i. STUDY : PORTRAYAL / CANON DIVERGENCE .
i mention this in my rules, but for the sake of this post i’m just gonna repeat it. aslkdfjasf my portrayal of chad is heavily influenced by personal headcanons. despite appearing in both films and novels, i’ve taken liberties with his character. the novels have a darker tone to them and this is primarily what i reference in my writing. it is just my personal preference, as i believe it brings in an added layer of reality to the story… but i understand why disney channel couldn’t make things much heavier.
below is just going to my version of events that took place during the series. this will be the official canon for my portrayal and all interactions going forward. of course, i am willing to compromise and have a discussion if there are any contradictions that arise with your own portrayal / headcanons.
** OH ALSO, in my canon cinderella is a cruel nickname that was given to ella by the tremaine step-sisters so any mention of it will not sit well with chad!! sorry not sorry i just loved the live - action movie and that’s what i generally use for my reference point of original canon. so yes, his parents are lily and richard. asldfkjasf
i actually don’t have much to criticize in the first film, as far as canon events go with chad. was he an absolute nightmare? yes. was he problematic? yes. did he use people to get what he wanted? yes. HOWEVER, i’m a big fan of secondary antagonist chad so that’s not an issue. lol chad never had um… traditional smarts but he was gifted with looks. despite the many lessons in life and character his mother taught him, he learned that he often could get what he wanted with a charming smile. over the years chad has only developed his skills in manipulation. why work hard when others can do it for you? still, he’ll always play the loving and doting good son in front of his parents.
when ben announces his plan to bring villain kids to auradon, it certainly rocks the boat. the would - be king is destablizing the foundation beneath the kingdom’s very feet. of course it’ s not going to sit well with others, and chad is no exception to this. in general, he doesn’t want villains given a chance to return to auradon but the root of it all is chad’s hatred for the tremaines. his mother always preaches the importance of forgiveness but chad has nothing but animosity for that wretched family. he’s also sensitive about the fact that his mother is not natural born royalty, so any slight against her is not received well.
chad loves attention and could not care less where it comes from. from an early age, he’s received countless compliments about his looks. princess ella’s perfect child: all of her beauty and all of her kindness. i mention this because when everything happens with mal / ben / audrey / chad i don’t believe he ever had romantic for audrey, but just loved the attention he got from her. was it wrong of him to go along with it with the history the three of them shared? yes… BUT chad figured that ben had moved on after his declaration of love for mal so he didn’t really see it as a problem. naturally after everything comes to light, chad apologizes to ben.
TRAGICALLY, chad is turned from secondary antagonist to awkward ????? somewhat irrelevant comedic relief in the second film. now logically, i understand that this was due to jed being busy filming other things and only had a limited amount of time to be in the film. however, i would just like to say that for my portrayal chad’s still very much anti - villain kids in auradon during the events of d2. with audrey gone, it’s even worse considering she was one of the only allies chad had in his life. of course he’ll always be close friends with ben ( they are literal best friends for life, they grew up together, they’re basically brothers ) but his friendship with the villain - kids put a strain on their relationship. it didn’t help that ben invited evie to become part of his council. nothing good could come of it, chad was convinced. ( shout out to @boycrowned‘s canon )
now chad would certainly be at odds with evie after everything that happened in d1 and now with her being on ben’s council, HOWEVER, i think there’s something so hilarious and true to his character about chad being the only ( probably?? ) boy having something designed for the ball. an unfortunate situation where chad loves her designs too much and evie certainly wants more money to start a better life. reluctantly, they find a way to strike a deal in a somewhat civil manner. in the process, the ice between them begins to show signs of maybe beginning to thaw. just not enough for chad to take the first step at apologizing.
when ben is kidnapped, any progress made towards acceptance is shattered. this is exactly the kind of thing chad knew what would happen. the strain on his relationship with ben is replaced by fear and worry. he felt helpless in that moment. chad didn’t know what to do. the only thing he wanted was to save his best friend. ** FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK chad never made that dumb joke about who’s next in line if ben died !!!!!! chad is selfish and can be cruel but he is not malicious. he wants the crown and attention but has literally zero idea of what it actually takes to rule. chad is a brat, yes, but he would never wish harm on ben !!!!!!!!
when the dust settles and it seems like things may go back to normal, ben makes it clear he still plans to invite children from the isle to come to auradon. this is an unforgivable act in chad’s eyes, especially after the near - death experience ben went through. it’s then that he calls audrey and explains that she needs to come home and help him get ben to see the danger and reality of his plans.
D3 brings up interesting ideas and there’s a lot of potential to expand the lore / canon. admittedly, i was not the biggest fan of audrey becoming a villain… but now that i’ve let the idea sit for a moment it’s grown on me quite a lot. for me, i see maleficent’s scepter very much like the horcrux necklace in harry potter. there is dark magic at play and it feeds off of your negative feelings and brings the ugliness inside of you to the surface. WELL considering this is disney channel, they really couldn’t dive too deep into that idea but we do see hints of it happening to audrey during queen of mean. the ( terribly guarded ) scepter is luring her in, manipulating her into reaching out and “pricking” her finger. like mother, like daughter.
i know i’m stepping on the toes of audrey writers but i think once she touched the scepter, the spell was cast and she was cursed. now with chad, he was never under a spell but the dark magic and lure of the scepter let the animosity he held boil. it didn’t take much effort on audrey’s part to convince chad to help her cause. chad already hated the villain - kids and now it was time to take their revenge. one way or another auradon was going to see reason. chad willingly went along with audrey’s plans and it is one of his bigger regrets once he comes to and realizes what was really going on.
the whole awkward / uncomfortable comedy that was given to chad also never happened. why was he acting like a dog ???? we just don’t know. GOOD THING IT NEVER HAPPENED. when audrey leaves chad alone at the cottage, he is away from the scepter long enough to wake up from the effect it had on him. everyone finds him alone and yes, he still does want his mom, but he doesn’t just run off in horror. chad takes the time to tell them that it’s audrey but it’s *not really* audrey. the scepter was using her. he is still very much unhappy that vks are helping but maybe……. they’re not the worst people in the world for doing some good.
when all is said and done, chad feels guilty for being so cruel and helping perform evil deeds. he does want to change and figures the first step is apologizing to evie for his behavior when they first met. despite his worries about villain - kids coming to auradon, he remembers his mother’s lessons on acceptance and kindness. is he perfect and completely changed? never. is he trying to do better? always.
