Balthazar Blake

Balthazar Blake is a powerful staunch sorcerer who is Dave Stutler's master and the deuteragonist in the 2010 Disney fantasy adventure movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Balthazar Blake was one of the three apprentices taken on by the legendary wizard Merlin, in an attempt to stop the evil witch Morgana le Fay.
He is portrayed by Nicolas Cage, who also portrayed Sean Archer in Face/Off, Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock, Cameron Poe in Con Air, Grug Crood in The Croods, Zoc in The Ant Bully, Big Daddy in Kick-Ass, Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, Randall Raines in Gone in 60 Seconds, Ben Gates in National Treasure, and The Janitor in Willy's Wonderland.
==History==
Balthazar was once one of Merlin's three apprentices. He fell in love with Veronica Gorloisen while they worked together. When Horvath betrayed the two and Morgana killed Merlin, Morgana tried to kill Balthazar, but Veronica merged Morgana's spirit into her own body using the Fusion Spell to save him. When Morgana began to kill Veronica from the inside, Balthazar trapped both of them within the Grimhold in an effort to save her. Before Merlin died, he entrusted Balthazar with his ring. Balthazar would give the ring to the Prime Merlinean, and would search the world until he found him at last.
1260 years later, in present day New York City, 10 year-old Dave Stutler was going on a field trip with a crush on a fellow 4th grade student named Becky. He passes her a note to check a box whether she wants to be his friend or girlfriend. She checks one of the boxes and then leaves it on a bench. When Dave tries to pick it up the wind picks it up and flies away. Eventually the paper ends up inside an antique shop called Arcana Cabana, and Dave goes in looking for it and accidentally bumps into and almost breaks an ancient urn known as the Grimlock. Balthazar shows up behind him and catches it. He tells Dave that the urn is incredibly old and whoever opens it will be trapped for ten years. Dave mentions he is looking for a note that just coincidentally ended up there. Balthazar believes this to be fate and hands him the tiny silver dragon. In Dave's hand, it comes alive and twirls around Dave’s finger. Dave is the Prime Merlinean.
Balthazar tells him to wait there as he goes to look for something in the basement. Meanwhile, Dave moves his finger and notices something bumping into the wall each time he moves his finger. Finally, the nesting doll, which was revealed to be the Grimhold, bursts through the wall and lands in front of him. Dave picks it up and accidentally opens it, releasing Horvath. Before Horvath can kill Dave, Balthazar pushes him at the window and they have an epic wizard fight, with Dave just trying to get out of the way. Dave takes the nesting doll and tries to leave, but Horvath will not let him. Balthazar opens the urn from earlier, which sucks both him and Horvath into it. Dave runs outside and throws the nesting doll into the street. His teacher and the rest of his class find him, worried. He is freaking out and talks nonsense about wizards and tries to show the teacher inside but there is nothing there. A jar filled with water had broken on his pants and the other kids see this and they all taunt him about peeing his pants.
Ten years later, the Grimlock in which Balthazar and Horvath are trapped in is in some random couple's apartment, bought from a flea market. The urn bursts open and Horvath is free again. He asks them if he is the first to arrive. They faint. Horvath throws the urn from the apartment and before it smashes on the street Balthazar escapes. Dave comes home to find Horvath waiting for him, asking him where the Grimhold is. Dave does not know since he threw it into the street. Dave runs away and Horvath sends a pack of wolves at him. Dave ends up at the railroad station and falls down on the train tracks. Before the wolves attack him, they become transformed into puppies. Balthazar comes flying in on a giant metal eagle. Dave gets on and slows down Horvath and flies away. Horvath just barely dodges a passing train.
Balthazar and Dave land on a roof of the Chrysler Building and the metal eagle transforms back into a gargoyle. Dave is freaking out, but Balthazar calms him down and explains the situation to him, leaving out the part about him being the Prime Merlinean. Dave says he does not want any part of it. Balthazar summons Dave’s dresser and pulls out the dragon ring and asks him why he kept it. Dave says he was going to sell it on E-Bay, but Balthazar tells him that he is a terrible liar, which is a good thing. Dave promises he will help him up until they find the Grimhold and then he can go back to his life. Balthazar summons a spell to help him find it. Storm clouds hover over the downtown area, indicating that that is where they must go. Horvath goes back to the former antique shop and is able to sense what happened to the Grimhold using a special spell to see into the past. He sees that a Chinese woman has picked it up. He knows that he must go to Chinatown. Balthazar goes to the car impound lot and retrieves his car to stay inconspicuous. On the drive to the doll, Balthazar teaches Dave a basic fire spell. They reach Chinatown where a big celebration is happening. Dave waits outside while Balthazar goes inside. Upstairs he meets the old Chinese woman and he speaks Cantonese to her. She says he speaks wonderful Mandarin. It was Horvath in disguise. He has already unleashed a fellow Morganian, Sun Lok, from the doll. They fight and Sun-Lok ends up on the streets, where Balthazar tells Dave to run. Sun-Lok transforms one of the fake dragon floats into an actual dragon which chases Dave. Horvath and Balthazar fight and Balthazar gets the upper hand, taking the nesting doll away from him. Dave runs up a fire escape as the dragon chases after him, having trouble conjuring up the fire spell. He shoots it just in time defeating Sun-Lok.
In the car, Balthazar asks for the ring back per their agreement. Dave decides not to now that he had a taste of magic and wants to learn more. They need a place to practice and they decide to use Dave's lab. Balthazar gives Dave the Encantus, a book that holds the entire history of sorcery including the things they just did that day. Dave agrees to take on the responsibility and they begin training.
On a break, Balthazar and Dave have dinner sitting on a bench outside Becky's radio station. Balthazar is very negative on the relationship and tells him that love is not good for a sorcerer. Dave says that she is the one for him and that he loves her. Dave gets up and follows her as she leaves the station. They go down into the subway station and a mugger robs them at a knifepoint, stealing her grandmother's bracelet. Dave chases after him and clumsily uses his magic to knock him out. He comes back with her stuff back, impressing her and she notices something different about him. He offers to help tutor her on the physics at his lab. She agrees as she boards the next train.
At his lab, Becky arrives and introduces Balthazar as his uncle who leaves despite his best efforts to stop Dave from pursuing this. Dave shows off his Tesla coils and science projects and shows off a cool musical element to his coils. The next day he walks her to yoga class and they make a date for the next day. In the bathroom, Drake confronts Dave and pushes him around. Horvath arrives and tells him that Balthazar is keeping something from him. He demands to know where the Grimhold is. Balthazar arrives just in time and traps Horvath inside the bathroom mirror and knocks out Drake. Back at the lab, Dave demands to know everything and Balthazar tells him, including what happened to his great love Veronica and the fact that the Prime Merlinean will be so powerful that he will never need the ring to do magic.
Dave tries to get ready for his date and clean up the lab but he gets frustrated with the mess so he uses his magic to get the brooms to come to life. When he comes back from his shower, the entire lab is a bigger mess with the entire floor flooded and everything inanimate coming to life and causing a giant mess. Becky knocks on the door and he rushes to the door and has to tell her to leave. As he tries to deal with the ever-escalating mess, his electric lab equipment almost electrocutes him until the timely arrival of Balthazar, who with a wave of his hand cleans the mess. He chastises him for taking shortcuts. They get into a big fight with Dave storming out. Horvath gets the school records of Dave using a "Jedi mind trick" on the registrar's office. He finds out where his private lab space is.
Dave sees Becky with her friends and sees how he does not belong and leaves. Becky sees him and follows him to the roof where Balthazar had taken him to at the beginning. He's about to throw the ring away until Becky stops him. She tells him that nothing is ruined with them and she really cares for him. At his lab, Dave returns and Balthazar says there's no need to apologize, but Dave pushes him into a grating and traps him. It's Drake in disguise. Horvath arrives as well and they search for the nesting doll and find it. Balthazar frees himself and tries to fight them but almost loses until Dave arrives and saves his life. Drake and Horvath leave with what they were after and Dave and Balthazar give chase. What follows is an exciting car chase with magically changing vehicles which ends with Horvath and Drake getting away.
Back at Drake's apartment, Drake wonders how they open it. Horvath uses the Parasite Spell to steal Drake’s power and life force and uses that to free the next Morganian, a legendary witch named Abigail Williams from the Salem Witch Trials. This Morganian sorceress goes to Becky's radio station and kidnaps her. Dave and Balthazar arrive at Drake’s apartment, searching for Horvath. They split up. Balthazar gets trapped in a Persian Quickrug sand trap. Dave finds the Grimhold almost too easily. Just as he goes back to the front door, he finds Horvath with his cane to Becky's throat. Horvath demands both his ring and the Grimhold or Becky dies. Dave relents and gives him both. Horvath fires an energy bolt at the two, which they dodge, and flees just as Balthazar has freed himself and arrives. Dave apologizes but Balthazar says he would have done the same thing. Balthazar goes to the balcony and flies away on his giant metal eagle, to Becky's shock. Dave offers to help, but Balthazar says he cannot since he's powerless without the ring. Horvath kills the notorious Salem witch early to steal her power via the Parasite Spell as he did with Drake Stone in order to free Morgana. Dave tries to drop Becky off but she will not have any of it since she is involved now. Dave comes up with a plan using his Tesla coils strapped to Balthazar's car. He also finds a note with a necklace telling Dave to give it to Veronica when this is all over.
Balthazar arrives at Battery Park to find Morgana standing in the middle of the circle with Horvath's assistance in summoning and raising the dead through the dark magical ceremony known as The Rising. Dave and Becky, in the car, already see the spell taking hold in the sky. Dave stops the car and tells Becky to climb the building to move the satellite in order to disrupt the spell. Before she goes, Dave asks her what box she checked off at the beginning of the film in case he dies, to which she agrees to tell him if he succeeds at what he has to do and survives.
Horvath finds Balthazar and fights him off. He raises the metal bull nearby to life and it chases after Balthazar. Horvath is about to be victorious when Dave drives in and uses the Tesla coils attached to the car to give a great shock to Horvath's cane, defeating him and his bull. Meanwhile, Becky successfully disrupts the satellite dish, wrecking the spell. Balthazar absorbs Morgana's soul from Veronica's body, freeing her. Balthazar tries to get Dave to trap him in the nesting doll, but he won't. Morgana leaves Balthazar’s body and frees herself. Morgana blasts fire at the group, but Dave blocks it without the help of the ring, revealing that he really is the Prime Merlinean. They get into a huge battle where Morgana blasts at Veronica and Balthazar, but Dave is able to to defeat her by using Tesla coils to electrocute her and solidify her form, then subsequently using a barrage of plasma bolts that completely destroy her.
He sees Veronica over Balthazar's body, who appears to be dead. However, Dave uses his magic to resuscitate him. He then wakes up, and he and Veronica kiss, finally reunited.
==Personality and Traits==
Balthazar can be a kind and gentle man, but he can also be a serious and courageous sorcerer. When he sees Dave trying to win Becky's affection, Balthazar chastises Dave for it as it would hinder him from his focus on studying sorcery. In spite of his faith in Dave, Balthazar doubts whether Dave would able to fully embrace his destiny as the Prime Merlinean; though he managed to convince Dave to study the sorcery under his tutelage, Balthazar only tells him that the main priority of the study was to defeat Horvath and seal him back inside the Grimhold instead of destroying Morgana and freeing Veronica altogether. That's until Dave's confrontation with Stone and Horvath made him demand the true purpose of his study and who was sealed inside the Grimhold.
His doubts of Dave fully embracing his nature as the Prime Merlinean and why he chastises Dave for trying to win the affection from Becky eventually revealed that he, in fact, was lonely and missing Veronica for centuries. Merlin's death, Horvath's betrayal, Veronica being forced to use the Fusion spell on Morgana, all of them had become a grave burden for him. These burdens also made him have doubts with regards to making friends with those whom he meets in his journeys until he met Dave, whom turned out to share some similarities with Veronica, as both of them prefer the normal life instead of a life full of adventures and battles that they already had. Unfortunately, this was also exploited by Horvath, who was sadistic enough to use the disguise spell on a nearby pedestrian to made her resemble Veronica as a distraction for him so he and Drake could escape. In spite of this, after he eventually revealed his burden to Dave, his burden eventually lightened, and was gone completely after he reunites with Veronica. It was obvious that he chastises Dave for trying to win Becky's affection not only because it would hinder his focus from his study in sorcery, but because he was also afraid that it would remind him of his own happy times with Veronica, which could hinder his focus on his quest.
His love for Veronica, which started long ago, was something that would drive him forward in his journey until he met and trained Dave, who eventually became the Prime Merlinean. As Veronica saves his life by using the Fusion Spell on Morgana, Balthazar revealed he planned to do the same in return (though he succeeded in saving Veronica, this inevitably unleashed Morgana's ghostly form since her body only consists of a floating mass of dust). His well-planned heroic sacrifice was also something that made him tolerate Dave for giving Horvath the Dragon Ring due to him holding Becky hostage, albeit not letting him join the battle as Dave had not awakened his Prime Merlinean powers yet.
==Videogame Appearance==
===The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Nintendo DS)===
Balthazar Blake once again featured as one of protagonists in the 2010 Nintendo videogame adaption of Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice alongside Dave Stutler.
Balthazar Blake narrated his past where he saw his master, Merlin, killed by the wizard's former apprentice, the evil Morgana le Fay, before being defeated herself and sealed within the Grimhold at the start of the game. He also claimed that he has searching for the Prime Merlinean for hundreds of years until he found the candidate in New York.
In the present day, he invited the 20 year-old nerd Dave Stutler to his Arcana Cabana occult shop and told him of his destiny to become an important sorcerer due to his magic potential. In the middle of their conversations, Dave's presence somehow causes the Grimhold near the duo unlocking its outermost layer by itself, releasing the notorious Morganian inside. The Morganian, Maxim Horvath, demanded Dave to tell him what year it was, but is immediately challenged by Balthazar. Horvath immediately banished the legendary sorcerer to the magical dimension and left, but not before taking the Grimhold with him.
With the notorious Morganian sorcerer on the loose, Balthazar conjures his telepathic projection to guide the reluctant Dave on the Earthly plane during his pursuit for Horvath as well as teaching him the crash course of magic and science along the way.
As he guided Dave across monster-infested Chinatown through his telepathic projection which presence only Dave can perceive, he taught Dave some spells that allowed him to fight the invading monsters and finally confronted the first released Morganian, Sun Lok. After Dave defeated the Asian conjuror, Horvath showed up and killed him with the dreaded Parasite Spell before taking his ring away.
After he and Dave Stutler witnessed Horvath killing Drake Stone for his failure in destroying Dave, Balthazar Blake told the young man about his destiny to put and end of the war between Merlineans and Morganians and realized that Horvath schemed on something considering he has stole powers of 2 sorcerers. That is until Horvath killed Marrok, the Morganian thug of the 1930s, and Abigail Williams, the malignant perpetrator of the infamous Salem witch trails, both whom Dave confronted, Balthazar realized that Maxim Horvath himself attempted to gain enough power with the stolen life energies including soon his own upon suicide with his magic Cane and the stolen rings to release Morgana le Fay, and the monster invasion was merely done to delay Dave in his pursuit for Horvath.
For the remainder of the game, Balthazar remained trapped until Dave Stutler channeled Mana residue Morganians left behind after their defeat to free him. With all the Morganians defeated including the wicked Morgana le Fay in the final battle at her magically constructed castle at the heart of New York City's Central Park and the world was safe, both Merlineans celebrated their victory by eating pizza together (though Dave was dismayed that he had to pay the bills).
==Gallery==
Insane Balthazar Blake.gif|Balthazar Blake marks a little bit when being called insane by Dave Stutler.
Young Balthazar Blake.jpg
Balthazar Blake's Human Fusion Spell.jpg
Balthazar Blake's Disperse Spell.jpg
Balthazar & his Eagle.jpg
Balthazar Blake & Veronica Gorloisen.jpg
Veronica Gorloisen & Balthazar Blake.jpg
==Trivia==
*Balthazar's character basics are the Sorcerer from the poem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and his Disney's Fantasia counterpart Yen Sid.
*Soon after escaping from the Grimlock, Balthazar was shown wearing his signature fedora, which is implied to be conjured out of thin air (he never wore one prior to sealing himself with Horvath).
*He is portrayed by Nicholas Cage, whom also proposed the idea about the movie as he wanted to explore a mystic world with a magical character.
*Like other main characters in the film, Balthazar's character has undergone some changes in the film's scripts. In the early script of the film, Balthazar's background greatly contrasted with the final version: he is neither a centuries-old sorcerer, nor even Merlinean from the start, but rather, a former Merlinean wizard under Horvath's tutelage who sided with the Merlineans after being humbled by his ill-fated attempt to assassinate Aurelius Flood (Merlin's modern day successor before the Prime Merlinean) and his daughter Veronica Flood (early version of Veronica Gorloisen in the same script). Balthazar's exposure to Merlinean ways allowed him to see the errors in his own path and fell in love with Veronica, only for it all to end in a tragedy during a fateful battle against Morganians, in which he lost his newfound allies after Veronica perished in the fight and Aurelius died from exhausting his strength to reseal their enemies along with Morgana's spirit. Little did he knows that Morgana took Veronica with her as her host at that moment, and he remained oblivious to her fate until the later part of the story.
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