Top 20 Disney Villains with the Saddest Backstories

On the surface, Tess seems like your stereotypical mean girl/diva. While she’s attending a musical camp, she does whatever she can to keep the spotlight firmly planted on her. Her willingness to sabotage others and push aside her friends actually does come from a sad place. Since the teenage Tess grew up with a famous mom, the kid was constantly in her mother’s shadow. The diva hoped she could get more attention by climbing to the top of “Camp Rock”. Unfortunately, Tess stumbles after she sees her mom take a phone call during a big performance. After seeing her cry backstage after the slip up, we started feeling sorry for the diva.

Once upon a time, a real girl named Frances dreamed up an imaginary friend named Zoe. The two were close until the child’s brother got sick. Since Frances believed she needed to behave more like an adult to support her sibling, she got rid of her imaginary friend. This abrupt act of abandonment caused Zoe to mutate into a sinister boogeyperson. It’s tragic that she had no choice but to become evil after being forgotten by her closest friend. And to make matters worse, Zoe had to go through the trauma of being forcefully aged while she was in boogeyperson form. Fortunately, Frances is able to figure out the truth and to bring her old friend back into the light before it was too late.

After Gothel reached an advanced age, she found a flower that could restore her youth. She was able to repeat the process for hundreds of years to cheat death. However, everything changed when a local king’s soldiers took the flower and turned it into tea to save their pregnant queen. Imagine if the only thing keeping you alive was taken to help someone you never met. Wouldn’t you be a little upset too? Admittedly, we can’t excuse Gothel’s choice to imprison Rapunzel because the kid inherited the flower’s powers. But when we look at things from the antagonist’s perspective, we understand why she was so desperate to keep the secret to her eternal life hidden.

Although Yzma is seen as a silly villain that makes us laugh, fans of the movie can sometimes forget about her serious fall from grace. She spent numerous years working in the palace and guiding the selfish and arrogant emperor Kuzco. When he wasn’t paying attention, Yzma admittedly overstepped a little and tried to address the problems of his subjects on her own. After catching her in the act, Kuzco immediately fires her without giving her another chance. Even Yzma didn’t deserve to be kicked out of her royal position so abruptly. It’s no wonder that she became obsessed with trying to regain some semblance of the power she used to have.

Edgar served as Madame Adelaide's butler for years before he overheard that she intended to give her vast fortune to her cats upon her death. Although she does mention that Edgar would inherit the money after the felines passed, why does he have to wait at all? Wouldn’t it make more sense to give him the money on the condition that he takes care of the cats? And if the felines had kittens, do they technically inherit the money before the butler? No matter how the situation would’ve played out, Edgar was stuck in a potentially lose-lose situation. He probably would’ve left the cats alone had he been first in line for even a fraction of the inheritance.

If you look closely at this pirate’s life, you’ll see that he’s trapped in a seemingly unending nightmare. At some point in his life, Peter Pan removed his hand. The boy then made sure Hook’s limb became crocodile food. Since the animal also swallowed a clock, the pirate became scared of innocent tick tocking sounds as well. Hook’s quest for revenge might still seem over the top until you remember where all of this took place. The animals and residents of Neverland tend to stay the same age for much longer than normal. Theoretically, a kid may have sentenced Hook to an eternity spent running from an immortal crocodile. That terrible fate is more than enough motivation for the pirate to become truly evil.

Fans who only saw the first “Hocus Pocus” might think that the Anderson Sisters were irredeemable. However, the trio was given a heartbreaking story in the sequel. After the young Winifred Sanderson lost her dad, a Reverend told her that she had to marry a boy she didn’t love. She was then publicly shamed by the local townspeople for not being obedient. Upon refusing to marry a second time, the Reverend banished her from town and tried to take her sisters away from her. The desperate trio ended up studying dark magic to protect themselves and stay together. Even after committing tons of evil acts, Winifred still gave up ultimate power in the end so she would never be apart from her siblings.

Before the events of the main films, Davy Jones fell in love with the powerful and magical Calypso. He was even willing to transport souls to the underworld for his great love. Although they promised to meet up again after ten years, Calypso chose not to see him. The scorned Jones got revenge by trapping his love in a human body. However, his twisted actions didn’t bring him peace. Unable to die or move on, Jones removed his own heart and quit his job to try and be free of his pain. But he only ended up turning into a horrifying and bitter monster. While Jones definitely lost touch with humanity, our heart broke alongside his when he came face to face with Calypso again.

At a young age, princess Namaari of the Fang tribe tricked Raya into revealing where the legendary dragon gem was. The antagonist wanted the magical item to help keep her people safe. Unfortunately, Namaari set off a chain of events that resulted in evil beings known as Druun turning nearly everyone in the world into stone. The princess tried to fix her mistake by trying to unite the dragon gem herself years later. However, Namaari once again made a misstep that led to her mother being turned to stone. There’s no denying that the princess made pretty big mistakes in the movie. But since Namaari always had good intentions, she was definitely a tragic villain.

When Estella was a child, she was tormented because of her unique hair and tough personality. She also saw her mother die in front of her eyes. After spending years stealing to stay afloat, she got a legitimate job at a fashion company that was led by the abrasive Baroness. Over time, Estella realizes that her new boss was behind her mom’s death. That revelation would’ve been bad enough on its own. However, Estella later learns that the Baroness is actually her birth mother too! A life of tragedy nearly turned a woman with a natural gift for fashion into a cruel antagonist. Fortunately, the 2021 version of the story hints that Estella will end up as more of an anti-hero and less of a villain.

There’s a good reason Hades is so bitter all the time. When the gods were deciding what they were going to rule over, he was assigned to the Underworld. Hades had to spend an unknown amount of time surrounded by pained and depressed souls with little sunlight. And based on how his siblings treated him at a party for Hercules, he isn’t really welcomed when he is able to visit the surface. After spending countless years being mistreated by his family and working full time at a job he resented without reprieve, Hades became desperate to upset the status quo. All he truly wanted was to escape the fate that had been forced on him.

Ursula is infamously known as a sea witch who punishes those who can’t live up to her magical contracts. Before she spent most of her time making deals in an isolated den, she lived among the other merfolk in the palace. In the book “Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch,” she lived in the kingdom after escaping violent villagers but was later banished because of her tentacular appearance. While we don’t know if this was why Ursula was exiled in the film, being sent away clearly had a negative effect on her mind. Years after her defeat, her younger sister Morgana tragically went down a dark path because she was trying to live up to her older sibling’s reputation.

While Xianniang was growing up, she discovered that she had special abilities. Unfortunately, no one was willing to accept her into their homes or societies. Xianniang allied with the vicious conqueror Bori Khan in the hopes that she could find respect, and a sense of belonging. They were victorious in many battles together. But despite Xianniang’s contributions to Bori Khan’s conquests, he still saw her as an outcast and a witch. She ironically had the best connection with Mulan, who was supposed to be her enemy. Knowing Xianniang could only truly identify with someone who fought against her shows how lonely her life must’ve been.

After Scar fell, all the lions who were loyal to him were forced to live in the barren Outlands and labeled the Outsiders. Nuka was the son of their leader Zira. Although he constantly tried to impress his mother, she always saw him as inferior to his brother Kovu. Nuka spent years in a depressing environment, covered in termites and struggling to become a lion that could make his family proud. His desperation eventually drove him to his own destruction while trying to impress his mother Zira. Because of his tragic upbringing Nuka went to his grave in pain, never knowing if he had won the approval he craved above all else.

Before Scar got his trademark facial feature, he was the leader of a noble Pride Lands team known as the Lion Guard. While patrolling one day, a stranger promised to give him more power. But it was all a trap to trick Scar into getting attacked by a cobra. The stranger offered to heal the damage from the bite in exchange for servitude. Scar refused and took the cobra and strange lion down instead. When he told Mufasa this story, he received a cruel nickname instead of praise. It’s later revealed that venom in this world can turn a lion evil. Scar’s path of villainy may have sadly started because of the cobra’s attack.

Cinderella’s father and Lady Tremaine had both lost a spouse when they got married. Unfortunately, their union didn’t stay happy for long. During a party, Lady Tremaine is hurt when she overhears that her husband still carries strong feelings for his deceased wife. Before she can fully process this information, Cinderella’s father passes away. Lady Tremaine instantly begins worrying about how she’ll take care of her children in the wake of this devastating turn. She later reveals that seeing Cinderella every day was a painful reminder of her many losses. While Lady Tremaine definitely should’ve been kinder to Cinderella, the personal tragedies she suffered help explain why she was so cruel.

When Lewis lived at an orphanage, his constant tinkering on inventions often kept his roommate, avid baseball player Michael "Goob" Yagoobian, up late. This proved to be a huge problem when it came time for a little league championship game. After this traumatic experience, Goob fell into a spiral of doubt and self-loathing. His negative feelings prevented him from being adopted and led to him growing up alone in an abandoned orphanage. While parts of his backstory are played for laughs, his origins are truly heartbreaking. Goob’s inability to move on prevented him from finding a family.

A pilot named Abigail Callaghan once volunteered to travel through a transportation portal that was funded by a businessman named Alistair Krei. Her father Professor Callaghan was there to see her break new ground. While Abigail was traveling through the portal though, the experiment went wrong. Professor Callaghan was helpless, only able to watch as she was seemingly lost forever. This incident enraged him and he spent years planning revenge against Krei. Blinded by his vendetta, he became the villain Yokai and eventually caused the demise of his pupil, Tadashi. Although he saw his daughter alive again, he was so ashamed of what he’d done in her name that he could barely look at her.

Long ago, a goddess named Te Feti rose from the ocean to work a miracle. But her heart was stolen by a misguided Maui. This event caused the gracious Te Feti to transform into the fearsome demon known as Te Kā. To make matters worse, humanity thought Te Kā was nothing more than a vicious beast. She spent an unknown number of years desperate to get her heart back. As she searched in vain, the islands around her struggled to maintain the life she gave. Fortunately, her sad tale had a happy ending. With Moana’s brave act, Te Feti was restored to her true self, and the islands were able to flourish again.

While Maleficent was a young fairy in the magical lands of the Moors, she met a human boy named Stefan. The two became friends, and eventually developed even deeper feelings. Years later Stefan returned at the command of the king. Maleficent was initially glad to have him returned to her. However, after he gave her a sleeping potion, Stefan committed a terrible crime. Maleficent woke the next day to find that he had removed her wings, causing severe physical and emotional pain. Being betrayed by someone she loved in such a harsh way caused Maleficent to stop trusting humans, close herself off, and embrace villainy. It took her over a decade to overcome her tragic origins.