Highlights
- The Disney animated pantheon is known for its assortment of dastardly villains, but not all of them wear their villainy on their sleeves.
- Some Disney twist villains are well-telegraphed and justified, while others are mishandled and come out of nowhere.
- These surprise antagonists, like Commander Rourke, Professor Callaghan, and Stinky Pete, add excitement and complexity to Disney films.
The Disney animated pantheon is well-known for its assortment of dastardly villains. After all, what good is a hero intent on battling evil, without... any evil for them to battle? Disney has treated viewers to some truly sinister faces over the years. However, not all Disney evildoers wear their villainy on their sleeves.
In many cases, the reveal of their identity is a major twist within the film's narrative – with some being better telegraphed (and justified) than others. Here's a selection of these ever-controversial surprise antagonists, with a particular look at some you may not have thought of. Spoilers, naturally.
10 Commander Rourke – Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Though he might not be the first baddie to spring to mind for many, Lyle Rourke is notable for being Disney's first real foray into twist villain territory, so he's getting a nod. In fact, more accurately, the entire secondary cast of Atlantis is a twist villain, revealing themselves as they do in the third act to be in on Rourke's scheme.
Focusing on the commander himself, though, he's quite thin as antagonists go. From his first spoken dialogue "This trip will be enriching!" astute viewers will doubtlessly clock his intentions. He's after the power source of Atlantis, a heart-like crystal that keeps its ancient citizens alive. The reason? Money. Big whoop.
9 Professor Callaghan – Big Hero 6
The true identity of Yokai, the Microbot-swiping evildoer from Big Hero 6, is often pointed to as a shining example of how Disney twist villains can be horribly, horribly mishandled. We never see Callaghan as anything other than a prim, proper, intelligent university teacher, and we're given no reason to believe he'd be so twisted– or that he'd even survive the fire which seemed to have killed him.
Cut to the third act, and he's unmasked, claiming he did it all to save his daughter from a parallel dimension – a concept introduced only one scene prior. His response when confronted about Tadashi's death? "That was his mistake!" A real charmer.
8 Stinky Pete – Toy Story 2
A battered vintage prospector doll, Pete starts off as a kindly old man who wants nothing more than to spend his waning days behind glass. However, as soon as things start not going his way, the gloves come off.
Pete works as a villain since you can buy his motivation. He's spent decades unloved and sat on a shelf, and here comes his chance for admiration– only for it to be wrested away by some cowboy. Not on Pete's watch. He seals Woody in a case, kicking off a high-stakes finale chase through the airport.
7 Evelyn Deavor – Incredibles 2
What would a superhero movie be without a villain armed with an emotionally-scarring backstory? While Incredibles 1's Syndrome opted for the tried-and-true 'my mentor rejected me' route, Deavor takes the Batman approach. A burglar killed her parents after superheroes failed to respond to their distress call. So logically, she concludes all heroes must be outlawed so they can never help anyone again.
She achieves this by piggybacking off her brother's successful tech company to put mind-controlling goggles on the supers, so they'll defame themselves on live TV. Why nobody puts up their hand and notes, 'Hey, these supers appear to be wearing strange goggles and speaking very robotically,' is anyone's guess.
6 Dawn Bellwether – Zootopia
Zootopia is a great film that didn't really need a villain. In a story where the antagonistic force is prejudice, something abstract pointing fingers at one responsible party feels pointless. Alas, point they did; at Dawn Bellwether, the meek mayor's assistant.
This cunning sheep-in-sheep's-clothing masterminds a species-supremacist scheme intended to subjugate predators across the city. By darting certain animals with a rage-inducing toxin, she turns the rest of the population against them, installing herself to power in the process. Dawn is a good analog for politicians leveraging fear for gain– but within the film's narrative, she's not well-built up and comes out of nowhere.
5 Prince Hans – Frozen
One of the more famous twist villains, Hans scores points for being the first instance of a time-honoured dashing prince turning out to be crooked. At the film's climax, he refuses to give Anna the kiss that'll save her life, being content instead to let her die so he can assume the throne.
The only other obstacle to this rule is, of course, the ice-bender herself, Elsa, but Hans schemes to deal with her with a good old-fashioned decapitation. Good thing Kristoff and Sven are there to distract him and that Anna arrives in time to block the killing blow. While Hans' reveal is a shocking one, it ultimately feels like a bit of a cheat as there aren't really any signs pointing toward his true nature. It's telling the sequel omitted him entirely.
4 Te Fiti – Moana
A very interesting subversion of the twist villain formula; here, the reveal is that the villain turned out to be a good guy, rather than vice versa. Throughout the film, Moana is pursued by the terrifying Te Ka, a gigantic woman made of lava fuelled by pure rage. She and Maui are looking for Te Fiti, an ancient island goddess who they believe can restore life to the ocean.
The answer, it transpires, was in front of them all along. When Moana gives Te Fiti's heart to Te Ka –in an ethereally beautiful sequence, her fiery exterior crumbles away, revealing Te Fiti beneath. The goddess hadn't been far.
3 Henry J. Waternoose – Monsters, Inc.
Another instance of the 'corrupt businessman' archetype, Mr. Waternoose is nonetheless interesting as he expresses clear remorse for his actions. You can almost empathise with him; here he is, the inheritor of a longtime family business going down the toilet. Desperation can drive someone to nefarious ends. Of course, his methods cross the line once he begins kidnapping children to fuel his scream extractor.
That doesn't make him any less upset when he has to banish Mike and Sulley for uncovering his plot; employees he respected as friends. While Randall, his accomplice, is enjoyably one-note, Waternoose has depth, making it all the more intense to see him go off the rails in the final chase.
2 Miles Axlerod – Cars 2
Axlerod from Pixar's Cars 2 deserves a mention, thanks to the sheer, absurd complexity of his scheme. After purchasing a gigantic oil field, he noticed that markets were trending towards renewable fuel. And rather than marketing his fuel better or shifting demographics, he instead hatches a multi-million-dollar plot involving spies and global travel to discredit alternative fuels.
His plan to turn cars off renewable energy? Invent a new renewable energy, Allinol. He will then ruin the reputation of Allinol via his World Grand Prix, wherein his stooges will use a laser to make those using Allinol crash. Especially hilarious is that his goons are staffed entirely by hundreds of petrol-based cars – cars he probably could have just sold his oil to in the first place. Never change, Miles.
1 King Candy (Wreck-it Ralph)
King Candy or, more precisely, his true identity Turbo, is the cream of the evil-doing crop. From the outset, it's clear he's not all there, ranting at Ralph that Vanellope can't race; but then he appears to justify his harsh stance by explaining that, if she wins, players will think Sugar Rush is glitching and get the game unplugged. Ironically, he was proven right in the sequel.
These carefully-chosen words drive Ralph to break Vanellope's kart, 'for her own good.' However, Candy's schemes are unravelled when it turns out he's Turbo, a bitter 8-bit racer from a rejected game who couldn't stand Sugar Rush's popularity. He usurped Vanellope as ruler and deleted everyone's memories of her. Ultimately, his undoing comes when he merges with a CyBug and is pulled into a volcanic bug-zapper. Have some candy, jerk.