Top 10 Greatest Disney Female Villains

She could be a cat, an elephant, a mouse, a rhinoceros or even a purple dragon. There’s no telling what this shape-shifting magic user and rival of Merlin will choose to turn into next. What we do know is that if there is a rule, she will break it, even if she’s the one who made it. If there is a chance for her to do the evil thing, expect her to. She only tried to kill Arthur when she found out Merlin was fond of him. She proudly does things because they are the wrong thing to do and no other reason. This makes her both consistent and fun to watch.

The newest addition to the Disney lexicon of antagonists also embodies one of the oldest evil tropes. She is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing, or, more specifically, the cunning, scheming hate-filled sheep in innocent, well-meaning sheep’s clothing. She doesn’t just hide her wicked political aspirations from the other characters, but, for a while, manages to keep them hidden from the audience too. When her true intentions are finally revealed, she takes a bit too much joy in her scheme and brags about it to Judy. This overconfidence, ultimately, will be her undoing, but it’s still quite entertaining.

We may not want to live under her rule, but we sure do enjoy watching this evil queen’s antics from the safety of the other side of the screen. Clearly one of the most overtly tyrannical Disney baddies, she never seems to be in a good mood for too long and, as Alice finds out, you can go from being her friend to her enemy in mere moments. You’ve got to hand it to her, though; she knows exactly what she wants and makes sure all of her subjects do too. She likes her roses naturally red, her croquet matches rigged and anyone who fails her to be without their head.

Her evil plans are brilliant, genius even. She is also the most beautiful person in the land. All of this is according to her and pretty much no one else. Voiced by the incomparable Eartha Kitt, Yzma combines classic overconfident villainy with a very healthy dose of slapstick comedy bungling. She is focused on power and revenge, but her plans to achieve those goals are not focused at all. They change constantly, either because she or her servant Kronk messed something up or she realized there was an obviously simpler way to achieve the same goal.

She’ll never win Mother of the Year, but that probably doesn’t bother her. As long as Rapunzel stays locked up in the tower, Gothel can keep all the power of her kidnapped prisoner’s golden hair to herself. She is very intelligent, quite stylish and charming. But she’s also extremely selfish and manipulative, knowing exactly when to be fake-tender and when to put her victim down. All qualities you would need to not age in hundreds of years. When she sings that “Mother Knows Best,” she is right. Mother does know what’s best…for Mother.

This wicked stepmother brings the concept of playing favourites to a whole new level. With a single-minded fixation on marrying off her biological daughters to nobility, she will put her stepdaughter down every chance she gets. She is manipulative and cruel and seems to enjoy Cinderella's misery a bit too much. She doesn't need to get physical or use magic to be the main antagonist, it's all psychological. And she gets her children and even her cat to do the dirty work for her.

She’s completely selfish, materialistic and just plain mean. Or as her name suggests, cruel. She knows it, too and doesn’t see any reason to hide it. As Roger sings: “If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will.” Where most people see cute, cuddly puppies, Cruella sees an opportunity to acquire yet another fur coat and doesn’t care about hurting 99 innocent dogs to get it. In fact, she quite relishes the idea and will stop at nothing to make it happen. But she is also one of Disney’s most stylish, sophisticated villains and for that, we love watching her be bad.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most insecure and vain Disney villain of them all? Quite possibly Grimhilde, the original Evil Queen. She orders the murder of her own stepdaughter and eventually tries to carry the plan out herself. Transformed into an old woman, she looks her innocent victim in the eye and tries to end the princess’ life herself. Now that is cold... And all this only because her mirror says Snow White is fairer. Her jealousy unleashes a truly frightening character, one that many future Disney villains would be modeled on for decades to come.

This sea witch proves that lawful evil can be the most frightening alignment. She doesn’t just use magic and manipulation to get what she wants, but she also uses contracts. Everything is done by the book, and then she makes sure things go the way she wants them to, even if it means turning into a human for a while. She is extremely confident and can be quite funny when she’s letting us all in on her plans - all of us except for Ariel, of course. And in the end, she wins. It’s only her over-the-top attempt to cement her victory while not paying attention to what Eric’s ship is doing that ultimately seals her fate.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Madame Medusa
“The Rescuers” (1977)

Darla
“Finding Nemo” (2003)

Queen Narissa
“Enchanted” (2007)

She is an evil fairy so powerful that her curses can’t be broken by other magic users, only altered slightly. She travels by teleporting as a fireball and shoots lightning out of her staff. She can find anyone, even people hidden by magic fairies. If that wasn’t scary enough, she can also transform into a towering fire-breathing dragon. She is a villain so malevolent that she will curse a baby to death and spend years making sure no one can rescue the child all because she wasn’t invited to a party. Maleficent is evil incarnate, but she also has poise, grace, intelligence and a really wicked laugh. She’s the perfect Disney villain.

Do you agree with our list? Who is your favorite Disney female villain? For more animated evil Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.