Dr. Facilier

**Doctor Facilier** (commonly known as the **Shadow Man**) is the main antagonist of *The Princess and the Frog*. He is an evil, smooth-talking bokor (witch doctor) who plots to rule New Orleans with help from his "friends on the other side."

Since his inception, Facilier has garnered critical acclaim and major popularity with fans, making him one of Disney's most popular villains. In response, he quickly became a primary member of the *Disney Villains* franchise.

## Background

Facilier's past is mostly unknown, though he mentions being a descendant of royalty through his mother (whose severed, shrunken head he keeps in his emporium). His motivations toward taking over New Orleans was briefly implied to be a result of a poor upbringing, where the wealthy either treated him with disrespect or ignored him altogether.

At some point in time, through unknown circumstances, Facilier encountered a group of dark loa and formed an alliance with them, granting himself power over black magic, which he would regularly use to swindle the citizens of New Orleans for easy money by "granting" their wishes—posing as an amoral businessman of sorts. Facilier refers to the loa as his "friends on the other side", and they typically act as his lackeys throughout the witch doctor's various schemes. His crooked nature and affiliation with these shadowy figures earned Facilier the nickname "Shadow Man." However, Facilier's power comes at a price; should he fail to remunerate his "friends" for their services, Facilier must recompense with his own soul.

As evidenced by Tiana's knowledge and distaste for him, Facilier has an infamous reputation around the city and is a feared figure in the eyes of its inhabitants. Despite having access to the loa's magic, however, Facilier continued to struggle socially and financially—unlike others, like his wealthy rival Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff. This played into Facilier's belief that the true "power" that controls the world is money, not magic, thus setting off his coup to seize the La Bouff fortune.

Facilier is accompanied by his sidekick shadow, which has a will and personality of its own. It is absolutely obedient to Facilier's wishes, and seems to reflect his inner mood (ex. when Facilier was luring an unsuspecting Naveen and Lawrence to his parlor table, the shadow briefly formed into a snake, hinting treacherous intent). His base of operation was a seedy parlor known as Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium, which is shown to be filled with strange objects and voodoo paraphernalia (some of which he admits that he "ain't even tried") including shrunken heads and voodoo dolls which seem to come alive, chant, and beat drums when Facilier is about to perform his biggest spells. The dolls also serve a practical application - he has a voodoo doll of 'Big Daddy' La Bouff primed and ready for the moment he can get his hands on the rich man's fortune.

### Personality

Facilier is a scheming bokor, driven mostly by greed and the desire to have authority over others; more specifically, the citizens of New Orleans. As Naveen mentions, Facilier is indeed suave, smooth-talking, polite, and often charming, which aids him in luring unsuspecting victims into his lair. When it comes to sorcery, Facilier is not as powerful as he seems, as his magic is primarily derived from his "friends", forcing the witch doctor to mostly rely on his power of persuasion to carry out his bidding. This was a weapon perhaps even more dangerous than black magic during his lifetime, as Facilier was able to maintain control over his "friends" by repeatedly manipulating them with charm and temptation. Despite their nearly unlimited power, this made the voodoo demons just as susceptible to Dr. Facilier as his human victims.

Facilier is an opportunist and can be quick to formulate plots. After overhearing the planned arrival of a foreign prince, and Charlotte La Bouff's lovesick infatuation with the said prince, Facilier was able to quickly concoct an elaborate scheme—one of which that could have very well succeeded, if not for unexpected interference.

While a polite, charismatic showman, Facilier is also cruel, remorseless, and sadistic. He has no qualms with terrorizing innocent civilians as a means to reach his own goals and often relies on manipulation and false promises to achieve said goals. As evidenced by his words to his "friends", while ordering them to capture Naveen: "Bring him to me alive, I need his heart pumpin'... For now.", Facilier is not above killing his victims, once their usefulness has been fulfilled. His murderous state is also shown when Ray the firefly interferes with his plot, as the witch doctor quickly resorted to murder to prevent further interference, and appeared nonchalant about the matter, although it's never shown if Facilier is aware the animals are sapient and Ray was attacking the shadow demons. On a larger scale, Facilier would even use New Orleans' denizens as a bargaining chip, offering their lives in exchange for more power from his "friends".

While generally composed, Facilier has instances of lashing out in anger, particularly when he feels disrespected. For example, when Lawrence questioned Facilier's legitimacy by referring to him as a charlatan, Facilier immediately confronted Lawrence in fury and nearly hit Lawrence with his stick, though he managed to pull himself back fairly quickly and refrained from harming him. Likewise, Facilier's equanimity is somewhat of a façade. Though he gives off the impression of being totally in control of every situation, in reality, he lives in constant fear of being unable to repay his debt to his "friends". When the notion of failure comes into play, Facilier becomes vulnerable, desperate, and high-strung.

Despite his complete lack of morals and treacherous nature, Facilier frequently sympathizes with the downtrodden or poor. With Lawrence, he made a genuine effort to retain a calm and patient demeanor when commencing with him; he was adamant about having Lawrence willingly work as his accomplice, rather than forcing him into villainy through torture or intimidation. There is also no evidence that Facilier intended to betray Lawrence to keep all the money for himself even if he was getting the (slightly as it 60-40) larger amount of money. He also sympathized with Tiana and her late father, he even offered to make her dream a reality in exchange for his talisman and it nearly worked until she regained her senses.

## Trivia

* In French "facile" (in other Latin languages it is written in the same way, but pronounced differently) means "easy", then "Faciler" could be "the one that makes things easy", using Voodoo.
* Bruce Smith describes Facilier as the love child of the Disney Villains Captain Hook and Cruella De Vil.
* He may not be an actual doctor, though his title could likely refer to the fact Facilier uses his voodoo magic to "help" people.
* Facilier was originally named Dr. Duvalier after Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, the Voodoo practicing genocidal dictator of Haiti.
* Dr. Facilier is the only character in the film who refers to himself as such. Everyone else simply calls him "(the) Shadow Man". Dr. Facilier's first name is never revealed either.
* Facilier is the first male Disney character to have purple eyes (the second being Fear from *Inside Out*), and one of the few Disney characters in general to possess such, the only other characters being Aurora, Vanessa, Megara and Judy Hopps (all of whom are women).
* Violet/purple and green eyes are often associated with sorcery and the Devil, which is why many of Disney's earlier villains had green eyes. Therefore, it is not surprising the animators chose to give Facilier purple eyes, due to his voodoo powers.
* The way Facilier moves is quite similar to 1920's era jazz musicians/dancers, notably Cab Calloway.
* While he is dancing in front of Naveen and Lawrence in his Voodoo shop, his Shadow turns the wall's floral background into skulls.
* Facilier's ultimate downfall is among the darker and unusual demises for Disney villains: when his amulet is destroyed, he loses the means by which he can pay back his debt, and as such, his soul is claimed by the Loa as payment and he is dragged, begging for his life, into their dark realm (essentially condemning him to eternal damnation).
* Facilier is the first black Disney Villain and the fourth to have French origins.
* Facilier is the first Disney Villain not to have a particular entrance of his own, instead appearing in the opening song in a casual way.
* Facilier's crocodile-tooth necklace can lead to his power; Voodoo practitioners believe that crocodile teeth can bring strength, primal energy, and wisdom.
* Facilier and Tiana never meet until the film's climax, though she knows of his reputation and he knows of her father (most likely through the cards).
* Facilier is the first villain in the Disney animated canon to have his own song since Alameda Slim in *Home on the Range*.
* He once said that he was born of royalty on his mother's side. This probably means that his mother was a Voodoo Queen like the famous Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.
* It is very subtly implied that Doctor Facilier can play the piano because there is one in his Voodoo Emporium.
* In some books, Facilier isn't sucked into the voodoo mask, but swallowed by his shadows, leaving his hat.
* Dr Facilier became Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of The Princess and the Frog.*
* Dr Facilier appears in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventure Series to get revenge on Thomas, Twilight and their friends for foiling his plans to steal Big Daddy's fortune.

## Gallery

Facilier bargaining with his "friends".Facilier with his legion of shadow demonsDr. Facilier's deathThis page is sourced from The Disney Wiki.

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