| “ | Thaddeus:Well, well... Look who it is. Rufus: We should've eaten him the first time we met him. Thaddeus: But, Rufus, if we had eaten him, he would never have led us here. We've been meaning to thank you. Now, be a good little donkey and run along. You've served your purpose. |
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| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus confronting Bo in Bethlehem. |
Thaddeus and Rufus are the secondary antagonists of the 2017 animated film The Star. They were the Hunter's former pet dogs who used to work for King Herod.
Thaddeus was voiced by Ving Rhames, who also portrayed Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, Nathan "Diamond Dogs" Jones in Con Air, James Allen in Animal and Buffalo Belzer in Wendell & Wild, and Rufus was voiced by Gabriel Iglesias, who previously voiced Ned and Zed in Disney's Planes.
Personality[]
Being loyal to the Hunter, Thaddeus is intelligent, ruthless and very serious, compared to Rufus, who isn't exactly bright and think mostly about eating, but just as mean. The duo have no qualms about viciously bullying other animals for fun or using bullying to get their way, even if getting their way means hunting down an innocent woman and her unborn child to murder them.
However, they turned over a new leaf after realizing that the Hunter never cared for them and and their lives were saved by their own enemies, despite everything they've done. After regretting their past actions, Rufus became friendly, while Thaddeus became kinder and wiser.
Biography[]
Thaddeus and Rufus first appeared when the three wisemen arrive at Herod's palace and they scare the wisemen' camels Felix, Cyrus and Deborah. When the wisemen tell Herod about the new king, Herod feels threatened and send the Hunter to kill the newborn at all costs. To that end, Thaddeus and Rufus tortured a jerboa named Abby due to her spreading the story to the animals. Abby confessed that she witnessed a girl named Mary being greet by several angels, who foretold of her being the mother of the new Son of God.
The Hunter and the dogs then surveyed around Nazareth to find Mary, eventually tracking down her house. However, they soon learn that she left with her husband Joseph and that a donkey named Bo and a dove named Dave are currently staying in the place. Dave tries to distract the dogs with dancing, but Thaddeus discovers Bo trying to escape. They intimidate Bo into telling them after he says Mary's name, but the soldier lifts him and the dogs sniff the bandage on his leg to catch the scent. They then let Bo and David go, in hopes that they would lead them and the Hunter to Mary and Joseph.
As Bo helps Mary and Joseph reach Bethlehem to prepare for the child's birth in a manger, Thaddeus and Rufus arrived to the scene, telling Bo to leave as they want to kill the newborn baby. However, Bo refuses to leave and gives Rufus a hoof on the head, and Thaddeus tries to attack, but the chain that he's connected to prevents him from doing so. However, the Hunter arrives to the scene, allowing Thaddeus to pin down Bo.
Before the Hunter can accomplish his goal to kill the newborn child, Felix, Cyrus and Deborah bring in a flock of sheep to attack the Hunter and the dogs, sending them on the edge of a cliff. Hanging for dear life, Thaddeus and Rufus begged for the Hunter to save them, but the Hunter shows no compassion as he prepares to drop them to save his own skin. Fortunately, Bo saves Thaddeus and Rufus while the cliff breaks some more, sending the Hunter to fall to his death.
After being reeled back to safety and being freed from their chain, Thaddeus and Rufus start to regret their actions, seeing now that the Hunter was only using them. Fortunately, Bo convinces them to forget about it as they are free now and can change for the better. Thaddeus and Rufus would later witness the birth of Jesus despite the animals' initial skepticism about their intentions although Bo convinces his friends that there is nothing to fear about them. Touched by seeing the baby, Thaddeus suggests that he and Rufus should try to become nice.
During the credits, Thaddeus and Rufus are shown betraying, rejecting, and arresting King Herod as punishment for his crimes after their rehabilitation.
Quotes[]
| “ | Thaddeus: Hold it right there, camels. Rufus: I bet they can play that game we made up. Thaddeus: That was fun. What was it called again? Rufus: "How High." Thaddeus: On three. One, two... Three! [Barking threateningly, and the camels pile up in fear and then fall] How high? Rufus: Camel high. |
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| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus bullies the camels. |
| “ | Rufus: Nice story, rat. Here's how it ends. The end. [Swallow Abby] Thaddeus:Rufus, spit it out. We need that rat to talk. Abby: I am not a rat. l'm a pygmy jerboa. Rufus: What's a jerboa? Abby: It is in the rodent family but an entirely different species.[Be swallowed by Rufus again] Thaddeus: Rufus, enough. Spit it out. Rufus: l was just starting to get a little bit of the flavor. [Spit Abby] Thaddeus: You've been telling this story to every critter in Galilee. Now it's our turn to hear it. From the beginning. Abby: From the beginning? Okay. Well... l was born in a sack of barley somewhere in Capernaum. Rufus: Skip to the end! Who's the woman? Abby: Her name is Mary. She lives in Nazareth. But, please, don't hurt her. She's really nice. Thaddeus: Don't worry. We're harmless. |
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| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus interrogates Abby about the location of Mary to better find the newborn. |
| “ | Thaddeus: Where's your owner? Rufus: Yeah! Where's your owner? Bo: Who, the miller? I don't know a miller. My owner's a nice pregnant lady. You would love her. Rufus: That's her. Thaddeus: Where is she? |
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| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus interrogate Bo. |
| “ | Thaddeus: He didn't bandage himself. Rufus: That's her scent. Now we just gotta figure out which way she went. Thaddeus: [To Bo] We'll tell her you said hello. |
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| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus find Mary's scent on Bo and begin to hunt her down. |
| “ | Thaddeus: He'll lead us right to her. Rufus: And then what? Thaddeus: Then we find the baby. Rufus: Oh. That baby messed with the wrong dogs. Nothing scares us. Not even a baby. Right, partner? Thaddeus: Just stop. Rufus: Thaddeus, do you think I'm bad at being bad? |
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| ~ Thaddeus at the idea of following Bo to reach Mary, while being exasperated by Rufus' lack of seriousness. |
| “ | Bo: You guys are... You guys are pretty scary, yeah. And you might be stronger than I am. But if you wanna get to my friends, you're gonna have to get past me first. Rufus: No problem, donkey! "Getting past you" is my middle name! [Rufus charges toward Bo] Bo: What is that? Rufus: What's what?! [Rufus realizes he's been distracted] I wasn't supposed to look, was I? Bo: Donkey kick! [Bo kicks Rufus in the face, sending him waltzed] Thaddeus: You just made a big mistake. [Thaddeus charges toward Bo, but is stuck to Rufus, who was knocked unconscious, and tries to attack] You're mine! |
„ |
| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus attacking Bo when he gets in their way again. |
| “ | Rufus: Look at him. Thaddeus, are we good dogs now? Thaddeus: We have to try. |
„ |
| ~ Thaddeus and Rufus's redemption. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Thaddeus is a purebred wolf. The wolf is generally a wild animal living in packs but it is not impossible to tame it.
- Rufus is most likely an Alaunt, an extinct dog breed that resembled a mastiff, but with a somewhat longer face.
- Surprisingly, despite being the secondary antagonists, they both had more time on the screen than the Hunter.