What Villains Stand Out to Me & Why?

Disney villains are often viewed through a stereotypical lens: green fog, an evil cackle, and some inevitable flaw that results in them being defeated by the hero.  Viewers watch the movie and cheer at every obstacle the villain faces, eventually becoming ecstatic when the wickedness has finally been vanquished.  But not every Disney villain falls in this cookie-cutter category—they aren't always despised, and they don't always exist purely to oppose the protagonist.  Some of the Disney villains that have stood out to me most do so because they aren't the conventional "bad guy".

THE PITY-ENSUING VILLAIN: THE BOWLER HAT GUY

Bumbling, extravagant, and slightly feebleminded, Meet the Robinson's Bowler Hat Guy starts out as an ambiguous evil and morphs into the hilarious character that every viewer feels for.  It may be the way he manages to mess up every endeavor, the tragic childhood backstory, or his transition to the "good side" at the end of the movie, but Michael "Goob" Yagoobian is far from the ordinary villain. In fact, it is revealed that he is not the mastermind behind his evil plan, leading viewers to wonder if he's still to blame just because he isn't wholly responsible.  Regardless, viewers who can peer through his lenses instead of those of the main character of the film, Lewis, can have some interesting conversations on perspective.

THE RELATABLE VILLAIN: YZMA

I have never met anyone who has seen The Emperor's New Groove and says that Yzma isn't their favorite character.  It's an interesting version of the villain trope: suddenly, the villain is the funniest, most relatable character in the film.  It doesn't justify her actions (turning the emperor into a llama can never be justified), but it does make her a hundred times more likable.  Viewers who can laugh at Yzma's witty one-liners and sympathize with her daily struggles suddenly see her as a person, not simply a villain.  When a character like Yzma becomes the most memorable part of the film, it says a lot about the role of villains: that they can do more than just fight the hero.

THE PURE EVIL VILLAIN: CLAUDE FROLLO

I personally view Claude Frollo as one of the most evil Disney villains.  Humorless, coldhearted, and remorseless, he kills heartlessly and carries a bucketload of resentment.  While he has that stereotypical component of villainy, he stands out to me because he takes this quality to the next level.  Gone is the dry sense of humor of Scar from The Lion King, the quirky attitude of Ursula from The Little Mermaid, or the egotistic yet laughable macho of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.  The only defining characteristic of Judge Frollo is his evil, and to me that makes him the epitome of villainy.  Yet he does not represent Disney villains as a whole—he stands to me as the exception rather than the norm.  Most Disney movies drop in humor, subplot, or a tragic backstory to somewhat soften the villain; all The Hunchback of Notre Dame has is Judge Frollo's pure, unapologetic depravity.