Hey guys! So, I've been seeing a lot of polls lately and am absolutely loving it! I've been meaning to make one for a while, ever since the first one about Harry Potter houses, actually, but I'm finally getting around to it. I've been trying to figure out what to make a poll on, because there's so many series and franchises out there, but it came down to either Disney villains or Star Wars characters. I chose Disney villains because they have more distinctive qualities, and would be more recognizable than specific Star Wars characters. I left out a few like Shere Khan, Claude Frollo, John Ratcliffe, etc., because they don't relate to anyone in our class. Or at least I hope they don't.
*many of these characters have similar traits since they are Disney villains, but I did my best to point out defining traits as well as the common ones, such as power lust and willingness to do whatever it takes*
*Poll at bottom*
The Evil Queen (Snow White)
The Evil Queen was the villain in the very first animated Disney film, so unfortunately she isn't a very developed character. But, since she was the first, it wouldn't seem right to leave her out. From what we do know about her, she is ruthless, and very prone to jealousy. She sets out to murder a young teenager just because she didn't like that Snow White was prettier than her. So, she's very petty, too. She isn't afraid to hurt people to get what she wants, and she doesn't have or make time for those who aren't willing to help her achieve her goals (for example, the Huntsman). Family doesn't matter to her, since Snow White is meant to be her stepdaughter.
Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
Another original! Maleficent is also extremely petty. I mean, she cursed the baby princess because she was upset that she wasn't invited to the princess's christening. She is also a woman who is not afraid to get what she wants, even if it means hurting others to do it. She holds a particular disdain for the good fairies, because they stand for everything she doesn't, which upsets her because she believes that she is in the right no matter what. She is similar to the Evil Queen, but is in my opinion a more developed and relatable character because there is a more solid reason for her pettiness; she feels like an outcast, isolated because the kingdom doesn't accept her, and this feeling of isolation can very easily turn to anger towards those she believes are responsible for her unhappiness.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
Ursula is extremely ambitious. She feels like an outcast, but doesn't wallow in her own pity, and instead takes matters into her own hands and plots to overthrow the king. Ursula is also very deceptive and cunning, and shameless about it: "I admit that in the past I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch." She takes advantage of people wherever she can in order to fulfill her goals of overthrowing King Triton and becoming the queen of all the sea. She does have those that she loves, though (her eels Flotsam and Jetsam), and their deaths are what pushes her over the edge to try and kill Ariel and Eric. So, she's caring when it comes to very specific people, but if you aren't on her good side, then you are expendable unless you have something she needs (but even then she is likely to screw you over. She's very underhanded).
Jafar (Aladdin)
Jafar is a perfect example of a wolf in sheep's clothing. He is incredibly charming, and has the full trust of many around him, including the highest authority figure (the Sultan). Being second will never be good enough for Jafar; he has extreme power lust, but unlike some of the other villains, he isn't openly evil. He is meticulous and spends his time plotting. He doesn't go out of his way to commit violence, but he is not at all opposed to it if things don't go his way. Jafar is vicious and cunning, and his ambition and thirst for power is entirely what drives him; he wants 100% of the power, even if he is not best suited for the position.
Scar (The Lion King)
My favorite Disney villain! Scar craves power. He feels deeply wronged by those around him, underappreciated and unloved; he doesn't feel this without good reason, though. Fun fact, Scar's birth name is Taka, which means "dirt" or "trash" or "want" in Swahili. He was unloved by his family from the very beginning, and that anger festered over the years and turned into hatred for his brother, Mufasa, whose name means "king." Scar has a strong sense of justice, and while it may be misguided, he doesn't deny that he is the bad guy. He will do what it takes to accomplish his goals, and he deliberately goes out of his way to hurt his family to do so. Family means nothing to him, as he has always been an outcast within his own family, and even though he forms a sort of pseudo-family through the hyenas, they really don't mean anything to him either (they are just a way of obtaining more power). To Scar, everyone is a means to an end, even the people he claims to be helping.
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)
We've been talking about fatal flaws, and Gaston's would definitely be hubris. Gaston is extremely self centered, and what makes this worse is that his confidence is backed up by everyone in the village fawning over him (except for Belle). He has almost everything, could get any girl he wants, but he will always want what he cannot have (Belle). He has an extremely jealous personality, and a mindset of "if I can't have then it no one can." He has many friends but doesn't truly care about any of them, as we see in how poorly he treats LeFou, who is his number one supporter and would do practically anything for him. He also doesn't truly care about Belle, either, despite his claims to love her and that if she were to marry him, he would care for her and be the best husband. He doesn't support her interests and simply wants her as a trophy wife, as she is the most beautiful woman in the village. Gaston isn't incapable of caring, but his extreme pride and jealousy get in the way of his ability to form genuine connections with people.
Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians)
Cruella is very proud of who she is. She has no qualms about what she does, and flaunts it around to everyone. She is very reckless, as she sets out to steal the puppies from Anita due to her impulsivity and inability to control her desires. She avoids doing the dirty work herself if possible, but she will step in to do things if she believes others to be incapable of handling it. She knows what she wants and is not afraid to step outside of the law to obtain her goals, but her downfall in the end is all because of her own recklessness and anger, not because others were more powerful than her.
Hades (Hercules)
Hades is very power hungry and angry. We see anger issues in the majority of Disney villains, but Hades probably takes the cake for most intense issues with handling his rage. He wants nothing more than to get revenge on his brother Zeus for taking the sky and giving him the Underworld, and the only way for him to do that is to kill Hercules, Zeus' son, who he learns from the three Fates is the one who will defeat him. Family obviously means nothing to him, as he is more than happy to destroy all the gods in the process of taking over Olympus, and his main goal is to kill his own nephew. Hades is also very manipulative, as we see in his arrangement with Meg. She sold his soul to him to save her boyfriend, and he uses her to seduce Hercules, literally giving him a weakness for Hades to exploit.
Mother Gothel (Tangled)
Mother Gothel is another one of my favorite Disney villains, mostly because she has a lot of layers. Gothel's main concern is her youth and beauty. Gothel is extremely vain and will do anything to maintain these qualities. She doesn't not care about Rapunzel, but she cares much more about what Rapunzel can do for her than for the girl herself. We see in one scene when Gothel says "I love you" and Rapunzel says back "I love you more," Gothel replies with "I love you most," but she isn't talking directly to Rapunzel; she is stroking her hair as she proclaims her love, proving that her youth and beauty are the most important things to her, even above her own daughter (well, stolen daughter. But she still "raised" her for 18 years). She also has violent tendencies, as we see at the bar, and at the very end when she chains and gags Rapunzel in a last ditch attempt to make the girl stay with her. She isn't afraid of anyone either, including men; she hires two giant men to take Rapunzel back and boss them around as if they aren't twice her size and terrifying.
Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog)
Dr. Facilier is yet another villain with extreme power lust. He's very smoothing talking and suave, and manipulates both Naveen and his manservant Lawrence into doing things that only benefit Facilier in the long run. He poses as a very powerful figure, but in reality, his power comes completely from others (his "friends on the other side"), and without them, he wouldn't have a leg to stand on against the prince or Tiana. This is his downfall in the end, as he uses one too many favors from his "friends" that he can't pay back, and they finally take their payment in the form of his life. Facilier thinks that nothing can touch him, pretending to have control over those who provide his power and not taking his debts seriously until it's too late. Overall, he's cocky, charming, and manipulative, but none of it matters in the end because he overestimates himself.
Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove)
Yzma is very entitled and vengeful. She is wronged by Kuzco, and it's understandable why she was upset, but she sets out to kill him instead of handling it properly; so she has definite anger issues. Kuzco's entire problem with Yzma is that she was attempting to run the country behind his back, and was sitting in his throne and dealing with matters that he should've been handling, so we know she's also a control freak. It's implied that Yzma is the one who raised Kuzco, as his parents are nowhere to be seen in the film, and she is the one to take over the throne when Kuzco is gone. Yzma's negative influence is likely the reason that Kuzco is such a jerk. She also has a loyal helper, Kronk, who she doesn't treat particularly well, despite him being her only friend/ally. She's able to care for others, since she raised Kuzco and doesn't always treat Kronk badly, but her issues with anger and control get in the way of any urges to care about others that she has.
The Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)
The Queen of Hearts definitely has a god complex, as she wants to be the best at everything, and bullies everyone into submission and doing her will. If someone speaks out against her, her immediate response is to have their head cut off, which shows you how needlessly violent she is. She has zero issue with violence, or with getting her hands dirty. She also bullies those she is supposed to love, too (her husband), and she seems incapable of caring about anyone. She's just all around an awful person with no redeemable qualities, in my opinion.
Prince Hans (Frozen)
Hans is a complicated character. He isn't necessarily evil, but power is very important to him. He is a little misunderstood and hurt, though, as he admits that he's been bullied by his 12 brothers for his entire life. Because he has so many siblings, even if some died, Hans would never be the heir to his own kingdom, so he looks for this power elsewhere (Arendelle). Hans definitely has power lust, but he also seems lonely to me. He's willing to marry a woman he just met in order to rule the kingdom. But he isn't a tyrant. When Elsa, the rightful ruler, freezes her entire kingdom and runs away because she doesn't want to deal with confrontation from Anna, we see Hans helping the citizens of Elsa's kingdom, making sure they all have food and blankets to survive the cold that their queen created. So, he definitely cares and wants to be a good ruler, but he goes about it in the wrong way. His power lust does get to him in the end when he betrays Anna and tries to kill Elsa, but in my opinion, had things gone well for him and Elsa hadn't returned, Hans had the potential to be a much better ruler than Elsa, whose first instinct was always to run away and never face her problems. I didn't mean for this to turn into a paragraph bashing Elsa, but overall, I think that Hans is a sad and misunderstood guy stuck living in twelve different shadows, and just wants a place to call his own: "I've been searching my whole life to find my own place..."
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