Mother Gothel
Mother Knows Best
History
Age: 42
Sin: Greed
Film: Tangled
Lost Item: Golden Flower
Face Claim: Helena Bonham Carter
Film
As an elderly woman near the end of her life, Mother Gothel is the single witness of a drop of pure sunlight falling to the ground, creating a magical flower with healing abilities. When she sings to it and strokes its petals, she becomes younger and beautiful. Determined to keep herself beautiful and young forever, Gothel selfishly hoards the flower's power while keeping its gift a secret from the rest of the world. Centuries pass, and in that time, a kingdom prospers nearby. Its queen falls deathly ill while pregnant, and the entire kingdom searches for a cure: the fabled magic flower. Upon finding it, the king's guards uproot the plant and use it to create a tea that cures the queen, much to Gothel's dismay. The flower's abilities, meanwhile, are passed onto the Queen's child, Rapunzel. In the dead of night, Mother Gothel breaks into the castle and uses Rapunzel's long golden hair to replenish herself. When she tries to cut some of the hair for herself, however, it turns brown and the healing powers are destroyed. Desperate, Mother Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel and disappears into the night. She isolates the princess in a tower hidden in a forest far away from the rest of the kingdom and raises her as her own daughter and naughts her the healing incantation. To ensure she keeps her new magic flower hidden, Mother Gothel refuses to let Rapunzel go outside, lying and telling her the world is a dangerous place where selfish people would try to hurt her and steal her hair to use her gift for themselves, while ironically, using her for her desperate need to stay young.Eighteen years after Rapunzel's abduction, Mother Gothel is still as manipulative and "overprotective" as ever. Since childhood, Rapunzel has witnessed "floating lights" covering the sky every year on her birthday (really floating lanterns the king and queen set free to remember their lost daughter) and wants to find out what they are. On the wake of her eighteenth birthday, she works up the courage to finally ask Mother Gothel permission to see the lights in person. Fearing that she may be losing control over her flower, Mother Gothel uses subtle jabs, over-the-top guilt trips, and refrains of "Mother Knows Best" to keep Rapunzel from leaving, before firmly, and darkly ordering Rapunzel to never ask to leave the tower, again. Heartbroken, Rapunzel accepts. Subsequently, Mother Gothel leaves the tower once more, and during her absence, their home is invaded by an "on-the-run thief", who Rapunzel manages to knock unconscious and hide in the closet. When Mother Gothel returns, Rapunzel pushes her with requests to leave the tower (hoping to use the unconscious Flynn as proof that she can handle herself in the outside world). Before she is given the chance, however, Mother Gothel angrily yells, "You are not leaving this tower, EVER!". Rejected, Rapunzel changes the subject to focus on her oncoming birthday and asks Mother Gothel for paint made from white seashells as a birthday gift, which will require a three-day journey. Confident that Rapunzel is safe, an initially hesitant Mother Gothel agrees.While on her way, Mother Gothel is encountered by a palace horse, though without a rider. Upon realizing this, she fearfully assumes the royal guards may have found the whereabouts of Rapunzel and rushes back to the tower. There, she frantically calls for Rapunzel to let down her hair, but no response is given. Mother Gothel quickly uses the secret back passageway to barge her way inside and begins a search throughout the tower. Unfortunately for her, Rapunzel is nowhere to be found. She instead finds a satchel and inside lies Rapunzel's crown from the kingdom. The sight brings a rush of a shock to Mother Gothel before a further investigation reveals a wanted poster with an illustration of the thief Flynn Rider. Mother Gothel deduces Flynn had some involvement with Rapunzel's disappearance, and leaves the tower to kill him and reclaim her flower—dagger in hand and filled with bloodlust. When Mother Gothel comes across the Snuggly Duckling tavern, however, she overhears Rapunzel singing how happy she is now that she has left the tower. She spies Rapunzel and Flynn escaping through a hidden tunnel when the royal guards arrive and flirts with a Pub Thug before threatening him to find out where it leads.After following Shorty's instructions to the end of the tunnel, Mother Gothel soon comes across the Stabbington Brothers, who are out to get back at Flynn for betraying them. Using this to her advantage, Gothel gives them the crown but tells them she can offer them an even greater treasure, along with revenge on Flynn. The offer entices them, and they officially join Mother Gothel's side as her accomplices. That night, Gothel finds Rapunzel and reveals herself while Flynn is out getting firewood. She goes for a direct approach in trying to bring Rapunzel back to the tower, but Rapunzel refuses, wanting to continue her journey and admitting she has some affection toward Flynn, believing them to be reciprocated. Mother Gothel insists that Rapunzel is being naïve and the only reason why Flynn is with her is to get the crown back, which she thrusts into Rapunzel's hands and orders her to give it to him as a test of his loyalty to her before vanishing. Though Rapunzel stands her ground, Mother Gothel's words are enough to bring doubt into her mind, successfully sparking her plot.Mother Gothel's plan is put into action while Flynn and Rapunzel watch the lanterns the next evening. Rapunzel gives Flynn his satchel to show that she trusts him. But before they kiss, Flynn spies the Stabbington Brothers on the opposite shore and tells Rapunzel to wait as he goes to talk to them. Flynn tries to apologize and return the crown to them, but they reveal that they now know about Rapunzel's powers. They find Rapunzel and tell her Flynn left with it and told them about her healing powers. She refuses to believe them until they point out Flynn sailing away on a boat, ignoring her screams. Before they can kidnap Rapunzel, Mother Gothel betrays them to appear she's rescuing her. She leads the heartbroken Rapunzel home, and Flynn, who was knocked out and tied to the boat's mast, is caught by the guards, who prepare to hang him the next morning.Back at home, Mother Gothel undoes Rapunzel's braid and reminds her that the world is intolerant of joy and happiness and will destroy any ray of sunshine it finds as the finishing touch of destroying the princess' glimmers of optimism. After she leaves Rapunzel's bedroom to fix dinner, she overhears assorted commotion coming from the room and heads up to check on Rapunzel. Before she can enter, she is confronted by Rapunzel, who has managed to somehow uncover the truth behind her upbringing, confidently announcing her realization that she's the lost princess and that Gothel isn't her real mother. Stunned, she nervously tries to suppress these revelations, but Rapunzel denies her words. With her patience wearing thin, Gothel desperately claims her actions were out of love, but her manipulations no longer affect Rapunzel. Angered Gothel has lied and imprisoned Rapunzel her whole life for her own gain, Rapunzel physically denies the abuse and proclaims Gothel will never again be allowed to use her hair's magic from that moment forward, just as Gothel breaks free only to shatter the mirror. With her mind made up, Rapunzel starts to make her leave from the tower, but a now openly sinister Mother Gothel retaliates. Off-screen, Gothel chains Rapunzel to the wall and puts a gag on her face.Meanwhile, Flynn manages to escape the palace and journeys to rescue Rapunzel. When he arrives at the tower, he is fatally stabbed in the stomach by Mother Gothel. As Flynn starts to die from blood loss, Gothel begins to forcefully drag a shackled Rapunzel out of the tower, with the intent of finding a new hideaway where Rapunzel will be forced into slavery. Desperate to save Flynn, Rapunzel vows that she will never keep trying to break free of her and is no longer going to listen, but promises to go with Mother Gothel quietly if she is allowed to heal him. Knowing Rapunzel never breaks a promise, Mother Gothel agrees. However, Flynn uses the opportunity to cut off most of Rapunzel's hair with a shard of glass before she can heal him, causing the hair to turn brown and lose its magic, allowing Rapunzel her freedom and Mother Gothel with no more power. With the source of her healing powers gone, a horrified Mother Gothel tries to salvage Rapunzel's hair and rapidly begins to age when doing so. In the midst of her hysteria, she fails to see Pascal pulling the length of Rapunzel's cut hair, which trips Gothel to fall out of the tower window. By the time Gothel's cloak finally hits the ground, only dust remains of her.
Fatal Flaw
Obsession and impatient
After losing the man she loved, she started losing her patience with everyone. She snipped at adults and children making her look both angry and crazy to others. She'd quickly "reset" and correct her behavior to keep face with others.She can't bring herself to break certain habits. When something catches her eye, she's focused on that more than the average person should. Mother Gothel knows that money wouldn't hurt her like humans have. She makes sure to ensue as much as she can to keep providing a better life than what she has right now, even if she is stuck being a "mother" because of the decisions she made in her youth.
Occupation
Headmaster of Citadel Orphanage
Mother Gothel is the headmaster and owns an orphanage in her home. She made sure to make it look like a wonderful place for children without parents. When it was first opened, she made sure to be the mother these children needed and wanted. But over time she started losing all the spark and energy to continue to do that for over twenty children.With the money from the government, she made sure her building was up to code, the kids had food, and enough employees to take care of the kids. She resents her employees since they can go home and get away from all the children while she is stuck at this place, and stuck doing night duty.The kids are taught discipline and chores making them ideal for parents. The children are bussed to school and when they come home they are forced to do their homework before their chores, and their chores before they are able to relax and have fun.
Biography
Life growing up was pretty normal for Gothel. It wasn't until she fell in love with a man who was rich and powerful as a teenager that her life would take a turn for the worse.Promising her all the places to travel, all the money, food, and goods she'd ever need Gothel ran away from home to be with him. They lived in a car while they traveled from spot to spot enjoying time together. They were both smitten with each other, both living life as it should be.One day when they were at a famous monument, they both witnessed a starving child. Feeling the need to comfort him, she gave him some food and asked where his parents were. He told her they had died and he wasn't allowed to go back home since his uncle didn't want him. This struck a chord within her heart and picked him up, taking him to their car. She convinced her boyfriend to let them have a hotel for the night so he could get a nice bath and sleep in a warm bed. He agreed easily and even went shopping for some new and warm clothes while she bathed the boy.While the boy was sleeping, the two talked and they agreed to do something good in the world and get a home to open it up to children without a home. They would take care of them until another family could take them. With a new goal in mind, the two set off back to Starfall to figure out exactly what they would need in order to open an orphanage.It took about eight months to get a house, all the paperwork, and the license to be an operating orphanage. On their opening day, they already had three kids living in the home. Her boyfriend and her worked well together taking care of them and providing them with things they would need. It felt like they were one big happy family which got them thinking of having their own children and having a family business.Six months after opening, her boyfriend started looking for other jobs using the excuse that his parents were cutting him off and he wanted to still provide for the orphanage even though they received enough money from the government. Gothel didn't have a reason to deny him, saying it would be good for the children to feel what it's like to have the father out all day and then return home. Get them ready for a real family when they are adopted.For the remainder of the year, Gothel worked as a stay-at-home mother for over ten children ranging from the age of infancy to fourteen. The older children helped as much as they could, but it was starting to wear on Gothel to take care that many kids without the support of her boyfriend. He would always be home around six every night, so there was no reason to doubt that he was going to work and coming home.Gothel was exhausted and asked if they could get someone else to help with her since he was busy at work and couldn't provide the support she needed at the house with that many children, with all the paperwork and even more children potentially transferring in. At first, he agreed and they went to bed, but it was forgotten the next morning. When she would bring it up again, he got angry and smacked her across the face. It shocked Gothel that he could be so volatile, but to keep up a happy front for the children, she kept her feelings and tears down.The anger started coming out more, especially when a hot meal wasn't on the table when he got home, or when the house was dirty. He would scream and throw things around the house, which caused her to protect the children and even raise her voice at him to stop. She hated scaring the children, but she couldn't help what he did.His anger dissipated when Gothel finally told him that she was pregnant. He became happy and would help her out a little around the house when he got home. But he got bored of it after four months. His "work" days started getting longer, and some days he wouldn't even come home claiming he passed out at the office. Gothel didn't get a chance even to question things since she had her hands full with five more children transferring in.Finally, at the twenty-week mark, Gothel broke down crying and screamed at her boyfriend claiming he wasn't here when this was both of their dreams. He was supposed to be here helping her, she couldn't handle fifteen children with one on the way all by herself. It was then he dropped the bomb that he never was working, never was about to be cut off by his parents, and was out looking for other women. He found two wonderful ladies that didn't have children and he could do whatever the hell with them.Gothel felt her heart breaking. How could the man she loved do this to her? They spent so much time together getting everything set up to be a happy family.When he went to bed, she devised a plan. She had gone to the office and started writing out a "will" for the other along with a few other documents that needed to be filed for the children. In the morning, she got him to sign all the papers without looking at them at the kitchen table. She filed everything away and waited. Slowly, she started poisoning his food making him sick but it was subtle that he wouldn't suspect anything other than the flu. He sought medical help and they'd prescribe antibiotics.Gothel continued to play the best "wife" he'd ever receive and would switch out his antibiotics to keep him from getting healthier. Eventually, he was bedridden and Gothel called the doctor to ask what to do. He prescribed stronger medications. This was the thing she had been waiting for. She picked up the medicine and told her loving boyfriend what he needed to take and even showed him the bottle. She gave him one and let him go back to sleep. Then in thirty minutes, she came in and gave him another. He questioned it but she told him he must be drowsy since she was in the baby room feeding them. He shook his head and took the pill. She repeated this, changing her answer each time to keep him off her trail. By midnight he had taken eight of these strong medications.In the morning after feeding the baby, she ended up calling the police to report her boyfriend was cold and unresponsive. When paramedics arrived he was already dead. She was questioned and she told the police with fifteen kids she'd been feeding babies or cooking while he slept. She usually left him alone to sleep since he had been sick for a while. The older kids could confirm her story. After the autopsy, they ruled it an overdose which Gothel played the grieving girlfriend well to keep others off her trail.Thanks to the will she had him sign before he died, she got his entire trust funds from his parents. This meant that Gothel could live comfortably and could hire people like she wanted in the beginning.Things took a turn when a woman showed up at her doorstep looking for her boyfriend. It was apparent after talking to the lady that she was one of the sluts her boyfriend had cheated on her with. Something sick within her stirred and she led her to the office where she was able to smack her on the back of the head, knocking her out. She tied her up, gagged her, and hid her in the office closet. She waited until the children went to bed before she dragged her deep into the forest and buried her alive.Two weeks after Gothel was able to hire two people to help her with the children, which was a good thing because a month later she gave birth to Cassandra.Throughout the years, she had lots of people come in and out of her orphanage. She started slacking off at being the mother she used to be when she still was in love. She gave enough to keep the kids entertained, gave enough food, and made them do chores to teach them how to be "good humans." She never was the good mother she could be to Cassandra since she reminded her of her boyfriend and she couldn't help but sneer thinking of that asshole. She didn't treat her horribly, just like every other child in the orphanage.
