Professor Padraic James Ratigan II the main antagonist of The Great Mouse Detective. He is full of rage and anger, but it doesn't get the better of him, as he hides it with smiles and laughter, but his anger is still felt building up inside, waiting to burst out. Also, he dislikes being called a rat, even though in reality, he is one.
Biography[]
For dozens of years, Mouses Fiennes has held the long-dreaded title of “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind”. But for a while, someone else held that position... On the hot afternoon of one July 22, Sheila Ratigan had just finished giving birth to a baby boy, with the help of her husband Alan and her adoptive “children”, Willie, Yoko, and Jellybean. However, it was soon discovered that the child was a rat... a hideous, disgusting rat. Alan and Sheila, who despised the creatures, immediately went outside and left the baby in an alley to die. That night, Mouses Fiennes, their employer, found out about the improper disposal of his young heir to the criminal throne. Enraged, he argued with the Ratigans, before shooting them to death. Then he set off to find the baby... Mouses discovered that Sally and Andrew McBride, a couple from America, adopted the young boy, and were just about to take him home. Mouses, however, shot them before they could. The McBrides survived the shooting, but they would never see their son again... not for years to come. Meanwhile, the baby was taken into Mouses’ hideout, cleaned, fed, and given a new name: Ratigan. The young boy grew up in Mouses Fiennes’ hideout mainly in isolation. Though he did make friends with Mouses’ many minions, he was a very shy fellow, and often preferred to stay in his room, making crafts, playing with toys, and chatting with his cardboard mice friends, Jacques, Eve, and Titus. However, Ratigan had heard so many times of a world above the one he lived in, a world where everything was big and bright. Ratigan so wanted desperately to be a part of that world, but he knew wishing would be in vain, for Mouses forbade Ratigan to leave the sewer lair he made his home in. On one November 3, however, a very young Ratigan decided that enough was enough. He was going to disobey Mouses and attend that year’s Guy Fawkes Night celebration. At first, it turned out to be a lovely experience, but when Ratigan took part in the “Humiliation Game”, he was jeered and ridiculed for his less-than-normal looks... then comforted by the lovely Gypsy entertainer, Esperanza, who had seen the whole thing from afar. Ratigan was then led back to the hideout by Mouses, where he encountered Esperanza again, was robbed of his chastity by Mouses in a fit of rage, and met Basil of Baker Street for the first time... all in a single night! Two days later, however, Mouses forced Ratigan to take his place as the World’s Greatest Criminal Mind, and a reluctant Ratigan agreed. He was then given steroids (to increase his strength), a large executioner cat (named Felicia), a new name, and a terrible, twisted tale of how his parents were murdered by Basil (which was actually a lie). And almost immediately, Ratigan became London’s worst and youngest mouse criminal. Professor Ratigan then proceeded to commit many transgressions (which are described graphically in his biography), even though Basil and Esperanza, his former friends, tried to stop his mad rampage, but to no avail. As he grew, Ratigan’s heart became completely hardened... well, actually, make that “almost completely hardened”... for he still had feelings... for Esperanza. Very lustful feelings... Ratigan was so overcome with desire for the dancer that he flew into a rage when Basil proposed to her in 1894. A month later, Ratigan crashed the ceremony, then killed Esperanza in a fit of anger. Basil and Ratigan then became sworn enemies from here on out... Known for his refined ways, Ratigan is not without a touch of class, as he plays the harp, speaks the Queen’s English, and dresses in the height of fashion every single day; he fills his hideout to the brim with all sorts of jewels and rare coins, and only the finest champagne is served from his fountains. Behind his genteel façade, however, there hides a sinister, super-evil demon that may have crawled from the darkest depths of Hell; Ratigan sheds no tears for the suffering, and whenever someone upsets him, he will gladly feed that mouse to his monstrous pet cat Felicia. Sustaining a nasty temper that can flare at the blink of an eye, Ratigan’s rage is usually let out when he is angry for some reason or is called a “rat”... a moniker he despises with a passion. Rivaling Basil of Baker Street on the intelligence factor, Ratigan is extremely cunning; he maintains the smarts of a true college professor, to the delight of his thugs and the dismay of his numerous victims.
In 1897, Ratigan schemed to take over Mousedom by replacing the Queen with a robotic fake built by toymaker Hiram Flaversham, whom he had Fidget kidnap. He would then have the real Queen fed to Felicia, ensuring his reign as permanent supreme ruler of all Mousedom. Although Flaversham was reluctant to help, Ratigan threatens to harm the former's daughter Olivia, and this gets him back on course. He then reveals his plan to his followers, but not before having one, Bartholomew, a drunk, gobbled up by Felicia for accidentally insulting him. Just as his plan is nearing completion, Basil and his new companion, Dr. David Q. Dawson, bring Olivia along and they are able to intervene in the final stages. Learning of their involvement from Fidget, Ratigan constructs a very complicated trap consisting a barrage of life-size weapons to kill Basil and Dawson before leaving for Buckingham Palace with his thugs and the Robot Queen boxed in a package, flying off in his blimp. However, unbeknownst to Ratigan, Basil uses the trap to free himself, Dawson, and Olivia.
At Buckingham Palace, Ratigan's plan is set into motion. His thugs, disguised as guards, enter the Queen's room, where they unbox the package to reveal the Robot Queen to the dumbfounded real Queen. As the robot chases her, the Queen discovers Ratigan in her room and orders the "guards" to seize him, but Ratigan, shouting into a speaker built into the robot's controls that makes the Robot Queen speak, orders his thugs to seize the real Queen, then rings his bell to summon Felicia. As the Diamond Jubilee takes place, the Robot Queen names Ratigan as her new "Royal Consort", and Ratigan, dressed in an ornate robe, immediately presents himself in front of the gathered citizens of Mousedom, terrifying them. Ratigan then proceeds to read over his long list of tyrannical and unfair laws, which one of them is heavy tax policy for people he refers as parasite like the elderly, infirm and children; meanwhile, Basil, Dawson, and Olivia rush to the palace, arriving just in time to save the real Queen. They then reveal the scheme in front of the citizens, foiling Ratigan's plans. The citizens then ambush Ratigan and his thugs, but Ratigan fights off his attackers by shedding off his robe. Just then, Fidget reveals that he had captured Olivia again, and Ratigan, rushing over to Fidget, orders Basil, Dawson, and Flaversham to remain where they are, threatening to kill Olivia if they attempt to stop his escape. The three mice quickly rush outside the palace and improvise a flying apparatus to pursue Ratigan above the Thames River. Fidget, who is pedaling Ratigan's blimp to speed it up, cannot take the extra weight and tells Ratigan they have to lighten the load, meaning to throw Olivia off the blimp. Ratigan, out of sheer bad temper, instead throws Fidget (who cannot fly) off the blimp and into Thames River. With Fidget gone, Ratigan pedals the blimp himself. Basil jumps onto the blimp, distracting Ratigan and causing the blimp to crash into one of the clock faces of Big Ben.
Inside the clock tower, Ratigan recovers, seizes Olivia in one hand, and prepares to ambush Basil. Basil, however, notices him, and the two fight atop the gears of the clock tower. With Olivia's help, Basil traps Ratigan by throwing his cape into the gears. The two mice then escape and Basil is able to take Olivia to safety. This finally sends Ratigan over the edge. Breaking free from the gears, he pursues Basil, tearing his clothes in the process and transforming from a very formal, composed rat to a highly savage one. Ratigan tackles Basil and they both fall onto the clock's hour hand; Ratigan stops Basil from reaching the others. Finally, he extends his long, strong fingernails and begins scratching, punching, and strangling Basil continuously. The attack leaves Basil with torn clothes and several wounds. Attempting to finish him off, Ratigan knocks him off the clock hand and yells in triumph, thinking he has won. However, Basil called him out, saying "The game's not over yet!". Ratigan glances down and sees Basil holding on to the broken blimp, and ringing Ratigan's bell which he used to summon Felicia, realizing that he stole the bell during the fight and already lost the battle. The clock's bell tolls, causing Ratigan to lose his balance, and plunge off the hand, taking Basil off, who manages to save himself while Ratigan plummets to his death for good.
His death later makes headlines in newspapers (via a sub-headline that reads "Time Runs Out for Ratigan"), of which one copy is kept by Basil.