| “ | Reports of my death were greatly... Exaggerated. | „ |
| ~ Father Bests after being revived. |
Father Level Bests is the secondary antagonist of the 2022 Netflix stop-motion adult animated horror comedy film Wendell & Wild, based on an unpublished book of the same name written by Henry Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman. He is a corrupt principal who uses immoral and illegal tactics to monetarily fund his school, Rust-Bank Catholic (RBC) Girls.
He was voiced by James Hong, who also portrayed Lo-Pan in Big Trouble in Little China, Gen Soon in Todd McFarlane's Spawn, Chi-Fu in Mulan, Daolon Wong in Jackie Chan Adventures, Professor Chang in Teen Titans, Mandarin in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Uncle Po in Sleeping Dogs, Ho Chan in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, Azmorigan in Star Wars Rebels, Dr. Zin in Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest, Zong-Shi in Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans and The Elder in Star Wars: Visions.
Personality[]
Although outwardly kind and light-hearted, Bests' humble personality is a façade to hide his true nature. Revealed through his relationship with the Klaxons, Bests is cunning, greedy and somewhat snarky. When people get in the way of his goals he becomes much more aggressive but always remains weaselly and unintimidating.
His appearance after death is met with disgust from the rest of the cast, however Bests seems to find his own looks appealing regardless, indicating a somewhat narcissistic personality. He has no issues with betraying his own faith, as while he indulges in superficial things such as angel toppers for his golf clubs and portraying himself as a nice person, he is perfectly content with making deals with demons and betraying the people he claims he wants to help. While Bests is often mistreated and neglected by the other villains, has a somewhat noble goal and occasionally shows a hint of shame in his actions, he is generally not portrayed as a sympathetic villain.
Biography[]
Kat Elliot, Ral Cocolotl, Siobhan Klaxon, Sweetie, and Sloane attend the Rust Bank Catholic School (RBC) for Girls, which is run by Father Bests as a priest and the corrupt headmaster. He is shown to be highly respected by both the nuns working at the school as well as the students themselves, who are all likely unaware of his immoral acts. He is introduced as a kind and eccentric individual who wants to grant Kat a new home and life at the school, however she quickly points out that his reasons for taking her in are likely more sinister and self-serving, indicating that he is only taking in troubled children for the money.
Bests makes questionable deals as he is shown to have ties with the nefarious Klax Korp run by the Klaxons, which keep his school running by providing financial support if he in turn supports their immoral endeavours. Due to the fact that the Klaxons plan to convert Rust-Bank into a prison and make money from mass incarceration, his support of them suggest that the kind personality he shows to Kat (and supposedly the other students and teachers) is only a ruse. Bests is shown not only to be a supporter of the Klaxons, but a close acquaintance of theirs as well.
During a scene where the Klaxons play golf, Father Bests joins along, however the two business partners show contempt for him, confronting him on how RBC is 'taking their prisoners'. While discussing the prison's eventual integration, Bests tells them that the old-guard members would vote for their prison, only to snarkily admit that they were dead. After this exchange, the Klaxons then announce to him that they will no longer support him and RBC, much to his dismay. When he tells them that he vouched for them on the night of the brewery fire - a crime the Klaxons themselves committed and covered up - they realise that he knows too much that could possibly get them in trouble. They kill him by hitting him with a golf club and throw him and his golfing equipment to a pond, leaving him to drown. At his funeral, the students (minus Kat) sincerely mourn his death.
Bests is eventually revived by Wendell and Wild with magic hair cream, and after a moment of reluctance and fear, quickly accepts the two as allies to help him achieve his goal. He tells them that the Klaxons will provide money for their fair if they revive the Old Guard members so that they vote for the Klaxons' prison, also securing himself a payment in the deal. Bests continues to run RBC and makes cruel remarks to Kat when she justifiably becomes angered at his revival. He then punishes both Kat and Raul by lying and telling the nuns that they were holding him hostage. He joins Wendell and Wild throughout the night, continuously lying to keep up his part of the deal, and even kidnaps Kat's parents to help keep up the ruse. His unjust deeds are eventually undone as the Klaxons' "payment" is revealed to be fake money, Kat's parents are saved and his immorality ultimately results in no rewards. As the magic hair cream dries out, Bests dies permanently for good and the school continues to function without him.
Gallery[]
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 Villains
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Klax Korp The Underworld Others | ||