I’m looking back at the 2025 Dodgers World Series parade celebration, where Kike Hernandez said he was going to apologize “to no one!” (Although there were some other words that he said that set off the sensor.) Well, I’m going to have to apologize because this particular article is most definitely late.
Last year near Halloween, my cousin Judy and I put together our own lists of who we thought were the Top 5 Disney Villains. We did that because, Halloween is typically when the Villains “take over” Disneyland, among other events. Well, I told my cousin that I would come up with a “sequel” of sorts. The reason this is late is because of all the chaos of the World Series (not to mention the unpredictability of this NFL season). But a promise is a promise.
So, this list covers the scariest and darkest ways that Disney Villains have met their demise. Some have gotten lucky and just died by falling off a tall cliff or falling into a ravine (although one broke this chain by just being crushed to death by a giant bell). But that doesn’t mean that some weren’t terrifying or downright brutal. Here’s my personal list.
- – MOR’DU
This list was hard to compile, as you’ll see in my honorable mentions later in the article. The battle for the number 5 spot was close, but I gave it to the demon bear Mor’du; the main antagonist of Disney-Pixar’s Brave. Mor’du was once a human that cursed his fate and turned himself into a monster in his lust for power. I gave this spot to Mor’du because of his demise. When Merida’s mother, Elinor, turned into a bear like Mor’du, she fought him to save her daughter from the demon bear. Elinor saw their battle damaged the nearby stones, and shoves Mor’du into them repeatedly to damaged it more, but is struck back. As Mor’du stalks towards Merida and her injured mother, the great stone falls on top of him, crushing him to death. I don’t care how tough you are, or if you have the strength of ten men: getting crushed to death by a giant rock is a pretty gruesome way to go.
- – CLAYTON
The next spot goes to Clayton, the main antagonist of Disney’s 1999 animated feature film Tarzan. An opportunistic hunter with a ruthless disregard for the natural world, Clayton was initially hired as a protector for Jane and Archimedes Q. Porter on an expedition to study gorillas in Africa, but covertly orchestrated a trafficking ring with an agenda to poach the gorillas and sell them on the black market. However, during the climax of the film, Tarzan got Clayton wrapped up in vines. In a fit of rage, Clayton mindlessly slashed the vines, but didn’t notice one vine slip and coil his neck like a noose. Tarzan tried to warn him, but it was too late as Clayton screamed and fell. The vine ran out of slack and snapped Clayton’s neck, killing him. Flashes of lightning briefly illuminating a tree behind Tarzan revealed the gruesome shadow of Clayton’s hanged corpse swaying ever so slightly, which absolutely scared me as a kid! Yes, he was bad, but yikes…what a way to go…
- – JUDGE CLAUDE FROLLO
This was a particularly dark Disney “death”, and deservedly goes to Judge Claude Frollo, the main antagonist of Disney’s 1996 animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. A powerful Parisian justice minister, Frollo is a religious zealot who considers himself a “righteous man” and disregards all others as wicked and depraved. Voiced by the late actor Tony Jay, Frollo’s self-imposed mission to purge the city of sin, particularly the Romani population, drove him to perform inhumane acts of violence, all the while justifying his cruelty as being a paragon of God’s will. However, in the climax of the film (and possibly because of divine intervention), Frollo’s attempt to kill both Quasimodo and Esmeralda while disregarding the sanctity of the holy grounds of Notre Dame, the gargoyle Frollo stands on breaks lose. While clinging to the gargoyle for life, the stone beast appears to come to life and demonically roars at Frollo, terrifying the latter into screaming. The gargoyle then breaks off completely and sends a screaming Frollo falling to his death into the vast lake of molten metal below. It felt terrifying as it felt like Frollo was being cast down into literal hell fire for his actions.
- – OOGIE BOOGIE
This name should ring a bell (a pun that was better suited for the last villain), as this was my pick for top villain from last year’s favorite villains list. That’s right, back to Oogie Boogie, the gambling and boisterous main antagonist from Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. For those that didn’t read last year’s article, Oogie is sick, sadistic, and a bit of a gambling problem. Yet he has a playful, yet still menacing, demeaner in how he toys with his prey. Of course, Oogie is wonderfully voiced by the late performer Ken Page, and it was his distinct voice that really brought the character to life. Now why is he on this list? Well, at the climax of the movie, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King and Oogie’s nemesis and rival, pulls on a loose thread that unravels his burlap sack body. The bugs that make up Oogie Boogie then falls into fiery molten pit he was about to throw Sally and Santa Claus into. The only one left, which some Disney fans have speculated as Oogie’s brain or heart, tried to crawl away. That’s when it gets crushed to death by his would-be-victim, Santa Claus. It was a disgusting and horrible way to die, even for a cannibalistic and vile villain like Oogie. The fact that we heard the sound of him being crushed to death was horrible, but the reason many people may not feel that way is because of two things: 1…Oogie tried to kill Santa Claus, and 2…people don’t care about squishing bugs…we do it all the time.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
These villains’ defeats, or deaths if you want to call it that, just barely missed the list (and believe me, this was tough…you’d be surprised how close Mor’du came to being OFF this list). First was someone who seriously came close to that number five spot: King Candy, aka Turbo, the main antagonist of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. King Candy’s desire to be number one led to him being turned into an infectious Cy-Bug. But when Ralph makes the game’s “volcano” erupt, King Candy mindlessly goes into the light of the magma…obliterating himself in the process.
Another horrifying death to miss the list goes to Mother Gothel; someone who just missed my list last year and the main antagonist of Disney’s Tangled. She is a vain and selfish woman who had retained her youth for hundreds of years using the powers of the magic golden flower, which were given to Rapunzel’s long hair. When the hair is cut off, the magic power is gone and Gothel begins to rapidly age and is tripped to fall out of Rapunzel’s tower. By the time Gothel’s cloak hits the ground, only dust remains of her.
The next honorable mention comes from someone who made my cousin’s list last year: Ursula, the captivating sea witch from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Charismatic and manipulative, she tried to exploit Ariel in order to seize control of the sea from King Triton. However, her quest for power resulted in a villain death that also could have knocked off Mor’du. After altering herself to a massive size, Prince Eric impales Ursula with the bow of his ship. As it catches lightning, Ursula is brutally electrocuted and dies (this was hard to leave off the list).
Another honorable mention also made the lists last year: Scar, the treacherous brother of Mufasa and the main antagonist from Disney’s The Lion King. Scar used the hyenas to seize power but also threw them under the bus when his life was being threatened. However, that came back to haunt him as the hyenas turned on him and probably ate him alive. (Talk about a grizzly way to go…)
Boy, with all these terrifying ways to go, I could go on and on. Both the Evil Queen and Maleficent from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Sleeping Beauty respectively also died in pretty scary ways. But I do need to wrap this up and I know you’re wondering something: “…wait, you put your top villain, Oogie Boogie, at only number two on your list…so then who is number one on your scariest villain defeats list?”
- – DR. FACILIER
Surprisingly, Oogie was topped by someone else on my top villain’s list from last year. The honor, if you want to call it that, for the scariest Disney Villain defeat goes to Dr. Facilier, aka the Shadow Man. The charismatic and conniving main antagonist of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog was always a favorite of mine and was voiced by the talented actor Keith David. However, he had probably the scariest defeat of all. When Tiana broke his voodoo talisman, Facilier was unable to pay back his debt to his voodoo friends. For his failure they dragged him into what could have been only described as hell itself. When all the scary effects were over, all Tiana saw that was left of the Shadow Man was a gravestone with Facilier’s name and terrified face on it. That for me was scary as heck, and the closest Disney could come in terms of horror to movies like Drag Me to Hell or Smile.
Sure, Facilier and the rest of the ones on this list are villains, but you never wish these things on another soul. That is the difference between someone who is good and those that are evil. For those that dabble in evil, there is a cost to pay in the end…
