Dawn Bellwether

## EVIL-DOER

### Goals:

* To rule Zootopia with a new order in life where prey rules over predator (failed).
* To rule Zootopia with an iron fist (failed).
* To kill Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde (failed).

### Type of Villain:

Xenophobic Murderer

**Dawn Bellwether** is the assistant mayor of Zootopia and as she seemed to be a shy and innocent sheep but puts on a facade as a goofy and eccentric assistant to the mayor, but in actuality, is a self-interested sociopath who is the mastermind behind a massive conspiracy to put the prey animals on top and instigate a race war, no matter who gets hurt or killed.

Seemingly a likable, long-suffering public servant, she is actually the mastermind behind a conspiracy to incite anti-predator sentiment amongst the prey population. She is a cute, innocent-looking sheep, and has a kind, helpful and somewhat goofy personality... on the surface. Deep down inside, she is a ruthless and scheming manipulator who has ordered her minions to turn innocent people savage just to further her plans, and she's willing to kill both Nick and Judy in order to prevent them from spilling the truth once they discover that she is the evil mastermind responsible for everything.

At first glance, Bellwether appears as a meek, shy, kind and energetic, albeit overworked, sheep. She sympathizes with Judy, as she feels the two are both under-appreciated and underestimated and claimed herself as Judy's friend in City Hall. She is eager to help and excited she could be of use since she feels her job as assistant mayor is more of a glorified secretary job. It's obvious throughout the film that she mostly does paperwork and menial jobs while Leodore Lionheart is somewhat of a glory hound who dumps the work on her and gets all the attention.

However, this is merely a facade to hide her true nature: a deceptive and cunningly diabolical mastermind. Bellwether is deeply prejudiced against predators because, as she puts it, they are only 10% of the population and she seems to view them as dangerous and unintelligent in comparison to the prey. She is ruthless and power-hungry, perfectly willing to kill anyone who gets in her way or simply refuses to agree with her beliefs.

Her entire scheme is based on inflaming the historical tension between predator and prey and using fear to propel her into full mayoral office and unite prey against predator. It's not clear to what extent this was motivated by a genuine hatred of predators and how much she was just using it to justify her pursuit of power.

She is also willing to let prey animals get injured or even killed by the predators she turns savage in order to maintain power and turn the populace against the predator minority (showing that despite claiming she cares for prey, she ultimately thinks nothing of sacrificing a few for her cause).

She uses her innocent demeanor and strategic timing of favors to manipulate others into trusting her and unwittingly aiding in her scheme. She has also shown a certain amount of sadism, as she laughed wickedly as Nick "attacked" Judy, clearly enjoying the apparent danger the rabbit was in. She takes blood-chilling pleasure and enjoyment from shooting Nick with the Night Howler serum (complete with Slasher Smile) and the idea of him killing and eating Judy, as evidenced by her choosing to stand there and watch it happen.

## **Personality and Traits**

Bellwether epitomizes a wolf in sheep's clothing: on the surface, she appears to be a sweet and finicky, albeit overworked sheep doing all she can to help the city, though inside hides a ruthless and embittered mind. Years of discrimination and lack of consideration from her predator coworkers engineered an utterly vengeful, scheming and diabolical personality that was devoted against all predators, hidden behind her seemingly meek disposition.

Bellwether's perception on predator mammals is that they are an irredeemable breed with an unjustified superiority complex over prey. To Bellwether, majority rules, and in Zootopia, it is fact that the prey population drastically outnumbers that of predators. Bellwether uses this information as a means to justify a hostile revision of the city's social structure — one in which she feels entitled to rule.

Clinging on to her beliefs that acceptance cannot be earned, Bellwether resorts to the use of manipulation and fear to enact her ideology. She ultimately cares little for the prey population as individuals, instead viewing them as a collective capable of heightening her own placement on the political ladder to power. Even so, she is sympathetic towards the prey citizens who go through tribulations from predators in a similar manner of her own past (she initially considered Judy an acquaintance because of their similarities in this regard). Anyone who sees predators beyond Bellwether's views, however, immediately lose her sympathy.

However, this is actually a mere facade to disguise her true nature: a deceptive and cunningly diabolical mastermind. Bellwether is deeply prejudiced against predators because they are only 10% of the population, and she seems to view them as dangerous and unintelligent in comparison to the prey. She is ruthless and power-hungry, perfectly willing to kill anyone who gets in her way or simply refuses to agree with her beliefs. She is also willing to let prey animals get injured or even killed by the predators she turns savage in order to maintain power and turn the population against the predator minority (showing that despite claiming she cares for prey, she ultimately thinks nothing of sacrificing a few for her cause). Her racism doesn't seem to be limited to predators; although she claims

Aside from obtaining control over the city, Bellwether's plot is primarily driven by her resentment towards Lionheart. Rather than subjecting Lionheart to becoming savage, Bellwether instead develops her plot to end in such a way that it impacts Lionheart personally: the former's title as mayor is stripped and his positive reputation amongst the citizens is tarnished, thus destroying his most cherished assets while also ensuring her own accession.

Though Bellwether appears harried, and by extension bumbling, most of the time she is presented, she is secretly a master organizer, operating with lethal cunning. Thanks to her occupation and access to city resources, she was able to create the predator panic without any attention drawn to herself, as well as orchestrating Judy's entire investigation on the mammal cases behind the scenes, leading to Lionheart getting arrested instead; due to her harmless appearance and seemingly friendly demeanor, Bellwether was less likely to be suspected for her crimes. However, she is subject to her own overconfidence, which became her own downfall: when she believed she had the upper hand, Bellwether admitted her entire plot to Judy and Nick out of pride, unaware that her confession had been recorded by the duo. Furthermore, her notion that predators are irredeemable creatures caused her to underestimate Lionheart's character when planning her scheme; although she successfully stripped him of his political status, Lionheart seemed content in the end, and was evidently accepting of his own fate so long as the city was safe, thus invalidating Bellwether's supposed success in emotionally damaging him.