Why is Death from Puss in Boots 2 a great villain? | Character analysis
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- Опубликовано: 11 мар 2023
- This must a big statement to make. And maybe there is a bit of recency bias that I have here. But I genuinely can't recall another animated villain as iconic as 'Death' form Puss in Boots 2. So, What makes Death from Puss in Boots 2 a great villain?
You see, I have to very specific here. When I say animation, I'm talking about western animation and not anime. For the longest time, I've been wondering why western animation doesn't really go hard with their villains. They are generally very generic compared to anime, where there is huge variety of villains to pick from. And after watching Puss in Boots: The last wish, I genuinely think that this should be the benchmark for antagonists in western animation.
For the longest time, Tai Lung had been my favorite animated villain. He was pretty scary, especially his introduction in Kung Fu Panda was one of the best animated intros I've ever seen. And to be fair, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy has produced some intense villains, and probably the best of which was Lord Shen. He was pretty evil. But while watching animated feature films, be it Pixar, Disny or even Dreamworks, I couldn't help but notice how conservative these villains are, I mean I kinda understand, because they are mostly children's movies, but on the other hand, there's nothing wrong with experimenting with your antagonists.
And after watching Puss in Boots 2, I finally feel like I've seen a proper antagonist in the form of 'Death', someone who is overpowered like an anime villain, and poses a threat to the protagonist. And I think one of the reasons why 'Death' from Puss in Boots 2 did so well is that not only is he a great villain, but he also represents a big concept. The philosophy of this villain, or the whole movie itself is outright a masterstroke. While I was watching the movie, I couldn't help but notice how deep most of the conversations in this movie was. Especially the general theme behind the movie, 'death comes for us all' and to take that metaphor and use it literally to create a perfect personification of 'death', it's truly magnificient, it's the kind of stuff you'd see in anime. And all these things add up, and when we compare him to some the greatest villains in western animation, I can't help but see him at the top of that list, simply because of how iconic he is in this movie. And that's why I think that 'Death' from Puss in Boots 2 is the greatest animated villain that western animation ever produced! 
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Who's your favorite villain from animated movies?
Lord shen🛐
@@Av3Zi Bang on mate! That peacock is something else!
the other mother from coraline, she is so scary and i love it
@@happyanimates9023 Yes, that whole movie is pretty creepy. I can see it! Good pick that one!
This one
I do consider Death a villain. Death clearly states he came for Puss because he doesn't like how he's lived his lives. Death doesn't decide how we live our lives, but the wolf here has a distain for Puss and decided to finish him early.
That's an interesting take. So, my concept was that 'Death' came for him now, but if the laws are consistent in this world, Death would've come for him at some point anyways, in the future he'll come back to reap him. So, because 'death' is a natural process that every living thing must go through, there is no 'true evil' in him. Which is why I kinda mentioned at the end that he was an antagonist more than a villain. But I can see how in this context he could be a villain, because my guy didn't like the fact that 'cats have 9 lives' and especially Puss in boots who lived most of it recklessly.
@@wonderescence Yeah, death does come for everyone eventually, but the character Death committing an act of "evil" in the movie. He is tormenting Puss, scaring the living shit out of him, for his own enjoyment. And he decided to take him early, which isn't fair.
@@TrosvvoShhhhh don't tell🤫
Lord Shen is a great villain
I agree! He is pure evil!
Even though death gave him a run, he is still my all time fav animated villain
And look at the glass Death holds up. That's pretty much like Death has Puss' life in his hand. And the time when Death tells Puss that he is actually is, the glass shattering is by far the most impact of all.
Very good observation that! Yeah, I've been looking at some of those subtle cues for another video I'm planning to make next week. There are plenty of them in the scenes involving Death.
@@wonderescence The same goes for my anime meme co-lapse with My Hero Academia about comparing the ideal between Stain's and Death's. But I will go for Death because Stain's is the best concept of being a good person, but Death's is how you live life decently.
@@5555905 I've never watched My Hero Academia, and my anime knowledge genrally is not that good. But sounds like an interesting character.
@@wonderescence I see. But well, try watching it then. He appears in the second season and has one of the most impact effects on the franchise's story. And in season six, he will appear again and all the fans are waiting for it.
@@wonderescence In short. Stain used to be a hero and studied at UA to be one. But He realized that the hero's society is full of corruption, so he tried to make people know it. But things went badly for him he become a solo terrorist that take down both villains and fake heroes. The only hero that he wishes to uphold and be killed by is All Might.
To add to your point on 5:40
He isn’t even a normal death that we usually get he’s much more. He’s no jailer or reaper nor is he a representation as he’s an agragor. He is DEATH. Dudes a one above all level god.
He’s the most nutral and impartial by nature the fact that he’s down just to play with his food tell you just how much he dislikes the 9 lives clause and how puss misused them.
Yes, you make a good point. He actually wanted to do meet this 'legend' in person who cheated the natural process of dying. He really went out of his way to teach Puss in Boots a lesson!
@@wonderescence agreed. its so weird when we see a true lawful cherictor acting in a chaotic evil fashion especially a nutral gray. its literly agenst their vary being.
@@wonderescence Puss did not actually cheat the process of dying. He had 9 lives and used them as he was allowed to. All cats in the Shrek universe have 9 lives. The only cheating would have been if he had actually wished for more lives, which he ultimately chose not to. Death was the one who tried to cheat and he admits it.
I posted this on an other video but as a fan of Puss, I feel I must defend him so here it is:
Death as depicted in this movie (and in any other movie where he is personified or sentient in any form) is not just a force of nature. A true force of nature is neutral and unbiased and would not make anything personal, would not care what anyone does with their lives, would not try to punish anyone for what they do with their lives and would not try to cheat by cutting anyone's life short before this individual dies because of accident, murder or natural causes. Death here is anything but that. He is basically a death god or in the very least some sort of angel or other death spirit and like all deities of folklore, takes offence when people laugh in his face and proceeds to seek revenge and punish them accordingly ( see Zeus from Greek mythology as the best example of that). I have seen people suggesting that he is a cross up between the Grim Ripper, Satan and an Egyptian wolf-faced god of death and it sounds just right as Goldilocks would say. People do cling a lot to that brief line that Death has about Puss not valuing his previous lives but if Death really cared about life, perhaps he should have gone after Jack Horner who really does not value ANYONE’s life except his own? And if Death wanted to teach Puss a lesson about the value of life, he could have just had a chat with him about it instead of downright trying to take him out of this realm. Any lesson about life would be useless to Puss once he had crossed to the far beyond.
Besides, even if Puss was careless enough to get himself killed in accidents 8 times, it is a huge stretch on Death’s behalf to claim that he did not value his lives because of that alone. He makes it sound as if Puss was ungrateful to the powers who blessed him with the gift of life and deliberately committed suicide (which, by the way, would be within Puss’s rights to do if he wanted to end his lives and nobody should judge him for that, especially not Death, who is there to take life and is not some sort of god who creates or gives life, and should thus have no say in what people do in their lives, or lecture them on any ethics-related matter). To me, not valuing life is more about doing nothing productive with it; e.g. lazily spending 95% of one’s time in front of a TV, computer, phone, tablet or other screen ( and I am sure that thousands of people would be coughing with guilt at that) or spending most of the time being miserable and ungrateful for what we have and constantly wondering about how different life could have been (I am not going to pretend that I don’t do that; I actually feel guilty of wasting my life very often because of those anxieties). And Puss actually does live his lives to the fullest, not just with strangers but also with friends such as Shrek, Donkey, Fiona and kids, Pinocchio Ginger etc) unlike much of the Earth’s human population who cannot live their life to the fullest because of poverty, hunger, war or just the simple fact that many of us (myself included) basically live to work, pay the rent/mortgage or take care of other real-life responsibilities and have very little or no time for entertainment or just live our life as we would like to).
Furthermore, people should not forget that no matter how reckless Puss was with his lives, he actually did nothing for which he deserved to punished like this. He did not steal his 9 lives from anybody; all cats in this fairy tale universe have them. And it was his right to spend most of them in silly dares if he chose to (as long as he does not cause harm to anybody else in the process, which he did not) and then live the last one normally. He was still young and Death was trying to take him before his 9th life had ended, which was not fair play as Death admits. Yes, Puss laughed at him but Puss never really meant any offence as he never realised that Death can actually be offended, and Death is supposed to be a professional. Laughing at Death has been a coping mechanism among humans since humanity came to exist and this is the first time in fiction that I see Death actually taking this personally (usually this is what gods do). People do risky things and disregard personal safety on a daily basis, sometimes because this is their jobs (e.g. soldiers, police, fire personnel etc) and for entertainment (climbers, parachutists and those who do other extreme sports, crazy teens who perform dangerous Tiktok stunts etc). Should death take each one of them as they technically challenge death every time? People who critisise Puss should consider that he is no different than any factionary warrior or town’s hero. Should Death go after Zorro, Conan the Barbarian, Jack Sparrow, Spiderman or Westley and Inigo from the Princess Bride? Puss lost his 8th life while saving a town from a giant (and it was not the first giant he killed as he had a reputation for that in Shrek 2). OK, it can be argued that he actually won the battle and died because he could not bother to get out of harm’s way soon enough and that all his other lives were lost because he was careless with trivial things and not because of his heroic deeds but Death saying that he will take his last life early because he wasted the other 8 too quickly was a very weak excuse. It was equivalent to saying that just because some millionaire wasted most millions and has been left with only enough money to get by, we will punish that person by taking what little money is left.
All in all, I can see why there are people who are fascinated by Death supposedly being this wise, just, comforting figure who is just out there to do a job and treats everyone equally but I am one of those who have a very different opinion. No matter how much retconning we do to the Shrek franchise, including the first Puss in Boots movie, we know that Puss is not a jerk. The worst thing he has ever done is being a thief. We have known Puss during his 7th life in the Shrek movies and shorts and part of his first life in the first Puss in Boots movie and for most of the time, Puss was noble and loyal to his friends, saved many lives, and acted the voice of reason on several occasions. I love Puss in Boots The Last Wish; I think it is the best of all the movies of the Shrek universe and the best animated movie that Dreamworks has ever made, but presenting Puss as a “jerk” is almost character assassination. And I am sorry but Death is not the one who has the upper moral ground here. He is the villain and he is malevolent and sadistic. Death's reason for wanting to kill Puss was not more justified than that of every other villain (someone keeps making jokes at my expense and disrespects me so I am going to kill him, that is basically Death's argument). Again, just my point of view; if people want to interpret the character another way, every opinion is respected even if we don’t agree.
Death is an 11/10 villain in a 10/10 movie 🐺
Dude you are amazing! Your breakdowns have made me appreciate these scenes and movies better. Keep up the good work mate.
Thanks mate! Appreciate the support!!
When you were breaking down the Wolf's first appearance you mentioned the glass he raises, but there's a really creepy detail about that glass. It's not on the bar in the overhead shot when the candle blows out, but a moment later it's visible in the mirror as Puss tells his reflection he is to good looking to die and then we hear the whistle. Puss is the only customer in that bar and when the bartender left to get the heavy cream there was no glass.
So while Puss doesn't see Death coming, Death is clearly stalking Puss.
That's interesting! I thought that glass was always there. But yeah, it seems like that was deliberate. The glass is away from Puss as well. It does make sense.
good stuff :)
Thank you so much!
Thank you for explaining that perfect ending on how they parted ways with no clear winner
Yeah, I thought it was the right way to end it! Because if Puss has somehow killed 'Death', it wouldn't have made any sense.
I don't know what you mean you can only get so far with animation with conveying expressions and feelings, animation is limitless compared to reality, although good video.
I kinda didn't wanna say that, and you're right, animation is definitely an expressive medium, I think I was thinking about specific villains like 'The Joker' when I wrote it down, and correlating his acting from 'The Darkn Knight' to animated villains didn't feel like the right way of explaining it. Henc why I said it.
In my opinion, it is still a children's movie. Except it's that the children already grew up. It was meant for us, the kids when Shrek came out. Puss in Boots debuted in Shrek and so Puss grew up with us as much as we grew up with him. It's been a long road hasn't it?
Yes, it has! I wanna see more franchises doing this!
@@wonderescence Thanks for your incredibly thought provoking analysis! I loved the movie and consumed a lot of reviews since I saw it and your video is top-tier bro! Keep it up!
@@papertyga5056 That's awesome! And thanks for the support. Appreciate it!
15:25 Here's your problem: you think 'villain' and 'antagonist' are synonyms, but they are not.
A villain is somebody who does bad things - breaks the law, kills puppies, jaywalks, that sorta things.
An antagonist is somebody who opposes the protagonist.
While they sometimes overlap but in movies like Megamind, where the protagonist is the bad guy, they don't.
I think that this movie dethroned disney. Disney keeps putting out unoriginal and lazy mids while dreamworks put out this masterpiece. You can tell that this movie was made with genuine passion and maximum effort in all regards.