WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Raya and the Last Dragon, now playing in theaters and on Disney+.
Unlike so many classic Disney fantasy adventures, Raya and the Last Dragon doesn't have a traditional villain whose schemes force the hero into action. Instead, the film takes a much more complex route, with the antagonists -- such as they are -- merely desperate leaders what they can to protect their people safe in an increasingly dire situation.
The primary threat is the Druun, a Lovecraftian-style ancient evil of black smoke and purple energy that turns any person it engulfs into stone, with no detectable motive. That said, there are other obstacles that stand in the heroes' way: rivals who also seek the pieces of the fractured Dragon Stone, and the legendary water dragon Sisu.
Raya and the Last Dragon is set in Kumandra, a fantasy world in which humans once lived in harmony alongside dragons, which sacrificed themselves to save the kingdom from the Druun. Five hundred years later, that evil has been unleashed once more, driving Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran), the warrior princess of Heart land, to find the legendary last dragon, Sisu (Awkwafina) to vanquish the Druun and restore Kumandra. Along the way, Raya and her pet/steed Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) make unlikely allies in 10-year-old Tail land entrepreneur Boun (Izaac Wang), Spine land warrior-giant Tong (Benedict Wong), and Talon land toddler-con artist Noi (Thalia Tran), with her troop of thieving Ongis.
Disney villains have come in all shapes and sizes, but the antagonists in Raya and the Last Dragon shed new light on what it means to be "bad." Each of the five lands of Kumandra has turned to deception and fear to keep its people safe. An old lady who leads Talon land even threatened to deliver Sisu, in her human disguise, to the Druun just outside the walls if she didn't hand over a piece of the Dragon Gem. It's a ruthless act, sure, but one intended to keep her people safe.
At the film's opening, Kumandra is plunged into chaos after the Dragon Gem, once kept safe in Heart land by Raya's father, is fractured when the distrustful leaders of the other four lands seek to possess the powerful artifact that kept the Druun at bay. One character particularly affected by that distrust is Namaari, warrior princess of Fang kingdom. During the course of the movie, the Fang isolates itself from the rest of Kumandra and, thus, the Druun. That works for a time, but it eventually leads the people of Fang to become helpless against the entities they tried to hide from.
Namaari is also Raya's rival, dating back to a childhood betrayal that led to the shattering of the Dragon Gem. In the end, however, it takes every ounce of their character to realize they are simply trying to do what's best for their people, and that they must trust in each other for the greater good.
While there are no true villains, it's important to note that even Raya was, in a way, her own antagonist. Her close-mindedness ended up creating more obstacles; a hesitancy to trust held back progress on her journey more than once. While the film proved she was right to be wary, it took Sisu to show her that sometimes it's important to take a chance on someone.
Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada from a script by Paul Briggs and John Ripa, Raya and the Last Dragon stars Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison and Ross Butler.