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| “ | The man who controls this, controls the world. | „ |
| ~ Thaddeus Valentine's most famous line. |
| “ | Is this what you want? You want to die? Come on then, let's finish it! | „ |
| ~ Valentine moments before his death. |
Thaddeus Valentine is the main antagonist of the 2001 science fantasy novel Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and its 2018 film adaptation of the same name.
He is the Head of the Guild of Historians and also Katherine Valentine's father and Tom Natsworthy's former mentor, serving as the latter's father figure, as well as Hester Shaw's arch-nemesis before later being revealed to be her biological father. Appearing in both adaptations of the story as an obsessed leader who aspired to rule everything all over, Thaddeus sought to find a very important book in his quest to completely rule London and all of the world altogether; this involved trying to kill Hester, who takes it upon herself to eliminate Valentine at all costs.
He was portrayed by Hugo Weaving, who also played Agent Smith in The Matrix film series, V in V for Vendetta, Noah the Elder in Happy Feet, Megatron in the Transformers film series, Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, David Melrose in Patrick Melrose and Billy in The Royal Hotel.
Biography[]
In the past, Thaddeus Valentine was the lover of Pandora Shaw, an archaeologist who loved to travel across the world. He was also the father of Pandora's daughter, who was also the film's main protagonist, known as Hester Shaw. Initially portrayed as a caring family man, he reveals his true nature when Pandora discovers ancient technology in a dead continent of America, which leads to him murdering her; when Hester sees Thaddeus' atrocities, he scars her face before she eventually escapes his wrath and obtains a necklace that her mother relinquished to her.
He is first introduced in the film while observing the mobile city of London devouring a small mining town known as Salzhaken (Salthook in the novel). Once said city is devoured, Thaddeus seemingly welcomes the citizens of Salzhaken and promises that they will be given good hospitality. Not only that, he also seems to have a cordial relationship with the apprentice of the Guild of Historians, Tom Natsworthy, and his daughter, Katherine Valentine.
However, one of the Salzhaken citizens, the aforementioned Hester, has the intent to murder Thaddeus, but once she tries stabbing him in the chest (which injures him, but he survives), Tom catches her, and she runs away from the scene and escapes using the chute. Before she escaped, she told Tom that Valentine murdered her mother and scarred her face. Confused, Tom gives the information to Valentine, and while initially accepting the information, he proceeds to push Tom down the chute.
Later, in the final battle, Thaddeus destroyed the ATL airfleet. He was then challenged by Anna Fang. They fought fiercely in one-on-one combat, which ended with Thaddeus mortally stabbing Anna with his knife. In that moment, however, Hester managed to shut down the M.E.D.U.S.A. Machine, much to Valentine's shock. He could only watch in horror to see that Hester had shut it down before Anna urged her to flee. As Hester flees, and Anna dies after tauntingly telling Thaddeus that his plans for world dominion are over—just before she herself falls to her death.
Valentine's death.
Back in London, Thaddeus was confronted by Kathrine, who had just discovered the truth about her father's evil nature. She disowns him before leaving to help the others, while Thaddeus decides to leave her behind and escape. However, he was finally confronted by Hester moments later. By then, Hester was now prepared to kill Thaddeus and avenge her mother's death in the final battle. Dismissing her intent, Thaddeus reveals to Hester that he is her father before they engage in one-on-one combat. Thaddeus initially has the upper hand and prepares to kill Hester, but she ultimately defeats him by slashing his face in the same manner as he did to her.
Thaddeus subsequently dares Hester to kill him so they can both "die together." However, in that moment, Hester decides not to go through with it and instead taunts her father by declaring that "she is going to live," whereas he will not. Thereupon, Tom appears in his ship and helps Hester escape before her father can attack again. Tom then shoots out Thaddeus' ship, which ends up crashing onto the ground and killing all of Thaddeus' remaining men. Thaddeus himself survives, albeit critically injured, and is about to escape when he sees London's tracks charging towards him and his ship. As he just managed to crawl out the ship's Hull, he is instantly crushed to death by his own home. Ironically, London shuts down just after killing Valentine, signifying the end of his reign.
Personality[]
Initially, Thaddeus is portrayed as a charismatic, polite, and jovial man in the first part of the film, to the point that he promises the citizens of the small town that got devoured by London itself a good life in his city. He also seems to have a good relationship with other people, such as his daughter, Katherine, and the apprentice of the Guild of Historians, Tom. He also claims that what he did in the movie was for London's benefit. However, this was all just a ruse.
In reality, Thaddeus is a man who has a huge obsession with the power that he was given, and anyone who defies him will either be left behind or Thaddeus will simply get rid of them with his hands. One example is Tom, whom he has no hesitation in betraying by shoving him down the chute once Tom tells him the information about Hester's dead mother, despite supposedly having a cordial relationship with him in the first part of the movie. Another example is Katherine, whom he abandons as he rams London through the Shield Wall after she disowns him for discovering his true colors, despite their previously developed relationship.
Thaddeus is also the type of person who tries his best to get whatever he wants by using dirty tactics to do so, such as murder and destroying anything in his path. One example of his unfettered nature is that when his wife, Pandora, got one of the pieces of an old technology, he callously murdered her, and when Pandora's child, Hester, saw the atrocities that his father committed, he scarred her face, which resulted in her becoming an assassin that tries to seek vengeance. Another example of his unfettered nature is his willingness to ram London into the "Shield Wall," which would cause more innocent deaths once his plans to fire MEDUSA failed miserably thanks to Hester's quick thinking and, more importantly, directly contradict his hypocritical claims that what he was doing was for London's survival.
Gallery[]
