King Aldrich Leviathan is a major antagonist in Amphibia. He was King Andrias' father and the king of Amphibia before him. At some point before passing away, he was assimilated into the Core for spiritual immortality.
Appearance[]
Body[]
Aldrich was a tall pale blue newt and resembles his son King Andrias, but he is a gaunt, hunched figure, and he appears to be larger than his son. He had wrinkled skin, thick eyebrows, a long beard, and yellow eyes. Most of the time, his eyes were closed, but opened either one or both when he was serious. He has black pupils, with amber irises.
As "The Core", Aldrich's eyes have changed to resemble it. He has five pairs of orange eyes with a lighter shade in the middle for a total of eleven.
Clothing[]
Aldrich used to wear a tunic most of the time, which had black color on the front, while it had light and dark brown, green colors on the sleeves, with moons graphics on the edges. Also, he wears green sandals. Instead of a scepter, he carries a double-bladed axe with an orange eye in the center.
Personality[]
As the former king of Amphibia, Aldrich was a firm believer in his family's legacy as conquerors. He saw no issue with committing genocide against humanity by strip-mining the planet Earth of its resources, considering newts to be the "superior" species. Prior to being assimilated into the Core, Aldrich hoped to pass down his world-view to his son Andrias. He was quite emotionally abusive towards his son, as he discouraged Andrias from forming friendships, believing them to be nothing more than a distraction to his duties as a king, and that they simply were not meant to last.
Despite Andrias' best attempts to please his father, Aldrich showed little warmth towards his son, only showing him affection about 1,000 years after his death when his consciousness briefly surfaces through Darcy, telling Andrias that he is "almost" proud of him for his commitment to the Core's interests above his own.
Background[]
Ancient times[]
Over 1,000 years ago, King Aldrich, Andrias' father, ruled Newtopia and commanded its military campaign of conquest across various worlds/planets/dimensions. One day, after Aldrich catches Andrias playing with his friends, Leif and Barrel, he suggests that despite how close his son and his friends are, they will only end up using him for his royal powers. Aldrich takes Andrias to the royal basement and introduces his son to the Core, the collective minds of all of Amphibia's greatest leaders, and explains that the Core should now be his only aid once he was ruler. It is then that Aldrich gives his son the key to the Calamity Box, explaining to Andrias of their family legacy and entrusts his son his primary mission: to invade Earth, to get rid of the planet of its occupants and mine it for its resources.
Andrias decides to show off the music box to his friends. At one point, Leif touches the stones and is treated to a terrifying vision of the destruction of Amphibia. Using this knowledge, the trio approaches Aldrich, suggesting they not use the music box to invade any more worlds. After consulting with the Core through his crown, Aldrich refuses to change his plans, instead insisting that she was a traitor and brands this as evidence that Andrias' friends were only out to abuse his power. Aldrich reminds his son that the music box is their birthright and everything must continue as planned.
Leif tries to convince Andrias otherwise, but Andrias, still hearing the echoes of his father, refuses to go against Aldrich and argues at first, and although they eventually make up, Leif steals the key to access the music box. When Andrias realizes the key was gone, he discovers Leif stealing the music box and making her escape.
With the box no longer in Amphibia, Aldrich initially berates his son for his failure, when he is informed by the Core that it will return. Aldrich then decrees the royalty will lie in wait until the time is right, when the box is returned to Amphibia. Embittered by Leif's betrayal, Andrias also severs his friendship with Barrel because of the latter choosing not to stop her.[2]
Legacy[]
Aldrich eventually uploaded his mind into the Core just as his ancestors did before him, and his son officially took the throne.[4]
In the present, the Core transfers themselves into Marcy Wu, becoming "Darcy" and begins plans for invading Earth. Andrias seems to hesitate when waking Darcy up from their upgrade. However, he does and when they awaken, explains that they are now closer to starting Earth's invasion and Andrias agrees. Eerily, their voice now becomes his father's as Aldrich's personality manifests in order to say, "Why son, I think I'm almost proud of you".[4]
After losing Marcy as its host and its invasion is foiled by Anne, the Core enacts its final gambit and fuses with Amphibia's moon itself, intending to destroy Amphibia and secure victory once and for all.[4] Aldrich attempts to manipulate Andrias through the crown, pleading with him to save them and in doing so will allow him to be assimilated into the Core, joining them forever. Andrias, suddenly having a change of heart, refuses and instead orders the remaining Frobots to engage the Core. Aldrich, panicking, demands to know what he is doing, to which his son tells him, "Something I should have done long ago. Standing up to YOU!" before crushing the crown, ending his father's influence over him. Once Anne destroys the moon with the combined power of the Calamity Gems, Aldrich is destroyed alongside the Core.[5]
Sightings[]
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| Amphibia Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| Amphibia Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "The New Normal": | Absent | 16. "Froggy Little Christmas": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Hop 'Til You Drop": | Absent | 17. "Escape to Amphibia": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Turning Point": | Absent | 18. "Commander Anne": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Thai Feud": | Absent | 19. "Sprivy": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Adventures in Catsitting": | Absent | 20. "Sasha's Angels": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Fight at the Museum": | Absent | 21. "Olm Town Road": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Temple Frogs": | Absent | 22. "Mother of Olms": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Fixing Frobo": | Absent | 23. "Grime's Pupil": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Anne-sterminator": | Absent | 24. "The Root of Evil": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "Mr. X": | Absent | 25. "The Core & The King": | Debut | |||||||||
| 11. "Sprig's Birthday": | Absent | 26. "Newts in Tights": | Absent | |||||||||
| 12. "Spider-Sprig": | Absent | 27. "Fight or Flight": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "Olivia & Yunan": | Absent | 28. "The Three Armies": | Absent | |||||||||
| 14. "Hollywood Hop Pop": | Absent | 29. "The Beginning of the End": | Absent | |||||||||
| 15. "If You Give a Frog a Cookie": | Absent | 30. "All In": | Appears | |||||||||
| 31. "The Hardest Thing": | Appears | |||||||||||
Behind the scenes[]
Name and basis[]
The name "Aldrich" is from old English, carrying the root for -ric, meaning "ruler". "Aldrich" has many variations of old English personal names, such as Ælfric ("elf ruler") and Æ{dh}elric ("noble ruler"). It has come to mean "old wise ruler", ironic given Aldrich is a heartless and cold king who happens to be very ancient. His name might also be a reference to the word "eldritch." In addition, his name is possibly a reference to Aldrich from Dark Souls 3, who was a former cleric and took great pleasure in consuming human flesh, which befits his heartless personality.
His surname, Leviathan, is a reference to the mythological sea monster often depicted as a humongous whale or serpent.
Inspiration for Aldrich's design, particularly with his eyes, came from the demonic form of Okkoto in Princess Mononoke and Théoden when he was under Saruman's spell in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.[1] Ironically, Keith David, who is the voice of Andrias, provided the voice of Okkoto in the English dub of Princess Mononoke.
Voice[]
King Aldrich is voiced by William Houston. Houston also voiced King Vendrick in Dark Souls II, who served as the inspiration for King Andrias.[6]
Debut[]
King Aldrich debuted in the third season episode "The Core & The King". Prior to this, a statue of him appeared in the second season episode "The First Temple".
Foreign voice actors[]
| Language version | Actors | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Spanish (Latin America)
|
Ricardo Alanis | |
 Portugese (Brazil)
|
Gilberto Baroli | |
 Spanish (Castilian)
|
José Carlos Polo | |
 Hungarian
|
Rosta Sándor | |
 Norwegian
|
Simen Sand | |
 Polish
|
Przemysław Bluszcz | |
 Portuguese
|
José Martins | |
 Swedish
|
Anders Beckman |
Designs[]
Gallery[]
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia[]
- Aldrich's voice can be heard at the end of the third season's trailer.
- Aldrich is the only known named character to have been assimilated into the Core.
- For that reason, his is the only discernable voice that comes through the Core whenever it talks, excluding Darcy's.
- In Marcy's Journal: A Guide to Amphibia, Aldrich is revealed to been good at the game Flipwart, beating his son before Marcy was able to beat him.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Braly, Matt (April 18, 2022). "Here's some #amphibia pre-vis work for The Core & the King. These incredibly expressive Aldrich explorations were by @dannyducker. The Darcy sketch I did so that we'd all be on the same page about how they would look." (Tweet). Twitter.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Todd McClintock (writer) and Roxann Cole (director) (April 16, 2022). "The Core & The King". Amphibia. Season 3. Episode 14B. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Braly, Matt (August 22, 2020). "I'm Matt Braly, creator and executive producer of Amphibia - Ask me anything!!!" (Reddit AMA post). “I'm going to say it takes place in the year that it aired so 2019.”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gloria Shen, Jenava Mie, Michele Cavin (writers) and Roxann Cole, Joe Johnston, Jenn Strickland (directors) (May 7, 2022). "All In". Amphibia. Season 3. Episode 17. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Adam Colás, Todd McClintock (writers) and Roxann Cole, Joe Johnston (directors) (May 14, 2022). "The Hardest Thing". Amphibia. Season 3. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ "Matt Braly's AMA". Reddit (August 22, 2020). “He was actually inspired by King Vendrick from Dark Souls 2. There was something so touching about that sad, furrowed brow.”