Top Ten Disney Villains

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Top Ten Disney Villains

Just like sidekicks and maybe even more so, the villains are usually much more interesting than the protagonists in all of movies, but that is particularly the case with Disney Animation where they’ve had a plethora of different types of villains, but most are excellent with some being downright standouts when it comes to their respective films. So without further ado, here are my picks for Disney’s ten finest villains of all time.

10. Gaston

Gaston was an important and still famous departure for the studio when it comes to their depictions of villainy characters. He’s the handsome man, the prince type and the positive Beast is the physically ugly one. This film is all about inner beauty and thus it was a perfectly fitting choice to portray a handsome man as the villain. Although not higher on my list, Gaston still deserves inclusion because he’s calculated in his evil deeds, but his otherwise stupid demeanors and redneck behavior make him amusing too.

9. Jafar

Another Disney Renaissance character lands on this list and of course that’s bound to happen judging by the terrific quality of this period’s output, though I still personally prefer older classics and thus they mostly get better placements here. But Jafar deserves to be on here because he’s immensely realistic as this uncharacteristically and memorably calm man who’s actually rather smart as most of his plans worked out gloriously. I also loved his look, his snake form and his very funny henchman Iago.

8. Ursula

I do absolutely adore Ursula! Yes, her death felt overly convenient and a bit anti-climactic, but nonetheless she made a highly strong impact on the entire film. Again, this is an instance of a very calculated villain who was careful in her goals and she genuinely managed to fool Ariel and mostly everyone and she almost won. Her drag queen-inspired look remains iconic to this day as is her voice and of course her song Poor Unfortunate Souls which is easily one of the best Disney Villain songs of them all.

7. Pinocchio’s Villains

I know, I know. This is again cheating on the part of me and I do continue to do this, but I just have to sometimes because there is no other way to include the villains from Pinocchio who individually got too little screen time, but literally every one of them made a major impact and this is the rare movie where the villains actually went out unharmed which just goes to show how different, grounded in reality and dark this movie really is. Monstro the whale is great, but Honest John himself is terrific and of course Stromboli is the most vile of the bunch.

6. The Horned King

The Black Cauldron remains to this day one of the most underrated Disney movies of all time, but at least its villain regained some status and is now regarded as fantastic as he deserved to. Yes, this villain did not get much of a backstory, but whenever he was on screen he stole the show and he’s just such a genuinely creepy presence that I am still baffled at how this studio managed to depict such a horrific and scary villain. Some of his scenes, including the introductory one, remain unnerving to me even as an adult.

5. Mother Gothel

Now let’s talk about the most recent character on this list – Mother Gothel. Tangled came out in 2010 and it remains an immensely underappreciated movie which is honestly a Disney fairy tale classic in my book. All of the characters are great in this flick, but one of the best ones is the villain who actually managed to lie to and manipulate Rapunzel for many years and in the end even went against her just to save her youth. She’s thus a very grounded in reality, abusive person and she still remains one of their rare villains who never made a single mistake.

4. Lady Tremaine

Speaking of abuse, watching Cinderella is downright difficult in some scenes and this horrific woman is the main reason for it. She simply abused the hell out of Cindy and, unlike her stupid daughters, did it smartly and all the more brutally. A lot of her actions here are horrible such as locking Cindy in a room to prevent her from trying on a slipper and that is why she’s an awesome villain as she did not need any magic or powers to be effective as her pure evil is transparent and very much real in her every moment.

3. Maleficent

How could you not adore the self-proclaimed mistress of all evil? Yes, Maleficent remains probably the most classic of all the Disney villains and for many great reasons. She’s pure evil and also extremely powerful of a witch with her powers so well utilized in the movie with her dragon form being outstanding as well. I loved her pet Diablo and her great castle. But her appearance is iconic and I just admire the hell out of Eleanor Audley’s voice as it’s beyond creepy and just perfect for this character.

2. Cruella de Ville

But Cruella de Ville is even better of a villain mostly because she doesn’t have any powers and she doesn’t have any goals to rule over the world or anything cartoony like that, but her goal is very real and smaller-scaled which I loved. But how can you not hate a person who wants to kill off dogs and puppies. For a dog lover, she’s the ultimate evil. But other than that, her voice is excellent, her looks are absolutely iconic and she’s simply a lot of fun with her memorable personality and amusing interactions with her stupid henchmen.

1. Claude Frollo

Although not unfortunately thought of as the best on most of the lists, Frollo is easily the finest villain ever created by Disney when you stop to appreciate him fully. His demeanor and voice are great, his relationship with Quasimodo is powerfully developed and his lust and hatred for Esmeralda made him a genuinely frightening figure because he felt so real and a painful representative of his time period and the church itself. He also got by far one of the finest Disney villain songs in glorious Hellfire. So yes, he’s not as famous or as well regarded as some of these other villains, but to me he remains the very best.

Honorable Mentions:

The Queen – The very first Disney villain from Snow White is effective in both forms and I loved how manipulative she is and her crackling witch voice. The transformation scene’s chilling too.

Shere Khan – Shere Khan definitely did not get nearly enough screen time as he deserved, but he still remains a formidable villain due to his absolutely amazing voice alone.

Ratigan – Now, Ratigan is one of the more comedic villains here, but he’s still awesome as he gets to be tough near the end as well. His villain song is one of the best for sure.

Scar – Yes, Scar got such a low spot despite being adored by many because even though he killed his own brother, he still made many awful choices throughout the movie.

Yzma – Yzma is awesome! She’s comedic as is the whole film, but still she remains a very underrated villain as her look is very original and her relationship with Kronk is superb.

Queen of Hearts – Queen of Hearts is Alice in Wonderland’s biggest, famous villain who’s cartoony and over-the-top, but nonetheless perfect for this type of film and a lot of fun.