Tex Richman

Evil-doer

Full Name

Texleigh Richman

Alias

Mr. Richman

Tex RIchman
Richman

Origin

The Muppets

Occupation

Oil magnate

Chairman and CEO of Richman Oil

Powers / Skills

Business management

Leadership
Strength
Speed
Manipulation
Influence
Driving skills

Goals

Purchase the Muppet Theater(temporarily succeeded).

Destroy the theater with an old fashioned pear-shaped wrecking ball stolen from someone's antique collection to drill for oil underneath it(fomerly/abandoned).

Crimes

Attempted destruction

Conspiracy
Corruption
Theft
Vandalism
Sabotage
Reckless driving
Psychological abuse

Type of Villain

Greedy Businessman

“	Ah, those Muppets. They think they're so funny. Well, it looks like the joke's about to be onthem.	„
	~ Richman's most famous quote. http://villains.fandom.com/wiki/File:Tex_Richman.ogg noicon

“	Maniacal laugh. Maniacal laugh. Maniacal laugh.	„
	~ Richman "laughing", due to his inability to laugh.

“	You're breaking the law! I own that name!	„
	~ Richman's villainous breakdown before getting hit by a bowling ball.

Texleigh "Tex" Richman is the main antagonist of the 2011 live action Disney filmThe Muppets, the seventh installment in theMuppets film series.

He is an oil baron who intends to buy and demolish the original Muppet studios so he can drill for the oil which, in the film, has been recently discovered. He personally hates the Muppets and blames them for an unfortunate event at his tenth birthday party. He also has an inability to laugh and has vowed to destroy them. He is assisted byUncle Deadly, Bobo the Bear, Statler and Waldorf, and eventually,The Moopets.

He was portrayed byChris Cooper, who also playedThe Torch inMoney Train,Frank Fitts inAmerican Beauty,Norman Osborn inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, andAlexander Conklin inThe Bourne Identity.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

In his play "Let's Talk About Me", he reveals that during the 1970s, the Muppets performed during his birthday party (either they were on TV or were physically there). However, when the guests laughed, Tex himself found out that he couldn't laugh. Therefore the guests laughed at him. This would haunt Tex into adulthood as his inability to laugh. Tex would grow up to be an oil tycoon with revenge against the Muppets in his mind.

The Muppets[]

In the film, he first appears in Kermit's old office, where Statler and Waldorf show him the deed to the Muppet Theater. He buys it from Kermit, telling him it will be turned into a Muppet Museum, when he actually plans to drill under it for oil. Walter, the Greatest Muppet fan, overhears this, and, after much screaming, tells his brother Gary, and his girlfriend, Mary about the villainous plot.

They decide to help them, and go looking for Kermit to warn him of this danger. But Kermit accepts the fact, due to the Muppets splitting up years ago. But, after a song later, Kermit and Walter cook up a plan to save the theatre by raising money with a telethon at the Muppet Theater.

At first, Richman believes this to not be a threat, since no one now knows who the Muppets are, which leads them to ask Richman for their theater back. But he refuses and reveals that he not only owns the Muppet Theater, but the Muppets name as well, and will use it to make money off of edgier Muppets, called the Moopets.

But, to his surprise, they succeed and make the telethon work, and Tex cannot let this happen. So he drives to the Theater and then plans to cut the power off to the Theater and would have succeeded if Mary wasn't a good mechanic. But Uncle Deadly stops him, admitting he hates being a stereotypical villain, and deep in his heart he's a Muppet, not a Moopet, and then he pushes Richman off the roof. He soon wakes up.

Disgruntled, Richman steals Kermit's car and runs it into the power line, then taunts the Muppets on their presumed defeat, foolishly proclaiming he's won, even though Kermit knew that while he was right, he was actually wrong.

During the celebration of the Muppets' return to fame, Gonzo accidentally hits Tex in the head with a bowling ball. Surprisingly, this caused the latter, after many years, to start laughing for real and he gave both the Muppet Theater and name back to the Muppets, though, his minions, The Moopets were not happy with it, as they started demanding money from him over their "deal". Tex is also shown singing a part of "Mahna Mahna" during the credits alongside other celebrities making cameos, and other Muppets.

Muppets Most Wanted[]

While he does not appear in the sequelMuppets Most Wanted, he is mentioned in the opening number "We're Doing a Sequel", during which the Muppets all pitch ideas for the plot of the film. Fozzie suggests that it should be about "The Muppets getting back together again to stop an evil oil baron from demolishing the old studio", to which Kermit questions if Fozzie even saw the previous film, breaking the fourth wall.

Gallery[]

Richman with Deadly and Bobo

Trivia[]

His inability to even FAKE a forced laugh is silly and disturbing in itself. It isn't that hard to do; vocalizing "ha" a few wouldn't be impossible.
- Though since a whack on the head is what finally got him to laugh, there must have been either a birth defect with his brain or he suffered brain damage that needed more trauma (by Muppet logic) to fix.
The wrecking ball he tried to destroy the Muppet theatre with was an antique pear-shaped wrecking ball stolen from someone's antique collection.
Ironically, if a whack on the head is all it took to make him laugh, this could have saved Tex forty years of pain.
Technically, he lost to the Muppets because they did raise the funds to save the theater before Tex cut the power. Even if a few dollars short, the Muppets had fans and family who could chip in to make up the amount lost due to Tex's interference. This was also a deleted scene from the original script and could be considered a plot hole as well.
The mention in the sequel about the Muppets pitching ideas to stop an evil oil baron may be considered as a fourth wall break, as it is likely that the Muppet movies may have just been "movies within the movies", meaning they didn't lose the theater in real life.
In the film's novelization, Richman only gives back the Muppet name, keeping the theater.
Chris Cooper would later voice Smokey inCars 3.