13 Disney Villains Taking Over Your Halloween Movie Night
by Explore Disney+ Contributor
October 2, 2026
Build a Halloween Watchlist around Maleficent, Hades, Scar, Ursula, and nine more sinister scene-stealers on Disney+
The heroes can sit this one out. Disney+ has plenty of villainous company for the Halloween season, featuring sinister schemers, fiendish foes, and iconic Halloween characters. This Watch Guide gathers 13 Disney troublemakers whose plots involve a curse, a poisoned apple, a magical contract, or a royal power grab. Each brings a signature scheme and movies worth revisiting, so choose your next wicked watch on Disney+.
Meet Some Of Disney’s Most Infamous Villains & The Movies They Torment
Ready to pick your poison? We’ve paired each Disney villain with the movie that made their role unforgettable, plus more stories to add to your Watchlist.
Maleficent In Sleeping Beauty
Who is Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty?
A royal christening snub sends this evil fairy straight toward revenge. She curses Princess Aurora to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday and fall into an enchanted sleep. Even the Good Fairies’ protection can’t prevent the spell from taking hold, and Prince Phillip, who comes to Aurora’s rescue, faces the Mistress of All Evil in her fire-breathing dragon form.
What makes Maleficent so delightfully wicked?
Few silhouettes announce trouble faster than those horns. Her calm menace gives way to one of the movie’s biggest visual shocks when she transforms into a dragon. The contrast between icy control and roaring spectacle makes her instantly recognizable, while her long association with Disney Villains makes her a perfect Halloween companion.
Add Sleeping Beauty to Watchlist
Add Maleficent: Mistress of Evil to Watchlist
Hades In Hercules
Who is Hades in Hercules?
Running the Underworld has left this god deeply bored and desperate for a promotion. His solution is a hostile takeover of Olympus, but a prophecy puts Zeus’s son in the way. Hades sends his minions, Pain and Panic, to strip baby Hercules of his godhood. Later, he piles on monsters while preparing to unleash the imprisoned Titans.
What makes Hades so fiendish?
Hades’ breezy, fast-talking delivery makes a fantastic misdirect with his enormous ambition. His blue-flame hair reacts to his temper, and James Woods makes every scene sound like the most intense business meeting ever. Behind the jokes sits a plan capable of flattening Olympus, revealing a shadier side to his casual demeanor.
Captain Hook In Peter Pan
Who is Captain Hook in Peter Pan?
Neverland’s most overdressed pirate has one priority: revenge on Peter Pan. Hook commands the Jolly Roger and uses the fairy Tinker Bell’s jealousy to get closer to his target. His scheme puts Wendy Darling, her brothers, and Peter Pan’s Lost Boys in danger, with Mr. Smee standing by as his loyal right hand.
What makes Captain Hook so notorious?
It’s in the name. The hook gives him his renowned appearance, while his crocodile nemesis adds some comedy. Hook commands a pirate crew one moment and scrambles in sheer panic the next. The collision of wickedness and humiliation makes you think twice about following a path of bitterness and revenge.
Add Peter Pan & Wendy to Watchlist
Add Peter Pan: Return to Neverland to Watchlist
Gaston In Beauty and the Beast
Who is Gaston in Beauty and the Beast?
Belle’s unwanted suitor enters the story convinced that admiration is his birthright. He’s a celebrated hunter, but rejection turns his bruised ego into a threat. Once the Beast becomes a romantic rival, Gaston mobilizes the villagers to attack the castle.
What makes Gaston so rotten?
Gaston needs no magic to stir up trouble. His confidence is funny until it becomes coercion, and his popularity allows him to turn private jealousy into mob violence. A villain whose vanity radiates throughout his theme song was always going to make an entrance, and his final assault reveals what was hiding beneath the swagger all along.
Add Beauty and the Beast (1991) to Watchlist
Add Beauty and the Beast (2017) to Watchlist
Mother Gothel In Tangled
Who is Mother Gothel in Tangled?
Eternal youth comes at someone else’s expense. Mother Gothel kidnaps Rapunzel as a baby and raises her in a secluded tower, using the princess’s magical hair to stay young. She keeps Rapunzel close with frightening stories about the outside world, but an unexpected visitor, Flynn Rider, gives her captive a chance to discover what she’s been missing.
What makes Mother Gothel so manipulative?
Gothel wraps every insult in supposed affection. Donna Murphy’s theatrical delivery makes “Mother Knows Best” a dazzling exercise in undermining Rapunzel’s confidence, with each warning giving her another reason to stay indoors. Her vanity drives the scheme, but her ability to make captivity sound like protection gives this villain her unsettling power.
Get ready to see Mother Gothel brought to life by the amazing Kathryn Hahn in the new live-action retelling of the 2010 Disney animated movie. Coming to theaters March 31, 2028.
Scar In The Lion King
Who is Scar in The Lion King?
The royal family tree has a rotten branch. Mufasa’s brother and Simba’s uncle, Scar, resents losing his place in the line of succession, so he kills Mufasa and convinces Simba to take the blame. With the cub in exile, Scar claims the throne, and the Pride Lands pay the price.
What makes Scar so treacherous?
A betrayal within the family makes this power grab devastating. Scar ruins Simba’s childhood as well as an entire kingdom, making his actions both deeply personal and catastrophic. Jeremy Irons’s velvet-edged performance makes every line sound calculated, while “Be Prepared” turns his dark ambition into pure theater.
Add The Lion King (1994) to Watchlist
Add The Lion King (2019) to Watchlist
Add Mufasa: The Lion King to Watchlist
Jafar In Aladdin
Who is Jafar in Aladdin?
Agrabah’s grand vizier spends his working hours advising the Sultan and his spare time plotting to replace him. He needs the magic lamp to succeed, so he manipulates Aladdin into entering the Cave of Wonders. His parrot sidekick, Iago, helps with the scheming, and his cobra-headed staff enables him to hypnotize and control others.
What makes Jafar so devious?
His menace keeps upgrading. The quiet court manipulator soon becomes a ruler with spectacular sorcery at his command, and even the throne room shifts into deep reds and dark golds under his rule. The cobra imagery and Iago’s running commentary at his side make his entrances unmistakable. With an insatiable appetite for power Jafar’s wish is always for more of it.
Add Aladdin (1992) to Watchlist
Add Aladdin (2019) to Watchlist
Yzma In The Emperor’s New Groove
Who is Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove?
Losing her palace job gives this adviser a murderous new career goal. After Emperor Kuzco fires her, Yzma plots to poison him and take his throne, enlisting her henchman Kronk to help. A potion mix-up leaves Kuzco alive and considerably furrier as a llama, sending the scheming pair after him before he can reclaim his kingdom.
What makes Yzma so outrageously wicked?
Yzma approaches villainy with elaborate plans, extravagant outfits, and little patience for her assistant. Eartha Kitt gives every exasperated line a delicious bite, while Kronk’s cheerful distractions keep derailing the drama. Even reaching her secret lab becomes an ordeal when the wrong lever gets pulled.
Add The Emperor’s New Groove to Watchlist
Cruella De Vil In 101 Dalmatians
Who is Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians?
Her plan to turn Dalmatian puppy fur into a coat is as simple as it is horrifying. After henchmen Jasper and Horace kidnap Dalmatian parents Pongo and Perdita’s litter, they hide the puppies at Hell Hall alongside dozens more. The dogs’ Twilight Bark launches a rescue effort before Cruella can complete her scheme.
What makes Cruella De Vil so twisted?
Cruella’s infamy is so well-known that she gets a theme song before she has properly entered the story. Her unmistakable black-and-white style remains iconic, decades later. Cruella turns vanity into something sinister and pursues her puppy prey without restraint. Betty Lou Gerson’s performance makes the result outrageous by design and impossible to forget.
Add 101 Dalmatians (1961) to Watchlist
Add 101 Dalmatians (1996) to Watchlist
Lady Tremaine In Cinderella
Who is Lady Tremaine in Cinderella?
Cinderella’s jealous stepmother reduces her to a servant while favoring her own daughters, Anastasia and Drizella. Lady Tremaine tries to keep Cinderella from the royal ball with an impossible list of chores, then locks her away when the Grand Duke arrives to test the glass slipper. Every move protects her daughters’ chances of marrying the prince.
What makes Lady Tremaine so cold-hearted?
“Above all, self-control.” Lady Tremaine lives by her own rule. Eleanor Audley’s cool, deliberate delivery and the character’s narrowed stare make every polite word feel threatening. Her cruelty stays perfectly composed, proving that a locked door and control of the household can be as dangerous as any curse.
Add Cinderella (1950) to Watchlist
Add Cinderella (2015) to Watchlist
The Evil Queen In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Who is The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?
Snow White’s stepmother cannot bear losing her status as the fairest in the land, so she adopts a disguise as an old peddler and offers the princess a poisoned apple. The stately ruler and the hunched old crone are two faces of the same obsession.
What makes The Evil Queen so chilling?
She helped write the visual language of animated villainy. The Magic Mirror and poisoned apple still signal danger in an instant. Her transformation adds storybook horror, and her place in Disney’s first animated feature makes her a keystone in movie history. Elegant in the castle and terrifying at the cottage, she owns two unforgettable screen personas.
Add Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Watchlist
Add Snow White (2025) to Watchlist
Ursula In The Little Mermaid
Who is Ursula in The Little Mermaid?
Ariel meets this banished sea witch at the moment she is most eager to join the human world. Ursula offers legs in exchange for the mermaid’s voice, concealing her trap in the language of a helpful deal. The bargain also serves a bigger plan to take King Triton’s realm.
What makes Ursula so conniving?
Every sales pitch needs fine print, and hers could sink a kingdom. Pat Carroll gives the dealmaker a melodramatic sting, while “Poor Unfortunate Souls” lets her sell exploitation with a grin. The stolen voice makes the cost intensely personal, and Ursula’s ambition spreads the danger across the kingdom.
Add The Little Mermaid (1989) to Watchlist
Add The Little Mermaid (2023) to Watchlist
The Queen Of Hearts In Alice in Wonderland
Who is the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland?
Wonderland’s royal hothead expects every game to go her way. Alice encounters the Queen of Hearts on a croquet lawn where flamingos serve as mallets and hedgehogs become balls. Keeping up with the unusual equipment is difficult enough, but displeasing the queen brings a much bigger problem. Her favorite punishment is ordering heads to roll.
What makes the Queen of Hearts so fearsome?
A tiny crown sits above an enormous temper. The queen’s booming commands and sudden outbursts turn a ridiculous afternoon into a royal nightmare, with everyone scrambling to keep her happy. Her playing-card court supplies the spectacle, while her complete inability to tolerate disagreement makes even a game of croquet feel dangerous. Being a bad sport has rarely looked so threatening.
Add Alice in Wonderland (1951) to Watchlist
Add Alice in Wonderland (2010) to Watchlist
More Classic Movies To Watch On Disney+
These 13 evildoers prove that every memorable Disney hero needs a formidable villain standing in their way. Many of their schemes unfold in Disney Princess stories, where curses, contracts, and poisoned apples raise the stakes. When the credits roll, explore more family Halloween movies and shows on Disney+, or the wider Disney collection for the next wicked addition to your Watchlist.
