Henry J. Waternoose

Henry J. Waternoose III (also known as "Mr. Waternoose" and simply "Waternoose") is the hidden secondary, but true, antagonist in Monsters, Inc., alongside Randall Boggs.

Monsters, Inc.
In the first film, Mr. Waternoose is the CEO of Monsters, Inc. He is one of three owners, all cast down from lineage. He inherited the factory from his father when he was 142 years old, and turned it into the modern energy factory that appears at the beginning at the movie.

He is first shown at the very beginning of the film, warning Thaddeus Bile and the trainees about the dangers of a human child after Thaddeus has unsuccessfully attempted to frighten a simulation child in bed.

On the day when the monsters are working to collect scream energy from the human children all over the world, Mr. Waternoose is notified that 58 doors have been lost in the week, to which Mr. Waternoose remarks how kids are growing less scared of monsters. Sulley, being the company's biggest "producer" and Mr. Waternoose's protégé, is asked to come down to the scare training room and show the new employees how scaring should be done. However, Mr. Waternoose is behind a plot to increase the dwindling scare production along with Randall, the company's second-biggest producer and a less-than-savory fellow worker.

When Mr. Waternoose finds out that Sulley and his partner Mike have brought in a human child (whom Sulley has nicknamed "Boo"), he banishes them to the Himalayas, even though he later expresses regret in doing so, stating that he shouldn't have trusted Randall and because of him, he had to banish Sulley. This could mean he sincerely feels remorse over stabbing Mike and Sulley in the back, but his comment about how Sulley was his best scarer likely means more of a concern over loss of productivity and killing the golden goose more than anything.

With Randall and his assistant Fungus, Mr. Waternoose proceeds to extract screams from Boo with help from a Scream Extractor, but Sulley, who has snuck back into the Monster World, intervenes at the last moment before the Scream Extractor gets to her mouth, dismantles the device, throws it at Mr. Waternoose and Randall, and rescues Boo. Mr. Waternoose then orders Randall to stop Sulley and finish him off, but Mike, who has followed Sulley back into the Monster World, accidentally gives away Randall's cloaking abilities, allowing Sulley to knock Randall off him by punching him in the face. After Sulley, Mike, and Boo escape, Mr. Waternoose tells Randall to go after them.

While Sulley and Mike lead Randall on a wild chase through a large chamber where thousands of doors to the human world are kept, Mr. Waternoose rallies the CDA to capture Sulley, Mike, and Boo.

After the trio defeat Randall and return to Scare Floor F, Mike distracts the CDA by driving them away while Mr. Waternoose catches sight of Boo with Sulley and gives them chase to a simulation room.

Mr. Waternoose breaks into a room where Sulley has went into and confronts Sulley, declaring that he'll kidnap a thousand children before he lets the company die. Knocking Sulley out of his way, he tries to grab Boo from the bed, but he instead grabs the simulation child. Just then, the wall goes up to reveal that Mike is behind the controls. Mike, who has recorded the confrontation between Mr. Waternoose and Sulley, plays back his favorite part to reveal Mr. Waternoose's nefarious scheme to the CDA as Mr. Waternoose watches in bewilderment. With this incriminating evidence, the CDA turns on Mr. Waternoose and arrests him. As he is being dragged away, Mr. Waternoose angrily blames Sulley for destroying the company and making the energy crisis worse since there's no other way to get scream. Mike and Sulley seem to accept this until Mike mentions they've had some laughs, which inspires Sulley based on their experience with Boo. Laughter is proven to be ten times more powerful than scream as Monsters, Inc. comes back on top with Sulley as the new CEO, averting the crisis.

Monsters University
Mr. Waternoose is not physically seen at any point in the movie aside from a picture in the montage showing Mike and Sulley gaining promotions in Monsters, Inc. near the end of the film. In the picture, he has facial hair and an afro, which he lost prior to the events of Monsters, Inc.

Trivia

 * Mr. Waternoose is the last animated character voiced by James Coburn before his death.
 * See the fourth quote below for foreshadowing of Waternoose's true nature later in the film.
 * In some ways, Waternoose appears to be the complete opposite of Dean Hardscrabble: while Hardscrabble appears stern and unpleasant but is actually caring and benign, and is therefore an ally to Mike and Sulley in the prequel, Waternoose appears friendly and kind-natured but is actually cruel and evil, and is therefore this film's main antagonist.