King Frederic is a supporting character in Disney's 2010 animated feature film, Tangled. He is the father of Rapunzel, the husband of Queen Arianna, and the king of Corona.
Background[]
Personality[]
In the original film, King Frederic was said to be a beloved ruler alongside Queen Arianna and was also shown to be devoted to his family. When Rapunzel was kidnapped by the wicked Mother Gothel, he was devastated, and remained as such for the following years. The moment his daughter was returned, however, King Frederic embraced his restored family and, as seen in Tangled: Before Ever After, vowed to never let anything happen to them again, especially Rapunzel.
Gothel's actions drove Frederic to an understandably paranoid state of mind. Despite his overwhelming joy toward Rapunzel's return, he was admittedly unable to separate "the father from the king", therefore creating laws, rules and restrictions that limited Rapunzel's freedom in hopes of preventing another catastrophe similar to his daughter's kidnapping at the hands of Gothel. This creates tension between Frederic and Rapunzel, but despite his firm attitude on the matter, Frederic tries his best to make Rapunzel feel happy and content with her new life. However, his constant need to keep secrets and lack of trust in his daughter only further pushes the two of them apart. Because of this, Frederic had been compared to Gothel by both Rapunzel and Eugene.
Despite his firmness, Frederic is a kind and noble ruler at his core. He cares a great deal for Corona and its people and shows a great deal of compassion and respect to his subjects. Frederic does not take kindness and loyalty for granted; as mentioned in "Queen for a Day", Frederic was able to recognize the goodness in former rogues such as Flynn Rider and the Pub Thugs, and in turn provided them with opportunities to change their lives for the better, despite the borderline negative reception such an act received from his staff and subjects. While his actions can be dubious, Frederic is well-intentioned. He was nevertheless able to recognize the selfish nature of his decisions, and how they were causing a great deal of harm for both his family and his people. As such, he forced himself to confront his inner demons and change for the better. The result was a reformed relationship between his family and subjects, one built on trust. He also, apparently, has a soft spot for children, as he does not choose to have two little girls arrested after they're caught stealing.
Appearances[]
Tangled[]
Father to Rapunzel and husband to Queen Arianna, Frederic is the ruler of Corona. He became King of Corona when married Queen Arianna, who was born into the royal family of Corona. He is first seen by his wife's sickbed while she is heavily pregnant with their daughter and lighting the lantern with Arianna later on after Rapunzel's birth. After Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel, every year on Rapunzel's birthday, Frederic and Arianna release a lantern festival for their daughter, in the hope that one day she may return. He is seen releasing the lantern again, the night Rapunzel arrives with Flynn Rider to watch the lanterns float. Frederic mourns silently while preparing for the launch of the first lantern, and Arianna comforts him. These scenes show that he and Arianna have a close and loving relationship and that they still grieve for their lost daughter. Frederic returns to the scene towards the end when Rapunzel returns to reunite with him and Arianna. He is then seen again smiling and hugging Rapunzel and Arianna. Although Frederic, like Arianna and many other minors and supporting characters, does not speak, he has vivid and lively facial emotions and body language that loudly and clearly express his thoughts and ideas.
Tangled Ever After[]
In the short film, Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding day has finally arrived. Frederic is obviously present the day of and walks Rapunzel down the aisle. After escorting his daughter to the altar, he sat down to join his wife in watching the ceremony as the priest officiated the wedding vows. Upon asking Maximus and Pascal for the rings, everyone, Frederic included, were shocked to see the two animals covered in tar, and stared awkwardly as they held up the rings to the happy couple. After exchanging rings, the priest officially declared Rapunzel and Eugene married. Frederic hugged his wife while the rest of the audience cheered.
Tangled: Before Ever After[]
King Frederic in Tangled: Before Ever After.
Taking place half a year after the ending of Tangled and several years before the events of Tangled: Ever After, Frederic is overjoyed to have Rapunzel in the sanctity of the castle once more. As her coronation draws near, Frederic reminds his daughter that the duties of a princess are important for both the kingdom and their family, despite how time-consuming they can be. Rapunzel asks for some downtime, but Frederic believes it would be unnecessary, and that Rapunzel simply needs some time to settle into the lifestyle. Additionally, in preparation for the coronation, Frederic has upped the security in Corona, including a wall blocking the kingdom from the rest of the world. This wall and her father's overbearing nature as a whole has Rapunzel feeling trapped and confined. With the help of her handmaiden Cassandra, Rapunzel crosses Corona's wall and journeys into the world surrounding it overnight. During the outing, she finds mysterious rocks that cause her magic golden hair to return.
Back at the castle, Frederic and Arianna talk over the former's paranoia, and this encourages the king to at least rethink his methods of protecting Rapunzel. At the coronation, however, Frederic nearly becomes victim to a revenge plot headed by a pirate named Lady Caine. Rapunzel protects her father and the other royal guests by using her hair and fighting the pirates off. After Caine's arrest, Rapunzel explains the truth to her father about the hair. In response, Frederic tries to explain the reasoning for his behavior, explaining that, after his daughter's kidnapping eighteen years prior, a part of him was gone, and since then, he has been unable to shake off the worry that a new danger is always close by. As such, he feels the return of the magic hair may attract a threat similar to Gothel, and thus enacts a new law that prevents Rapunzel from leaving the confines of the kingdom without his consent. He also orders his daughter to never speak of the magic of any kind from that moment forward, all of which drives her to tears. Frederic, meanwhile, can only hang his head in guilt and disappointment at this, as he secretly feels he is doing a terrible thing to his daughter.
Tangled: The Series[]
Season One[]
Frederic appears in the series taking place immediately after Tangled: Before Ever After, where he continues to govern the kingdom while also finding time to grow and develop as a person, specifically in his relationship with Rapunzel. In "What the Hair?!", a week after Frederic and Rapunzel's falling out, it is revealed that neither of the two has spoken to one another about the matter, which distracts Frederic a great deal from his normal activities. Arianna urges him to talk with his daughter, but he refuses. In "The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth", Frederic finds Rapunzel's Journal, opened, and fondly looks through his daughter's illustrations. He soon finds, however, that the illustrations are recaps of his daughter's recent, high-risk adventures within the kingdom. Fearful that Rapunzel will get into harm's way despite obeying his law of staying within Corona's walls, Frederic orders the Captain of the Guards to double down on Rapunzel's security. Rapunzel quickly takes notice of this and becomes motivated to confront her father on his shielding. Upon arriving within her father's quarters, Rapunzel finds the king in a distraught state. He hurriedly embraces his daughter and professes his love for her. Rapunzel comes to realize that her father's actions are out of genuine love, and in response, chooses to keep her feelings undisclosed by simply returning his sentiments.
In the episode, "The Quest for Varian" Frederic is very upset and angry when Rapunzel brings up the black rocks again, after having a nightmare. When Rapunzel continued to demand answers, he took her to his planning room. He showed her black flags that represented the mysterious rocks and claimed that he had been having them carefully removed to prevent outright panic. As Rapunzel leaves, the King's expression changes to worry and sorrow.
At the end of the episode, it is revealed that King Frederic deliberately lied to his daughter. Not only had he not gotten rid of the rocks, but he also sent the guards in disguise, to capture Rapunzel before she found a secret scroll that contained information about the connection between Rapunzel's hair and the strange rocks.
In the following episode, “The Alchemist Returns”, King Frederic is confronted by Rapunzel by the fact not only did he lie to her, but he also sent his guards after her to prevent her from obtaining a secret scroll about a connection between the magical golden flower and the black rocks. Frederic defends himself saying he was doing what was best for Corona, and more importantly, Rapunzel. No matter how much Rapunzel demands the truth, he continues to tell her she is not ready for the real world.
Rapunzel then storms off, but not before stating that someone else once lied to her and said she wasn't ready for the real world. Frederic realizes that Rapunzel is comparing him to Mother Gothel and is visibly hurt by the comparison, but still won't tell Rapunzel the truth. Later in the episode, it is revealed that another secret that Frederic hid was that the magical flower still existed and that it was in the royal vault.
In the first season finale, "Secret of the Sun Drop", Frederic went as far as imprisoning Rapunzel in her bedroom tower, including bars on her window to keep her safe, after one of Varian's automatons attacked. His wife disagreed with his actions, but could not change his mind. Later after his wife was kidnapped he broke down in his bedroom, stricken with grief at losing another member of his family to kidnapping. When Rapunzel comforted him and told him this is not his fault, Frederic replies that it "is" his fault.
Frederic revealed his final secret about what happened on the night Rapunzel was born. He had been warned by Quirin that taking the Sundrop Flower would unleash darkness upon the kingdom with deadly consequences. Desperate to save his wife and unborn child, he chose not to heed the warning and thus used the flower. Frederic revealed he knew about the black rocks the whole time and knew they were connected to Rapunzel. Unable to handle losing her again, he kept a constant vigil on her. At first, he refused to believe they were the result of his actions, but when he could no longer deny it he chose to ignore them and hoped everyone else would. These actions were not of a king, but a father.
A short time later, Frederic joined Rapunzel as they went on a rescue mission to save the Queen, only to walk into Varian's trap. He demanded that Varian release them which was promptly ignored. He stood by helplessly while the alchemist threatens to trap Arianna in amber if Rapunzel did not help him free his father with her hair. When it did not work, the King got his family to safety only to see his daughter end up trapped in the black rocks. He then witnessed Rapunzel use the rocks to stop Varian and saw them become a pathway leading out of the kingdom. After promising to help both Varian and his father, Frederic admitted that he finally saw that Rapunzel was a strong individual who could take care of herself. He gave her permission to follow the rocks to embrace her destiny while stating when she was ready to come back, the lanterns would light the way back.
Season Two[]
During the second season, Frederic and Arianna are absent since they remain behind in Corona to rule the kingdom while Rapunzel is away on her journey.
Rapunzel reunited with an illusion of King Frederic.
In "Happiness Is...", Frederic appears in a flashback, writing a letter to Rapunzel seven years after her kidnapping, expressing how much he misses her and assuring Corona will always be her home. Rapunzel soon begins to feel homesick and misses her parents. When Rapunzel gains possession of a magical idol, granting the user their innermost happiness, it creates an illusion of Frederic for Rapunzel. However, the idol's power causes friction between Rapunzel and the group when they start to become obsessed with their power. Rapunzel craves it's power the most since it allows her to see her family and friends back in Corona. However, she eventually manages to overcome its power and with the help of Eugene and Cassandra, she succeeds in destroying it, releasing everyone from the obsessive idol. In the aftermath, Rapunzel comes to terms with her homesickness and finds a way to cope by sending a letter back home to her parents. They are seen witnessing the arrival of Rapunzel's lantern in the castle.
Frederic remains absent, but makes another appearance in "Rapunzeltopia". He appears in Rapunzel's dream as she relives her coronation weekend, but with alternative events to prevent her from waking up and leaving the dreamworld. Frederic and Arianna witness Eugene's first time proposing to Rapunzel, but unlike their previous reactions, they express joy and excitement to his suprise proposal and afterward happily embrace when Rapunzel accepts.
Season Three[]
By the time of "Rapunzel's Return", Frederic and Arianna are revealed to have gained amnesia after Varian and Andrew work together to conquer Corona. Due to their memory loss, Frederic and Arianna believed that Varian was their most trusted advisor and because of his influence, Frederic orders the citizens to mine for minerals as necessary ingredients for Varian's alchemy. They are later taken to the outskirts of the kingdom to watch as Andrew and the Separatists of Saporia destroy Corona and to get rid of the monarchs, but are rescued by Eugene and Lance. In the aftermath, Rapunzel is appointed as acting Queen until her parents regain their memories.
King Frederic appears in a flashback of "Beginnings" during the days when Rapunzel and Cassandra became friends. He and Arianna inform Rapunzel of the Contest of Crowns where princesses from the Seven Kingdoms come together to compete. They are seen watching Rapunzel and Cassandra compete throughout the events and are shown to be supportive of their daughter's efforts. During the flashback it's shown in the earlier days, Frederic was still not use to Eugene's presence and would become angered whenever he spoke of his former criminal past.
Frederic and Arianna cannot recall their love for one another.
In "The King and Queen of Hearts", Frederic and Arianna still have amnesia and despite Varian's attempts to reverse the effects of the Saporian's magic wand, he remains unsuccessful. Rapunzel attempts to help her parents by reminding them of their love for each other during the annual Day of Hearts celebration since they proclaimed their love by writing their names in Herz Der Sonne's journal. However, Frederic and Arianna's memory loss has worsened as they cannot recall why they even love each other and decide they need some time apart, causing Frederic to move in with Eugene. During this time, Frederic and Arianna are shown to be complete opposites as while Arianna enjoys thrills and adventure, Frederic instead prefers his hobby of collecting eggs. Due to their differences, Frederic believes he will not be able to win Arianna's heart again. Fortunately, Rapunzel refuses to give up and is determined to get her parents back together and plans a romantic date to make them fall in love all over again.
Frederic and Arianna's romantic boat ride.
However, Frederic does not enjoy horseback riding and bores Arianna by expressing his love for eggs. Eventually during a romantic boat ride together, Frederic and Arianna's feelings of love return when they express their wish to remember more of Rapunzel and see each other's qualities in their daughter. However, their evening is interrupted by King Trevor's arrival. It's revealed in the past, Frederic and Trevor were rivals in gaining Arianna's love and affections and Trevor has since remained obsessed since Arianna chose Frederic all those years ago. However, due to their recent amnesia, Trevor decides to use this opportunity to win Arianna's heart for himself once and for all, despite her marriage to Frederic. When Trevor takes Arianna to go sea serpent watching, Rapunzel and the group realize he plans to marry Arianna by taking her beyond the borders of the law.
Frederic and Arianna slowly begin to regain their lost memories.
Rapunzel and the others catch up to Trevor and Arianna, until they are attacked by Trevor's "Navy Seals" and later the sea serpent. Arianna saves Rapunzel and the group, but Frederic is in danger when he falls into the ocean due to his inability to swim. Arianna dives in to save Frederic, but are both captured by the sea serpent. Believing this to be their last moments together, Frederic and Arianna declare their love and share a kiss until they are saved by Rapunzel. Frederic ultimately saves the day when he manages to calm down the sea serpent by returning it‘s egg after previously being mistaken by Trevor to be a sea crystal. Rapunzel and the group return to the kingdom with Rapunzel happy to see Frederic and Arianna together again. Unfortunately, Herz Der Sonne's journal is destroyed, but Rapunzel creates a new Book of Hearts to symbolise the start of making new memories. Frederic and Arianna witness Rapunzel and Eugene sign their names in the new book and through their love, they finally begin to slowly recall their memories.
In "Islands Apart", King Frederic and Rapunzel are spending quality time together as they reminisce about their past by looking at drawings in Rapunzel's journal. King Frederic is revealed to have regained his memories as he successfully manages to recall all the events from the journal, much to Rapunzel's delight. King Frederic is happy and proud of the strong independent woman his daughter has become and is grateful that Rapunzel never gave up on him and Arianna regaining their memories.
Later, Frederic is among the citizens of Corona who surprise Eugene for his 26th birthday in "Cassandra's Revenge". He and Arianna are also shown to have become acquainted with Eugene's father, King Edmund, with whom Frederic exchanges a high-five as a sign of camaraderie. However, the surprise birthday is cut short when Cassandra arrives and demands Rapunzel to give her the Graphtic Scroll. Frederic and Arianna later witness the creation of Cassandra's fortress.
In "Flynnpostor", Frederic learns about the Captain's decision to retire, due to his unwillingness to face Cassandra. Frederic and Arianna understand his reasons and humbly accept his decision, but also thank him for his many years of duty and loyal service. Frederic and Arianna along with everyone present also learn the Captain has chosen his successor to be Eugene, which everyone gladly supports and accepts.
In "Plus Est En Vous", after Cassandra has managed to conquer Corona, Rapunzel and Arianna return to the Snuggly Duckling to rally Frederic and the others for a battle to retake Corona.
After charging into the castle, the citizens of Corona build a portal that was once used by Lord Demanitus to banish Zhan Tiri to the Lost Realm in the throne room; however, after the portal is assembled, Frederic is among the citizens of Corona who are accidentally sucked in through the portal to the realm, where the lower half of his body is replaced with a reflection of his top half. He and the others remain stuck until they are rescued by Quirin. Seconds later, the portal is crushed by debris from Zhan Tiri transforming into a demon, prompting everyone to evacuate the throne room. Frederic and Arianna then join the battle against Zhan Tiri, proclaiming that it's their fight as well, but Zhan Tiri encages Frederic, Arianna, and the others in Yellow Rocks and then chants the Decay Incantation to drain life out of everyone and plunge the kingdom into darkness. Following Zhan Tiri's defeat at the hands of Rapunzel and a redeemed Cassandra, Rapunzel chants the Healing Incantation to revive everyone, including her parents.
At the end of the series, Frederic is seen celebrating the true happily ever after alongside Arianna, Rapunzel, and Eugene.
Live-action appearances[]
Once Upon a Time[]
Rapunzel's parents make a brief appearance at the end of the episode "The Tower". He is the father of Rapunzel, and a firstborn son, who passed away. Rapunzel disappears after his death, and he is seen reuniting with his daughter after years of separation.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, by the end of Tangled: Before Ever After, Frederic's paranoia has morphed him into an overprotective parental figure eerily similar to Mother Gothel, as he forbid Rapunzel the freedom she craves. Additionally, he has stolen the Sundrop Flower, similarily to how Cassandra has stolen the Moonstone Opal. The difference is Frederic's actions are out of genuine love and concern for his daughter, while Gothel and Cassandra's were out of selfishness for the elements' power.
- In "In Like Flynn", Frederic mentions that he's had extensive military training.
- According to Rapunzel in "In Like Flynn", Frederic likes to tell jokes, though they are not very good.
- In the original fairy tale of which Tangled is based on, Rapunzel's parents (who were not royalty) lived next door to the witch and often admired how large her garden was. While Rapunzel's mother was pregnant, Rapunzel's father snuck into the garden, stole some of the vegetables growing and got caught. The witch let him go in exchange for the baby he and his wife were having. They are never seen after that.
- It is revealed in "The King and Queen of Hearts" that King Frederic enjoys collecting eggs, but does not know how to horseback ride or swim and is prone to sea sickness.
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fr:Roi Frédéric