Greatest Disney Villains, Ranked by Evilness

These characters are the best at being the worst.

Greatest Disney Villains, Ranked by Evilness

Disney has given us many worthy heroes, and every hero needs an antihero. The villains of Disney movies define the story with their plots, murderous intentions, shameless manipulation and downright evilness.

All Disney villains may be evil, but not all villains are created equal. Some are driven by petty rivalries while others have frightening plans of destruction.

These are the top 15 best Disney villains, ordered from bad to absolute evil.

15. Lady Tremaine, AKA the Evil Stepmother

Movie: Cinderella

Special powers: Having full authority of the household

Most evil action: Forcing her stepdaughter into servitude

Villain Breakdown: Lady Tremaine

You may not know her name, but you certainly know who she is. This character is so iconic that she is the archetype for the evil stepmother. Lady Tremaine is pure pettiness, and her actions seem motivated by little more than an irrational hatred for Cinderella.

Unlike many other Disney villains, Lady Tremaine doesn’t try to kill anyone, but she is still pretty evil. After all, if your husband dies, you should take care of his daughter, not force her to become your servant and deny her her inheritance.

She also locks Cinderella up to keep her from trying on the slipper, which is really about having power over her stepdaughter. What’s scary about this evil character is that insecure people who want to control other people actually exist, so it’s not difficult to imagine her as a real person.

14. Captain Hook

Movie: Peter Pan

Special powers: Having a weapon as a hand

Most evil action: Trying to kill a group of children

Villain Breakdown: Captain Hook

Captain Hook is not the most intimidating Disney villain, but he is extremely entertaining. For starters, his main rival is a prepubescent boy who will never grow up. To see a grown man go out of his way to try and fail to kill an eternal kid is a little pathetic.

On top of that, Hook doesn’t seem to be good at much except yelling orders at his right-hand man, Smee. And Hook's biggest fear is a crocodile who swallowed his hand and his pride.

However silly his obsessions with Peter Pan is, there is no denying his actions are wrong. He kidnaps Princess Tiger Lily, forces a whole group of kids to choose between piracy or death and emotionally manipulates Tinkerbell into telling him where Peter Pan is.

Besides, he is one of the classic Disney villains so he deserves a spot among the best of the worst.

13. Gaston

Movie: Beauty and the Beast

Special powers: Charisma and influence

Most evil action: Turning the village against the Beast

Villain Breakdown: Gaston

Like Hook, Gaston is somewhat pathetic. He garners more eye rolls than fear up until the last act of the movie.

In short, he is a large, muscular man with a very fragile ego who can’t take rejection or even entertain the idea that a woman may not want to spend her life cooking and cleaning for him. His arrogance and open sexism are annoying.

But Gaston is much more dangerous than he appears to be. He tries to force Belle to marry him by having her dad, Maurice, committed to a mental institution. When that plan doesn’t work, he uses his charisma and influence to convince the villagers to wage war against the Beast.

What’s worse, after the Beast spares his life, he literally stabs him in the back. We can’t respect a coward.

12. Jafar

Movie: Aladdin

Special powers: Hypnosis, disguise, being a master manipulator

Most evil action: Attempting to force Jasmine to fall in love and marry him

Villain Breakdown: Jafar

Jafar is definitely not a lovable villain. He immediately gives off bad vibes and is pretty powerless without the help of his staff or a genie lamp. When your parrot is more charming than you, you know you’re truly failing at life.

What makes Jafar one of the best Disney movie villains is that he is infuriatingly evil. He disguises himself as an old man to get Aladdin to go into the cave, then leaves him there for dead. Jafar's staff also gives him power over the Sultan, much to the chagrin of Jasmine, who’s able to see through him.

But the worst thing Jafar does is creep after Jasmine, even trying to get her to marry him by asking the genie to make her fall in love with him. That is truly cringe-worthy.

Luckily, what he has in creepiness he lacks in brains, so he ensures his own demise.

11. Hades

Movie: Hercules

Special powers: Immortality, teleportation, fire manipulation, making smoke illusions, potions mastery

Most evil action: Trying to kill a newborn baby

Villain Breakdown: Hades

Hades is a villain you secretly love because he’s entertaining. His outbursts of anger are dangerous but also funny, and his fast-talking banter is somewhat charming.

Sure, he betrays his family by trying to awaken the giants who will bring down his brother Zeus and the rest of the gods from Olympus. But you kind of understand why he’d do it, given that he got the worst part of the family business.

He does use Meg to try to kill Hercules by forcing her to pretend to be in love with him. It’s not a cool move, but it also isn’t the most evil move in Disney history.

What really gets him in the pantheon of great Disney villains is that he tried to kill his newborn nephew. That is low. He also sent his henchmen to do it, which is even dirtier.

10. The Evil Queen

Movie: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Special powers: Magic, potions mastery, political power

Most evil action: Trying to kill her stepdaughter because of jealousy

Villain Breakdown: The Evil Queen

No one will be surprised to find the Evil Queen on here. After all, her nature is in her name.

This character is not only the ruler of her kingdom, but she also is the queen of pettiness. Her vanity is so legendary that she decides to kill her stepdaughter merely because she is beautiful. Aging is difficult for everyone, but this evil woman completely fails at doing it gracefully.

She doesn’t rank higher because her plans really aren’t that great. She uses a random hunter who has no alliance to her and, despite having magical powers, can’t even tell she’s holding the heart of a deer rather than that of Snow White.

Besides, who on this earth except the innocent Snow White would ever accept food from an evil-looking old lady? If the plan succeeded, it was merely dumb luck and her adversary’s lack of common sense.

9. Maleficent

Movie: Sleeping Beauty

Special powers: Magic, teleportation, conjuring lighting, turning into a giant dragon

Most evil action: Cursing a baby out of pettiness

Villain Breakdown: Maleficent

Before Angelina Jolie played this character in the live-action film, no one would have ever thought they would feel sympathy for her. Maleficent's name literally means something that causes destruction, particularly of a supernatural nature. And this is exactly what she is.

Even if Disney tried to do for her what Broadway did for the Wicked Witch of the West, it’s pretty hard to justify cursing a baby. Yes, it hurts to not get invited to a party, but punishing a tiny human who isn’t even aware of their own existence yet is excessive.

Maleficent would’ve ranked lower because of her pettiness, but she managed to score a place on the top 10 Disney villains because of her sheer power. Not only can she cast a curse that cannot be broken by a legion of other magical beings but she can also turn into a gigantic fire-breathing dragon at will. That is pretty up there in terms of cool evil powers.

8. Cruella De Vil

Movie: 101 Dalmatians

Special powers: Being rich

Most evil action: Kidnapping puppies to use them for fur coats

Villain Breakdown: Cruella De Vil

Unlike other Disney villains, Cruella de Vil has no powers except being rich. But let’s be real. That’s the only superpower a villain needs in this world.

Cruella’s actions are driven by her whimsical desire to have a fur coat made of dalmatian puppies. Fur coats by themselves shouldn’t be something anyone wears, but a puppy fur coat just takes it way too far.

To make matters worse, she kidnaps her only friend’s puppies to make herself the coat, along with dozens of other innocent dogs.

7. Hans

Movie: Frozen

Special powers: Being a master manipulator

Most evil action: Leaving Anna to freeze to death after telling her he’ll kill her sister

Villain Breakdown: Hans

Hans is part of one of Disney’s most iconic duets, but we can’t actually like or forgive him for manipulating Anna.

It’s safe to say no viewer is rooting for Hans, given that he and Anna get engaged after exactly a single song. Some may have even expected him to only be interested in Anna for her title. Still, we didn’t expect him to be outright evil until he leaves Anna for dead, refusing to give her the kiss she thinks will save her.

Not content with letting Anna die, he also tries to kill Elsa in an attempt to become the "savior" of Arendelle and, probably, its next king. He{s the worst kind of spineless jerk.

6. Madame Medusa

Movie: The Rescuers

Special powers: Having two crocodiles as henchmen

Most evil action: Kidnapping an orphan and forcing her into child labor

Villain Breakdown: Madame Medusa

Madame Medusa may not be as well known as other characters, but she is one of the most evil female Disney villains.

Bent on finding a diamond that somehow got hidden in the swamps of Louisiana, she kidnaps an orphan girl named Penny. This on its own is terrible, but it only gets worse, as Medusa then forces Penny to retrieve the diamond for her.

To make sure Penny doesn’t escape, Medusa enlists the help of two alligators, which she inexplicably has dominion over. At the end of the movie, she betrays her partner in crime, Mr. Snoops, while pointing a gun at him and Penny. Pointing a gun at a child that you have kidnapped to force into child labor is evil beyond words.

5. Ursula

Movie: The Little Mermaid

Special powers: Magic, potions mastery, shape-shifting, absorbing people’s souls

Most evil action: Trapping people in scam contracts and turning them into polyps

Villain Breakdown: Ursula

Ursula is scary, iconic and powerful. But there is something alluring about this evil sea witch. Sure, we wouldn’t want to end up in one of her binding contracts, and you don’t root for her to win, but you at least respect Ursula.

She is clever and proves to be quite strong, even winning against the mighty King Triton. The fact that she uses Ariel’s own voice to make her unable to keep up her side of the contract is genius as well.

In the end, we’re glad that all the poor unfortunate souls Ursula ensnared were free but she makes "The Little Mermaid" the classic that it is.

4. Ernesto de la Cruz

Movie: Coco

Special powers: Irresistible charm, being a master manipulator

Most evil action: Poisoning his best friend and stealing his songs

Villain Breakdown: Ernesto de la Cruz

It’s one thing to betray someone you don’t care about. It’s another to betray your partner and best friend, which is what the manipulative villain in "Coco" does.

And it’s not merely a betrayal. Ernesto de la Cruz actually poisons and kills Hector to prevent him from going back to his family. Cruz then steals his songs and goes on to have a lucrative career, which earns him a preferred place even in the afterlife. Meanwhile, Hector is on the verge of disappearing since his family erased his memory after thinking he abandoned them.

As if this weren’t evil enough, Ernesto de la Cruz also tries to kill Hector’s great-great-grandson, Miguel, by preventing him from going back to the world of the living. He is pure evil at its worst.

3. Mother Gothel

Movie: Tangled

Special powers: Being a master manipulator, knowing how to use a dagger

Most evil action: Kidnapping a baby and making her believe she is her mother

Villain Breakdown: Mother Gothel

Mother Gothel is certainly charming enough to get people to do what she wants, whether it be catching Flinn Rider or using their magical hair to bring her eternal youth.

Mother Gothel also has one of the best Disney villain songs of all time. The genius of "Mother Knows Best" is that she isn’t explicitly singing about her evil, but rather manipulating Rapunzel into staying in the tower. We see Gothel's emotional gaslighting at work without her having to tell us how terrible she is.

What makes Mother Gothel rank so high is that she kidnaps a baby and then spins a web of lies to keep her locked up and loyal. Making the person who should hate you the most love, obey and respect you is the epitome of a diabolical plan.

2. Scar

Movie: The Lion King

Special powers: Being a master manipulator, having hyenas as henchmen

Most evil action: Killing his own brother and attempting to kill his nephew

Villain Breakdown: Scar

Scar is one of the most iconic male Disney villains of all time. His cool demeanor and coldheartedness have immortalized him in the hearts of anyone who has seen "The Lion King."

Though many villains kill or try to kill, Scar is one of the few who do this with their closest family member. He kills his own brother, then makes his nephew, Simba, believe it was his fault and that he should run away. To cover his bases, Scar sends the hyenas to finish off Simba before beginning a reign of terror over the savannah.

Scar drives the environment to near extinction. When Simba comes back, he finds a once-thriving land completely barren.

As the evil cherry on top, Scar convinces Simba to spare his life, then — like Gaston — attacks him from the back. In the end, the hyenas turn on Scar, which is just what he deserves.

1. Claude Frollo

Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Special powers: Having political power

Most evil action: Trying to commit genocide

Villain Breakdown: Claude Frollo

The absolute worst, most evil Disney villain of all time is the often overlooked Claude Frollo. As the minister of justice, he has political power and is supposed to uphold the law in Paris. Instead, he abuses this power to drive a political agenda whose main purpose is to commit genocide.

He likens the Romani community that lives in the city to ants, explicitly stating that he wants to exterminate them one by one. Sadly, his character rings too close to real figures of power who have used their influence to spread hate against specific racial or ethnic groups.

Frollo also kills Quasimodo’s mother, who was a Romani, and tries to drown her baby. If not for the priest’s interjection, he would’ve had no qualms about killing a baby just because it was disabled.

To make matters even worse, he is overcome with lust for Esmeralda, a Romani, whom he tries to burn at the stake. As she is tied up, he tries to force her to accept his advances in order to save her life.

Can you think of any other villain who is more disgustingly evil than Frollo? We can’t.