Top 20 Disney Villains That ALMOST Succeeded

Basil of Baker Street is an obvious homage to Sherlock Holmes, and playing the role of Holmes’s nemesis Moriarty is Professor Ratigan. Ratigan hopes to become the “Supreme Ruler of all Mousedom” and, to do so, he kidnaps a toymaker named Mr. Flaversham. The plan is for Flaversham to make Ratigan a robot version of the Queen of the Mice, that Ratigan will use to usurp the throne. And it actually works! The Queen is successfully kidnapped from Buckingham Palace, and Ratigan briefly becomes the dictatorial ruler of Mousedom. Of course, Basil ultimately saves the day by revealing Ratigan’s treason, but things were looking pretty dire for a second there…

In case your unfamiliar with the premise of “Tarzan”, the titular human hero is adopted by a kind gorilla after his parents are killed in a shipwreck, which leads him to become native to the jungles of Africa. The jungle is visited by a group of English explorers, including a gun-wielding guard named Clayton. Clayton, with a secret ploy to kidnap gorillas so he can sell them back in England, eventually betrays the group. He does shockingly well in his endeavor. He imprisons all the heroes, including Tarzan and Jane, and ends up killing Kerchak. It’s only thanks to Terk and Tantor that Tarzan escapes and battles Clayton, bringing his mutinous plans to a surprisingly violent end.

Cruella de Vil is, you could say, a bit of a cruel devil – badum tss. A nasty and chain-smoking woman with skunk hair, she hopes to steal Perdita’s puppies so she can skin them and make an elegant fur coat. She successfully steals the pups with the help of goon brothers Horace and Jasper Baddun, but they are rescued by a well-placed Tibbs and the pursuing Pongo and Perdita. It’s a very close call, and it reveals Cruella’s malicious plans to everyone. It’s the closest that she gets to winning, but she also makes a last-ditch effort in the climax of the film by ramming the moving van. On two different occasions, she comes within mere inches of victory.

With shades of HAL 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” AUTO is the malicious autopilot system that controls the Axiom. AUTO turns bad when the plant is brought on board, as it orders its disposal and refuses to return to Earth. It then mutinies with GO-4, locking away McCrea and throwing out both WALL-E and EVE. It’s only thanks to a cleaning robot named Microbe Obliterator (or M-O) that WALL-E and EVE aren’t ejected into space. One literal second makes all the difference in AUTO’s plans. Not one to give up, the rogue AI then crushes WALL-E before it’s deactivated by McCrea. With the one second difference and near-killing of the hero, AUTO comes painfully close to securing a win.

Disney villains were proudly showing their mettle from the very beginning. The Evil Queen is the first baddie in the Disney canon, with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” serving as the company’s debut feature effort. The Evil Queen is Snow White’s stepmother, and she devises the death of her beautiful stepdaughter so she can remain “the fairest one of all.” You know how it goes: she disguises herself as a hag so as to fool Snow White into eating a poisoned apple. The plan works flawlessly, and Snow White falls into a deep slumber. But, the Queen is eventually bested by the power of love's first kiss.

Modeled after the Mad Hatter from “Alice in Wonderland,” King Candy once ruled over the kart-racing video game Sugar Rush. He’s got a lot to answer for. Near the end of the movie, we learn that he tried to delete Vanellope’s code, turning her into a glitch in the process, and locking up everyone’s memories of her as a playable character. He then lies to Ralph, causing him to betray his friend, and it isn’t until Ralph sees that Vanellope is a playable character from the outside, that he begins to learn the truth of what happened. Candy was super close to getting away with all of it; he’s a very smart guy, and the only reason he lost was because he couldn’t manipulate the outside world.

A fairy tale set in the medieval Scottish highlands, “Brave” concerns the trials of young Princess Merida. We learn of the antagonist, Mor’du, early on when the massive demon bear attacks Merida’s family. However, Merida comes to realize that the scary bear is actually housing the spirit of an old prince. The bear’s penchant for violence comes to a climax in, well, the climax, when it attacks Merida, the clan warriors, and Merida’s mother-turned-bear. It nearly takes them all but suffers an ironic death when it’s crushed by a falling standing stone. If Mor'du was just, like, two feet to the left, it would have survived and killed everyone.

Yzma is a truly phenomenal villain. She has big ambitions and is as over-the-top as any memorable animated villain should be. She begins the story as Kuzco’s advisor, but she is fired by the haughty Incan emperor. As a means of revenge and to claim power for herself, Yzma concocts a coup and attempts to poison Kuzco. However, the plan is foolishly foiled by Kronk, who gives him the wrong potion, hilariously turning Kuzco into a llama. Either way, no wrench is thrown in her plans as she still manages to become Empress. The only reason she loses in the climactic battle is because a mindless Kronk hits her with a trapdoor. Yzma has some good plans but some really bad luck.

The biggest Disney film of the modern era wonderfully subverts the company’s tradition. Princess Anna meets and is instantly smitten by Prince Hans, who is visiting from the Southern Isles for Elsa’s coronation. But, he has ulterior motives. Not so much there for a party as he is to take control of Arendelle, Hans coldly betrays Anna when she requires true love’s first kiss. He very nearly succeeds in striking down Elsa, but the plan is foiled just in the nick of time by the interfering Anna. If Anna hadn’t been rescued by Olaf, or if Hans had just killed her outright, Arendelle would no doubt have fallen into his hands.

While Gaston is an unlikable narcissist, there’s no denying that he has spunk. Gaston goes full “Frankenstein” and rallies a mob into attacking the castle. The group successfully breaks into the castle, but they are fended off by its sentient inhabitants. Well, everyone is but Gaston, who makes it all the way to the Beast. Gaston sends an arrow into Beast’s back, throws him out a window, and later stabs him with a knife. Whatever your opinion of this take-down, it definitely gets the job done. Gaston would have never gotten Belle, but he did succeed in slaying the monster. You know, technically. Before he was saved by magic.

Ernesto was certainly an ambitious man. Once Héctor called it quits, Ernesto poisoned his drink and stole his work, passing it off as his own. And you know what? It actually worked! Ernesto became an icon in his native country, and a beautiful mausoleum was erected in his memory. When it comes to the Land of the Living, Ernesto straight-up beat Héctor, as painful as it is to acknowledge. He nearly won in the Land of the Dead as well, if it wasn’t for the family rescuing Héctor and Miguel from the cenote pit. If Ernesto had disposed of Héctor and Miguel in a more elaborate manner, the secret would never have been revealed, and Ernesto would continue to be revered and beloved.

Doctor Facilier wins a lot throughout “The Princess and the Frog.” He turns Naveen into a frog, he disguises Lawrence as human Naveen, and he is even granted the use of scary shadow demons by the voodoo spirits. Said demons later capture frog Naveen, and even though Ray steals the talisman disguising Lawrence, Facilier squishes him to death in one of the most upsetting deaths in early 21st century Disney memory. In fact, if Facilier didn’t gloat and do the whole “villain monologue” thing with Tiana, things would have worked out quite well for him. However, he didn’t take into account Tiana’s long tongue…

Maleficent is one of the all-time greatest Disney villains. Not just because of her over the top outfit and greenish-grey skin (although that helps), but because she is truly menacing and dangerous. Not only does she manage to curse Aurora, but she also successfully tricks her into pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, which of course forces the princess into a deep sleep. She even serves as a tough final boss after taking the form of a dragon, and if it wasn’t for the fairies and a particularly well-placed sword throw, Phillip would have been a goner. Meanwhile, Aurora would be stuck sleeping for a long, long time

Things look pretty grim near the end of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Frollo tricks Quasimodo into leading him to the Court of Miracles, which in turn results in the capture of the gypsies. Esmeralda is also sentenced to burn at the stake for refusing Frollo’s advances. Luckily, Quasimodo saves the day, resulting in an ambush on the cathedral. Frollo nearly kills Quasimodo by sending him over the edge of the building and is ultimately defeated by a weak and crumbling gargoyle. If he had just pulled himself all the way up instead of standing on the gargoyle, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” would have had a very different ending…

Despite her appearance, Bellweather is one of the most immoral and manipulative villains in the Disney canon. For one thing, her plan to segregate the predators actually worked, and Zootopia was plunged into a bitter civil strife. Unlike most Disney villains, Bellwether “won,” and her plan was completely successful. It was only by pure happenstance that Judy even realized the truth about the night howlers. Just imagine if she didn’t return home, if Gideon didn’t deliver the pies, if the kids didn’t run through the flower patch, OR if Gideon didn’t share what his family called the flowers. That’s a lot of “ifs” that ended up foiling what was otherwise a pretty foolproof plan.

The climax of “The Little Mermaid” is probably one of the scariest and most unsettling sequences in Disney history. And all of it stems from Ursula. First, Triton is transformed into a polyp, a moment that continues to plague our nightmares to this day. Angered at the deaths of her eels Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula grows to a ridiculously massive size and starts controlling the ocean. Luckily, she happens to raise a sunken ship with a splintered bowsprit, which Eric uses to impale Ursula and bring an end to her evil. It was certainly fortuitous that Ursula raised such a conveniently shaped ship, and RIGHT in front of a drowning Eric to boot!

For someone with no supernatural abilities, Mother Gothel certainly dealt a lot of damage. First, she masterminds the kidnapping of Rapunzel and has both Eugene and the Stabbingtons captured and brought to the palace. She’s certainly an intelligent villain, and those are often the scariest. Secondly, she actually manages to stab one of the protagonists, which is more than most Disney villains can say! Unfortunately for her, Eugene managed to hang on JUST long enough to cut Rapunzel’s hair, destroying its magic and severing its ties to Gothel, resulting in her death. Just think what would have happened if Gothel pushed him out of the tower window, instead. Like she says, “Our secret will die with him.”

This is another defeat that comes down to pure, rotten luck. After defeating the Cyclops, Hercules is nearly crushed by a falling pillar, but is saved at the last second by Meg. This in turn breaks Hades’ promise, which allows Hercules to regain his strength, storm Olympus, defeat the Titans, and free the gods. All because of a falling pillar. If that pillar never cracked, Hercules would still be weak and unable to save the gods from the Titans. As if Hades’ luck wasn’t bad enough, Herc’s godhood is restored in the Styx at the last possible second, preventing the hero from becoming just another soul in the river and fulfilling Hades’ plans.

After he becomes the Genie’s master, Jafar uses his wishes to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and really, it doesn’t get much more threatening than that. His fantastic powers allow him to win the final battle by trapping Jasmine in an hourglass, transforming both Abu and the Magic Carpet, and trapping Aladdin in a circle of fire. He even manages to transform into a massive freaking snake! Victory was all but certain, and all he had to do was squeeze Aladdin to death. However, Aladdin plays to his ego, resulting in his eventual downfall. If only he just squeezed him like Iago said…

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

The Horned King, “The Black Cauldron” (1985)
He Is Successful in Using the Cauldron to Raise the Dead

Queen of Hearts, “Alice in Wonderland” (1951)
She Nearly Has Alice Decapitated

Shan Yu, “Mulan” (1998)
He’s Successful in Capturing the Emperor

Captain Hook, “Peter Pan” (1953)
If Not for Tinker Bell, Peter Would Have Met His End & He Would Have Won

Percival C. McLeach, “The Rescuers Down Under” (1990)
He Almost Kills Cody at Crocodile Falls

Few, if any, Disney villains are as successful as Scar. His great, villainous scheme actually comes to fruition, as Mufasa dies and Simba is banished from the kingdom. It’s a shocking and incredibly dark turn of events that we truly did not expect from a Disney film. Scar subsequently rules the Pride Lands for many years, and if it weren’t for Timon and Pumbaa’s divine-like intervention, he would have ruled for many more. Or he could have just killed Simba directly, but we guess he’s above murdering children in cold blood. Regardless, Simba returns and ends Scar’s reign for good, proving that you should never ever take half measures. Especially if you’re a diabolical villain in a Disney movie.