The 10 Dumbest Disney Villains, Ranked (original) (raw)

No good story is complete without a great villain. Without an antagonist, the hero doesn't have a reason to rise up and save the day. Villains ruin the day for everyone to make sure their evil plans come to fruition.

Nearly all villains are outsmarted by the heroes in the end, but sometimes their demise comes from a dumb mistake they've made. For example, some Disney villains forget to tie up loose ends; some leave a witness, and others forget to cover up some kind of weakness. Whatever dumb mistake it is, it's often the villain's undoing.

10 Monstro Was One Whale Of An Idiot

Monstro was an enormous whale that caused trouble for anyone unlucky enough to swim into his territory. The villainous whale was even known to eat, or at least destroy, entire ships. For example, several sunken vessels lie around him as he sleeps.

Monstro's indiscretion when it came to prey was inevitably what got him in the end. After swallowing Geppetto and Pinocchio, they made a fire so the smoke would make Monstro sneeze and release them. After they escaped, the whale was gripped with rage. He pursued the escapees and lunged toward Pinocchio, only to crash into a large rock and end the chase. If he were smarter, Monstro wouldn't have smashed face-first into a gigantic rock.

9 Scar Set Himself Up For Defeat

The villain of The Lion King, Scar, is one of the most iconic Disney villains. Scar killed his brother, Mufasa, to usurp the crown. He then pinned the murder on his nephew, Simba, and made him run away, leaving no one else to claim the throne. To further achieve pride domination, Scar allied himself with the hyenas.

Thanks to the hyenas' ravenous hunger, the pride lands quickly deteriorated due to over-hunting. Thankfully, Simba eventually came back to claim the throne, and with the support of his fellow lions, he was able to overthrow Scar. If Scar had finished off Simba when he murdered Mufasa, there wouldn't have been someone to rally against him. Scar didn't consider the damage the hyenas would do, and while Simba lived, he also left himself open to defeat.

8 Mother Gothel Made A Mother Of A Mistake

As an old hag, Mother Gothel stumbled across a magical flower that gave her eternal youth. Sometime later, a queen in the area fell ill while pregnant, and this magical flower was used to make a cure for her. In doing so, it transferred its power to the unborn princess, Rapunzel.

Mother Gothel acted like an overprotective mother, keeping Rapunzel locked in a tower to 'keep her safe,' yet remained near the kingdom Rapunzel was stolen from. Gothel also kept Rapunzel's birthday the same, which just happened to coincide with the kingdom releasing flying lanterns in remembrance of the stolen princess. If Mother Gothel had lied to Rapunzel about her birthday or moved far away, Rapunzel wouldn't have found out the truth and foiled Gothel's plans.

7 No One's Dumb Like Gaston

Gaston was a charismatic villain. He gained the support of the villagers because he was such a great hunter and handsome man. However, Gaston's focus on his physical attributes meant he didn't develop his intellectuality. If someone believes 'thinking is a dangerous thing' and women shouldn't be doing it, then it's obvious they aren't the brightest.

Anti-intellectual Gaston thought his appearance and success would get him everything, and his entitlement turned to evil when Belle rejected him. The belief he could take down a magical beast was proof Gaston should have been known as the village idiot.

6 Lyle Tiberius Rourke Was Not The Greatest Leader

Having led a previous expedition to find a journal with Atlantis' location, Commander Rourke was in charge of an expedition to find the lost city of Atlantis. The mission was to prove the existence of Atlantis and learn of a great power source used by the Atlanteans.

It's revealed Rourke was more concerned with making himself rich by selling the power crystals, despite the fact removing the crystal would kill the citizens of Atlantis who'd survived all this time. The commander thought that he could travel deep under the sea, through the bowels of a volcano, and steal from a civilization far more technologically advanced than those on the surface. It's clear greed clouded all reasonable thought in Rourke's brain.

5 Jafar Gained Cosmic Power But Didn't Think It Through

Another villainous icon, Jafar was an advisor to the sultan, yet desired power for himself. After his attempt to marry Princess Jasmine failed, Jafar looked for a new way to become a sultan and settled on claiming the magic lamp. Jafar was eventually able to take the lamp away from Aladdin and come close to achieving his goals.

With the power of the lamp, Jafar made himself sultan of Agrabah. However, he craved more power and wished to become the most powerful sorcerer, which he achieved. After subduing Aladdin, who goaded him for not being as powerful as Genie, Jafar agreed and wished to become a genie and wield the power of the cosmos. This would have worked well except for one catch – a genie is linked to a lamp and therefore a prisoner. Jafar wound up stuck in a magic lamp for eternity.

4 Yzma Was A Scientist But Not A Genius

Yzma was the advisor and chemist for Emperor Kuzco. Kuzco decided to fire Yzma, despite her loyalty, which enraged her so much she plotted his death. In the end, Yzma decided she'd poison the emperor and take his place as ruler.

Unfortunately, her plan doesn't quite go how she envisioned. Instead of handling things herself, Yzma gave the tasks to her lackey Kronk, who was a bit of an airhead and didn't quite finish the tasks. If Yzma left llama Kuzco alone and hid her potions, she could have continued as empress without any issue.

3 Edgar Was A Dimwitted Butler

Edgar Balthazar was the butler for the rich Madame Bonfamille. Edgar became the villain when he learned Bonfamille planned to leave her entire fortune to her cats: Duchess and her kittens. Feeling slighted, Edgar kidnapped the cats and left them in the French countryside so he could receive the inheritance.

Unfortunately for Edgar, the cats returned. In the end, he's locked in a crate meant for the cats and sent to Timbuktu, Mali. This could have been avoided had Edgar realized that, despite the cats inheriting the money, he'd still be in charge of spending it. Cats neither understand money nor know how to handle it. Instead, Edgar got a one-way ticket across the world in an uncomfortable box with no inheritance.

2 Prince John Is The Moronic, Phony King Of England

Prince John thought he could take the crown by getting his brother, King Richard, to go away on a crusade. The plan would have worked had Prince John not over-taxed the citizens and become duly hated.

Prince John's tax plan wasn't his only blunder. The prince was oblivious to those scheming against him. When Robin Hood and Little John first encountered Prince John, they dressed as female fortune-tellers to rob him. They were even able to steal the jewels out of Prince John's rings while kissing them. Robin Hood also made off with Prince John's clothes. In short: Prince John was beaten at every turn because he wasn't bright enough to see it coming.

1 Ratcliffe Was As Ignorant As He Was Greedy

Governor Ratcliffe sought out the New World for England in the hopes of finding gold. Ratcliffe believed that, since the Spanish found gold in the Americas, he could too. Despite the constant digging of his men, Ratcliffe was unable to find any gold.

Ratcliffe wasn't just greedy; he was a xenophobic racist. Since he couldn't find any gold, he decided the Native Americans had hidden it all. Due to his paranoia, he further decided the Native Americans should be eradicated so the gold could be claimed. Racism was enough to show how dumb Ratcliffe was, but his ignorance was the icing on the cake.

Next: 10 Disney Animation Villains Who Have Done Surprisingly Dark Things