Nick Wilde, who later became Judy Hopps’ partner, once dreamed of becoming a ranger when he was younger. His mother bought him a costume and helped him put it on, and Nick stood there proudly, looking completely ready.
After that incident, Nick Wilde changed completely.
Ever since he was little, he had believed the saying, “Anyone can be anything.” But reality was different. When he tried to join the junior scout group for herbivores, he ended up becoming the target of bullying, and the harassment continued day after day.
The herbivore members were wary of him simply because he was a predator, and some of them even bullied him openly. At first, Nick tried to endure it and laugh it off, but as those days continued, anger and emotional scars began piling up inside him.
Eventually, one day, the emotions he had been suppressing finally exploded. Nick fiercely fought back against the kids who had been tormenting him. His friends tried to stop him, but by then he had already lost control. The incident became so serious that it shook the entire school, yet the school administration expelled Nick without properly investigating the real cause of the situation. Even his parents were called to the school.
Nick insisted until the very end, saying, “They started it first,” but nobody truly listened to him.
After that day, Nick stopped believing in the world. He learned to distance himself from others before they could hurt him first. Perhaps that incident was what eventually turned him into the cynical yet sly fox he later became.
However, after meeting Judy Hopps years later, Nick slowly learned once again how to trust someone and found the courage to face his true self.
