"I'd say sweet dreams, but there aren't any left."

— Pitch

Pitch, the Boogeyman is the main antagonist of the DreamWorks animated film, Rise of the Guardians. He is the evil Nightmare King who plots to make children forget their beloved Guardians and send the world into "eternal darkness".

He is voiced by Jude Law.

Appearance

Pitch is tall and lithe in appearance. He has pale gray skin, dull golden eyes, and glossy black hair that is styled in spikes that curve towards the back of his head. He wears a black coat that appears to be made of tangible darkness.

History

Rise of the Guardians

Pitch was originally a powerful master of terror, but after years of children being told that there is no such thing as the Boogeyman, Pitch's power waned and soon, his existence was so fragile that he could not even be seen or heard. This lonely existence, in comparison to the Guardians of Childhood, who are loved and believed in all over the world, caused Pitch to become bitter and have a great hatred of the Guardians.

For centuries, Pitch searched for a way to strike against his foes. Eventually, he found a way to transform the Sandman's dreams into nightmares, monstrous horses that he controls.

Pitch attacks what gives the guardians their power: children's believe in them. He kidnaps the Tooth fairy's army of fairies to stop her from collecting teeth, but the other guardians help her perform her duties. Seeing that more direct action is in order, Pitch battles against the guardians, and manages to overwhelm the Sandman with black nightmare sand, killing him. Next, he sends nightmares to destroy the Easter Bunny's warren, while he distracts Jack Frost by taunting him with his memories.

When all hope seems lost, Pitch approaches Jack in Antarctica, and offers that they join forces. When Jack refuses, Pitch snaps his magic staff in two and throws him into a crevasse.

Children all around the world cease to believe in the Guardians, all until it came down to one boy named Jamie. With so few children believing in them, the Guardians become weak, and Pitch, incredibly strong. As Jamie's believe is too irrepressible, Pitch tries to kill the boy, but the Guardians all try to protect him. With encouragment from Jack and the other Guardians, Jamie gets his friends together and prepare to stand up to Pitch. By not giving in to fear, the children gain the power to turn nightmare sand back into good dream sand. 

The Guardians regain their strength and manage to fight off Pitch. Sandman is also revived. Ultimately, the children no long fear Pitch and so no longer see or hear him. Pitch attempts to run away, but his nightmares attack him, sensing his own fears and drag him down into his lair. Pitch was killed by his own fears.

Gallery

Pitch Black

Kozmotis Pitchiner aka Pitch.

Pitch, the Nightmare King.

Pitch Black aka Pitch.

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Trivia

• In the books which the film is based off of, Pitch was originally an alien army general named Kozmotis Pitchiner, who was possessed by fear demons. Whether or not this canon to the film is unknown, but unlikely.
• Black is his signature color.
• In the film, Pitch is shown as an evil counterpart of Sandy, the Sandman: While Sandy is bright, short, portly and gives happy dreams, Pitch is dark, tall, willowy and gives fear and nightmares.
• His underground lair is located down a dark hole under an old and damaged bed.
• His demise is somewhat of a mix between Dr. Facilier and Scar in that he gets dragged down into what is presumably his own death by his own allies, his nightmares.
• Pitch is also the video game villain in Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game.
• His demise is very similar to the Boogey Man in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, where they both now live in fear to this very day.