Mulgarath

Mulgarath the Ogre is a fictional character in the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi.
He is the main antagonist of the novels although he does not appear until the fourth book of the series, namely The Ironwood Tree.

Fictional character history
Although he is not seen until The Ironwood Tree Mulgarath makes a complex plan to take over the world that spans the books. He is first mentioned in Lucinda's Secret. He gathers all the Dwarves and Goblins to him, the Goblins to serve as his footsoldiers and the Dwarves to help build weapons for the Goblins. Mulgarath promises the Dwarves that when he rules the world he will "rebuild it in iron and copper and gold" because he is aware that the Dwarves are obsessed with metal. He posseses powers of shape-shifting and transforms into Simon to steal Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to use in his plan. He also frames Jared.
Once the Dwarves have served their purpose Mulgarath has them ruthlessly killed then sends his minions to obduct the Grace children's mother to lure the children into a trap.
At some unidentified point, Mulgarath has an immense palace of trash built in the waste disposal area on the edge of the town. He sends the Goblin to obduct cows to bring to his palace where he uses them to breed Dragons.
When Jared, Simon and Mallory along with their hobgoblin friend Thimbletack, find Mulgarath's palace to rescue their mother and retrieve the Field Guide they discover his plan : to create an army of Dragons which when allied with the Goblins will form an unstoppable force with which Mulgarath will conquer the world. Fortunately the Dragons are still babies and have not yet matured so Mallory is able to use her fencing skills to kill the mother Dragon whilst Simon begrudgingly kills the infant Dragons, something which he does not do lightly as he is a very sensitive individual who cares greatly about animals.
Jared, Simon and Mallory then infiltrate the palace and find their mother imprisoned in a tower along with their father whom they release but they discover to their horro that he is in fact Mulgarath in disguise. Mulgarath seizes Simon and Mallory (who drops her sword) and mocks Jared saying that he can do nothing to stop him. Jared, knowing that Mulgarath like most Ogres is narcissistic tricks him into bragging about his plan and revealing the whereabouts of the Field Guide; beneath his Throne. He then flings Simon and Mallory out of the window. Fortunately they grab onto chains and hang on for their lives. Jared seizes Mallory's sword in a rage and attacks Mulgarath who falls out of the window but catches onto a chain. Jared then goes to rescue his siblings but sees Mulgarath turn into a Dragon and climb up the chain. Jared cuts away the chain with a sword and Mulgarath falls but transforms into a bird in the nick of time and is about to lead his army of Goblins into the palace to kill the children when Thimbletack the hobgoblin seizes Mulgarath out of the air and bites off his head, killing the evil ogre instantly. Jared, Simon, Mallory and Thimbletack then subsequently escape with the Field Guide.

Personality
Mulgarath is regarded as highly ruthless and sadistic by those around him, viewing all others as tools to be used or obstacles to be demolished. He is in many ways the archetypal evil overlord. He has a twisted genius, a psychopathic outlook on human life and a fantastic ego accompanied by an insatiable lust for power. Mulgarath possesses a great intellect, able to concot highly convoluted evil schemes, a trait he shares with most ogres according to Arthur Spiderwick. He has also shown Machiavellian tendencies with regards to his connections with others, an example being him lying to the Dwarves to manipulate them into serving him then disposing of them when they were of no further use to him. Another trait Mulgarath shares with other ogres is his arrogance with leads to his downfall when he reveals the whereabouts of the Field Guide before disposing of his enemies believing that they cannot defeat him. This is a mistake of many villains in fiction who will gloat when they have their enemy at their mercy so that said enemy can appreciate the brilliance of the villain's plan before meeting his or her demise.

Film
In the film adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Mulgarath will be voiced by Nick Nolte.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu