10 Female Disney Villains That Rival Abuela at Her Scariest

By San Antonio Current Staff

If you haven’t seen Disney Pixar’s Coco yet, you’ll want to get down to the theater ASAP. It’s sure to give you all the feels! Anyone who’s been chased around the house by their abuela with a chancla knows one of the scariest parts was when Abuela got angry. Since Disney has a long line of infamous female villains, we’ve rounded up a few of the scariest ones, though we don’t know how they’d do up against abuela and her chancla.

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Ursula, The Little Mermaid (1989)
Perhaps one of the most recurring nightmares from my early childhood had to do with this creepy half octopus/half woman from The Little Mermaid. I can't be the only one who would hide her face behind her fingers during Ursula's slimy performance of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" as she sings in her low register and works her black magic. She lures the sea folk in with her promises, but ultimately tricks her victims and makes them prisoners. That's some sick stuff.
Photo via The Little Mermaid / Facebook

Yzma, The Emporer's New Groove (2000)
Yzma is tired of being an advisor to the throne, she wants to be on it. In a devious scheme that goes all wrong, she tries to take out the emperor so that she can be the ruler. Even if her methods are hilarious and her sidekick Kronk brings a bit of comic relief, she's still pretty creepy.
Photo via The Emperor’s New Groove / Facebook

Stepmother/Lady Tremaine, Cinderella (1950)
You know a character is going to be evil when her cat's name is Lucifer. In one harrowing scene, Lady Tremaine tries to prevent Cinderella from trying on the glass slipper by cornering her in the attic and trapping her inside. The menacing music and stepmother's sinister smile after she locks the door despite Cinderella's screams makes it for a pretty dark scene. She's definitely a villainous character that will go down in history.
Photo via Cinderella / Facebook

Mother Gothel, Tangled (2010)
In probably the most abusive and manipulative relationship portrayed in a Disney movie to date, the mother from the 2010 adaptation of Rapunzel keeps her "daughter" locked in a high tower away from the world (folks with strict parents – aka all Mexican parents – know the feeling all too well). She pretends it's for her own good, but in reality she wants to use Rapunzel's hair which has magical qualities. She's basically the worst mom ever.
Photo via Tangled / Facebook

Cruella de Vil, 101 Dalmatians (1961)
Her name has "devil" and "cruel" in it. You would think Roger and Perdita would've taken a hint. It's the perfect title for SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO KILL PUPPIES. She definitely gives the other female villains a run for their money in the crazy category. Her towering presence and outrageous outbursts are sure to bring up those scary childhood memories, because we all had that distant older relative that scared the heck out of us for no valid reason.
Photo via One Hundred and One Dalmatians / Facebook

Queen/Witch, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
Consumed by jealousy, the queen in Snow White is ready to straight up murder innocent woodland-creature-loving Snow White to maintain her status as "fairest of them all." In a scene that's the stuff of nightmares, the queen turned witch presents a shiny, poison apple to Snow White with her bony fingers and claws. After Snow White takes a bite and collapses she laughs maniacally (imagine if abuela did that every time she fed you tacos). The queen in this Disney classic sets the bar pretty high for terrifying villains.
Photo via Snow White / Facebook

Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Despite the incredibly unsavory green pallor of her skin and creepy crow sidekick, Malleficent's horned headwear gives her away as being pretty evil. Well, that and the fact that she curses a baby within the first 20 minutes of the movie. Would an abuela ever do that? I don’t want to find out.
Photo via Sleeping Beauty / Facebook

Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Ruling with an iron fist and a catchphrase that would make anyone tremble in fear, the Queen of Hearts is sweet one moment and then has an outburst the next often involving a beheading. That’s basically all of our abuelas when she sees that we didn’t clean our plate or didn’t ask for a fourth round of tacos. Helena Bonham Carter brilliantly reprised the role in the live action remake, proving that The Queen of Heart's tyranny knows no bounds.
Photo via Disney’s Alice in Wonderland / Facebook

Madame Medusa, The Rescuers (1977)
Madame Medusa's red hair isn't the only diabolical thing about her. Her greed and determination to get her grimy hands on the diamond buried deep in a coal mine leads her to put sweet little Penny in serious harm to secure it. Her crocodile sidekicks and emasculating comments (talk about triggered) towards her henchman Mr. Snoops makes her one of the most predatory and crazy female villains in the Disney cannon.
Photo via The Rescuers / Facebook

Dawn Bellwether, Zootopia (2016)
Female villains seemed to be on hiatus at Disney for a while until critically acclaimed Zootopia was released last year. Who knew the fluffy lamb would be the devious mind behind the evil scheme? I mean you can't make that stuff up! Oh and and I guess a spoiler warning is in order.
Photo via Zootopia / Facebook