 Defending Flynn 's personality , Levi explained that " Deep down , Flynn has a good core , although that characteristic is brought out of him through the purity , love and naiveté of Rapunzel . " The actor concluded that " These are two very different characters that end up learning a lot from each other on a rather crazy adventure . " According to Colin Covert of the Star Tribune , Flynn " teaches [ Rapunzel ] about courage . " Rob Vaux of Mania.com described the character 's relationship with Rapunzel as a " partners @-@ in @-@ crime sort of chemistry , filled with mischief and the odd pratfall while establishing a rhythm wholly their own . " Rapunzel eventually convinces Flynn to go by his birth name , Eugene Fitzherbert , which Conny Eisfeld described in her book How Fairy Tales Live Happily Ever After : ( Analyzing ) The Art of Adapting Fairy Tales as " more humane . " Stephen D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide called Flynn " a charismatic bad boy , " comparing him to Sinbad from DreamWorks ' Sinbad : Legend of the Seven Seas ( 2003 ) . Similarly , The New York Times ' Brooks Barnes felt that " Making the leading man an unlikable thief is a subtle yet startling twist for Disney , and Flynn ... is glib in a way that many people now associate with DreamWorks . " On Flynn 's thievery , Entertainment Weekly 's Lisa Schwarzbaum determined that the character " only steals because he 's basically a nice @-@ guy underachiever who needs a better outlet for his leadership abilities . " According to Tison Pugh , author of The Disney Middle Ages : A Fairy @-@ Tale and Fantasy Past , Flynn " amalgamates the comedy @-@ action hero with the swashbuckling romantic sensations of Errol Flynn , layering them over a fairy @-@ tale hero attributed with comedic lines that undermine the romantic nostalgia of the film 's setting , " while serving as a source of comic relief at times . Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times believes that Flynn carries " most of the [ film 's ] modern humor . " Likewise , Jennie Punter of The Globe and Mail described Flynn as the film 's " main source of action , humour and , eventually , romance . " 
