may have also gotten ill, meaning his son is king regent and would rule until his father gets better. However, it is most likely that he was dethroned by his subjects, according to the Trolls website.

Eventually, in the end, Gristle Jr. soon learned that eating the Trolls don't bring happiness, but that happiness was something that was needed to brought out on its own, as pointed out by his successful date with the scullery maid Bridget. Seeing that his father was wrong, Gristle Jr. happily agrees to form a peace between the Bergens and Trolls, much to their delight.

Trivia

 * King Gristle is the second Dreamworks character to be portrayed by John Cleese, the first being King Harold in the Shrek films. Coincidentally, they have many similarities with each other.
 * Both are Kings.
 * Both speak with English accents.
 * Both have a child that speaks with an American accent (Prince Gristle and Princess Fiona).
 * Both are later succeeded as King by another male member of their family (Prince Gristle and Artie).
 * It is not mentioned in the film what became of King Gristle Sr. after the 20 year time skip. However according to Prince Gristle's profile on the Trolls website, it says that the King was dethroned by his subjects after the Trolls escaped, before being replaced by his young son.
 * It is also assumed that Gristle Sr.'s unseen wife is dead, as if she was alive, she would have served as Queen Regent until Prince Gristle came of age.