Chernabog (Disney)

Chernabog is the main antagonist in Disney's 3rd full-length animated feature film Fantasia. He serves as the main antagonist in the segment featuring Night on Bald Mountain, and one of the supporting antagonists in Mickey's House of Villains. He is the tyrannical ruler of a dark realm called "Bald Mountain", of which when sleeping with wings folded over himself, he appears as the mountain's peak. When awakened, it can be seen that Bald Mountain is actually the top of a live but inactive volcano from which he summons an army of demons and undead. He ensues with his devilish antics at night until the sight of the first rays of dawn and the sound of the church bells ringing "Ave Maria" forces him back into slumber. It is unclear how often this night activity occurs, but is implied to be All Hallows Eve, also known as Halloween.

Despite the brevity of his appearance and his lack of a place in a larger story, Chernabog was highly memorable, as he symbolizes everything that is evil in a sequence that in turn symbolizes the essential struggle between Good and Evil and the eventual triumph of Good.

Chernabog also appears in Kingdom Hearts as a boss in the End of the World. He is the penultimate boss of the game, counting all of False Ansem's forms as one. Naturally, he is one of the most powerful bosses in the game. He also appears in Dream Drop Distance, where he is fought by Riku as the boss of Symphony of Sorcery.

In House of Mouse, he was voiced by Corey Burton, who also voiced the Hatbox Ghost.

Personality
Being the representation of pure evil, Chernabog possesses a subservient and passive personality. However, most material outside of Fantasia depicts him as a ruthless and manipulative monster, feared by all who encounter him. He is one of the most powerful and destructive villains that Walt Disney has ever created for that reason. His power is shown to be incredibly demonic, being able to unleash hellish realms and spirits.

Fantasia
Chernabog is seen rising from the top of Bald Mountain, where he extends his arms and summons spirits from the lands below, including the ghosts of soldiers, criminals, and those not buried on sacred ground. Using the souls, Chernabog awakens Bald Mountain, summoning fire and demons from its maw. He proceeds to amuse himself by forcing the demonic figures to dance for him. He creates beautiful dancers out of fire, then wickedly transforms hem into vile barnyard animals. Chernabog proceeds to summon Harpies to grab other demons and toss them into the hellish inferno of Bald Mountain, and joins in himself by bringing forth life, then proceeding to kill it again by tossing it into Hell. The madness accumulates into a massive flash.

As Chernabog prepares to continue his wickedness, he is suddenly interrupted by the sound of church bells and the light of dawn. Though he attempts to resist it, the tolling and light become too much goodness for him to withstand, causing the ghosts and demons to retreat. Disgusted, Chernabog folds his wings back over his body, hiding in Bald Mountain as the sun rises and a church choir hails the Lord God and Mother Mary.

Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Chernabog is the only Disney villain with no explained reason for fighting Sora or aiding the Heartless in the Kingdom Hearts series. It is possible that he is such a dark entity already, he independently chooses to aid the Heartless in plummeting the universe into darkness by his own choice. This immense darkness could also be the reason he is the only non-Heartless fought in the End of the World realm, because there is no point to turn him into a Heartless. It is also entirely possible that he is unaware of the Heartless and their goal, and simply fights because his dark and evil nature makes him want to wipe out sources of good and light, such as Sora, who just happens to cross his path. Considering his location, however, it is possible he is simply a gatekeeper used by Ansem to bar Sora from the innermost reaches of the End of the World.

In the original Japanese version, the music played when he is fought is "Squirming Evil", the piece used when fighting most Disney Villains. However, in the international and Final Mix versions, an arranged version of the music from the original Fantasia short, Night on Bald Mountain, by Modest Mussorgski, is used as the battle music in Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Chernabog later appeared in the world known as Symphony of Sorcery and attacked Riku. After Riku confronts a mysterious man in a black cloak, and talks with him for a brief while, he summons Chernabog from the volcano behind him to fight Riku. Despite this, Chernabog ended up getting defeated by Riku.

House of Mouse
Chernabog appears as a regular guest at the House of Mouse, usually serving as a brutish, but non-active enforcer who occasionally joins in with jokes and gossip around the club.

Mickey's House of Villains
Chernabog also made an appearance in the movie Mickey's House of Villains. He was one of the many Disney villain who took over Mickey's House of Mouse. But for some reason, he was working for Jafar to help him take over Mickey's House.

After the villains take over the House, Chernabog is spotted on several occasions sitting with Maleficent. After Mickey defeats Jafar, Chernabog flees with the other villains.

Once Upon a Time
Chernabog appeared in the fourth season of Once Upon a Time. He was released from the Sorcerer's Hat and terrorized Regina and Emma until they destroyed him by tricking him into leaving the city limits, where there is no magic.

Mickey Mouse
Chernabog appeared in the new Mickey Mouse shorts where he teams up with Pete and the Beagle Boys against Mickey and his team in a football match. They beat Mickey and his friends severly until Mickey finds a way to outsmart them. Chernabog also appears in the episode The Scarist Story Ever: Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktaculur.

Night on Bald Mountain (upcoming film)
Disney will release a full-length live-action film based on the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment of Fantasia. The film is currently in production and has no confirmed release date as of yet, but will most likely feature Chernabog as the main antagonist.

Kingdom Keepers
Chernabog served as the main villain in the original Kingdom Keepers series where led the villains against the protagnoists.

Trivia

 * Contrary to popular belief, Chernabog is not Satan or the Devil; but rather an immensely powerful demon. Though the introduction to "Night on Bald Mountain" says it is a "gathering place for Satan and his followers", Chernabog is one of the followers, not Satan; Satan makes no appearance in the segment (likely for religious or dramatic reasons). However, as he is the closest thing to the Devil in the Disney Universe (even referred to by Walt Disney as their Devil), he usually stands in as the devilish figure in Disney media and can be considered the unofficial "Devil" of said universe (along with Hades), despite not being Satan himself.
 * It is believed that another reason for Chernabog not being the Devil himself was as a scare tactic; to show him as a horrible evil demon to make audiences question what the actual Devil must be like.
 * Chernabog is actually a creature out of Baltic folklore, a devil like demi-god, except rather than being lord of the netherworld per say he ruled over the fragile vale between life and death, a sort of the king boogeyman.
 * Chernabog is mentioned in Kingdom Keepers II : Disney At Dawn. Naturally, Chernabog is the overarching villain in the series.
 * In Slavic, his name means "Black God".
 * Chernabog is the first protagonist villain of the Disney film, as there is no visible hero or heroine that is in the lead in this segment.
 * Although Chernabog only appears in the Night on Bald Mountain, he is considered the Big Bad of the entire film.
 * The Chernabog Gargoyle.jpgabog's figure makes cameo appearance in the 2010 live action Disney film, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as a gargoyle in one of the buildings that the Merlinean wizard Balthazar Blake passed when he discovered the changes on his Arcana Cabana shop.
 * In the original script of the film however, Chernabog featured as a demon like in Fantasia but with his size reduced into 15 foot tall, but still larger than any men. He serves as a necromancer and a potential general for Morganians, and he masters the power to summon an army of wraiths to do his bidding. He was sealed inside the Grimhold until freed by a Morganian known as Maxim Horvath, and he later assist the legendary witch Abigail Williams in kidnapping Dave Stutler's girlfriend Becky Barnes. He then proceed to summon hundreds of wraiths and assembled them as an army to destroy the city, and during the final battle, he was knocked by the combined forces of Dave and Balthazar. In the end, he was eventually sealed back inside the Grimhold. Reasons why he was cut from the film's conclusion in the final script was because the director decided it would be better to save him for a sequel should they ever get the chance, as a villain of his magnitude deserves a stronger part.
 * The_Chernabog_Drill_Automaton.jpgabog's gargoyle appears as one of the Drill Automatons that Balthazar animated as part of Dave's training under the name of "Gargoyle" in the online videogame Sorcerer's Apprentice: Fiery Frenzy. But unlike the Chernabog that appeared in Night on Bald Mountain or in the Once Upon a Time TV series, Gargoyle is animated as a quadrupedal creature.