Top 10 Disney Villains Who Were Right All Along

Admittedly, it's kind of hard to sympathize with a guy who mistreats animals. But to be fair, Edgar’s master, who he loyally served for decades, left an outrageous fortune to that family of cats. What the heck are the cats gonna do with all that money? The bank doesn't trade in Meow Mix! Can you blame him for losing his mind a bit? Edgar definitely went about things the wrong way. But Duchess and her kittens never asked Madame Adelaide Bonfamille to leave them her fortune; they were just living their best cat lives. As for Edgar, all we’re trying to say is that his frustration was understandable. His anger was just severely misplaced, and things snowballed.

#9: Maleficent “Sleeping Beauty” (1959)

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What kind of middle school levels of pettiness is this? Are these monarchs really going to invite the entire kingdom over for their daughter’s birthday party and exclude Maleficent? Yeah, she’s dark and edgy and doesn’t fit the aesthetic, but considering her power and influence, the King and Queen should’ve known better. Now, the evil fairy definitely over- reacted, and misguidedly took out her anger on Aurora, but there’s no denying that Stefan and Leah were being jerks. We’re not saying that the King and Queen were obligated to invite Maleficent to the party, but if they didn’t want her there, maybe they should have kept it a more low-key affair; don’t invite seemingly everyone BUT her.

#8: Robert Callaghan “Big Hero 6” (2014)

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In spite of all the terrible things he did in his quest for revenge, you can't help but feel at least a little sorry for this guy. He lost his daughter in a tragic accident because of a colleague's careless eagerness to test an experimental machine before it was ready. In a fashion similar to his own personal villain, however, Callaghan ends up causing the death of his protege, Tadashi, and becoming a villain in his own right. And yes, he did terrible things after becoming the masked Yokai, but Callaghan wasn't really evil at heart; he was just a grieving father driven to madness.

#7: Yzma “The Emperor’s New Groove” (2000)

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She is absolutely bonkers (and yes… evil), but that doesn’t make her wrong about Kuzco. He is a horrible Emperor. He's cruel to his people and only cares about himself. He lives in lavish luxury while his people struggle to make ends meet. And yet Kuzco spends much of the movie whining and complaining about how unfair his life is. He constantly puts Yzma down and neglects her skills and talents. No one would call Yzma’s motivations altruistic, but you can’t blame her for wanting to see him dethroned. And considering she is seemingly the only semi-competent politician in sight, we can’t help but wonder if she might have actually done a better job, even if her style proved a little authoritarian.

#6: Captain Hook “Peter Pan” (1953)

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In the original version of this story by J.M Barrie, Peter Pan is actually a much more flawed character. And when you really think about, even in the Disney version, he’s not exactly a great role model. He fed Hook's hand to a crocodile, and clearly takes pleasure in tormenting the Captain. It’s one thing to dismember an opponent in the heat of battle, but to feed their hand to a crocodile is just plain malicious. The argument that Peter is just a boy doesn’t really hold up either because he is literally young forever, which just means Hook’s torment is never-ending. Honestly, it wouldn’t be hard to rewrite this story with the villain and hero roles reversed.

It's hard to look past the fact that he tried to murder a child, but to be fair his motives aren't completely incomprehensible. After all, he is a TIGER. He thinks that men don't belong in the jungle because all they do is tear everything down. And when you think about logging, poachers and forest fires (just to name a few man-made problems), this big cat totally has a point. His grudge against Mowgli specifically - appears to be all kinds of crazy, but you can't really deny his logic. He’s just attempting to preserve his home. His willingness to target a child makes him an irredeemable villain, but if he re-evaluated his methods, he could equally be interpreted as a heroic protector of the Jungle.

Ursula is definitely manipulative, but she never lies to Ariel. Ariel knows that Ursula is a sea witch and yet actively chooses to seek her out of her own accord. Now, Ursula’s eel-y minions did do some persuading, but there was nothing stopping Ariel from simply swimming away. Instead, she goes to Ursula, asks for her help, and willingly signs away her voice. Ursula never forced Ariel to do anything she didn’t want to do. All Ursula did was give her exactly what she wanted, and then came to collect on what was owed to her when Ariel tried to back out of the deal.

These poor hyenas somehow get lumped in with Scar, but we think they’re victims. They were banished from the Pride Lands, for who even remembers what reason. Considering they were essentially left to starve by Mufasa, can you blame them for taking up with Scar? When Scar reveals his plan to kill Mufasa, you kind of get the feeling that they’re not really into it, instead they’re just desperate to return home. And let’s not forget that Scar is kind of a scary dude. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are just a trio of dopes who backed the wrong guy, and continued to obey for their own self preservation.

Hades and Zeus take sibling rivalry to a whole other level. Hades was banished to the underworld by his holier than thou brother. Just imagine how it made Hades feel to be all alone down there while all the other gods got to live in paradise on Olympus. We’re not condoning his behavior. He did kidnap and attempt to murder an innocent baby in an attempt to overthrow Zeus. And that whole thing where he released the Titans to destroy all of the gods because they neglected him was super petty. But he just wanted his place back on Olympus, and we can’t help but pity him for his position. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: Mother Gothel “Tangled” (2010) Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear “Toy Story 3” (2010) Screenslaver “Incredibles 2” (2018)

#1: Syndrome “The Incredibles” (2004)

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No one is responsible for the actions of others, but Mr. Incredible’s treatment of this impressionable young man certainly didn’t help matters. It was clear that this child fan was in need of some guidance, and Mr. Incredible was totally patronizing, leaning into the elitist mentality of superheroes. Even after supers became illegal, Mr. Incredible had this obnoxious air about him like he was somehow owed more because he was once a superhero. Syndrome’s tactics are irredeemable, but the philosophy that drove them is a good one. Why shouldn't average people be able to be superheroes? He was a champion of the little guy and believed in equal opportunity, using his intelligence to achieve it. If only he hadn’t turned to such villainous methods!