Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent)
We saved one of the best Disney villains for the end. This evil fairy is regal and diabolical, but with a complex background. We’re of course talking about the one and only Maleficent.
Maleficent first sashayed her way onto our screens in 1959 in the Disney animated feature film Sleeping Beauty. She also got the live-action treatment in 2014, in which she was portrayed by Angelina Jolie. She is an evil fairy who gets offended after the King and Queen do not invite her to the christening of their daughter, Princess Aurora. To seek revenge on the royal family, the “mistress of all evil” curses Aurora, saying that she will die when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday. One of the good fairies changes the curse so that Aurora won’t die, she just falls into a deep slumber, only to be awakened by true love’s kiss.
Even when the good fairies try their best to protect her, you can never outsmart Maleficent, and she ends up luring Aurora right into her curse, sending her into a deep sleep. Maleficent is sarcastic, manipulative, and an extremely violent person. When things don’t go her way, she goes into a rage, as most good villains do.
The best thing about Maleficent is her array of powers. She can see into the future, manipulate fire, transport herself, shoot bolts of electricity with a wave of her staff, fly, and transform into a dragon. If you’re not impressed, clearly you’re not paying attention.