| “ | With the armies of the brothers fractured, the kingdom collapsed into darkness, and the blight of the Great, Black Mor'du fell across his domain. Desiring power over the bonds of family, Mor'du has wandered endlessly, his soul forever buried inside the scarred and tormented shell. | „ |
| ~ The Witch |
Mor'du is the main antagonist of the 2012 Oscar winning Disney/Pixar movie Brave. He was a monstrous, 11 foot tall black bear with huge claws, a misaligned jaw, and long, sharp teeth, his body covered in scars and broken weapon hilts and arrows.
History
Origins
The Prince before he became the bear Mor'du
Mor'du was once a human prince, the eldest of four brothers, all of them sons of a wise king ruling a peaceful kingdom. As time grew, the eldest prince was known for his strength, which he mistook for character. At the king's deathbed, he announced that he will divide the kingdom among the four sons so that they can rule together peacefully. However, the eldest prince refuses to accept this, believing that he alone should rule the kingdom. His selfishness destroyed the bond with his brothers, which resulted a war within them and their armies. As the battle remained a bitter stalemate, the eldest prince cursed his fate and went through the woods, where he finds a witch's cottage. The eldest prince convinces the witch to give him a spell that will grant him the 'strength of ten men', paying her with the ring of his house, which bears two crossed axes. After the witch formulates the spell and puts in a goblet, she warns him of making a choice: either he fulfill his dark desire or mend the broken bonds with his brothers.
Taking no notice of this, the prince takes the spell and lured his three younger brothers back to their father's throneroom under the pretense of a false truce. After they refused to surrender, the eldest prince drank the spell, which grant him the strength of ten men, but to his surprise, in the form of a great black bear. Though the eldest prince would've taken the chance to mend his family bond torn by his pride, he instead accepts his new form and killed his brothers in cold-blood. Triumphant, he returned to command his army, but they only see him as a monster and fought against him. As a result, the eldest prince, now coming by the name Mor'du, slaughter many of his former soldiers while a few fled, and the fracturing of the armies led to the kingdom's collapse. As such, Mor'du's quest for power failed and he lost all his humanity as his human mind was forever clouded by the monster he had become.
Brave
Mor'du appears three times in the film, though his existence is often remarked on (though none know of his origin as a prince). He first appears at the beginning when King Fergus and Queen Elinor, with their child Merida are on a hunting trip. When Merida fires an arrow off into the woods and goes to find it, the wisps appear and try to lead her with them. From the undergrowth, it's suggested that Mor'du is watching her. When Merida finds herself back at the camp, her mother begins taking her away, but Mor'du attacks and Fergus with his household guard rushes to defend his wife and child. Though they give the princess and the queen time to escape on horseback, Mor'du shows no fear nor vulnerability to them, even biting the head off a spear when Fergus tries to stab him. As Fergus draws his sword and goads the bear to attack, Mor'du strikes, cutting to black. Later, it is revealed that the sword shattered when Fergus struck the bear and his leg was eaten, giving him a great hatred of the monster.
When Merida shows her upset at having to marry one of the three lords' sons as her duty to the family, Queen Elinor tells Merida the story of four princes (one of which was Mor'du) who were to have the kingdom split for each, Mor'du plunged the kingdom into chaos by wanting to rule over them and be the best of them, suggesting that he waged war against his brothers. When Merida goes to the witch's hut, the Witch takes the medallion of clan Dunbroch as payment and says that a Prince came to her and asked for the strength of ten men. When Merida asks if this changed his fate, the witch confirms it, showing Merida his clans ring, the crossed axes.
Later, Merida and her mother (now turned into a bear) follow a trail of wisps to a foggy ruin, bearing the crossed axes of Mor'du's family. Merida explores, falling after walking on an unsteady piece of rubble. Inside, she finds a throne room very similar to her own family's and a shattered stone carving of four brother, one of the brothers broken from the others. She slowly realizes that the Prince who asked for the strength of ten men indeed had his fate changed, and that man became Mor'du. Mor'du appears, stalking Merida from the shadows and he charges. Merida fires an arrow straight at his head, but the arrow does no damage whatsoever. Merida hurriedly tries to crawl up through the ruins and reach her mother's paw, with the gigantic bear trying to devour her. At the last second, she leaps and just manages to grab her mother's paw in time as Mor'du snarls and snaps after her. Merida and her mother run as fast as they can away, running to the great standing stones and bashing into them a bit harder, making a hairline crack along one of the great menhirs.
Merida realizes she must mend the bond torn by pride (as the Witch said), fixing a tapestry her mother had made of Merida and the family, thereby breaking the spell. However, her mother is attacked by King Fergus and chased to the ring of stones. As Merida rushes to save her mother and change her back, Mor'du stands from the shadows, following her. Mor'du attacks and her father and the lords fight against the bear, but fail. When Merida herself becomes endangered by Mor'du, Queen Elinor attacks, using her claws and teeth to defend her daughter, but Mor'du, proving much older and more dangerous, beats her down with his vast strength. Elinor, seeing the stone they damaged earlier, smashes Mor'du against the stone and damages it more, but is struck down. As Mor'du stalks towards Merida and her injured mother, the stone falls, crushing him.
The bears claws protrude from under the stone, but his death frees the Prince's spirit, who nods thankfully to Merida and her mother before he takes the form of a wisp and disappears.
Physical Abilities
Mor'du is the strongest character in the film, he is immensely strong, his strength is described in the whole film as "Strength of Ten Men" but he is shown to be far stronger than that, he defeated an entire army all by himself, slaughtered anyone who is on his way, he easily breaks through stone and can easily toss another bear that is almost as big as him.
Gallery
Trivia
- Mor'du's name may come from "mortus", the Latin word for "death." It may have also come from "murh deugh", the Gaelic words for "Great Black."
- Mor'du is the fourth main Pixar movie villain to actually die at the end of his film, after Hopper the main antagonist of A Bug's Life, Syndrome the main antagonist of The Incredibles, and Charles Muntz the main antagonist of Up
- Mor'du bears some resemblance to the bear that attacked Amos Slade and Copper at the end of The Fox and the Hound, which likely served as an inspiration. It also bears resemblance to the grizzly bear from Balto.
- Mor'du is very similar to the white whale, Moby Dick, as they...
- are both animals that are considered evil by everyone who have encountered them.
- have several weapons sticking out from their bodies from past battles.
- took the leg of a man, making them their greatest nemesis.
- Mor'du is the first main Pixar movie villain who never says a word.
- He is the second main Pixar movie villain to be a bear, after Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear the main antagonist of Toy Story 3.
- Mor'du is the fourth main Pixar movie villain to be a complete monster after Hopper, Syndrome, and Lotso.
- The only difference is that he reformed, while they didn't
- Mor'du, after he became a monster, was possibly immortal or maybe had longevity, as the kingdom he came from was lost from memory.
- Mor'du is not a werebear, a werebeast creature that can transform into a bear which is also least popular in some Norse mythology. For Mor'du to be a werebear, he would be able to resume human form, but he was cursed forever to live as a monster.
- Mor'du's story may also be based on Prince Bjorn from a Norse folktake, a prince who was turned into a bear by his wicked stepmother & was killed by his father, without knowing.
- Mor'du has similarities to these historical villains:
- Just as Emperor Nero did, he murdered members of his own family to seize power over the throne and his selfishness and lust for power caused his kingdom to fall into ruin.
- Mor'du's reign of terror is also like the Cambodian dictator Pol Pot because he refused to take responsibility for the lives and traditions of his people, murdered millions of innocent citizens without remorse, and allowed his homeland to fall into decay.
- Mor'du is the complete opposite of Merida while at the same time similar to her because:
- Both of them clashed with their families, but because...
- Merida feels restricted by palace life and wants to be free.
- Mor'du wanted to rule the kingdom for himself because of his being heir to the throne.
- Both caused great rifts in their kingdoms.
- Merida refused to marry any of the princes brought to her, and thus risked a war that would destroy all their kingdoms.
- Mor'du wanted the whole kingdom to himself and plunged it into civil war.
- Both of them damaged an item that symbolized the bonds of their family:
- Merida threw a tantrum and slashed the family tapestry (right between her and her mother) in a fit of anger during a fight with her mother, though she later fixed it.
- Mor'du, on the other hand, destroyed a stone carving that symbolized the bond between him and his brothers (between him and them).
- Both had three younger brothers. However...
- Merida loved her brothers, no matter how annoying they could be.
- Mor'du despised his brothers for having to share his kingdom with them.
- Both accepted a spell that transformed people into bears from a witch without knowing its true purpose.
- Mor'du consumed the spell himself to gain the strength of ten men to defeat his brothers.
- Merida gave it to her mother so she can "change", and her brothers eventually ate the spell as well, turning into cubs.
- Both had a parent they disagreed with.
- Merida's mother persisted that she always act lady-like and be married to someone she didn't love, which she protested against.
- Mor'du's father divided the rule among the brothers upon his death, but he believed he should be the sole heir to the throne.
- Both had to learn the hard way that there were huge consequences to what they did out of their own selfish needs, however...
- Merida managed to learn from her actions throughout the entire movie by showing her mother that she cared by saving her life and sincerely admitting she was wrong, with her mother also learning to allow her daughter to make her own decisions in life as long as she was responsible for her actions; thus mending the bond torn by pride.
- Mor'du, on the other hand, refused to take responsibility for his actions, and instead of realizing his mistake and mending the bond torn by pride, he allowed his arrogance and selfishness to consume him, accepted his new, monstrous form and killed his family without remorse, thus destroying his kingdom and leaving himself as nothing more a rabid bear, forced to roam the land, killing anything that he comes across until finally meeting his end.
- Both of them clashed with their families, but because...
- It is said in the song of "Mor'du" that he has devoured dozens, including babies. Whether or not this is actually true is unknown.
- It should be noted that Mor'du seemingly had a dangerous obsession with killing Merida specifically, as in every scene he was in, she was always the main target, but no one knows why.