Maleficent is the main antagonist of Sleeping Beauty and the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants. She used to be the leader of the
Disney Villains until she got replaced by Captain Drake. She is the wife of Jafar and Mal's mother. Maleficent is considered the most dangerous and feared villain, such that invoking her name strikes fear and terror in people's hearts.
Personality
Maleficent, on top of her deviousness, is very misleading in her personality. But, underneath the mask of stoicism, Maleficent unleashes the full brunt of her wrath with a smile. A sign she relishes in the pain of others. This is displayed during her first appearance during Aurora's birthday ceremony. When Merryweather states bluntly, "You weren't wanted," Maleficent pretends to be shocked and hurt, remarking, "In that event I'd best be on my way." But then she turned around and cast a curse upon Aurora, cackling in the sweet revenge she attained.
Maleficent has no real motivation for her evil, making her arguably little more than a vicious animal (which is later shown when she turns into a dragon). Although she is soft spoken, proper and elegant, underneath she is simply a monster who enjoys being evil.When Maleficent and Mal have a disagreement they stare into each other eyes until one of them gives up.
She is sadistic and merciless, which is proven when she mercilessly places a sleeping spell on Stefan's baby daughter, Aurora, that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death, leaving Stefan's castle with a sadistically laugh at the sweet revenge she just attained. She also forces and enjoys watching Stefan plead for his young daughter's life.
Appearance
Maleficent appears in the form of a tall, slender, beautiful, pale green-skinned (although some appearances of her depict her with gray skin) woman with a narrow face and a prominent chin. She also has yellow eyes and black horns (it is unknown if those are her horns, or a headdress, or simply a hair style), which is symbolic of her dark magic. She is clad in a black-and-purple robe with bat wing-like edges, and wears a gold ring with a large mysterious circular black stone in it. Both the horned headdress and bat wing-like robe represent and foreshadow her dragon form.
Maleficent is an evil Fairy, unlike the other three fairy godmothers in the movie and her evil enables her to perform many magical and powerful spells. She carries a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip through which she casts her spells, which include an ability to teleport herself, or send bolts of lightning at enemies. She is also capable of shape shifting at will into numerous forms, including a floating hypnotic light resembling a will-o'-the-wisp and a massive, monstrous black-and-purple dragon. She is not at all comical or goofy like some of the other Disney villains, although she does at times display something of a dark sense of humor. Her minions are a legion of goblins and troll-like creatures. She is also frequently accompanied by her pet raven called Diablo. She seems to have a minor quirk in regards to holding light objects, as she seems to extend her pinkie when holding a torch in the forward direction, as evidenced during her capture of Prince Phillip.
Trivia
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- She is the mother of Mal and the wife of Jafar.
- She is replaced by Captain Drake who becomes the new leader of the Disney Villains as of The Battle For the Leadership.
- She is the first Disney Villain to be the main antagonist in two films: Sleeping Beauty and Descendants.
- Her name is resembled as Magnificent and Malevolent.
- She later shrank to the size of the love in her heart.
- In the Isle of the Lost, it's revealed that Maleficent suffered a pain in the chest, due to Prince Phillip stabbing her in the chest while she was in her dragon form fighting him.
- She does vocals on one song ("Evil Like Me").
- The way Maleficent said when she came to Auradon, "I'M BAAACK", was somehow a reference to the film, Independence Day which the quote was previously said by Russel Casse.
- In the Isle of the Lost, Maleficent states that after she was killed by Prince Phillip, she woke up in a abandoned island (later to be revealed to be the Isle of the Lost).
- Maleficent's crimes were:
- Cursing a baby (Aurora)
- Imprisonment (Prince Phillip)
- Attempted Murder (Prince Phillip, Aurora)
- Mental torture (Prince Phillip)
- She was voiced by the late Elanor Audley in Sleeping Beauty, who also voiced Lady Tremaine.
- She is the first Disney Villain to have at least one henchman that dies in her debut.
- The second was Ursula in The Little Mermaid.
- The third was Scar in The Lion King.
- The fourth was Shan Yu in Mulan.
- She is the first Disney Villain to turn into an animal (dragon).
- The second was Madam Mim in The Sword in the Stone (dragon).
- The third was Jafar in Aladdin (snake).
- The fourth and fifth were Pain and Panic in Hercules (various animals).
- The sixth was Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove (cat).
- Even though this wasn't confirmed, in a novel based on the film, Maleficent (2014), she was the daughter of Lysander and Hermia (A Midsummer Nights Dream).
- This is a possibility that they are Mal's grandparents.