Pacha[4] is a portly villager from the countryside of pre-columbian Peru and the deuteragonist from the 2000 Disney animated feature film The Emperor's New Groove, its sequel and its television series.
Background
Pacha is the leader of a village in Emperor Kuzco's unnamed kingdom. His hut is located at the very top of the village's hills where the sun hits perfectly. He resides there with his wife Chicha and his children, Chaca, Tipo, and Yupi. Aside from his village leader role, Pacha is also a llama herder.
Pacha was drastically changed during the production process that completely revamped the story. Originally, he was to be a younger man that was looked identical to Kuzco, resulting in a "Prince and the Pauper" storyline and when Yzma discovered the switch, he was forced into acting as a puppet ruler by her. In the ending, Kuzco and Pacha would work together to stop Yzma's plans to awaken the dark god Supai and restore the sun to its proper place. The original role to assist emperor-turned-llama Kuzco in getting back to the royal city was to be female, and a potential love interest for the selfish teen (aspects of the character that would later be used in Malina in the TV series). The major overhaul of story made the film a buddy movie, with Pacha and Kuzco having to trust each other through the adventure.
Personality
Pacha is very lovable and caring. He takes his position as village leader very seriously and attempts to do what's right for his people. He can be describe as a family man, spending most of his time with them. Upon meeting Kuzco, Pacha felt he was a spoiled brat but learned to forget that in an attempt to change the emperor's attitude around.
Appearances
The Emperor's New Groove
In the first film, Pacha is summoned to the palace by Kuzco and is told that his house on the hill will be destroyed to make room for Kuzco's summer home. Distraught and horrified that the emperor could be so callous, he travels home to tell his wife (Chicha) and his two children (Chaca and Tipo) that they have to leave their ancestral home. However, before he can tell them, he discovers that Kuzco has been transformed into a llama and dropped in the back of his cart. The two set out to turn Kuzco back to a human by getting to Yzma's lab. After the adventure and the defeat of Yzma, Kuzco decides to let Pacha keep his hut and village and even builds a summer hut right next door to Pacha's. Pacha and his family welcome Kuzco into their lives and enjoy themselves in Kuzco's pool.
Kronk's New Groove
In the second film, Pacha is Kronk's friend. He disguises himself as Pachita, Kronk's mother-in-law (they initially planned for him to pretend to be his wife, but Pacha's wife, Chicha did that instead).
The Emperor's New School
In the TV series, he is like a father to Kuzco and lets him live with him. He always gives Kuzco advice to help him out of any situation. For example, when Kuzco was transformed into a rabbit, he told Kuzco to "Make the best of what you've got," which in this case was speed. In Cart Wash, when Kuzco is transformed into an elephant and laments how he is going to wash carts, Pacha tells him that elephants wash themselves through their trunks and he could do the same with carts. After Kuzco's graduation in Graduation Groove, Kuzco reveals during the credits that he had Pacha and his family move into the palace with him as he loved living with them and would miss them.
House of Mouse
Pacha made cameo appearances as a guest in several episodes.
It's a Small World: The Animated Series
Pacha makes a brief, non-speaking cameo appearance alongside Kuzco in the animated mini-series' episode Up and Down.
Trivia
- In the original film Kingdom of the Sun, Pacha was originally going to be voiced by Owen Wilson.