The history of Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco.
Stealing Héctor's Legacy[]
Ernesto fumes at Héctor's decision to return home to his family, descending into villainy.
Ernesto de la Cruz was born in 1896. He started out as a childhood friend and business partner of Héctor Rivera, as they both entered the music industry in 1921, wooing the people of Mexico for months. However, they broke into an argument when Héctor promised to return to his wife Imelda and daughter Coco so that he can support them. Though Héctor assured Ernesto that the latter can manage in the music industry on his own, Ernesto refuses to accept this by desperately claiming that he can't do so without Héctor's songs and begged Héctor to stay. However, Héctor remained firm in his decision to go back to his family, which left Ernesto completely embittered.
Pretending to support Héctor's decision of returning to his family by making a toast and saying that he would move "heaven and earth" for him, Ernesto secretly spiked Héctor's drink with poison, which took effect as they walked down the street towards the train station. Watching Héctor succumb to his death by the poison, Ernesto took the opportunity to steal Héctor's guitar and songbook and pass them off as his own, gaining a reputation in the music industry and becoming one of Mexico's most acclaimed musicians, as well as a film star and writer. It's unknown why he did this; however, one could say that like all murderers who desire attention, he did it so he could keep the guitar as a trophy.
Ernesto kept his murder a secret by claiming that Héctor died from food poisoning and never informed his family about his death, causing Héctor's wife Imelda, unaware of Héctor's desire to come home, to think that he had abandoned their family and thus instigated a ban on music for the Rivera family while taking a hobby of making shoes as the main family business. Ernesto even went as far as to brag about his death by writing and starring in a film where he's the one getting betrayed, even mimicking the dialogue.
Ernesto being crushed to his death by a church bell during the performance.
Eventually, during one of Ernesto's concerts while singing Héctor's famous lullaby "Remember Me" in 1942, he was killed in an unnoticed (yet deserved) act of karma when a backstage hand, distracted by Ernesto's charming performance, accidentally leaned on a lever that caused a church bell to drop onto him just as he finished the song, horrifying all his fans present in the performance and sending Ernesto's spirit to the Land of the Dead. Despite his own death, Ernesto's legacy lived on, which was honored by a large statue. He also maintained his reputation as he continued to perform to the citizens of the Land of the Dead, supplied with his own mansion and a crew of security guards at his disposal. Said security guards are apparently responsible for protecting him from rapid fans, and (possibly), get rid of anyone that might have found out about his past.
The Day of the Dead[]
The Ernesto de la Cruz statue in Santa Cecilia.
Héctor's great-great-grandson Miguel is living in the ville "Santa Cecilia" with his family, including a very old Coco who is suffering from Alzheimer's. Unlike the rest of the Riveras, Miguel loves music and, in secret, hopes to one day be as famous as Ernesto, whom he considered to be his hero and idol.
Upon learning about a talent show during the Day of the Dead, Miguel discovers from Imelda's portrait that his great-great-grandfather has a guitar similar to the one that Ernesto is holding in a photo. Believing that Ernesto is his great-great-grandfather, Miguel tries to explain his discovery to his family, but they refuse to listen and support this, with Miguel's grandmother Elena destroying Miguel's guitar to prevent him from following the path of his great-great grandfather. Fed up with his family's views on music and for not respecting and supporting his dreams, Miguel angrily runs away, deciding to perform himself.
However, Miguel can't enter without an instrument and decides to take Ernesto's guitar from inside his mausoleum to use it in the concert. In the moment Miguel struck the strings, he becomes a type of ghost, being unable to be seen or heard by the living except for a street dog named Dante, who is actually an alebrije, a disguised spirit animal. In the cemetery, Miguel meets his deceased relatives, who are shocked to discover Miguel has entered into the Land of the Dead.
Land of the Dead[]
When Miguel is taken to the Land of the Dead, he meets Imelda, who is unable to cross to the world of the living because Miguel took her portrait from the ofrenda. They discover from an officer what can help Miguel return to the world of the living before he turns into a skeleton at sunrise.
By receiving a relative's "blessing" with a glowing petal of Aztec marigold, Imelda agrees to let Miguel back home, but with the condition that he gives up his musical desires for good. Outraged with this, Miguel angrily refuses and runs away before allying with Héctor, who is currently a lonely and forgotten trickster trying to visit his family to no avail and being unaware of the true causes of his death. Forming a deal, Héctor offers to take Miguel to Ernesto in exchange of delivering Héctor's picture to his family's ofrenda in order to save him from being forgotten by the living world. During their journey to Ernesto's mansion, Héctor, Miguel and Dante are being tracked down by an alebrije called Pepita, who happens to be Imelda's spiritual guide.
After participating on a contest to receive an entrance to the mansion, an argument breaks between Miguel and Héctor after the latter discovers that the former could have returned to his home all the time (as Miguel had previously lied to Héctor by claiming that Ernesto was his only family around). In response, an angry Miguel leaves Héctor and dismisses Dante, determined more than ever to get to Ernesto's mansion on his own. He even accuses a pursuing Imelda of making his life unhappy, stating that music makes him happy and that she's trying to take it away from him, an accusation that leaves Imelda guilt-ridden and heartbroken as she realizes how much her ban against music has hurt Miguel.
Meeting Miguel[]
Miguel manages to enter the mansion with the help of a band (who were the winning participants of the contest) and looks for Ernesto while Héctor followed him disguised as the famed painter Frida Kahlo.
Ernesto being hugged by Miguel in which he revealed that Ernesto was Miguel's ancestor.
During the party inside the mansion, Miguel gets Ernesto's attention by singing one of his favorite songs that he sung on television, "The World es mi Familia", though he ends up falling into the swimming pool by accident. Ernesto dives in and saves Miguel, who is revealed to be a living boy and explains about his discoveries of his ancestry to Ernesto. Despite being aware that he had no known living relatives, Ernesto exploited the opportunity by taking it as a sign of joy and spending a quality time with Miguel to gain more support from the guests.
Ernesto giving Miguel a tour around the mansion while having a warm conversation with Miguel in which the latter detailed his own dreams of becoming a musician.
After the party is over, Ernesto stated that he had to make a decision in leaving everything behind to pursue his own dreams of becoming a musician and advises Miguel to do the same if he wishes. As Miguel explains his situation to Ernesto, the latter agrees to give him his blessing to send him back.
True Colors[]
Just as Ernesto is about to give Miguel a petal of Aztec marigold to send him home, however, they were interrupted by an arriving Héctor, who confronts Miguel for leaving him behind and Ernesto for taking his songs and guitar while leaving him to be forgotten by the Land of the Living. A nervous Ernesto admits that Héctor did write the songs, but claimed that he only sang them to keep Héctor's memory alive ever since his death, though Héctor is not convinced by this. Nevertheless, Héctor pleads with Ernesto to let Miguel take his photo, reminding him of the time Ernesto said that he would move "heaven and earth" in the name of their friendship.
Upon hearing this, Miguel points out the similarities between Héctor and Ernesto's toast with a scene in one of Ernesto's films where the villain attempts to murder him with a poisoned drink (in which Ernesto, who had written the film script, had used the moment of murdering Héctor as inspiration to make the script). Catching on to the similarities after watching the film, Héctor recollects the events before his death and finally realizes in horror that Ernesto had deliberately poisoned him in order to steal both his songs and guitar to take the fame for himself and turning Coco's lullaby "Remember Me" into a bastardized love song.
"I know you understand." ~ Ernesto revealing his true nature to Miguel after admitting his murder of Héctor.
Shocked and furious at this revelation, Héctor angrily attacks Ernesto in a scuffle as revenge for the way he ruined his attempt to go back home, but the latter fearfully calls in his security guards to detain him. Finally, being aware of Héctor's former occupation as Ernesto's partner in the music industry, Miguel wonders if all of it was true or not, though he denies this to Ernesto. However, being unwilling to trust Miguel as he has learned too much, Ernesto reveals his true colors by crumbling the petal and pocketing away Héctor's photo while ordering his guards to imprison Miguel in the cenote pit that Hector has been thrown into; intending to ensure that Miguel remains in the Land of the Dead forever. As Miguel is taken away, Ernesto admitted that he had to murder Héctor and steal his songs in order to seize his moment in becoming a famous musician. This made a horrified Miguel realize the murderous con artist that Ernesto really is.
In the cenote pit, Héctor begins to fade as his daughter Coco is starting to forget him due to her deteriorating mental state, which makes Miguel realize that Héctor is really his great-great grandfather, not Ernesto. Eventually, they are rescued by Imelda and Pepita, who were guided by Dante to them. Reconciling, Miguel then explains the events to his deceased relatives and that Ernesto was responsible for Héctor not returning home in the first place. With this shocking revelation, Imelda and the others agree to help Héctor and Miguel recover the stolen photo, though Imelda still cannot bring herself to fully forgive Héctor since he still left her before his death.
Final Showdown and Defeat[]
Ernesto being confronted by the rest of the deceased Rivera relatives for his actions.
During Ernesto's sunrise show at a stadium, Miguel and his deceased relatives sneak in (with the help of the real Frida Kahlo) to recover Héctor's photo from Ernesto before Coco forgets him. They run into Ernesto by convenience, where Imelda angrily slaps Ernesto with her boot twice, the first for murdering Héctor and the second for trying to murder Miguel. He is shocked that Miguel and Héctor are actually related to each other, just as the deceased Rivera relatives chase him down the stadium. Ernesto calls his security staff to detain them, forcing the relatives to fight back while Imelda accidentally ends up on stage after recovering Héctor's photo from Ernesto. Spotting Imelda on stage, Ernesto angrily orders his guards to get her off the stage and steal back the photo.
Ernesto joining Imelda in song to avoid trouble with the audience.
At first, Imelda is reluctant to perform, but Miguel encourages her to sing as Héctor plays the guitar. Imelda starts singing "La Llorona" while evading the security guards, which surprises her dead relatives and impresses the entire audience. Enraged and envious over Imelda's performance, Ernesto personally comes on stage and joins the song as he tries to take the photo while trying to make everything seem like part of the show, though Imelda frees herself from Ernesto by stepping on his foot (causing him to groan in pain) before she gives Miguel the photo and her blessing in backstage, now changing it so Miguel can go back to the Land of the Living with the ability to play music as long as he knows that his family loves him no matter what.
"... Whatever it takes." ~ Ernesto making a death glare at Miguel before throwing him off to his death.
However, just before Miguel can touch Imelda's petal, Ernesto arrives and grabs Miguel while shoving Imelda to the floor, furiously ranting out to Héctor and the other Rivera relatives that he won't allow Miguel to go back with the photo because it would ruin his legacy as a great musician. Miguel angrily refutes this by stating that Héctor is the real musician and that Ernesto is nothing more than just a cowardly fraud who murdered Héctor and stole his songs and guitar for the fame and glory while leaving Héctor forgotten. Ernesto does not care by saying that he will do whatever it takes to seize his moment in achieving more fame and glory for himself. Without hesitation, Ernesto angrily throws Miguel over the edge, much to the horror of the Riveras. Ernesto then heads back to the stage while cruelly telling a weakened and horrified Héctor with a cruel and sarcastic apology, telling him that the show must go on.
Ernesto left in silence when he realized his crimes have been exposed.
Though it would have seemed that Ernesto had won as he returns to continue his performance for the concert attendees, he is unaware that Héctor knocked down a microphone when he collapsed and that Miguel's great-aunts Rosita and Victoria secretly used a video camera, all just to record and broadcast his confession and act of throwing Miguel over the edge to the entire audience, leaving them extremely horrified. With Ernesto's true nature finally exposed, the audience turns against him with catcalls and jeers as they angrily condemn him for his vile actions on the Riveras. He tries to get the orchestra to start playing, but they refuse to do and instead glare at him with contempt, disgusted with him for everything he's done; even the orchestra's conductor silently snaps his baton in two without a second thought.
Ernesto's defeat after getting crushed by the falling bell, echoing his original death.
Just as the confused Ernesto gets pelted with food by the angry audience when he futilely tries to win them over by singing "Remember Me", he witnesses Pepita saving Miguel on the video monitor, making him realize in horror that he has been exposed of his crimes to the entire Land of the Dead. Pepita then comes forth on stage to punish Ernesto for everything that he had put the Riveras through by lifting him up before swatting him away from the stadium. Ernesto was then sent flying into a bell tower, and crashes into the bell and watches helplessly as the bell falls and crushes him once again, mimicking his original death. This is all broadcasted by the camera staff to everyone in the arena who rejoice at his defeat, except for a spectator returning from the concession stand and asking his wife what he missed.
It's unknown if Ernesto managed to get out from the bell or if he was left trapped there, but either way, he is fully aware that his reputation is now ruined as his horrible actions against the Rivera family have been exposed to everyone in the Land of the Dead. Even yet though, Ernesto's problems wouldn't end here.
Legacy[]
Ernesto's tomb with a "Forget You" sign placed in front as the public now condemns him for his crimes against the Rivera family, tarnishing Ernesto's legacy permanently as a well-deserved punishment.
After receiving a family blessing from his great-great-grandparents and returning home, Miguel uses Héctor's guitar to help Coco remember him by singing "Remember Me". Coco also reveals that she kept her father's old letters detailing his song lyrics and the ripped portion of the portrait detailing his face, allowing the Rivera family to finally learn the truth about what happened to him all those years ago. Realizing that they were wrong about Héctor, the Rivera family allow music back into their lives and proceed to expose Ernesto as the thief, fraud and murderer he was by using the photo and the letters as evidence of their findings. By the following year, Héctor has replaced Ernesto as the village's real musical figure. Meanwhile, Ernesto's shrine is abandoned with the sole addition being a sign that says, "FORGET YOU" ("OLVIDADO" in Spanish) that was put on Ernesto's old tomb, as the villagers and possibly the world now consider him a disgrace for his heinous actions on the Rivera family, therefore leaving the tomb to decay in permanent disrepair as a symbol of his fallen ego.
Even though Ernesto still exists in the Land of the Dead and will still be remembered in the Land of the Living, his crimes will forever leave him rejected by both the living and the dead and he'll be remembered as a liar, a murderer, a thief and a fraud; therefore ensuring his wish of getting fame in the worst imaginable way, now being infamous rather than famous for his actions, destined to live in the afterlife in shame and disgrace as a hell-like dimension for a very long time, and if not, for all eternity.