King Gristle Jr.

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King Gristle Jr.
General information
Alt. names	庫巴王子 (Traditional Chinese) キング・グリッスル・ジュニア (Japanese)
Nickname	Grisy (by Bridget)
Voice Actor	Christopher Mintz-Plasse (3D animation) Sam Lerner (2D animation) James Arnold Taylor (DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing)
First Appearance	Trolls
Profile
Gender	Male
Age	21+ 22+ (TBT onward)
Home	Bergen Town
Species	Bergen
Occupation	King of the Bergens (currently) Prince of the Bergens (formerly)
Relationships
Family	King Gristle Sr. (father) Unnamed (grandfather) Bridget (wife) Aunt Smead (aunt)
Friends	Barnebis (pet) Queen Poppy Branch Other Trolls
Enemies	Chef

“

Yet here I am. My belly empty... and my heart full.

”

Gristle Jr. is the son of Gristle Sr., the prince and later king of the Bergens, and the husband of Bridget. He made his first appearance in Trolls, and would later appear in other media during most of the franchise's Trolls era, as well as making a cameo at the ending of Trolls World Tour and in the Trolls: TrollsTopia episode "Piney & Lord Prickles".

Appearance

• Trolls
• Trolls Holiday
• Trolls: The Beat Goes On!
• Trolls World Tour
• Trolls: TrollsTopia
• Trolls Band Together

Normal

King Gristle Jr. is a small, fat green-skinned bergen with bright green hair. He has red eyes and dirty-looking sharp teeth. He wears a red royal cape with white fur and a green gem, a golden crown, a red and white stripped shirt, blue shorts, yellow sandals and white socks.

According to The Art of DreamWorks Trolls, Gristle is considered unattractive to other Bergens except Bridget due to his short height, which is hinted to be a form of dwarfism, a trait Bridget also shares. A claim from Walt Dohrn in the book also indicates that his outfit was designed to appear too small and make it look like he's wearing the same clothes that he had as a teenager, intended as a form of joke.

Toddler

As a toddler, Prince Gristle was much smaller (with his head larger in proportion to his body), had only two visible teeth, and wore a diaper or underpants. He had the same cape and crown that he has as an adult.

Normal

He has the same appearance as in Trolls.

Normal

He mostly has the same appearance as in Trolls and Trolls Holiday, but his face is significantly larger in proportion to the rest of his head and his nose is similar in appearance to a Troll's, being large, wide and a darker shade than his face.

In TBGO

Normal

His design is mostly the same as in Trolls and Trolls Holiday.

In TWT

Normal

He has the same design as in Trolls: The Beat Goes On!.

Gristle's cameo in TT

Normal

TBA

Offical Bios

Trolls

“	Prince Gristle is the surly twenty-something King of the Bergen Monsters. He inherited the crown at a young age when his father was dethroned by his angry subjects. (His royal screw up: allowing everyone’s favorite delicacy — Trolls — to escape Bergen town.) Mortified by his father’s blunder and desperate to make his subjects love him, Prince Gristle vows to put Trolls back on the menu, and bring happiness back to Bergen Town. Prince Gristle is ​actually pretty good at busting rhymes. Roller-skating is his secret talent. His idea of a fancy date is going to Bergen Town’s premier all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. He will never sit down to a meal without a freshly-pressed bib. Gristle is easy to fool with Chef.	”
—DreamWorks, 2016

Personality

Gristle is the King of the Bergens, and was a long-term seeker of true happiness since he had been denied it as a child. He's somewhat spoiled and usually gets his own way.

Despite agreeing with Chef that the consumption of Trolls should return, he shows some reluctance to eat a Troll. He valued the idea that consuming a Troll should be special, and refused to just eat them without it having meaning. In addition, he seemed honestly disgusted when Chef tried to force him into eating Branch. He also displays value of his subjects by wanting them to also join in on his happiness. Ever since the Trolls have liberated the Bergens from Chef's manipulation, Gristle has officially and happily given up the tradition of eating Trolls.

In Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, he shows some honest interest in the Trolls. He's quick to accept them as friends, and learns about their culture. He also acknowledges that what the Trolls do isn't always going to fly with the Bergens. At the same time, he's still not used to Bridget. He needed help with accepting kindness and wasn't used to apologizing until "Sorry Not Sorry".

By Trolls World Tour and Trolls Band Together, Gristle has become much happier with the Trolls' companionship, and has shown a more tender side to Bridget more often. Even if he has a issue, Bridget usually quickly pulls him up on it, resulting in general improvements in his behavior as she keeps him in check.

Relationships

King Gristle Sr.

King Gristle Sr. is King Gristle Jr.'s father, and was the former King of the Bergens. At the opening sequence of Trolls, the King and Prince appeared to have a good father-son relationship. He still remembers his father nostalgically even after the King was long exiled.

Bridget

Gristle reciprocating Bridget's feelings at the end of Trolls.

Bridget had a secret crush on King Gristle Jr since her childhood. However, she was too afraid to tell him, as she didn't think that he would feel the same way and wouldn't want to date a scullery maid. By the end of Trolls, when Gristle found out that she was Lady Glittersparkles, he reciprocates her feelings, and becomes willing to do anything to make her happy. He would then marry Bridget in the beginning of Trolls Band Together.

Gristle has benefitted from his relationship with Bridget greatly, acts kinder, less spoilt and is overall happier and adores her as much as she adores him. Though he has moments of his old self, Bridget soon reigns in bad behavior. Gristle often raises concerns and Bridget usually dismisses as they usually are quite minor as she knows when to draw the line unlike Gristle. As such, their relationship works because without Gristle Bridget would be blissfully ignorant - however, without Bridget Gristle would be more spoilt and uptight.

Chad and Todd

Chad and Todd are among the many royal guards who serve Gristle, though not much is known about their exact relationship with him. Based on how they're with Gristle more time than other guards, it's possible that they're his bodyguards of choice.

Gristle tends to fail to distinguish them, such as seen when he mixes up their names in Trolls Holiday.

Other Bergens

King Gristle Jr. has a generally good relationship with most of the other Bergens, as he cared about them and wanted them to be happy as well as him. Although, he was shown to have constant conflicts with them in media outside the films.

Viva

Gristle and Viva had a rocky start, as Viva assumed that Gristle would be as dangerous as Bergens used to be. However, like Bridget, Geistle actually understands Viva's actions even she and Gristle were almost executed by the ignorant Viva, and soon they become friends, with Gristle reassuring Viva that no charges would be pressed against her.

Skills & Abilities

He has most normal Bergen abilities.

Leadership

In The Art of DreamWorks Trolls, it was stated that he was put on the throne at a young age as the Bergens wanted a King that would agree with them and not oppose them. A lot of the issue was to do with the final Trollstice and his father's handling of the events. While generally spoiled, he does display interest in keeping his subjects happy. He's open to relationships with the Trolls and is keen to better their friendship, but also knows the habits of the Bergens and how things can go wrong. In "Funishment", he showed cowardice towards the other Bergens, but didn't oppose them. He was then given the idea of trying to counter them, which caused him to faint.

Intelligence

Gristle is somewhat unintelligent, having been fooled by Bridget's Lady Glittersparkles disguise as well as easily being manipulated by Chef. He is also very short sighted and promised every Bergen a Troll in Bergen town without knowing he didn't have enough Trolls to do so.

In addition, his intelligence is hampered by his childishness and spoilt mentality. This was shown in both Trolls and Trolls: The Beat Goes On!. In the series, he was also shown to be selfish and cowardly which hindered him in addition.

Music

Being friends with the Trolls opened up the ability for him to enjoy music. He was seen in Trolls Holiday playing a keyboard, which appears to be his favorite musical instrument.

Medical Status and Issues

Gristle Jr. is shorter then the average Bergen and has been hinted to have a form of dwarfism.

Age and Birth Details

He is at least 20 years old and was a young toddler during the last Trollstice. He is younger then Bridget, who was a child at the time, and older then Poppy.

Songs

Trolls Holiday

• The Holla-Day For You (as additional vocalist)

Trolls: The Beat Goes On!

• One And Only Love

Etymology

"Gristle" is a term that refers to a tough, unchewable part of meat. It is likely a nod to his role in Trolls, as he did not eat a Troll.

Trivia

General

• He has a pet crocodile named Barnebis.
• He owns a stuffed Wing-Dingle on his bed that's the same color as the one on his Troll bib.

Specific To...

Trolls

• At the last Trollstice, Chef stated that "there is one among us who has never eaten a Troll", indicating Gristle was the only Bergen to not have ever eaten a Troll. This marks him as the oldest Bergen in the town who didn't know what eating a Troll was like.
  • He was given 2 chances to eat a Troll, the first was with Creek and the second with Branch.
    • If Poppy hadn't escaped with the other Trolls, it would have been 3 times he had a chance. Incidentally, both Creek and Branch had a deep fondness with Poppy herself.
• Gristle is a parallel to Poppy; one was a king who never knew happiness, and the other was a princess who never knew sadness.
  • This is no coincidence as Bridget and Branch, their respective love interests, are parallel to each other too.

Trolls Band Together

• Gristle and Bridget were originally going to have an entire montage of them enjoying their honeymoon at a water park, before Bridget rode their motorcycle into the sunset. This montage was likely cut due to time constraints.