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| “ | Yes, this should be enriching for all of us. | „ |
| ~ Commander Rourke foreshadowing his true intentions. |
| “ | Mercenary? I prefer the term: "adventure capitalist". | „ |
| ~ Commander Rourke's most famous quote after revealing his true nature to Milo. |
Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke is the main antagonist of Disney's 41st full-length animated feature film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
He initially appears as a very reliable and praiseworthy commander able to lead his men through perils, but as the film progresses, he turns out to be a highly greedy, manipulative, ruthless and sadistic mercenary who is out to capture the Heart of Atlantis and make money off of it. He is Milo Thatch's former boss and arch-nemesis.
He was voiced by the late James Garner in the film and by the late Earl Boen in the video game.
Personality[]
| “ | Commander Rourke: You have a nice swim? Milo: Hey, guys. what's going on? What's... what's with all the guns? Guys... oh, I'm such an idiot! This is another treasure hunt for you, you're after the crystal! Commander Rourke: Oh, you mean this? *shows the missing page detailing the crystal* Milo: The Heart of Atlantis. Commander Rourke: Yeah, about that, 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! Milo: I'm no mercenary. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke revealing his true nature after Milo deduces his true plan to steal the Heart of Atlantis. |
Rourke first started out appearing as a respectable, generous and calm leader, seemingly taking meticulous notion of the safety of his team during the expedition and mourning over the casualties as the expedition continues. However, this was merely a façade to hide and reveal his true nature: that of a greedy, arrogant, dangerous, sadistic, ruthless and callous mercenary, 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 also has no loyalty to his own men, even betraying his right-hand woman Helga during the final battle, though this horribly backfired on him.
Rourke also has a strong sense of anti-intellectualism because he believed that prevents people from "playing dirty" in order to succeed in life and considers idealism as a weakness, as seen when his crew blamed him for all the wrong he has done, he is completely surprised and mocks them for letting a conscience growing up.
Rourke is also shown to be an authoritative and intelligent pragmatist (both personally and professionally) who tends to make his own rules, take what he needs and discards anything that he considers "useless baggage". Rourke is also partially argumentative and has quite a bit of control over his temper, as he tells Milo and congratulates him for setting it off. Even then, he remains mostly calm despite his clear annoyance. However, following the thwarting of his plot, Rourke completely lost his calm attitude as he sadistically attempts to kill off Milo in revenge but he failed to do so. Even then, he did not completely lose his mind. He is also tough-minded and enduring, going after Milo even after his painful transformation.
Overall, Rourke is an evil madman with no regard for anyone but himself. Worse, he clearly enjoys causing suffering as he committed many crimes out of sadism instead of greed, for example when he punches Milo in the face and steps on his grandfather's picture just to be cruel, never showing the slightest bit of remorse for his heinous deeds despite knowing he was endangering hundreds of lives.
History[]
Past[]
Lyle Tiberius 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 the age of 15. There, he exhibited a remarkable talent for leadership, owing to his analytical mind, charisma, and refusal to acknowledge the white flag surrender. He married in June 1887 at the age of 27, but his wife left him after only 4 months. Later, he retired in 1901 and became under the employ of millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, whose closest friend Thaddeus Thatch is known for his claims about the existence of Atlantis. Upon hearing that Thaddeus is intending to find an ancient manuscript called the Shepherd's Journal that will detail the location of Atlantis, Whitmore sends over Rourke and his team of seven experts (Rourke's second-in-command Helga Katrina Sinclair, demolitions expert Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, geologist Gaetan "Mole" Molière, medical officer Joshua Sweet, chief mechanic Manuel Ramirez, cook Jebediah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth and cynical communications expert Wilhelmina Packard) to help Thaddeus search for the lost book.
Eventually, Thaddeus was able to find the Shepherd's Journal located in Iceland, declaring the mission to be a success, much to the surprise and delight of Rourke and his team. Unfortunately, other historians at the Smithsonian refused to accept this and jeered Thaddeus, who died of a broken heart, much to Preston and the team's distraught. However, Rourke was secretly unconcerned by the loss of Thaddeus, and found out within the Shepherd's Journal a certain page that details a powerful but sentient crystal called the Heart of Atlantis. Developing a greedy desire to take the crystal and become extremely rich, Rourke secretly takes the page for himself, though he is unable to read and translate the Atlantean language, deciding that he needs to have an linguistics expert to help him translate the text.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire[]
In 1914, Thaddeus' grandson Milo James Thatch (the hero of the film), a linguistics and map expert who works for the Smithsonian Institution, learns that his proposal to lead an expedition to Iceland to find the Journal is denied by the Institution's board led by Fenton Q. Harcourt, so he angrily resigns. Eventually, Whitmore contacted Milo and asked him to be a member of the team, informing him that Thaddeus had already located the Journal in Iceland, and entrusted Whitmore to give it to Milo when he was ready.
Declaring this to be an honor and prove the Smithsonian board wrong about their claims, Milo happily accepts the offer; even Manuel Ramirez's teenage daughter Audrey takes over her father's job following the latter's retirement. Upon meeting Milo in person, Rourke shook hands with him, stating that it has been a pleasure to meet the grandson of old Thaddeus and gloating that the trip will be quite enriching for all of us.
On the expedition to Atlantis, the explorers' submarine is sunk by an underwater Leviathan and the team suffered numerous casualties. But Milo, Rourke, and the remaining people survived and managed to reach the entrance of Atlantis hidden underwater. Rourke then assigns Milo the task of reading the Journal in hopes of deciphering the direction that will locate the city of Atlantis. After several weeks, Milo was able to lead the team through several obstacles and learns about the Heart of Atlantis, but soon learns that there is a missing page. Eventually, Milo was able to locate and discover the city of Atlantis, where it still survives in a subterranean chamber beneath the surface next to the base of a dormant volcano, much to the team's extreme surprise and amazement.
The team are also surprised to learn that the Atlanteans can speak other languages (including English) as the Atlantean language is the basis of those languages from a root dialect. They are met by the city's princess Kida, who brings them over to her father, the blind Atlantean King Kashekim Nedakh, who gives the team one night to stay so that they can leave for the surface by morning per Rourke's request. Deducing that the King is hiding something, Rourke entrusts Milo to speak with Kida about any information while the rest of the team enjoy their temporary stay in the 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 that cost them their knowledge of literacy. They dive to read ancient underwater murals, and learn about the Heart of Atlantis, a giant blue crystal that is the source of the power that saved Atlantis from the tidal wave and of the strange blue gems that each Atlantean wears. Kida also confesses that that the Heart of Atlantis summoned her mother (the Queen) to it before the tidal wave, and that she never saw her again afterwards. As they leave the ruins, they are caught by Rourke and the rest of the team, who have turned out to be mercenaries, fully armed with weapons. Milo then deduces that Rourke and the crew are going after the Heart, and Rourke presents out the missing page detailing the Heart to confirm it, revealing that he kept it in his person the whole time.
Realizing now that Rourke deliberately planned the plot from the start of the expedition, Milo angrily protests by stating that the Atlanteans will die without the Heart, but Rourke takes no regard of it, and instead states that it will make him and the crew even more rich. Rourke attempts to justify his actions by claiming that each of the artifacts at a museum are technically stolen (although considering that Rourke wishes to make a profit from stealing the heart, he likely was not planning to donate it to a museum), but Milo warns him that tampering with the Heart of Atlantis could be potentially disastrous, resulting an annoyed Rourke to mock him for trying to live up to his grandfather's idealisms. When it became clear that Milo is getting uncooperative, Rourke becomes more forceful by having his troops point their guns at Kida, and Milo reluctantly complies.
Rourke then has the doors to the Atlantean king's chambers blown open and his crew search the throne room for the Crystal, but they find nothing. Milo tells Rourke that the Journal holds a riddle to the crystal's location: "the Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her king". Rourke stomps over to the King and demands him to explain the riddle. When the King refuses to explain, Rourke fatally punches the King in the chest, much to both Kida and the crew's horror. Realizing that this has gone out of hand, Sweet furiously defects to Milo's side as he berated Rourke for what he just did to the King, but Rourke just brushes Sweet off, telling him there has just been a change of plans.
Sitting on the King's throne, Rourke threatens to shoot the King if he does not tell him the crystal's location. Just as Rourke impatiently prepares to pull the trigger, he suddenly stops and looks at the symbol on the Journal's cover, then at the same shape formed by rocks at the surface of the pool overlooking the throne room, allowing him to finally figure out the riddle on his own. Deducing that the crystal is actually hidden beneath the pool, Rourke happily proceeds to descend into the chamber below with Helga dragging Milo and Kida along.
Inside the crystal chamber, Milo and Rourke argue over how the Heart is to be retrieved. Kida is called upon by the Heart of Atlantis and is bonded with it. Rourke takes the opportunity to have Kida sealed up in a metal container and prepare to leave with the crew while leaving Milo, Sweet and the Atlanteans behind. Milo berates the crew for going against their consciences to satisfy their greed at the expense of the Atlanteans. However, Rourke brushes this off by punching Milo in the face and crushing the framed photo of Milo and Thaddeus with his boot, mocking him with the irony that he started out as the man who discovered Atlantis that is about to become a part of an old history relic.
Outraged by this and finally realizing what a greedy scoundrel Rourke truly is (not to mention that the deaths of many innocent people is the last thing they want on their consciences, even if they are considered by the rest of the world to be nonexistent and therefore won't be missed), Audrey, Vinny, Cookie, Packard and Mole defect to Milo's side, berating Rourke for succumbing to his own greed, much to his disappointment. With only Helga and his other men by his side, Rourke is unmoved by the crew's defection as he leaves them, proclaiming that he, Helga and their other men will take the profit for themselves. The ruthless commander then has the bridge (the only one, in fact) detonated to prevent anyone from ever leaving the city.
As Milo talks to the King, the latter explains that he once tried to harness the Heart's power as a weapon of war, but as the Heart has grown a conscience of its own, it proved too great to control as it caused the tidal wave, absorbed the Queen's soul into it, and made the King permanently blind, all to punish him for his arrogance. The King also admitted that he deliberately kept the Heart hidden away out of complete remorse, not only to keep history from repeating itself, but also to prevent Kida from suffering the same fate as the Queen. Before the King dies succumbing to his injuries, he gives Milo his crystal and begs him to rescue his daughter and save Atlantis.
Eventually, Milo, the crew and several Atlantean warriors discover how to use the crystals to activate ancient flying fish machines and they give chase as an air force. As Milo and his team fly over to the volcano, Rourke had his men to create a large opening on the top of the volcano and inflate a massive balloon to haul the crystal to the surface. But Milo and his friends, and the rest of the warriors arrive, engaging into a fight against Rourke's troops.
During the lengthy battle, Rourke's troops initially managed to take down few of the Atlantean warriors, but Milo's friends and the Atlantean warriors soon learned how to use the machines' weaponry that can emit energized lasers to obliterate targets, thus allowing themselves to gain the upper hand and annihilate Rourke's troops. The turning tide of the battle allows Milo to ram his flying machine into Rourke's blimp and causing it to lose altitude slowly. Determined to 'lighten the load', the greedy Rourke betrays Helga by throwing her off to the volcano base, mocking her by claiming it to be nothing personal.
Witnessing this, Milo swings on a rope towards Rourke and they both fall onto the platform above the spinning propeller blades. Milo lunges at the evil commander, but he is easily outmatched by Rourke's strength and expertise in combat, thus Rourke quickly gaining the upper hand. However, Helga, fatally paralyzed by the fall, uses her remaining energy to pull out her flare gun and shoot at the balloon as retribution for Rourke's betrayal, setting the balloon on fire and descending at a faster rate, much to Rourke's anger and horror. Losing what is left of his calm attitude and sanity knowing that he can't escape with his prize, Rourke (with a deranged smile) furiously grabs an axe to kill Milo in revenge for foiling his plot.
Rourke swings his axe at Milo, who ducks and the axe shatters the glass cover on Kida's transport container, with glass shards becoming embedded with the Heart of Atlantis. Thinking quickly, Milo desperately takes a shard of glass containing the crystal's essence as Rourke grabs him by the neck. Just as Rourke prepares to kill Milo with the axe, the latter cuts Rourke's arm with the shard. With the knowledge that the crystal is fully conscious and can sense one's true nature, the essence starts to build up on Rourke's arm, painfully and permanently turning him into a crystallized blue monster. At first, Milo thought Rourke was done for, but was proven wrong as Rourke is still alive and conscious despite being crystallized, having succumbed into a complete feral state in his new form.
Still bent on killing Milo, Rourke furiously climbs at Milo's level. Fortunately, Milo pulls up the chains, hoisting the crystallized Rourke into the balloon's propellers, while Rourke yells one last time before the propellers shatter him into millions of pieces, finally killing him and avenging the King's death for good. The crystal pieces were enough to break the chains holding the Heart's container, thus allowing Milo and the team to regain hold of it. However, the destruction and fiery crash of the balloon causes the volcano to become active and erupt, melting any crystallized remnants from Rourke and putting Atlantis in the brink of extinction. Fortunately, Milo gets himself and the crew to deliver the Heart back to the Atlantis, where the Heart powers up a giant shield to protect the city from the volcanic eruption and return Kida to normal, thus leaving Rourke's plans in complete vain.
After Atlantis is saved, the team is returned home to the surface while Milo stays behind to help Kida (who becomes the new Queen) rebuild the lost civilization. The team explained the truth about Rourke's plot to Whitmore, who agrees to the team's intentions to keep the discovery of Atlantis as a secret, even declaring that Rourke is "missing" after he had a nervous breakdown to cover up the truth so that no one will ever try to steal the Heart of Atlantis ever again.
Atlantis: Milo's Return[]
Although Rourke does not make an appearance due to being long dead, he is mentioned by Whitmore while telling Milo that his grandfather would have been proud that he stopped Rourke's plans for stealing the Heart of Atlantis.
House of Mouse[]
Rourke makes a cameo appearance in Donald Wants to Fly, when he was watching Kida fly above his head in quiet awe. This was Rourke's only appearance in House of Mouse. Strangely enough, he (for some reason) does not appear in the show's tie-in film Mickey's House of Villains, not even as a cameo, and is therefore one of the only three Disney villains featured in that show who does not appear in that film at all, with other two being Scar and Shere Khan because they are absent. However, despite not appearing in the film, it is possible that Rourke was apart of the House of Mouse's takeover with the other villains.
Enemies[]
- Milo James Thatch - Former Linguist, Arch-Nemesis and Killer
- Kida Nedakh
- Helga Katrina Sinclair † - Betrayed Second-In-Command and Victim
- Dr. Joshua Sweet - Former Medic/Minion
- Gaetan Molière - Former Excavator/Minion
- Vincenzo Santorini - Former Demolition Expert/Minion
- Audrey Rocio Ramirez - Former Chief Engineer/Minion
- Jedidiah Allardyce Farnsworth - Former Chef/Minion
- Wilhelmina Packard - Former Communicator/Minion
- Kashekim Nedakh † - Victim
- Preston B. Whitmore - Former Benefactor
- Leviathan
- Atlanteans
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, also his first lines. |
| “ | Tell Cookie to melt the butter and break out the bibs! I want this lobster served up on a silver platter! | „ |
| ~ Rourke ordering his men to stop the Leviathan from attacking the Ulysses. |
| “ | Steady, boys..... don't panic. | „ |
| ~ Rourke getting the sub-pod crews to ready themselves to battle against 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 sugarcoat 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 Ulysses crew killed by the Leviathan. |
| “ | Holy cats, who are these guys?! | „ |
| ~ Rourke finding Atlantean warriors in masks after the teams discovers the lost city of Atlantis. |
| “ | Well, maybe English is in there somewhere. (to the Atlanteans) We are explorers from the surface world. We come in peace. | „ |
| ~ Rourke being surprised to see that the Atlanteans can speak other languages, including English, before introducing himself and the crew. |
| “ | Squad B, head back to the shaft and salvage what you can. We'll rendezvous in 24 hours. | „ |
| ~ Rourke telling several of his soldiers to remain in the volcano base while he and the other head over to Atlantis to meet with the Atlantean King. |
| “ | Helga: Someone's having a good time. Rourke: Like a kid on Christmas. Helga: Commander, there were not supposed to be people down here. This changes everything. Rourke: This changes nothing. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke commenting how happy Milo over the successful discovery of Atlantis before mocking Helga over her concern about the Atlantean natives. |
| “ | Rourke: Your Majesty... on behalf of my crew, may I say that it is an honor to be welcomed to your city. King Nedakh: You presume much to think you're welcome here. Rourke: Oh, sir, we have come a long way looking for- King Nedakh: I know what you seek, and you will not find it here. Your journey has been in vain. Rourke: But we are peaceful explorers, men of science. King Nedakh: (chuckles and notices Rourke's sidearm) And yet, you bring weapons. Rourke: Our weapons allow us to remove... obstacles we may counter. King Nedakh: Some obstacles cannot me removed with a mere show of force. Return to your people, you must leave Atlantis... at once! |
„ |
| ~ Rourke meeting with Atlantean King. |
| “ | Rourke: May I respectfully request that we stay one night, sir? That would give us time to rest, resupply, and be ready to travel by morning. King Nedakh: Hmmmm.... very well... one night. That is all. Rourke: Why, thank you, Your Majesty. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke negotiating with the King to allow him and the team to stay one night in the city. |
| “ | Well, if he's hiding something, I want to know what it is. | „ |
| ~ Rourke being told by Milo that the King is keeping something secret. |
| “ | Good man, Thatch. Thanks for volunteering. | „ |
| ~ Rourke entrusting Milo to talk with the King's daughter Princess Kida about any information that the King may know of. |
| “ | Rourke: Mercenary? I prefer the term: "adventure capitalist". Besides, you're the one who got us here. You led us right to the treasure chest. Milo: You don't know what you're tampering with, Rourke! Rourke: What's to know? It's big, it's shiny, it's gonna make us all rich. Milo: You think it's some kind of a diamond, I thought it was some kind of a battery, but we're both wrong. It's their life force. That crystal is the only thing keeping these people alive! You take that away, and they'll die! Rourke: Well, that changes things. Helga, what do you think? Helga: Knowing that, I'd double the price. Rourke: I was thinking triple. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke commenting on how much fortune the Heart of Atlantis will give to him and his team. |
| “ | Rourke: 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 a necessary service to the archaeological community. Milo: Not interested. Rourke: 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. (Milo glares at Rourke, who sighs) I really hate it when negotiations go sour. (snaps his fingers and his soldiers point their guns at Kida's head; Rourke pulls out the missing page about the Heart of Atlantis again and shows it to Milo) Let's try this again. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke attempting to get Milo into his side to no avail. |
| “ | Rourke: You're not applying yourself, son! There's gotta be something else! Milo: Well, there isn't! It just says: The Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her King. Rourke: Well, then maybe Old King Cole here can help us fill in the blanks. How 'bout it, chief? Where's the crystal chamber? King Nedakh: You will destroy yourselves! Rourke: Maybe I'm not being clear. (punches Nedakh) |
„ |
| ~ Rourke about to fatally punch the King. |
| “ | Kida: (in Atlantean) I will kill you for that! Dr. Sweet: Rourke, this was NOT a part of the plan! Rourke: The plan's changed, Doc. I'd suggest you put a bandage on that bleeding heart of yours, it doesn't suit a mercenary. Well, as usual, diplomacy has failed us. |
„ |
| ~ Dr. Sweet turning against Rourke for punching the King. |
| “ | Now, I'm going to count to ten, and you're going to tell me where the crystal is. One...two...nine...t-- (stops and looks at spiral-like symbol on Shepherd's Journal, then at the same shape on the surface of the pool overlooking the King's throne) The Heart of Atlantis lies in the eyes of her King. This is it! We're in. | „ |
| ~ Rourke deducing the location of the crystal chamber. |
| “ | Jackpot!! | „ |
| ~ Rourke after finally discovering the crystal hidden under the throne room. |
| “ | Rourke: Get off your soapbox, Thatch. You read Darwin, it's called natural selection. We're just helping it along. Helga: Commander, we're ready. Rourke: Yeah, give me a minute. I know I'm forgetting something. I got the cargo, the crystal, the crew- ohhh yeah. (punches Milo in the face) Look at it this way, son. (breaks the frame of Thaddeus' photo by stepping on it) You're the man who discovered Atlantis, and now you're part of the exhibit. Let's move, people! |
„ |
| ~ Rourke taunting Milo of his discovery of Atlantis by punching him and breaking the frame of his picture with Thaddeus (the very same speech that drove the team away in disgust). |
| “ | Rourke: Oh, you can't be serious. Audrey: This is wrong and you know it! Rourke: We're this close to our biggest payday ever and you pick now of all times to grow a conscience?! Vinny: We've done a lot of things we're not proud of: robbin' graves, eh, plunderin' tombs, double parkin', but nobody got hurt. Well... maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew. Rourke: Well, if that's the way you want it, fine. More for me! P.T. Barnum was right. |
„ |
| ~ Rourke expressing his disappointment after his team leave him in disgust and join Milo's side. |
| “ | I love it when I win. | „ |
| ~ Rourke getting his men to perform an escape route inside the volcano by creating an opening with a missile. |
| “ | We got company!! (boards the blimp) Take 'er up!! | „ |
| ~ Rourke seeing Milo assembling an air force with flying fish-mobiles before boarding his blimp. |
| “ | Rourke: We're losing altitude! Lighten the load! (Helga tosses a fuel tank overboard) Helga: That's it, unless someone wants to jump. Rourke: Ladies first! (tosses Helga off, but she swings from the railing and jumps back in and kicks Rourke in the face.) Helga: You said we were in this TOGETHER! You promised me a percentage! Rourke: Next time, get it in writing! (throws Helga off again) Helga: ROURKE! Rourke: Nothing personal! |
„ |
| ~ Rourke betraying Helga by throwing her overboard to her death. |
| “ | Well, I have to 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 lot to get under my skin. But congratulations: you just won the solid-gold kewpie doll! | „ |
| ~ Rourke taunting Milo. |
| “ | Tired, Mr. Thatch?! Hyah! Aw, that's a darn shame.... cause I'm JUST GETTING WARMED UP! (lifts up Milo, who cuts Rourke's arm with a crystal glass shard) ARGHH! | „ |
| ~ Rourke's ironic last words moments before his transformation and death. |
| “ | Whitmore: And Rourke? Sweet: Nervous breakdown. You could say he went all to pieces. Cookie: In fact, you could say he was transmogrified, and then busted into a zillion-- (Packard raises her parasol, prompting him to clear his throat) He's missin', too. |
„ |
| ~ The team providing a cover story if anyone asks what happened to Rourke. |
Trivia[]
- Rourke's treachery and eventual betrayal was foreshadowed several times early in the film.
- When Whitmore places all of the explorers' photos. Rourke's photo is the only photo that's partially obscured with only half his face visible. Also, along with their photos are small sheets of paper showing the explorers' profiles and biographies. Since viewers do not see the other half of Rourke's face, they do not see his biography at all, implying that he is deceitful in nature.
- When they are about to board the sub, Rourke proclaims the trip "will be enriching for all of us."
- Furthermore, just as the Ulysses is submerging, Whitmore is seen crossing his fingers behind his back, implying that he did not take full trust on the expedition to be led by Rourke.
- Also, when the remaining crew members are forced to evacuate the sub, Rourke is the first to enter the escape pods. In real life, the captain is always the last crew member to evacuate a sinking ship (hence the phrase "go down with the ship"), so this is often considered to be disrespectful to maritime culture.
- Furthermore, just as the Ulysses is submerging, Whitmore is seen crossing his fingers behind his back, implying that he did not take full trust on the expedition to be led by Rourke.
- When the crew is allowed to enter the city, Rourke orders his soldiers to stay behind at the volcano base and "salvage what [they] can," which hints that he's covering up a secret agenda of his own.
- During the journey, Milo noticed that a missing page from the Journal details the crystal and deduced that Rourke was onto something nefarious from the start, something which Rourke confirmed by revealing that he had kept possession of the missing page the entire time; even Sweet confirmed that Rourke was onto stealing the crystal ever since he and the team recovered the Journal in Iceland.
- When Helga informs Rourke that there was not supposed to be people in Atlantis and that it changes everything, Rourke is determined and states that nothing has changed, implying that he does not care of whatever fate he brings to the Atlantean as long as he gets richer.
- He is the first animated character to be voiced by James Garner.
- In some promotional pictures of the film, Rourke is holding a knife.
- On the PlayStation 1 video game of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Rourke is stated to be 6'4.
- The novelization and tie in the books actually mention that the crystal "recognized Rourke's evil", which means that it is not a random effect of an extraterrestrial substance - it is a wrathful and vengeful entity punishing Rourke because he profaned it.
- When Rourke is frustrated when his team abandons him, he tells : "P.T Barnum was right". He was referencing to Phineas Taylor Barnum's most famous quote (but not authentified) saying: "There's a sucker born every minute."
- If Rourke would have not let his greed get the better of him, he would still have earn a lot of money only for the discovery of Atlantis. Even if all he wanted was money, he could just have stolen, or at least taken some artifacts (with his men watching the king at gunpoint) and left with more priceless treasures than he knew what to do with, without needing to doom an entire people (his former comrades end up being paid for exactly that at the end of the film) or try to ask a greater pay on his check to the wealthy Whitmore. Furthermore, at this time, nobody would be really able to pay what Rourke desires because the movie takes place in WW1. Nobody was so rich at this era. Also, he does not consider the fact that the crystal’s power might only be limited to within the city's boundaries. Therefore, even if he had managed to get it to the surface, it would have lost power and become ironically worthless at his own end.
- Rourke's pants changes color from green to black, presumably to symbolize how deeply the wish to have money (represented by green) can corrupt (represented by black) a person.
- Like in their previous films, directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale wanted to do something different with the character of Rourke, in terms of his characterization and portrayal as a villain, especially compared to others villains from previous Disney animation movies, wanting Rourke to be complex by not making him inherently evil, but rather greedy. The idea is that they wanted a three-dimensional villain as opposed to a two-dimensional villain. Given Rourke's actions, however, he can be a mix of both.
- His gun, which he briefly used to prevent Princess Kida from escaping, is a German Luger.
- Rourke serves as a dark counterpart to Milo Thatch. Both men were interested in exploring the so-called "lost city" of Atlantis and had the shared plan of making it more publicly notable to the rest of the world. However, while Milo was simply interested in learning the city's overall landscape, Rourke was only in the journey to become richer with the Heart of Atlantis. In addition, Milo gave genuine concern for the crucial state of the city itself, unlike Rourke, who was instead nonchalant about it, which is why their discovery of Atlantis was mostly kept as a secret from others. Rourke exemplifies the type of man Milo would become if he lets his personal desires be put above everything else.
External Links[]
- Commander Rourke on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Commander Rourke on the Disney Wiki
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 Villains
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