Animation
Maleficent
Sleeping Beauty · 1959
The most elegant design in the history of animated villainy
Threat index 85
Sorcerer · Animation
Ursula
A predatory lender with tentacles and a signature
Attribute scores
Power82
Intellect84
Menace76
Fear factor70
Cultural impact90
Charisma96
Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.
Who they are
Ursula's genius is that she never technically cheats. She offers a contract, states the terms out loud, and lets a teenager sign it. The film treats her as a loan shark rather than a monster, and Pat Carroll's performance, full of theatrical relish and mock sympathy, made her the template for the modern animated villain who is having a wonderful time.
Defining traits
Contract magicVoice theftShapeshiftingPredatory negotiationEnormous stage presence
What makes them dangerous
She holds the souls of everyone who ever accepted her help, and the paperwork is binding.
And what undoes them
The contract cuts both ways, and she scales up her power far beyond her ability to control it.
Things you might not know
- The character design was heavily influenced by a famous drag performer of the 1970s and 80s.
- The film's success is credited with beginning the Disney Renaissance, and her song is central to that reputation.
- Carroll described the role as a combination of a used car salesman and a Shakespearean actor.
Why number 3 in Most Charismatic
A performance built from used car salesmanship and Shakespearean theatre, in a song that most people can still recite.
Why number 5 in Animation & Anime
A predatory lender with tentacles who never technically cheats, played with the relish of someone having the best week of her life.
If you like this villain
Animation
Animation
The Evil Queen
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs · 1937
The first, and still one of the most frightening
Threat index 81