King Leopold II is the unseen overarching antagonist of the 2016 reboot film The Legend of Tarzan, which is based on the character of Tarzan created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
He is the greedy monarch of Belgium who wants to enslave and exploit the Congolese people to enrich himself and is the direct superior of Captain Léon Rom, the main villain of the film.
He is based on the real-life historical figure who is infamous for his brutal enslavement and mistreatment of the Congolese people.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close To Being Pure Evil?[]
- He has colonised huge parts of Congo and has made the land Belgian territory. He has closed 99% of his territory in Congo to foreign visitors simply because he doesn't want anyone to witness how he treats the local population and spread word about it.
- During his occupation of Congo, many locals are taken against their will from various villages and enslaved to serve the Belgians. Anyone who fights back is killed on the spot as demonstrated when the chieftain of one village refuses to bow to Captain Léon Rom which is why Rom shoots him. In one of these raids, Rom takes 10 strong men from one village to turn them into slaves and then burns the villagers' buildings for no reason.
- It is revealed that the kidnapped slaves are used to build a railway which connects the different Belgian military outposts, so they can conquer and then maintain control over the land more easily and there are a total of 800 slaves forced to build the railway against their will.
- There are entire wagons full with ivory moved around by the Belgians which shows that they have killed a lot of elephants to obtain their tusks in the name of profit.
- When, Captain Rom makes a deal with chieftain Mbonga that he would bring him Tarzan because Mbonga wants revenge against him for killing his son years ago, Leopold invites Tarzan to visit Congo and see all the schools and churches he has build for the local population. In actuality, this invitation is a trap and Captain Rom is supposed to capture Tarzan and deliver him to Mbonga to be killed and then receive the diamonds of Opar from Mbonga.
- He allows Captain Rom to commit whatever crimes are necessary to ensure that Congo is enslaved by Belgium and provides him with the necessary resources with Rom enslaving hundreds of people, killing anyone who resists him and even threatening Jane that he would drown one of his slaves if she doesn't do what he wants. Leopold even plans to name Rom Governor General of Congo, so he can oversee the enslavement and exploitation of the local population.
- He plans to use the diamonds of Opar to pay for a huge mercenary army which consists of 20 thousand men. The mercenaries are specifically described as people who enjoy killing for a living and Leopold plans to unleash them against all of Congo to have the entire country subjugated through a brutal military conquest.
- His ultimate goal is to enslave the entire population of Congo, which numbers in the millions, and brutally exploit them so he can become the richest monarch in the whole world.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Evil?[]
- He never appears on-screen in any scenes of the film. However, this is a minor prevention because it's still made clear that all the bad things the Belgians are shown doing in Congo throughout the film happen because of him, multiple characters talk about him and he is still characterised as a greedy monarch who is willing to enslave and exploit millions of innocent people just to become even more rich than he already is and we know that Captain Léon Rom, the main villain of the film, answers directly to him.
Trivia[]
- He is so far the only Tarzan character to be Near Pure Evil.
