Captain Chaos is a fictional character in the Cannonball Runmovie series. He is the alter-ego of mild-mannered mechanic Victor Prinzim. Victor is soft-spoken and unpretentious, but when situations arise that he himself is too timid to handle, Victor is compelled to don his satin cape and cowl and becomes the heroic Captain Chaos. Psychiatrists have diagnosed Victor as having multiple personality disorder, but Victor himself is convinced that he channels the spirit of an actual living superhero who always manages to arrive just in time to save the day. Author David Quinlan wrote of Cannonball Run in The TV Times Film and Video Guide, stating "The best thing in the film is Dom DeLuise who, as the schizophrenic Victor, turns moments of stress into tubby superhero Captain Chaos!"
Characteristics
Captain Chaos' costume is a long flowing orange satin cape and matching cowl with an attached black domino mask, and the word "CHAOS" written in white across the cowl's forehead. The costume was reportedly created poorly in order to look like something Victor would have created himself. When Victor transforms into Captain Chaos, he speaks in a slightly lower vocal register with basso profondo inflections similar to that of a typical cartoon superhero. His appearance is invariably prefaced by his vocal fanfare, "Dunn dun DU-UH-UHNNNN!!", to approximate Chaos' theme music.
''"...Him."''
Most people who meet Victor are somewhat bewildered at the eventual emergence of his alter ego of Captain Chaos, whose heroism and courage are in stark contrast to Victor's personality. Though Chaos is revered by many, he is viewed as an annoyance to Victor's boss and close friend, J.J. McClure. Because of this, Victor is expressly forbidden to utter the name of Captain Chaos in J.J.'s presence, hence the reason Victor always cautiously refers to the hero simply as "...Him.". Near the beginning of the first film, Victor makes mention of "...Him", but audiences are briefly left wondering to whom Victor refers. Later, after J.J. crashes their test race car at a police road block, one of the officers asks, "Who do you think you are?!" Victor dynamically emerges from the passenger side door, replete in cape and cowl, and introduces himself as "Captain Chaos," while J.J. sits humiliated in the driver's seat. Near the film's end, J.J.'s disdain for Captain Chaos boils over after losing the race due to Chaos' inability to ignore those in distress. J.J. angrily rips the cape and cowl from Victor's head, verbally lambasting him. Victor then immediately dons a new alter ego, "Captain USA," featuring a blue star-spangled cape and cowl with "USA" embroidered upon the forehead. In the sequel film, J.J. has become much more tolerant of Chaos, seeing his value - especially when he shows up during a fight with the Mafia.
Abilities
Captain Chaos' "powers" include:
Increased strength and endurance - fueled by rushes of adrenaline when Victor feels threatened
Fearlessness - Chaos will instantly dive into a melee of any size, effortlessly subduing any and all opponents, and then stand with arms, laughing in hearty triumph amidst his defeated enemies.
Expert driving skills - known at least to veteran racer and fellow Cannonball opponent, Jamie Blake, who derisively refers to Victor as "The Blimp", but then warns his partner, Morris Fenderbaum, "...when he puts on that mask -- he'll blow your goddamn doors off!"
Origin
In the first film, when Pamela asks Victor how he came to know Captain Chaos, Victor explains:
Filmography
The character of Captain Chaos as portrayed by Dom DeLuise has appeared in The Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, and his alter ego, Victor Prinzim, appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Gold Dust Gasoline", voiced by DeLuise.
