King Magnifico is the main antagonist of Disney's animated feature film, Wish. He is a powerful sorcerer who founded Rosas. As the ruler of the kingdom, people entrust their wishes to him and he is capable of granting wishes at whim. He is the husband of Queen Amaya.
Wish
Physical appearance
King Magnifico is a tall man with pale blue eyes and gray and white hair along with a goatee and mustache. His clothing is a white, gold, and blue robe that with diamonds along with a cape of the same colors. Interestingly, once he begins using dark magic, his eyes glow green when he taps into the power, and as he gets more and more corrupted his eyes normally gain more green flecks until they are entirely green. However, once trapped in the mirror and enslaved by the dark magic, his eyes return to blue.
Personality
King Magnifico is admired by everyone in Rosas; he is inspiring, charismatic and benevolent to others and keeps the wishes of Rosas safe. He is intelligent and decides to grant the wishes he sees as safe, but he has a somewhat flawed view of this practice and is defensive about his choices of what wishes to grant even when he makes more egotistical choices. He is in awe of his own powers and will do anything to protect them and to not lose anyone else he cares about, but in doing so becomes jaded and constantly seeks praise: he adores the people’s own adoration of him, but if even one person questions him he will fly into a fit of insecure rage.
At the mere idea that someone is challenging his power, he will also grow extremely rageful, and becomes bent on discovering who would dare use magic other than him. In doing so, he breaks his promise to his wife Queen Amaya, who he cares for deeply and seems to be greatly in love with, and grows obsessed with protecting his version of the kingdom. Using dark magic corrupts him as the film goes on, and it gets easier to set off his temper, and he becomes much more selfish and hateful and is willing to break people’s wishes. He begins to care more about his own power than anyone else, discarding his love for Amaya and his appreciation for his subjects.
He enjoys the power of being corrupted so much that he accepts the corruption as a part of him, and after his defeat still somehow thinks he should be praised and grows upset when people do not do it.
Powers and Abilities
- Magic: Magnifico is an accomplished sorcerer, he possesses vast magical powers which he compiled after years of study, being the only sorcerer in Rosas, and his magic gives him the ability to grant wishes to others.
- Possessing and granting wishes: Magnifico has to power to take anyone's wish; all they have to do is hold their hands as if they were holding their wish and it materializes as a floating ball.
Trivia
- Magnifico was inspired by Queen Grimhilde from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast , Jafar from Aladdin and Prince Hans From Frozen.
- King Magnifico is similar to Alameda Slim from Home on the Range because both are greedy antagonists driven by a desire for power; they share flamboyant personalities, distinctive visual designs that reflect their roles in their respective stories, create significant conflicts for the protagonists, and ultimately face defeat due to their own flaws.
- Magnifico's physical appearance bears a close resemblance to his voice actor, Chris Pine.
- The name "Magnifico" means "Magnificent" in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, which alludes to his narcissistic personality, according to co-director Chris Buck. Further, the name is meant to be a nod to Maleficent.
- In the Japanese dub of the film, Magnifico is voiced by pop star Masaharu Fukuyama.
- After absorbing the wishes and Star's power, King Magnifico appeared on every reflective surface in Rosas while citing "Mirrors, mirrors, on the wall; who is the handsomest?", a direct reference to the Magic Mirror of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- The quote itself also references The Evil Queen's famous line "Magic mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?" and a common misinterpretation of the aforementioned line, where “magic” is replaced with another “mirror”.
Gallery
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References
| v • eCharacters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main characters | Asha • Valentino • Star • King Magnifico | |
| Supporting characters | Queen Amaya • Sabino • Sakina • Dahlia • Simon • Gabo • Safi • Hal • Bazeema • Dario | |
| Minor characters | Sania Osman • Rochelle | |