Anton Ego

Anton Ego is the main antagonist of Ratatouille.

Ratatouille
Ego is an imperious and acerbic food critic, whose reviews can make or break a restaurant. He adamantly rejects Gusteau's belief that anyone can cook, and was a firm critic of the idealist chef. Following a harsh critic from Ego, Gusteau's restaurant was downgraded from five to four stars. Gusteau died mysteriously soon after. The restaurant then lost another star with his death. In his career-killing review, he compared Chef Gusteau to the rather pathetic Chef Boyardee.

When he had heard that Gusteau's was rising in popularity with Remy as the cook, he personally offers a challenge to the restaurant in which they must deliver "their best shot" to impress him. Remy serves a simple peasant dish, ratatouille (a play on words and the title namesake) which is so brilliant it reduces Ego to his childhood memory of his mother cooking. Tears flow from his eyes, and when he requests to see the chef, Linguini and Colettetells him to wait until after the customers have gone. When closing hour is struck, Linguini reveals Remy. Ego believed at first it was a jest, but after viewing Remy perfectly recreate the dish, he thanks them for the meal and quietly leaves.

A changed man, Ego finally understands what Gusteau meant, while not everyone can cook true talent can be found in the most unusual place. he presents a shining review of the restaurant, and in particular, the chef (whom he does not name). Ego then lost his job and credibility when Gusteau's was closed down due to a rat infestation. But Ego now leads a successful and a happy life as an investor and regular patron of a small bistro La Ratatouille, with queues around the block and where the cook is a small rat. Anton Ego is an example of a realistic villain, one who faces adverse action or reformation, rather than simply getting destroyed at the end.

Personality
The name Ego means "self-esteem", from the Roman meaning "I". This would allude to a certain level of vanity and arrogance on the part of Anton. He has nothing but contempt for the people around him combined with a cruel sense of humour and something of a sadistic streak. However, unlike Skinner, he is not presented as a man of pure evil. He shows a great amount of humility and indeed sentiment after eating Remy's dish of ratatouille and learning the secret of Gusteau's restaurant.

Ego is extremely passionate about food, claiming "I don't like food, I love it." and claims to refuse to swallow food that he doesn't like, which explains why he's so thin.

He is a man of great taste and distinction, showing a knowledge of fine wines as well as food.

Ego is intelligent and sophisticated and in terms of dress sense, he appears to be something of a dandy, completing his dark, dapper suit with a chic scarf.

Trivia

 * Ego is most likely a mixture of traits borrowed from the late horror actor, Vincent Price and British art critic, Brian Sewell.
 * Ego's appearance was modeled after Louis Jouvet.
 * Many fans have noted the similarities between Ego's design and that of the work of Tim Burton, a well known movie director.
 * Ego's appearance is similar to Nospheratu.
 * Ego is also known as "The Grim Eater" within the press.
 * At one point in the film, you can see Bomb Voyage as a mime in the background. There is a young boy watching him do his tricks, and if you look closely, you can see that it is young Anton Ego (From Ego's flashback).
 * Anton's office is shaped as a coffin, setting the mood of the character.