LeChuck

Undead throughout the series, LeChuck has a different form in each of the first three games (ghost-pirate, zombie-pirate, and demon-pirate), and in the fourth and latest game he could transform at will between the three forms. He is, like most villains in videogames, in love with the heroine, Elaine Marley, and has gone to great lengths to marry her.

LeChuck's origins

LeChuck's origins are fairly convoluted. When still alive, he fell in love with Governor Elaine Marley after being invited to the governor's mansion (at the time, it was fairly common practice, although it is since unheard of). She rebuffed his advances, reputedly telling him to "drop dead", which he subsequently did.

Seeking to win her affections, he decided to locate the mythical treasure known as Big Whoop. At the time, Elaine's own grandfather, Horatio Torquemada Marley was also looking for this treasure. LeChuck was briefly stranded on Blood Island, but escaped by marrying Minestrone "Minnie" Goodsoup (a local dowager) and stealing her wedding ring, which he then used to pay for a new ship. He reached Dinky Island (or possibly Monkey Island) ahead of H.T. Marley, only to discover that Big Whoop was in fact a gateway to heck, which transformed him and his crew into ghosts as they passed through it.

Intending to ensure that nobody else could find their way to Big Whoop, he killed all four members of Marley's crew, possibly meeting Ozzie Madrill in the process.

Over the next twenty years or so (according to MI4), LeChuck tried to win Elaine over by keeping Melee Island gripped in a state of fear, occasionally raiding it. This failed to win her over.

LeChuck as antagonist

LeChuck, worried that the presence of Guybrush Threepwood would interfere with his 'plans' for Melee Island, kidnapped Elaine during Secret of Monkey Island and attempted to force her into marrying him. Elaine escaped, although LeChuck did not notice until Guybrush burst into the wedding chapel to rescue her. Guybrush managed to destroy LeChuck by spraying him with root beer (fatal to ghosts).

However, LeChuck was eventually resurrected by Largo LaGrande, his former right-hand man, as a zombie. Less interested in Elaine, he focused his attention on getting revenge on Guybrush Threepwood, even going so far as to say they were brothers (this is seen by most as a spoof of The Empire Strikes Back and a trick by LeChuck, rather than canon). He imprisoned Guybrush in his Carnival of the Damned on Monkey Island before switching his attention back to Elaine (by bombarding her coastal fortress on Plunder Island).

He was destroyed in the barrage by his own flaming voodoo cannonball, the magics of which unfortunately allowed him to transform into a demon, complete with fiery beard. He kidnapped both Elaine and Guybrush once he assembled a new legion of undead minions, and planned to turn Elaine into an undead creature like himself by taking her through Big Whoop as he had (all his minions were required to do so before joining up). She escaped yet again, and yet again Guybrush was present to take the brunt of his frustration. And yet *again* Guybrush managed to defeat him, this time by crushing him beneath a massive block of ice within his own amusement park.

Eventually, LeChuck escaped, possibly with the aid of Ozzie Mandrill, and most likely because of his beard melting the ice. He entered into a pact with Mandrill, allowing him to marry Elaine if Ozzie eradicated all piracy. Disguised as Charles L Charles, he successfully ran for Governorship of Melee Island.

When Ozzie double-crossed him, he possessed a giant statue of himself that he had commissioned. Unfortunately, this did not prevent Ozzie Mandrill from dominating his mind through use of the Ultimate Insult, and he was forced to engage a giant monkey robot (piloted by Guybrush Threepwood, Herman Toothrot and Jojo Jr) in a round of Monkey Kombat. He lost, and the statue is exploded. However, LeChuck's own body was seen flying clear, and his current whereabouts are unknown.