Many villains in Disney's animated films have utilized some form of magic. They usually wield dark magic, but villains who get their hands on more power tend to use other types of magic or magical objects in nefarious ways. The most memorable villainous magic users showcase high levels of magical expertise.
They not only have a great deal of power, but they have the skill and knowledge of said power to back it up. This knowledge is used to perform supernatural acts such as spell-casting and potion-making, both of which can be nearly lethal to the heroes.
10 Morgana's Magic Is Vastly Inferior To Her Sister's
The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea
Morgana was Ursula's little sister, and when she made her appearance in The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea, she relied more on her minions than her magic. She was extremely incompetent when it came to wielding magic, as she spent years trying and failing to turn Undertow back into a shark after King Triton turned him into a piranha.
Morgana's inability to use magic as efficiently as her sister is something she was particularly sensitive about, as their mother constantly compared Morgana to Ursula. Once Morgana got her hands on the trident, she was able to force everyone to bow to her, but this still paled to what Ursula did with the trident.
9 The Horned King Doesn't Use His Magic Often
The Black Cauldron
The Horned King was the primary villain in The Black Cauldron, and while he is capable of using magic, he wasn't seen using it often. He used his henchmen or creatures get what he wanted, such as when his Gwythaints captured Hen Wen. He used magic when he appeared in front of his henchmen in a crackle of lightning and a bright orange flash.
The Horned King also used the Black Cauldron to give life to various skeletons to create an army of the dead. Given that he relied on the power of the cauldron rather than his own magic, his magic was clearly not enough to accomplish his goal of becoming all-powerful.
8 Dr. Facilier Can Only Conjure Things For Others
The Princess And The Frog
Dr. Facilier was a voodoo witch doctor in The Princess And The Frog, who took advantage of naive people by making his supposed solutions to their problems backfire spectacularly. With a vial of pink powder, he made a bald man grow a full head of hair, which later spread everywhere. The same powder turned Tiana back into a human and created illusions of her dream restaurant and her past.
With his tarot cards, Dr. Facilier could see a person's past, present, future, and desires. His major scheme in the movie was centered around the talisman given to him by his spirit "friends", and when it broke, it was quickly revealed that his power was insignificant compared to theirs. It also didn't help that he couldn't conjure anything for himself, which is why he relied so heavily on making deals and trickery.
7 Madam Mim Can Transform Into Anything She Wants
The Sword In The Stone
In one of The Sword In The Stone's songs, Madam Mim shows off her magical expertise the most out of all of Disney's villains. She can change her size, alter her appearance, fly, teleport, and disappear. In her duel against Merlin, she proves that she can transform herself into a wide variety of different animals.
Like Maleficent, Madam Mim is capable of transforming herself into a dragon, although she is not nearly as powerful or as intimidating. Although Mim breaks the rules of the duel multiple times, Merlin is able to defeat her with his superior knowledge.
6 Lady Tremaine Found The Wand Easy To Use
Cinderella III: A Twist In Time
Lady Tremaine got her hands on the Fairy Godmother's wand in Cinderella III: A Twist In Time, and mastered its power immediately after learning the magical incantation. This single incantation allowed her to do anything she wanted, even turning back time to the point where Cinderella was locked up.
Lady Tremaine would also use the wand to make the glass slipper fit Anastasia, make Prince Charming think he danced with Anastasia, and even trapped Cinderella in a pumpkin carriage. Although the simplicity of the spell-casting made it seem easy to master, Lady Tremaine was eventually defeated since she had no idea her spells could be reflected.
5 The Evil Queen Is An Expert At Potion-Making
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
The Evil Queen in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs owned several texts on alchemy, potions, disguises, witchcraft, black magic, and black arts. When creating the potion to turn herself into an old woman, she was able to look at the list of ingredients and determine the purpose of each one.
The Evil Queen was even able to summon a blast of wind as one of the ingredients, and a thunderbolt to mix it well. She brewed a poison that would induce sleeping death, which proved to work on Snow White.
4 Hades Has The Powers Of A God
Hercules
Hades was the god of the Underworld in Hercules, and he had a few supernatural powers. He had control over fire and smoke, with his fire reaching temperatures so high that it decimated an entire forest. He can turn his arms into smoke, which he used to capture Pain and Panic. This smoke was also used to teleport himself and others, and was seen binding Meg in smoky chains.
Hades was capable of sealing away Hercules' powers through a deal, and he used telekinesis to pin Hercules down with a dumbbell. Hades may not be physically powerful, but his magic could accomplish a great deal.
3 Ursula's Skills Make Merfolk Flock To Her
The Little Mermaid
Ursula had immense talent with potions and spell-casting in The Little Mermaid. Although many merfolk knew what kind of person she was, many flocked to her anyway in hopes of magical solutions to their problems. Ursula was able to transform people, as seen when she made Ariel a human and disguised herself as Vanessa. The magical power of her contracts were stronger than Triton's power, as he couldn't nullify her contract with Ariel.
Ursula was also capable of enchanting Eric into nearly marrying her, and could communicate with Flotsam and Jetsam from afar. Even before getting her hands on Triton's trident, she had power over the skies, summoning storm clouds and lightning bolts to transform herself back into her true appearance. After getting the trident, she could create whirlpools, and grew to a colossal size.
2 Maleficent Was A Difficult Sorceress To Defeat
Sleeping Beauty
Maleficent possessed more cunning and power than the three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty, as they could only alter her curse because they cannot remove it. She showcased her control over fire and lightning, which preceded her entrance. Maleficent even used a lightning spell on her minions when she discovered they were looking for the 16-year-old Aurora in cradles.
After finding Aurora, Maleficent fulfilled the curse by hypnotizing Aurora into pricking her finger on a spindle that Maleficent conjured. Maleficent was also capable of casting a spell from afar to surround Aurora's castle with thorns, and even transformed herself into a dragon. When her curse was changed to put Aurora to sleep, she knew that the sleep would prevent her from aging, and planned to take advantage of this by preventing Phillip from awakening Aurora until he was an old man.
1 Jafar's Wishes Made Him Exceptionally Skilled And Powerful
Aladdin
Jafar used his sorcery to take advantage of the Sultan while he was the Royal Vizier in Aladdin. He used his snake staff to hypnotize the Sultan into handing over his ring. Jafar was also able to effectively disguise himself, appearing before Aladdin as a prisoner in order to convince him to retrieve the genie's lamp.
Jafar's magical skill only grew when he wished to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world, then a genie. With this kind of power, Jafar could produce and transform anything, and although he was bound by the rules of a genie, his magic was otherwise limited only by his imagination.