Mor'du

Articles About Mor'du
Main Series	Brave
Games	Brave the video game
Non-Canon	Disney Sorcerer's Arena

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“	The eldest proclaimed his right to the throne and drank the potion. He received the strength of ten men- but in the form of a monstrous bear! The eldest brother’s transformation could have been changed back, if he had mended the family ties he once had with his brothers. Instead… he felt no need to return to his human body and accepted the strength to kill his rivals.	„
	~ The witch recounting Mor'du's Legend

Background

Mor'du is the main antagonist of Disney/Pixar's 2012 animated feature film Brave, and the titular protagonist of the short The Legend of Mor'du. He was an evil demon bear who was once a human prince and King Fergus' arch-enemy.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Mor'du's story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

In The Legend of Mor'du, the origin of Mor'du is explained: Mor'du was once a human prince, the eldest of four brothers, all the sons of a wise king beloved by his people. One dark autumn, the king grew ill. On his death-bed, the king requested the kingdom be divided among his four sons, so together they could be the pillars that would hold it together and maintain peace. Alas, his firstborn son felt that, as the eldest and the technical heir, he alone had the right to rule the whole kingdom and a seed of selfishness grew in him like a poison. To his brothers, he claimed his right to rule and demanded their obedience, shattering the bonds of their brotherhood by breaking the family stone. Words turned to war. Brother turned against brother in a war fought on four sides that changed the kingdom forever. While the eldest prince commanded a powerful army, the battle remained a bitter stalemate. Starving for victory, the prince cursed his fate and stalked the woods until he came to an ancient circle of stones. The Will-o-the-wisps appeared and led him to a dark loch where, not far from the shore, was the cottage of a witch. He demanded from her a spell that could change his fate. The strength of ten men he desired, and to persuade her he offered his signet ring. The bargain was struck though the Witch could see his wounded soul. She completed the spell in the form of a potion but offered him a choice: To fulfill his dark wish or heal the bonds of the family he had broken. The prince baited his brothers with a false truce, but when they met in their father's throne room he once again declared himself the sole ruler and demanded their obedience. When his brothers defied him again, he drank the spell, which immediately took effect. It gave him strength tenfold, but, to his surprise, it also transformed him into a great black bear. Only by mending the bonds torn by pride could he break the spell. Instead, he accepted the form of the monster and slew his brothers in cold blood. He returned to command his army, but they saw only the dreaded beast and so turned against him. He slaughtered a great many while the rest fled the kingdom in terror. With the armies of the brothers fractured, the kingdom fell into darkness and ruin, and the blight of the Great Black, Mor'du, fell across his domain. In Brave, Mor'du first appears at the beginning with King Fergus and Queen Elinor celebrating Merida's birthday. When Merida fires an arrow off into the woods and goes to find it, wisps appear and try to lead her with them. From the undergrowth, it is shown that Mor'du is watching her. When Merida finds herself back at the camp, her mother begins taking her away, but Mor'du attacks and Fergus with his household guard rush to defend his wife and child. Though they give the princess and the queen time to escape on horseback, Mor'du shows no fear nor vulnerability to them, even striking the head off a spear when Fergus tries to stab him. As Fergus draws his sword and goads the bear to attack, Mor'du strikes, cutting to black. Later, it is revealed that the sword shattered when Fergus struck the bear and his leg was eaten, giving him a great hatred of the monstrous bear. When Merida shows her upset at having to marry one of the three lords' sons as her duty to the family, Queen Elinor tells Merida the story of four princes (one of which was Mor'du) who were to have the kingdom split for each, Mor'du plunged the kingdom into chaos by wanting to rule over them and be the best of them, suggesting that he waged war against his brothers. Merida goes to the witch's cottage, and the witch takes Merida's pendant as payment and says that a prince came to her and asked for the strength of ten men. When Merida asks if this changed his fate, the witch confirms it and shows her what he used as payment, a signet ring with two crossed axes. Later, Merida and her mother (now turned into a bear) follow a trail of wisps to a foggy ruin, bearing the crossed axes of Mor'du's family. Merida explores, falling after walking on an unsteady piece of rubble. Inside, she finds a throne room very similar to her own family's and a shattered stone carving of four brothers, one of the brothers broken from the others. She slowly realizes that the prince who asked for the strength of ten men became Mor'du. Mor'du appears, stalking Merida from the shadows and he charges. Merida fires an arrow straight at his head, but the arrow does no damage whatsoever and doesn't even slow him down. Merida hurriedly tries to crawl up through the ruins and reach her mother's paw, with the gigantic bear trying to devour her. At the last second, she leaps and just manages to grab her mother's paw in time as Mor'du snarls and snaps after her. Merida and her mother run as fast as they can away, running to the great standing stones and bashing into them somewhat hard enough to leave a hairline crack along the tallest menhir in the circle. Merida realizes she must mend the bond torn by pride (as the witch said), fixing a tapestry her mother had made of Merida and the family, thereby breaking the spell. However, her mother is attacked by King Fergus and chased to the ring of stones. As Merida rushes to save her mother and change her back, Mor'du stands from the shadows, following her. Mor'du then reveals himself and Fergus yells "Kill it!", but the great bear simply swats all opposition aside. When Merida herself becomes endangered by Mor'du as he prepares to eat her, Queen Elinor attacks, using her claws and teeth to defend her daughter, but Mor'du, proving much older and more dangerous, beats her down with his vast strength. Elinor, seeing the menhir they damaged earlier, smashes Mor'du against the menhir and damages it more, but is struck down. As Mor'du stalks towards Merida and her injured mother, the great stone falls on top of him, crushing him to death. His tormented spirit is finally released, and he nods to Merida for freeing him before he becomes a wisp himself and disappears.

Codex Statistics

Tier: 9-B

Name: Mor'du

Origin: Brave

Sex: Male

Age: Unknown

Classification: Former prince, Bear

Alignment: Chaotic Evil (Mor'du lost all his humanity and sentience, leaving him merely a vicious, malevolent monster with uncontrollable violence)

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Wall level (shattered Fergus’s sword and bit off his leg which would require this sort of strenght)

Durability: Wall level

Striking Strength: Wall Class

Lifting Strength: Class 1 (Bears can take down bull moose, which can weigh up to 700 kg)

Travel Speed: Superhuman (Black bears can run over 30mph)

Combat Speed: Superhuman

Reaction Speed: Superhuman

Stamina:  Above Average (Endured many battles proven by the weapon in his back)

Range: Standard Melee

Intelligence: Animalistic (Mor'du lost all his humanity and sentience)

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Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Enhanced Senses, Natural Weaponry and Penetration Damage (with Claws and Fangs), Immortality (Type 6 and 7. Mor'du has numerous weapon implanted in his back and once he died, he turned into a will o' wisps) Resistance to Pain (Took multiple shots from Merida without even flinching)

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Standard Equipment

None notable

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Other

Standard Tactics: Mor'du will restlessly attack his opponent to harm them

Weaknesses: Mor'du lacks sentience