Commander Rourke

"This journey should be enriching for all of us."

- Lyle Tiberius Rourke

Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke is the hidden but true main antagonist of the 2001 animated Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He is one of the very few Disney villains who does not initially appear to be evil, but gradually shows his villainy over the course of the film. He initially appears as a respectable commander, but as the movie progresses, he turns out to be a ruthless and crazed mercenary out to capture the Heart of Atlantis and make money off of it.

He was voiced by the late legendary James Garner.

History
Lyle T. Rourke was born in 1860 and learned the ways of military life at an early age when his father, a cavalry officer named Lt. Col. Jackson, was killed in battle in 1864 during the Civil War. After repeated expulsions from boarding school for fighting, Rourke resolved to follow in his father's footsteps and joined the military in 1875 at age fifteen. There, he exhibited a remarkable talent for leadership, owing to his analytic mind, charisma, and refusal to acknowledge the white flag surrender. He married in June of 1887, but his wife left him after only four months.

He held numerous expeditions during his career, most notably leading the Whitmore Expedition to Atlantis.

Film Role
In 1914, Milo James Thatch, an aspiring young linguist working in the boiler room at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., believes that a manuscript known as the Shepherd's Journal will lead to the location of Atlantis. When his proposal to lead an expedition is denied by the Institution's board (since they don't believe in the existence of Atlantis), he angrily resigns but then finds himself contacted by millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, a friend of Milo's grandfather, Thadeus Thatch. The elder Thadeus Thatch had already located the Journal, and asked Whitmore to give it to Milo when he was ready.

Whitmore asks Milo to become part of a team to search for Atlantis on a high-tech submarine. Milo joins Commander Rourke, his second-in-command Helga Sinclair, demolitions expert Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, geologist Gaetan "Mole" Molière, medical officer Joshua Sweet, tomboy mechanic Audrey Ramirez, cook Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, and cynical communications expert Wilhelmina Packard.

The sub is sunk by an underwater Leviathan and the team suffer numerous casualties, but Milo, Rourke, and the remaining people manage to reach to the entrance of Atlantis hidden underwater. After going through several obstacles as stated in the Journal, Milo and the team are able to locate the underwater city of Atlantis, where it still survives in a bubble beneath the earth, much to the team's surprise and amazement. They are met by the city's princess Kida, who brings them over to her father, the Atlantean King, who allows the team to stay for one night before they can leave for the surface per Rourke's request.

As the team enjoy their stay in the ancient city, Kida discovers that Milo can read the Atlantean language, long forgotten by her own people ever since a tidal wave consumed much of the ancient empire thousands of years ago. They dive to read ancient underwater murals, and learn about the Heart of Atlantis, which is the source of the power that saved Atlantis from the tidal wave and of the strange blue gems that each Atlanean wears. As they leave the ruins, they are caught by Rourke and the rest of the team, who have turned mercenary and are after the Heart Of Atlantis. They find the crystal in a chamber below the King's quarters, where Kida is drawn to the crystal and infused with its power.

Rourke plans to take Kida to the surface, but Milo protests, stating that without the Heart, Atlantis will be wiped out of existence. Rourke, taking no regard of this, orders his crew to move on, but not after personally punching Milo in the face and mocking him of his discovery by breaking the frame for his picture of his grandfather. Outraged, the other team members turn against him and give in support for Milo and the Atlanteans, and Rourke, unmoved by this, leaves them all behind with Helga and the rest of his men.

The King, mortally wounded by Rourke, gives Milo his crystal and begs him to rescue his daughter and save Atlantis. Milo and the Atlanteans discover how to use the crystals to activate ancient flying machines and they give chase as an air force. Rourke plans to escape through an ancient volcano with the crystal on tow, but Milo and his team arrive, engaging into a fight against Rourke's troops.

During the lengthy battle, Milo's friends and the Atlanteans gained the upper hand against Rourke's forces and annihilated them, while Milo rammed his machine into Rourke's blimp, causing it lose altitude slowly. Determined to 'lighten the load', the greedy Rourke betrays Helga by throwing her off to the volcano base, saying that it's nothing personal.

He then engages into a fight with Milo, and during their scuffle, the fatally wounded Helga pops out her flare gun and shoots at the blimp as retribution for Rourke's betrayal, causing the blimp to set on fire and descend in a faster rate, much to Rourke's anger. Losing what's left of his sanity, Rourke grabs an axe to kill Milo, but the latter takes a piece of glass containing the crystal's essence and uses it to make a scratch on Rourke's arm, turning Rourke into a crystallized monster.

Milo would then push the crystallized Rourke into the blimp's propellers, destroying him for good. As the remaining pieces scatter, they break the chains of the cargo hold, allowing Milo and his friends to take the crystal back to the city to save the whole civilization from an imminent volcanic eruption caused by their battle.

Personality
Rourke first started out appearing as a respectable and calm leader, seemingly taking extreme notion of the safety of his team during the expedition and mourning over the casualties as the expedition continues. However, this was merely a facade to hide and reveal his true nature: that of a greedy, ruthless, and almost crazed person, willing to get anything he wants, as he planned to steal of Heart of Atlantis to sell for a high price, and didn't even care if the Atlanteans would die as a result. He didn't seem to care about his own men being killed during the final battle, as he was more occupied of his blimp gaining altitude so that can escape away with the crystal. Rourke is also pragmatic and tough and makes his own rules. Rourke, a pragmatist both personally and professionally, tends to take what he needs and discards anything he considers "useless baggage."

Quotes
"Milo Thatch. Pleasure to meet the grandson of old Thaddeus. I see you got that journal. Nice pictures, but I prefer a good western myself."

- Rourke upon meeting Milo Thatch for the first time "Tell Cookie to melt the butter and break out the bibs! I want this lobster served up on a silver platter!"

- Rourke addressing about his submarine being attacked by the Leviathan

"Seven hours ago, we started this expedition with 200 of the finest men and women I ever known. We're all that's left. I won't sugar-coat it, gentlemen. We have a crisis in our hands. But we've been up in this particular creek before, and we've always come through, paddle or no paddle. I see no reason to change that policy now. From here onward, everyone pulls double duty, everyone drives, everyone works. Looks like all of our chances of survival rest with you, Mr. Thatch. You and that little book."

- Rourke addressing his remaining troops after seemingly mourning the loss of the Ulyssess crew caused by the Leviathan "Yeah, about that... I... I would've told you sooner, but it was strictly on a need-to-know basis, and well... now, you know. I had to be sure you were one of us. Welcome to the club, son."

- Rourke revealing his true nature after being confronted by Milo of his true plan to steal the Heart of Atlantis "Academics. You never wanna get your hands dirty.... think about it. If you gave back every stolen artifact from a museum, you'd be left with an empty building. We're just providing necessary service the archaeological community. (Milo: Not interested.) I gotta admit I'm disappointed. You're an idealist, just like your grandfather. Do yourself a favor, Milo: don't be like him. For once, do the smart thing."

- Rourke attempting to get Milo into his side (to no avail) "I know I'm forgetting something. I got the cargo, the crystal, the crew- ohhh yeah. (punches Milo) Look at it this way, son. You're the man who discovered Atlantis, and now you're part of the exhibit."

- Rourke taunting Milo of his discovery of Atlantis (the very same speech that drove the team away in disgust) "Next time, get it in writing! Nothing personal!"

- Rourke betraying Helga by throwing her overboard

""Well, I gotta hand it to you. You're a bigger pain in the neck than I would've ever thought possible! I consider myself an even-tempered man. Takes a heck of a lot to get under my skin. But congratulations: You just won the solid-gold kewpie doll!"

- Rourke taunting Milo

"Tired, Mr. Thatch?! Ah, that's a darn shame... 'cause I'm just getting warmed up!"

- Rourke's last words

Trivia

 * Rourke has some similarities to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, Clayton from Tarzan, The Prospector from Toy Story 2, King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph and Prince Hans from Frozen: In the sense that they don't appear to be evil at first, but as the films progress, their true, twisted natures are revealed.
 * Rourke is similar to General Shepherd from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as they are high-ranking military officers who initially appear to be upstanding, but turn out to be corrupt and betray their subordinates for their own selfish goals.
 * A foreshadowing of Rourke's treachery and eventual betrayal is when Whitmore places all the expeditionists photos. Rourke's photo is the only photo that's partially obscured. Another foreshadowing happens when they are about to board the sub and Rourke proclaims the trip "will be enriching for all of us."