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| “ | None of your sons are fit to marry my daughter! | „ |
| ~ King Fergus rejecting the clans' request, forbidding any of their sons to marrying his daughter. |
King Fergus is the tritagonist of Pixar's 13th full-length animated feature film Brave.
He is a royal heroic warrior with a majestic bear cape, broad sword and a knobby peg leg – the result of his much-regaled skirmish with the demon bear Mor'du. His vendetta against the beast who took his leg makes Fergus a ferocious and determined bear hunter, evidenced by a home full of mounted trophies of every size. Protector of his kingdom and family, Fergus has a heart as big as his triplet sons are mischievous and boundless love for his wife, Queen Elinor. But his pride for his first-born daughter Merida is unmatched, and he has gifted her his great skill and passion for the sword and the bow.
He is voiced by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, who also voiced McSquizzy in Open Season, Ben from Pocahontas.
Background[]
Protector of his kingdom and family, King Fergus is a heroic warrior with a majestic bear cape, broad sword, and a knobby peg leg – the result of his much-regaled skirmish with the demon bear, Mor'du.
Snippets of dialogue throughout the film reveal Fergus' history:
Once only the leader of Clan DunBroch, one of the four largest clans in the Highlands, Fergus took part in many of the inter-clan feuds and battles between his clan and the other three.
When Scotland was besieged by invaders from the sea, it was Fergus who brought the four clans together to fight their common foe. Fergus saved the life of Lord MacGuffin by stopping an arrow as MacGuffin ran to the aid of Lord Dingwall. Lord Macintosh saved Fergus's life by charging in on a heavy horse and held off the enemy's advance. Inspiring the people with his warrior skill and leadership abilities, when the invaders were driven off, the leaders of the other three clans bowed their heads to him and named him their High King.
At some point after this, as a young man, Fergus participated in a contest of several feats of combat as a suitor for Elinor's hand in marriage. He proved himself a master at archery and bested all others in the hammer throw, but faced a skilled opponent in a sword fight. He ultimately succeeded in defeating his opponent with a "nimble counter and deft riposte", winning Elinor's hand and becoming her husband. Eventually, he would have a daughter named Merida and, many years later, three triplet sons named Harris, Hubert, and Hamish.
Personality[]
King Fergus is a loud, easygoing man. He is a very kind person and is very friendly, getting along with others quite well. He is the polar opposite of his wife in that he doesn't stick to or adhere to tradition as strictly as her and enjoys having fun with his children. Fergus does have a temper, often getting annoyed at the antics of his triplet sons and the lords, but he knows how to have a good time and can be fairly patient. He is fun-loving and easygoing, often playing around with his children rather than bringing them up to be royalty. In fact, he even states that he feels that a person needs to protect themselves and defended Merida's choice of using bows, seeing them as a valuable weapon for self-defense.
He has a good sense of humor which he passed on to Merida, such as when they both mock the lord's sons attempts at shooting arrows. He loves fighting and enjoyed getting into a brawl with the other lords and their clans. However, he is also a wise ruler and knows when to be serious. Though he entered into an arranged marriage with Elinor, he truly loves her as if they married for love and was so upset when he thought she died that he sent everyone including the lords and their clans to hunt down the bear responsible (not knowing that Elinor didn't die but in fact was the bear). This also coincides with his ability to hold grudges, as he held a long-standing grudge on Mor'du for eating his leg.
He treasures his daughter as well to the point he told the other lords that none of their sons were fit to marry his daughter. He seems skeptical about the idea of myths and doesn't believe in magic, as shown in the beginning when he makes fun of Merida for claiming she saw wisps and refused to believe her when Merida told him the bear he'd encountered in the tapestry room was his wife under a spell.
Overall, he is a kind of loud exuberant ruler and father who is proud of his family and protective of them and his kingdom.
Physical appearance[]
King Fergus is a heroic warrior with a tall, muscular physique, fair skin, curly red hair, mustache and beard, thick eyebrows, and blue eyes. He wears a brown armor, long green with a gray and red tartan robe, a silver helmet, large brown belt, brown leather sporran, a majestic bear cape, broad sword, and a knobby peg leg – the result of his much-regaled skirmish with the demon bear, Mor'du. His vendetta against the beast who took his leg makes Fergus a ferocious and determined bear hunter, evidenced by a home full of mounted trophies of every size. Protector of his kingdom and family, Fergus has a heart as big as his triplet sons are mischievous and boundless love for his wife, Queen Elinor. But his pride for his first-born daughter Merida is unmatched, and he has gifted her his great skill and passion for the sword and the bow.
Role[]
King Fergus is first seen at the beginning of the film giving his daughter Merida a bow and arrow. He teaches her to shoot, but she misses and runs into the forest to retrieve her bow. When she returns, she tells them of seeing a Will O' the Wisp, but he obviously doesn't believe her. Suddenly, Mor'du the demon bear, who had been stalking Merida in the forest, attacks and Fergus charges at him with his spear, which Mor'du smashes. Fergus then takes out a sword and yells at Mor'du to attack him. Mor'du opens his jaws and lunges at the screen, which cuts to black.
The movie cuts to the present time, which reveals that Fergus had lost his leg in the fight with Mor'du, and he has made it his goal to hunt the bear down. He tells the triplets, their baby sons, about the fight with Mor'du, but Merida reveals the ending. Much to Merida's dismay, Queen Elinor has decided that Merida should get married. After Merida retreats into her room, Fergus tells Elinor to explain to him why she should get married, as if she was talking to Merida.
When the three lords, Dingwall, MacGuffin and Macintosh, arrive to present their sons and start sniping at each other, a brawl breaks out and Fergus ends up being apart of it. Queen Elinor breaks up the fight, telling them that only the first born children will marry Merida, which gives Merida the idea to become apart of the competition so that if she wins, she won't have to marry any of the sons.
Later in the film, when Elinor is turned into a bear, he thinks Mor'du is in the castle and chases after her, but the triplets, knowing she is their mom, dissuade him. Later, he finds Elinor's torn clothes and thinks she is dead, and finds Merida and Elinor in her bear form and thinks it is Mor'du attacking Merida. Elinor's bear form takes over briefly and she attacks Fergus and knocks him into a wall before running off. Fergus, the three lords, and a large group of warriors chase after her. They tie Elinor up and Fergus prepares to kill her. However, Merida comes and fights him, knocking him down.
It is then that the real Mor'du appears, having seen Merida, and the warriors attack, only to be thrown away. Fergus punches Mor'du in the face, and is thrown into a pillar. Elinor breaks from her bonds and attacks Mor'du, bashing him into a pillar that falls and kill him. As Mor'du was the prince turned into the bear, he is set free. Elinor is returned to human form after Merida reconciles with her and the lords depart, learning from their sons that they should marry who they choose to. The triplets end up on the ship of one the lords, and Fergus is last seen in a boat chasing after them.
Quotes[]
| “ | Then, out of nowhere, biggest bear you've ever seen! | „ |
| ~ Fergus telling the story of his encounter with Mor'du to his sons. |
| “ | Speak to her, dear. | „ |
| ~ Fergus telling his wife to speak to Merida. |
| “ | Fergus: Merida! Merida: Dad, no! It's not what you think! Fergus: Merida, get back! |
„ |
| ~ Fergus unknowingly attempting to kill his wife Elinor, believing her to be Mor'du, not knowing at first about the bear curse on her. |
| “ | Merida: Get back! That's my mother! Fergus: Are you out of your mind, lass? Merida: Mom, are you hurt? [Fergus shoves Merida aside.] Fergus: Merida! [Merida pushes Fergus away.] Merida: I will not let you kill my mother! [Harris, Hubert and Hamish appear in the scene as bear cubs.] Merida: Boys! Fergus: Boys? |
„ |
| ~ Fergus, finally realizing that Merida was telling the truth about the bear curse to him. |
| “ | ELINOR! | „ |
| ~ Fergus after his wife Elinor became a human again. |
| “ | Back your eyes, lads! Show some respect! | „ |
| ~ Fergus protecting his wife Elinor from exposing her nudity. |
Trivia[]
- King Fergus is also known as the Bear King.
- His name means "strong man" in Gaelic.
- Ironically, his desire in stopping Mor'du once and for all was fulfilled because of his wife Queen Elinor, whom he initially mistook as his archenemy while she herself was under a bear curse.
- Fergus is the first leading male character in a Pixar film to not be its protagonist (not counting Lightning McQueen, since Mater took the leading position for Cars 2).
External Links[]
- King Fergus on the Once Upon a Time Wiki.
- King Fergus on the Disney Wiki.
- King Fergus on the Pixar Wiki.
