| “ | You will be sorry you ever crossed General Edward. | „ |
| ~ Edward threatening Mary for her arrogance. |
| “ | I am General Edward Edwardian, commander of Lilliput. | „ |
| ~ Edward introducing himself to Gulliver. |
General Edward Edwardian (simply known as General Edward or Edward) is the main antagonist of the 2010 fantasy adventure comedy movie Gulliver's Travels, based on the 18th-century novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift.
He is the former commander of the Lilliputian army who later becomes the general of the Blefuscians. He is the former friend-turned-archenemy of Lemuel Gulliver as well as the archenemy of Horatio.
He was portrayed by Chris O'Dowd.
Biography[]
Background[]
In the past, General Edward served as the commander of the Lilliputian army and was in love with Princess Mary, daughter of King Theodore and Queen Isabelle. However, Edward is vain and narcissistic as he doesn't treat Mary with proper respect.
Present[]
In the present day, mail room worker Lemuel Gulliver arrives on Lilliput after his ship has crash-landed on the island upon being overwhelmed by a waterspout. It turns out that Gulliver is kaiju-sized, compared to the tiny people of Lilliput the size of action figures. Edward and his army soon find Gulliver and arrest him, with Edward calling Gulliver a "beast" (due to his large size) as well as accusing him for working with their enemies, the Blefuscians. Gulliver tries to escape, believing it to be a dream, only to be restrained afterwards. A captured Gulliver is then introduced to the people of Lilliput including King Theodore, Queen Isabella, and Princess Mary. Edward puts Gulliver in prison, where he befriends Horatio, a fellow prisoner who was jailed by Edward for fancying Princess Mary.
Gulliver is soon made to be a slave, but proves useful when the Blefuscians attack and Gulliver helps to put the fire out by urinating on the flames (as well as accidentally urinating on Edward). After this, Gulliver is hailed as a hero by the Lilliputians. Gulliver replaces Edward as the King's favorite and ensures that Horatio is freed from prison. Edward is instead demoted to vice-general and is replaced by Gulliver. Edward's relationship with Mary is put under strain, as Gulliver has encouraged Horatio to make Mary fall in love with him and her heart turns to Horatio instead. Mary even berates Edward for calling Gulliver a beast.
Edward is highly jealous of Gulliver and plans to get rid of him so that he can take over Lilliput. As such, Edward starts to betray Lilliput by turning off the defense systems, allowing Lilliput to be attacked by the Blefuscians, but Gulliver easily manages to defeat all of them. Following this, Edward then confronts Princess Mary in her chambers intending to "court" her. However, she rebuffs his requests and finally breaks up with him. Edward openly gives his loyalty to the King of Blefuscia and comes up with a plan to defeat Gulliver by building a giant robot from instructions in Gulliver's magazine. Edward in his giant robot suit later confronts Gulliver by challenging him to a duel, where he is quickly able to defeat him. He then forces Gulliver to expose his deception to the public, with Gulliver confessing that he's "just a guy from the mailroom" and not really the "President of Manhattan".
As a result, Gulliver is exposed as a liar and is banished by Edward to "the island where we dare not go". Taking over Lilliput, and renaming it "New Blefuscia", Edward then imprisons King Theodore and Queen Isabelle and intends to force Princess Mary to marry him in order to have her as his future queen. Soon after, Edward also captures Gulliver's colleague Darcy, who has arrived at Lilliput when she found out that Gulliver had plagiarized his report to impress her, leading to Darcy taking his place and traveling to Bermuda herself. Darcy is then arrested by Edward, who calls her a "she-beast", and is put in prison along with the deposed King and Queen. However, Horatio, after being spurned by Mary when she stubbornly refuses to help him rescue Gulliver, travels to the island himself to save his friend, who is now dressed as a doll by a giant girl. At first, Gulliver is depressed and refuses to help, but Horatio reveals to him that Edward has kidnapped Darcy, leading to Gulliver returning to Lilliput, where he frees Darcy, the King and Queen. Gulliver later challenges Edward to another duel with the deal that he shall restore Lilliput to its former glory. However, Edward threatens Gulliver that he will deliberately destroy Lilliput if Gulliver will fail.
During the fight between the two, Edward has modified his robot and gives out electricity which shocks and stuns Gulliver. Seeing Gulliver in danger, Horatio climbs inside the robot and wrestles with Edward while disabling the robot's electrocuting weapon, letting Edward's guard down long enough for Gulliver to gain the upper hand and defeat Edward by "wedging" the robot, causing the structure to collapse on itself. The King and Queen are restored and they hail Horatio a hero for helping Gulliver defeat Edward as well as giving him their blessing to marry Mary since his actions were an act of valiance. However, Edward frees himself from the robot and attempts to kidnap Mary, but, finally having enough of Edward, she knocks him unconscious by punching him in the face in frustration.
It is unknown if Edward was banished to "the island where we dare not go" or thrown into prison for his crimes and treachery, despite Lilliput and Blefuscia being united in peace while Gulliver and Darcy return to New York City on their repaired boat, thus leaving Edward's plans for conquest in vain.
Quotes[]
| “ | General Edward: I am General Edward Edwardian. Commander of Lilliput. All hail Lilliput! Lilliput Soldiers: ALL HAIL LILLIPUT! General Edward: You are herewith charged with aiding our sworn enemy, the Blefuscians. You are my prisoner, and shall be presented to our Royal Highness, King Theodore. What you say...beast? |
„ |
| ~ Edward's first meeting with Gulliver |
| “ | No! It is time for your life of hard labor to begin! | „ |
| ~ Edward sentencing Gulliver to plough the field |
| “ | THIS IS GROUNDS FOR EXECUTION!! | „ |
| ~ Edward humiliated after being accidentally urinated on by Gulliver after saving King Theodore by urinating the fire |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- General Edward is one of the few characters in the film to not be from the book, but as an original character.