- "To put that tremendous power into the hands of the masses would be pure madness. When I could use the Tears, not only to win the war, but to reign for all generations to come."
- —Prince Joachim[src]
Prince Joachim Franz Humbert of Prussia or more simply Prince Joachim is the main antagonist of the 2021 Disney live-action film Jungle Cruise. He is portrayed by Jesse Plemons.
History[]
Biography[]
Origins[]
Prince Joachim is the youngest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Joachim would grow into a deranged and ambitious German aristocrat. He was active in World War I where he would command a small number of military forces and U-boat submarine.
In 1916, Joachim financed and lead a military expedition to claim the mystical Tears of the Moon tree for Germany to take over the world. For this mission, he needed to obtain the Arrowhead of Lukarina from the Royal Anthropological and Diverse Adventures Society in London, England. This arrowhead was required to unlock the secret powers of the tree leading to him making a deal with society member Sir James Hobbs-Coddington by paying solid gold bars for the artifact.
Search for the Tears of the Moon[]
Before Joachim could take the arrowhead, it was stolen by woman adventurer Dr. Lily Houghton on a mission to find the tree to form a healing formula from it. Joachim later used his U-boat to track her and her brother MacGregor to to Porto Velho, Brazil. He attacked them using his submarine, destroying parts of Porto Velho including the boathouse of Nilo Nemolato. However, the Houghtons managed to escape aboard a boat called La Quila with Jungle Navigation Company boatsman Frank Wolff.
Joachim later located the cursed conquistadors of Lope de Aguirre, whose bodies turned to stone due to being imprisoned by Frank Wolff, away from the river. Joachim freed them by diverting the river, and offered to help them break the curse if they helped him retrieve the arrowhead. The conquistadors subsequently attacked the Houghtons and located the temple containing the Tears of the Moon. Following this, Joachim used his submarine to intercept MacGregor and the native chieftain, "Trader Sam".
Sam abandonned ship while Joachim kidnapped MacGregor. He then aimed torpedos at Trader Sam's tribe's territory and threatened to destroy it unless MacGregor gave him the location of the temple. However, Joachim died amidst a fight with Wolff and the Houghtons when Lope betrayed him for the tree followed by Joachim being crushed by a rock.
Appearances[]
Film[]
Jungle Cruise[]
Joachim is the main-antagonist of this film.
Other connections[]
Jungle Cruise (attraction)[]
The helms of Joachim's former conquistador allies appear in Alberta Falls' office of the JNC Amazon River Base and a hat-rack in the Lost Delta's boathouse. Joachim's historic great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort (1819-1861) is indirectly referenced by Nigel Greenwater in Disneyland's Jungle Cruise when Greenwater mentions the Ladies Assistance League's annual charity bazaar being held in "Prince Albert School".
Differences from history[]
Assorted[]
- In real-world history, Joachim spoke no English while in the film he is bilingual.
- The historic Prince Joachim died by suicide in 1920 while his film counterpart was killed in 1916.
Biography[]
Prince Joachim of Prussia (1890 – 1920) was the youngest son of Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany. Throughout World War I, he was considered to be made king of Ireland or King of Georgia though neither of these plans saw fruition. In 1916, he married Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (1898-1983) with whom he had a son named Prince Karl Franz of Prussia.
Following the German revolution, the royal family abdicated from the throne of Germany. Joachim became deeply depressed and was alleged by family to have symptoms similar to dementia. In 1919 he and the princess of Anhalt were divorced. In 1920, Joachim commit suicide via self-inflicted gunshot.
Trivia[]
- Prince Joachim serving as the main antagonist was likely inspired by the film The African Queen (1951) where the German Empire was the main antagonist.
- Joachim's submarine might be a tribute to the defunct Disneyland Tomorrowland attraction Submarine Voyage.
- The shot of Joachim's feet sticking out from under the boulder appears to be a tribute to the Wicked Witch of the East's death in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Gallery[]
