Maleficent- Sleeping Beauty

Maleficent, the self proclaimed mistress of all evil, is by far Disney’s most wicked villain. After not being invited to the celebration of the princess Aurora’s birth, she decides to bestow a “present”, in the form of a spell, on the baby princess. She vowed that on Aurora’s sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on a spindle and die. The Three Good Fairies countered Maleficent’s curse by stating that the Princess would not die, but would be sleeping, awaiting loves first kiss. The fairies then go into hiding with the Princess, attempting to escape Maleficent’s evil wrath. They change their names and can not reveal the Princess’s true identity to her until she is sixteen.

By the time of Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, Maleficent’s home, the forbidden mountains, thundered with her frustration because she could not find the Princess. After discovering her idiotic henchmen have been searching for a baby girl for the past sixteen years, not a grown woman, a burst of psychotic laughter emits from her mouth, echoing through her eerie domain, she then uses her magical staff to the useless miscreants. She sends a raven, her loyal companion, out to find Aurora, begging him not to let her down. The raven stumbles upon the Three Good Fairies in a cottage in the forest and overhears them discussing the Princess and quickly flies back to his ally.

The Good Fairies reveal to the Princess that she is royalty and they take her to the castle. They make the mistake of leaving Aurora alone in a room where Maleficent appears before the Princess, her glowing eyes creating the only source of light, and lures her into a secret passageway where the Princess fulfills her ignoble prophecy. She then kidnaps the Prince, imprisoning him in her dungeon so he will never be able to save his precious Princess. The Three Good Fairies manage to sneak into the castle and free the Prince, arming him with a sword and a shield. Maleficent sees this and goes to her beloved raven, to tell him to stop them. Unfortunately he was cast in stone by one of the Good Fairies; her only loyal friend is gone. She is so furious about this that she fills the sky with a thunderous storm and casts a spell around the castle. Mounds of thorned bushes surround the castle. Prince Philippe uses his new sword and breaks through these prickly plants enraging Maleficent even more. So, she decides she’s going out in true villainous style: she becomes a dragon. Prince Philippe uses his trusty sword once again, leaving only her robe with the sword piercing through it.

Why she’s number one: Even the name Maleficent has an evil ring to it. She is the epitome of what every villain should be. Being pure evil from beginning to end, she set out on the murderous plot of a baby princess even though she had absolutely nothing to gain from it. She was evil because she enjoyed it, nothing more nothing less.

To see her battle with Phillipe and meet her untimely end click here

Scar- The Lion King

Scar, the evil brother of Mufasa, is a cunning lion seduced by the power his brother possesses. His eerie green eyes, dark mane, and bony physique give him a villainous demeanor with regicide in his future. His brother rules the Pride Lands and Simba is the next in line for the throne. Scar will to resort to anything to gain control of the jungle, including murder his brother and nephew. Scar has his companions, three hyenas, Shanzi, Banzai, and Ed help him carry out his plan of assassination. Eventually the three hyenas turn into thousands when he convinces them that he will be a superior leader compared to Mufasa.

They generate a stampede of wildebeest to kill Mufasa and Simba. Mufasa rescues Simba and attempts to climb up a cliff to save himself from the wildebeest’s trampling feet. As he reaches the top, Scar is waiting for him. He begs for Scar to help him up and Scar puts his paws over his brothers, and flings him off the edge sending him to his death. He convinces Simba that it was Simba who caused the stampede and that he was the reason for his father’s death. So full of guilt, he runs away from the Pride Lands hoping he will never have to face the rest of his family again. Scar then sends Shanzi, Banzai and Ed on a mission to kill Simba to further ensure that he would be the lion king. The three hyenas never complete that mission but decide to keep it a secret from Scar, thinking it will never be of any importance. As ruler, Scar withers the Pride Lands down to nothing. There is no water, no food; the once beautiful jungle has become a desert.

After years of hiding, Simba is reunited with his childhood friend, Nala. She tells him all the horrible events that have happened in their hometown and after a lot of arguing he decides to return and gain control of his throne. He arrives in the Pride Lands and challenges Scar for the throne. They begin their battle and during the fight, Scar has Simba in the exact same position he had had Mufasa in before he killed him. Just before he is about to murder Simba, he informs him that he was actually the one responsible for Mufasa’s death, not Simba. Full of vengeance for his father, Simba manages to leap up on Scar and force Scar to reveal the real truth to the colony. Scar begs for Simba not to hurt him and blames everything on the hyenas, unaware that the hyenas are within earshot and can hear everything he is saying. Simba bans Scar from the Pride Lands. As he leaves, Scar throws burning embers in Simba’s eyes and they begin to fight once again ending with Simba kicking his uncle off of Pride Rock, where the hyenas are waiting for their revenge.

Why he’s number nine: There is nothing quite as horrific as betraying a family member and Scar did this all quite calmly to both a brother and a nephew. He thought nothing of murdering his own brother and ruining Simba’s life by convincing him it was his fault. He placed the blame on others so no one would suspect him as the villain, calculating and scheming his way to the throne. He is a vicious killer who will destroy anything or anyone that stands between him and the power that he felt was rightfully his.

To see Scar convince the hyenas to help him kill the king clickhere

The Queen- Snow White

Obsessed with her beauty, The Queen’s self-love morphs her into a villain that few can compare to. She possessed many dark, mythical powers and had a mirror that held knowledge and could show her whatever she wished to see. A frequent question The Queen would ask the mirror was, “Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Although she knew the mirror would always respond that she was, she continued to ask the question. One day when she went through her usual routine of asking the mirror that same question, his response was a little different than usual. Snow White, The Queen’s step-daughter, had now surpassed The Queen’s beauty and had stolen the title of the fairest of them all.

The Queen became so full of fury that she decided she must rid herself of Snow White, so she can once again be the most beautiful one of all. She sends Humbert, her huntsman, on a mission to take Snow White into the forest and murder her. Humbert is given a box to place Snow White’s heart in to prove he had actually done the deed. He tries, but can’t bring himself to harm Snow White. Instead he tells her to leave and never return. When he returns to The Queen, he gives her the box which holds a pig’s heart in the place of Snow White’s.

Excited at the thought of being the most beautiful once again, she does not hesitate to ask her favorite question to the mirror once again. Only to her surprise, the mirror is still responding that Snow White is the fairest of them all and that she has found herself a cottage in the forest, living with seven dwarfs. In pure rage, The Queen makes her way to the dungeon of her castle and creates a potion that transforms her into and old, withered witch, the complete opposite of her original appearance. After the transformation is complete, she conjures a poison apple that encloses a death-like sleep for whoever is to bite into it.

The Queen makes her way to the cottage, with two vultures at her side, and tricks Snow White into consuming the poisoned apple by telling her it is a magical wishing apple. As Snow White lies on the floor, the Queen is overjoyed at her triumph. The Seven Dwarfs return to the cottage in time to see Snow White “dead” on the floor and The Queen still at the scene. The Seven Dwarfs chase her into the forest, when The Queen decides it would be a smart idea to start climbing the mountains to escape the Seven Dwarfs. She stands on the ledge of a mountain attempting to push a large boulder on the Seven Dwarfs with a stick. Unfortunately, a storm begins and a flash of lightening strikes the ledge of the mountain and destroys the platform she was standing on. She falls into a black obis with the boulder falling along over top of her.

Why she’s number three: The Queen is another villain seduced by vanity, turning her into a maniacal witch. So desperately wanting to be the most beautiful of them all, she is willing to become an old disfigured hag and murder her step daughter, Snow White. When she morphs into the old woman, her true villainous appearance is unveiled; showing the audience what had been under her beautiful exterior.

To watch a small recap of The Queen's actions in this classic, click here