Aloysius O'Hare

"More smog in the sky, the more people will buy!"

- Aloysius O'hare

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

- Aloysius O'hare

Aloysius O'Hare is the anti-villain antagonist of the 2012 feature length Illumination 3D animated film, The Lorax. Aloysius O'Hare was the greedy and ambitious mayor of Thneedville and the founder of the O'Hare Air company. In Aloysius O'Hare's first chronological appearance, he is shown to be a simple janitor seeking to find a way to improve the quality of life after the Truffula Valley Ecological Disaster. His solution was to capture fresh air into bottles and distribute them using proprietary delivery services.

The Lorax film potrays him as a greedy and conniving businessman due to his massive wealth, even going as far as attempting to kill the last Trufalla seed in the name of big business. However, after the conclusion of the film he is sent on an off-screen redemption arc that concludes in the theatrical film, Despicable Me 3.

Early Life
Not much is known about Aloysius' childhood; all accounts of his childhood are self-reports, and Aloysius never speaks much about his childhood. Aloysius was born on 1889 in the outskirts of the Truffula Valley. His parents continuously encouraged him to achieve high grades and to aim for worldly success. This mindset would stick with Aloysius for almost his entire life. Early on, Aloysius showed a high fondness for civil engineering and classical sciences, as he often enjoyed playing with Legos and Thomas the tank engine play sets. As a child he did very well in school, always achieving high grades. However, his mental capabilities came at a cost. He was very socially inept as child, and suffered from crippling dwarfism his whole life. He was ridiculed by his peers on a daily basis and developed a disdain for humanity as a result. Before forming the O'Hare Air company, he worked several odd jobs and could not find stable work. This is mostly due to the Thneedville economic crash of 1909.

Becoming Successful
Since all the trees had been eliminated from the area surrounding Thneedville, the amount of clean air was diminishing. This resulted in the citizens of Thneedville suffering from several respiratory illnesses. Aloysius, being a shrewd individual, immediately capitalized on the need for clean air. Thus, O'Hare Air was founded. The citizens of Thneedville soon recognized the bottled air as a necessity of life. Soon, all people were purchasing O'Hare products. O'Hare Air also served as a delivery service and provided jobs for capable individuals, such as Cy the Delivery Guy . It is currently unknown how much income O'Hare Air has made, but it is speculated that the total amount is close to 13 zillion dollars, as Aloysius has gone on record saying that he is a multi-zillionare. Due to O'Hare's high public perception, he was unanimously declared as new mayor of Thneedville, similarly to the Once-ler. At this point in his life, he was the most powerful man in city.

Role in the Lorax film
In the Lorax, Aloysius serves as an antagonist. He is the epitome of the greedy businessman archetype. His only concern seems to be growing his company and selling O'Hare air products. He is even greedy enough that he attempted to kill the last truffula seed to protect his business. As a result, Aloysius was immune to appeal-to-emotion tactics and was against the growing of truffula trees, even though they would have benefitted everyone. Throughout the film his demeanor grew increasingly sociopathic and emotionally callous, hinting at his troubled past.

The audience is introduced to Aloysius within the first few minutes of the film. He is initially presented as a simple businessman who made zillions selling air to the people of Thneedville. However, it is gradually revealed that Aloysius is behind a massive conspiracy to cover up the state of the Truffula Valley so that he could keep his business alive.

Throughout the film, Aloysius and his bodyguards constantly harass key individuals to prevent them from starting political movements in support of the trees. They cover up all public demonstrations relating to trees and they censor the media to prevent knowledge of trees from becoming widespread. Aloysius even constructed a massive wall complex around Thneedville to prevent people from knowing the truth about the Truffula Valley. Aloysius' plan falls short when Ted Wiggins obtains the last truffula seed and successfully rallies the citizens of Thneedville in support of planting more trees. Ted even destroys a portion of the wall complex, to Aloysius' dismay. The citizens end up impeaching Aloysius by attaching a rocket pack to his head and flying him out of the city. Aloysius is not seen again in the Lorax franchise ever again from this point.

Redemption Arc
Aloysius' redemption arc occurs mostly off-screen but substantial parts of it are shown in Despicable Me 3. Aloysius was severely humbled after being impeached by the people of Thneedville. With nothing left except the clothes on his back, he walked for 3 days straight to a nearby town. He found work as a janitor and began inventing a powerful fusion reactor similar to the one that powered his old oxygen producing factory. During this time Aloysius went on a deep spiritual journey and was made aware of the Elder Gods. Aloysius made a fortune by selling his completed fusion reactor to the experimental weapons division of the United States Airforce. Aloysius was not as significant a character as he was previously but he still made notable cameo appearances in films such as Toy Story 4 and Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups.

In the finale of Despicable Me 3, Aloysius' self control was greatly tested. Throughout the film he constantly fails to choose whats right over his own greed. However, when Dru tries seducing Aloysius to the path of evil, Aloysius declines and instead tries to take down Dru and his evil ponzi scheme. Ultimately he fails and is sent to the RAFT outpost. Internally Aloysius is satisfied with his decision even though it tuned out horribly for him. This signifies that his character was redeemed.

Role in the Infinity War
In a final attempt of desperation, Nick Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents released several prisoners from the RAFT outpost to stop Thanos and his conquest of the Infinity Stones. Among the released prisoners was Aloysius O'Hare. Most super powers are powerful because of their ability to defeat an opponent in unadulterated combat, but Aloysius O'Hare's power was not merely physical. The power of genius level intellect exposes weaknesses that are not exploitable by simple firepower. Such abilities are not based upon the principles of power. They rely on manipulating everyone to believe that you are more than just human, but something to fear and respect.

Aloysius' mastery over circumstance manipulation and social engineering allowed him to gain an edge over Thanos, even with all the infinity stones. He devised a brilliant plan in which he tricked Thanos into handing over the infinity gauntlet by forcing him into a double bind. With all the infinity-stones in hand, Aloysius attempted to use the stones to defeat Thanos and his Black Order. However, Aloysius did not possess a singularity of will and the infinity stones backfired on him. Aloysius was immediately decimated by cosmic energy and gamma radiation, scattering him across time and space.