Diego
| Ice Age character | |
| Diego | |
|---|---|
| Species: | Smilodon |
| Eyes: | Green |
| Fur: | Light Brown |
| Voiced by: | Denis Leary |
Diego is a Smilodon who was seen in both the first film and the second film.
In the first film, he conspired with several other saber-toothed cats to try and bring down a human baby to kill it and eat in vengeance (for the baby's family had killed off half of Diego's pack). In a deleted scene, it is revealed that Diego is the only one that Soto trusted, and that Soto considered the rest of pack to be nothing more than a group of slip-ups. He was sent by Soto, the leader, to take the baby while Soto and the three other pack members (Zeke, Oscar and Lenny) were all fighting the humans. As Diego tried to take the baby, however, the baby's mother snatched him away just in time, but was soon cornered between Diego and a nearby waterfall. Faced with this, the mother held on tight to her baby and jumped down the falls. Soto was infuriated to see that Diego had come back with nothing. Soto then made an accord with Diego: Diego would either bring the baby back to Half-Peak...or die.
Diego made his way to the bottom of the falls, only to see that Manfred, a mammoth, and Sid, a ground sloth, had intercepted the baby. Diego offered (if not implied that) to take the baby back to his family, but clearly, wished to take him back to his pack. Manfred saw through Diego's intentions, but also saw that neither he nor Sid could track and so he must take Diego along to lead the way.
Time came and went, and Diego was met with Oscar and Zeke, two of his pack-mates. They had informed him that Soto was adamant on his plans, either Diego came back with the baby or he would not come back at all. Diego told the two that not only would Soto receive the baby, but also a mammoth, namely Manfred. Morning came, and after a spell, Diego ended up saving Sid's life from a pair of angry brontotheres (though in the deleted scenes, it was revealed to be a she-sloth named Sylvia, trying to get Sid to travel with her) and soon went north with the other two animals.
Diego saw at one point that the saber-toothed cats had been through the very same trail that he, Manfred, and Sid were using. He saw it in the form of a footprint, and so he quickly altered the footprint to resemble that of a human footprint. With this, Diego soon claimed to have found a shortcut, through an ice cave, but Manfred and Sid insisted that it was not the smartest idea. An avalanche came, and the three were forced to go inside. As they traveled through the ice cave, the baby soon made his way through a series of elaborate ice slides, with Manfred, Sid, and Diego hurrying to get him back. After the slides had ended and everyone was no longer moving, however, Diego seemed to be the only one who had enjoyed himself (except for Roshan, the baby).
Diego and the others then had to stop for the night, and it was here that Diego realised that despite their differences, Sid and Manfred really considered him to be a friend. This strain of friendship was proved further when the "herd", as they now called themselves, had reached a great river of lava, and Diego had nearly fallen from it and died. Manfred caught him in time, but was nearly killed off himself. Diego asked Manfred why he had done that, as he could have been killed, and Manfred replied that in herds, everyone looked out for one another.
Soon, though, Diego revealed to Manfred and Sid of his true intentions: he plotted to bring Manfed and the baby to the pack, for the pack would eat them, but he also explained that he wanted nothing more to do with the pack; Manfed and Sid were Diego's true friends. And so the three worked out a plan to drive the pack off. It had worked, except Diego had been hurt in his confrontation with Soto, and while Soto had been killed off, Diego remained weakened. It seemed as though he had died and Manfred was left to travel with Sid and go return the baby.
Diego soon returned, though weakened somewhat, and the three friends made their migration south.
In the second film Diego was considerably less hostile, and appeared with his own conflict: he feared water. Diego avoided water at all times, even going so far as to fear stepping on puddles. (Although in the first movie, Diego is clearly shown stepping on water, when he is assaulting the mother and the child.) Eventually, however, Diego overcame his fear when he saw Sid, Crash, and Eddie drowning in a river and realised that in order to save them, he must swim. In doing this, Diego overcame his fear of water.
Diego is voiced by Denis Leary in both movies.
