Disney has many iconic villains that fans love to hate and hate to love, such as Maleficent, Scar, Evil Queen, Gaston, and many more. There are so many other villains that Disney seems to have swept under the rug, and are barely featured on merchandise, in the parks, or talked about in pop culture.
Check out our picks for the top 5 underrated Disney villains below:
Disney Villains #5 – Frollo
Judge Claude Frollo is the main villain in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Even though he takes in Quasimodo, Frollo keeps him hidden because of his deformities and looks. Frollo believes “gypsies” the most heinous people and dedicates his life to eradicating them. He is considered to be one of the darkest Disney villains of all time yet is highly underrated. Not too many people talk about him. He is never on merchandise and never in pictures when villains are talked about. Frollo believes he is a good person, however, and is very selfish for a minister.
#4 – Syndrome
Syndrome (Buddy Pine, formerly Incrediboy) is the main villain in The Incredibles. Although not the cruelest, he is very underrated even though he is one of the cooler Pixar villains. Syndrome turned into a villain after his hero, Mr. Incredible (Bob Parr), told him to “go home Buddy. I work alone.” In the end, he kidnaps Jack-Jack, who at that moment decides to let his powers unleash. Jack-Jack disabled one of Syndrome’s rocket boots and ultimately made him crash into the jet. His cap gets stuck and he gets sucked in, destroying his jet in the process.
#3 – Prince Hans
Hans (of the Southern Isles) is the youngest of 13 sons and is the main villain in Disney’s beloved movie, Frozen. Despite the success and popularity of that movie, Hans is not a villain that is talked about often. He makes Anna fall in love with him, so that he has a better chance of getting the throne. He cannot court Elsa, as she is an antisocial recluse. After convincing Anna to marry him, even though they just met, Hans planned to kill Elsa and become king. He was unsuccessful, however. One of the cruelest lines from him is “Oh Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you” after her heart was frozen and she needed true love’s kiss. Hans gets sent back to the Isles and gets imprisoned, resulting in torture from his 12 older brothers.
#2 – Zurg
Zurg, AKA Emperor Zurg, is one of the villains in Toy Story 2. He gets overshadowed by the Chicken Man and Stinky Pete. Zurg is the sworn enemy of Buzz Lightyear, but also turns out to be his father. Zurg could have been a really cool addition to the story and been a cool villain to fight off but his short screen time makes him very underrated. There is barely any merchandise with him on it and he is rarely mentioned or pictured in with other villains, like many of the Pixar villains. Rex is determined to defeat him in the video game Andy has, but never can. When him and Buzz come face to face in the elevator, Zurg falls off and presumably dies. He could have had a great storyline.
Disney Villains #1 – Yzma
“Pull the lever, Kronk!” Yzma, played by the legendary late Eartha Kitt, is the main villain in The Emperor’s New Groove, a highly underrated Disney movie. She is an evil sorceress and former advisor to Emperor Kuzco. After she was fired, Yzma becomes obsessed with killing Kuzco and attempts to many times but is unsuccessful. She turns him into a llama. In the end, she turns into a llama and does not kill Kuzco. Not only do you not hear about Yzma, but you barely hear about The Emperor’s New Groove, so therefore she is rated the number one underrated villain.
This is only a list of 5, but we could make many more lists of villains that Disney sweeps under the rug. Which villains do you think are very underrated?