20 Disney Good Guys That May Actually Be Worse Than The Villains

The main protagonist of Disney’s popular Cars franchise, Montgomery “Lightning” McQueen couldn’t possibly be a bad guy, could he? Erm, we hate to break it to ya, but kind of, yes. Redditor elithagoatt took it upon themselves to document Lightning’s minor crimes across the series. To begin with, they wrote, “Lightning McQueen is arrogant and rude to everyone who tries to help him.”

The Redditor continued, “In Cars, he fires three crew chiefs and calls himself a one-man show — but you can’t win by yourself in racing!” Furthermore, elithagoatt mentions how when he’s deterred in getting to California because of his own mistakes “he tries to avoid his responsibility every chance he gets.” Finally, they noted how in Cars 2 “he goes off on his friend because he loses one race, and when Mater tries to explain what’s going on, McQueen dismisses him.” Cruel!

You probably thought that Grand Pabbie was a harmless and wise old troll when you first watched Frozen. But take another look, and you will see how he causes Elsa and Anna numerous problems. Yes, the Troll King’s advice is extremely obtuse and generally unhelpful, as illustrated in the scene where he tampers with Anna’s memory and warns of a grim fate unless Elsa’s powers aren’t restrained.

As it turns out, years would pass until the penny drops for Elsa about Pabbie’s warning that “fear will be your enemy.” She realizes that she needs to dispel her fears and embrace love, but it is too late to stop her from being locked away by her parents and taught to be afraid of the world. Elsa leaves solitary confinement with crippling anxiety and a broken relationship with her sister, all because Pabbie decides to be vague in his wisdom. Bad troll!

The Fairy Godmother in Disney’s 1950 animated classic Cinderella is the epitome of hope and kindness, right? Erm, well no, not exactly. At least not according to the Redditor who answered a thread on which Disney characters are the biggest, ahem, shall we say, bad eggs? So, what did they note?

Well, the Redditor noted how the Fairy Godmother’s aid to Cinderella was only forthcoming for one particular event, the ball, and claimed the well-meaning sprite had in fact harmed her by not offering more help. They wrote, “Yeah, don’t help Cinderella out unless it involves a freaking royal ball... because that’s more important than a woman’s mental health.” Ouch!

Mr. Incredible, as it turns out, is not so incredible when it comes to being a decent person. No, if you watch the movies closely, you’ll notice a number of troubling things about his character and behavior. Firstly, the family patriarch consistently places his own egotistical desire to be a hero above his family’s and fellow citizens’ needs at every turn. 

It seems as if Mr. Incredible believes he is meant for heroic status, and is held back by his family. His obsession with feeling like a hero means he can’t maintain a regular job to support his kin: such a job is apparently beneath him. That’s for people like us. Overall, it is fair to argue that if Mr. Incredible wasn’t so irresponsibly looking to relive his salad days, his family would’ve kept out of trouble, including not being shot at by ground-to-air heat-seeking missiles!

The Emperor’s New Groove follows the travails of Emperor Kuzco as he is transformed into a llama by the evil Yzma, and has to try and somehow regain his throne. But although the former administrator turned scheming enemy Yzma is clearly a bad egg, is the David Spade-portrayed Kuzco really that much better?

Well, according to Reddit user samx3i, not really. They note how Kuzco “has an innocent old man thrown out a window and doesn’t [care], even though the old man certainly could have died.” What’s more, samx3i wrote about how the deposed Emperor “wanted to destroy a man’s home [and displace a full town],” concluding that “he’s selfish and has no regard for the lives of the innocent.” Kind of like virtually every emperor in human history, then.

The evil fairy Maleficent and her pet raven are the indisputable baddies in Sleeping Beauty, right? Well, kinda. One particularly cruel Reddit user has made a case for King Stefan – the seemingly dutiful husband of Queen Leah, father of Princess Aurora, and ruler of the kingdom – as being something of a bad egg.

So, what exactly was their case for King Stefan being a villain of sorts? Well, capcalhoon, as they call themselves, pointed to Stefan’s failure to protect his daughter with a simple invitation to Maleficent. They wrote, “Dude, if a crazy super-witch wants to stop by a party, you invite her to your party. But no, [you] just humiliate her and let her curse [your daughter].” Harsh!

We all loved Mufasa from The Lion King, didn’t we? The respected leader of his pride of lions, looked up to by the young Simba, who tragically dies near the beginning. But was he really the noble ruler he appeared? To begin with, he ruled his pride with a real ruthlessness, and maintained a strict hierarchy within it too. So far, so normal in terms of lion behavior.

All the same, Mufasa is the one who decides to totally exile the hyenas, placing them in danger of starvation. Scar is made out to be the chief villain of the piece, but the drought that hits after he assumes control of the pride is hardly of his making. While the hyenas do manage to get plenty of food in the end, it was never Scar’s decision to cut them out to begin with, or his fault the rain didn’t come. Points at Mufasa, accusingly…

The titular character from 1953’s animated classic, the evergreen Peter Pan can’t be a bad guy, right? Well, perhaps we should have a look at the evidence in the movie. To begin with, there’s that rather troubling aspect of his life. Y’know, the one which sees him abduct young children, under the pretext of helping them.

Not only is Pan vain and obsessed with remaining young, after Wendy and her brothers are whisked away to Neverland by him, it can be argued that he treats neither her nor Tinkerbell particularly well. Finally, there’s the not-inconsiderable charge of him having little issue with ruthlessly eliminating enemies. It should be remembered also that it was Pan who chopped off the admittedly wicked Captain Hook’s hand and fed it to a crocodile.

Poor Woody, replaced as Andy’s favorite toy by the new, shiny Buzz Lightyear. At least that’s what we are supposed to think, in the beginning. And although he comes round to Buzz eventually, should we forgive the humble cowboy doll for his bad behavior beforehand? Hmm, let’s have a look at his rap sheet.

To start with, Woody is a bossy so-and-so. He effectively makes himself the de facto leader of Andy’s other toys on the basis of being his best-loved. His jealous, malicious and vindictive traits come out, though, when Buzz arrives on the scene. He obviously tries to get rid of the threat of Buzz being Andy’s new favorite, which backfires spectacularly. Also, he seriously spooks Sid, who arguably had no way of knowing he was hurting living playthings! Bad toy, Woody.

We are all meant to feel sorry for the titular Beast in Beauty and the Beast, but should we? Probably not, and here are some of the reasons why. Firstly, the Beast is an abducting, somewhat abusive monster, which is not a plus point for a supposed good guy, it has to be said. But what else?

Well, there’s the small matter of the servants, whose fate is entirely in the Beast’s hands. And the monster is hardly proactive about finding love, which will transform them back from household objects into human form. Instead, he chillaxes in his palace, unbothered by their apparent suffering. Of course, he will eventually find love, but he could have got a move on with it. Also, why did he need so many servants?

Ariel is not the angelic mermaid she is often made out to be. No, the sea-dwelling princess shows signs of being spoiled, selfish, self-pitying and sometimes cruel in the 1989 Disney movie. Fair enough, she’s curious about the world above the sea. But her rebellious actions harm others. Take say the film’s beginning, when Ariel refuses to perform, disappointing her siblings and father, and embarrassing Sebastian.

What else? Well, there’s the dim-witted deal with the sea witch Ursula, in which Ariel stupidly and selfishly ignores the cautions of others. Her actions almost result in placing the mer-people in perpetual misery. All because she is infatuated with a human she met, like, five minutes ago. Oh, Ariel.

Jafar is the obvious villain in Aladdin, but there is a more subtle bad guy in the 1992 animated movie if you think a bit harder. Yes, we’re talking about the Sultan, who rules over Agrabah. But why, you ask? Well, have a look at the state of Agrabah and you’ll understand what we mean.

Agrabah is a place of extreme wealth inequality. The Sultan himself lives a life of luxury, but the majority of his citizens live in abject poverty. Not only that, the strict laws included chopping the hands off those who steal apples. But many of the citizens have to risk this as they are so poor and hungry, or rely on a generous monkey. A callous ruler.

The father of the titular hero Hercules in the 1997 animated movie, Zeus is a low-key bad guy in the opinion of one Redditor. Yes, user NewLeaf37 has an interesting explanation on why the character voiced by Rip Torn is no good. So, what did they say?

Redditor NewLeaf37 talked about how Zeus leaves Hades in a world not of his choice. They wrote, “We find out that Hades was hand-picked by Zeus, against his will, to run the afterlife, which he adamantly loathes. Zeus never offers Hades an explanation [for this choice]. He just laughs about it.” That is kinda cruel, we reckon.

The 2012 Disney movie Brave follows the travails of Princess Merida, a girl with a single-minded desire to forge her own path. Merida winds up rebelling against a convention that leads to pandemonium in her kingdom. She is eventually permitted one wish, and has to use all her courage and proficiency in archery to undo the beastly curse. But is the Kelly Macdonald-voiced character really a good person?

Redditor Mystical_Novelist thinks not. They wrote, “She talks about wanting this new destiny and things like that, yet all she does is act like a child and ends up hurting the people around her.” They added “Heck, she almost kills her own mother due to her being so blindly stupid. And in the end, she has learned absolutely nothing and never learned that her actions have consequences.” Oh dear!

Ariel’s father King Triton is not the chief villain of the piece in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but look a little closer and he isn’t far off being it. First of all, he’s a feared despot, whose cruel ways push his own daughter away from him in rebellion and a wish for a better life. Secondly, he’s a bigoted individual, with particular disdain for human beings.

What’s more, it was Triton’s actions that indirectly led to Ariel turning to the sea-witch Ursula. Remember, he had exiled her for reasons unknown, and it’s probable that Ariel would not have been able to strike that dangerous deal with her had he not done so. Bad parenting. Redditor anodyne_despot summed his character up perfectly, writing, “Sure, he’ll be the nicest guy in the world to you, so long as you do exactly what he wants and nothing else.”

It seems ridiculous to argue that the angelic-looking Elsa from Frozen is a villain of sorts, doesn’t it? Well, actually, maybe not, when you investigate the idea a bit further. In fact there are several things she does that scream “Baddie!” in a really loud voice. Or something like that.

Redditor dotjackel did a neat summary of Elsa’s crimes, whether on purpose or accidental. They wrote, “She killed potentially thousands of animals, [almost killed] her sister and others, and thought running away from responsibility and abandoning her family was a great solution to her problems.” Ah, when you put it like that… bad Elsa!

Poor little pachyderm! The lovable, big-eared baby elephant has plenty of strife thrown at him from the beginning of his life. One particular problem Dumbo faces is the treatment he encounters from his fellow elephants. It’s so horrible and downright cruel that we are prepared to call them villains of the piece.

Yes, poor Dumbo is effectively bullied by his fellow pachyderms. They tease and mock him for his atypically large ears. Even after he is separated from his mother, the other elephants do not take him in, but instead continue unabated with their bullying. And all for nothing more than being born with a genetic oddity not of his making. Bad elephants!

Elsa and Anna’s parents Queen Iduna and King Agnarr might not be your first thought when it comes to villains in the movie Frozen. But when you take a step back and think about it, that sort of makes sense. Remember what happened when Elsa accidentally harmed her sister Anna with her powers?

The King and Queen of Arendelle take Anna to the trolls to be restored to her normal state. They are given rather cryptic guidance of “fear is your enemy,” but seem to seriously misunderstand it. So, the monarchs take the awful decision to separate their daughters and prevent them seeing each other. An ultimately cruel move, which has the knock-on effect of making Elsa brood that there’s something seriously wrong with her. Bad parents if not bad people!

No one could do anything but love Simba from The Lion King, could they? Erm, we hate to break it to you, but yes. Redditor lawyler is one such person, and on that social media site they pointed out several flaws in young Simba’s character that he displayed in the movie. According to them, these push him towards being a bad lion.

So, lawyler noted how Simba “got his father killed through his own stupidity,” then mentioned how he “abandoned his family and kingdom to the despotic rule of his uncle so he could go party with his two friends for a few years.” Finally, the Redditor noted that Simba “only came back to fulfill his lust for power and satisfy his girlfriend’s lust to become queen.” Not much better than Scar!

Though Aladdin is born into poverty and must use all his street smarts just to survive, it could be argued he is something of a villain. Firstly, there’s the inescapable fact that he is a thief; although perhaps some mitigation for that could be found, given his poverty and the harshness of life in the Sultan’s kingdom.  

Still, it is more difficult to overlook the fact that Aladdin tries to con Jasmine and the whole kingdom in order to fulfill his desires. Come to think of it, that’s essentially what the villainous Jafar is doing. Aladdin’s motivations might be love and Jafar’s power, but he’s clearly no angel. A lovable rogue at best, then.