All Disney Princess movies have a moral message for the younger audience, but not all of them are sweet stories without dark moments and a couple of deaths, and some of them have actually seen the demise of their villains – and here’s every one of them. Walt Disney Pictures has explored different genres for decades, but it continues to be best known for its animated features. Among them is a special franchise, led by women whose movies share certain characteristics: the Disney Princesses.
Although there are many animated Disney movies led by women, not all of them can be part of the Disney Princess faction. The first movie to join this group was the one that started everything: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which set the example and the basic (though not official) requirements to be an official Disney Princess. The franchise is currently formed by Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Jasmine, Mulan, Merida, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Moana, and they all have in common that they were either royal or married into royalty (or in some cases, they performed a heroic act), have an animal companion, and at least one musical number – and, of course, they were so successful that they were very profitable, so they joined the franchise.
All these characters came across different villains who wanted to ruin their lives or end them for different reasons – some were personal, others were related to power, and some others simply because these protagonists happened to be on their way. Of course, as these are Disney movies, the Princesses (and love) always win, and in some cases, they truly lived happily ever after as their villains were killed, so there was no way they could return. Here’s every Disney Princess villain who died and how.
Evil Queen – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The villain in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the Evil Queen, Snow White’s stepmother who couldn’t stand that the young princess was more beautiful than her. After her initial plan to get rid of her failed, she disguised herself as an old hag to give Snow White a poisoned apple that would put her into the “Sleeping Death”, and the curse could only be broken by “love’s first kiss”. Snow White fell for it, and the dwarfs went after the Queen, trapping her on a cliff. Unfortunately for her, lightning struck the cliff before she could run away and she fell to her death. As for Snow White, she was saved from the curse thanks to the kiss of the prince and they lived “happily ever after”.
Maleficent – Sleeping Beauty
Maleficent was introduced in Sleeping Beauty, where she was furious about not being invited to Princess Aurora’s christening. As retaliation, she cursed the princess so that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die before the sun sets on her 16th birthday. Good fairy Merryweather weakened the curse by having Aurora fall into a deep sleep instead of dying, and she could be awakened by “true love’s first kiss”. Even though the good fairies did their best to keep Aurora safe, Maleficent lured her into the spinning wheel, and to ensure no one would wake her up, she kidnapped Prince Phillip. However, the fairies rescued him and gave him the magical Sword of Truth and Shield of Virtue to escape from the Forbidden Forest and break the curse, which enraged Maleficent, who transformed into a giant black dragon. Phillip defeated her by throwing the sword directly into her heart, and so he finally got to Aurora and brought her back.
Ursula – The Little Mermaid
Ursula, the witch of the sea, is the main antagonist in The Little Mermaid. When Princess Ariel approached her for help to become human and be with Prince Eric, Ursula agreed but under her own terms: she would transform her into a human for three days in exchange for her voice, and within these three days, she had to receive – you guessed it – the “kiss of true love” from Eric, but if she failed, she would become her slave. Ursula tricked her so she wouldn’t be kissed on time, and took her back to the sea. After turning King Triton into a polyp, Ursula declared herself the ruler of the sea, but Eric intervened. Enraged, Ursula used the trident to grow to a monstrous size, and after a lot of trouble, Eric took a wrecked ship and killed Ursula by impaling her with its splintered bowsprit.
Gaston – Beauty and the Beast
Gaston was the bad guy to defeat in Beauty and the Beast, where he had two goals: marry Belle (even though she didn’t want to) and kill the Beast, with whom Belle had fallen in love. Gaston led a group of villagers to the Beast’s castle to kill him, and he attacked the Beast at the tower. The Beast was initially depressed over Belle’s departure and almost let himself be killed by Gaston, but he regained his strength when he saw her in the castle. The Beast defeated Gaston but spared his life, after which he reunited with Belle – but Gaston wasn’t a good man at all, and he literally stabbed the Beast in the back. However, this also made him fall to his death while Belle rescued the Beast and broke the curse.
Shan Yu – Mulan
Mulan is the only Disney Princess (so far) to not be born nor married royal, instead joining this select group thanks to her performing a heroic act. Mulan disguised herself as a man to join the Imperial Chinese Army so her ailing father wouldn’t have to. The army battled the Huns, led by Shan Yu, who Mulan defeated (with the help of Mushu) by pinning him to the roof of the Emperor’s palace with her sword and Mushu firing a large skyrocket at Shan Yu, propelling him into a fireworks launching tower. Mulan was praised and rewarded for her heroic actions but declined the offer to be on the Emperor’s royal council and returned to her family.
Dr. Facilier – The Princess and the Frog
The Princess and the Frog introduced Dr. Facilier (also known as the Shadow Man), a voodoo bokor who planned on ruling New Orleans with the help of his “friends on the other side”. After failing to convince Tiana to take his offer of making her dream of having her own restaurant come true, Tiana attempted to break Facilier’s talisman but his shadow caught it. However, and taking advantage of the “mucus” (not slime) of her frog physiology, she took the talisman back and smashed it on the ground. This unleashed the angered Voodoo spirits, who took Facilier with them as he had wronged them too many times, leaving only a tombstone with his frightened expression.
Mother Gothel - Tangled
Mother Gothel was the antagonist of Tangled. Mother Gothel was obsessed with staying young forever, so she used the powers of a magical gold flower to stay young for centuries. This same flower was used to save the Queen, who later gave birth to a baby girl, Rapunzel, whose golden hair had the same powers as the flower. After learning that by cutting Rapunzel's hair it lost its power, Gothel abducted the girl and locked her up in a tower for years. In order for Rapunzel not to escape with Eugene, Gothel stabbed him and tried to take Rapunzel away, who offered to leave with her voluntarily if she could heal Eugene and save his life. Eugene suddenly cut all of Rapunzel's hair, stripping it of its powers. Gothel immediately started aging to show her real self and had a major breakdown, and Pascal caused her to trip over Rapunzel’s hair. Gothel fell off the tower but continued aging as she fell, and by the time her robes hit the ground, she had disappeared as she turned to dust.