Like The Coachman in Pinocchio, which came out the same year, Chernabog is not the main antagonist of Fantasia. Theres not even a main protagonist, or a coherent narrative all the way through: Chernabogs chapter in the feature simply occurs towards the end of the programme, as a finale of sorts. Nonetheless, holy crap on a stick but Chernabog wigs you out, and for a variety of reasons. For a start, his name means black god - hes a representation of an Eastern European deity, the god of the night, in an ancient pantheon of old gods that predate the advent of Christianity. Secondly, hes the size of a freakin mountain, and summons ghosts, ghouls and other creatures of the outer blackness to act as his servants, spreading mayhem at night while everyone cowers in their bed. Demons arrive from Hell, only to be thrown back in as the black god revels in the fire and brimstone. In fact, its only the coming of dawn that sends the undead and the devils scurrying back to wherever they came from, and Chernabog, wary of the sunlight, raises his arms to protect his eyes, and folds his wings over his head, becoming the mountain once again until next time. The darkest, most powerful and most horrifying of all Disney Villains, the only reason hes not number one on the list is his limited appearance, lack of lines and overall lack of any real focus. Chernabog is content to be the ringmaster of the nights monstrous, hellish party, the host with the most. If he had a story and a motivation behind him, hed be unstoppable.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
