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| “ | Bodyguard dog! Not pet! | „ |
| ~ Major-Domo yelling at Atari to Spots. |
Major-Domo is the main antagonist of Wes Anderson's 2018 stop-motion film Isle of Dogs. He is the manipulative right hand servant to Mayor Kobayashi and wants to exterminate dogs even more than he does.
He was voiced by Akira Takayama.
Biography[]
Through most of the film, Major-Domo takes second importance to Mayor Kobayashi, with Major-Domo only appearing alongside his boss. He was driven to villainy as Watanabe finally develops a successful serum and shows the results to Kobayashi, who dismisses the results and refuses to lift the dog ban, as the professor objects to this, only to be put under house arrest and killed by a piece of poisoned sushi by orders of Major-Domo himself. His role in the film becomes more villainous in its climax, where while Kobayashi has a change of heart, Major-Domo becomes enraged, yelling at Kobayashi for breaking his campaign promise, betraying Kobayashi and tries to kill him with a robotic dog and initiate the extermination of the dog race himself by force.
Major-Domo furious at Kobayashi for not following through his plan.
Major-Domo seen on television confronting Kobayashi.
Major-Domo's villainous breakdown.
Mayor Kobayashi failed to stop Major-Domo as he successfully presses the button, now completely uncaring that it would also result in the countless deaths of the Megasaki citizens who are now in the way. However, this would prove to be Major-Domo's ultimate downfall, as by the time the signal reaches the extermination electronics (via the signal demultiplexer), they are hacked, (the poison backfires and is unleashed on the captors, the robotic dogs return to normal, and the drones start going haywire) which in turn causes the latter to malfunction and fail, as Major-Domo watches in shock and disbelief, meaning that his extermination goal has failed.
This was thanks to an activist friend of Tracy Walker (who was in the process of being sent back to Cincinnati, Ohio), thus allowing the dogs to escape Trash Island. As a result of his failure to exterminate the dog race, Major-Domo has been put under arrest by Megasaki police and sent to prison for his crimes along with Kobayashi's propagandists and co-conspirators, meaning that he won't be allowed into society until he is sent to death row during his prison duration, while Atari becomes the new mayor of Megasaki due to a legal statute in Kobayashi's stead, and has all dogs reintegrated into society and cured of the dog flu at the end of the film.
According to the new mayor Atari who decreed the dogs' reintegration into society (which is also broadcast), Major-Domo and Kobayashi's propagandists and co-conspirators is paying fines of no less ¥250,000 (which is approximately $2,500 USD), and doing under thirty days of community service. It is unknown what happened to him after the film, but besides "abusing, murdering, beating, or yelling at any dog", it is presumed that Major-Domo was tried in a court of law, before being sent to prison and sent to death row, where he would be executed by hanging under both Megasaki's new rules and the Japanese penal code.
Personality[]
Major-Domo is a cruel, horrible, traitorous, selfish, and to a lesser extent, genocidal man. While this is not readily apparent, he has been using Kobayashi as a puppet and has actively engaged in much of the conspiracies going on throughout the movie. He has a heart of stone incapable of redemption, is completely uncaring and is willing to seriously harm anyone who gets in his way to achieve his extermination goal (which already failed thanks to the extermination electronics getting sabotaged and hacked by Tracy's activist group), shown when he started a fight with Kobayashi over the button that would have exterminated the dog race, and even going against Kobayashi's wishes. Major-Domo is not only a cruel and ruthless person, but also a treacherous, deceitful, malevolent, despicable and ignominious criminal.
Overall, it is unlikely that Major-Domo would ever redeem himself and repent for his crimes, as he seems to be driven by a twisted sense of loyalty and duty to the mayor’s family legacy, which he believes requires the extermination of all dogs. He also seems to enjoy being in a position of power and influence, and he does not care about the suffering of others. He is a cold-hearted, egotistical, power-hungry and fanatical villain who does not show any signs of empathy or compassion. He also does not hesitate to use violence and deception to achieve his goals (using his army of robotic dogs, drones and men with hazmat suits armed with wasabi poison).
Appearance[]
His vile appearance could be considered a hint to his true nature: a vile, pale looking thing, hardly resembling a human in everything but basic shape. His head is long and rectangular, his lips are chipped and black, his teeth are crooked and yellowed, and his skin is that of a ghostly pure white. This is of a major contrast to the Mayor, who has a completely normal appearance.
Quotes[]
| “ | Interpreter Nelson: Major-Domo's accusing the mayor of breaking his campaign promise. He's steaming mad! (Major-Domo starts going crazy and yelling at Kobayashi in untranslated Japanese.) *gasps* It's gonna be a fight! | „ |
| ~ Interpreter Nelson revealing Major-Domo's true nature in a news broadcast to the Megasaki citizens: yelling at Mayor Kobayashi for breaking his campaign promise, which also reveals to be his betrayal to Kobayashi, which leads to him and Kobayashi fighting over the extermination button. |
Trivia[]
- Unlike Mayor Kobayashi, who fully redeems himself, Major-Domo crosses the Moral Event Horizon by forcibly initiating the extermination of the dog race.
- Major-Domo's name is a word play of "mayordomo" which is Spanish for butler, which is his profession.