EDIT: When I first wrote this blog, I did not know about the general one per franchise rule, so I have come back to edit slightly. Red from All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 is being removed from the list, and someone else is being added instead. To see who it is, READ THE BLOG! Thank you.
In the world of animated movies, there are many many iconic villains. Scar, Jafar, Maleficent, you name it. Everyone at least knows who these guys are. But what about the lesser known villains, and former greats that have faded into obscurity? This top 15 list is here to honor them. Now I would like to inform you that this list is not based on the movies themselves, but on the character. A couple of these guys are from movies that many consider pretty bad, and you are all entitled to your own opinions. But these are mine, so don't bitch about them. Otherwise you may get banned. In which case, I laugh at you! Hahaha! Well, without further ado, here it is.
15. Rameses from The Prince of Egypt. Played by Ralph Fiennes.
In this re imagining of the book of Exodus, Rameses and Moses start out as adoptive brothers. They are close and Rameses is destined to take the crown of Pharaoh when his father passes. He becomes Pharaoh and when Moses comes back from his absence demanding that his people be let go, Rameses is deeply hurt. He believes he is the living embodiment of the gods as all pharaohs do, and his own brother defied him. He holds his ground and despite the suffering his people go through, he refuses to free the slaves. It takes the death of his first born son by the final plague to convince him to let them go. Even afterward, he and his army chase after them and are washed up in the Red Sea and Rameses cries out Moses' name. The only reason he is so low on the list is because he is not inherently evil, or a jerk. He is just unable to cope with losing everything he has ever known.
Motivation: God complex.
14. Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood. Played by Pat Buttram.
All of us know the tale of Robin Hood. He steals from the rich, gives to the poor. Twarts the Sheriff of Nottingham and the usurper of the throne, Prince John. Corts the lovely Maid Marian. It goes the same way in most tellings of the story. And in all of them, the Sheriff is a complete dick who abuses his position. In the Disney adaptation, he is depicted as a wolf in order to reflect his personality. While he may look nice above, he actually is saying that Prince John wishes the kid a happy birthday and thanks him for his contribution. Which was his birthday present from his family. He is such a scoundrel that the friar actually attacks him! And while Prince John and Sir Hiss are also decent villains, it's the Sheriff that stands out the most.
Motivation: Just a complete dick.
13. Professor Screweyes from We're Back! A Dinosaur Story. Played by Kenneth Mars.
(No art available. See Nostalgia Critic's review for depiction of character.)
Professor Screweyes is pretty creepy. He's bitter and insane because a crow pecked out his eye when he was a child. As his name implies, he replaced it with a screw. In his circusof fear, he uses all kinds of things to scare the living hell out of people. When he sees the dinosaurs, he wants to use them as the main attraction. But they were made intelligent by his brother, Captain Neweyes. He basically uses two children who befriended the dinosaurs to get them to take a thing called Brain Drain. It restores the dinosaurs' savagery and he uses them in his circus. I won't ruin how things get better, but his death is pretty damn creepy. When he is left alone with all the crows, they fly onto him and when they fly off, only the screw remains.
Motivation: Insanity.
12. Carface Caruthers from All Dogs Go To Heaven. Played by Vic Tayback. Replaced by Ernest Borgnine from All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 and onward.
Carface is the embodiment of what it is to be a gangster. He lies, he cheats, he manipulates, he even kills. He was once partners with Charlie, the main protagonist, but betrayed him and had him put in jail to cash in on tons of profit thanks to a little girl named Anne Marie, who has the ability to speak with animals, whom he is holding hostage. After Charlie breaks out and comes back, he is clueless as to who got him in jail. That is, until Carface gets him plastered and has him run over. After Charlie comes back and rescues Anne Marie, Carface is hellbent on getting her back and killing Charlie. He does technically succeed at killing him, but he is eaten by an Aligator that Charlie befrended near the film's climax. He has succeeded where no villain has before. Killing the main character TWICE. The only reason he's so low on the list is because he starts to wimp out in All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 and the TV series.
Motivation: Greed.
11. Zira from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Played by Suzanne Pleshette.
Many people dislike Disney sequels. I do too, for the most part. However, The Lion King 2 was one of the few exceptions. Part of what made it successful in my eyes is Zira, the main villainess. She was in love with Scar, and even had a cub, Nuka, with him. It is unknown whether her daughter Vitani is Scar's child, and her son Kovu is adopted. She and others who supported Scar were exiled after Simba's return and have been plotting revenge for years. Zira pushes her son Kovu through hard training regimens so he can kill Simba and become king. After seeing that her son has gone soft and accidentally killed his brother Nuka, she takes matters into her own hands and starts all out war. After convincing from Kiara and Kovu, all but Zira stop the fighting. Her and Kiara have a scuffle and it ends with Zira about to fall into a rushing river full of fallen trees. In the original ending, which is shown as a special feature on the DVD, when Kiara offers to help her, she makes a sinister smile and lets go herself, feeling that she'd rather be with Scar in the next world. Disney thought that was too dark though and decided to make her try to grab for Kiara's hand and slip. However, you can still see her smiling as she falls. Unable to let go of her hate, she'd rather die than forget about it.
Motivation: Revenge.
10. Hexxus from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. Played by Tim Curry.
While many people may disagree with me on this one, Hexxus to me is a really bad dude. I don't care if he's just an allegory for polution. Tim Curry MADE this guy awesome. Even his song 'Toxic Love' just sends chills through my spine. It even had to be edited for the movie. The real version has a few lines that are a little riske for a children's film. Such as 'I feel good, a special kind of horny'. Anyway, Hexxus' deal is that he wants to destroy all living creatures and make the world a dirty and bleak place. The fairies of Ferngully stopped this by sealing him in a tree. Lumberjacks accidentally free him and he feeds of their huge machine. At the end of the movie, he's sealed away again, but not before his badassness kicks in. He turns into a giant skeleton with black sludge and fire all over him. That image scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.
Motivation: Revenge and wanton destruction.
9. Shan Yu from Mulan. Played by Miguel Ferrer.
Shan Yu is the leader of the Hun army which invades China. This man is just evil. Just look into his eyes and try and tell me he has a soul somewhere in there. Unlike most Disney villains of the 90's, he doesn't have a song dedicated to him. What really makes him stand out though is his attitude and resilience. First off, he controls a hawk and has unwavering loyalty from his men. They all scale the Great Wall. When two Chinese scouts are found by the Huns, he sends them off to give the emporer a message. Then has one of his men shoot one of them. After all, how many men does it take to give a message? One. Him and his main crew survive a huge avalanche. He is only killed when he is blasted by a huge firework.
Motivation: Wants to rule China.
8. Grigori Rasputin from Anastasia. Played by Christopher Lloyd/Jim Cummings.
Although he isn't historically accurate to the real Rasputin from the early 1900's, this is a real fun villain. In the movie, he sells his soul and uses magic to spark the Russian Revolution, so the Czar and his family would all be dead. All because he was fired. He "dies" in the beginning of the film but remains in Limbo because Anastasia still survived. He spends the movie trying to kill her but eventually his power source that holds his soul is crushed by Anastasia and therefore he is killed for good, turning into a glowing green skeleton and then to dust. He has mood swings, and abuses his assistant Bartok, and is an all and all funny character. Christopher Lloyd helps in that department. Jim Cummings does his singing voice and that just adds to how awesome he is.
Motivation: Revenge.
7. Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Played by Tony Jay.
What can I say about Frollo that hasn't already been said? Not a lot, really. He persecutes the Gypsies, almost kills a deformed baby saying it's a demon, but is only stopped once the archdeacon of Notre Dame tells him he must care for the child because of his accidental killing of the child's mother. He then has the child live in the belltower, ostricizing him from society, and gives him a cruel name. Quasimodo, which means half formed. He then plots to make Esmerelda his or kill her. During the song 'Hellfire', he pleads to his conscience that these feelings of lust are not his fault, but the manifestations chant out 'mea culpa' which means 'my fault'. This leads me to believe Frollo knows that what he does is wrong, but simply puts on a front. He eventually tries to kill Quasimodo, but is thrown off the top of Notre Dame after a sculpture seems to come to life, snarl, and detatch itself so Frollo falls to his death.
Motivation: God complex and a complete dick.
6. Rothbart from The Swan Princess. Played by Jack Palance/Lex de Azevedo.
Rothbart is by far one of my favorite villains of all time. With his best quote definitely being "Everything you own, everything you love, will be mine." His ambition is to use his magic to take over the kingdom (where this kingdom is, is never specified. I assume somewhere in Europe.) To do this, he kills King William, captures his daughter Odette, and turns her into a swan until she agrees to marry him, therefore making him king legally. Eventually he decides that it's more fun to just take over and disguises an old hag who serves him as Odette and sends her to the ball in order to trick Prince Derek, Odette's love, into making a vow of everlasting love to the imposter, therefore killing Odette. His plan of course fails in the end.
Motivation: Become king.
5. Percival C. McLeach from The Rescuers Down Under. Played by George C. Scott.
I love this guy. McLeach is a poacher in the Austrailian Outback. His main goal is to capture a rare eagle and its eggs. He already got the father and wears one of the feathers in his hat. A young boy falls into one of his traps and McLeach sees an oportunity due to a feather he has from the eagle. He kidnaps the boy, throws the cops off the trail by making it look like the crocs ate him, and locks him in a cage with animals. He boasts a third grade education, has a bad temper, and a damn awesome voice. My favorite scene however, is definitely the scene where he is thinking about how to catch the eagle when the boy won't talk. He's trying to have some eggs, but his pet goanna named Joanna keeps stealing em when he isn't looking. I can't put it into words right, so you'd have to watch it to know what I'm talking about.
Motivation: Greed.
4. Ruber from Quest for Camelot. Played by Gary Oldman.
Okay, where do I begin with him? He starts out as a knight of the round table, betrays Arthur when he doesn't get as much land as he thought he'd get, kills Sir Lionel, and leaves vowwing to obtain Excalibur and take over Camelot. Well that's just the beginning. Here is some of what makes him a great villain. He controls and abuses a huge Griffin which should easily be able to tear any human to shreds. When a dragon confronts him and looks like it's about to eat him, Ruber gets an annoyed look and punches it out. Later you see it being roasted for food. Through the movie he has a twitch in his eyes indicating insanity, and finally he's voiced by Gary Oldman. Also, I won't mention how he dies, but when he does, he looks like he's having an intense orgasm.
Motivation: Greed and is a big jerk.
3. Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective. Played by Vincent Price.
Ah Ratigan. He brings back a ton of good memories from my childhood. Not a lot has been said about him that the Nostalgia Critic hasn't already pointed out. He's one of the funniest Disney villains, he plays the sophisticated socialite but has a raging beast within, goes completely balistic if anyone calls him a rat, and is voiced by Vincent Price. It was reportedly one of his favorite roles, too.
Motivation: To become "supreme ruler of all mousedom."
2. The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Played by John Hurt.
The Horned King is just plain scary. He is in the shadows most of the time, and speaks little, but when he does speak...whoo, it gives me chills! That, and he looks just plain creepy. The whole premise is that he is searching for the Black Cauldron so he can make an army of immortal undead soldiers he can use to conquer the rest of the world. He also has an assistant known as Creeper whom he strangles at the slightest irritation. It's pretty dark for an early Disney movie, but hey, it works.
Motivation: World Domination.
And, the number one most underrated villain is-
1. Blackwolf from Wizards. Played by Steve Gravers.
If you know who this is, give yourself a nice pat on the back! This is Blackwolf, a centuries old mutant Nazi wizard. Yup, you read correctly. Centuries old mutant Nazi wizard. The movie takes place in a post apocalyptic world and Blackwolf, the total dick that he is, uncovers WWII Hitler footage and uses that to rally his mutant troops. He does this because he feels that mutants should rule the world in place of the Dwarves, Fairies, Elves, and other such creatures. He has spent countless years plotting to take over and destroy his brother, Avatar, who banished him in the first place. It's a really good movie and I highly recommend it.
Motivation: World domination and revenge.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my Top 15 Most Underrated Animated Movie Villains. If you feel I missed someone, then feel free to suggest it to me. If you don't agree or think I did something wrong, I welcome criticism. Just don't be a whiny prick about it. Thank you, this is Chupathingy signing off.
