Cassandra (Tangled)

"I'm fulfilling my destiny!"

- Cassandra betraying Rapunzel. "I tried to warn you, Rapunzel. You have to be careful who you trust."

- Cassandra, after her betrayal.Cassandra's Betrayal.ogg

Cassandra is a major antagonist who is Gothel's daughter in Tangled: The Series. She initially starts off as a hero and supporting character, serving as Rapunzel's Lady-in-Waiting and one of her closest friends, but by the near end of season 2, she eventually betrays Rapunzel by taking the Moon Stone for herself so she could fulfill her own "destiny" and is now the main antagonist of the third season.

She was voiced by as a young adult, and Cassie Glow as a child.

Personality
Cassandra is described as being "tough-as-nails", a fitting description for someone who wishes to join the royal guard. She is snarky, sarcastic and has a somewhat dry sense of humor. Despite this, she is extremely supportive and protective toward Rapunzel, her polar opposite — so much so, that she openly holds animosity for Eugene, believing him to be selfish and undeserving of Rapunzel's love and friendship. One of the reasons for this belief is because she feels that Eugene puts his own desires before Rapunzel's.

Although loyal to King Frederic and Queen Arianna, Cassandra is willing to break their rules (and risk her job) for the sake of Rapunzel's happiness; this is seen when Cassandra offered to take Rapunzel beyond the kingdom's wall to explore some of the outside world and escape the pressures of royalty. Doing so required much stealth and cunning, traits Cassandra revealed herself to have that night.

Aside from her no-nonsense persona, Cassandra is also shown to be a free spirit, not unlike Rapunzel. Though she has a more cynical way of going about life, Cassandra also finds joy in adventure, living life to the fullest, and experiencing new things. This is most notably seen during "Wind in My Hair", where Cassandra is seen enjoying herself almost as much as Princess Rapunzel.

Now that she has merged with the evil powers of the Moonstone Opal, she has become a darker and more corrupt individual who wants to reclaim what was denied to her. So far, she has caused pain to her former friends after revealing to them that she is Gothel's real daughter.

Background
It's revealed when Cassandra went in the door to the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow she sees that Mother Gothel was her mother and she was raised inside a small cottage. One day Gothel went out to do something, aka kidnap Rapunzel when Gothel came back chased by the royal guard Cassandra sees Mother Gothel thinking that she is coming back but instead she abandons her.

Then the royal guard storms into the house. She is then adopted and raised by the Captain of the Guards, in the castle.

Season 1
Cassandra is first seen waiting for Rapunzel's return from a ride with Eugene at Corona's village gates. From there, Cassandra takes Rapunzel to attend to the various duties of a princess, specifically in preparation for her upcoming coronation ceremony to officially crown her as heir to the throne. Rapunzel laments her feelings about the stress of the pressures of royalty overwhelm her.

Cassandra believes the princess should take a break regardless of what her father wishes, but Rapunzel refuses to do so. Later at a dinner event, Cassandra sits with Pascal, while Rapunzel sits with her parents, and Eugene sits at the children's table (an arrangement made by Cassandra, who was in charge of seating). Eugene takes the time to propose to Rapunzel, but due to her fears of being bound to live in the castle, Rapunzel rejects and leaves. Seeing the princess upset angers Cassandra, who glares at Eugene. She is Princess Rapunzel's best friend and the adopted daughter of the Captain of the Guards. She has a strong dislike for Eugene, but eventually warms up to him and is also a highly trained warrior.

Season 2
during the season she joins Rapunzel on her journey to follow the path of the Black Rocks, but as the season gradually progresses, their friendship becomes increasingly strained. She calls out Rapunzel for repeatedly doubting her judgment, and one instance of this causes her right hand to become severely disfigured and disabled by Rapunzel when she was trying to stop Hector.

during "Rapunzeltopia" Cassandra enters a room in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow after hearing a mysterious voice, a spirit guide's her around, where she learns about her backstory and how she is Mother Gothel's daughter and that she abandoned her for Rapunzel this causes Cassandra to snap. Always feeling outshined by Rapunzel this is when Cassandra decides to turn on her. She's not seen again until Tromus is defeated and the house is destroyed and then a door mysterious appears and Cassandra comes out of it, of then Rapunzel rushes up to her, she scowls at the Princess and flinches when she hugs her.

The following episode Eugene and the audience gets a hint when Eugene receives a prophecy saying that one person in their group will betray Rapunzel at the Dark Kingdom. Cassandra flashes a sinister smile when Eugene looks at her.

Although it seems that Eugene himself unwittingly fulfills this prophecy, Cassandra steals the Moonstone just as Rapunzel is about to take it. She bonds with its power, which changes her appearance and makes her the Moonstone's human vessel, the opposite of Rapunzel.

Season 3
In the next episode, Cassandra tells Rapunzel what she saw in The House of Yesterday's Tomorrow Rapunzel tries to the reason with her but Cassandra enraged at Rapunzel for her mother leaving her, so she refuses. after that Adira attacks Cassandra but she fails at Cassandra also steals Adira's sword as well and makes it her own. She then runs away Rapunzel chases after trying to convince her to stop and that it is not too late but Cassandra keeps refusing and eventually gets away on a bridge.

She and her pet are last seen looking at her former friends going back to Corona via the Hot Air Balloon

After she escapes thought the season she learns to harness her powers like in "Return of the King" where she is trying to use her powers but is failing to. Then she hears a mysterious voice which is later revealed to be the same Enchanted Girl from the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow in "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" who tells Cassandra that the moonstone responds to anger and hatred which after Cassandra hears this she is able to use the powers

In the episode "Beginnings" she is walking around the destroyed carriage that they used to go to the dark kingdom. Cassandra discovers an old drawing from Rapunzel with them together witch causes Cassandra to feel somewhat guilty. the Enchanted Girl senses this telling her that Rapunzel may have deserved it and that she already took some of the moonstones power. this confuses Cassandra which the Enchanted Girl clarifies by saying the when Rapunzel touched the black rock it gave her some its protective power and that it belongs to Cassandra. This causes Cassandra to become enraged and tear the drawing in half symbolizing the destroying of Rapunzel and Cassandra's friendship

In "Be Very Afraid", Cassandra's fear of destroying Rapunzel to reclaim the moonstone's power causes the black rocks to turn into red rocks. which heads over to Corona and reveals the citizens' worst fears. later on, in the episode Rapunzel touches one of the rocks as does Cassandra and they can sense each other because of that. Rapunzel can somehow tell from this that Cassandra still has some good inside her.

Later on, in the episode, Rapunzel reveals to a reformed Varian her biggest fear is losing Cassandra as a friend which has already happened and her destroying Corona and leaving it in ruins. At the end of the episode, she tells Eugene that there is still a chance to save her.

Powers and Abilities
Cassandra is a skilled swordswoman and fighter, having trained in the ways of the Corona Royal Guard since she was six years old. She is adept with many types of weapons, as shown through her collection of them in Before Ever After. She can handle her own in most fights, easily taking down Lance Strongbow, a world-renowned thief, as well as some of the Seven Kingdom's toughest fighters, as seen in Challenge of the Brave. However, she is not unbeatable, as she is overwhelmed by warriors who have trained longer than she herself has been alive, such as Adira and King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom. Following her bonding with the Moonstone, she has most likely gained the life-draining abilities that it possesses, as shown through its power coursing through her hair.

Trivia

 * She had been training to join the Royal Guard since she was 6.
 * She is 4 years older than Rapunzel.
 * An extremely popular fan theory is that she is Mother Gothel's daughter. It's confirmed to be true in the first episode of season 3.
 * The way that Cassandra holds her pet owl is similar to how Shan Yu holds his pet Falcon.