The Man on the Flying Trapeze

Evil-doer
Full Name	Jules Léotard
Alias	The Man on the Flying Trapeze
Origin	Popeye the Sailor Man
Occupation	Trapeze Artist
Powers / Skills	Acrobatics
Goals	Entertain the Masses
Crimes	Kidnapping Abuse
Type of Villain	Abusive Love Rival

“	He floats through the air with the greatest of ease. The daring young man on the flying trapeze. His movements are graceful. All the girls, he could please and my love, he has taken away.	„
	~ The Man on the Flying Trapeze's theme song

Jules Léotard (AKA "The Man on the Flying Trapeze") is a one-time villain from the Fleischer Studios cartoon, Popeye the Sailor Man, only appearing in the episode "The Man on the Flying Trapeze". He is an acrobatic trapeze artist, who stole Olive away from Popeye.

Biography

In "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", Popeye went to The Oyl House to see his sweetheart but instead of being greeted by the warm and lovely face of Olive, he was instead graced with the presence of her mother, who sadly (albeit musically) informed him that Olive had left him for another man; a famous acrobat known as The Man on the Flying Trapeze.

Forlorn about the loss of his lover, Popeye begrudgingly went to the circus to watch his newfound rival perform his first high-wire stunt with his stolen lover. When we went there, Olive made it clear that she didn't leave with The Man on the Flying Trapeze by choice. Rather, she was kidnapped and was now being forced into his silly, showstopping act against her will.

During their performance, The Man on the Flying Trapeze grabbed Olive between his legs and flung her to and fro, while choking her thin, spindly neck, much to the visible annoyance of Popeye. The Man on the Flying Trapeze threw Olive into a bar and while Olive clung onto the strings for safety, The Man on the Flying Trapeze lept up and grabbed onto her body, swinging across the circus, using her as a bar. Lastly, The Man on the Flying Trapeze chomped into Olive's hair with his teeth and spun her around in circles, twisting her into a human pretzel. The Man on the Flying Trapeze dropped her and Olive bit into his nose, allowing herself to get swung around once again, just as planned to help finish The Man on the Flying Trapeze's sinister stunt.

Finally, Popeye had had enough of the torment, so he climbed up onto the tightropes and took matters into his own hands. Popeye jumped up onto the swings and got into a tug-of-war with The Man on the Flying Trapeze, stretching Olive out like a rubber band. Saving herself, Olive slipped free and grabbed into some rings, while The Man on the Flying Trapeze gave Popeye a good punch in the face, knocking him onto a nearby swing.

Popeye ate some spinach and got the power to have a high-wire fight with The Man on the Flying Trapeze. Popeye kicked his butt from swing to swing until he got him to stand on another platform. Popeye stood face to face with him and The Man on the Flying Trapeze gave Popeye one last punch, sending Popeye falling back. Celebrating victory, The Man on the Flying Trapeze chuckled triumphantly, until Popeye swing back like a punching bag and gave The Man on the Flying Trapeze a punch of his own. This punch was strong enough to send The Man on the Flying Trapeze into the ceiling, where he slammed into the roof and punched into the shape a chandelier, spelling defeat for the antagonistic acrobat.

Popeye leapt down to the floor and called Olive down with him. Olive jumped down into his arms but Popeye got distracted by a trio of nearby kids, who applauded his heroism. This led to Olive crash landing onto the ground, knocking her unconscious. Popeye held her limp and lame body in his hand after it bounced off the ground and straight to him and sang his iconic theme song, officially ending the career of The Man on the Flying Trapeze.

Trivia

• The Man on the Flying Trapeze was originally a character from an 1867 song, originally titled "The Flying Trapeze". In 1934, this song was adapted into an animated Popeye cartoon, explaining the musical element of this character's episode.
  • Ever since the song was originally written, "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", though never named, was in reference to famous 1800's trapeze artist, Jules Léotard.