10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

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Disney’s villains are the motivators that allow for its heroes. But are there villains who could have been heroes under different circumstances?

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10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

There is such thing as pure evil and then there’s “turned evil” due to circumstances. Disney, arguably, doesn’t differentiate between the two, and viewers are left feeling that every single evil-doer in Disney movies needs to be defeated and destroyed so that peace and love can prevail.

But if movie fans take a closer look at these storylines, it’s easy to see how some villains were actually almost heroes. These Disney villains tread the fine line between good and evil.

10 Yzma: The Emperor’s New Groove

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

The movie The Emperor’s New Groove follows a fun story about a spoiled emperor who fires the sassy villain Yzma, his ex-royal advisor. She then tries to continuously kill him and take over the throne. She seems evil and spiteful, but a closer look at the story will make it clear that she never wanted to kill Emperor Kuzco. She actually raised him since birth during her service to his family that spanned for generations.

If she hadn’t been fired by the selfish and ungrateful ruler, she might have made a good mentor to Emperor Kuzco and maybe even ran most of his royal affairs anyway since Kuzco was often occupied with himself. Female empowerment could have been her claim to fame, making her a worthy hero!

9 Gaston: Beauty And The Beast

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

He’s not known for his cleverness or whit, but he is very charming and prides himself on being the best hunter and strongest man in town. When Belle rejects him multiple times and then claims to love a wild beast from the forest, Gaston has had enough. Movie viewers experience the story from Belle’s point of view, but looking at the townspeople’s point of view, it’s easy to see how the villain is the beast and Gaston is the hero in this fairytale.

After all, Belle and her father were talking nonsense, which added to their reputation of being very strange, and Gaston was only trying to kill the beast to protect the townspeople and get the girl of his dreams. He may be arrogant, but who can blame him for affectively doing what was expected of him in that society. Had he succeeded, he would have definitely been a hero and a legend.

8 Lady Tremaine: Cinderella

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

Lady Tremaine in the Disney movie Cinderella could have very well been the hero of the story. She did everything in her power to make sure that her daughters were taken care of and had the best opportunities to better their positions as women in that era and society. When her husband died, she remarried and became a stepmother.

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With a bit more compassion and less bitterness toward her own life, she would have made a good mother to Cinderella. Her will to succeed would have made a good example for all of her children and she would stop at nothing until all of her daughters (Cinderella included) were in advantageous and secure positions for their futures. Unfortunately, a bitter heart will yield a bitter outcome.

7 Shan Yu: Mulan

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

In times of war and conquest, the winning side always feels proud and victorious, while the losing side is defeated and miserable. In the movie Mulan, fans get a glimpse of how Mulan and her country felt about the Mongols invading.

Of course, viewers see them as the villains and Shan Yu as the ultimate bad-guy, but turn the tables and Shan Yu would be considered the hero for invading one of the most powerful countries and actually succeeding at taking over the imperial palace. So, it’s all perspective. Shan Yu could have been the fearless leader who bravely invaded a much larger country and almost won.

6 Ursula: The Little Mermaid

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

Ursula is a wicked trickster who used a poor innocent teenager to get back at King Triton. This villain felt that she had been cheated out of having some control of the sea and she took her anger out on merpeople.

But Ursula was almost a hero when Ariel came to her for help. If only King Triton had not taken complete dominion over the seas and given Ursula what she “deserved” perhaps she, in turn, would have used her crafty spells to help Ariel fulfill her dreams.

5 Edgar Balthazar: The Aristocats

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

In the movie The Aristocats, Madame Adelaide’s butler, Edgar Balthazar, was a loyal and dedicated employee to the household for many years. Fans can only imagine how he felt when he realized that he wasn’t getting his just due in Madame Adelaide’s will and her cats were to inherit her entire fortune.

Edgar was almost a hero in this story because if he had only been shown more appreciation, he would have stayed the loyal servant and taken care of Duchess and her kittens, even after Adelaide’s passing. He already knew their routine and took good care of them. This is a pure example of a fine line between hero and villain.

4 Shere Khan: The Jungle Book

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

Who could really judge Shere Khan? Humans were, in fact, killing wild animals for many years. Shere Khan makes it awfully clear that he hates humans because of their violent and wasteful ways.

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In Disney’s The Jungle Book, Mowgli is a cute little boy who is raised by animals in the jungle. Viewers follow Mowgli and see Shere Khan as the enemy through his eyes. All it would have taken for Shere Khan to be the hero is for him to have seen this man-cub as a chance to teach him the importance of wildlife and perhaps even given him a moral sense of duty to protect it. The story would have turned out very different and Shere Khan would have been the animal kingdom’s hero.

3 Maleficent: Sleeping Beauty

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

Considered one of the vilest villains in Disney for her wicked transformations and horrible black-magic curses, Maleficent could just as easily been the hero in Sleeping Beauty. She was the sister of the other three fairies and had always felt different, excluded, and pushed away.

When she arrived at the celebration to see the newborn princess she was mocked for showing up, told that she was not invited and not wanted, and then asked inconsiderately by the queen if she was upset that she had not been invited. If only she had been treated with more kindness and acceptance, perhaps Maleficent would have bestowed an amazing gift to Aurora and the story would have taken a more positive turn.

2 Syndrome: The Incredibles

10 Disney Villains Who Were Almost Heroes

In The Incredibles, Syndrome was a little boy who looked up to Mr. Incredible obsessively. He insisted on “helping” him defeat bad guys, but always managed to get in the way and make matters worse. He grew up to be a genius and vowed to take his revenge on The Incredibles for his sad childhood experience.

So, what would have happened if Mr. Incredible had just given that little boy a bit more attention and explained things more clearly to him without hurting his feelings and shattering his dreams? Syndrome would have turned out to be a hero. All he needed was a role model to give him positive words of encouragement and set him on the right path.

1 Boris And Jasper: 101 Dalmatians

Cruella De Vil is the horrible villain in the Disney movie 101 Dalmatians. But her goons, on the other hand, were almost the heroes that this movie needed. Cruella gave them too much control over the puppies and all it would have taken was for Boris and Jasper to hand over the puppies to authorities and report who had hired them for the dirty job.

They might have still gotten a huge reward for their information and they would have publicly exposed an influential businesswoman and her cruel intentions. This news would have definitely put Boris and Jasper on the front pages of national news as town heroes.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/disney-villains-who-could-have-been-heroes/

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