Top 10 Disney Henchman Who Aren't Truly Evil

You could say that Humbert was the original “goon gone good” for Disney. In “Snow White & the Seven Dwarves”, the Evil Queen hires the huntsman Humbert to assassinate the young princess. As Snow consoles a little bird, the Huntsman seizes the opportunity to carry out the evil deed. However, he has a change of heart at the last minute, dropping the knife and warning Snow about the Queen’s wrath. He may not have held a strong presence throughout the movie, but his turnaround helped start the “good-hearted henchmen” trope that led to some of our other entries.

When introduced in Pixar’s superhero flick, Mirage quickly proved to be one shady lady. Up until Syndrome’s reveal, Mirage keeps Mr. Incredible’s assignments vague, or just straight up fabricates intel. (Sure, the Omnidroid just MAGICALLY went rogue…) However, her disdain for her employer grows when she begins seeing just how cruel he really is, eventually causing her to revolt and free Mr. Incredible behind Syndrome’s back. We may never know why Mirage chose to work for Syndrome in the first place, but at least she turned around to help bring him to justice.

While the animated LeFou is unwaveringly loyal to Gaston, the live-action Josh Gad version turns out to be quite different. In the 2017 remake, Gaston’s bumbling right-hand man has developed a bit of a conscience. Although he still parades his mentor around like the perfect person, his adoration only lasts until the final battle. When Gaston abandons LeFou, LeFou switches sides and helps fight off the villagers. This turn gave us a nice redemption arc for the character, hammering home the lesson that arrogance should never be championed.

If LeFou was the spit and polish on Gaston’s boots, then Sir Hiss was the overly optimistic “yes man” for Prince John. Throughout the movie, Sir Hiss displays his admiration for the prince, complimenting him on even his most malicious deeds and praising his master’s supposed brilliance. However, we weren’t expecting such shock on his face when Prince John suggests murdering Friar Tuck to capture Robin Hood! (So much for that brilliance, huh?) This moment showed that even someone as deceptive as Sir Hiss can have their limits. So, the guy can’t be entirely evil, right?

Okay, we can’t really blame Nathaniel for being on Queen Narissa’s side. After all, he was only loyal to her out of infatuation with her beauty. Sure, wrong to follow someone for that reason, but thankfully, he realized the folly of his ways before it was too late. After failing yet another attempt to poison Giselle and suffering through another one of Narissa’s tantrums, Nathaniel realizes that he’s been used for her Highness’s own personal gain. To try and fix things, Nathaniel finds Prince Edward and reveals Narissa’s plot. Remember, kids - not everything that glitters is gold!

Whereas most henchmen on this list were in it to please their masters, the hyenas had more of a temporary alliance with Scar. Yes, they were vicious and would go so far as to threaten a couple of kids, but hey - hyenas gotta eat, you know? Scar would learn this the hard way when he attempted to take over Pride Rock. After the hyenas realize Scar isn’t capable of overtaking the throne and giving them a home away from the graveyard, they decide to finish him off and eat him. A grisly act of revenge, yes, but considering how quickly they turned on their master, they may not be inherently evil. Just...feral and maniacal? Yeah, that’s it.

In hindsight, Iago might be the opposite of a good henchman. Typically, a cunning crony would follow every word of their master without question and conjure up devious ways to carry out their orders. Iago certainly has some mischievous tricks up his sleeves (er...feathers?), but when it comes to obeying Jafar, it’s a flip of the coin. Most of the time, he’s either complaining or bickering with the sorcerer. If we had to guess, the bird may hold some resentment towards Jafar. Come on, how many goons would be celebrating their freedom as much as Iago did in the beginning of “The Return of Jafar”?

Who could forget Ratcliffe’s clueless, idiotic manservant? When compared to the pompous, self-righteous governor, Wiggins is a kindhearted dolt. Take the scene where the two converse about the new land, for example. While Ratcliffe rants about how King James will shower him with honor and glory, Wiggins is eager to venture across new territory and possibly greet the Native Americans with gift baskets. Clearly, he isn’t as hostile and imposing as Ratcliffe, and he’d much rather make friends with everyone rather than bully his way through life. (And can you believe these two were voiced by the same person?)

Most of our entries have either been hired as henchmen, or have been with their masters since the very beginning. Megara, on the other hand, is a special case, being forced to serve Hades after selling her soul to save her now-ex boyfriend’s life. From the beginning, we see that Meg regrets her situation and wants no part in Hades’ plans. Luckily, she gets her shot at redemption when she saves Hercules from being crushed beneath a column; her sacrifice breaks Herc and Hades’ deal. People always do crazy things when they’re in love, but what she did was downright heroic.

Before we get to our biggest goody two-shoes of an evil henchman, here are a few Honorable Mentions…

Mr. Smee
“Peter Pan” (1953)

Pain & Panic
“Hercules” (1997)

Anastasia & Drizella Tremaine
“Cinderella” (1950)

Molt
“A Bug’s Life” (1998)

Big Baby
“Toy Story 3” (2010)

Let’s be honest - we all saw this coming. As if “The Emperor’s New Groove” wasn’t quotable enough, Kronk’s bumbling and dimwitted demeanor has made him one of the best henchman to ever appear in a Disney flick. If he wasn’t screwing up Yzma’s plans, he was constantly finding himself in moral conflicts. He treats everyone with the same respect, displays a helpful attitude (even when it’s at his inconvenience), and saves Kuzco not once, but TWICE! How in the world could someone like Kronk be an evil henchman? Actually, we should be asking why Yzma hired him in the first place…