| “ | You don't need to be afraid. I know it's dark, but you'll get used to it. | „ |
| ~ Botticelli Remorso to Roscuro, also his first words in the film. |
| “ | Ah, if isn't our brave little knight. I wonder... Should I finish you off myself, or turn you into cat food? | „ |
| ~ Botticelli Remorso to Despereaux. |
Botticelli Remorso is the main antagonist of Kate DiCamillo's 2003 fantasy novel The Tale of Despereaux and its 2008 computer-animated film adaptation of the same name by Universal Pictures.
He is a cruel and manipulative sewer rat who serves as the tyrannical leader of the rat world. He is also the arch-nemesis of both Despereaux and Princess Pea.
He was voiced by Ciarán Hinds, who also voiced Steppenwolf in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- Despite what is implied by his name, he's sadistic and cruel in actuality, as he takes immense pleasure out of torturing and manipulating his prisoners.
- Aiming to dominate Dor's surface world using his army of rats he planned to use to overthrow the human race.
- Tricking Roscuro into joining his rat colony to use him as a pawn for his own personal goals (along with briefly corrupting Roscuro in the process).
- "Welcoming" Despereaux into his domain by tossing the latter into the ring and forcing him to fight the cat for the sake of amusing the spectators of the fight. While he eventually did call off the fight and allowed Roscuro to get Despereaux out of the situation as his "food," this was done purely out of pragmatism, as he would later try to kill Despereaux himself and call Roscuro "worthless" later in the film, not caring if either of them were to be killed.
- Planning to feed Princess Pea to his rats (as well as potentially other humans, though Pea is his only confirmed planned human victim), as well as partaking in consuming her himself, for the purpose of provoking the kingdom.
- Leaving Mig imprisoned in the dungeon when he and Roscuro took Pea to see the rats captured and residing there.
- Calling for the rest of the rats to feast on Pea by ringing the bell after Roscuro refused to do so, calling the latter worthless when he backed out of the deed out of standards.
- When Despereaux released the cat to chase the rats away from the captive princess, Botticelli ordered his own colony of rats to attack him. All the while expressing no concern for said rats once they were all quickly defeated.
- Attempting to kill Despereaux for the last time before a redeemed Roscuro utilized sunlight shining off Princess Pea's necklace to temporarily blind him and cause him to fall into the gladiator ring where he was eaten by the cat unleashed by Despereaux, which is played for satisfaction.
- While he isn't horrible to the cat, he only seems to view it as a useful tool for his own games (and he's also afraid of it when let loose).
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- His past actions and plans rely on Fridge Horror and offscreen villainy.
- The bones scattered around his village aren't made clear as to where exactly they originated from, as while they could've been from mice killed in the gladiators' ring, they could've potentially also been scraps of humans' food. And the cause of death of the owner of the human skull in Botticelli's domain is never revealed either, such as if they were killed by Botticelli's rats.
- His only confirmed attempted victims were Despereaux and Pea, and it's never indicated if he planned on eating any other humans on Dor's surface or sentenced any other mice to fight the cat and die in the process.
