This post is dedicated to the ones we love to hate…or to be politically correct, the ones we love to dislike with great intensity! Disney has always understood that in order to have a great story, you need not only a great hero or heroine but also a great villain.
These Villains come in all shapes and sizes. Some are human, some are animal and some are not of this world.
Some have small parts in the movie they are associated with and others have a bigger part than the hero. Some are naive and even a bit off the wall, and others are just plain despicable.
The one thing they all have in common is we do not like them very much and in some cases, we despise them!
It is impossible to rank these villains from worst to worster (yeah, we know that’s not a real word) because much of the dislike comes from how the movie affected you when you watched it, so we are going to give you our favorite abhorred villains.
Table of Contents
13 Worst Disney Villains You Love to Hate
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1. Usula (the Sea Witch)
Movie: The Little Mermaid
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Ariel
Sidekicks: Flotsam and Jetsam
Song: Poor Unfortunate Souls
Villain Qualifications: This half-woman, half-octopus is large and in charge. Complete with her own moray eel minions, Flotsam and Jetsam whom she refers to as her “babies”, she sets out to use her black magic to get revenge on King Triton and steal his trident.
With her lying, deception and sheer evil intentions, Ursula ranks up there with one of the worst villains. All this being said, she does give the film a bit of comic release at times with her antics and songs.
2. Scar
Movie: The Lion King. Also in the “new” The Lion King (2019)
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Simba
Sidekick: The hyenas. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are the most prominent
Song: Be Prepared
Villain Qualifications: Scar is as ruthless as they come. He is a murderer of his own brother and then he immediately tried getting rid of Simba in order to become leader of the lion pride.
Scar had an inferiority complex because he lacked brute strength, but he was very smart and somewhat of a narcissist. He once said, “As far as brains go, I got the lion’s share”. Scar is sarcastic in every way, insulting, boastful, manipulative and always looking to gain the upper hand.
Many Disney fans rank Scar as the worst of them all due to the lack of comedic relief and the overall evilness of his character!
3. Maleficent
Movie: Sleeping Beauty. Also in Maleficent and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Aurora
Sidekick: Diablo the raven bird is Maleficent’s sidekick in Sleeping Beauty. In the movie Maleficient, the sidekick is a crow-human named Diaval.
Song: Maleficient is one of the only villains who does not have a song
Villain Qualifications: Maleficent first made her appearance in the 1958 film Sleeping Beauty but she is making a resurgence in the movie, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
She is dark, dramatic, and has an unlimited arsenal of magic powers at her command that she is not afraid to use.
Maleficent herself describe her skills as “all the powers of hell”. Lightening projection, divination and teleportation are just a few of these amazing powers. In fact, Maleficien is considered one of the most powerful villains in all of Disney’s history.
4. Jafar
Movie: Aladdin. Also in Aladdin (2019)
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Aladdin
Sidekick: Iago the scarlet macaw
Song: Prince Ali, reprise
Villain Qualifications: Jafar had one over ridding goal in life and that was to possess the magic lamp containing the genie which would give him full control over the drone and world at large. In trying to fulfill that goal, Jafar would stop at nothing to achieve it.
Just as Maleficent had mystical powers and used her staff with a glowing green orb at the tip to carry out her spells, Jafar, too has mystical powers and uses a cobra headed staff as he delivers his spells.
With his pet bird, Iago, a sarcastic parrot, He uses disguises, sorcery, deception, dark magic and many other trickery to get what he wants.
5. Cruella De Vil
Movie: 101 Dalmatians. Also in 101 Dalmatians (1996), Cruella
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Pongo
Sidekicks: Jasper and Horace
Song: Cruella De Vil
Villain Qualifications: For starters, Cruella De Vil commits kidnapping and slaughters dogs! She tries to kidnap and kill 99 puppies for a fur coat, but maybe the worst thing of all is she smokes these long stems with cigarettes in the end of them.
Always putting her vanity first, Cruella has really got some serious problems. She is short tempered, greedy, selfish, reckless and impulsive. The only good thing about her is that her two sidekicks, Jasper and Horace, are hilarious.
Additionally, you’ve got to admit, she has a great name and makes a wonderful Halloween costume like Dave’s daughter Jen did one year with her daughter as a little Dalmatian puppy!
Cruella De Vil can be found on Main Street in Disneyland!
6. The Evil Queen
Movie: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Snow White
Sidekick: The Evil Queen doesn’t really have a sidekick, unless you count her magic mirror.
Song: No song for the Evil Queen
Villain Qualifications: Putting poison into an apple to kill a sweet young girl just because she was prettier than her allows the Evil Queen, also know as Queen Grimhilde to make our horrible villain list for sure!
In fact she was voted the 10th greatest movie villain in cinematic history! She first appeared in the 1937 animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and is considered to be one of the most iconic villains of all times. She is clever, devious and heartless.
7. Mother Gothel
Movie: Tangled
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Rapunzel
Sidekick: none
Song: Mother Knows Best
Villain Qualifications: Yes, Mother Gothel is not as overtly evil as some of the others on our list but she is still a wicked lady. Hoarding Rapunzel’s healing magic by keeping her locked up in a tower while posing as her mother to “protect” her from the evil outside world is just not a nice thing to do.
Mother Gothel is extremely selfish; she doesn’t care who she hurts or takes advantage of as long as she is happy and fulfilled. She manipulative and plays mind games that could produce lasting effects. Most of all, she didn’t know how to love. It just wasn’t something she could do.
Mother Gothel will sometimes perform on Disney on Ice.
8. Hades
Movie: Hercules
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Hercules
Sidekick: Pain and Panic
Song: Hades does not have a song. He does have a recurring melody called “Speak of the Devil.”
Villain Qualifications: slick as oil, this fast talking villain can talk his way into and out of anything. He’s got a fiery temper and vendetta against his eldest brother, Zeus. Hades plots and allies himself with others to get what he wants.
9. Gaston
Movie: Beauty and the Beast. Also in Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Belle
Sidekick: LeFou
Song: Gaston
Villain Qualifications: It’s almost hard to put old Gaston in the same list as these others. He is such a dim-witted and arrogant fool, he comes across as more comical than a villain. However, the fact that he is convinced he can have and take anything and anyone he wants, makes him one of the more scary villains behind a pretty face Disney has produced.
Gaston is one of the most fun – and funniest – characters to meet in Walt Disney World! You can often find him outside of Gaston’s Tavern in Fantasyland. You can find some of our favorite Gaton quotes here.
10. Claude Frollo
Movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Quasimodo
Sidekick: None
Song: Hellfire
Villain Qualifications: Claude Frollo was the exact opposite of Quasimodo. As Quasimodo showed kindness, love and loyalty towards people, Frollo couldn’t do any of these things. He was twisted in many ways.
Claude Frollo was cruel towards Quasimodo, lustful towards Esmeralda, and what made it the worst was that he used his powerful position as a religious man to justify his actions. He is self righteous and thins he is better than everyone else. That attitude, combined with his position of judge, gives him one of the top positions in our list of Villains.
11. Captain Hook
Movie: Peter Pan and Return to Never Land
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Peter Pan
Sidekick: Smee
Song: The Elegant Caption Hook
Villain Qualifications: Captain Hook had one great desire in life and that was to seek revenge on Peter Pan for cutting off his hand and feeding it to a crocodile. Along with this desire, he wanted to get rid of the eternal children.
If being a hate filled murderer wasn’t enough, he was a manipulator and trickster to everyone he came in contact with. The only one Hook would tolerate was his sidekick, Smee. Even after being cruel, short tempered and deadly to his crew, Smee somehow escaped his menacing personality.
You can see Captain Hook at Captain Hooks’ Pirate Crew at Disney’s Beach Club Resort in Walt Disney World.
12. Lady Tremaine
Movie: Cinderella. Also in Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True, Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time and Cinderella (2015)
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Cinderella
Sidekick: Lucifer
Song: No particular song, although Lady Tremaine was convinced that her daughters could sing beautifully. “Sing Sweet Nightingale” is associated with this family.
Villain Qualifications: Everyone knows the term “wicked stepmother” but the cold-hearted, Lady Tremaine was the first. Though she doesn’t physically harm Cinderella, she punishes her and psychologically abuses her in an evil, wicked way.
Unlike many of the evil woman in our list, she doesn’t possess any magical powers but her lies, deception, jealousy and manipulative ways of controlling Cinderella and others makes her a Villain closer to real life which can be even more frightening.
Lady Tremaine was voiced by Eleanor Audrey, who was also the voice for Maleficent!
13. Shere Khan
Movie: The Jungle Book. Also in The Jungle Book 2, The Jungle Book (2016)
Main Hero/Heroine/Adversary: Mowgli
Sidekick: Tabaqui
Song: That’s What Friends Are For
Villain Qualifications: “Kill any human that steps foot in the jungle” is Shere Khan’s motto. This Bengal tiger is intimating and ruthless towards all in the jungle while keeping the jungle together at all times makes him a villain for sure. Taunting and tormenting his prey with a condescending smile and relaxed demeanor gives Shere Khan a heartless, sadistic way about him. He is definitely a villain and definitely a dark vicious adversary.
These are all the villains we love to hate! Walt Disney World embraces its iconic villains with special events. Disney Villains After Hours is a special ticketed event held in the Magic Kingdom park. Run Disney also has had a villain themed event – we would love to see that come back! Check out the villain playlist Disney created here.
