The crimes committed by Disney villains range from cruel to moderate. Here is a rank of ten classic Disney villains from the worst of all (rank 1) to not-so-bad (rank 10).
- Shan Yu from Mulan (1998)
Shan Yu considered the construction of the Great Wall of China a challenge for himself. The Great Wall was built to protect China, yet this made him upset for some reason. After invading a country, he proceeds to burn a little girl’s village down and massacre all the peasants, soldiers, and children, committing genocide when he actually could’ve gone around the village. He also may have set fire to other villages as well. He and his army are also responsible for killing General Shang Li’s father and his soldiers. With this many atrocities, Shan Yu brings himself to the top of the list of worst Disney villains.
- Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ursula comes pretty close to Shan Yu but her intentions are more for personal gain. Ariel wasn’t the smartest character, but she didn’t deserve to get tricked and lied to. In the movie, Ursula allows Ariel to have a pair of human legs by trading away her voice. If she doesn’t get the prince to kiss her in three days then she’ll return to being a mermaid, but she’ll have to belong to Ursula for the rest of her life. The deal becomes unfair. In those three days, Ursula uses her eel friends and tries to sabotage Ariel by flipping over her boat. The next day, Ursula uses her wicked powers and transforms herself into a human, and using Ariel’s voice, she beguiles the prince to marry her instead. Poor Ariel had no idea what was going on. To assume power over the ocean, Ursula also turns King Triton and a couple of other merpeople into polyps, which is really cruel.
- Lady Tremaine from Cinderella (1950)
Lady Tremaine is the definition of the cruelest stepmother ever. One of the saddest things about the movie is that Cinderella became a slave in her own house after her father died. She was originally the daughter of a wealthy man, but Tremaine enters the picture and ruins her life. Cinderella suffers from the harsh and stupid tasks Tremaine makes her do like removing all the lentils (that she dumped in herself) from the ashes so Cinderella can’t make it to the ball. Lady Tremaine also encourages her daughters to torment Cinderella too. Her life is absolutely miserable up until the very end when her stepmother smashes her glass slipper to try and prevent her from marrying the prince. Tremaine and her daughters do all this just out of pure jealousy. It’s fair to say they’ve taken it way too far.
- Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The name “Evil Queen” fits this woman perfectly. Throughout the whole movie, she had this unhealthy obsession with killing a fourteen-year-old girl who was casually living a happy life. When the Evil Queen finds out someone is prettier than her, she throws a hissy fit and wants her dead immediately so she can return to being the fairest of them all. What puts Evil Queen in the top five worst villains is that she uses many violent and cruel ways to get rid of Snow White, including hiring a huntsman to bring her heart back to her in a chest. In the end, her attempt to poison Snow White with suspiciously red apples works, as the apples stop her breathing and turn her blood solid, putting her into a deep slumber. None of the Evil Queen’s actions were reasonable. In reality, there is always going to be someone fairer than you. It’s time she should learn that.
- Mother Gothel from Tangled (2010)
Mother Gothel’s case might spark controversy. She deserves a rank of five, as she isn’t as cruel as Ursula or the Evil Queen, but she did do some pretty terrible things. She kidnaps Rapunzel, the princess of Corona, and locks her up so she can keep herself young and beautiful since Rapunzel has magic hair that can heal people. This act put the king and queen in absolute devastation. Imagine losing your kid in the middle of the night and spending the next eighteen years trying to find your child. In the movie, Mother Gothel actually treats Rapunzel fairly well, as she doesn’t abuse her as Lady Tremaine did to Cinderella. Besides being unable to touch grass, Rapunzel keeps herself busy by entertaining herself in the tower. It isn’t until Rapunzel escapes the tower that Mother Gothel becomes a monster. For eighteen years, her manipulation skills brought her benefits. When Rapunzel is finally able to learn the truth about who she really is, Mother Gothel ties her up, gags her, and attempts to kill Flynn Rider (the man who helped Rapunzel escape) with a dagger.
- Hans from Frozen (2013)
The only character in Frozen who is logical and realistic is Elsa. She had every right to be scared and run away from the castle to protect her sister and her people. But Hans just doesn’t get it. He tricks Anna into believing that he loves her when he actually just wants the kingdom of Arendelle and doesn’t try to understand what the sisters are going through. He attempts to kill Elsa in her ice palace and he proceeds to put out the fire so Anna can freeze to death. He lies to Elsa, telling her that her sister is dead when she wasn’t, which leads Elsa to have a breakdown. Hans tries a second attempt at getting rid of Elsa with a sword, but Anna saves her life. Hans is cruel, but if he wasn’t so hungry for power, he would have been a decent prince in his land.
- Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (1959)
The reason behind Maleficent’s actions is pretty weak. She gets upset when she isn’t invited to the celebration of newborn Aurora and plots revenge by cursing the child. On Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, she’ll prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Aurora hides in the forest for most of her childhood until Maleficent finds out her whereabouts and lets the curse do the work. While all this is happening, she kidnaps the prince who’s supposed to marry Aurora and plans to lock him up until he becomes old and haggard while Aurora stays young in her deep sleep. Just like Lady Tremaine, she took things way too far.
- Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Dr. Facilier’s actions are by far the most complicated. He’s a voodoo witch doctor who wants New Orleans and money to become rich and powerful. He turns Prince Naveen into a frog, then takes his blood, and turns Naveen’s servant into the human form of Prince Naveen to trick Tiana’s wealthy friend, Charlotte, into marrying him. Because of the dark spell Facilier puts on Naveen, Tiana also transforms into a frog after kissing him, and the two lead on sad lives as frogs. When Facilier asks his voodoo spirit friends to help him capture Naveen to take more blood, he promises them the souls of the entire city’s population. But Tiana breaks the talisman containing the blood and the voodoo spirits drag Facilier down to pay for his broken promise. Though the only casualty is Ray, the firefly that helped Naveen and Tiana, Facilier makes people shudder from the dark magic he does to trick people into accepting unfair deals.
- Jafar from Aladdin (1992)
Like any other classic villain, Jafar wants power. He wants to become the sultan, and to do this he plans the murders of Jasmine and her father, the current sultan. He also wants the magic lamp, as it can grant him anything he desires. Jafar uses deceit and confusion to get Aladdin to bring him the lamp. He also tried to ruin Jasmine and Aladdin’s relationship in the process. When he finally obtains the lamp, his greed and cruelty shine through completely. He immediately uses up his first two wishes, becoming a powerful sultan and sorcerer, but gets tricked by Aladdin into using his last wish to become a genie, which traps him inside the lamp forever.
- Gaston from Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Gaston doesn’t commit many harsh crimes. He’s just really annoying (the facial expressions Belle makes when he’s near her make it clear). He’s the definition of what a narcissist is and believes that every single girl should admire him. Gaston thinks that women shouldn’t read and throws away Belle’s books. If he doesn’t like a girl who reads to become smart, then why is he so obsessed with her? He should just give up and leave her in peace. But he insists on trying to win Belle and when he finds out that Belle cares for the Beast, he gets angry and thinks that he’s going to “save” Belle by killing the Beast when he’s just making himself look worse.
