Deep Dive Disney: Wes's Top 20 Disney Villains Redux (10-1)

Welcome back everyone. Today, we’re counting down our Top 10 Most Evil Disney villains of all time. If you think the last ten were bad news, you ain’t seen nothing yet. These 10 are truly the worst of the worst so let us waste no time in discussing them, starting with one of the nastiest mothers Disney has ever seen.

10. Mother Gothel from Tangled

One of the most loathsome creatures ever brought into the Disney canon, Mother Gothel is one serious piece of work. She oozes concentrated evil from every pore, and yet she’s only number ten. Gives you an idea of what we’re in for doesn’t it. Anywho, when it comes to Gothel, it all begins with the Sun Drop Flower. Through unknown circumstances, Gothel became aware of the location of the magical plant and learned how to tap into its mystical healing powers to keep herself young. In my humble opinion, this is the first strike against Gothel. She could have easily shared the power of the Sun Drop Flower to heal the sick and injured. Her reasons didn’t even have to be altruistic. She could have made people pay through the nose for use of her flower. She’d have been doing it for selfish reasons, but she’d still have been helping people. But no, Gothel can’t just have access to this incredible magic, she has to be the ONLY one who can use it. But that’s nothing compared to what comes next. You all know how it goes. The queen fell ill, used the flower to save her own life and the life of her unborn child, the child is born with the power of the magic flower, Gothel kidnaps her and locks her in a tower and gaslights the shit out of her for eighteen years. And that’s where the true nature of Gothel’s evil comes in. Gothel is a manipulator, pure and simple. While she’s described as a witch, she has no real magic of her own, she merely uses the magic of others to get what she wants. Each time Rapunzel shows hints of rebellion, Gothel fires back with a cutting remark to nip that free spirit in the bud, making sure her ”Daughter” stays under her thumb. The worst is when she turns the argument against Rapunzel by saying “Great, Now I’m the Bad Guy,” a line abusive parents use in real life to turn an argument around on their children. Gothel is incapable of loving anything other than herself, and she will perform any wicked deed that will suit her if it means getting what she wants, but even as wicked as she may be, she’s got nothing on the guy coming next.

9. The Coachman from Pinocchio

It is shocking to me that people often forget about The sinister Coachman from Pinocchio. He’s arguably the creepiest thing in the entire movie, and Pinocchio wasn’t exactly pulling its punches in terms of The Dark Disney Factor to begin with. Out of the many villains in Pinocchio, the one people seem to have latched onto the most is the puppeteer, Stromboli. Now don’t get me wrong, Stromboli is certainly a nasty dude, but he is small potatoes compared to this creep. Like a pied piper figure of sorts, The Coachman lures naughty children to a place called pleasure island with the promise of no adult supervision and free license to misbehave in whatever way they see fit. But, just as they say beware of strangers with candy, the children should beware the Coachman and his false promises. What’s really going on is that The Coachman is somehow turning children into donkeys, donkeys that he plans to sell to work in salt mines and other unpleasant workplaces. That whole thing is creepy enough, but even more unsettling is just how little we know about this guy and what his deal is. Just how is he turning the kids into Donkeys? Is it something with the nature of the island, or is it the Coachman himself doing it through some strange magic he possesses? Hell, we don’t even know if the Coachman is even human, and there are several moments, most notably the terrifying face he makes in that one scene, you all know the one, that heavily imply that he’s some kind of demon, if not The Devil himself. He even mentions meeting at a crossroads, which is some folklore is where one summons the devil to broker a deal. Whatever he is, he’s a damned scary customer. Watch that same scene I was just talking about and get a load of Gideon and Foulfellow’s reaction. They are TERRIFIED of him. However, the most unsettling thing about The Coachman, and the thing that sets him apart from literally every other villain on this list, he gets away with his evil scheme. Sure, Pinocchio escapes, but The Coachman probably didn’t even notice. Coachman faces no consequences for his actions and all those naughty children he lured to his island will spend the rest of their lives as animal slaves. Now that is evil. However, one can’t help but wonder if maybe The Coachman was doing the world a favor ridding it of naughty children. Afterall, some of them could have grown up to be like our next villain.

8. Syndrome from The Incredibles

Growing up, young Buddy Pine dreamed of being a superhero like his idol, Mr. Incredible, often imagining himself as his sidekick, Incrediboy. The problem, at least as he saw it, he had no superpowers. In actuality, the problem was that Buddy was a short sighted child who only saw hero work as a game instead of the serious and dangerous thing that it was. One fateful night, Buddy followed his hero on one of his adventures, much to the annoyance of the super who, as the film implies, has probably been stalked by this child for some time now. When Buddy’s interference allows a criminal to escape, Mr. Incredible rightfully tells the child to go home and leave him alone. From that point on, young Buddy was forever changed, growing bitter and vowing to become a greater hero than Mr. Incredible ever was. Years later, Buddy, now adopting the name Syndrome, has become billionaire arms dealer, selling weapons that he invented to the highest bidder and building a veritable empire from the profits. Syndrome could have been content to rest on his Laurels, but he couldn’t. He could never let it go, he could never forget how his hero let him down. So, Syndrome crafted a plan. Build a deadly battle robot and systematically lure supers to the island where they can be slaughtered. With each battle, Syndrome improves the omni-droid, and adds the corpse of another super to the pile, until it’s ready to face Mr. Incredible, and, more importantly, make sure that no one can destroy his creation except the one who holds the remote. Then, Syndrome will unleash his monster on the world so he can swoop in and play hero. Syndrome, savior of the world, more adored than Mr. Incredible ever was, at least until he gets bored and sells all his tech, making it so anyone who can afford it can be a super themselves, and when everyone is super, no one will be. What’s especially disturbing about Syndrome is how he presents himself. Despite appearances, he is not a silly comic book supervillain like Dr. Light or Black Manta. He’s more like a Lex Luthor type. A man whose true power is wealth, influence and intelligence. As characters like Edna Mode show us, those tools in the right hands can be used to accomplish great good in the world, and someone like Buddy could use it to become a greater force for good than Mr. Incredible ever was. However, Buddy chooses to don a ridiculous outfit and hairstyle and play-act as an over-the-top supervillain? Why? Because young Buddy never stopped playing his childish game. Everything Syndrome does is either in service of his childish ego or his petty grudge against his former idol. All these years later, he’s still just a kid playing out his fantasy, only this time that fantasy will have very real and very deadly consequences. Because at the end of the day, while he may have idolized altruistic superheroes, Syndrome only ever cared about himself. I think our next villain knows a thing or two about that.

7. Gaston from Beauty & The Beast

Ah, a familiar face. We’ve discussed Gaston many times throughout various articles and in that time I feel like I’ve really come to understand and appreciate this character. My enjoyment of Gaston has always been, let’s say, paradoxical. I absolutely despise everything that Gaston is, that being a chauvinistic, entitled, self-absorbed, muscle-headed frat boy who was able to deceive those around him into thinking he was some kind of hero. As I’ve said many times in the past, if toxic masculinity were a religion, then Gaston would be its messiah. However, so over-the-top is Gaston in all of these unlikable traits that he sort of comes back around into this oddly endearing parody of toxic masculinity and as a result, becomes a highly entertaining character, although never to the point where one would actually root for him. I think I like Gaston in the same capacity that I like Wile E. Coyote. I never want to see him actually catch the Roadrunner, but I’m going to have a blast watching him try, and fail, to do so. However, make no mistake, just because Gaston is fun to watch, that doesn’t mean he is not a deeply sinister and loathsome human being. In his village, Gaston is the cock of the walk, respected throughout the town as a skilled hunter and a local hero. Women want him, and men want to be him. Well, most women want him. Belle, the only woman in the village who seems to have some braincells, has no interest in the big dumb brute and spurns his advances at every turn. This only serves to further entice Gaston. See, Gaston could have any woman he wants, but why would he settle for just anyone? He’s a hunter, and sees no sport in easy prey. Belle is the most beautiful girl in the village, which in Gaston’s mind, makes her the best, and Gaston’s ego will not be satisfied with anything less than the best. That’s what’s so disturbing here, Gaston doesn’t want “Belle,” he wants, “The Best.” Who Belle is as a person is irrelevant. She is a challenge, a challenge that will make for a trophy worthy of his skill once conquered. Not exactly a healthy mindset with which to approach marriage, is it. And boy does Gaston go to some sick extremes in order to court Belle. He ambushes her with a surprise wedding and even bribes the local Asylum to have her father committed unless she agrees to marry him. Once he becomes aware of The Beast, all he can see is another obstacle standing between himself and Belle, and as such, he rallies the foolish townsfolk who have bought into his false heroic persona into an angry mob to murder the monster and claim Belle for himself. Gaston is sick, entitled Bastard who needs to learn the meaning of the word no, a word that should be used by anyone who is offered a deal from our next villain.

6. Dr. Facilier from The Princess & The Frog

Now we’re getting into the really good ones… or… really bad ones? How does it work when you’re ranking villains? In any case, when we’re talking some of the most sinister villains in Disney’s library, we can’t forget about this guy. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Keith David, especially after doing an entire Gargoyles retrospective and man, can Keith David play one hell of a villain. I love everything about this guy. Tall, dark, mysterious, loaded to the brim with charisma, he’s everything a Disney villain should be. In darkest back alley of New Orleans is the Voodoo Emporium of one Dr. Facilier, known locally as “The Shadow Man.”Most of the locals seem wise to Facilier’s ways, knowing enough to give him a wide birth, so for the most part, Shadow Man scrapes by using his magic to scam tourists, meaning compared to someone like Jafar or The Evil Queen, both who are in positions of great power and Authority, Faciler is relatively small time in terms of his evil MO. However, what makes Facilier dangerous is that he’s not alone. He’s got plenty of friends on the other side. Those friends happen to be powerful Shadow Demons from whom Facilier draws his power. See, Facilier’s magic is pretty powerful, but that power is not entirely his own. He borrows it from a greater evil and he’s desperate to get out from under them. Now, you might think that this actually makes Facilier more sympathetic, and to an extent, you’d be correct. Facilier is ultimately just trying to improve his own situation, not unlike our protagonist, Tiana. However, where things get truly sinister is what Facilier is willing to do in order to square his dept to the other side. When a wealthy prince comes to town, Facilier pounces on him like the easy mark that he is, tricking the prince into making a deal that will turn him into a frog. Then, he makes a deal with the prince’s put-upon assistant to impersonate the prince and marry the daughter of the richest man in town, Big Daddy LeBouf. Then, once the I Dos are said and done, Facilier plans to murder Big Daddy. And with the heir to the man’s vast fortune in his pocket, Facilier now has access to all the money he could possibly need. See, Facilier understands that it’s not magic that truly grants one power, it’s money. Acquire enough money, and you can do anything, like, for example, rule all of New Orleans and offer up the souls of its people to your friends on the other side. And that’s where the true evil comes in. Nothing wrong with wanting to rise above your station, but when you’re willing to condemn hundreds of thousands of people to death in order to do it, well that’s when you cross over into the territory of pure evil. I think our next villain knows a thing or two about wanting to improve their station, but this guy thinks a lot bigger than just one city.

5. Hades from Hercules

I’ll admit, I fought for Hades to be this high on the list. There are some who don’t really think Hades is all that evil and should have been left off the list along with the likes of Jafar and Ursula. However, I still feel that Hades deserves his spot as one of the most iconic, sadistic and evil baddies a Disney protagonist has ever encountered. I make it no secret that I love this character, and a lot of that is down to James Woods’ iconic portrayal. Yes, James Woods is an asshole in real life, but credit where it’s due, he knocked it out of the park with this character. So much so that when Disney inevitably remakes Hercules, I would be totally okay with Woods reprising the role in live action. With calm demeanor and dry wit of a gameshow host masking an overwhelming rage just beneath the surface, Hades is one God you don’t want steamed up. I think at this point, I don’t really need to reiterate that the Hades of Disney’s Hercules is nothing like the Hades of Greek myth. This guy has a lot more in common with the Christian Devil than the mythological lord of the Underworld, but actually, I think Hades has a lot in common with our previous villain, Dr. Facilier. Much like the Shadow Man, Hades is a con artist, specializing in making one sided deals with unsuspecting victims all while stacking the deck against them to make sure he’s the only one who actually gets what he wants in the end. However, since Hades has the power and longevity of a God, he has the means and the patience to enact his schemes and manipulations on a much grander scale. All of this is towards a single eighteen-year goal, unleash the titans when the planets align and use them has his personal army to conquer Olympus. Some of you may think the Gods of Olympus have it coming, especially if you know your Greek mythology and DEFINITELY if you’ve played God of War, but remember, Disney’s Hercules threw out that rulebook when they made Hera a kind and maternal character (yes, I’m still mad about that). Yes, Hades may have a legitimate gripe with the Gods, especially since they treat him like a joke and make him hang out with all the dead people (a job he clearly hates) but if Hades unleashes the Titans and goes to war with the Gods, a lot of innocents are going to get caught up in the crossfire, something Hades seems perfectly fine with, especially since once he takes over Olympus, the dead won’t be his problem anymore. And it’s not like after they crush, freeze and/or melt Zeus, The Titans are just going to go back in their cage. No, these monsters are going to roam the earth leaving destruction in their wake until nothing is left while Hades reclines in his new throne, indifferently sipping a martini. All that is bad enough, but I still think Hades’ most truly evil and sadistic act is how he gets Hercules to give up his strength. This whole movie, Hades has been using Megara in order to pinpoint Hercules’s weakness. Once he learns that Megara IS wonder boy’s weakness, he tricks Herc into giving up his strength in exchange for Meg’s freedom, only after the deal is finalized does Hades twist the knife and reveal that Meg was in on the scheme from the beginning. Now, not only has he robbed Herc of his strength, he’s also completely broken his spirit, and he enjoyed every second of it. Now that’s evil. Hades definitely deserves to be considered one of the most iconic Disney villains, but as for who THE most iconic is, well… you all know who’s coming.

4. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty

Yes, I said that iconography would not be as big a factor this time around, but I would be absolutely insane not to include arguably the most iconic Disney Villain of them all. I have a challenge for you. When you think of the movie Sleeping Beauty, what’s the first thing you think of? Okay, show of hands, how many of you did not immediately think of Maleficent? Put your hands down you goddamn liars! A great villain can enhance a movie, but it’s rare that a villain is so great that they transcend their own movie. Maleficent has reached this point where one could argue she’s not just the main villain of Sleeping Beauty, but the main villain of Disney in general. Any time there’s a large group of Disney Villains banded together in some king of major crossover event, I.E. the Kingdom Hearts Video Game or the Fantasmic Stage show at the Disney Parks, it’s usually Maleficent leading them, or at least serving as some kind of final boss. Be they the three good fairies, Mickey Mouse or Sora, all tremble in fear before The Mistress of all evil. But like I said, iconography alone doesn’t earn you a spot on the list this time around, so why is Maleficent here? What evil deeds has she perpetrated that are worthy of a spot amongst the most evil of them all. Afterall, many would argue that her motivation is the most petty out of anyone on this list. Or at least it would appear that way to someone who doesn’t understand what’s really going on. See, a common mistake people make when analyzing the character of Maleficent is thinking that this was ever about something as silly as a party invitation. First, what you need to understand that in those times, a royal christening was considered a major social event, and everyone who held any level of status within the kingdom and the surrounding nations was expected to be there. Regardless of alignment, Maleficent, as the Mistress of All Evil, is most certainly a person of status. In fact, some legends say that the fair folk would often bless newly born royalty with their magic as we see with the three fairies, and to not invite them was considered frightful bad luck. Not inviting Maleficent to this party is a major insult. Personally, I think Maleficent probably would have turned down the invite if she received it. But when she never received one at all, that’s when she had to intervene. Maleficent is the Mistress of All Evil. Those who fail to recognize that station must suffer grave consequences, and this insult will stand. Right from the moment you first see Maleficent, you know she’s bad news. Dark, radiant, statuesque, speaking in soft yet commanding tone. Maleficent is always in control of the situation and even the threats from the three good fairies are met with laughter. You know that if she wanted to, she could kill everyone in the room and burn the castle to the ground right there on the spot, but no, she had something far more sinister in mind. Curse the child to death before her sixteenth birthday, cursing the kingdom to a decade and a half of despair, waiting for the inevitable. In a way, that’s almost worse. This way, she gets to see the king and queen miserable as they are unable to watch their daughter grow into a young woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she looked in on them from time to time just to laugh at their misfortune. That’s kind of how Maleficent operates. Anyone can kill on the spot, but it takes a true artist to create curses so sadistic that the victim is driven mad with despair. Take what she plans to do to Prince Phillip, keep him locked in the dungeon until he’s an old man and too weak to save his beloved, all the while Maleficent takes a perverse delight in his pain and sorrow. However, when it is time to cut the bullshit and wreck a mother fucker, she’s got plenty of raw power, able to invoke all the powers of hell and transform herself into a colossal nightmare dragon. Bottom line, do not mess with the Mistress of All Evil! Hard to believe that Maleficent is only number four, but you’ll understand once you see whose coming next, because if she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will.

3. Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians

I’ve been thinking about it and I believe that since we’ve started Deep Dive Disney, we’ve discussed Cruella De Vil more than any other Disney Villain in existence. Even back when we ranked the members of the Disney Villain Franchise, Cruella, a normal human, managed to hit number one despite being in competition with savage lions, bloodthirsty pirates, powerful sorcerers, sadistic tyrants, demons and even Gods. And yet, no one bat an eyelash when Cruella beat them all out. Cruella’s evil just hits differently than all the others. Most Disney villains, including the two still to come are typically motivated by one of two things, power, vengeance or sometimes both. Cruella doesn’t care about any of that. All she wants is to make a fashion statement, but to do that, she’s willing to murder and skin innocent dalmatian puppies. I mean, that alone is pretty fucked, but it somehow gets worse. Cruella here is willing to go to insane and twisted extremes just for a fur coat. Now imagine she wanted to be Sultan of Agrabah or wanted to kill Snow White? Just what in the hell would Cruella be willing to do in order to accomplish those goals. I don’t know, and frankly I don’t want to know. However, what makes this even worse, if that’s even possible at this point, is how sadistic Cruella is about all this, particularly when it comes to Anita and Roger. They denied her when she offered to buy the puppies, and so insulted was Cruella by this, that she went so far as to hire a pair of criminals to steal the puppies, even though she didn’t have to. Think about it, Cruella is wealthy enough and she probably could have acquired all ninety-nine puppies she needed through legal means, but because Anita and Roger dared to tell her no, she wants to see them suffer and torture them in the cruelest way possible, what a bitch! Cruella is a monster plain and simple. Roger wasn’t blowing smoke when he said “If She Doesn’t Scare You, No Evil Thing Will.” I mean, just look at her behind the wheel of her signature 1941 Panther De Ville. She looks more like a demon than some of the actual demons on this list. So ubiquitous is Cruella’s evil that it’s tanslated to other media, both Disney and otherwise. In The Simpsons, Cruella is parodied when Mr. Burns tries to make a greyhound fur tuxedo. In Once Upon a Time, we meet up with Cruella in hell where she’s literally wearing the skin of Bambi’s mother. In the musical Twisted which Parodies Disney movies, there’s a song that shows that all the Disney Villains were actually sympathetic, with the sole exception of Cruella. The only thing that tried to make Cruella into a good guy was the Emma Stone film, and while I quite enjoyed that movie and gave it a very positive review, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand the common criticism that the character in that movie just doesn’t feel like the character we all know. I think a lot of people were hoping that Cruella would top the list, and she definitely came close, but we still have two to go, and in the number two slot, we have my personal favorite Disney villain of all time.

2. Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective

The darkest corner of the London criminal underworld is home to some of the most brutal, twisted and sadistic crooks and rogues you’d ever have the displeasure of meeting. And the worst of the worst amongst these guys is none other than the self-proclaimed World’s Greatest Criminal Mind, Professor Ratigan. From the first moment we see Ratigan in this movie, we can see that he is dripping with over-the-top evil. Not only has he committed every evil deed one can imagine, he enjoyed and is proud of every single second of committing those acts. A lot of this comes through so perfectly because Ratigan is voiced by the absolute legend that is Vincent Price. That man could have read me the instructions for how to install an air conditioner and could still have somehow made it sound deliciously evil. That is just the power of Price! I could watch Ratigan devour the scenery until the cows come home, but let’s get into what makes this character so despicably evil. Some of Ratigan’s crimes include drowning countless widows and orphans, meaning that Ratigan has no problem murdering innocents in cold blood if it’ll get him what he wants, something that makes it especially chilling when he threatens Olivia later in the film because you know he’s not bluffing. And it’s not just his victims who should be afraid. His own henchmen need to watch their backs as well. He keeps them in line mostly through fear, but when one of them, like this poor drunk bastard named Bartholomew, steps out of line and does something stupid like call him a rat, a major no no when it comes to Ratigan, they’ll end up getting fed to his enormous pet cat, Felicia. That’s the thing with Ratigan. While he tries to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, there is a bloodhungry monster lurking just beneath the surface that’s barely being held back. And when, at the very end, that monster is fully unleashed, it's downright terrifying. What I think sets Ratigan apart from the average Disney Villain is the fact that he’s already got several successful evil schemes under his belt, the one we see in the movie is merely his latest and most ambitious Sure Basil was there to foil some of them, but Ratigan always avoided capture so he at least gave as good as he got. Actually, that’s one of my favorite aspects of the film, the rivalry between Basil and Ratigan. Even though The Great Mouse Detective is not a sequel, the game between these two arch-rivals has been going on for some time before the opening credits. They clearly despise one another, but also understand and even respect each other’s brilliance. I actually love how Basil is every bit as crazy as Ratigan, but just isn’t held back by morality. So what is Ratigan’s evil plan? Well, he’s kidnapped an innocent toymaker and has threatened his daughter in order to force him to build a creepy robotic duplicate of the queen. He will then replace the real queen with the robot and have it name him king. Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking wanting to get rid of the monarchy makes Ratigan the good guy, but not if something far worse takes its place. Make no mistake, if Ratigan had become king, it would have been bad news for all of England and possibly the entire world. Sadistic, twisted, psychotic and loving every single moment of it, Ratigan could easily have topped this list, alas, he’s only number two. And I’m not even going to bother with any pretense here because you all know who number one is. So ladies and gentlemen, let’s bring on the judge.

1. Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Well, here we are again, with the judge. If you’ve been with me since day one, you’ll recall that the last time we did this, Frollo found himself at number one then as well. Over a year and over one hundred articles later I have done deep analyses on countless Disney Villains, hoping, or perhaps fearing, that I’d find someone worse who could knock this sanctimonious zealot off his perch, but in the end, the judge still reigns supreme as the most evil Disney Villain there ever has been. Why? WHY!? Like you really have to ask!? The dude is a fucking monster! Literally, the first thing we see him do is murder an innocent gypsy woman, on the steps of a church no less, then try to drown her deformed child. And this is in the first five minutes. Fortunately, Frollo’s conscience decided to pick that moment and that moment alone to stop watching porn and eating nachos and get its lazy ass up off the couch to do its job (and even then the kindly archdeacon did most of the heavy lifting) because Frollo instead adopted the deformed child, giving him a the cruel demeaning name of Quasimodo, meaning half-formed or misshapen. And even then, this is not out of any sort of kindness, but rather, because he feels that the child may one day be of use to him. To that end, he then put that kid to work for twenty years as the church bell ringer, reminding him on a daily basis that he is an unholy and unlovable abomination, all while educating him in Frollo’s twisted worldview, manipulating and gaslighting him into submission and obedience. And yeah, lets talk about that world view shall we. Frollo believes that the Romani people living on the streets of Paris are an infestation to be wiped out, believing them all to be Godless heathens who infect others with their corruption. So hellbent is Frollo on accomplishing this horrid goal that he sends for soldiers to be removed from the frontlines of the war to serve in his personal guard, and those soldiers who do not fall in line are brutally tortured in the ironically named Palace of Justice. With the power he wields with an iron fist throughout the city of Paris, even the most petty of criminals cower in fear at the mear sight of the judge. All of that is bad, but it gets so much worse when Frollo meets Esmerelda. Frollo immediately finds himself infatuated with the young woman, despite the fact that he’s forty years her senior and she’s underage. So, we can add pedophilia to the man’s long, LONG, list of crimes. Naturally, when Esmerelda understandably spurns the sexual advances of a twisted old fuck with a serious hate boner for her people, Frollo does not take it well. Frollo vows that if he can’t have Esmerelda, no one will. She will be his and his alone, or she will be burned at stake. To that end, Frollo mobilizes every one of his guards to set fire to any place that might be harboring her, and sentencing anyone who raises moral objection to the Judge’s actions to swift and immediate death. And then, once he finally has Esmerelda in his clutches, and Paris burns due his Frollo’s twisted lust, he offers her a simple ultimatum: give into my sexual advances or burn. Jesus Christ! And you know what the worst part is? Of course you do, but I’m going to say it anyway. Everything Frollo does, every wicked deed, ever horrid manipulation, all of it, Frollo justifies by claiming that it’s in service of the lord. Oh for fuck’s sake, here we go. Look, I am not a religious man, but if you feel that faith in a higher power has granted you guidance or clarity or has any kind of positive influence in your life, then that’s a good thing in my book. What I take issue with are those who use religion as a smokescreen for their twisted and hateful agenda, a mentality that Frollo could be considered the poster child for. There is nothing that can justify mass genocide in the name of one’s own erection, and yet, Frollo believes that as a man of God, he is the hero of the story and all others are beneath him. And what makes Frollo so disturbing is that we all know that there are people out there in the world just like him. It’s for that reason that Frollo’s simple act of sniffing Esmerelda’s hair is a million times more unsettling than Maleficent turning into a dragon. Dragons aren’t real, but old men who prey upon the innocent and use things like law and religion to justify their actions and frame themselves as righteous and pure and their victims as sinful and immoral are all too real, and for that reason, how could I justify putting a man like Frollo any lower than number one. So congratulations Judge, you are still, the worst of the worst.

And that does it for Wes’s Top 20 Disney Villains list 2022 edition. I hope you enjoyed and I’d like to once again thank my friend Meli, Ditto and Michelle for helping me make this list. Frankly I’m glad to have finally finished this one off. It feels like I’ve been working on it for months. Next time it’s a long overdue Patreon request as we take our first true look at the MCU with Thor: Ragnarok.