Disney movies have some of the most beloved characters who are filled with love, happiness, and kindness. However, they also have genuinely evil and despicable villains who do anything for fame, adoration, or money – no matter who they have to hurt along the way.
Villains like Maleficent and Ursula have gained a wide fanbase who love their villainy and can empathize with them. Contrarily, other Disney villains are pure evil and don't have any redeeming qualities that would help them become relatable.
10 Hans Takes Advantage Of Anna's Kindness
Hans is the Prince of the Southern Isles, and he meets Anna on Elsa's coronation day. They literally run into each other, and both seem to fall head over heels. However, knowing that Anna has been locked in a castle her entire life and therefore has no experience with others, Hans targets her and proposes marriage that same night.
Viewers later find out that Hans doesn't care about Anna and plans on killing her and Elsa to take Arrendelle's throne for himself. The sweet, naive princess Anna deserves someone who loves her, like Kristoff, and fans despise Hans for taking advantage of her.
9 Claude Frollo Is A Racist And Ableist
Claude Frollo is the government official in The Hunchback of Notre Dame who is Quasimodo's designated caregiver, the lovable protagonist with physical differences. Due to his unique appearance, Claude Frollo locks Quasminodo in the bell tower to keep him away from others.
Not only does he keep Quasimodo isolated, but he's also racist and plans to eradicate the Romani people, or gypsies, as he refers to them. He believes he's doing God's will by "cleaning" the Parisian streets. Claude Frollo is one of the most complex Disney villains – he despises anyone different from him, making him one of the most hated.
8 Gaston Won't Take No For An Answer
Belle's beauty infatuates Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, although the intelligent and ambitious protagonist wants a man with brains. Gaston is muscular and conventionally attractive and therefore used to getting attention from any girl he encounters, aside from Belle. He states that he plans on marrying and having children with her, which repulses her.
Although she repeatedly states she wants nothing to do with him, he refuses to leave her alone. When Belle falls in love with the Beast, Gaston can't accept the rejection and sends a hunting party to kill his rival. He's the perfect example of a misogynist who can't understand that some women prefer substance to looks, and women have choices.
7 Mother Gothel Kidnaps A Baby To Stay Young
Mother Gothel stole baby Rapunzel for her magic powers. Rapunzel's magic hair keeps Mother Gothel young for years as she raises the girl as her own, keeping her locked in a tower and afraid of the outside world. Kidnapping a baby from her loving parents to raise her in isolation for personal gain is a treacherous act.
Later, Rapunzel's escape and her adoration for Flynn threaten Gothel, and so she intends to kill him and lock her "flower" away forever. Throughout the movie, Mother Gothel's actions are despicable, and she gets a very karmic ending that sets Rapunzel free.
6 Ernesto De La Cruz Murders His Friend For Fame
Ernesto de la Cruz is a famous musician in Coco renowned for his beautiful love songs and charming good looks. Initially, Miguel believes Ernesto is his great-great-grandfather and goes to the Land of the Dead to unite with him. However, once there, he learns that his great-great-grandfather is actually Hector, Ernesto's best friend and music partner.
Ernesto wanted to take Hector's great songs for himself and become famous, so he murdered his friend, who had a wife and baby waiting at home. Once Miguel exposes Ernesto as a villain, Hector makes amends with his family, who for decades thought he abandoned them. No amount of fame or glory is worth betraying a friend, much less murdering them and taking them from their family.
5 Lotso Is A Cruel Dictator
Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, or Lotso, runs the Sunnyside Daycare as a dictator, enraged by his perceived betrayal by his prior child, Daisy. He's cruel and vicious, often torturing toys that don't follow his direction and sending the bigger toys to enforce his rules.
Lotso's punishments include the Time-Out Chair, The Box, and sending toys to the Caterpillar Room for toddlers to torture and mangle. Eventually, he attempts to kill Andy's toys by putting them in an incinerator at the dump. Torturing others is evil enough, but Lotso also tries to convince the toys to turn against Andy and instill the same deep anger and resentment he feels.
4 Aunt Sarah Gets Lady Kicked Out
Aunt Sarah is Jim Dear's aunt in Lady and the Tramp, with a deep love for her two Siamese cats and a disdain for dogs. Sarah offers to watch Jim and Darling's baby, so they can take a vacation, during which her cats wreak havoc around the house. She blames Lady for the mess, causing the dog to run away and live on the streets.
A dog catcher finds Lady and brings her to the pound, where she escapes and goes on an adventure with Tramp. Unfortunately, Sarah and her mischievously cruel cats cause many issues for the Dear family, and she mistreats Lady and other dogs, making her universally disliked among Disney fans.
3 Prince John Steals From The Poor To Make Himself Richer
Prince John is the king in Robin Hood who increases his wealth by stealing from his already poor citizens. Although he takes no mercy on his subjects, he's a crybaby and a coward, setting his guards on others and acting childish any time he's upset.
He revels in gold, jewelry, and crowns, which Robin Hood frequently steals to give back to those who deserve them. Prince John is greedy and cruel toward his subjects, taking any last cent they have, but fans also find him incredibly annoying due to his immature personality.
2 Governor Ratcliffe Wants To Eradicate Native People
Governor Ratcliffe is a colonizer leading a ship to America to steal land for England. He's ruthless, racist, and greedy, longing for gold and popularity, and he often tells his men to kill any Native people they encounter.
Although he believes he's doing good for the world, he isn't. Actual events inspired the film, so it can be maddening and disgusting for viewers to see how colonizers treated Native people while stripping their land from them. Ratcliffe brings greed to light and often introduces children to the crucial topic of the colonization of America and the mistreatment of Native Americans.
1 Charles Muntz Attempts Murder To Preserve His Glory
Fans often forget Charles Muntz among Disney villains, but he's one of the evilest. In Up, Carl and Ellie idolize Charles and want to move to Paradise Falls to follow in his footsteps. When Carl and Russell make it to South America, Carl meets his idol, but everything isn't as it appears. When Charles finds out that Kevin, the bird he's been hunting for decades, follows the pair around, he thinks they've come to steal the bird and claim the glory of a new scientific discovery.
While this couldn't be further from the truth, Charles still makes it his mission to murder the old man and the child, almost succeeding multiple times. He sets Carl's beloved house on fire, takes Kevin away from her babies, pushes Russell out of his blimp, and commits numerous other acts of violence against the unlikely pair. While he's not generally the first Disney villain on fans' minds, he's one of the most ruthless, cold-blooded, and despicable.