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Major Mint is a soldier from the Kingdom of Parthenia (AKA the Land of Sweets). It's never explained what he is doing before the Mouse took over the Kingdom, but it's probably safe to assume he's been in the military for most of his life. Because of this, he still behaves in a soldierly fashion; even though the rules he so strongly believe in don't actually apply much anymore, what with the rest of his army apparently gone (it's never explained what happened to them. Maybe the Mouse's army wiped them out). Even so, Mint and his fellow soldier, Captain Candy, stick to doing what they've been trained to do; protecting the innocent. The two men have been keeping the remaining peasants safe and trying to defeat the Mouse King. Obviously they have not had much luck, but they appear to have had enough of an impact to make him know about them (when his spy, Pimm, mentions they've joined up with Clara and the Nutcracker, the Mouse replies; "proving they're gullible idiots").
While I wouldn't say the Major is a gullible idiot, his people skills need a lot of work. Presumably due to his training, he believes his higher rank makes him the unquestionable leader of everyone he comes into contact with; military or otherwise. If he were actually in a regiment, this might actually be reasonable enough; but these aren't normal circumstances and this isn't an army he's commanding. Nonetheless, he acts as if it is and this makes him extremely arrogant. Although he doesn't believe in the Sugarplum Princess at first, he agrees to join Clara and the Nutcracker on their quest - providing he is in charge. He takes any questioning of his ideas as a threat to his authority and his high opinion of himself nearly gets them all killed when he shouts at a rock giant for smashing his boat.
Mint and the Nutcracker immediately get off on the wrong foot when Nutcracker mentions Prince Eric. The Major isn't exactly Eric's biggest fan since the Prince is technically responsible for the Mouse's takeover. Most of the Kingdom agrees with that philosophy - even the Peppermint Girl and Gingerbread Boy don't have a nice word for Prince Eric - but Mint goes a step further, calling the Prince "useless, lazy and irresponsible". Yet just a few seconds later, he admits that he once had high hopes for him, so presumably there's a lot of bitterness there. What he doesn't realise, of course, is that Nutcracker IS Prince Eric and the "reckless boy" has learned the error of his ways and hopes to redeem himself by finding the Sugarplum Princess. The Major does not realise this until much later, when he is instantly humbled (I think we can all agree a Prince should count as a "superior officer" in his mind). Until then, however, he doesn't appear to think much of Nutcracker and dislikes it when he takes his place as leader of the group ("handing the rains to a... a stump?! I've never heard of such a thing!"). Luckily Eric forgives him when he becomes King.
Mint's feelings towards Clara aren't clear. He does scoff when she runs to warn him about the rock giant ("probably saw a snake or a spider") but that's probably more to do with his old-fashioned views than his opinion of her personally.
In spite of all this, Major Mint is not a bad person. He may have not managed to defeat the Mouse, but the villagers were perfectly safe until they decided to leave the trees so he was clearly doing something right. All of the Major's intentions are good, even if they don't always work very well (that "bridge", for instance) and he cares about the welfare of the others; when Nutcracker faces the rock giant with his sword, Mint misunderstands him and warns him back, telling him he'll be pulverised if he tries to face it with a sword (of course, he doesn't show that much concern for Candy when he nearly falls to his death, but this is probably to do with his military training - being a soldier isn't exactly a safe job). He also has a few good ideas; Clara and the Nutcracker getting supplies while he and Candy work on the boat is a useful way to save time. When they are out on the ice, his concern about what will happen when it melts makes perfect sense, especially since they haven't found the island and would have to consider that possibility. Even when the Nutcracker takes his place as leader, he sticks with the group rather than going off in a sulk. All in all, the only really bad traits he has are associated with his military training - and even those would be commended under the circumstances he's used to. Oh, and he's not a bad dancer either.
That said, not all his faults can be blamed by his career. Although he'd never admit it, the Major is slightly clumsy. He falls over when he is dancing and he accidentally knocks Candy into the ravine when they're crossing the bridge (when the Captain tries to point this out to him, he immediately gets defensive and blames the other soldier for his "sloppy footwork and general clumsiness"). He also gets distracted by the snow fairies when they freeze the Sea of Storms. Mint is also, in case it isn't already obvious by now, a serious character. He doesn't smile until the end of the film (which makes perfect sense really).
