| “ | We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams. | „ |
| ~ Willy Wonka. |
Willy Wonka is the deuteragonist of the Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as its two film adaptations: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (2005), and the titular main protagonist of its 2023 prequel Wonka (2023).
He’s the owner of the renowned Wonka Chocolate Factory and manufacturer of the Wonka Chocolate Bars, in addition to various other Wonka brand candies like the Everlasting Gobstopper, Fizzy Lifting Drinks, and more.
After deciding to retire, he hosts a lottery where he hides 5 golden tickets within his millions of chocolate bars, and whoever finds one will gain access to an exclusive tour of his factory. He does this to find a successor who’s pure of heart and worthy of inheriting his factory and life’s work.
He was portrayed by the late Gene Wilder in the 1971 film, Johnny Depp (who also played Jack Sparrow in the franchise Pirates of the Caribbean) in the 2005 film, and Timothée Chalamet in the 2023 prequel Wonka.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
In general[]
- He’s a philanthropist and creative visionary who built a candy-manufacturing empire with the sole intent of making children happy. He’s never shown to be greedy or in it for financial gain.
- In general, Wonka is a very kind and affable man who dedicates his life’s purpose to making millions of children happy every day with his candies and sweets.
- Wonka is a very whimsical and lively person who enjoys being the center of attention, impressing others, and making them laugh. He goes out of his way to de-escalate tense situations and with humor and tries to make everyone feel comfortable in an unfamiliar environment by being nonchalant and treating the wonders of his factory as every day.
Books and Movies[]
- He came to Europe to share his chocolate making knowledge there and possibly to the world as well.
- He accepted the deal with Arthur Slugworth in hopes that Noodle would have a better life, though he quickly broke it when he realized the boat to the Arctic was rigged to blow and he was meant to be killed.
- Though he broke the deal, Arthur Slugworth had already made it unfair and broke it himself by letting Mr. Bleacher and Ms. Scrubitt keep Noodle in the laundromat for the rest of her life, so this isn't really bad.
- He exposed the Chocolate Cartel's crimes to the police and had them arrested.
- He found Noodle's mother with the help of the 5 other customers scammed by Mr. Bleacher and Ms. Scrubitt.
- He prevented the Oompa-Loompas from possibly being victims of genocide by giving them sanctuary in his factory instead of being hunted down by Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers, and Snozzwangers and eaten in the wild.
- He opened his factory up to 5 children and gave them the opportunity to explore his factory while accompanied by a guest of their choice.
- The entire reason for the Golden Ticket lottery was to find a successor to inherit his factory. At the end of both films and the book, he grants Charlie ownership of his factory after he proves his worthiness by not choosing to steal one of Wonka’s secret recipes. He does this with no strings attached, and once again, with no self-interest or financial benefit to himself.
- He also saved Charlie's family from poverty by giving him his factory and the money that came with it.
- He helped save a group of astronauts in space from Vermicious Knids.
- He saved Grandma Georgina from Minus Land by giving her Vita-Wonk and later turns her back to her proper age by giving her 14 Wonka-Vite pills.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- Wonka is very enigmatic. Little to nothing is known about his personal life (outside the 2005 film and minor comments in other adaptations) and he often uses this to his advantage, toying with and manipulating others who don’t know whether or not to trust him, but who have no choice otherwise. This is established early on (in the 1971 film), when the first time the public meets Wonka, he pretends to have a limp before falling forward and rolling into a summersault. Gene Wilder, his actor, claims this was done on purpose to instill the idea in the audience that Wonka is untrustworthy.
- He is very mischevious, as he made up a poem on the spot to trick the US president and mess with him.
- He shows little to no concern for the safety and wellbeing of others. While he makes several attempts to calm his visitors down during times of stress, it’s often as a result of his actions that make his guests uncomfortable or anxious, whether intentional or not.
- Throughout the story, he lets the children put themselves in dangerous, potentially life-ending situations and shows little to no regard for their wellbeing whenever something happens to them, granted with the exception of Charlie, they were very arrogant, mean and completely disobedient to all of Wonka's rules in the factory.
- Although not a major focal point in either movies or the books, Wonka’s factory is not only dangerous in very apparent ways, but in very minor ways as well. As others have pointed out, there’s rarely any railing on any corridors or stairways, barely any protective guards or barriers around dangerous environments, and when there are, they’re ineffective at keeping people from crossing them.
- In the 1971 film, he pretended to snap and yelled at Charlie after finding out that he and Grandpa Joe got the bubble machine dirty and stole fizzy lifting drinks. This was done to test Charlie, but it’s still an adult snapping at and verbally berating a young kid while also showing, again, his prioritized concern of the state of his factory over people’s lives.
- Although it may have been him yelling at only Grandpa Joe and not Charlie, as he's the one who is responsible for Charlie and coerced him into stealing the fizzy lifting drinks.
- Also in the 1971 film, he had the five children and their parents sign a contract so large it took up a whole wall. But the fine print was so small that no one could possibly read what it said. He tells them not to mind it, showcasing Wonka’s corruption when it comes to safety regulations and taking advantage of others’ well-being.
- He also comes off as a bit of a jerk, secretly testing Charlie to see if he'll sell his secret item to another one of his "competitors". Another example is rather than genuinely stopping the kids from causing life altering problems to themselves, he doesn't make an actual effort to prevent it and even causally berates them for their poor choices before sending to machines that "helps" them.
Trivia[]
- He is currently the only Roald Dahl character to be considered Inconsistently Admirable.
External Links[]
- Willy Wonka on the Heroes Wiki
- Willy Wonka (books) on the Guile Heroes Wiki
[]
 Inconsistently Admirable
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also | ||