20 best movie villains of all time

Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

From one badass animated villain to another, you couldn’t have a list of villains without the one and only sea witch, Ursula. Like Yzma, Ursula seeks out revenge on her rival — in this case, King Triton — and wants to be the one in power. She’s one of the most iconic animated villains of all-time, and for good reason.

We all know Ursula from the 1989 Disney classic The Little Mermaid. The buxom sea witch gets a visit from Ariel the mermaid after Triton’s daughter falls in love with a human. She offers Ariel a deal: she can be a human for three days, but to make the transformation permanent, she has to get the “kiss of true love” from Eric. The price for this human transformation is Ariel’s beautiful voice.

Ursula is diabolical and plots against Ariel to keep her and Eric apart. She is a true evil queen, and the best part about this character is that she was reportedly inspired by drag cult icon Divine. Both her bodacious figure and crude, angry demeanor were used as the basis of the Disney villain, which might be why we love Ursula so much.

Ursula never gets a redemption tale in the film, but you can’t help but love her evil ways. She is determined to get her way no matter what, and she wants her revenge on King Triton for banishing her from Atlantica. She doesn’t just want to take down the king, but she wants to be Queen of Atlantica. You have to give her props since she almost gets her way, but her plans are foiled by Ariel and Prince Eric.