The villainesses presented on this list were either part of our childhood or part of our teenage years. We either loved, hated or feared them, and even though time has passed, we can’t deny the mark these characters left in our lives. They taught us simple truths like the fact that you can’t trust everyone, nothing is as it seems, there’s always two sides of a story, and to always keep fighting. Now that we know better, we can understand and even enjoy these characters and, at the same time, still be annoyed and creeped out by some of them. Without further ado, here are my top 10 female villains in animation in no particular order.
- Other Mother (Coraline)
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In the movie, she starts, in a way, as a more enjoyable version of Coraline’s mother, but as the action keeps picking up we get to see her real face and goal.I’m pretty sure that we can all agree here on how she was and still can be seen as one of the creepiest villainesses we’ve seen in animation, right? I mean, that moment she morphed into that monster traumatized back in 2009! But I promise that trauma doesn’t keep me from loving this movie.
- Fairy Godmother (Shrek 2)
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The problem with the Fairy Godmother is that, instead of hating to love her, you love to hate her because she is a likable villain, compared to her son Prince Charming, of course. The thing here is that you can’t really hate her because she was smarter than everyone else, and even though it only worked to an extent, she had quite a good plan. And we can’t ignore that “I Need A Hero” was and still is a jam and a great scene to re-watch whenever you feel nostalgic about the old days and Shrek.
- Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians)
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I personally believe that the only words I can use to describe Cruella are just evil and cruel. She’s just one of those villainesses that you just can’t forgive nor forget. She was my favorite villain to hate as a kid because I was kind of obsessed with 101 Dalmatians and I love dogs, so whenever she appeared on the screen I got stressed just by thinking something bad would happen to the dogs.
- Yoshimura Eto (Tokyo Ghoul)
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Eto Yoshimura, also known as Takatsuki Sen, from the Tokyo Ghoul anime is one of those villains that you just don’t know if you should hate or love them. She isn’t in any way a good person, she’s crazy and would definitely try to kill you out of boredom, but the way she went further than anyone expected and the way she did it right under their noses in such an intelligent way (and other spoilery stuff) made me enjoy her character a lot more than I thought possible.
- Evil Queen (Snow White)
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This was one relentless villainess. She wanted Snow White dead, yes or yes, and she tried her best until the end. That tiny little relentless aspect is one I hated back in the day. Now, evaluating her as a villain, I really admire her persistence. It makes her a good villain that she will always find a way to do or get what she wants until, as we all know, someone comes to save the day.
- Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
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Ursula is the perfect example to use when you’re trying to explain what having a hate-to-love relationship feels like. Back in the day you probably hated her, and you were also scared of her like I was, but now? Maybe not as much. I mean, you may still hate her for taking Ariel’s voice away and basically ruining her life in different ways, but you may also admire her moves, her power, and her confidence while she did all of that and more. Also, her eels Flotsam and Jetsam were a little creepy, but they were perfect for Ursula’s life as the evil sea-witch.
- Annie Leonhart (Attack on Titan)
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Annie, I believe, is quite a questionable character from the Attack on Titan anime. She is a villain in the story, there’s no denying that. She kills and kidnaps people, and she even pretends to be a part of the team, but once you get to know and understand some of the reasons behind what she did, maybe you start questioning yourself about her real intentions, which doesn’t make her any better, just a little more… understandable.
- Shego (Kim Possible)
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Back in the days, I was a huge Kim Possible fan. I watched it whenever it was on, and I would play the game on the Disney channel page all day and all night. Shego, I believe, is one of those villains that you’ll never forget. Why? Because she did such a good job at being a villain, and let’s not forget about how great her characterization was! Let’s admit it, most of us probably had a low-key crush on her back then.
- Mother Gothel (Tangled)
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Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, and you bet I couldn’t reach the end of this list without mentioning Mother Gothel. She was one selfish and cruel woman. She basically ruined Rapunzel’s life in many, many ways. She manipulated her, she abused her psychologically so she wouldn’t set a foot outside of their tower and she didn’t let my girl Rapunzel make her dreams come true. For what? Being addicted to her magic hair so she could stay young and lively and be immortal at the cost of someone else’s mental and emotional health? That’s just cruel!
- Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove)
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Yzma, ladies, and gentlemen, is that villainess you know you love. Even though she was the evil mastermind behind Kuzco becoming a llama in The Emperor’s New Groove as a failed attempt of assassination, you just can’t hate Yzma. First, because that was a great twist that made the story go and the main character grows. Second, because, as she tried to overthrow Kuzco to become empress or reach a close-enough position, she was smart, funny and determined (even if her plan didn’t go that well in the end). Lastly, because she was and still is quite relatable with her little patience and her determined yet failed attempts to conquer an empire.
Think back to your childhood. There were plenty of crazy and messy characters that you never quite characterized as messed up. Tell us your favorite villain or villainess!