Chad Charming is the secondary main antagonist in the 2015 Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants.
He is portrayed by Jedidiah Goodacre.
Overview
Chad is the son of Cinderella and King Charming, and the head jock at Auradon Prep. However, despite being a prince, he is a jerk and a bully who frequently uses his charm and good looks to get what he wants, which is evidenced throughout the film. At the Parents' Day celebration, after Queen Leah (Audrey's grandmother) blames Mal for her mother's actions purely based on the resemblance, Chad seizes the opportunity to belittle Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos. After Evie heard that, she used the magic mirror to expose him as the biggest jerk in the land. Angry, he drops Evie's mirror, but an enraged Jay grabs him allowing Evie to spray on him some sleeping potion and he collapses. When he wakes up, he makes an angry stare at Ben. Notably, after the villain kids were ignored after the incident, he persuaded Doug and Lonnie to also ignore the villain kids.
During the coronation, Chad's true nature is revealed when Maleficent, now freed from the Isle of the Lost gate (unintentionally by Jane), crashes and interrupts the coronation, intent on claiming the wand and bending all of good and evil to her will. He is shown to be terrified of Mal's mother and her incredible power, cowardly throwing Audrey away from him and trying to hug Doug. Maleficent freezes everyone except for the villain kids, including Chad in his ridiculous position.
At the end of the film, Maleficent is turned into a small lizard, saving Auradon, and Chad winds up dancing with Lonnie during the closing number, but then gets left alone.
Personality
As he revealed his true nature when taunting Mal, it is seen he was manipulating Evie for money, power, and popularity. He also manipulates other girls so his plans with Evie won't fail. He is also seen near the end to be abusive towards Ben, as he tries to prevent him from marrying Mal, and get Mal humiliated as his act of revenge. He also proves to be a coward, as when Maleficent appears in the climax, he uses Audrey as a human shield and rushes towards Doug. When the Villain Kids come to the island, he follows the belief of "Once a villain, always a villain", to the point of wanting to frame them and get rid of them.
He is shown by the magic mirror to be the biggest jerk in the land, however he is nowhere near as dangerous as Maleficent.
Trivia
- Chad is similar to Justin and Alejandro from Total Drama, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and Prince Hans from Frozen; despite being good-looking, they're really selfish jerks who use their looks to get what they want and wind up paying for it in the end.
- Chad's real name is Prince Charming Jr.
- Chad (ironically) is very similar to his father's negative incarnations, particularly the Shrek incarnation of the latter.
- Chad is similar to Kylo Ren, as both are born to heroes but have grandparents who are villains (Lady Tremaine and Darth Vader), but instead they follow the footsteps and behaviors of their grandparents.
- Although Chad is the son of a Disney Princess and a Disney Prince, he is an antagonist because of his behavior. This also makes him the first offspring of a Disney Princess to be an antagonist. However, he does not consider himself evil, but he's more self-righteous in behavior.
- A small fan base has heavily questioned whether or not Chad is really Cinderella's son as his behavior makes him more similar to the Tremaines than his mother.
- He is expected to return in Descendants 2, as an antagonist of the film.