- “At last, after all these centuries, the lamp will be mine again!”
- ―Merlock the Magician[src]
Merlock (also known as Merlock the Magician) is an evil sorcerer and the main antagonist of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.
Background[]
Merlock is a carnivorous, anthropomorphic wolf. He possesses a magic green talisman that gives him magic powers, which include the ability to turn into (non-anthropomorphic) animals, including a hawk, a vulture, a rat, a cockroach, a griffin, a bear, and a cougar. When placed on the Genie's magic lamp, the talisman grants Merlock an unlimited number of wishes to be granted instead of the usual three.
At some point in the past, Merlock was the Genie's master, and was granted immortality as his first wish. When he had possessed the lamp, some of the sorcerer's wishes that were unwillingly granted by the Genie included his own immortality, the destruction of Atlantis (which, in this case, was not just a city but also a famous vacation resort - and Merlock couldn't get a reservation), the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out Pompeii (for the creation of anchovy pizza which he hated) (this last part is mentioned in the comic book adaptation, but was cut from the actual movie).
Merlock is ruthless and extremely cruel, not hesitant to strike down, harm, kill, or, on rare occasions, even eat anybody who gets in his way. He is not even afraid to harm children if he feels like he has to.
Appearances[]
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp[]
Merlock is obsessed with retrieving the genie's lamp, which he apparently lost to the thief Collie Baba (a parody of Ali Baba) centuries before. Collie Baba buried the lamp, along with a large amount of treasure, in the middle of a desert. To this end, he hired Dijon to steal the lamp and act as a guide to Scrooge McDuck, who is searching for that very treasure. Merlock attempts to use Scrooge's ambition to obtain the lamp for himself. After Scrooge finds Collie Baba's treasure, Merlock steals everything in hopes the lamp was there, while leaving Scrooge, his nephews, Launchpad, and Webby to die from giant scorpions, unaware that Scrooge personally gave the lamp to Webby, as he thought it was a worthless oil lamp, while Webby thought it was a teapot.
When he learns that the lamp isn't in the treasure, Dijon deduces that Scrooge still has it. Also, when he came back to the room where he trapped Scrooge in, only to find the duck gone, he concludes that he wished himself and his family back home. Three days later, Merlock comes to Duckburg, trying to steal the lamp back at Scrooge's home, taking on the form of a rat to sneak in, but due to the chaos caused by Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby with their wishes with the genie, Merlock got an undignified thrashing from Mrs. Beakley's broom and was chased by a stuffed tiger doll.
Shortly after that, when Scrooge finds out the boys' new "friend" is a genie, he instantly wishes for the treasure of Collie Baba and takes a helicopter to a lodge party to announce his discovery of the treasure. Merlock changes into a hawk and flies after him, with Dijon in his talons. While the two trying to find Scrooge and genie at the lodge, Genie spots Merlock and manages to help Scrooge to avoid confrontation with the sorcerer. However, Dijon managed to find the lamp while Scrooge ends up taking a gravy dish. Preferring to not be handed over back to Merlock, Genie gets Dijon to make wishes for himself, since he is the lesser of two evils. Dijon's first wish: Scrooge's fortune, a wish that puts Scrooge in jail, where Merlock, like a cockroach, followed the ex-millionaire and his family as they break into the Money Bin in order to get the lamp back.
Like his time as a rat in Scrooge's home, Merlock faces a lot of painful encounters through the traps in the Money Bin, but it paid off as he crawls up to Scrooge's cane, taking the lamp for himself. And with his talisman on the lamp, he literally can have anything he wants. His first wish is having Dijon turn into a "swine," then wishes for Scrooge's Money Bin to turn into a recreation of his old floating fortress, a dark thorny rock castle. His next wish is to have Scrooge be blown out of the castle and fall to his death. It is then that the boys and Webby attack and make Merlock drop the lamp over the side of the castle. He then turns into a griffin and chases after it, though not before warning the children that he would deal with them, as well, upon his return. Both he and Scrooge fight in midair, but since Merlock is holding his talisman, Scrooge knocks it out of his hand, transforming himself into his normal form. Merlock then plummets through the clouds, falling to his death.
Legend of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse[]
Merlock's next appearance was in the video game Legend of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, in which he is known as the Sorcerer of Darkness and is responsible for stopping the River of Time and threatening the Tree of Life in the process. Mickey Mouse must defeat Merlock in order to restore everything to what it once was. He mainly uses fire and lightning to attack. Eventually, he'll change into a dragon, changing his strategy entirely. He will breathe fire at Mickey, fly to the other side of the screen, and toss a spiked ball in front of him.
Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers![]
Merlock in Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!.
Merlock also appears as the main antagonist in the video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers! (though whether this indicates he survived the events of the film is unknown, as no references are made to his appearance there). He captures reporter Daisy Duck after she infiltrates his temple, and Donald Duck (challenging his lucky cousin) sets out to rescue her. While the ducks travel across the countries, Merlock advises Bernadette, the Beagle Boys, and Magica De Spell in order to stop them. In the final level movie, Donald Duck reaches Merlock's lair, and the final battle between him and Merlock begins. Merlock has three attacks. The first one is to make the floor tiles disappear the second to unleash arrows, and the third is the fire attack.
Defeats[]
His defeat depends on which system you are playing the game on.
- In the end of the PC, N64, and Dreamcast versions, Merlock is removed from his dragon forms and flees the scene.
- In the end of the PS1 version, Merlock falls off the tile platform into the lava below.
- In the end of the PS2 and GameCube versions, Donald rescues Daisy by crushing Merlock's talisman, turning the sorcerer into a baby. His fate remains unknown after this.
Comics[]
Merlock is shown on "C" cover of the first issue of the Boom! Studios DuckTales comic book, along with some of Scrooge's other enemies. However, he does not actually appear in any issue of the comic series.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Merlock is comparable to the villain Rasputin from the film Anastasia, as both are sorcerers with long term goals who abuse the minions that turn on them and reform, and is also voiced by Christopher Lloyd.
- His name is a combination of "Merlin", the famous wizard from Arthurian lore, and "Warlock", a term sometimes used for a dark wizard or sorcerer, originating from the Old English word wǣrloga, meaning "oath-breaker".
- Merlock's fate in Goin' Quackers depends on the game platform used, as there are different scenes throughout each version.
- Anchovies on pizza are very common in Italy (since the very inception of pizza, centuries ago). The "creation of the anchovy pizza" part has been completely removed from the Italian dub of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp to simplify it. In the Italian translation of the comic book version, it has been replaced by "broccoli pizza" (quite uncommon in Italy - at least in 1990).
- While his talisman gives him unlimited wishes, only seven are known.
- In the original trailers of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, Merlock's voice sounds different from the film as he talks in a deep monstrous bass tone.
- The producers for the 2017 reboot attempted to develop a story featuring Merlock, but dropped the idea due to feeling the role they developed for him could be filled by Magica De Spell.[1]
References[]
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