Why the wolf from Puss in Boots is one of the best villains ever created

For a movie, a book, a work to be good, there are several necessary ingredients.
If you need a high stakes plot, well written characters, scenes that are coherent in their construction …

One of the most important points is the need for a worthy antagonist.

Every “great” movie has unforgettable antagonists.
Be it Darth Vader, Nolan’s Joker, Hannibal Lecter, Scar from The Lion King …
Antagonists even have the power to transform a movie.
To make an average movie good and in the other way, to penalize a good movie.

A failed antagonist in a good scenario makes the cake indigestible. The cake is beautiful but it is not good. We are even disappointed, this beautiful cake deserved much better.

Puss In Boots 2 succeeds in offering us an antagonist that is up to the ambitions of the film. What makes the wolf unforgettable? For the lovers of storytelling, I have tried to list some points that are important in the construction of this iconic character.

His introduction

The introduction scene of the wolf is incredible. The tone of the film, which was until then very funny, is frozen. It is first of all this strange hissing that installs the uneasiness and if the first interactions are cordial, we can feel a danger.
This character arriving from behind, without warning, landing with ease near the hero.
Then when the revelation comes, he shows himself of a terrifying power. The hero is powerless against him. The wolf even allows himself the luxury of breaking one of the rules of children’s films: he makes the cat bleed.
The scene continues in an unfolding that has nothing to envy to a horror movie. The hero becomes aware of the danger he is in and flees: the only solution he has.

This introductory scene is perfect and if you want to create legendary antagonists, their introduction must be.

His presence

The wolf is frightening in all its forms. First of all its size, much bigger than the cat. His way of standing. His blood red eyes. His behavior of sharp hunter. His blood-curdling hissing. And his weapons representing death itself.

His dialogues

In addition to benefiting from a fantastic design, the dialogues of the wolf never fall flat. Intriguing, fierce, funny… All these lines of dialogue reason and many of them loop on instagram shorts and tik tok.
This wolf is going to terrorize many little heads.

Its impact on the hero

The presence of the wolf causes extreme anxiety in Puss. Through his reactions, we feel the danger of this threat.
Being emotionally attached to our hero, when he suffers, we suffer and this wolf torments him throughout the film.

Its impact on the spectator

The wolf says it himself: he is death.
And in the depths of the majority of us lurks the fear of death. The wolf does not only awaken in Puss an anxiety but also that of the spectator. We feel the same emotions because we have the same fears as Puss.

A reinvention of the genre

This wolf is scary. The editing, the way he hisses, the fact that he is always in the background. It’s true that children’s movies had given us some psychopaths.
But never a really scary character. We have a character that fulfills all the codes of the horror genre… in a children’s movie.
A daring bet on the part of the directors, but a bet that will redefine the genre. We must expect crazy creations in the years to come.

Is this version of the wolf too scary for a children’s movie?

This is a defensible point of view but I don’t share it.
It is true that some of the scenes are almost horrifying.
Moreover, the directors break a rule of the children’s movie by showing blood. But it serves the scenario and reminds us how dangerous this wolf is.

Is the wolf violent? Yes
Is he too violent? Hard to know.
Like all the children of the 90’s who grew up with the memory of Scar throwing Mufasa off a cliff. Of Simba trying to wake up his father in a heart-wrenching scene. It is impossible for me to say that this wolf is too violent for a child.
The violence of the wolf is visual before anything else, he is intimidating, he is dangerous but … he is nowhere near as violent as a Scar who kills his own brother and sends hyenas to finish off his nephew.

In another genre, Anastasia’s Rasputin was also terrifying. Hiding in the depths of the earth, casting spells and being physically awkward, one could legitimately say that he was terrifying for a child.

The children’s stories we read are just as terrifying. In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf eats the grandmother.
Stories of ogres, ghosts, and monsters are legion and are part of our construction.

Every parent should watch the movie themselves before deciding whether to let their child see it or not.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that every great story needs a great antagonist.
It is the antagonist who channels the power of the story.
With a weak antagonist, the quest of our heroes who would not meet a strong enough resistance would lose its value.
With an antagonist that is too strong, the coherence of the scenario will suffer. We are forced to use power ups that make little sense in order to give our heroes a chance to beat him.

Dosing your villain is one of the keys to a good story.
A scary enough villain but not invincible …

Although this wolf may be.

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