Varian

"Sorry, Princess. We were in this together, but if I can't have a happy ending, then neither can you!"

- Varian rising to power.

"I will make you proud of me, dad. If it's the last thing I ever do..."

- Varian's last words after he is arrested.

Varian is a recurring character in Tangled: The Series. He serves as the supporting protagonist in the first half of the first season, but later serves as the main antagonist of the second half of the season. He is a young, brilliant, yet often clumsy alchemist and a friend of Rapunzel, who later becomes obsessed with getting revenge on both her and Corona after they are unable to help save his father.

He was voiced by Jeremy Jordan as his first villainous role.

Biography
A young but brilliant-minded scientist, alchemist, and inventor, Varian started out with a youthful idealistic view that sought to be of help to others through his work as an alchemist. He had a strained relationship with his father, whose approval he longed for.

He is irritated by people calling his work magic when he insists it is science, and he has a progressive mind, wanting to help his village when it is under siege by mysterious spikes of unbreakable rock, despite his father's wishes to pretend the problem doesn't exist.

When one of his experiments in finding a solution goes horribly wrong that it entraps his father in unbreakable amber, Varian is overwhelmed with guilt and went to the only person he hoped could help, Princess Rapunzel. However, due to a crisis going on, Rapunzel reluctantly turned Varian away, causing him to lose all faith in her, the royal family, and the people of Corona, vowing to make them pay.

He became bitter, spiteful, and manipulative, setting up a large-scale problem and tricking Rapunzel into helping him acquire the dried remains of the Sundrop Flower and hatefully telling her off for breaking her promise to help him should he ever come to her and turning him away from a moment of real need.

Varian threw away his moral compass when he came to the conclusion that he needed Rapunzel, not the flower, to free his father. He sent an automaton to attack her, which caused her father, King Frederic, to confine Rapunzel to a tower, and then willfully mutated his pet raccoon to attack the castle guard, distracting everybody while Varian kidnapped Rapunzel's mother, Queen Arianna. He showed himself to be remorseless to Arianna, spurning her sympathies and attempts to convince him not to go down this path. However, he does admit to her that he is aware of the path he hass taken, but feels he has gone too far to turn back. He has also proven incapable of taking responsibility for his actions because despite what happens to his father being his own fault, he instead blames Rapunzel and the entire kingdom.

Varian also proved to have excellent foresight, as he accurately predicted Rapunzel and Frederic would try to sneak up on him while their friends kept Varian's automatons occupied, and he went as far as to threaten Arianna by spilling the same amber mixture that imprisoned his father to do the same to the queen, in order to force Rapunzel to comply with his demands.

When he realized Rapunzel's unbreakable hair could not free his father, Varian suffered an emotional breakdown and threatened that if he could not have a happy ending, then neither would Rapunzel. He became murderous, virtually psychotic, and even after he was foiled and arrested, he seethed with a promise to his father he would make him proud.

Frederic promised Rapunzel he would make sure Varian gets the help he needs and that he would do everything he could to free the boy's father.

Trivia

 * Varian's design is reminiscnent to that of Hiro Hamada from Big Hero 6, another Disney franchise. Both are 14-year-old inventors with reckless tendencies yet good intentions. Both experienced the loss of a family member, mutilating their hearts and bringing about a desire for vengeance against those they deem responsible, even going so far as to consiously attempt murder. (Varian seeking revenge against Rapunzel for the loss of his father and Hiro seeking revenge on Yokai for the indirect death of his brother). However, while Hiro overcame his desire for vengeance with the support of his friends and family, Varian allowed his hatred to consume him and, through his actions, cememted his place as one of Rapunzel’s worst enemies.
 * Coincidentally, the chemical balls Varian is seen using throughout the series are reminiscent of those used by Honey Lemon, another Big Hero 6 character.
 * His voice actor, Jeremy Jordan is known for portraying Winn Schott, the son of the Toyman, in Supergirl.