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Each time I see the unicorns - my unicorns, it is like that morning in the woods, and I am truly young in spite of myself, and anything can happen in a world that holds such beauty.
~ King Haggard, watching his imprisoned unicorns.

King Haggard, also simply known as Haggard, is the main antagonist of the 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and its 1982 animated film adaptation of the same name. He is the king of a dreary town known as Hagsgate.

In the 1982 animated film adaptation and its German dub, he was voiced by the late Sir Christopher Lee, who also played Frankenstein's Monster in The Curse of Frankenstein, Count Dracula in Hammer Studios' Dracula films, Fu Manchu in Hammer's Fu Manchu series, Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden GunCushing Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Saruman in Sir Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel films, and The Jabberwock in Alice in Wonderland.

Biography[]

Where all the hills are lean as knives, and nothing grows, not leaves nor lives, where hearts are sour as boiled beer - Haggard is the ruler here.
~ Poem about Haggard's kingdom, recited by Schmendrick.

Haggard's origins are uncertain - some of his subjects say he was born from a cloud covering the sun. Legend says that his kingdom was green and prosperous before he conquered it and became a barren wasteland the moment he set foot on it. Another legend (later revealed to be true) says that a witch created his castle for him. When he refused to pay her for her work, she cursed him, saying he would live in the castle until his greed caused the sea to overflow. His minion is a demonic entity called the Red Bull, who is bound to serve anyone who has no fear; this grants him mastery over the bull, as such a miserable man has nothing to lose, and hence, nothing to fear.

Haggard himself has never been happy, save for when he looks at unicorns. So, he commands the Red Bull to chase them all into the sea, so that he could watch them all drifting in and out on the tides near his castle to his delight. The captive unicorns are the only thing that gives him anything approaching happiness.

Schmendrick, Molly Grue, and the Unicorn (now in human form) proceed to Haggard's castle and seek entry. King Haggard is at first unwelcoming, and Schmendrick introduces the Unicorn only as his niece Lady Amalthea. Schmendrick requests that the three of them stay there as members of Haggard's court, only to be told that all of the royal complement has long since been dispatched: the only remaining occupants in the castle are Haggard, his adopted son Prince Lír, and four ancient men-at-arms. Haggard consents to lodging the trio, replacing his more competent on-call wizard Mabruk with Schmendrick, and setting Molly Grue to work in his scullery. Schmendrick soon suspects that Haggard's true reason for taking them is because he suspects Lady Amalthea's true identity.

After a while, Amalthea begins to forget her identity and her reasons for coming to the castle, and eventually falls in love with Prince Lír. Caught in a complex web of newfound emotions, she struggles with thoughts of abandoning her quest for the sake of mortal love.

Haggard confronts Amalthea in private conversation, hinting at the location of the unicorns, yet from the waning magic in her eyes, he has doubts regarding his previous suspicions that she is more than she seems. Molly ends up learning some clues on the location of the Red Bull's lair from a talking cat.

Going through a secret passage via a broken clock in the castle basement, Schmendrick reveals Amalthea's true identity to Lír after a talking skull identifies Amalthea's true form. However, Lír is unsurprised and says that he loves whom he loves. This makes Amalthea want to stay human and marry Lír, but Lír thinks otherwise. The Red Bull soon appears but is no longer deceived by Amalthea's false human form and chases after her. In an attempt to assist her escape, Schmendrick turns Amalthea back into the Unicorn, but she is unwilling to leave Lír's side. The Bull drives her toward the ocean, just as he earlier drove all the other unicorns, but she manages to run away, and the bull gives chase. Lír gets between them and blocks the bull's path, but the bull does not stop and Lír is killed.

Out of grief, the Unicorn aggressively turns on the Red Bull and forces him into the sea. Carried on the white surf of incoming tides, the other unicorns emerge en masse from the water, causing Haggard's castle to collapse into the sea as they rush past, with Haggard falling to his death from the crumbling castle parapet, and ultimately joining the Bull in the sea. His last words were proclaiming that he knew Amalthea was the last.

Personality[]

They are nothing to me; I have known them all, and they have not made me happy. I will keep nothing near me that does not make me happy!
~ King Haggard explaining his distaste for merry-making to Schmendrick and Molly

King Haggard is a very destructive and tyrannical ruler who shows many signs of Anhedonia. Things that bring joy to most people have bring him not even a little happiness. He has tried, in the past, to find joy in other things, including his adoption of Lir, but all his efforts, even his effort to take pleasure in evil itself, soon die. His depression extends to his entire household - he sees no value in light, warmth, music, companionship, or good food, and lives more like a hermit than a king. The only thing that lifted his spirits was seeing the beauty of the unicorns and he selfishly wanted them all to himself. Even THIS pleasure was so foreign to him that the first time he felt it, he was certain he must be dying.

Because of his inability to feel joy, he also places little value on other humans, believing them to be expendable unless he can find any use for them. He warns Schmendrick and Molly that "What I forget not only ceases to exist, it never existed in the first place.". He has stated that he would do without his four sentries if possible. He presumably allows Lir to stay with him only to be his successor, since he stated that he stopped loving him before he was six years old.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • His name comes from the word "haggard", which means looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, and/or suffering.
  • When Haggard fights Schmendrick, the handle of his sword is shown to be curved. Count Dooku from the Star Wars series has a lightsaber with a curved handle, and he is also portrayed by the late Christopher Lee, who also played King Haggard. Whether this is a coincidence or an intentional reference to The Last Unicorn is unknown.
  • Being multilingual, Christopher Lee voiced Haggard in both the English and German dubbed version of the movie.
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