King Leonard Mudbeard (2024)

King Leonard Mudbeard, also known simply as Leonard or King Mudbeard, is the main antagonist of the 2016 computer-animated film The Angry Birds Movie and the tritagonist of its 2019 sequel The Angry Birds Movie 2.

He is a greedy and oppressive tyrant and the king of the dimwitted Bad Piggies, as well as the father of King Pig. His goal is to rob the Bird Island birds of their eggs, bring them to his kingdom on Piggy Island, and have them cooked up for a feast for himself and his fellow pigs. In the first film, he is Red, Chuck, and Bomb's arch-nemesis. In the second film, however, he reforms considerably and becomes their friend.

In both films, he is voiced by Bill Hader, who also played Agent Haggard in Paul, Hansel in Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil, Guy Gagné in DreamWorks' Turbo, Bloodbottler in the 2016 The BFG adaptation, and Cyrus Strange in The Addams Family 2.

History[]

Before arriving on Bird Island[]

Leonard Mudbeard was born on Piggy Island and at some point became it's king. Having learned of Bird Island and its inhabitants, he and the pigs began plotting to steal the birds' eggs so that they could eat them. From his boat, Leonard spots Bird Island from his telescope

Meeting the Birds[]

Leonard first appears when he arrives on Bird Island, crashing onto Red's house by the shore, much to Red's devastation. Leonard then introduces himself and his First Officer, Ross, to the birds, claiming that the two of them are peaceful explorers offering friendship. Red takes an instant dislike and distrust to Leonard, which the other birds just chalk up to his general negativity and anger issues. To honor their arrival, the birds put on a celebratory show for them that very night, showing off the wonders of their island to Leonard and Ross.

Red is openly suspicious of the pigs' motives for being there, and his suspicion only grows when Leonard and Ross show off the wonders of their own island. During a welcoming banquet, Leonard gifts the birds with both a trampoline and a gigantic slingshot with not only the help of Ross, but two other previously-unseen pigs named Oinky and Jon Ham, who are introduced as his assistants. Astonishingly, this only raises a red flag for Red, who recalls that Leonard had only mentioned two pigs (himself and Ross) coming to the island, not four, but the other birds completely don't mind this, much to Red's puzzlement. Red fails to help his case by constantly annoying Leonard during his presentation, which quickly turns Red's initial dislike toward Leonard into a mutual dislike on Leonard's part, which is illustrated when he chooses Red to test the birds' new slingshot and sends him a smug, mischievous smile when he confirms his choice. He then proceeds to humiliate Red in front of the other birds by flinging him from the slingshot, ejecting him from the banquet.

This petty move backfires on Leonard, however, when Red lands on the beach, not far from his boat. Still skeptical of the pigs' motives, Red decides to put his suspicion to the test by searching it, with his friends, Chuck and Bomb, joining him. When they snuck on board, they find a treasure trove of evidence against the pigs when they spot many, many crates full of TNT aboard, many more trampolines, several odd-looking vehicles, costumes, and, the most troubling, a secret compartment where hundreds of pigs are hiding, something that is accidentally uncovered by Bomb.

Now realizing that Leonard really might be up to no good, Red returns to the banquet and confronts him, revealing that he had snuck onto the latter's boat as well as finding the hundreds of other pigs that were inside. As Red continues to reveal more evidence that he had found, Leonard just listened in annoyance. Instead of accepting and appreciating Red's investigation, the other birds jeered at him for invading the pigs' privacy. Even worse for Red, Leonard successfully covers his true motives by lying that he had only wanted the rest of his people to be kept safe until they were sure that the birds' island was safe for all of them. He even adds that they were going to put on a cowboy show for them.

When he further lied of his belief that birds and pigs were meant to be friends and not to cross boundaries, the birds fall for it completely. To make matters worse, Judge Peckinpah proceeded to scold Red for not only shaming himself but the entire bird community. Believing that Red's suspicions are nothing but a product of his own anger issues, Peckinpah declared that the former should receive more treatment as punishment, to the dismay of both Red and Matilda. After ordering Red to not trouble Leonard and the pigs again, Peckinpah immediately comforts Leonard, stating that he and his people would love to see his cowboy show. Thanking him with a false tear, the latter starts the show with a snap of his fingers. Having had warded off any suspicions, the latter sends another smug grin to a now-exasperated Red, who leaves the banquet in disgust and is kept up all night by the subsequent partying.

True intentions Revealed[]

Over the next several days, the birds invite the pigs over to make themselves at home on their island. Some of them give piggyback rides to birds trying to cross the streets while others are given grand tours of Bird Island. More of them spend time demonstrating to the birds how to use their new devices and contraptions. The birds seem to have fully accepted and welcomed Leonard and the other pigs, with the only exception being Red, who is made miserable by their presence, as many of them began relaxing on the beach outside his home while others invade it and start using his belongings without permission.

However, the first sign of Leonard's true intentions occurs during a grand tour of Bird Island that he and some other pigs are given by Stella. Leonard spots a bird's egg and, upon being told by Stella that it is how their bird offspring are born, fantasizes about eating the egg. What is more is that following his fantasy, he is seen in his daydream holding and almost cuddling the egg in a creepy, almost longing manner, which Red notices and calls out. Leonard and Red's dislike toward each other grows when the latter shows the former a series of paintings that he has painted of Leonard in many painful situations, causing the latter to remark in a rather irritated way.

Even more than that, Red questions Leonard outright on his true motives for being on the island, demanding to know whether they are truly explorers or are planning to stay on the island. When he demanded on why they are bringing in more newcomers, which he asks because he sees another one of their ships arriving, that boat bumps into the first one which caused Red's house to tilt a bit. When he continued to demand more answers, Leonard, via eye-direction, silently urges Judge Peckinpah to shut Red down, which the judge did while the former watched with smug satisfaction. Leonard then snidely tells Red that it went well, at least for him, before heading off to continue Stella's tour with the other pigs. Now fed up that no one would listen to him, Red heads off with Chuck and Bomb to find and consult with the island's protector, Mighty Eagle, to see if he knows what the pigs are planning.

Stealing the Eggs and Preparing the Feast[]

Later, Leonard introduces helium balloons to the birds, especially the hatchlings, and then invites the birds to a disco party that he is hosting. However, what the birds do not realize is that it is all part of an elaborate distraction to keep them all busy while the pigs spend the day and part of the evening planting TNT from their ships at various points around the island, and then steal the birds' eggs while they are partying. Though it proved to be a clever plan as most of birds are completely oblivious of it, However, Leonard and the pigs had no idea that Red had seen everything via telescope from Mighty Eagle's mountain. When Red, Chuck, and Bomb rushed back to the village without Mighty Eagle, who refused to help them, they catch the Pigs stealing the eggs (some by their own hands, others by loading them in parasols and sliding them down wires leading back to their ships, and still others by transporting some of the eggs in their vehicles) while at the same time blowing up the village. Sure enough, the whole thing is being overseen by Leonard, just as Red suspected, whom the heroic trio spots standing on a platform behind them, uttering an evil laugh as he makes his escape down to the beach to board his ship.

While Chuck attempts to warn the other birds, Red and Bomb attempt to rescue the stolen eggs. At Red's urging, Bomb tries to break the chain that is holding up a net carrying the eggs by making himself explode. Unfortunately, this fails when three pigs sprayed water on him via water guns, which causes him to not only fall off the chain, but also knock Red off the net, sending them both plunging into the water. As Red and Bomb refused to give up and continue pursuing the pigs. Leonard mockingly thanks the two birds for their island's hospitality, uttering another evil laugh immediately afterwards. With the eggs in his possession, Leonard happily orders his pigs to sail back to their home of Piggy Island while a minion pig sets off the last of their explosives, which sent a statue of Mighty Eagle plunging headfirst into the water. The next day, the other birds were horrified and devastated upon discovering that their home has been ravaged and destroyed. To make it worse, they were heartbroken when they further discovered that all the eggs are gone. An ashamed and guilt-ridden Judge Peckinpah then approaches Red and expresses shame for having not listened to him in the first place. All the birds feel hopeless until Red motivates them to let out their anger on the pigs in order to rescue the eggs.

As Red and the birds construct a makeshift raft to head over to Piggy Island, Leonard returns home and is revealed to be the king of the pigs. In front of a whole coliseum of pigs, he declares a feast, as he plans to have the eggs cooked into omelets for his entire kingdom to eat two nights from the time of his announcement.

Final Battle and Defeat[]

As the birds finally reach Piggy Island the morning of the feast, Red, Chuck, Bomb, and the other birds are all surprised when they learn that Leonard is the king of the pigs. Upon learning this, Red has the idea of using the giant slingshot to launch a series of attacks on the castle, correctly deducing that Leonard is holding the eggs inside. Spotting the birds, especially Red, after their first few shots, Leonard orders his fellow pigs to stop them while he prepares his feast for his kingdom, publicly announcing over a far-reaching intercom that, much to the birds' horror, they will instead be eating the eggs for lunch that afternoon, sending the birds into a panic, as they now know the pigs' true plans for their eggs, as well as the fact that they do not have much time to save them.

Eventually, Red, Chuck, and Bomb manage to infiltrate the castle and, after sneaking past some pigs, fooling some others (thanks to Chuck's superior speed), and fighting through some more, finally retrieve the eggs and save them from being cooked (with help from a newly-arriving Mighty Eagle). However, as they try to make their escape while hanging from a net holding the eggs, a furious, desperate Leonard grabs Red's leg, and in the struggle to pull him, Chuck, and Bomb back into the castle, one of the eggs gets loose. Though he knows that it is risky, Red remains behind to save it while letting Chuck, Bomb, and Mighty Eagle escape with the rest of the eggs.

With Leonard's patience finally gone, his and Red's mutual dislike finally explodes into full-on hatred. He angrily tries to take the egg from Red, resulting in a brief fight on Leonard's chandelier that eventually causes both of them to fall into the castle's reserve of explosives. Though Leonard manages to snatch the egg and is about to fry it with a candle while standing on a pile of dynamite, Red (in a rare moment of calmness) manages to trick him into letting his guard down by complimenting him on his plan of stealing the eggs. As Leonard falls for it by thanking Red for it, even proudly admitting that a lot of planning goes into forming his "sinister plans" (and thus also admitting to his villainy in the process), Red pulls out a box full of dynamite, causing Leonard to slide down and allowing Red to tackle him, wrestle him, and retrieve the egg while the candle lights up a stick of dynamite.

Incensed, Leonard flies into a burning rage and chases Red up the pile of dynamite, this time fully intending to kill him when he catches him. Unfortunately for him, he fails to notice the one stick that was lit by his candle. He warns Red that he has annoyed him for the last time, to which Red surprisingly, smugly agrees (as he likely believes that Leonard is not going to survive what is about to happen) before shielding himself and the egg by hiding inside a falling giant kettle, while Leonard screams as the explosives go off, destroying the castle and the rest of Piggy Island. Red survives thanks to the kettle, and he and the birds then make off with the eggs unscathed while Leonard and the pigs seemingly perish in the explosion. With the pigs finally defeated, the birds head back to Bird Island with their eggs in peace.

During the end credits, it turns out that, incredibly, the pigs have survived the destruction of Piggy Island, including Leonard, who is last seen sitting on the remains of his castle, fuming over the destruction of his kingdom. As the birds and even the pigs dance to "I Will Survive," which is being played by Mighty Eagle, a vengeful Leonard swears to "hatch up" a new plan for revenge against Red, Chuck, and Bomb before ultimately joining in to dance with the other pigs (likely realizing that he will have plenty of time to think of a plan after the dance).

Truce[]

Main article: King Leonard Mudbeard.

One year later, the birds and pigs are in constant war against each other after Piggy Island, which was destroyed in the pigs' prior battle with the birds, is rebuilt. After an ice ball from a nearby isle called Eagle Island hits the sea near Piggy Island, forcing pigs to have a truce with the birds, Leonard comes to Red's house to negotiate. Red reluctantly agrees to build an alliance with the pigs, and they recruit Chuck, Bomb, Silver, and Mighty Eagle.

Legacy[]

After being abdicated from his throne, King Leonard's son, Smooth Cheeks became the heir and successor as the monarch of the Green Pigs.

Appearance[]

Leonard is a green, anthropomorphic pig with a chubby build, thick, dark-green eyebrows, and a full, dark-green beard. He also has black eyes. He first appears without a crown. Later, when he steals all of the eggs, along with the Pigs, to be taken to Piggy Island, Leonard is seen wearing a crown on his head, adorned with rubies and sapphires, as opposed to only several sapphire gems. His first outfit during the theatrical trailer is his red, sporty attire, and during the battle against the birds, in the third and final theatrical trailer, Leonard wears only his king's red cape with a white-black-fur-trim collar, along with his ruby and sapphire crown.

Personality[]

Leonard can be very upbeat, positive, and fun-loving. He is certainly seen to be like this around his fellow pigs, and at least when he is with them, these seem to be genuine traits about him. However, these can also be used as weapons of sorts, as they can be disarming toward others to hide his true colors. In other words, these can be his real qualities at times, but a front at others.

At these other times, Leonard can be, and is shown to be, a very tyrannical, controlling, and manipulative individual. He demonstrates these qualities when he interacts with his right-hand man, Ross, shaming him for messing up their entrance on Bird Island. He has no fears or doubts when going onto Bird Island and greets the birds with confidence by making his entrance loud and obvious. Combined with the behavior of an international ambassador and a used car salesman, Leonard is honest, charming, attractive, and charismatic, so he speaks in a very confident, boisterous, enthusiastic manner, and he just might be full of baloney and hogwash, depending on whom you ask. He also proves to be the most intelligent of the pigs, as any dimwittedness from him is exceptionally rare to see. In one scene, when he spots Red breaking into his castle, he informs three pig guards, "There's a red bird in these walls!" As such, the pig guards check on the wall they were standing near, but this infuriates an already annoyed Leonard enough to remind them that his previous statement was not to be taken literally, causing the embarrassed pig guards to search around the castle. He is also very quick to think on his feet, as shown by him covering in such a masterful manner after Red confronts him about finding the hundreds of other pigs hiding on his ship.

Below all of these traits lie Leonard's even colder, more despicable traits. He is also incredibly cruel and vindictive, particularly when he is furious or desperate. When he finds out that Red, Chuck, Bomb, and the other birds are invading his kingdom, he purposely, maliciously announces his change of plans for the eggs (his altered plans to eat them sooner than initially planned) over a far-reaching intercom that he clearly knows will reach the birds' ears, possibly to psychologically knock them all off balance (which, very briefly, he does). He also orders the slaughter of the birds during the invasion of his kingdom, all while hiding it under the guise of defending against an "unprovoked aggression." He also thinks nothing of wanting to cook Red and Mighty Eagle when they end up cornered by him and his men, thus intending to murder them along with the prospective baby Birds in the eggs, further displaying his viciousness and cruelty, as he also does not seem to care that the eggs might contain baby birds that could be close to hatching, and that he might be killing them, as well. And finally, in his last desperate act, he shows this again when he attempts to cook the final remaining egg in front of Red, likely to try and mentally, emotionally break him for his attack on his kingdom.

Leonard also seems to resent those who do not fall for his charms or who are not taken in by his charisma, as it is fairly clear that his initial dislike toward Red is rooted in the fact that, from the very first moment they meet, Red sees right through his obvious façade and is the only one of the birds with this distinction (though Chuck and Bomb slowly begin to see the truth about him, as well). Though Leonard simply considers his feelings toward Red to be mere annoyance, it is clear from his rather visceral reactions almost every time he sees him that he strongly dislikes him (and, of course, the feeling is mutual). The dislike between them both simmers and grows throughout the film until at last, during the climax, it finally erupts into mutual hatred (which is demonstrated by Leonard's desire to kill Red with his own two hands right before his defeat).

Leonard is even proud of the aspects of his character that make him so evil, given how many evil grins he displays and evil laughs he lets out after his true colors are revealed. He is also very quick and very proud to admit to Red how much planning goes into his "sinister plans" during the climax of the first film, showing that (at least in the first film) he not only knows that he is a villain, but he also loves being one.

However, Leonard's one redeeming quality is the love that he has for his people. He is shown to never want to extremely hurt his fellow pigs and even shows them care and respect (at least most of the time). His people seem to genuinely respect him as their king, and he does appear to be a good, solid, capable ruler. Sadly, in the first film, in particular, this can be lost in the sea of his more terrifying qualities.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

• In Angry Birds Fight!, he makes a guest appearance as a boss.
• In Angry Birds 2, he makes a guest appearance as a playable character.

External Links[]

• King Leonard Mudbeard on the Heroes Wiki
• King Leonard Mudbeard on the Angry Birds Wiki

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