Professor Ratigan

**Professor Ratigan** is the main antagonist of Disney's 1986 animated feature film, *The Great Mouse Detective*. A pernicious, yet suave crime lord, Ratigan is the archenemy of Basil of Baker Street, who proves to be an obstacle in his grand scheme to control all of Mousedom. Ratigan is obsessed with his status as a mouse, but when labeled a rat, his ostentatious demeanor shatters and reveals a violent and savage mind.

Ratigan is based on the character of the same name from *Basil of Baker Street* and the story's version of Professor James Moriarty from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's *Sherlock Holmes stories*.

## Appearance

Ratigan is a towering rat with grey fur dressed in a black tuxedo suit complete with a long black cape with a red underside similar to Count Dracula's. His face is shaven and has yellow eyes with lavender circles around them, above them are thick eyebrows. Although he lavishes himself as a mouse, he has rat-like characteristics, such as sharp fangs and fingers, a large nose, and a long, pink tail. On his head, he wears a black top hat with a grey band, which covers his black combed hair. His suit includes a high white collar and a dark gray vest with buttons on it with a pink-and-purple striped cravat. On his hands are white gloves and cuffs with golden cufflinks. He is always seen carrying a gold cane.

However, when Ratigan becomes completely enraged, he becomes incredibly feral, running on all fours in a hunched position. His hair becomes messy and his clothes become torn exposing his intimidating physique as Ratigan becomes vicious as he obtains a more rat-like appearance. His nails and teeth also grow longer and gnarly.

## Personality

Ratigan is very charismatic, calm, suave and calculating, but can easily be sent into a violent rage at the mere mention of Basil, who has foiled many of his rather complex schemes, or by the incompetence of his minions. Intolerant of failure, he nearly kills Fidget for losing a list of items he was dispatched to obtain, before making a calculated, albeit split-second decision and sparing him, believing he may yet be of use to him. He has a very dark, malicious sense of humor and an inflated ego. He is also very intelligent, and like most rats, he prefers to live in the sewers. Unlike most Disney villains, Ratigan is an ebullient, lip-smacking jester who has a tendency towards big movements and long rants or speeches.

A truly cruel and sadistic megalomaniac, Ratigan is solely driven by power and the desire to earn himself riches (such as the Tower Bridge Job, an assemblage he quite arrogantly calls a "cunning display that made Londoners sob") and even more so the desire to rule over his fellow men in the place of Queen Mousetoria. Unlike most evildoers, he acknowledges his crimes as being immoral and takes pride in his wicked acts, which he acknowledges as being evil, making him a truly sadistic and heartless being. He even says that he loves being nasty and that he is about to pull off a crime that will leave an infamous legacy.

In spite of his universally cruelty and sadism, Ratigan at least appears to genuinely enjoy the approval of his minions. He also has an affectionate relationship with Felicia, who he calls "darling", "baby", and "little honey bun", and addressing himself as her father figure. He is also seen hugging her and looking at her awkwardly when she burps.

Even though he is one, Ratigan detests, above all else, being referred to as a rat, preferring the description of a "big mouse," and fed Bartholomew to Felicia when Bartholomew calls him the "world's greatest rat" while intoxicated. Despite his hatred of being labeled as such, he possessed enough self-control to barely react when Basil referred to him as a rat, which is evidenced with two instances in the film: The first, right after he trapped Basil and Basil called him a sewer rat, Ratigan retained his cool demeanor, only closing his watch, and the second time, when Basil revealed his survival after the literal breaking down of the fake Mouse Queen by finishing her sentence of Ratigan being a rat, only growling in irritation.

Despite being stoic and charismatic, Basil's exposure of his robot, tying his cape to a gear, and rescue of Olivia finally send him over the edge. In his rage, he pursues Basil, tearing his clothes in the process and transforming from a very formal, composed rat to a highly aggressive, savage one. He tackles Basil, extending his long, strong fingernails and scratching, punching, and strangling Basil continuously and wounding him.

## Background

Ratigan is regarded as the most infamous criminal in all of Mousedom. His reputation as the "world's greatest criminal mind" is backed by an impressive track record, as several of his schemes have actually saw success—notable events include the "Big Ben Caper" and the "Tower Bridge Job", both of which are said to have had devastating results on London. The only road block in Ratigan's plots appear to be Basil the great mouse detective, whose intellect (and eccentricity) matches that of Ratigan. However, just as Ratigan continuously fails to kill Basil, Basil continuously fails to apprehend Ratigan, thus allowing their rivalry to endure for several years—much to the chagrin of both parties.

Ratigan has a variety of henchmen that follow him, most of which are an army of two-bit, yet heavily-armed thugs. Ratigan's right-hand man is a peg-legged bat named Fidget. Ratigan has no tolerance for failure and will quickly resort to killing minions that either fail him or disrespect him (regardless of whether or not this was intentional). Ratigan's method of execution comes in the form of his obese pet cat, Felicia, whom Ratigan adores greatly. Felicia is summoned by the ringing of a bell that is always kept on Ratigan's person. Once the bell is rung, Felicia will arrive and devour Ratigan's latest victim(s).