Collin Willis

Pixar villains may not be as instantly, visually iconic as Disney Villains, but they are often far more sinister. Coming in all shapes and sizes, Pixar excels at creating menacing evils out of average characters and a copious amount of trauma. Here are Pixar’s Top Ten Villains.

Honorable Mention- Ernesto de la Cruz

A truly heartless villain, Ernesto de la Cruz murdered his best friend and erased his name from the annals of history. He almost warrants a spot on this list, but his character (and the revelation of him as a murderer) takes him too far into melodrama compared to the more obscured lines of goodness and badness in Miguel, Hector, and the rest of the family who balances really well as their own antagonists. The big murder revelation forces a big bad into a story that works really well without one.

10. Terry (Soul)

Perhaps the least flawed or uniquely selfish character on this list, Terry is just doing her job. When a soul escapes the daily count towards the Great Beyond, its greatest accountant is sent to round the lost soul up. Terry has funny interactions with her spiritual counterparts (all named Jerry) and the human world along the way. And at the end of the day, all she wants is to keep the universe moving as intended.

9. Sid (Toy Story)

Sid finds himself lower on the list for two reasons; he is a child and he also shares the role of antagonist. For the first two acts of Toy Story there is no clear antagonist, Buzz and Woody keep the conflict alive by fighting with each other and their individual delusions. However, as they begin to make a peace the role of antagonist is menacingly filled by Sid. Sid is loud, obnoxious, and unbelievably violent. Sure the toys may end up scaring him for life, but after that many exploded and mutilated toys he deserved it.

8. Anton Ego (Ratatouille)

Anton Ego may be on the edges of Ratatouille for most of its duration, but his presence hangs like a shadow. Having inadvertently caused Gusteau’s death via a poor review, Anton Ego is indirectly responsible for setting up the entire film. His climactic arrival at Gusteau’s sparks the real conflict of the film and adds a sentimental conclusion. One of Peter O’Toole’s final film roles, Anton Ego is also one of his best.

7. Gabby Gabby (Toy Story 4)

Gabby Gabby is an interesting case on the list because while she functions as the major antagonist of Toy Story 4, she’s the least villainous of the bunch. Though apt to enforce her will through henchmen and silver tongued deception, Gabby and Woody ultimately want the same thing, to be there for a child. Armed with a defective voice box and a tragic back story, Gabby Gabby is surprisingly well rounded and disarmingly endearing.

6. Al McWhiggin (Toy Story 2)

One of Pixar’s more slapstick villains, Al McWhiggin is brought impeccably to life by Disney (and Seinfeld) veteran, Wayne Knight. Though never truly “evil”, Al is almost always vile. A money hungry thief with a quick temper and an eye for vintage toys, Al is pretty straightforward in his motivations. Though he lacks the nuance of the franchise’s other villains, he makes up for it in his gross personality.

5. Charles Muntz (Up)

How do you find a realistic opponent for a 78 year old protagonist? You pit him against an even older and more cynical man… who also happens to be his childhood hero. A larger than life figure who is hyped up far before he’s revealed, Charles Muntz feels like a realistic threat to Carl, Russel, and Kevin. The jaded old man and his army of talking dogs are out for blood and the audience can feel it.

4. Randall and Mr. Waternoose (Monsters Inc.)

Though they act out of unison for the majority of the film, the twist that Mr. Waternoose is in on Randall’s kidnapping plot is the twist of the knife that rips apart the friendship between Mike and Sully. Not only is their plan the most vile of any Pixar villain, but they match their opposing protagonists perfectly with the invisible trickster and scaring legend feeling almost always superior to the heroes they are pitted against. There aren’t many other Pixar villains that would be willing to kidnap 1000 children before they let their company die.

3. Syndrome (The Incredibles)

Syndrome is a villain completely self-aware of and comfortable in his role as the bad guy. Mocking the grandiose plans and monologues of the Connery-era Bond films, Syndrome functions perfectly in and out of the 4th wall. He’s cutthroat, funny, and a surprisingly sincere challenge to Mr. Incredible and his entire family. Willing to blow up a plane with children on it, kidnap a baby, and kill endless civilians just so he can put on a show.

2. Darla and Dr. P Sherman (Finding Nemo)

These villains do a lot with very little. Darla may not show up until the third act, but she shakes the characters to their core long before she darkens her uncle’s door. At the same time, she perfectly mirrors her uncle’s own ignorant disregard for marine life. Repeatedly Dr. P Sherman brags about saving the little guy (Nemo) from the reef, completely oblivious to the fact that he kidnapped the fish and is handing him over to a known fish-killer. These two work so well because they neither try to be or realize that they are the villains.

1. Lotso (Toy Story 3)

When it comes to Pixar’s greatest villain, there’s only one true answer. The leader of Sunnyside Day Care and villain with the most tragic of backstories, you feel for Lotso almost as much as you hate him. Conniving, manipulative, self-sure, Lotso can crack any other toy with merely a few words. He’s an unforgiving, unforgetting, unlovable shell of a stuffed bear. He pushes the toys closer to their collective demise than any other on the list, shatters Woody’s own self-esteem, and almost gets away with all of it.