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chillin like a villain

A definitive ranking of the scariest Disney villains from your childhood

They’re a greedy, arrogant, tyrannical bunch.

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON the wall, who is the most evil of them all?

Looking back at the beloved films of our youth, it’s hard to believe we weren’t more frightened of those beastly Disney villains. They really were a ghastly bunch.

DailyEdge.ie has decided to rank the best of them, from the mildly perturbing to the downright terrifying. Here we go!

14. Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)

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Boorish Gaston isn’t scary so much as he is rude and arrogant and more than a bit dim.

However, he displays an above-average level of cold-heartedness when he schemes to get Belle’s father thrown in an insane asylum. Not nice.

Scare-o-meter: 2

13. Captain Hook (Peter Pan)

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Let’s take the fact that he has a hook for a hand into account.

So he has a scary accessory – but despite his menacing appearance, Hook’s bumbling efforts to flee from the Crocodile means he can never be a truly scary villain.

Scare-o-meter: 2.5

12. The Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)

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The Queen of Hearts’ mood swings and outrageous demands make her more annoying than scary.

But the fact that she could sentence us to death at the drop of a hat does bother us a little bit, we will admit.

Scare-o-meter: 3

11. Shere Khan (The Jungle Book)

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Shere Khan the tiger was known to murder any human being who entered the jungle, and had his heart set on killing poor old Mowgli.

But in reality he’s a big scaredy-cat – afraid of fire and guns and easily spooked by both. Are we that scared of him? Not really.

Scare-o-meter: 3.5

10. Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)

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Leaving aside the sweeter Angelina Jolie incarnation, Maleficent is one bad ass witch. She can turn into a dragon at will, calls herself ‘the mistress of all evil’ and has a raven as a pet. Cool.

However, her reason for cursing the baby Princess Aurora? Because she wasn’t invited to a party. Not cool.

Scare-o-meter: 4

9. Hades (Hercules)

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Despite being the self-proclaimed ‘Lord of the Dead’ and owning a river full of lost souls and that, Hades just seems a little too funny to be very frightening.

Saying that, we wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of his literally flaming temper.

zharstify / YouTube

Scare-o-meter: 5

8. Ursula the Sea Witch (The Little Mermaid)

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One of the more fun villains (she also has one of the best songs), like Hades, Ursula at first seems too funny to be truly scary.

That is, until she reneges on her bargain with Ariel, taking the form of a human woman and convincing Prince Eric to marry her instead of Ariel. Rude.

Scare-o-meter: 6

7. Lady Tremaine/The Wicked Stepmother (Cinderella)

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Not content with setting up shop in Cinderella’s house and reducing her to the role of scullery maid, she practically prompts her jealous daughters to tear Cinderella’s original ball gown (hand-crafted by mice and birds, no less) to shreds.

It’s that sort of psychological abuse that makes her scary and evil.

Scare-o-meter: 6.5

6. The Evil Queen (Snow White)

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The most unnerving part of Snow White is that the Evil Queen’s actions were based on jealousy – basically she’s all, why is Snow White more beautiful than me? Better kill her!

These villains aren’t really ones for taking a calm, rational view of things.

Scare-o-meter: 7

5. Sid (Toy Story)

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What’s scary about Sid is that you can sort of tell what kind of adult this messed-up kid is going to grow up to be.

Doing ‘experiments’ on his poor toys, terrorising his sister, nearly blowing up Buzz and Woody…shiver. We don’t like Sid.

Scare-o-meter: 7.5

4. Jafar (Aladdin)

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One of the creepier-looking villains, Jafar was prepared to marry (and then kill) the 15-year-old Princess Jasmine to claim the Sultan’s throne.

That scene where he slowly buries her alive in a humongous hourglass? TERRIFYING.

Scare-o-meter: 8

3. Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

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Frollo is the worst. The start of the movie sees him killing Quasimodo’s mum, then attempting to kill Quasimodo himself. The worst.

But the root of Frollo’s evil is explained in his big song, Hellfire, in which he sings about his desire for the gypsy girl Esmeralda. He can’t do anything about it obviously, because he’s a priest, so he decides instead to kill her.

Logical thought sequence. FOR A CRAZY PERSON.

Whelt / YouTube

Scare-o-meter: 8.5

2. Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmations)

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Guys, Cruella wanted to skin beautiful, innocent puppies and make them into coats. Enough said.

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Scare-o-meter: 9

1. Scar (The Lion King)

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Voiced by Jeremy Irons, could the cunning Scar be the most heartless out of all the Disney villains?

He cruelly killed his own brother and then convinced his nephew, Simba, that he was to blame for his father’s death.

So. Damn. Evil.

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(We apologise for the feelings this gif may give you.)

Scare-o-meter: 10

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