This article is about Cassandra from Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. For other uses, go here .
“You know, someone very wise once told me that there is more in me. And it's telling me I need to go out there and find my own destiny.” - Cassandra to Rapunzel
Cassandra is a major character in the Tangled franchise. She is the deuteragonist of the Disney Channel film, Tangled: Before Ever After, and the tritagonist of its follow-up series. She is the biological daughter of Mother Gothel who was abandoned as a child when Gothel kidnapped Princess Rapunzel and hid away from the world. She was taken in by the Captain of the Guards thereafter, and raised in Corona as a handmaiden. Upon Rapunzel's return to the kingdom, Cassandra was enlisted as the princess's lady-in-waiting. Despite being polar opposites and occasional rivals, Cassandra and Rapunzel developed a close friendship—one that would inspire Cassandra to pursue a bright future despite her troubled background.
Background[]
As revealed in "Rapunzel's Return", Cassandra is the biological daughter of Mother Gothel, though she was severely neglected and was often left to fend for herself and doing chores by herself in their cottage while Gothel went about her daily business. On the night of Rapunzel's kidnapping, Gothel's initial plan was to seek refuge at her cottage, but upon arriving, she found that it was overrun by guardsmen on the hunt for the lost princess. To evade arrest, Gothel cut the bridge connecting her cottage to the mainland and fled the scene, abandoning Cassandra, who witnessed this and was heartbroken. With her mother gone, the Captain of the Guards decided to adopt Cassandra and raise her as his own daughter in the palace of Corona. In the years that followed, Cassandra repressed her memories of Gothel and grew to be intelligent, mature, and an extremely skilled fighter. Taking after her father, she developed a dream to join the royal guard, though she instead served as a lady-in-waiting.
Development[]
Cassandra was initially written and created by Chris Sonnenburg who also finalized her design along with Shane Prigmore. During the early development of Tangled: The Series, the concept of Cassandra came early as Chris needed to answer the question "What is it that Rapunzel NEEDS in her life?" He looked on further than his household and his two daughters. Not only their tight relationship but their many close female friendships as well. During research for the show, Chris stumbled upon an early sketch of Rapunzel's mother who at that point in the initial development of the movie was a warrior "Joan of Arc" type. Drawn to this image, Chris knew then she would play an important part in Rapunzel's story in some way.
Personality[]
Cassandra is described as being "tough-as-nails", a fitting description for someone who wishes to join the royal guard. She is snarky, sarcastic and has a somewhat dry sense of humor. She is also very intelligent, often subtly insulting Eugene in clever ways that go over his head. Despite this, she is extremely supportive and protective toward Rapunzel, her polar opposite—so much so, that she openly holds animosity for Eugene, believing him to be a selfish freeloader and undeserving of Rapunzel's love and friendship. In the series, however, their relationship gradually becomes less hostile, and slightly more playful as the two spend more time together. In "Fitzherbert P.I.", Cassandra genuinely admired Eugene's determination to become a royal guard, and actively assisted him in proving his worth to her father. It was later shown that Eugene's quirkiness had started to warm up to Cassandra, who found amusement in his excitement to school the guards as head of a training class.
Aside from her no-nonsense persona, Cassandra is also a free-spirit, not unlike Rapunzel. Though she has a more cynical way of going about life, Cassandra also finds joy in adventure, living life to the fullest, and experiencing new things. This is most notably seen during "Wind in My Hair", where Cassandra is seen enjoying herself almost as much as Rapunzel.
Although loyal to King Frederic and Queen Arianna, Cassandra is willing to break their rules (and risk her job) for the sake of Rapunzel's happiness and to accomplish her dreams; this is seen when Cassandra offered to take Rapunzel beyond the kingdom's wall to explore some of the outside worlds and escape the pressures of royalty. Doing so required much stealth and cunning, traits Cassandra revealed herself to have abundantly that night.
In "Challenge of the Brave", it is revealed that Cassandra has some insecurities about how she is seen just like a girl/handmaiden instead of a strong, skilled, and capable warrior who deserves as much respect as anyone in the royal guard. These insecurities, and the desire to prove herself can sometimes drive Cassandra to act selfishly, even to those she cares about. Once she realizes her mistakes, however, Cassandra is mature enough to own up to her faults and make amends as best she can. Cassandra's cynical nature gives her trust issues. Examples are that she doesn't forgive people easily, she doesn't like sharing her feelings, keeps secrets to herself, or she won't accept help. This is one of the reasons she has a rivalry with Eugene because he was a thief in the past and she thinks he's ignorant enough to not address other people's feelings.
In "Not in the Mood", her personality develops a bit. She likes to show no mercy toward not just Eugene, but other suspicious-looking people. She later realizes she should be more compassionate. For starters, she made friends with a man who was large and scary, but friendly.
She still has a firm belief that strangers can't be trusted, especially when they lurk in the shadows. She jumps to conclusions about people's actions rather quickly. If she doesn't like someone, she'll fight them. She even fights just for the fun of it, not in the mood for being nice.
Throughout Season 2, Cassandra's seriousness about the journey ahead grows to a point where she becomes resentful at the group's dismissals of her concerns. Her hand is injured due to Rapunzel's use of the Decay Incantation in "Rapunzel and the Great Tree" which she and Rapunzel struggle to communicate about; a growing crack in their relationship that only got worse when she discovered her backstory in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow and that her mother chose Rapunzel over her, which soon motivates her to betray Rapunzel and take the Moonstone for herself. She then ran away with the opal, opting to use its powers to make her destiny apart from Rapunzel and her former friends.
Cassandra's anger towards Rapunzel is stoked by Zhan Tiri throughout Season 3, who encourages her to blame Rapunzel for Gothel abandoning her. Although Cassandra has moments of weakness, under Zhan Tiri's encouragement she attacks Rapunzel in order to obtain the Demanitus Scroll. As depicted in the episode "Cassandra's Revenge", she has become increasingly ruthless under Zhan Tiri's influence. However, there are some lines she is still not willing to cross, such as sparing Pascal and Varian's life, who has been in the same position as her. However, she tells him they are not as similar as he says, and rejects his pleas for her to stop.
However, in "A Tale of Two Sisters", Cassandra being stuck with Rapunzel under Gothel's old cottage gradually causes her to become protective and warm-hearted towards her once more. They even reminisce and bond over the old times, only for a misunderstanding caused by Zhan Tiri to misguide Cassandra into believing that Rapunzel intentionally withheld a seemingly happy memory between Gothel and Cassandra from her.
In "Once a Handmaiden...", after realizing that Zhan Tiri tricked her and that her mother never really loved her, Cassandra becomes remorseful over her actions and seeks to make amends with Rapunzel. However, she expresses fear that Rapunzel won't forgive her, and comes back to Corona disguised as Faith and manages to bond with Rapunzel again. Unfortunately, after Zhan Tiri manipulates her yet again, Cassandra comes to believe Rapunzel intends to destroy her after being struck by amber from Varian's Project Obsidian, causing her to turn her back on her once more.
In "Plus Est En Vous", Cassandra's anger has made her completely mistrustful, and any remembrance of Rapunzel's "betrayal" causes her to destroy things in a rage. She also no longer trusts Zhan Tiri, possibly blaming her for most of the events that transpired. As she and Rapunzel fight, Cassandra sadistically mocks her and reminds her of how she's always felt second best. Cassandra seems to hold some fondness left for Rapunzel by sparing the frame picture she made her that was kept in her old room as she only put it down and a jar made by her Aunt Willow, which she holds dear. However, this fondness wasn't enough for Cassandra to spare her entirely and just as she was about to eliminate Rapunzel, Zhan Tiri took both the Moonstone and SunDrop from them, reducing Rapunzel's hair back to its natural color and Cassandra back to her old self, Cassandra gets told by Zhan Tiri that is indeed like her villainous mother; having an ego. While imprisoned, Cassandra breaks down in tears for all of her heinous actions and finally apologizes to Rapunzel, revealing that she all she wanted was to find her own destiny and set out a path for herself, but let her insecurities blind her from those needs. Rapunzel forgives Cassandra and says that there is more in her, more than she has ever known, which instills a new confidence in her. Once they break out of the prison and defeat Zhan Tiri, Cass was gravely injured in the scuffle and apparently died, but was revived by Rapunzel by using the Moonstone and SunDrop. She later leaves Corona after tearfully bidding farewell to Rapunzel, acknowledging themselves as best friends, and sets out to travel the world and find her destiny.
Physical appearance[]
Cassandra is a tall, slender, pale-skinned young woman with dark pink lips, grey-green eyes and short, grey-streaked black hair with frizzes. Her graying hair could allude to her mother's longevity, implying that Cassandra is also older than she looks.
In her childhood, she had longer wavy hair which went past her shoulders and wore a green dress with a dark green apron and dark green shoes.
Her signature outfit is a long-sleeved grayish-brown tunic with dark red collared dress underneath, black leather gloves, a dark brown belt with a purse and a dagger on it, dark brown-and-red striped leggings and brown boots.
When performing her duties as Rapunzel's handmaiden, Cassandra dresses in a blue and white dress, with a white headdress, a white choker, and light blue slippers.
Since attempting to touch Rapunzel while she was reciting the Moonstone incantation, Cassandra's right hand and wrist were turned pitch black. To cover for her injuries, Cassandra donned a knight's armor and a purple cape.
When she is corrupted by the Moonstone Opal, her hair and eyes turn turquoise and her clothes turn into an indestructible black and dark blue armor with spikes similar to the Black Rocks. The Moonstone opal itself becomes embedded in her chest. Overtime, Cassandra's skin tone becomes paler, and in Race to the Spire she steals a black shapeshifting hooded cloak similar to her mother's, which she wears until Once a Handmaiden....
After the Moonstone was stolen from her body, her original tones returned and her armor became plain and dark brown. She later sported a green tunic similar looking to her season 1 outfit, with her torn handmaiden headdress wrapped around her right arm and a dark green cape, along with her Cassandrium Necklace.
Abilities[]
Cassandra possesses skills in horseback riding, fencing, archery, athletics, and other skills in combat; which she had learned for being the daughter of the Captain of the Guards. She is also shown to be very clever when she understood Rapunzel's clues, had helped Varian with his project and spotted the mistakes in letters from a suspicious character. As well as possessing skills in acting, as she had tricked a Separatist of Saporia member into thinking that she has feelings for him, so he would come to Corona and she could uncover his true intentions. Cassandra also has skills in sewing, cleaning and other skills that are needed for her handmaiden duties.
After bonding with the Moonstone's power, she, most likely, receives the life-draining power that it possesses, as evidenced by its energy coursing through her hair, although she never attempted to use it though the Decay incantation, possibly because she knew how dangerous it was. She also has control over the Black Rocks which was first seen when she creates some to escape the Dark Kingdom, and when she learned the third incantation, she masters her powers to the point she was able to build her own tower]] out of the Black Rocks.
Due to her connection to the Black Rocks, they respond to her emotions, as seen when she was afraid of the idea of destroying Rapunzel, the rocks turned red and gained the ability to show people their worst fears until becoming paralyzed with fright if they stare to them too long.
After being reduced back to her normal state, Cassandra has lost all of her newfound powers, rendering her as once again a normal woman.
Trivia[]
- She is the second of Rapunzel's allies to turn against her, the first was Varian.
- She is also the first character to be revealed that she is a biological child of a villain.
- Interestingly, Cassandra's will to protect Rapunzel at all costs is also quite damaging, specifically with the relationship Rapunzel shares with Eugene. Because of Cassandra's distrust toward Eugene, the former actively advises Rapunzel to keep secrets from him, which in turn cripples the amount of trust shared between the two; though Cassandra blames Eugene for failing to address Rapunzel's personal struggles, it is impossible for him to do so if Rapunzel refuses to be honest with him. Though Rapunzel is at fault for choosing to keep secrets, Cassandra is also at fault for encouraging the princess' will to do so. This was addressed in "What the Hair?!".
- Ironically, after her betrayal, Cassandra reveals to Rapunzel that she herself is the untrustworthy one.
- Her betrayal could have hinted it earlier in the Season 1 song "Ready as I'll Ever Be." as she sings the phrase, "Prove they can trust me."