A Tale of... / Characters

Character tropes that apply to the Disney A Tale of... books.

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In General

The Odd Sisters

The Odd Sisters (Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha White)

A trio of sisters who are related to Snow White.

Creepy Twins: They're an odd trio of triplets, who only become odder the more you spend with them.
Clashing Cousins: They're distant cousins of Snow who attempt to kill her several times. Snow is initially friendly towards them but soon learns to fear them.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: They're gastly pale and have glossy black hair.

Finishing Each Other's Sentences: They speak this way.
I Was Quite a Looker: In their youth, they're described quite attractively. Their resemblance to their cousin Snow White is strong.
Royal Blood: They're related to Snow White and her father.
Same-Sex Triplets: They're a trio of sisters. In A Tale of the Old Witch, it's specifically mentioned that identical triplets are considered lucky for witches.
Single-Minded Twins: They're pretty much one person divided into three. They're indistinguishable from each other.
Telepathy: They can both read each other's minds and the minds of others.
Would Hurt a Child: They casually discuss chopping up and eating Snow White in front of her. The Queen initially thinks they're just teasing Snow, however it soon becomes apparent that they seriously want to harm her.

Circe

The fourth, non-triplet sister of the Odd Sisters. She was the Enchantress that cursed the Beast.

White Sheep: She's the token good one out of her family.

Nanny

Maleficent's adopted mother… and the sister of the Fairy Godmother.

Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She goes by "Nanny" even after she stops being a nanny.
Innocent Blue Eyes: She has light blue eyes befitting her sweet demeanor.
My Greatest Failure: She considers failing Maleficent to be her greatest failure.
No Name Given: Her real name is never stated.
Telepathy: She can read other's minds.

Tulip Morningstar

Princess Tulip Moringstar

Driven to Suicide: After the Prince kicks her out while having an episode, she attempts to end her life by jumping off of a cliff into the ocean. However, Ursula saves her and attempts to make a deal with her in exchange for her beauty and voice, but Circe makes Ursula undo it.

Characters From Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen

Queen Grimhilde

The Queen/Grimhilde

Abusive Parents: She ends up becoming one to Snow after her husband dies. It starts out with neglecting her due to grief, however eventually it turns into emotional abuse and overprotectiveness. She even slapped Snow once.
Adaptational Nice Guy: In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs she's just plain evil and it's assumed that she was always a bitter step-mother. The Perspective Flip in the book shows that she used to be a nice woman and a good step-mother, but she was corrupted over time. Even then, she comes off as overprotective of Snow instead of purely resentful and she only grows to truly hate her due to a potion's influence.
Affectionate Nickname: She refers to Snow White as "little bird".
Beauty to Beast: She goes from a beautiful young queen to an evil old crone.
Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: She attempted to be a great mother to her step-daughter, unlike how her father treated her, however this only lasted a few years before her Sanity Slippage began. After the King died, Grimhilde became grief-stricken and slowly became abusive towards Snow.
Death Equals Redemption: She lets herself be killed under this belief. As the Slave in the Mirror, she's much more caring than she was prior to her death.
Disabled in the Adaptation: It's implied that her behavior is in-part due to mental illness.
Disney Villain Death: As in the original film, she falls to her death. This time, however, she chooses to do so.
Driven to Suicide: The Odd Sisters give her a choice: run into the woods and be safe or go up the cliff and die. The queen chooses death.
Dying as Yourself: The Queen grows increasingly evil and more cruel as the book goes on. In her final moments she's given a choice on how to die and ultimately chooses to sacrifice herself. She ends up dying with a clear mind.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Over the course of the book she becomes a cold and cruel queen.
Good Stepmother: She intentionally strived to be a loving step-mother to Snow White, unlike fairy-tale mothers she knows of, precisely because she herself had an abusive parent growing up. Even after she spiraled into villainy, she had a warped overprotective mother instinct towards Snow more than anything. It only became pure hatred when she was given a Psycho Serum.
Green-Eyed Monster: Her defining trait after she goes off the deep end. She tries to resist but she becomes jealous of the beauty of her friend Verona and later her daughter Snow. She's also shown to be jealous of how the love of her life died, yet Verona and Snow White are able to find love.
He Who Fights Monsters: The Queen hated her father and refused to become like him when she became a mother. She put the extra effort to be the opposite of him. Unfortunately, she ends up eventually becoming just like him.
I Am Not Pretty: A major component to her character is her inability to recognize her own beauty. She loathes being seen without her make-up on or her hair done. This is due to her father's abuse towards her.
I Just Want to Be Loved: She grew up in an abusive household and didn't know love until she met the King.
I Just Want to Be Beautiful: Due to her father's abuse, she has a complex about her appearance.
My Beloved Smother: Her abusive treatment of Snow is due to her overprotectiveness. She believes that keeping her inside the castle as little more than a servant will build character and keep her away from the evil's of the world (especially love). Even when Snow White is an adult, as the Slave in the Mirror she is still overprotective and isn't fond of Snow being with people she doesn't know.
Named by the Adaptation: Inverted. Contemporary supplementary material for the film referred to her as "Grimhilde", however Disney has since stopped using that name. Like in all modern depictions, she's just "the Queen". Unusually, in Maleficent's book she is repeatedly called "Grimhilde".
No Name Given: In her book she's referred to by everything but her actual name. It gets a bit odd when she's referred to as "the Queen" even before she became queen.
Offing the Offspring: Attempted. She thought about killing Snow, but refused to actually do it. A potion made of the Odd Sister's spit gave her the ability to overcome her caution.
Prematurely Grey-Haired: After her husband dies, she starts getting greys.
Psycho Serum: Near the end, she is given a potion which drives her to kill Snow White. Prior to that, though jealous, she wasn't cruel enough to outright murder her daughter.
Rags to Royalty: She started out as the simple daughter of a mirror maker before she was courted by the king and made into his wife.
Soul Jar: The epilogue reveals that she's the new person in the mirror.
Strong Family Resemblance: She looks near-identical to her mother, however she doesn't see the resemblance until she's an adult due to her father's emotional abuse.
The Stoic: She was always a bit aloof but became cold and stoic after her husband died.
Trademark Favorite Food: Strawberries and cream, due to fond childhood memories involving it.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: Downplayed. She's the most beautiful woman in "all the land", meaning her kingdom alone. Eventually, she stops being the most beautiful as her grief takes a toll on her.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She is described as a beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair.

Snow White

Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- A justified example in that the book shows Snow's reaction towards her father's death.
- Future books mention that Snow is plagued with nightmares due to her childhood experiences.
A Child Shall Lead Them: Implied. By age fourteen, both the king and queen were dead. Snow was the only royal left in the kingdom. Snow is shown as a queen into adulthood, showing that sometime or another she became queen.
Cheerful Child: She was an adorably cheerful child, even after her father's death.
Creepy Child: The Queen has nightmares of Snow White where she's a dead child with no eyes who is coated in blood.
Death Is a Sad Thing: She doesn't initially understand what the Queen means when she says that her father can't ever come home again.
Friend to All Living Things: Deconstructed. The Queen, at least, believes that Snow has gone mad in her grief to the point where she talks to woodland creatures for comfort.
Full-Name Basis: "White" is her surname, yet she's rarely just called "Snow".

The Ingenue: She's pure and innocent. She's so pure, she is even willing to mend her relationship with her stepmother after she becomes the new slave in the mirror.
Parental Title Characterization:
- As a toddler she referred to her step-mother and father as "Momma" and "Daddy" respectively, showing that she loved them both dearly. As a teenager she switches to calling the Queen "Mother" to signify their distancing relationship. As an adult she uses "Momma" in private when talking to the mirror, showing she's come to terms with her past.
- Her biological mother is always referred to as "Mother", showing that Snow doesn't know her.
Official Couple: With the Prince.
Picky Eater: As a child she was a finicky eater, especially when it came to meat due to feeling bad for the animals.
The Pollyanna: This is a thorn in the side of her step-mother. She's unable to figure out how Snow can be so happy even after losing her father, and she considers her loving the prince to be betrayal towards her father's memory.
The Quiet One: She's soft-spoken and quiet in part because of the Queen's overprotective nature. Her mother doesn't like her being around people she doesn't know or trust.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has dark black hair, red rosy lips, and pale skin.
Rescue Romance: She meets the Prince when he rescues her from a well.
Riches to Rags: The Queen forces her to act as a Scullery Maid in order to keep her away from the Prince.
True Blue Femininity: She mentions that her favorite colour is blue. Snow White is a very feminine and regal girl.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: She surpasses her step-mother as the most beautiful in all the land.

King White

The King

Doomed by Canon: He never appears in the original film. He's killed in battle halfway through the book.
The Good King: He's a good and just king. He's also a Good Parent to Snow White.
The Lost Lenore: To Queen Grimhilde. His death leads to her spiraling into a depression and leaves her open to emotional manipulation.
Messy Hair: After coming back from the war, his wife notes that his appearance has changed, including his hair now being unkempt.
Unnamed Parent: He’s just called “King White”.
Official Couple: He marries Grimhilde early on in the story.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: He decided to join the war effort instead of staying put in his castle.

Queen Rose

Deceased Parents Are the Best: She's described as nothing but kind.
Meaningful Name: Rose is shown to have loved flowers.
Missing Mom: She died of an unspecified illness when Snow was an infant.
Posthumous Character: She died a while prior to the book. Snow White has no memories of her.
The Tragic Rose: One line mentions that her name was "Rose". She died prior to the story.

The Maker of Mirrors

Abusive Parents: He physically and verbally abused his daughter, blaming her for his problems and making her believe she was ugly.
Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with the Odd Sisters. His wife was barren and he bartered his soul in exchange for a child. It's unknown if that led to his wife's death or not, but he blamed his daughter for his wife's death.
Dying Declaration of Hate: He cursed his daughter with his dying breath.
Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: He blames the Queen for her mother's death. It's also implied that he regrets having done his Deal with the Devil in order to conceive the Queen.
Posthumous Character: He died prior to the start of the book.
Unnamed Parent: He's the Queen's father, but is unnamed.

Queen Grimhilde's Mother

The Queen's Mother

Death by Childbirth: She died giving birth to the Queen. It's described as quite a painful way to die.
Missing Mom: She died giving birth to the Queen, leaving her daughter with no memories of her. The Queen sympathizes with Snow as a result.
Posthumous Character: She died when the Queen was born.
Unnamed Parent: She's never named.
Deceased Parents Are the Best: She's described as a sweet and benevolent woman.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She had beautiful black hair, sparkling onyx eyes, and fair skin.

Verona

Doomed by Canon: She's the Queen's best friend but never appears in the film. The Queen banished her to another kingdom after she became jealous of her.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Verona is the Queen's sweet and friendly lady-in-waiting. She has hair the colour of "milk-and-honey".
Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: She's the Queen's closest commodore and they talk to each other almost as if they're equals. Their friendship comes to an abrupt end when the Queen starts growing jealous of Verona.
Rags to Riches: After being sent away to a far-off kingdom, she ends up marrying a lord.
World's Most Beautiful Woman: She surpasses the Queen as the most beautiful woman in the kingdom after the King's death takes a toll on the Queen. The Queen ends up shipping Verona to another kingdom in order to get around this issue.

The Man in the Mirror

Adaptation Name Change: He's more-often referred to as "the Slave" than "the Man in the Mirror".
Adaptational Villainy: Due to being the soul of the Queen's abusive father.
Ambiguously Evil: He claims that he is unable to lie, but it's hard to tell if he is telling the Queen the truth or whether or not he's manipulating her. It's less ambiguous in Mistress of Evil when Maleficent sees the Slave yelling and berating at the queen, though the flashback may not be accurate since it wasn't real.
Magic Mirror: He's a man in a mirror who can see all in the land and tell others secrets. He, however, cannot see into the afterlife.
Related in the Adaptation: With the Queen. He is her father.
Soul Jar: He was once a man but made a deal with the Odd Sisters in exchange for his soul.

Prince Charming

The Good King: Implied to have become this, as Snow White is now The High Queen and the Odd Sisters in their own book mockingly call him “King Charming”.
No Name Given: He's just "Prince Charming".
Official Couple: With Snow White.
Prince Charming: He's a nice and noble prince from another kingdom who becomes smitten with Snow.

The Huntsman

Death by Adaptation: Possibly. The Queen stabs him when she realizes that he gave her a pig's heart, however it's never clarified if he survived or not.
No Name Given: He is only referred to as "(the) Huntsman".
Sadistic Choice: He's given a choice: he either kills his friend Snow White or he (or worse, his family) gets killed.

Tilley

Shrinking Violet: She's extremely nervous and shy. The Queen considers her weak due to her shyness.

Marcus

Cool Uncle: He's the King's kind uncle.

Vivian

In-Series Nickname: She gets referred to as Aunt Viv a few times.

Characters From The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince

The Beast/Prince

Belle

Gaston

Adaptational Nice Guy: Gaston comes off as a nicer, less misogynistic person in The Beast Within than he is in Beauty and the Beast, although he is still a villainous figure by the end of it.
Know When to Fold Them: Compare to his determination to have Belle as his wife no matter what in the Disney film, he stops pursuing her when it's clear she won't return his advances and discouraged the Prince from doing the same.

Characters From Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch

Ursula

Related in the Adaptation: She is Triton's sister, which is taken from earlier scripts and the Broadway musical.

King Triton

Characters From Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy

Maleficent

All of the Other Reindeer: From birth, all of the other fairies feared her because of her abnormally angular appearance, horns, and green skin.
Colour-Coded Emotions: Maleficent's skin changes colors depending on her mood. It's a light purple when she's either happy or nervous, but turns green when she's bitter.
Death by Adaptation: Her death is clearly stated here, unlike in Sleeping Beauty where it's still implied but is more vague.
Fictional Disability: She's a fairy who was born with no wings. This, along with her unusual appearance, causes other fairies to wonder if she's even a fairy.
Happily Adopted: She was taken in by Nanny at age four and grew up content with her adopted mother.
Homeschooled Kids: She ended up homeschooled in order to avoid bullying and because the school was below her skill level.
Meaningful Name: The fairies named her after Mars because he's a chaotic god of destruction and Saturn because of its "unfavorable influence". Early on it was an Ironic Name, but Maleficent grew into her name.
Painful Transformation: Transforming into her dragon form is very painful for Maleficent.
Parental Abandonment: Her biological parents abandoned her at birth.
Parental Title Characterization: Subverted. She referred to "Nanny" as such, and only calls her "Mother" once, but that didn't mean they had a bad relationship. Nanny is just, well, "Nanny" to everyone.
Raised by Wolves: She was born in the hollow of a tree full of crows and didn't have any contact with other fairies until she was four. She couldn't even talk.
Related in the Adaptation: She is the adopted niece of Cinderella's fairy godmother and is Aurora's mother.
She's All Grown Up: Nanny mentions she grew into herself as a teenager.
Sweet Tooth: Her mother bakes often (especially when she's nervous), so Maleficent is accustomed to sweets. Her favorite food is maple butter.
That Man Is Dead: After being reunited, she tells Nanny that the old Maleficent is gone due to her.
Truly Single Parent: Aurora was born of a spell that took all the good from Maleficent.

Fairy Godmother

Adaptational Jerkass: Fairy Godmother was judgemental towards Maleficent in her youth and believed she was destined for evil.
Fairy Godmother: In particular, she's Cinderella's godmother.

Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather

Adaptational Jerkass: They heckle and bully Maleficent to the point where they try to sabotage her exam. However they're not outright villains.
The Bully: They mock and put down Maleficent for her looks.
Girl Posse: Merryweather bosses Fauna and Flora around. She's the leader of their group.

Aurora

Adaptation Name Change: She's referred to as both "Aurora" and "Rose", but not "Briar Rose".
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: She's this because she's a manifestation of alll of Maleficent's goodness.
Related in the Adaptation: Maleficent is her mother, not Leah.
Unrelated in the Adaptation: Leah and Stefan aren't her biological parents.

Characters From Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch

Gothel

Abusive Parents: Downplayed. Gothel is an awful, emotionally abusive mother to Rapunzel, but this is because she didn't raise her as a mother. For the first eight years, Mrs. Tiddlebottom had raised Rapunzel, while Gothel only interacted with the child in the bare minimum. For the next decade, Rapunzel was in a magical coma where she simply dreamed Gothel was mothering her. In reality, Gothel doesn't even know how to be a mother.
Adaptation Personality Change: Gothel isn't obsessed with beauty like she is in Tangled. Her reasons for wanting to stay young and youthful forever stem from wanting to be together with her two sisters Hazel and Primrose, not from simple vanity. There's also a tinge of death anxiety to Gothel's character; she doesn't want to "suffer the indignity of death" and turn to dust like her mother did.
Angst Coma: After her sisters die, Gothel is put into a magical coma to save her the grief. She could only awaken once her heart recovered. However, several centuries past and she didn't awake. She likely would have never if not forcibly awoken.
Angsty Surviving Twin: Her two sisters die at the same time. For the rest of her life, Gothel tries in vain to revive them.
Black Sheep: Manea describes her as her "black-hearted daughter". Gothel has a coldness that her sisters don't, because she's the only one born of Manea.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Gothel is the black-haired one out of her sisters.
Bookworm: As a child, she always had her head in books. Her large amount of knowledge serves vital to her as an adult.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She didn't become evil until she woke up from her coma, thanks to the Odd Sisters, but even then, she still deeply loves Hazel and Primrose.
Immortal Immaturity: Despite being several centuries old, she's not particularly mature. She hasn't had much life experience, as she's either been in a coma or she's dedicated her time trying to revive her family.
Large Ham: She's very theatric and hammy. This is lampshaded several times.
Lima Syndrome: Defied. Gothel put Rapunzel in a coma precisely so that she didn't have to deal with the girl.
Odd Name Out: As Gothel notes herself, she's the only one out of her sisters who doesn't have a floral name. This made her feel like The Unfavorite growing up. It's actually due to Gothel being the only one who is Manea's biological daughter.
Messy Hair: As a child, her hair was wild and unruly. Twigs and leaves would often get stuck in it due to her adventurous, curious nature leading her into odd places.
My Beloved Smother: Rapunzel believes that Gothel is this, but in reality Gothel doesn't care about Rapunzel and has barely been there in her life.
Parental Neglect: She interacts with Rapunzel the most after Rapunzel is awoken from her comatose state at eighteen. Prior to that, they only interacted so that Gothel could use her powers.
Same-Sex Triplets: She and her sisters are an all-female set of triplets. Or actually, they're not. None of them are biologically related.
Self-Made Orphan: She killed her mother to protect her sisters.
Significant Wardrobe Shift: To go with her malicious character shift, Gothel begins dressing up like the Odd Sisters. She even curls her naturally straight hair like them. It's enough to creep even them out.
Strong Family Resemblance: Gothel resembles her mother Manea closely. This is due to her essentially being a clone of her mother.
Terms of Endangerment: Gothel calls Rapunzel "my little flower" but it's not affectionate. She means it literally. She sees Rapunzel as just the flower.
Tragic Dream: Gothel wanted nothing more than to bring her sisters back to life and live forever with them. This is heavily implied to be impossible. Even if it did work, Primrose and Hazel didn't want to be brought back to life in the first place.
Would Hurt a Child: Unlike Primrose and Hazel, Gothel isn't that unnerved by having to use Undead Children.

Manea

Abusive Parents: She's emotionally abusive towards all three of her daughters, but especially so to Primrose and Hazel for being "weak hearted". This is due to them being adopted.
Doomed by Canon: Gothel never mentions her mother. This is because she's killed a few chapters in.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: She has long, black hair and pale skin, but she's described as looking like a skull come to life.
Lean and Mean: She's described as having a thin, skull-like face, which only adds to her intimidating looks.
My Beloved Smother: She's rarely present in her kids' lives, but her presence is smothering and ominous to them nevertheless.
Parental Neglect: Manea doesn't spend much time with her triplets, leaving them to play on their own.
Telepathy: She could hear her daughters' thoughts.
Truly Single Parent: Manea created her children, or more specifically Gothel, using magic.
Would Hurt a Child: She doesn't have any issue killing kids and turning them into zombies. She also doesn't have any issue with trying to hurt her own kids.

Hazel

Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Hazel is the blonde-haired (actually, silver-haired) one out of her sisters.
Implausible Hair Color: She was born with silver hair.
Oblivious Adoption: She was adopted but never knew. Manea stole her from a village and raised her as her own to act as entertainment for Gothel.
Same-Sex Triplets: She and her sisters are an all-female set of triplets. Or actually, they're not. None of them are biologically related.
The Quiet One: Hazel is even quieter than Gothel. When she speaks, it's important. Hazel prefers to listen then talk.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: There's a shift in the story after Manea kills a village and makes everyone into zombies. Hazel can't stand her mother's cruelty.

Primrose

Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Primrose is the redheaded one out of her sisters.
Fiery Redhead: Primrose is very emotionally driven and lighthearted, which leads to clashes with her more quiet sisters.
The Heart: She's very emotional and sensitive. Hazel is outright describes as Gothel's heart.
Oblivious Adoption: She was adopted but never knew. Manea stole her from a village and raised her as her own to act as Gothel's heart.
Same-Sex Triplets: She and her sisters are an all-female set of triplets. Or actually, they're not. None of them are biologically related.
Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: She's noted for her striking green eyes and red hair. It stands out especially so from the rest of her family.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: There's a shift in the story after Manea kills a village and makes everyone into zombies. Like Hazel, Primrose is horrified by the zombified children.
Youthful Freckles: She has a light amount of freckles on her face, fitting her plucky and adventurous attitude.

Rapunzel

Floral Theme Naming: Rapunzel is named after the rapunzel flower that her mother ate prior to her birth. However, she's named this because Gothel sees Rapunzel as simply the flower. She doesn't care about Rapunzel as a person.
Love at First Sight: Deconstructed, at least in the Odd Sisters' minds. Rapunzel's poor upbringing led to her latching onto the first man she sees.
Oblivious Adoption: Rapunzel has no clue that Mother Gothel stole her. She only learns about this after turning eighteen and venturing on her own.
Your Mind Makes It Real: While in her coma, Rapunzel had a spell put on her that allowed everything she dreamed to appear as paintings in her room. This explains why the tower is painted, despite Rapunzel being asleep for ten years.

Eugene Fitzherbert/Flynn Rider

Demoted to Extra: Due to the novel's focus on Gothel, Eugene only appears in a few scant scenes late in the book.
Disney Death: Rapunzel, with the help of Circe, brings Eugene back to life shortly after he is killed.
Heroic Sacrifice: He dies so that Rapunzel won't be imprisoned by Gothel. However, he is quickly brought back to life.

Sir Jacob

One of Manea's skeleton soldiers.

Implied Love Interest: His relationship with Manea is vague, but at minimum Gothel believes there may have been something between them.
- The novel about the Odd Sisters confirms they were indeed lovers and the biological parents of Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha.
Our Zombies Are Different: He's undead, but unlike the rest of the horde, he can still talk.
Parental Substitute: He acts as a paternal figure to Gothel.

Mrs. Tiddlebottom

Doomed by Canon: Subverted. Mrs. Tiddlebottom survives the book unscathed, aside from losing eight years of memory.

Mrs. Pickle

Doomed by Canon: She was Rapunzel's milk nurse and later her governess until she was eight. Mrs. Pickle is then killed by the Odd Sisters.
Food Theme Naming: Pickles.

Characters from The Odd Sisters

Nestis

Manea's mother, who is also Hades' wife Persephone.

Characters from Evil Thing

Cruella DeVil

Sanity Slippage: Started falling deeper into this as she tried harder and harder to win her mother’s approval with no success.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Cruella would do anything to win her mother’s love. Nearly everything she does in the book, she does to please her mother and get her to show her love.

Lady De Vil

Abusive Mom: Lady De Vil cannot be bothered to look after her daughter herself, but she can take the time to criticize Cruella for all the things she does wrong, never praising her for anything.
Gold Digger: She is desperate to get Cruella married so she can steal her inheritance.
Karma Houdini: She gets everything she wanted, like her husband’s fortune and freedom from her child, and never suffers as a result of her abuse towards Cruella.

Characters from Cold Hearted

Lady Tremaine

Troubled Abuser: Lady Tremaine loved Cinderella at first, but Sir Richard was terribly abusive to her and her daughters. When Lady Tremaine planned to escape in secret, Cinderella told her father, not realizing the consequences or why she’d want to leave. Sir Richard attacked his new wife and locked her in her room until she submitted to his will. Bitter and desperate, she killed Sir Richard to escape his abuse. Her abuse of Cinderella afterwards is revenge for squealing to her father and ruining her best chance to get out.

Sir Richard

Abusive Parents: Even though he clearly adored his child, he spoiled her and kept her shut away from society so that she had No Social Skills, and taught her to obey orders without question. Even if he had the best of intentions, keeping his child isolated and valuing her obedience above all else is bad parenting. And that’s not even mentioning how mean he is to his stepdaughters.
Adaptational Villainy: Even from what little we saw and heard of Cinderella’s father, it was always heavily implied that he was a kind man and devoted father who did no wrong. In Cold Hearted, her father, Sir Richard, is actually an abusive husband to Lady Tremaine, having married her for her first husband’s inheritance and forcing her to cook and clean for the family. Not only that, he abused Anastasia and Drizella, always seeing them as less than his own daughter, who, while adored by her father, was kept isolated by him and taught to obey him without question, which we all know will end up biting her back in her predestined future.
Gold Digger: He seduced the widowed Lady Tremaine for her inheritance from her first husband.
Named by the Adaptation: He wasn’t named in his brief appearance in the movie, but in the book, he is named Richard.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Everything Richard does, he does for the sake of his daughter’s well-being and happiness. However, he’s so wrapped up in fulfilling his own child’s needs and desires, he completely neglects those of his second wife and stepdaughters, to the point where he abuses all three of them when he believes they will be a threat to Cinderella’s future.
Wicked Stepfather: Whether you can believe it or not. Like Lady Tremaine in the future/original story, he blatantly favored his biological child and abused his stepdaughters. He forced them to help their mother, whom he also abused, with the household chores, and denied them the opportunities that he gave Cinderella freely.

Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine

Earn Your Happy Ending: They go through the loss of their father, domestic abuse from the stepfather and being trapped by the fairies in Cinderella’s chateau, making their mother going through Sanity Slippage, but they eventually get freed by the Fairy Godmother and her sister, get to apologise to their stepsister and are offered the choice whether to go back to London or stay in the Many Kingdoms.
Spoiled Brat: They are still pretty bratty as kids, and their mother acknowledges that she’s spoiled them.
The Unfavorite: Their stepfather prefers Cinderella to them. He makes them do chores and thinks they’re too ugly to present at court.

Cinderella

The Dutiful Daughter: She is fiercely loyal and considerate to her father’s feelings, and would do anything he asked of her. Sadly, this is a tragic example, as her love for her father blinds her to his faults.
Fatal Flaw: Cinderella has her father Sir Richard up on a pedestal and believes he can do no wrong. She cannot recognize that he is abusive to her stepmother and stepsisters, and does not even imagine he would hurt Lady Tremaine when she warns him that she is trying to leave.

Innocently Insensitive: Cinderella is still her sweet self, but it’s shown she has No Social Skills due to her father isolating her. She repeats her father’s words that she isn’t allowed to call Lady Tremaine “Mama”, and of her own mother always being lady of the house, no matter whom else her papa weds, not understanding that such things are hurtful to her stepmother. What’s more, Cinderella’s intense loyalty and love for her father so blinds her to his less-than-noble traits that she does not think it a betrayal telling him that her stepmother was trying to leave him. This act, sadly, sets off Lady Tremaine’s hatred for the girl, and with it, the events in the original story.
No Social Skills: Cinderella has been isolated by her dad her whole life. So when she finally meets her stepsisters, her poor choice of words can come off as condescending and flaunting herself.
Official Couple: With the Prince.
Rags to Royalty: The poster girl for this trope.
Riches to Rags: She went from a beloved daughter of a wealthy household to a maid for her Wicked Stepmother, who hated her for unintentionally foiling her plans to escape.
The Stool Pigeon: An Obedient Olga-type. Cinderella didn’t know why her stepmother wanted to leave her father, or that she was doing anything wrong by telling him. She thought she was just being The Dutiful Daughter as always and giving her father a heads up. She had no idea her father was abusive and would attack her stepmother for trying to escape. Sadly, this one little mistake sets forth the tragic events of her beloved fairytale.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: For herself. If only Cinderella hadn’t told her father about Lady Tremaine’s plans to leave him, her stepfamily would have been gone, and they would not have killed her father or had her Forced Into Servitude.

Characters / A Tale of...

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