| “ | If I’d been born two minutes earlier, I’d be Santa Claus, and a better one at that! | „ |
| ~ Basil's envy of his brother Santa Claus. |
Basil is the main antagonist of the 2011 Finnish-Belgian animated film The Magic Crystal. He is the brother of Santa Claus who plans on becoming him and the archenemy of Yotan.
Appearance[]
Basil has a very similar appearance to his brother, save for his long dark blue beard and a moustache and clothes being blue as opposed to his brother's.
Biography[]
Basil first appears where he spots a orphaned teenager named Yotan going inside the orphanage after he saved a little boy's letter. When Yotan feels sad, Basil and Grouch come to get Yotan to save Christmas. the Orphanage Director sees Yotan as he starts arguing with Basil before Basil takes his staff, causing him the fall in the dumpster. Basil tells Grouch to get the bag with Yotan in it (including Jiffy) as Basil, Grouch, and Poro to the north pole where Santa and Ms. Claus live. Basil and Grouch try to find Yotan until Grouch find him including Jiffy, later in the film, after gaining the crystal and using it's power (which is revealed to multiply himself into thousands of clones allowing him to deliver presents all across the world),
In Lapland, the sleigh arrives at Santa’s palace. Yotan and Jiffy sneak out before Basil finds them and they run around the palace narrowly avoiding Basil. Basil eventually finds them and takes them to the crystal room where the titular crystal is being kept. He explains that Santa is two minutes older than him and says that Christmas isn’t what it’s supposed to be. He then makes Yotan retrieve the crystal and with Jiffy’s help is able to get it. Basil then betrays Yotan when he takes the crystal from him and drops them into the room for them to be caught. A group of elves and Poro arrive in the crystal room to find Yotan and Jiffy and the crystal missing. An elf named Jaga accuses Yotan of stealing the crystal. Santa Claus (credited as Joulupukki in original version) and his wife Maya arrive and react more calmly to Yotan’s presence. Basil calls from the control room revealing he stole the crystal. Jaga and another elf named Didi chase after Basil on rocket-powered skis but are shot down by Basil’s robot minions. Smoo, one of the elves, suggests a rescue team but Yotan hijacks the sleigh with the help of a younger elf named Alpo who only speaks in Elvish. Poro grabs on to the sleigh and it blasts out of the palace. Yotan earns Poro’s trust after he saves him. Santa reveals that the reason Basil needed Yotan was because he is at the top of the nice list making him the nicest person in the world and earlier put a magic star in Yotan’s pocket and tells him that when the time comes it will do exactly what he needs it to do and to believe in himself. Basil’s base, Basil steals Jaga and Didi’s magic stars and forces them to activate the stars in order for his base to start working.
As the sleigh closes in on the base, Basil flies out on another sleigh shoots down the sleigh. Basil explains to Jaga and Didi that he plans to kidnap all the children in the world due to bad things they do when they grow up (like wars, pollution, etc.) and says that Santa spoils them. Surviving the crash, Yotan tells Poro to fix the sleigh, Alpo to distract the Robotics and for Jiffy to come with him. Making their way into the base, Yotan and Jiffy find out that the robots are controlled by green slime balls. Yotan finds portions of Basil’s plan but before he can move on, his cover is blown by Basil who steals his star. Jiffy escapes and accidentally falls off the base and causes a giant snowball to destroy the sleigh just as Poro finished fixing it. They crash into the base and Yotan’s cell, freeing him.
Back at the palace, Santa, his wife, Smoo and the elves are revealed to have survived being frozen from the blast and with the radio down, Smoo attempts to fix a drone to find Yotan and the group. The group retrieve Jaga and Didi’s stars but then Basil appears and after a fight chases him to where Jaga and Didi are where Basil reveals that the base is built under a volcano and attempts to burn them in the lava. Yotan throws them their stars allowing them to escape as Basil and Grouch escape. Chasing after them, the base starts to rise with Basil getting ready to become the new Santa. Jaga still doesn’t trust Yotan who runs off with Jiffy to stop Basil himself after she said that he’s not one of them. Just then, the drone from the palace arrives with Santa asking where Yotan is making Jaga guilty. Yotan attempts to stop Basil but is then joined by the others.
Yotan throws Jiffy at Basil who retrieves his star. The volcano starts to erupt due to the power of the crystal trapping Poro, Jaga, Didi and Alpo. Basil pushes Yotan into the lava but uses the orphanage owner’s cane to hold himself up. Jiffy accidentally drops the star, Yotan catches it and it gives him anti-gravity powers which he uses to save the others. The crystal is revealed, when the Christmas star rises, to multiply Santa for each country so he can deliver the presents. Yotan asks the Basils “Which one of you is the real Santa Claus?” This causes a fight between the Basils giving Yotan and Jaga a chance to save the crystal and it apparently falls into the lava but is saved by Grouch who they take with him. Causing all the Basil to lose control and blasting her far away from Lapland. Plus, Yotan finally deliver the presents and spread Christmas joy to the world and given his wish he made earlier: being part of a family.
Later, in the post-credits scene. It's revealed that Basil ended up being blasted into the city in which Yotan used to live, so he falled into a house where he is toppled by children who mistakes him for Santa Claus.