The Forbidden Arts is the primary antagonist of The Swan Princess. It (revealed to be he) is a powerful force, and a large orb of great dark magical power and strength. It was said to have been created by a trio of high-level practitioners of dark magic: Rothbart, a sorcerer; Sir Clavius, a magician; and Zelda, a sorceress. Clavius and Zelda were partners of Rothbart until he betrayed both of them. There were notes of the powerful spells cast by its wielder that were written by Rothbart himself.
Role in the Movies[]
The Swan Princess[]
In the original film, the evil sorcerer Rothbart derived his evil magic from the enchanted orb he possessed. He planned to use its great powers of destruction to wipe out King William's kingdom once and for all. Upon failing to do so, he had used the Orb's power of transformation/Change to transform into a bat-like monster known only as "the Great Animal" to take down William. He abducted Odette and took her to his castle at Swan Lake, where he turned her into a white swan for half a night until the rising of the moon.
Escape from Castle Mountain[]
After Rothbart's demise at the hands of Prince Derek, the magical orb was hidden deep within the very heart of the castle. Unfortunately, one of its creators, Clavius, continued to covet its immense powers. As a dangerous magician, he ordered his lackey, Sir Knuckles, to lure Derek away, so that Derek could enter Clavius’s mountain in order to save his mother, Queen Uberta. Upon hearing this, Bridget, Jean-Bob, Lieutenant Puffin and Speed went down into the castle catacombs to obtain the Orb before Clavius.
The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure[]
Zelda took notes on the Forbidden Arts while working with Rothbart, who later betrayed her. Sometime after the deaths of Sir Rothbart and Clavius, Zelda kidnaps a strange bird named Whizzer, a Yakey bird who can imitate any voice after hearing it once. She wants assurance that the Forbidden Arts Notes are still in the Castle at Swan Lake. She disguises herself as a damsel in distress. Lord Rogers falls madly in love with her, but he didn't know that she was using him to get the keys. Once she got the notes, she sees that a small piece of the Power to destroy has been torn off. Using Whizzer, she writes a ransom note to Prince Derek and uses her magic wand and summons a green fireball seeker, to kidnap Odette, in return of the Forbidden Arts. The seeker captures Odette (with Jean-Bob as a stowaway), and Zelda ties her up. As Derek gets the notes, he manages to go to his mother's kingdom, and gets the torn piece of paper, and before he goes he says to Lord Rogers: "I fought the Forbidden Arts before, and I fight them again. But I'm not going to lose Odette." Odette tries to escape but Zelda changes her back into a Swan and imprisons her and Jean-Bob in a green fire dome. Derek meets Zelda who was in disguise as Odette, and he gives her the notes and Zelda reveals herself. Puffin and the rest of the friends are rescuing Odette and Jean-Bob. When Zelda has the power to destroy, she tries to destroy Odette. A red Seeker goes after Odette (as she was freed again), and Puffin. Derek tries to break the wand and he did it. But Puffin comes alone, saying with a terrible news that Odette is gone. Derek break down in tears. His tears are visible on his cheeks as he calls Odette devastated. Derek destroys the notes and Odette magically returns to life.
The Swan Princess Christmas[]
Rothbart comes back from the dead and plans to destroy Christmas. He first casts a spell to put everyone in a bad mood, starting with Uberta and Lord Rogers, but after that fails he casts a spell on Lord Rogers's light bulb invention so that when the lights on the tree go on the tree explodes and Rothbart comes back to life in a physical body of solid flesh and blood.
A Royal Family Tale[]
The Evil Force also called the Forbidden Arts, whom was born long before the age of kings and and queens, plans to rule the world. One day it comes out of it's crystal but becomes horrified to read a legend saying:
"In a coming day there will be a Swan Princess. She will Usher in an age of Goodness. And in her Presence, Pure Evil will not survive. Behold The Glowing Stone, Must be kept hidden For if evil process it, It will have the power to withstand the presence of the Swan Princess and destroy her."
Then he searched for the glowing stone but in vain. Then The Forbidden Arts made a horrible plan. He writes the:
"In a coming day an evil Swan Princess will usher in an age of despair and lay waste to the Earth and its creatures!"
Centuries later Odette the Swan Princess was born.
But in the end of the move he nearly destroys Odette but he disappears as Skully a flying Squirrel breaks the crystal. The Forbidden Arts is also the one responsible for burning Alise's house and killing her father. He imprisons Alise in a cell inside the cave. He appears as a glowing fire ball. His tail is a black cloud of smoke.
Powers and abilites[]
The 3 acts ("Powers") of the Forbidden Arts were very crucial in exploring and controlling this magic art:
- The Power to Create (creation): The power to create anything out of nothing. This is displayed as purple energy.
- The Power to Change (transformation): The power to shapeshift one's self and to transform anything into something else. This power can alter or change something into a form that does not exist i.e. Rothbart's Great Animal form. Rothbart also used the power to turn Odette into a Swan after he took her to his former castle lair at Swan Lake. This is displayed as yellow energy.
- The Power to Destroy (destruction): The power to destroy something witth a blast of energy. This is displayed as red energy.
Those who obtained the Forbidden Arts[]
Incantation[]
Power to Create: Formula non grata kayatus melvarta.
Power to Change: Formula non grata kayatus semper.
Power to Destroy: Vola bid tu ana binaye contora innextre koxus.
Let the powers of the Forbidden Arts flow into me.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the first three movies, it was shown to a large, orange-colored orb that is sentient and autonomous with a mind and will of its own; such as when it had created a red cushion to prevent itself from falling to the ground and obliterating everything and everyone. However, in A Royal Family Tale, the Forbidden Arts' origins are explained differently; as an evil force from the underworld that used the magical orb as its source of power.