Vanellope von Schweetz

*“Im in full control and I love it. Rhino tried to gain control but being the imbicle he is, he obiouslly failed along with that fat heart queen. Did I mention I love power? and looking hot?"*
―Vanellope to Anna
**Vanellope von Schweetz** is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2012 animated feature film, *Wreck-It Ralph* and its 2018 sequel. She is a young, sharp-tongued racer that originates from the candy-themed racing game, *Sugar Rush*. Due to being a "glitch", Vanellope was forbidden to race by order of King Candy. She was nevertheless determined to become a real racer and sought to accomplish her goal by teaming up with a fellow misfit, Wreck-It Ralph. Over the course of their adventure, Vanellope would unmask the truth behind her glitch, while also learning to use it as a "superpower" to overcome adversity. However, similarly to Rhino in the first cheshire, Vanellope appears as the main antagonist in Cheshire 2.

## Background

### Personality

In line with her programmed age, Vanellope is extremely energetic, talkative, and childish. When excited, she zestfully zips and bounces around while repeatedly exclaiming the reasoning behind her excitement ("I'm gonna learn to drive, I'm gonna learn to drive!"), much like a normal child. She has a rather immature sense of humor (finding enjoyment in mimicking and toilet humor) and has the tendency to purposely annoy those around her as a means to amuse herself. This is seen through her friendship with Ralph, as the two are known to give each other puerile, condescending nicknames.

Unfortunately, years of bullying due to King Candy's propaganda against her left Vanellope with a sharp tongue and a somewhat sour disposition. When first greeted, she comes off as annoying, obnoxious, and rude, with a bit of concern for the feelings or ambitions of other people, in comparison to benefiting herself. However, these aspects of her character are merely a result of her tragic upbringing and were more so done for survival rather than pure pleasure. Before Ralph's arrival, Vanellope was a loner, and the only programs she had any contact with were her abusers. Therefore, she has not experienced friendship or any form of compassion.

Vanellope is an enthusiastic dreamer. In truth, she is sensitive and vulnerable beneath her rough exterior, wanting nothing more than to be accepted by the inhabitants of her game—despite said inhabitants constantly mistreating her, both physically and mentally. She is very forgiving in this regard and is evidently reluctant to hold grudges.

Vanellope is also crafty and intelligent. As an opportunistic quick-thinker, Vanellope is cunning enough to concoct elaborate schemes on the spot, which made her a threat to the criminal plan of King Candy. Strong-willed, independent, and filled with spunk, Vanellope refuses to stand down without a fight and shows efficiency in reaching her goals for the most part. Her lack of physical strength truly kept Vanellope from becoming a racer independently, as Candy and his henchmen were able to counter her intellect with their weaponry and brute force.

Interestingly, although years of being shunned have left her with negative traits, Vanellope is one of the few characters in the film with a lack of prejudice. After learning Ralph is classified as a video game "bad guy", Vanellope never criticizes him on his position; instead, she looked beyond Ralph's programmed occupation and understood that his label is only a job title and does not define who he is on the inside. Her kindness would heavily influence Ralph, and it was through their friendship that Ralph learned what it really means to be a hero.

By *Ralph Breaks the Internet*, through her friendship with Ralph and having developed a much better rapport with her fellow *Sugar Rush* racers, she has become more openly polite and friendly while not nearly as mouthy. However, when angered, she still shows the potential to lash out in an overly harsh manner and say mean things that she doesn't actually mean, as demonstrated when she practically declares her friendship with Ralph over after he unleashes a virus that gets out of hand in *Slaughter Race* over not wanting her to leave the arcade, and by extension, him, after she expressed that she felt more at home in that game. Despite him bringing up some valid points about being irresponsible for abandoning her game, she gets defensive and even tosses his homemade medal signifying their friendship away. However, after she calms down, she's apologetic for going as far as throwing away the medal and clarifies that what she really meant was that she felt like he was being a bad friend, not that she didn't consider him one anymore.

### Cheshire 2

At the start of Cheshire 2 Vanellope comes across as genuine, sweet and caring as she helps out Bolt and Cheshire but as the story progresses she is revealed to be a lying, manipulative, antagonistic ruler of The other world. Vanellope has spent years of manipulating and taking over worlds and isn’t hesitant to go to lengths such as kidnapping, blackmail and even murder to get what she wants. Vanellope will lie to heroes and even villians at the same time and for some of them is the reason they are the way they are.