Frankie Scales

Frankie Scales is a major character from The Tales from Sanctuary City franchise, starring as the deuteragonist in the 2021 Australian animated film, Daisy Quokka: World's Scariest Animal. He is a saltwater crocodile who was once the 5-time champion of the World's Scariest Animal games until an accident ruined his reputation. Years later, Frankie came out of his self-imposed exile when his biggest fan, a Quokka named Daisy bumped into him and asked to become her coach so that she would participate in becoming the World's Scariest Animal in turn. He is also the father of Ronda Saltie.
He was voiced by who also played Alan Grant in Jurassic Park franchise and John Trent in In the Mouth of Madness.
== Personality ==
Once a respected and courageous great champion, Frankie's motto was to "never give up on your dreams", for himself or for others. Following his disgrace after accidentally injuring his rival Jerry, Frankie has become a bitter, lonely and pessimistic being living alone in the Wild and wanting the games for turning his back on him and causing the separation of his family.
When Daisy asked him to be his coach, he initially didn't care until the young Quokka mentioned his daughter whom he hadn't seen since she was a baby, changing his mind even though his real motive was to see her again. Initially, he regretted agreeing to be Daisy's coach because of her exaggerated enthusiasm and the fact that she was an adorable Quokka but seeing her persevere in the first ordeal, he began to believe in her and encouraged her not to give up as she would regret it for the rest of her life, having lived it himself. Afterwards, they bonded by playing imaginary events together and Frankie mainly advised Daisy to be herself.
Returning to the world of World's Scariest Animal which was now a vestige of his past life, Frankie was very intimidated, especially when he arguing to Jerry who still resented him that he had no ill will against him after all the years. It wasn't until he finally believed in Daisy that he slowly got over his doubts. He didn't have the courage to tell Ronda he was her father, however, in large part because he thought she would be better off if it felt like he never existed. During the fire, Frankie finally revealed himself to his daughter while admitting that he blamed himself for leaving her as a coward, although Ronda was able to forgive him.
Overall, Frankie is a good-hearted crocodile even after years of bitterness. This was mostly seen when he saved both Jerry, his former rival, and Kerry during the fire before returning with Ronda to save Daisy.
== History ==
When he was young, Frankie liked to pretend to take part in World's Scariest, even imagining that the floor was lava.
As an adult, he became the champion of the games and won the admiration of many people whom he still incurred to follow their dreams. One day, he entered into competition with the kangaroo Jerry Whiskers, his lifelong rival who wanted his title of champion. During the 'Fire Isle Finale' tiebreaker, Frankie accidentally knocked Jerry off the course with a tail whip. Jerry lost the ability to walk as a result and Frankie quickly became despised by those who admired him. Ashamed, he left behind his former glory, his wife and daughter Ronda still a baby and then settled in the Wild for years.
=== Daisy Quokka: World's Scariest Animal ===
While trying to get rid of the Drop-Bears stealing his things, Frankie bumps into Daisy and threatens to eat her (without being really serious) if she doesn't leave his swamp. The quokka then insists that the old crocodile become her coach, allowing her to participate in the games. Refusing at first because of his low opinion on quokkas, Frankie changes his mind when Daisy talks about Ronda, whom he has not seen since leaving. Agreeing to coach the young marsupial without revealing his true motive, Frankie began to regret his choice when Daisy began to overdo it.
The next day, arriving at the Sanctuary City team's qualifying gym, Frankie begins to shrink back in fear upon seeing the integrity of the place he hadn't seen in a long time. Things get worse when the head coach turns out to be Jerry, now in a wheelchair with Ronda, which paralyzes the old crocodile even more. Frankie assures his former rival that he only comes to support his athlete, a fact that Jerry does not fail to mock by his high current position compared to Frankie. At the start of qualifying, Frankie is very impressed with Ronda's physical abilities but becomes defeatist when Daisy takes too long to finish the run. Daisy is not initially selected but the intervention of the president of the games, Augustus Maximus, allows the young quokka to be included because she is the only one with Ronda to have pressed the button at the end of the course, as stipulated. the rules.
On the day of the first World's Scariest event, Frankie watches the competition with Jerry from the stands and becomes embarrassed when everyone notices that a quokka is participating in the game. Despite Frankie's encouragement to Daisy, the marsupial ends up with a sloppy performance. which puts their team in last place. In the evening, Frankie meets Ronda in the locker room and exchanges a few shy words with her before Jerry informs him that Daisy is gone after she nearly had his athlete killed, taunting the reptile once again.
Running to the dock to try to stop Daisy from getting back to Quokka Rocks, Frankie finds her in the park, practicing just to fall to the ground. Realizing that the young quokka wants to give up, Frankie encourages her to continue because if she doesn't, she will regret it for the rest of her life. He then talks about his youth where he used to come to this same park with his friends pretending to play the Scariest Game, imagining that there was lava just as Daisy played it in her home too. After bonding with her by playing like they're kids again, Frankie admits he didn't believe in Daisy at first because she's not scary but eventually realized that she just needs to be herself in order to win.
With Daisy regaining confidence, Frankie trains her for days to improve in the Wild, allowing the marsupial to climb into place with every test and even earn Ronda's admiration. After Daisy's qualifying for the final, Frankie admits to being proud of herself for coming this far. A quick glance at the stadium makes the reptile hear again the voices of its admirers from another era, making him slightly depressed. Daisy understands that he thinks of Ronda that she knows to be his daughter from the start, just as she also knows that the young crocodile is the only reason Frankie was willing to coach her. Frankie goes on to say that games were the only thing he was good at and that after falling out of favor he believed the best thing for his daughter would be to pretend to have never existed. After Daisy encourages him to speak with his daughter, Frankie considers doing so, while acknowledging that the little quokka really is something special. Unbeknownst to them, Ronda overheard their conversation.
On final day finally arrived, Frankie, Ronda and Jerry proudly watch Daisy take on Drago Modo in the most dangerous final event named 'The Floor of Lava'. Despite Drago's dirty tricks, Daisy manages to overtake him, causing the bad-playing reptile to voluntarily set fire to the course, causing a terrible fire within the stadium. After removing Jerry and an unconscious Kerry from the stadium, Frankie notices with Ronda that Daisy is still stuck inside. Ronda then rushes to Daisy's aid and almost gets crushed by a piece of debris without Frankie's intervention. Alone with her, Frankie finally reveals himself to her as her father and how ashamed he is for leaving her, hoping that she can forgive him. Ronda is able to do just that before finding Daisy.
After these events, the games were renamed World's Bravest Animal in honor of Daisy and Frankie begins to catch up with his daughter.
== Quotes ==
==Trivia ==
*Frankie shares some similarity with Rocky Balboa and Big Z. Like them, he was a beloved and inspiring champion in his day. The difference is that while Rocky quit boxing for his health and Big Z pretended to be dead because his glory days were over, Frankie abandoned World's Scariest Animal because he accidentally seriously injured a rival. Much like Big Z, Frankie lived in exile and just like Rocky, Frankie wears a hat.
* Frankie being voiced by Sam Neill is somewhat reminiscent of Neill in his role as Alan Grant, since Alan is a paleontologist confronting living dinosaurs and Frankie is a reptile.
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Animals
Category:Mentors
Category:Jerks
Category:Liars
Category:Pessimists
Category:Cartoon Heroes
Category:Famous
Category:Parents
Category:Role Models
Category:Elderly
Category:Nurturers
Category:Rescuers
Category:Brutes
Category:Retired
Category:Wise
Category:Heroes from the Past
Category:Nemesis
Category:Honorable
Category:Successful
Category:Paranoid
Category:Tragic
Category:Misanthropes
Category:Insecure
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Bond Creators
Category:Poor
Category:Hope Bringers
Category:Reluctant Heroes
Category:Anthropomorphic
Category:Stalkers
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Predecessor