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| “ | Alert the troops. We attack at dawn. And Diego, bring me that baby alive. If I'm gonna enjoy my revenge, I want it to be fresh! | „ |
| ~ Soto ordering Diego to bring him Roshan when his pack attacks the tribe at dawn. |
Soto is the main antagonist of Blue Sky Studios' 1st full-length animated feature film Ice Age, the first installment of the franchise of the same name.
He is the deadly, ferocious and dangerous leader of his pack of Smilodons that was made up of Zeke, Oscar, Lenny, and his right-hand assistant Diego. He was infatuated with revenge and planned on taking out a group of Neanderthal tribespeople and eating Roshan, their youngest newborn child, in vengeance for the murders of his fellow pack members done by the hands of the Neanderthals. He is Diego's former mentor and arch-nemesis, and the reason he met and befriended Manfred and Sid, as well as the reason for the Herd's formation.
He was voiced by Croatian-American actor Goran Višnjić, who also played Garcia Flynn in Timeless, Alastair Adana in The Boys and Roland Voight in the 2022 Hellraiser remake.
Personality[]
Soto is a manipulative, ruthless, intimidating, sadistic, cold-hearted, bellicose predator who feels no regret or shame for slaughtering animals of any kind, as well as other members of his pack, being crucified at the hands of the Neanderthals, which started his extreme hatred for them. Driven by rage over the deaths of his fallen comrades (although it can be debated where he genuinely cared for them or simply saw their deaths as a blow to his ego, as he treats his surviving pack members terribly and even threatens to slaughter and cannibalize Diego if he fails to deliver Roshan), he is dedicated to stalking out his victims and striking against them in revenge for those who would wrong him.
Soto seems to show no care or thought for anybody but himself, but he has not been above flying into a rage if his pack fails their tasks. And what's more, he will not hesitate to use destructive force against those who defy him, as shown by his battle with Diego at the climax of the film.
Appearance[]
Soto is a large, muscular, fierce-looking Smilodon with a dark orange pelt and green eyes. He also sports the same features of other Smilodons such as retractable claws, muscular limbs for running, a short tail and most notably, a pair of large razor-sharp canine fangs that he uses for attacking prey.
Biography[]
Not much is known about Soto's origins, but due to his immense strength, he was the leader of a pack of ferocious Smilodons, leading them in hunts for food. After several of his fellow pack members were slaughtered by a tribe of Neanderthals, he was taken over by the temptations of revenge, acting out on a perverted vision of justice, choosing to go after the Neanderthals instead of migrating down south like all the other animals.
Executing the Plan[]
Soto declared that they would kill off and eat the Neanderthals' youngest, a baby named Roshan, as an act of revenge to strike back at the Neanderthals. Soto and his most trusted assistant, Diego, plan an attack on the Neanderthal camp, so that while he and three other sabers would attack the Neanderthals as a distraction, Diego would slip in, stealthily, and take Roshan without being noticed, as a chance to put their plans into motion. Soto then ordered Diego to alert the others to prepare for an attack at dawn.
The Attack[]
The very next morning, Soto and his pack ambushed the camp, taking attention away from the tent in which Roshan was located in, and as planned, Diego took advantage of this and slipped in, undetected, to take Roshan, until the baby's mother, Nadia, hurried in and snatched him up before Diego could do so. Diego catches up to the mother, eventually cornering her at the edge of a cliff overlooking a huge waterfall. Nadia leaps into the raging river several meters below with Roshan before Diego could attack. Thus, the plan failed and the pack is forced to retreat. Soto is angry at Diego's failure, but gives him another chance. He tells the rest of his pack that they will travel to Half Peak and orders Diego to meet them there with the baby, adding that the baby had better be alive or else.
Message[]
| “ | Oscar: Soto's getting tired of waiting. Zeke: Yeah, yeah. He said "come back with the baby... or don't come back at all!" |
„ |
| ~ Oscar and Zeke telling Diego to either return with Roshan or not at all. |
On the way to Half Peak, the pack stopped for the night, and Soto sent out two of his pack members, Oscar and Zeke, to deliver a message to Diego who was accompanied by a woolly mammoth named Manfred and a ground sloth named Sid. The message was to either return with Roshan or to not come back at all. Diego, in response, told them to report to Soto that he'd bring back the baby, along with the mammoth (referring to Manfred). He then told Oscar and Zeke to get everyone else to prepare an ambush for Manfred.
Planning the Ambush[]
After arriving at Half Peak, Soto waited impatiently for Diego's return. Zeke expressed his eagerness to get his claws on the mammoth, only for Soto to shoot him down by saying the mammoth is not to be touched until the baby is delivered to him. Zeke then started reminiscing about mammoth meat, much to Lenny's annoyance. Soto reprimanded Lenny when he was about to angrily strike Zeke, ordering Lenny to save his energy as mammoths don't go down easily. Soto then reveals his true intentions on how to take down the mammoth, using Lenny as a stand in; first, the sabers would force the animal into a corner and have it completely surrounded before Soto delivered the final blow by lunging at the throat.
Battle[]
After approaching Half Peak with Manfred, Sid and Roshan, Diego once again rejoined with his pack and reunites with Soto, who was growing anxious about Diego, but expressed his approval at Diego's efforts. Unbeknownst to Soto, however, Diego had joined forces with Manfred and Sid, in his own plan to protect and save Roshan so they can escape unharmed. He had already admitted to his initial plans, and the three of them had come up with an alternative plan to overcome Soto and the other sabers.
The pack had lain in wait at Soto's orders, as they were ordered not to move until they spotted the mammoth. Sid came into view first, carrying a bundle which the pack presumed to be Roshan. Diego, who was trying to sabotage the attack, convinced an anxious Zeke to jump out of hiding prematurely, essentially blowing the group's cover. Enraged by the group's disobedience, Soto ragefully pursues them, which caught Sid's attention. Sid, however, was aware it would happen and sped away with the bundle in his paws on a pair of skis fashioned from two large pieces of bark, to be chased by Soto and the others until he lost his footing, fell, and dropped the bundle of clothing, at which an anticipant Soto pawed, only to find that it was a decoy made of snow. Soto angrily ordered his minions to chase Sid instead. Lenny, Zeke, and Oscar chased the sloth, only to get ambushed by Manfred, who clobbered them with a log.
Soto then found Diego and Manfred and invited Diego to help bring the mammoth down, only to find out about Diego's betrayal. Enraged, Soto battles Diego, while Lenny and Oscar fight Manfred. The fight between the two was evenly matched until Soto threw Diego into a boulder, knocking him unconscious. With Diego out of the way, Soto turns his attention over to Manfred and moves in for the kill.
Last Stand[]
Soto prepares to lunge at Manfred and deliver the killing blow, but Diego regains consciousness and leaps between them to protect Manfred, preventing Soto from harming his friend. Without any second thought or regrets, Soto strikes down and slashes Diego, severely wounding him. Just as Soto has Diego at his mercy and prepares to kill his former assistant for his betrayal, he suddenly stops upon hearing Roshan's cries and notices Sid holding the baby. Smiling sadistically, he closes in on the two to have his revenge. However, this only lets Soto's guard down long enough for Manfred to knock the ruthless sabertooth aside with his tusks and fling him into a stone wall, the impact causing several razor-sharp icicles to come loose, fall from the top of the wall and land on Soto, impaling and instantly killing him. After Soto's death, the rest of his pack, now leaderless, flee after Manfred scares them away by fiercely growling at them.
It is unknown if Runar and the Neanderthal tribe had killed the rest of his pack or sent them far away for attempting to kill them, never to return to their campsite.
Legacy[]
In Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Diego begins to have a different relationship with his current pack due to Manny's new fatherhood, as it gives him the need to find a new group like his kind, remembering how he used to be part of Soto and his pack.
In Ice Age: Continental Drift, Diego, in an attempt to convince Shira to abandon Gutt and his crew, mentions that he had to leave his old pack after finding a new one that took him in as a member of his family (in reference to him choosing the pack of Sub-Zero Heroes over the cruel saber-tooth cats and their oppressive leader, Soto).
In Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Soto appears as a cave painting at the beginning of the story and is portrayed as confronting Diego for wanting to kill Roshan and Manny.
Other Media[]
Soto appears as the final boss in the Ice Age Game Boy Advance video game adaptation. In the battle, Soto will run from left to right and Manny will have to push himself into one of the two geysers to catch a walnut and throw it at him, this action must be repeated ten times in a row.
Quotes[]
| “ | Soto: Look at that beautiful baby, Diego. Isn't it nice that he'll be joining us for breakfast? Diego: It wouldn't be breakfast without him. Soto: Especially since his Daddy wiped out half our pack, and wears our skin to keep warm. An eye for an eye, don't you think? Diego: Let's show that human what happens when he messes with sabers. |
„ |
| ~ Soto and Diego planning to attack the Neanderthals at their camp. |
| “ | Soto: Where's the baby? Diego: I lost it over the falls. Soto: YOU LOST IT?! (the Neanderthals throw spears at the pack, forcing them to flee) I want that baby, Diego! Diego: I'll get it! Soto: You'd better! Unless you wanna serve yourself as a replacement. We'll go up to Half Peak. Meet us there. It'd better be alive! |
„ |
| ~ Soto ordering Diego to meet him and the others at Half Peak and bring Roshan alive with him there. |
| “ | Soto: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Diego: Leave... the mammoth... alone. Soto: Fine. I'll take you down first. |
„ |
| ~ Soto's last words. |
Audio Sample[]
Trivia[]
- Soto and Gutt are the only villains in the Ice Age franchise to be betrayed by their right-hand minions, Diego to Soto and Shira to Gutt. Both traitors then became anti-heroes in the next films, and also Sabretooths, interestingly.
- Before both of their deaths, they get thrown by Manny. Manny tossed Soto to the wall where the icicles impaled him to death while Manny hits Gutt with a stick where he lands into the sea where he gets eaten alive by the sirens. Ironically, Manny and his friends almost suffered from those fates earlier in both movies, though the villains had nothing to do with it.
- Despite their little interaction, Soto is considered a dark parallel to Manfred. Both of them lost the ones they cared about to Neanderthals, Manfred's wife and child and Soto's pack. However, Manfred handled this by turning into a loner who avoided interaction with others, and was willing to leave Roshan with Sid, while Soto set out for revenge against the Neanderthals by killing Roshan. Manfred had also begrudgingly helped Sid and Diego return Roshan, and even developed a bond with them all, while Soto ordered Diego to capture Roshan alone, and he threatened his pack if they had not succeeded. If Manfred had let his hatred got the better of him, he would've ended up like Soto.
- In the Game Boy Advance game, he has black stripes, which was based on his old discarded design.
- Soto has the distinction of being the first Blue Sky Studios' main antagonist.
External Links[]
- Soto on the Ice Age Wiki
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 Villains
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Soto's Pack Dinosaur World Gutt's Pirate Crew Others | ||