Top 20 Disney Characters Who Are Actually the Villain

“Moana” (2016)
Look, it’s impossible to hate Maui - the guy is charisma incarnate! The legendary hero is larger-than-life and an absolute blast to watch. However, he’s also responsible for the film’s whole conflict. Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, changing her into Te Kā and unleashing a blight across the islands of the world. And while he does join Moana in trying to rectify his mistake, after his magical fish hook is nearly destroyed, he briefly abandons her. Maui does return, but he wouldn’t need to go on this redemption journey if he’d never stolen the heart in the first place. Pride and a need for validation can be just as damaging in a hero as in a villain.

“Brother Bear” (2003)
Kenai is an Inuit boy who’s transformed into a bear. However, the reason why is pretty dark for a Disney movie. Kenai provokes a bear who stole his food, prompting her to attack him. When his brothers defend him, his brother Sitka is killed, and Kenai kills the bear in revenge. As punishment, he becomes a bear. During his time walking in a bear’s paws, Kenai befriends Koda, a young bear. However, he eventually learns that Koda’s mother was the bear that he killed. While Kenai wasn’t overtly malicious, the fact is that his anger and recklessness resulted in the loss of his own family and Koda’s.

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993)
Jack Skellington may be the protagonist of this beloved Halloween/Christmas movie, but he’s not exactly a hero. Out of boredom, he stumbles into Christmas Town and decides to take over the holiday by force. He has Santa kidnapped (along with the Easter Bunny) and inadvertently delivers him into the hands of the nightmarish Oogie Boogie! Then instead of bringing children joy, he terrifies them instead! Jack does clean up his mess eventually, but not before ignoring the desires of everyone around him and causing mass chaos and terror!

“Sleeping Beauty” (1959)
Kings and queens in Disney movies rarely get it right. For the christening of their daughter, Aurora, Queen Leah and King Stefan invite practically everyone in the kingdom - with one unfortunate exception. They don’t invite Maleficent, who turns up anyway and curses Aurora to die after getting her finger pricked on a spindle. While one of the good fairies lessens the blow, Aurora is still sent to live with the fairies instead of with her family and every spindle in the kingdom is burned. We admit that inviting the mistress of evil to your child’s christening may have sounded bad on paper. But by snubbing Maleficent, the king and queen only provoked her ire and forced their daughter to grow up without them.

“Hercules” (1997)
The gods of Greek mythology are famously not so benevolent. And while Zeus in “Hercules” isn’t anywhere near as bad as his mythological counterpart, he’s still less than perfect. Zeus lives it up on Mount Olympus after sticking his brother Hades with a thankless job overseeing the underworld - and even mocking him for it! It’s no wonder Hades tries to take over! Plus, after Hades turns Hercules mortal, Zeus doesn’t bring him to Olympus or raise him because mortals aren’t allowed. What, he can’t bend the rules as king of the gods? Or commute to be a parent? And plus he’s willfully vague in how Herc has to become a true hero. Seems like the biggest thing standing between Zeus and his son is Zeus!

“High School Musical” (2006)
This might be a hot take, but these two probably didn’t deserve to get the leads in the musical. Just look at things from Ryan and Sharpay’s point of view. Troy and Gabriella are both involved in activities that already let them stand out, basketball and academic decathlon, respectively. Not only that, the duo get callbacks after singing the exact same song they did, but slower! And sure, parts should always go to the most deserving, and we’re all about finding new passions. But there’s no reason they couldn’t have gone for parts in the play other than the leads! It would’ve meant a less demanding schedule, and a chance for Sharpay and Ryan to pursue their own passion.

“Chicken Little” (2005)
Buck Cluck is a bad dad. When his son believes the sky is falling, Buck doesn’t believe him or support him, turning the whole town against him. Buck seems embarrassed by his own child and when he deigns to pay attention to Chicken Little at all, he gives him bad advice. Even after his son wins a baseball game, the compliments he does give him are all backhanded. Sure, for most of us, Buck being terrible is obvious (and one of the major plot points in the movie) - but tell that to Disney, who in 2020 put out this Tweet!

“Coco” (2017)
Miguel’s Abuelita, Elena Rivera, may not be the villain of the film, but she is the cause of most of the major problems in it. Raised by her own grandmother to reject music after her grandfather never came home after going off to be a musician, Abuelita enforces this rule with overzealous enthusiasm. Not only does her draconian attitude alienate her grandson Miguel, but by refusing to put her great-grandfather’s photo on the ofrenda, she leaves Héctor in danger of being forgotten in the land of the dead. Abuelita does eventually come around, but her adherence to prejudice goes way too far.

“The Emperor’s New Groove” (2000)
The eponymous monarch of “The Emperor’s New Groove,” Kuzco is a spoiled, callous ruler before the story begins and during much of the film. Kuzco treats everyone around him as though they’re beneath him, without regard for their feelings, since he frequently insults them. He also doesn’t seem to care about their lives, like when he plans to build his new palace on Pacha’s land. Given that Yzma practically raised him, we can see why he turned out the way he did, and why she tried to overthrow him, but that still doesn’t excuse his appalling behavior.

“Inside Out” (2015)
The perpetually peppy leader of the personified emotions of a young girl named Riley, Joy has the best interests of her human at heart. But her methods are what ultimately cause most of the issues dealt with in the movie. Joy wants Riley to be happy, but her need to monopolize control leads her to exclude the other emotions, especially Sadness; whose neglect leaves Riley unable to process how she feels about moving to a new city. Joy’s quest also leads her on an obsessive journey that ultimately leads to the “death” of an imaginary friend. Although she learns a costly lesson, she could have saved everyone some heartache if she had been more willing to cede control or the spotlight to others.

“The Lion King II: Simba's Pride” (1998)
Simba may be the hero of “The Lion King,” but in the sequel, he makes his share of mistakes as king. His banishment of the lions who supported Scar only serves to stir their resentment towards him and the kingdom. Furthermore, he mistrusts Kovu repeatedly, despite his and Kiara’s attempts to convince him that the younger lion is trustworthy. Simba isn’t malicious in his actions. But even so, his attempts to live up to his father’s legacy cause a lot of needless conflict. And he’s more like his dad than he thinks - Mufasa exiled the hyenas, which backfired in much the same way.

“Aladdin” (1992)
Not a lot of characters in “Aladdin” come off well upon reflection, and while it was tempting to give this entry to the Sultan, given that his incompetent rule leads to many of the other characters’ problems, we had to ultimately choose the title character himself. While he’s a lovable rogue, Aladdin is also a thief - although for the most part, that’s forgivable. More importantly though, Aladdin attempts to deceive Jasmine and the entire kingdom in order to get what he wants, which is basically exactly what Jafar is doing. Granted, his motives are slightly better, since they’re out of a desire for love rather than power, but he’s still not exactly a paragon of virtue.

“Toy Story” (1995)
Listen, we love Woody, but we have to admit that he can come across as kind of a jerk, particularly in the first “Toy Story” film. The cowboy toy bosses the other toys around by virtue of being Andy’s favorite. When he feels his position is threatened, he tries to take Buzz out of the picture and ends up creating even more problems for himself. Then there’s the fact that he traumatizes Sid, a nominal antagonist, who’s just a kid doing what kids do to toys. He had no way of knowing they were intelligent, sentient beings because of their need to keep the fact that they’re alive a secret… unless they need to scare children, apparently. No, you play nice Woody!

“Toy Story” (1995)
Two characters from one movie? Yup! Woody’s jealousy may fuel plenty of conflict, but so too does another one of Andy’s toys - Mr. Potato Head. Sarcastic and snide, Mr. Potato Head continuously needles Woody about Buzz supplanting him as Andy’s new favorite. And then when Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out the window, Potato Head leads the charge in vilifying Woody for it. At every opportunity Woody has to come back, Mr. Potato Head is there to deny him. Is it jealousy? Or was Potato Head just that much of a jerk before meeting his wife? Whatever the reason, this spud certainly loves to stir the pot.

“Dumbo” (1941)
The titular young, big-eared elephant faces plenty of adversities throughout the film, almost from the moment of his birth; due to being different than his peers. His fellow circus pachyderms mock him for his oversized lobes, as does nearly everyone else he encounters. Although at first protected by his mother, they are separated when her protective nature is mistaken for general aggression. Despite being practically orphaned, Dumbo is not taken in by his fellow elephants, who continue ridiculing him for a quirk of his genetics. This leaves him without a support system and causes him to endure further embarrassment and hardships.

“Beauty and the Beast” (1991)
While we were tempted to choose the eponymous Beast for this entry, given how many of his actions mirror the actual villain Gaston’s, ultimately we found that the true villain of the story is the Enchantress, who curses the Beast in the first place. After the prince rejects her request to spend the night in his castle based on her appearance (which is a disguise by the way), the Enchantress condemns not only him to spend years as a monster, but also curses his servants to spend years as inanimate objects for literally no reason! Sounds like entrapment and cruel and unusual punishment to us…

“Wreck-It Ralph” (2012)
Sometimes people don’t live up to their names. The Nicelanders, the inhabitants of the town that the title video game villain continuously wrecks, consistently exclude Ralph from their lives, as they believe that his role in the game defines who he is. Similarly, they treat Fix-It Felix Jr. as a good guy, because that’s his “job.” Speaking of which, while Felix is generally more kind to Ralph than the others, he’s still rather ignorant of Ralph’s feelings and prioritizes the needs of the Nicelanders over Ralph. While all of them end up treating Ralph better eventually, most of the film’s events wouldn’t have happened if they were just nice to someone they’ve known for ages!

“The Little Mermaid” (1989)
Disney movies feature plenty of overprotective parents, and arguably one of the worst examples of one who isn’t overtly an antagonist, is King Triton. Father of Ariel and the ruler of Atlantica, Triton displays a callous hatred for and prejudice towards humans. This causes conflict between him and his daughter, who is fascinated by them. His draconian rule pushes Ariel towards reckless acts of rebellion to pursue her passions and escape his ever-tightening hold over her life. Additionally, had Triton not exiled Ursula for unspecified reasons, it’s likely that Ariel would not have been able to turn to the sea witch for help; though we’ll grant that it may have been the villainess’ lack of trustworthiness that led to her exile in the first place.

“Frozen” (2013)
Elsa and Anna’s parents, the King and Queen of Arendelle, both love their daughters, but their attempts at helping them cause much of the film’s conflict. Following Elsa inadvertently injuring Anna with her powers, the monarchs take Anna to some trolls to be healed. Although the trolls’ solution and cryptic advice also factor into the unfortunate events that follow, the King and Queen’s misinterpretation of their advice leads them to isolate their daughters from one another. It also causes Elsa to feel like there’s something wrong with her, which is definitely something that should be avoided when parenting.

“Peter Pan” (1953)
Tinker Bell may be an attempted murderer, but Peter Pan himself doesn’t exactly have a spotless track record. Although he battles pirates, Peter doesn’t really have the moral high ground when he does stuff like cut off his enemy’s hand and feed it to a crocodile. Even worse, if you think about it, Peter is an adult in the body of a child, who lures a group of kids away from their parents’ house in the middle of the night to put them in dangerous, life-threatening situations. Not exactly heroic behavior!