19 most dramatic and over-the-top Disney villains

Prince John — Robin Hood

Robin Hood is best known for the unexpected sexual awakening of so many people across the world, with his roguish ways and honest chivalry, but he would be nothing without a worthy foe. Fortunately he finds one in the phony Prince John.

With some clear mommy issues and an inferiority complex as subtle as his enormous jewels,  Prince John is the unscrupulous, devious leader of England, who taxes the poor to give to the rich — the exact opposite of Robin Hood’s noble ethos.

He is under no illusion that his policies are starving the poor people of England, but he doesn’t care, because he is in the 1%. He is fully aware of the role he plays, and like any good narcissist, hams it up as much as possible, particularly when partaking in a “cruel chuckle.”

His sense of drama is so well-honed in fact, he speaks as if an audience of thousands is hanging onto his every word. As befitting a character voiced by classic thespian Sir Peter Ustinov, Prince John speaks clearly and loudly as if he is constantly playing Hamlet. He might not know how to govern a country responsibly, but he does know how to project.

Everything Prince John is extra. We’ve never seen someone get so excited by taxes. His traveling party moves like a parade, he alliterates almost everything he says (from “corpulent cleric” to “reluctant reptile”) for no apparent reason, and literally sleeps surrounded by bags of gold, while dreaming of his arch enemy Robin Hood.

Prince John is dramatic in an entirely different way to, say, Cruella De Vil, but oh my goodness, that makes him no less of an absolute over-the-top nightmare.