Notorious Disney Villains

In Dec 1937, we were introduced to the first Disney Villain. Known as the Evil Queen, from Disney's first full-length animated film, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs,


Queen Grimhilde, best known as "Evil Queen," brought fear into the hearts of young and old through her devious ways. Her obsession to be "The Fairest Of Them All" drove her to getting rid of anyone that stood in her way.A vain and proud beauty, the Queen gained her royal position by marrying a widowed king who died soon after marrying her. She took over the castle and the whole kingdom and was jealous of Snow White's beauty, so she made Snow White a scullery maid. The Queen had a Magical Mirror with which she could look upon whatever she wished. The Magic Mirror shows a haunted, smoky face which replies to the Queen's requests. She regularly asks the Mirror who is the fairest in the land ("Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"), and the Mirror always replies that she is.

One day, the Mirror tells her that there is a new fairest woman in the land, her stepdaughter, Snow White. After observing the handsome prince, singing a love song to Snow White, the Queen, in a jealous rage, orders her faithful huntsman Humbert to take the Princess deep into the forest and kill her. He is ordered to bring back her heart in a box to prove that he had done so. Humbert.Snow White of the Queen's plot and tells her to run away and never to return. In order to escape the penalty, he returns with a pig's heart and gives it to the Queen. When she questions her Mirror, it again replies that Snow White is the fairest in the land, and that she is living at the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs.

Furious that Humbert tricked her, the Queen goes down into the dungeon laboratory and mixes a potion that turns her into an old peddler woman. Her beauty is shrouded in ugliness; a true image of twisted evil. This appearance of the Queen is commonly referred to as The Witch or The Old Hag. She then conjures a poison apple which holds death-like sleep inside it, and proceeds to leave the castle. She is sure that no one would know or perform the counter-curse to her spell, and believes the Seven Dwarfs would bury Snow White alive, believing she was dead. The Queen comes to the cottage, followed by two vicious buzzards, and finds Snow White baking a pie for Grumpy the Dwarf. Somehow, Snow White's animal friends realize that the old hag is the Queen. After an unsuccessful attempt to warn Snow White by attacking the Queen, they go to warn the Seven Dwarfs of the Queen's arrival. The Queen tricks Snow White into letting her inside the cottage and eating the poisoned apple, telling her that it is a magic wishing apple. Snow White takes a bite and falls to the floor, apparently entering into a death-like sleep.

The Queen rejoices in her victory, but is soon discovered by the Seven Dwarfs, who chase her deep into the forest as a great storm started. She climbs up into the mountains, where she stands upon a precipice, that overlooks a seemingly bottomless canyon, and attempts to use a large boulder to crush the Seven Dwarfs to their deaths with a large stick. Just then, a lightning bolt strikes between her and the boulder, destroying the precipice and sending the Queen (along with the boulder) down the cliff, screaming while falling to the jagged rocks below. As the Seven Dwarfs look wide-eyed over the cliff's edge, the buzzards fly past, to eat the evil queen's corpse. Her castle was taken over by the prince and Snow White.

13 years later, in 1950, Disney released it's 11th Animated Classic, "Cinderella," which lead to the historical introduction of Lady Tremaine, aka The Wicked Stepmother.

Lady Tremaine (also known as the Wicked Stepmother) is the primary antagonist of the franchise. Cinderella's father, a widower, anxious for his daughter to have a mother figure, married Lady Tremaine, who is described as "a woman of good family". She was a widow herself, with two daughters from her first marriage. After years of living happily together as a family, Cinderella's father died, Lady Tremaine showed her true colors, cold, cruel, and sadistic: pampering her own daughters while forcing Cinderella to become a maid in her own home. Lady Tremaine allows Cinderella to attend the Royal Ball, on the condition that Cinderella finishes all her chores and finds a suitable dress. When Cinderella appears ready for the Ball in a suitable dress, Lady Tremaine (indirectly, but intentionally) subtly points out the beads and sash that Jaq and Gus stole from Anastasia and Drizella, provoking her daughters to tear apart Cinderella's dress, leaving her unable to attend the ball. When Cinderella, with the help of a airy Godmother, nevertheless attends the ball, her step-family do not recognize her, but Lady Tremaine notes a familiarity about her as she dances with Prince Charming.

News arrives that the Prince will marry the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper accidentally left behind by Cinderella at the Ball. Lady Tremaine, correctly guessing the identity of the mysterious girl at the Ball, quietly follows Cinderella up to the attic and locks her in her room, putting the key in her pocket. However, two of Cinderella's mice friends, Gus and Jaq, steal the key from Lady Tremaine's pocket and succeed in returning the key to Cinderella, who rushes downstairs to the Grand Duke just as he and the footman are about to leave. Lady Tremaine attempts to convince the Duke that Cinderella is merely a servant girl who did not even attend the ball. But the Duke, who is required by the King's Royal Proclamation not to skip one single maiden in the kingdom on his quest for the mysterious girl the Prince danced with, solemnly rebuffs Lady Tremaine. The Duke also finds Cinderella strikingly familiar to him. He proceeds to try the glass slipper on Cinderella. Lady Tremaine then deploys one last trick up her sleeve, tripping up the footman bearing the glass slipper, causing it to smash. She grins with satisfaction as the Duke wails in despair and fear of the King's reaction when he finds out that the slipper was destroyed. But Cinderella still manages to come out on top by revealing that she has the other slipper, and that it fits her foot, proving that she is the girl who danced with Prince Charming, much to her stepmother's horror.

She made her second appearance in the direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True. Anastasia has to go against her mother for the first time. A likable, slightly plump humble Baker falls in love with Anastasia, as does she with him. Lady Tremaine and Drizella do everything they can to thwart this romance, but Cinderella encourages Anastasia to follow her own heart (which she does).

Her latest appearance was in the second direct-to-video Cinderella sequel, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, wherein she resumes her role as the pivotal antagonist. This time, she acquires the Fairy Godmother's magic wand after Anastasia finds it. Lady Tremaine, strangely still bent on ruining Cinderella's life (in what she believes to be revenge) then uses the wand to reverse time to undo Cinderella's "happily ever after"; she manipulates the glass slipper to fit Anastasia so that Cinderella never gets to try on the slipper herself, then she brainwashes the Prince into forgetting Cinderella and marrying Anastasia. When Cinderella tries to set things right, Lady Tremaine thwarts her efforts, aided by the magic wand. Ultimately, Anastasia is her mother's undoing; feeling guilty about marrying someone she does not love and who does not love her, she rejects the Prince at the altar. Furious, Lady Tremaine tries to turn Cinderella and Anastasia into toads, but the Prince defends the two from the spell and reflects it back with his sword, turning Lady Tremaine and Drizella into toads. Anastasia then gives the magic wand to Cinderella so that she can undo all the wrongs that had been committed. During the end credits, Lady Tremaine and Drizella have been restored, but are wearing scullery clothes identical to those Cinderella used to wear, implying that they will be working in the palace as servants as their punishment.

In the Disney animated feature, Alice in Wonderland, the Queen appears as Alice puts it in a moment of temper, a "fat, pompous, bad tempered old tyrant". Her presence is all the more striking because of how tiny her husband the King is (he barely comes up to her knee). Similar to the book, Alice meets three cards painting the roses red, since they planted white roses by mistake. When the Queen arrives, she orders those three cards beheaded, then politely challenges Alice to a game of croquet. The game is eventually spoiled by the Cheshire Cat. The Queen blames Alice for it, but before she can give the order, The King suggests holding a trial for Alice. The Queen, grudgingly, agrees. The Queen calls the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse to witness, who hold an unbirthday party for her and cheer her up considerably. During the party, the Cheshire Cat reappears and upsets the Dormouse. The Dormouse runs all over, and in an attempt to crush the mouse, the King of Hearts manages to hit the Queen with the gavel. The Queen, of course, blames Alice for it, and is going to have her beheaded. But Alice eats mushrooms she had procured earlier, which make her grow bigger. Although Rule #42 says that anyone more than a mile high must leave the court immediately, Alice feels free to call the queen a "fat, pompous, bad tempered old tyrant". Unfortunately, she subsequently shrinks down to her normal size, but flees and is able to escape.

Of interest is the fact that Disney's Queen of Hearts seems to be an amalgamation of the Queen from the book, the Duchess, and the Red Queen of Through The Looking-Glass. When pleased, she can be quite pleasant, but can almost at once change to enraged.

Captain James Hook is the main antagonist of Peter Pan and its sequel. The Captain of a crew of pirates, Captain Hook has long since abandoned sailing the high seas in favor of having revenge on Peter Pan for ruining his life (Peter having cut off Hook's left hand and fed it to the Crocodile, considering it "a playful prank"). Ever since swallowing the Captain's hand, the Crocodile has developed a taste for Hook and is in constant pursuit of the remainder of the pirate's body. While a worthy opponent for Peter Pan, Hook is destined to fail, sometimes because of Pan's ability to fly, but more often through the bumbling actions of his mate Mr. Smee who is unquestioningly faithful to the Captain, but is incompetent and dim-witted. Hook invariably ends up fleeing for his life from the Crocodile, of whom he is understandably terrified. Hook's frustrations are understandable; he lost a hand to his opponent, is constantly pursued by the Crocodile and cannot fly. These factors arguably make him the most sympathetic Disney Villain and one of the most popular. His antics with the Crocodile are considered by many to be the funniest animated scenes ever created by Disney

Captain Hook acts as a menacing and cowardly villain. Due to this, he is made a fool of quite often. Despite this, he's still a very feared character. He is very murderous. In the film, he shot and killed one of his crew members because of his singing. Later in the film, he viciously threw one of his pirates overboard using only his hook. Due to this, he is one of Disney's most popular and famous villains. Hook is extremely intelligent and is even able to trick his nemesis, Peter Pan, into believing he has surrendered. Captain Hook also seems to have a tendency to find loopholes in agreements or contracts, or show obedience to the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of the law. For instance, when Hook was made to promise that he would not lay a finger or a hook on Peter Pan, he agreed, but instead he planted a bomb disguised as a present in Peter's hideout, destroying Peter's residence, stating "I did not say I was not going to do that!" Hook also tricked Tinker Bell into telling Peter's hiding place and Wendy's daughter, Jane, into becoming apart of his evil plan to finally kill Peter and retrieve his treasure.

To make a long story short, Maleficent represents pure evil and boy is she good at it! She is ruthless and devious, and will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Additionally, she is very spiteful, which is shown by taunting Prince Philip after she captures him. Her most famous quote "You poor simple fools, thinking you could defeat me. Me, the Mistress of All Evil." indicates that she is somewhat narcissistic. She thinks herself above everyone, even calling her closest allies "her pets".

Maleficent appears in the form of a tall, slender, beautiful, pale green skinned woman with a narrow face and a prominent chin. She also has yellow eyes and a horned headdress, which is symbolic of her dark magic. She is clad in a black and purple robe with bat wing-like edges, and wears a gold ring with a large mysterious circular black stone in it. Maleficent is an evil fairy, unlike the other three fairy godmothers in the movie (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) and her evil enables her to perform many magical and powerful spells. She carries a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip through which she casts her spells, which include an ability to teleport herself, or send bolts of lightning at enemies. She is also capable of shape shifting at will into numerous forms, including a floating hypnotic light resembling a will-o'-the-wisp and a massive, monstrous black and purple dragon. She is not at all comical or goofy like some of the other Disney villains, although she does at times display something of a dark sense of humor. Her minions are a legion of goblins and troll-like creatures. She is also frequently accompanied by her pet raven called Diablo. She seems to have a minor quirk in regards to holding light objects, as she seems to extend her pinkie when holding a torch in the forward direction, as evidenced during her capture of Prince Philip.

At the christening of the newly born Princess Aurora, the Three Good Fairies come to bestow three gifts on the child: Flora's gift is Beauty, and Fauna's is Song. Before Merryweather has a chance to give the child a gift Maleficent arrives with her Raven, perched on her staff. Angry at not receiving an invitation, she curses the child, decreeing that, before the sun sets on Aurora's 16th birthday, the child shall die, by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She then leaves, cackling. Merryweather, unable to undo the entire curse herself, is able to alter it such that Aurora will not die, but merely enter a deep sleep, that can only be broken with true love's kiss.

Disney's first and most critically acclaimed version of this character appeared in 101 Dalmatians. This version of the character inherited several visual traits from the original Dodie Smith version: her hair, which was black on one side and white on the other; her black dress; and her enormous mink coat, which swings about her like a cloak. This version of the character, designed by Bill Peet and Marc Davis, was also completely skeletal, and smoked constantly, leaving a trail of green, foul-smelling cigarette smoke wherever she went. Her physical appearance and general manner was evocative of some sort of hellish beast or demon, a fact referenced in her name and in a song about her.

Cruella, an old school friend of Anita's, claims that she cannot live without furs. She hires Jasper and Horace Badun, 2 incompetent crooks, to steal Pongo and Perdita's Dalmatian puppies, and buys eighty-four more through legitimate means. She intends to have all ninety nine puppies skinned and made into clothing. The Colonel, Sergeant Tibbs and Captain are among the animals of the countryside to help Pongo, Perdita and the puppies return home, while Cruella and the Baduns pursue them.

Unlike previous Disney villainesses such as The Queen, Lady Tremaine, and Maleficent, Cruella de Vil is not a schemer. Instead, she acts purely on impulse and is thus prone to reckless behavior, particularly tearing through the snowy landscape in her car. Unlike future versions of the character, this version of Cruella was seemingly invincible in the eyes of the Dalmatians, who, though they could just about able to keep Jasper and Horace Badun at bay, were unable to face "That Devil Woman". Their only hope was therefore to flee; Cruella's defeat in the film is brought about not through the deeds of the animals but her own stubborn relentlessness (which, by the end of the film, has seemingly degenerated into a mad fury), and the incompetence of her henchmen.

For the live-action version of 101 Dalmatians, Cruella de Vil was reinvented as the head of a London-based fashion house, House of De Vil. Rather than an old schoolmate, Anita Dearly is one of her employees and, it is implied, her best designer. Cruella first takes a fancy to Dalmatian skin when Anita draws spots on one of her dress designs. Along with Jasper and Horace, Cruella de Vil had a new accomplice: Mr. Skinner, who is given the job of killing and skinning the puppies. As the head of a fashion house, Close's Cruella was given a more varied wardrobe of furs, including an enormous, red cloak, a Siberian tiger pelt, and clawed gloves. This version of the character was less invincible than her animated predicessor, and it is the animals of a nearby farm who defeat her, in slapstick fashion, to leave her muddy, covered in manure but uninjured, after which she is arrested.

Ursula is a very dark and sinister villain. Aside from this, she has a large sense a humor. Ursula is very manipulative and has a talent of making great sense and making great points when trying to strike a deal. Unlike many Disney Villains, Ursula puts her henchmen Flotsam and Jetsam before anything and everyone else. Ursula treats the eels like children and refer to them as "babies" or "poopsies." When the eels are killed accidentally by Ursula because of Ariel, she mourns and takes all of her anger and sadness on Ariel and attempts to kill her once and for all. She is known to fill the heads of merpeople with deceptions; she feeds Ariel with the lie that men on the surface like silence in women, when in fact Prince Eric loved Ariel's voice.

When Ursula first appears in the film, she states through monologue that she once lived in the royal palace of King Triton, the king of the underwater city of Atlantica. She was banished from Atlantica and made her home in the remains of a leviathan where she waits the chance to get her revenge on Triton and become Queen of Atlantica.

The entrance to Ursula's leviathan home is lined with a garden of writhing polyps which were merfolk who had been previously gone to Ursula for help, but found themselves unable to fulfill their side of the bargain, leading Ursula to claim them as her own and added them to her collection. The garden of polyps are part of the original fairytale, but are simply guards of the way to the sea witch's home, and not condemned merfolk.

Ursula commands her minions, moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam, to watch Triton's youngest daughter Ariel, whom might be "the key to Triton's undoing". Opportunity arises when Ursula learns that Ariel has fallen in love with a human, against Triton's explicit rules. Flotsam and Jetsam lure Ariel to Ursula's lair, claiming that only Ursula can help her.

Ursula proposes via the song Poor Unfortunate Souls an agreement where Ursula will transform Ariel into a human, and she has three days to get the "kiss of true love" from Prince Eric. If Ariel fails, she will be turned back into a mermaid and bound to Ursula for eternity. The price for the transformation is Ariel's voice. Ariel agrees and signs a magical contract, so her voice is magically pulled into Ursula's Nautilus shell necklace causing Ursula to laugh gleefully as her plans begin to unfold. Ariel's tail is split into legs. In comparison, the original fairytale involves the sea witch taking the little mermaid's voice by cutting off her tongue, and her tail was transformed into legs by a magic potion which the mermaid was to drink on the beach surface.

When Ariel comes "too close" to succeeding in her task, Ursula takes the form of a beautiful human female with Ariel's voice in order to sabotage her relationship with Prince Eric. Ursula adopts the name of "Vanessa", and when in this form, her voice is provided by Jodi Benson, who also voices Ariel. The concept of the beautiful dark-haired rival for the prince's affections is another plot point adapted and modified from the original fairytale.

As Vanessa, Ursula bewitches Prince Eric to marry her, but the wedding is disrupted at the last minute and the Nautilus shell containing Ariel's voice is broken, breaking the enchantment and returning Ariel's voice back to its owner. However, the sun sets before Ariel and Eric can kiss. Ursula, restored to her normal form, is confronted by King Triton. She reveals her true goal, and forces Triton to choose between his freedom and his daughter's. Triton agrees to take Ariel's place, and Ursula takes the crown and magical trident, making her the Queen of the Seven Seas. Ursula grows large and creates a storm and whirlpool. The Sea Witch then imprisons Ariel at the bottom of the whirlpool. Ursula decides to test her new powers by killing the princess. Ursula fires multiple destructive blasts at Ariel. The princess just barely manages to avoid her own them. Ursula laughs and prepares to get the princess. Right when she's about to get Ariel, Prince Eric impales Ursula. When Ursula was defeated, all the merfolk that had been under her power, including Triton, are released from their bond.

Jafar is tall and thin, and almost always depicted in flowing robes of black, dark red and other moody colors. He also carries a cobra-head staff, which he uses for his sorcery.

Jafar is portrayed as an amoral psychopath who will not hesitate to destroy anyone he perceives as a threat to his own sinister designs. Like numerous clinically-diagnosed psychopaths, Jafar wears a metaphorical mask of normalcy throughout the film, establishing himself as a cool-headed schemer and gaining the trust of those around him, despite his rather untrustworthy physical appearance. Even with this mask, Jafar's psychopathic tendencies tend to seep through and become apparent to the viewer, particularly in the opening sequence, where Jafar displays no remorse in sending Casim the Thief to his death in the Cave of Wonders, simply proclaiming that "Casim was obviously less than worthy" in a rather dry tone of voice. The deleted song "Humiliate the Boy" also establishes Jafar as an emotional sadist, getting a laugh out of seeing "an other fellow's dreams turn into nightmares one by one" and treating the Genie in an especially harsh manner. Jafar also displays narcissistic tendencies, his most obvious ones being his obsessive desire for power and sense of entitlement, as well as manipulating the Sultan to achieve his goals. It is not until Jafar gains control of the Genie's lamp that he fully shows his true colors, becoming arrogant and short-tempered with his subjects after usurping power from the Sultan. It is this impulsive behavior that leads to his downfall, as he uses his third wish to become an omnipotent genie, unaware of the life inside the lamp that he now has to endure.

Jafar is usually shown to be somewhat comedic and plucky (giving a slight human side to his usual evil, a trait not usually seen in Disney Villains), even in his times of evil and cunning, proclaiming "Ewww..." when contemplating decapitation. This, however, doesn't keep Jafar from having a sub-par sense of humor himself, spurting several puns in a row while keeping Aladdin and his friends from getting the lamp during the film's climax ("Your time is up!", "Don't toy with me!", "Things are unraveling fast now, boy!", "Get the point?", "I'm just getting warmed up!"), as pointed out by Hades in Hercules and the Arabian Nights. This comical humor does not carry over in the film's direct-to-video sequel, which aimed to make Jafar more sinister and ruthless.

In Aladdin, Jafar is introduced as the sinister Grand Vizier to Agrabah's Sultan who desires power over Agrabah and lusts over the Sultan's beautiful daughter, Princess Jasmine. He is the second most powerful authority in Agrabah, answering only to the Sultan. He is always accompanied by his sarcastic, devious pet parrot, Iago.

Whilst presenting a charming and respectable exterior to the Sultan and the people of Agrabah, he secretly holds everyone around him in contempt and manipulates the Sultan by means of hypnotizing him with a magical snake-headed staff, which he always carries on his person. He has traveled widely and amassed a wide knowledge of magical artifacts and legends. Until he uses Genie's powers to become a sorcerer, however, his magical abilities are limited to the use of such artifacts as he has collected, and his prowess as an accomplished alchemist.

Sorcerer Jafar

Like some villain characters from other (including non-Disney) franchises, Jafar is attracted to Princess Jasmine, but primarily for her good looking body, and not for Jasmine herself as a person. His final wish was initially for Jasmine to fall desperately in love with him so he could make her into his queen (he and Iago originally planned on killing her as soon as he became Sultan, but at some time later he refused to kill her, instead sparing her life); he first creates a golden crown for her from her shackles to do so with a wave of his hand, saying that a girl as beautiful as her "should be on the arm of the most powerful man in the world". Genie could not grant this wish, but after she spotted Aladdin and Abu above Jafar and the Genie in a balcony, Jasmine got the idea to pretend to do so, and she and Jafar shared both their first kiss together on the lips, in order for Jasmine to distract Jafar's attention from Aladdin as he tried to get the lamp back. (Much earlier, though, he says in a sexist manner that Jasmine's speechlessness is "a fine quality in a wife").


Jafar sucked into the lamp

Jafar transformed himself into a giant cobra to kill Aladdin, but just as he was about to eat him, Aladdin tricked Jafar into using his third and final wish to become an all-powerful genie himself. In this form Jafar was red in hue, possibly to represent his more "evil" nature, contrasting with Genie's blue tone. In Western culture, genies are almost always portrayed as being confined to small oil lamps until they are released to do a human's bidding; Jafar was therefore trapped by his own selfish wish for power. Screaming in rage he was sucked into a black oil lamp, dragging the protesting Iago with him. The Genie then flung the lamp into the Cave of Wonders for 10,000 years.


Jafar in The Return of Jafar.

Jafar returns as the main villain in the film's sequel. In this film he is freed by one of Aladdin enemies, Abis Mal, Jafar forcibly recruiting Abis Mal as his partner by forcing him to waste his first two wishes so that Abis Mal will assist him in his plot against Aladdin in order to get his third wish.

Jafar reunites with Iago (who has freed himself from the lamp a few hours before Jafar) and demands him to lure Aladdin and the Sultan into a trap. Iago successfully gets Aladdin and Sultan to go for a flight on Carpet and while they're gone, Jafar invades the palace and begins to torment Genie and Abu. After the torture, he captures the two and begins the next part of his plan.

Aladdin, Sultan, Carpet and Iago reach the destination and what seems to be a peaceful and relaxing area, turns out to be a death trap as Sultan is kidnapped by hooded men on magic flying horses. Aladdin threatens Iago saying he'll deal with him later and rushes off on Carpet to save the Sultan. Aladdin fails and is thrown down a waterfall by Abis Mal but rescued by Jafar. Abis Mal is in shock but Jafar explains their act of revenge is not completed just yet. Jafar frames Aladdin for the murder of the Sultan who is really being held in captivity by Jafar. Jafar disguises himself as Jasmine and right before Aladdin is exiled, Jafar reveals himself to torture Aladdin even more. Genie is freed by Iago and saves Aladdin.

At the palace, Jafar orders Abis Mal to grant his freedom but before he can, the lamp is taken by Aladdin. Jafar transforms into a genie and battles the heroes. He creates a wasteland in the palace's garden creating pits of lava and knocks out Genie. Before Aladdin is killed, Iago kicks the lamp into the lava killing Jafar. Peace is restored and Iago is welcomed into Aladdin's home.

Scar is elegant and poised, but unkempt and wild looking. He also speaks with an English accent. He is perhaps the most evidently feline lion in the film, lithe and melanistic in appearence with a sleek, black mane, dusty orangey brown fur and distinctive, almond-shaped green eyes. He has large, white paws with long, curving black claws that unlike those of other lions in the film are always bared and never retracted, perhaps alluding to his vicious nature. Scar also sports a white goatee beard, characteristic of villains, particularly the evil twin archetype which is fitting given his relationship with Mufasa. Finally, Scar has a thin, pink gash over his left eye, thus earning him his name.

As revealed in 'Tale of Two Brothers', Scar was once named Taka, and had became upset when he learned that his older brother Mufasa was chosen to be king over himself (which would explain Scar's plot to kill both him and Simba in the film). He wanders off to talk to three hyenas named Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, who tell him that if Mufasa is made to look like a failure, then he will look kingly in comparison and soon take the throne.

This leads to Taka tricking his brother into going down to the waterhole, where a Cape buffalo called Boma is refusing to share the water with the rest of The Pride Lands which, at the time, is having a terrible drought.

While there Mufasa starts to try to reason with Boma, and Taka roars and tells Boma that he must move by order of the Lion King, or fight Mufasa, Boma then charges out of the water at Mufasa. Mufasa escapes with the aid of a Mandrill called Rafiki, and Boma goes after Taka instead.

Mufasa runs back and finds Taka being attacked by Boma's herd. A large buffalo slashes Taka with his horns, causing him to be knocked unconscious. Mufasa leaps in to save his brother and the buffaloes prepare to attack again. Before they can do so, King Ahadi, father of Taka and Mufasa, appears with a large herd of animals that surrounds the Buffaloes. It was during this attack that Taka got a scar on his eye, and re-named himself Scar, as a reminder of his mistake.
The Lion KingEdit The Lion King sectionEdit

Scar remained bitter at his brother but was allowed to live in the Pride Lands. He did not attend Simba's presentation, much to Mufasa's disgust. Scar rapidly became jealous of his nephew, Simba's position as the next king of Pride Rock, and stated plotting to kill both his brother and nephew in order to take the throne himself. He started to recruit hyenas, primarily Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, to build an army. He used bribes of food to get them on his side.

The first attempt the hyenas made was to kill Simba when the young cub and his best friend, Nala entered their territory. When Mufasa foiled that plan, Scar was seen in the background, having been watching the whole thing.

Later, Scar admonishes Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, telling them that they should have killed Mufasa as well as Simba as well. While it is possible three hyenas could have taken down one lion, it is unlikely that all three would have survived; this demonstrates Scar sees them as expendable. He promises during the villain song Be Prepared that under his rule, they need never go hungry again.
Scar in control

With their help, he engineers a wildebeest stampede meant to kill both Simba and Mufasa, tricking Simba into waiting in a gorge under the notion that Mufasa has a 'marvellous surprise' for him. Scar then sends Mufasa to save Simba. Mufasa manages to save his son and ends up clinging to a cliff. He then spots Scar and pleads with Scar to help him. However, Scar grips Mufasa's paws with his claws, and flung his brother off the cliff to his death with the mocking words, "Long live the king". Scar finds that Simba is still alive, and convinces him that it is his fault Mufasa is dead. He then tells Simba to run away, and never return. Scar then sends the hyenas to kill Simba. They fail this task, though Shenzi felt that allowing the cub to flee into the desert would kill him eventually. Scar then took over the Pride Lands, using the hyena clan as muscle to ensure his reign goes undisputed. Under his rule, the Pride Lands were overhunted by both lions and hyenas, and the excess of predators drove away the herds, while a drought deprived them of water.

Even with the hyena Clan and the Pride on the brink of starvation, Scar refuses to allow anybody to leave, descending into madness and insisting that he is still a mighty king. When Simba returns, Scar forces Simba to admit that he is responsible for his father's death. He is about to kill Simba, but in his gloating reveals to Simba that he had murdered Mufasa. Simba then forces Scar to admit this to the entire Pride.

This leads to a battle in which the lionesses, aided by Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa, work together to defeat the hyenas. Simba confronts Scar on the top of Pride Rock, but Scar, knowing he is not strong enough to defeat Simba, is hesitant to fight. He tries to blame everything on the hyenas, not knowing that Shenzi, Banzai and Ed had followed him (presumably to back him up) and hear him. Realizing that to Scar they are completely expendable and have been used as tools, they back away angrily. Scar attacks his nephew, but ultimately loses when Simba kicks him off the edge of Pride Rock, literally overthrowing him. The hyenas then arrive. At first, Scar is relieved to see his "friends", but they reply that according to Scar, they were the enemy. Realizing his mistake, Scar pleads for his life, but the hyenas close in and eat their former King alive.

Hades, The Olympic God of The Underworld from Greek Mythology, was well known prior to his Disney debut. He has been revered over time in the countless stories created with him.

In 1997, Disney developed the hit movie movie, Hercules, and that is where we see Hades in a new way. We find Hades portrayed as a sarcastic, erratic character who is easily enraged. Wearing a long, black robe that is topped with a skull used as a clip. He has medium gray skin with a skinny figure and jagged, pointed teeth. Hades's hair is nothing more then a blue flame that switches to fiery red when angry.

Disney's animated tale is focused on the main character, Hercules. Hades's ultimate goal is to one day, rule all of Olympus and he learns from the Fates that it is to happen. They tell him that when the planets align eighteen years later, Hades will free the terrible Titans, which in turn would land his victory on Olympus. The downfall, If Hercules should arrive and fight, Hades would lose it all. Desperate to make sure did not stop his domination, Hades sets out to end him.