Rapunzel/Appearances/Tangled

The Lost Princess
When Rapunzel's mother, the Queen, falls ill during pregnancy, her subjects concoct a special tea from a magical plant grown from a drop of sunlight that fell to earth. The tea restores the queen's health and gives the unborn Rapunzel magical healing powers, which reside in her unusually long golden hair. However, an evil and jealous woman named Mother Gothel sneaks into the bedroom one night soon after birth, as she has wanted the plant's magical abilities for herself, ever since her first discovery of the plant centuries ago. Mother Gothel initially attempts to steal a lock of Rapunzel's magic hair, but upon discovering that cutting the hair destroys its power, she decides to kidnap the infant instead. Mother Gothel locks Rapunzel in a tower away from the outside world, and raises the girl as her own. Rapunzel matures into a teenager, spending all of her time confined to the tower with no one for company but Gothel and her chameleon friend, Pascal. Gothel continually tells Rapunzel that the world is a dark and cruel place full of detestable creatures and people. Rapunzel is also never informed of her status as a princess, nor has she ever been told of her real history.

The Floating Lights
Every year on her birthday since her youth, Rapunzel has witnessed a festival of lights in the nearby kingdom of Corona, unaware that it is both in remembrance of her kidnapping when she was a baby and a beacon for her to find a way home. Rapunzel can't help but feel drawn to the lights and dreams of one day traveling to the kingdom herself to see the festival. On her eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel gathers the courage to ask Mother Gothel to go see the festival, but Gothel elaborately refuses with "Mother Knows Best", and orders Rapunzel not to ask to leave the tower again. A while later when Gothel is out, Flynn Rider, a handsome thief, decides to use Rapunzel's tower as a hiding place after stealing the crown and escaping from the royal guards of Corona. Rapunzel knocks Flynn unconscious and hides him in her closet. Noticing the crown inside a satchel belonging to Flynn, she curiously examines the object and is momentarily captivated by wearing it. Rapunzel hopes to show Mother Gothel the captured Flynn in an attempt to prove that she can indeed handle herself in the outside world. Upon her return however, Gothel is even more aggravated at Rapunzel's second request to leave the tower and shouts at Rapunzel that she will never leave the tower. Left with no other viable option, she keeps Flynn hidden and wearily asks for more paints as her birthday present, which will take Mother Gothel three days to retrieve. Gothel then leaves on the journey, promising to return in three days.

Best Day Ever
Immediately, Rapunzel begins to forcibly recruit Flynn into helping her fulfill her dream to see the lanterns in exchange for the satchel that she has hidden deep in the tower. Rapunzel, Flynn, and Pascal leave the tower, whereupon Flynn tries several tricks to get rid of Rapunzel and get his satchel back. One of these tricks includes him taking Rapunzel to the local tavern, the Snuggly Duckling, where they encounter just the kind of ruffians and thugs that Gothel has warned Rapunzel about. However, Rapunzel manages to gain their friendship by explaining to them her dream of seeing the floating lanterns and leads them in singing "I've Got a Dream", but not before they send for the palace guards, hoping to gain a reward for the capture of Flynn. After they finish the song, the guards arrive, searching for Flynn. Rapunzel escapes the tavern with Flynn through a secret passageway. As they traverse the cavern, Rapunzel curiously asks Flynn where he has come from, but Flynn casually refuses to answer. While he acknowledges that she too has secrets she doesn't want to tell, he can't help but ask her why she hasn't gone to see the lanterns before. She hesitates, but just then, they realize they are being rapidly pursued by the palace guards.

Eugene Fitzherbert
The two of them break into a run through the tunnel that leads them to a wooden dam, where they find themselves surrounded by people who don't like Flynn. Flynn and Rapunzel combat the guards and thugs and escape into a small cave when the dam collapses. The two find themselves trapped in the cave with water rising around them, unable to find any escape. Flynn cuts his hand in a frantic attempt to make an exit. Rapunzel believes she has doomed them and tearfully apologizes to Flynn. To cheer her up, Flynn reveals his true name to be Eugene Fitzherbert, feeling someone may as well know. She decides to share the secret of her magical glowing hair, causing her to remember its ability. Rapunzel illuminates the cavern with her power, much to Eugene's astonishment, allowing them to claw their way out through a small hole in the bottom of the pool.

That night at the campfire, Rapunzel heals Eugene's hand with her hair. The dumbstruck thief just manages to keep his cool, and Rapunzel explains everything to him, including her lifelong imprisonment by Gothel to protect her magic hair, and that if the hair is ever cut, it will turn brown and lose its power. Flynn is empathetic toward her ambiguous feelings over returning to the tower. When questioned about his real name, Flynn tells his childhood story of growing up as an orphan and reading a book called "The Tales of Flynnagan Rider", the escapades of a daring adventurer with every benefit to an exciting life full of dangers, riches, and ladies. Flynn has chosen to adopt the name and lifestyle, even though the real Flynn Rider wasn't a thief, and feeling anything would be a better option than being a helpless orphan. Rapunzel tells him that she likes the name Eugene Fitzherbert much better than his adopted name, and the pair form a close bond. When Eugene leaves to collect more firewood, Gothel appears and tells Rapunzel they are going home. Rapunzel refuses, believing that Eugene is beginning to like her. Gothel presents Rapunzel with Eugene's satchel and challenges her to return it to him, warning her that he will simply abandon her as he only wants the satchel back. Gothel then disappears, leaving Rapunzel feeling doubtful about her new romance.

The Kingdom
The next morning, Rapunzel wakes to find that they have been discovered by Maximus, a high-ranking palace horse on a personal mission to bring Eugene to justice. Rapunzel calms and befriends the frenzied horse, and requests that he refrain from arresting Eugene for the next 24 hours so that they can see the lanterns. Maximus and Eugene make a reluctant truce and journey into the kingdom with Rapunzel and Pascal. Eugene and Rapunzel enjoy each others' company greatly as they spend the day touring the kingdom and indulging in everything it has to offer. Along with that, Rapunzel makes a wondrous impression on the villagers, bringing whimsy and excitement to their already enjoyable festival, winning their hearts instantly. She also learns of the Lost Princess, though she doesn't recognize it's her in the mural of the royal family, and before she has time to ponder further, she engages in more fun-filled activities with the villager and Eugene. During the day, their feelings for each other become strong. At dusk, Eugene and Rapunzel row out onto the lake to watch the lanterns rise into the sky. As they wait for the lanterns to appear, Eugene notices that Rapunzel is not too happy; in fact she's terrified. She confesses that after all of the excitement that has built up inside her about seeing the floating lights, she is worried that they may not be everything that she expected. Eugene assures her they will be, and if they are, she gets to go find herself a new dream afterwards.

I See the Light
That night, Rapunzel is overjoyed to finally be living her dream as she enchantingly watches the lanterns float from the streets of the kingdom to the boats on the lake. When Eugene presents her with a pair of their own lanterns, Rapunzel shows him his satchel, saying she was scared to give it to him before. Eugene refuses the satchel and says he knows how she feels. As Rapunzel watches the lanterns, Eugene unexpectedly takes her hand, much to her delight, and they finish singing "I See the Light" together. They are just about to kiss, when Eugene pulls back apprehensively as he sees the Stabbington Brothers on the other side of the lake, unbeknownst to Rapunzel. He assures her everything is fine and quickly takes the boat ashore. He then takes the satchel and walks off into the fog, promising to return. Rapunzel becomes worried as Eugene leaves, and she ruminates on Gothel's warnings.

Gothel Takes Charge
After a moment of waiting, she sees a figure returning to her through the fog. She sighs with relief that Eugene did not take the crown and leave her. But the figure actually turns out to be two tall and brutal thugs whom she recognizes as two of the men from the dam. They inform her that Eugene did actually leave her. At first she doesn't believe them, but they show her a boat sailing across the lake towards the kingdom with Eugene's silhouette at the helm. Rapunzel has little time to grieve as the two men show interest in her magical hair. They scheme to kidnap her and use her powers to earn them money, but Gothel appears and rescues her. Believing that she has been deserted by the man she thought loved her, a heartbroken Rapunzel goes with Gothel back to the tower.

Back at the tower, as she mourns over losing Eugene, Rapunzel discovers that the emblem of the kingdom of Corona has been unwittingly sketched into all of the pictures she has painted over the years in her room. A sudden wave of memories and emotions from lying in her royal crib to trying on her tiara floods her mind, causing her to realize that she is the lost princess of Corona. Rapunzel then confronts Gothel, expressing her repulsion at everything Gothel has done and that she has been hiding with the person she should have been hiding from all along. Gothel says that she only wanted to protect Rapunzel and informs her that Eugene is scheduled to be hanged. Rapunzel becomes even angrier and states that she will never let Gothel use her hair again, but before she can leave, an enraged Gothel gags her and chains her to the wall.

A little while later, she hears Eugene calling to her from outside, but can say or do nothing as Gothel throws her hair out the window for him to climb up. As Eugene gets to the top, Rapunzel attempts to warn him through her gag, but Eugene is fatally stabbed in the stomach by Gothel before he can do anything. Rapunzel's attempts to reach him are in vain as Gothel leaves Eugene clutching his chest on the floor and prepares to make her escape with the captive Rapunzel and leave Eugene to die in the tower. Rapunzel, with the help of a lot of struggling and fighting, manages to get the gag off and declares that she will never stop fighting Gothel as long as she lives, but makes a promise to submit to her if only she is allowed to heal Eugene. Gothel, knowing Rapunzel never broke her promises, agrees and chains Eugene down to prevent him from following them. Eugene begs Rapunzel leave him and escape, but Rapunzel refuses, saying she won't let Eugene die and promises him that everything will be alright. Eugene, however, chooses to die rather than let Rapunzel be a prisoner again, so he cuts her hair before she can heal him. Rapunzel reacts in shock and watches in despair as the endless lengths of golden hair turn brown and lose their magic.

My New Dream
With her source of magic gone, Gothel begins to rapidly age, losing her youth and beauty in a matter of seconds. Seeing her true form revealed, Gothel falls into a fit of hysteria, shrouding her face with her hood as she does so, and failing to realize Pascal tugging on a length of Rapunzel's dead hair, which she immediately trips over, falling out of the tower's entrance and plummeting to the ground. By the time she hits the surface, all that's left of the witch is her cloak and piles of dust. After a brief moment of shock over the death of her false mother, Rapunzel rushes to the side of a dying Eugene, in hopes of saving him.

Rapunzel desperately cradles the dying Eugene and sings the healing incantation, but Eugene interrupts her as he weakly tells her, with his dying breaths, that she was his new dream. Rapunzel, in reply, says that he was hers as well. Eugene then dies in her arms, leaving a heartbroken Rapunzel to hopelessly finish singing the incantation. She begins to cry over his body, letting a single teardrop fall onto his cheek, which is revealed as the original drop of sunshine which grew into the magic flower, as it glows as it sinks into Eugene's body and heals his chest wound, reviving him. An overjoyed Rapunzel jubilantly embraces him, and the two then share their first kiss, finally proclaiming their love.

Eugene accompanies Rapunzel back to the kingdom, Though the King and Queen fail to recognize her, at first, the Queen takes a closer look and takes note of the striking resemblance; realizing her daughter has finally returned. It wasn't long before the King learns the truth, as well, and the family is reunited for the first time in several years. In in celebration of Rapunzel's return, the kingdom rejoiced with a party lasting an entire week. In the closing narration, it is said Rapunzel became a beloved ruler and governed her land with grace and wisdom. Meanwhile, Eugene is accepted into the royal family and pardoned for his crimes. According to the former thief, after "years of asking, and asking, and asking", he finally accepted Rapunzel's proposal, only to be corrected by his bride. Eugene then amends that he asked her, which Rapunzel supports by stating that they are living happily ever after.