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twistedtummies2 · 7 months

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Top 10 Maleficent Appearances

Earlier this week, I decided to celebrate Founding Day for Disney by discussing my favorite appearances of their flagship character, Mickey Mouse. However, as anybody who knows me well will likely be aware, Mickey isn’t my primary draw for Disney. None of the Disney heroes are, really. For me, the biggest group of characters that fascinate me most with Disney are its Villains. And while there are many great Disney Villains that I love - Scar, the Evil Queen, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and more - my favorite has always been, and likely always will be, the Mistress of All Evil herself: Maleficent. Originally debuting in 1959’s “Sleeping Beauty,” this dark fairy is arguably for the Disney Villains lineup what Mickey is to Disney as a whole. While not unanimously EVERYONE’S favorite Disney Villain, she is in the top ten for many, many people. More importantly, she is arguably the single villainess with the most clout Disney has created: in virtually anything that promotes the lineup, Maleficent is used, and usually has some sort of starring or majorly featured role. She’s often depicted as the leader of the villains, and it’s no surprise why: with her stone-cold demeanor, grandiose style, and absolutely REMARKABLE feats of power and menace, she is easily one of the most dangerous and despicable villains the company has forked out through their animated productions. Maleficent is not only my favorite Disney Villain, but quite possibly one of my top three favorite villains of all time, alongside Count Dracula and Batman’s Joker. And, seeing as Halloweentime is usually Disney’s “Season of the Villain,” and this IS still the 100th Anniversary of Disney itself…yeah. Now seems a perfect time to cover my favorite appearances this Dark Queen has had since her debut. On that note, no, the original Sleeping Beauty will NOT be counted here, simply because I think that’s cheating. This will be for all of Maleficent’s greatest roles since her cinematic premiere. With that said…here are My Top 10 Maleficent Appearances (besides Sleeping Beauty)!

10. Villains Mix & Mingle/Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular.

Our first entry on the countdown is a Halloweentime special stage show at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. This show has changed several times over the years, and with each revolution, Maleficent has been present in some form or another. The original version of the show, called “Villains Mix & Mingle,” featured Maleficent and Captain Hook as the hosts of the Event; it was basically a story-less mini-revue, dedicated to Disney Villains. The “plot” had Maleficent throwing a Halloween Party (I guess she was tired of not being invited to any herself), and summoning various Disney Villains to dance the night away. In the late 2000s, the show changed to have Dr. Facilier as the sole host of the event. Maleficent still appeared, but was now simply one of the basically mute villains attending the festivities. More recently, the show has not exactly vanished so much as evolved into a whole new production, known as “Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular.” This much longer, slightly more story-based version has the Sanderson Sisters throwing the ball. Facilier, Maleficent, and Oogie Boogie are all featured in major supporting roles, while other villains once again show up as mute guests to the party. Halloween is the “Season of the Villain” at the Disney Parks, as I said before, and few villains match the spirit of the season as much as Maleficent does; if this stage show and its many iterations proves one thing, it’s that the Mistress of All Evil is as synonymous with Halloween for Disney as ghosts and goblins are. You simply can’t have a gathering of baddies in the autumn and not feature her at all.

9. Once Upon a Time.

I’ve always had sort of mixed feelings about the version of Maleficent from the TV series “Once Upon a Time.” This interpretation tried to make the character a much more sympathetic antagonist than arguably ever before. Her origins are shrouded in tragedy, and a major part of her motivations in the show comes from her seeking her long-lost daughter. (It seems to be a recurring thing to make Maleficent a mother or mother-like figure…I’m not entirely sure why.) Actress Kristin Bauer von Stratten brought her all to the role, and while I never liked her first costume design, the one that appeared in the “Queens of Darkness” story arc (pictured here) was a VAST improvement. My problem with this Maleficent is that they couldn’t seem to decide what kind of character she should be; I had no issue with the more sympathetic portrayal, on the whole, but it bugged me how they were always building her up as this figure of ultimate evil in many bits of dialogue, only to then whip around and show her as more tragic or more reasonable than other, very obviously worse villains. If you want to make her the Mistress of All Evil, go with that; if you want to make her a sympathetic villainess, that’s fine, too. But trying to do both at the same time? That’s a hard job to try and pull off, to say the least. I did come to like her more and more as the show went on, but I still don’t feel justified putting her up in the higher spots of this list.

8. Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

This is an interactive attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, and perhaps the element most admirable about it is that it has...a plot. A real, true, honest-to-goodness plot! That’s something other entries on this list related to the parks tend to lack. The game has guests/players traveling throughout the park to find a variety of magic portals, through which they can interact. The story has the player(s) as apprentices of Merlin, trying to stop Hades from taking over the Magic Kingdom. The God of the Dead goes about finding various villains who, having been defeated and presumably killed in life, now take residence in the Underworld. He offers each one a chance to take back power, if they will help him in finding a bunch of special crystals needed for his plan. Maleficent is one of the villains Hades summons, but if you think the Mistress of All Evil has any intention of playing second fiddle to the Lord of the Underworld, think again. During Maleficent’s section of the story, she accepts Hades’ offer, but secretly plans to use the crystals for herself to take over the entire world, and then put Hades out of business, allowing her to become the most powerful villain in the universe. (Gotta give her credit for ambition.) It’s up to the guests to get past Maleficent’s many traps and minions in order to stop her, before either she or Hades can put their fiendish schemes into motion.

7. Dream Along With Mickey.

Yet another stage show from the Magic Kingdom! This production ran for ten years, between 2006 and 2016, before being eventually replaced by “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire.” The plot revolves around Mickey Mouse, Minnie, and Goofy trying to teach Donald Duck the importance of dreams and belief. About halfway through the show, the gang playfully pretend to be pirates…which results in the sudden appearance of Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. The two are naturally beaten by the intervention of Peter Pan…but just as it seems victory has been achieved and all is well, it’s revealed that the pirates are actually working for - you guessed it - Maleficent. The evil fairy arrives to terrorize the party, declaring her intentions to change the Magic Kingdom “into a Place Where NIGHTMARES Come True!” (I should probably mention that Maleficent’s appearance is highlighted by an instrumental version of “Hellfire.” EPICNESS.) Though ultimately defeated - because villains never prosper - Maleficent vows to return, warning the mouse, duck, and all “One day the Kingdom will stop believing, and all will be lost!” This is one of Maleficent’s biggest appearances at the Parks, in SEVERAL ways, and it’s a pity the show no longer runs at Cinderella’s Castle. Que sera sera.

6. Once Upon a Dream.

This book is part of a series called "Twisted Tales," published by Hyperion and written by Liz Braswell. Each one of these books starts off with some sort of eye-catching question and premise related to a famous Disney feature. In this case, "What if Sleeping Beauty never woke up?" The plot has it set that, after slaying Maleficent as the Dragon, Prince Philip goes to awaken Aurora, just like in the film...but then something goes horribly wrong. For some reason, instead of waking the princess with true love's kiss, the prince falls asleep, too! The plot then shifts, as we find ourselves in what seems to be a parallel universe, where Aurora is Maleficent's daughter, and the Mistress of All Evil is controlling the entire kingdom. It's quickly made clear that - as you may or may not have guessed - this is a dreamworld going on inside of the head of Aurora and all the other denizens of the kingdom. The Princess has to figure out a way to beat Maleficent - with Philip's help - and wake up from the nightmare. What's great about this story is that Maleficent is kept in-character. She remains cold, crafty, and above all, VILLAINOUS: she's still the bad guy in this story, and she feels, generally speaking, like the character we all know and love to hate. My only problem with this story is that it feels like it borrows a lot from another Disney movie, "Tangled," with Maleficent essentially in the Mother Gothel role, Aurora as Rapunzel, and Philip as Flynn Rider. (All of their names even sound vaguely similar, now that I think about it.) But there's enough different about it to make it interesting, and I appreciate the novel using the “Maleficent as a Mother” trope (which has, again, become unusually popular) while still deciding to make Maleficent the dastardly adversary we all worship and abhor by the end of the tale.

5. Fantasmic!

This is one of the most lauded, spectacular, and looked-forward-to shows at the Disney Parks. It’s currently still put on at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and there used to be versions done for Tokyo Disneyland. Maleficent’s role in the proceedings is nominally very small, but the impact her appearance makes cannot be understated. While every production over the years has made some changes, the premise of the show remains the same: Mickey Mouse guides us on a trip through his own little dreamworld, where his imagination reigns supreme, and every story ends happily ever after. Everything is fun and fancy free (ha ha), until the Evil Queen gets wind of what’s going on. Incensed, she summons various Disney Villains to help her “turn that little mouse’s dream into a Nightmare Fantasmic!” This culminates in the arrival of Maleficent: “Now you will deal with me, and all the Powers of MY IMAGINATION!” In every version, the grand climax of the show has Maleficent transforming into her dragon form, and SETTING THE ENTIRE DREAM WORLD ON FIRE. (Yikes!) In the midst of this fiery chaos, Mickey must step forward and remind the villains just whose dream this is, defeating the mighty dragon in the process. It’s by fair one of the “biggest” shows in Disney history, and certainly one of Maleficent’s “biggest” appearances (in more ways than one). I was very sad and distressed when I heard that, recently, the Disneyland version of the dragon experienced some...technical difficulties, so to speak. You can look up what I mean, if you don't know already. What this means for Maleficent's future in the production is presently hard to say for sure, but I think it's unlikely she'll be leaving Mickey alone for good anytime soon.

4. Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy.

Take notes, “Maleficent” movies and “Once Upon a Time.” If you want to try and provide a backstory to Maleficent, and make her more sympathetic, THIS is how you do it. While this book - part of a series by Serena Valentino, showing the backstories of various Disney antagonists (and the Beast...for some reason) - is not exactly perfect, it certainly achieves that aforementioned goal MUCH more successfully. In this book, Maleficent is still the elegant, dangerous, graceful enchantress we all remember, but we learn the reason why she’s so very wicked, and we also learn that her reasons for what she did in the film were much deeper than one might have expected. It also makes us see that the heroes of the story were not always so squeaky clean, and while it doesn’t totally vilify them - Maleficent is still decidedly evil in her actions, and they are decidedly good - it makes it clear that the line between the two extremes isn’t always as clean cut as we would expect. In short, this book is what I think those other versions, especially the Jolie-starring movies, tried to be: essentially Disney’s version of “Wicked,” taking a lot of the same themes and even some slightly similar story elements from those earlier films, but using them in a much better way than before. Again, it’s by no means perfect, as a book OR as a backstory, but it ultimately does much more and manages to work much better than other similar attempts. And since Maleficent is the focus, it once again stands as something quite unique in her catalogue of appearances.

3. Twisted Wonderland.

Okay, so, this is KIND OF cheating, but I'm sorry, I HAVE to talk about this game. "Twisted Wonderland" is a mobile video game, in which your character gets "zapped" into an alternate universe. In this universe, they find themselves at a School of Black Magic which was inspired by seven of the great Disney Villains. (I have no idea how THAT happened, but whatever.) Among them is Maleficent, but although she is referenced several times, the Dark Queen HERSELF is relatively peripheral: she's long dead by the time the story begins. No, the focus of the game is on the students and staff of the school - Night Raven College - who are all based on (and sometimes descended from) the classic villains in question. One of the most prominent characters in the game is a descendant of Maleficent: the half-dragon Prince of the Dark Fae, Malleus Draconia. What's great about Malleus is what's great about all the characters in the game, really: unlike the "Descendants" franchise, which has a slightly similar premise, these characters are not merely stock figures who ride the coattails of the classic baddies of yore. Instead, they keep elements of the original villains close, but enough is changed about them to make them unique and interesting figures in their own right. Malleus has Maleficent's sense of style and aesthetics, and like her, his fury is a dangerous thing to provoke. He’s one of the most powerful beings in the entire WORLD, in the universe of the game, able to control the elements through his sheer will…yet despite all that power, and his dark aura, he’s got a lot of soft spots and some noted vulnerabilities. He CAN be dangerous and intimidating, make no mistake: he's more than aware of his power and who and what he is. Underneath it all, however, he’s a very lonely soul who longs for a sense of real companionship and belonging. I really can't do this guy justice with just a short written description; you really need to look into this title and this character for yourself. Ever since I met him, he was a shoe-in for my Top Three.

2. Kingdom Keepers.

This novel series by Ridley Pearson is essentially a darker, Disney-fied version of “Night at the Museum.” In the books, it’s revealed that, late at night, when everything closes down, all the attractions and rides and so forth at Disney Parks come to life, and many of Disney’s characters come to life, too...both good and evil. Enter The Overtakers - a band of nasties (most of them Disney Villains) who want to, as their group title suggests, take over the world. (OF COURSE!) Maleficent is one of the key antagonists of the series: she is the second-in-command of the Overtakers, the only character outshining her being the devilish Chernabog. You could almost say she is the Darth Vader of the franchise, in comparison to Chernabog’s Palpatine. This version of Maleficent has one interesting differentiation from her original film counterpart: while the original Maleficent was a being of fire - able to transform into a dragon, vanishing in flashes of flame, etc. - this Maleficent is as frosty as her heart. Everywhere she treads, she emanates an aura of coldness; where she steps, ice forms, and she prefers to hide out in chilly places. She still has power over flame, of course, among all sorts of other magic, but it’s this constant, frigid aura that makes her stand out. Anytime our heroes - a group of teens tasked with stopping the Overtakers - venture someplace with even the faintest chill, they get worried, and anytime things get dark and cold in the atmosphere, the reader immediately gets nervous or excited, wondering when the Mistress of Evil is going to make her grand entrance. I really love these books, and I’d love to see Disney do some sort of movie or TV series based on them sometime. Personally, I’d pick Cate Blanchett or Eva Green for Maleficent, if they ever do…but I digress.

1. Kingdom Hearts.

As the secondary antagonist of this highly popular video game series, “Kingdom Hearts” has probably done more for Maleficent’s popularity than anything else she’s been in. Almost anytime I bring up this Evil Fairy, her role in Kingdom Hearts is not far behind. In the first game, Maleficent was really the main antagonist, until Xehanort’s Heartless (a.k.a. Ansem the Seeker of Darkness) essentially hijacked the climax from her. In that game, Maleficent assembled a gang of Disney Villains to help her take over Kingdom Hearts, and thereby gain power over all worlds. However, she overestimated her power to control the Heartless and the darkness inside her own wretched heart, and was ultimately destroyed by the aforementioned surprise main villain. This, however, was not the end for Maleficent: she was brought back to life sometime later, and since then she has continued to try all sorts of tricks and schemes to conquer the universe. Ironically, despite her grandiose nature, Maleficent’s desire for and knowledge about Kingdom Hearts is largely due to the machinations of the main antagonist of the franchise, Xehanort himself; however, the more she learns about the universe around her, the more dangerous she becomes. Even though she hasn’t had quite the prominency in later games that she had in the first, she’s always there, sort of creeping through the sidelines, plotting and planning her next big break to get the power she so desperately craves, and seems to feel she deserves. In many games of the series, she’s assisted by Mickey Mouse’s arch-nemesis Pete, and the contrast between the refined, intelligent, proud, and powerful Maleficent against the much more bungling and coarse Pete is actually quite a potent cocktail for humorous chemistry. All things told, it’s no surprise that the Kingdom Hearts games are My Favorite Appearance from Maleficent...outside of her original film, of course.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

The Angelina Jolie Movies. (I don’t like these films, to be honest, BUT the fact Maleficent GOT solo movies is worth mentioning, which is why I place them here.)

House of Mouse. (She didn’t have a lot to do, but the appearances she had were memorable.)

"Disney Villains: Maleficent" Comic Series. (A joint publication between Dynamite Entertainment and Disney...now I want to see Maleficent meet The Shadow. XD )

Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough. (Had to at least mention the one major ride/attraction she appears in at the parks, didn’t I?)

#disney #list #countdown #top 10 #maleficent #appearances #disney parks #video games #literature #tv #once upon a time #twisted wonderland #kingdom hearts #kingdom keepers #fantasmic #twisted tales

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twistedtummies2 · 6 months

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Top 5 Scar Appearances

Tomorrow is Halloween, everybody! Good news, bad news, WORSE news time: the bad news is that a very special month-long countdown I WAS planning to do in November isn’t ready yet. I’m going to try and get it done in time for either December or January. The WORSE news is that I also didn't have time to write a Halloween story special. :( The good news is that, since I don’t have those things to worry about, I now have a chance to present to you all a smaller list in commemoration. And, seeing as how Halloweentime is the “Season of the Villain” for Disney, and we’re still in the month of Disney’s 100th Anniversary…how about a list devoted to a lot of people’s favorite Disney Villain: Scar, from The Lion King. I’ve never been AS into Scar as a lot of other people I know are. I love him, make no mistake, but he’s never been my absolute favorite Disney baddy; he’s not even in my Top 10. However, do not misconstrue this as me thinking Scar is a bad character or even an unfit antagonist: there’s a very good reason he’s widely considered to be one of Disney’s greatest and most sinister evildoers. Many people name him as either their number one favorite, or at least somewhere in their Top 10; I’m an outlier there. You can’t blame anybody who does: Scar is one of those wonderful villains who is equal parts menacing and delightful. He does some of the absolute worst things any Disney Villain can do, which is saying a lot, yet it’s hard to completely hate him because he’s just such an entertainingly vile character - the secret formula that makes a lot of villains, especially those from Disney, so uniquely enjoyable. Despite his notoriety, Scar is surprisingly not a villain who makes a LOT of appearances beyond his film, and most of the ones he does make are relatively small. There are a lot of possible reasons for this, but whatever the cause, it does mean that making a full Top 10 for this list was very difficult. Ultimately, I decided to shorten things up and make this celebration of Scar a simple Top 5. Also, I’m just going to say it right now: I WON’T be including the 2019 Remake version of the Lion King anywhere on this list. This is for two reasons: a.) the remake sucks, Sucks, SUCKS, and b.) even if it didn’t suck, it doesn’t really do anything new or meaningfully different with Scar compared to the original, in my opinion. (Unless you count making him infinitely more boring.) With this in mind…I know it sounds sordid, but I think it’s time Scar be rewarded, and at last be given his dues! Be Prepared: these are My Top 5 Appearances of Scar (since the original Lion King).

5. Kingdom Hearts.

As I’ve said many times before, Kingdom Hearts is quite possibly my favorite video game series of all time (alongside Castlevania), and Scar’s big appearance in the franchise was in my favorite game of the series, “Kingdom Hearts II.” You’d expect, therefore, for this to be in my Top 5…so the greater question is why the KH version gets the lowest billing. Well, first, let’s focus on the positives: Scar provides an awesome boss fight in the first visit to the Pride Lands, which essentially follows the footsteps of the original film, but with Sora and Co. inserted into the story. It’s also cool to think of Scar siding up with characters like Maleficent and Pete, since part of the reason he becomes a threat is due to his joining forces with them. I also really like the way the second visit to the Pride Lands plays out, in fact I like it more than the first visit: in that one, Simba is now King, but is haunted by the recurring reappearances of a shadowy “ghost” of Scar. This Ghost seems to pop up all over the Pride Lands, mocking Simba for his past failures and calling him a coward. It’s revealed that the mysterious Ghost of Scar is a lingering trace of Scar’s inner darkness, which feeds off of fear, and survives off of Simba’s doubts about his role as the King. Villains who have a legacy even after their gone are fascinating to me, and this is one of the best examples of such a thing I’ve ever seen. While I really love all these elements, one specific point drags this Scar down to the bottom: the voice. He’s played by James Horan, who does, to his credit, provide a near pitch-perfect impression of the great Jeremy Irons…but something about Horan’s performance feels like it lacks a lot of energy and direction. He’s honestly much better during the boss fight, providing the necessary aggression and intensity for the battle taunts and dialogue, but everywhere else in the game his work feels somewhat wooden to me. It’s a pity, because Horan is a fantastic actor, and I feel could have done so much better with the part…but, for whatever reason, the stars just weren’t in alignment. Still, this is ultimately a nitpick above all else, and KH still provides perhaps the most memorable appearance Scar has had in a video game to date.

4. Lion King: The Musical.

While I didn’t feel the 2019 cinematic remake of “The Lion King” deserved credit on this countdown, I think the stage musical does. This is, once again, for two reasons: a.) the musical isn’t an abominable waste of time and brain cells, which the remake largely is. And b.) while the show basically follows the same story as the original film, and does include a lot of the dialogue and other elements you would expect, the Broadway-originating musical does do a few new things with the material. First of all, aesthetically, it has to use some very clever costuming, choreography, and staging to bring the African Savannah and its wildlife to visual existence onstage. Second of all, the musical does actually do a few new things with Scar, in particular, giving him a few extra scenes and songs absent from the film. The most notable is the infamous sequence called “The Madness of King Scar,” where the audience checks in on the villain after his hostile takeover. While there is a scene like this in the film, the musical takes more time to look at the situation, and gives it a musical number to accompany it, diving into the depravity Scar has fallen into as tyrant ruler of the Pride Lands, and indicating that his sanity is slipping just as the kingdom is crumbling around him. The Broadway version of “The Lion King” is one of the most popular musicals in the world, and has been brought to other countries and theaters worldwide, such as London’s West End. This is not to mention numerous touring companies! There’s even a “Junior” version of the show intended for younger performers to put on, typically for High Schools and community theatre productions. Scar has been played by some pretty big names in musical theatre over the years, accordingly, such as John Vickery (the original performer in the role) and Patrick Page (pictured here). Ultimately, the only reason the musical doesn’t get into the top three is because, aside from the fact it’s basically just a staged version of the original film, I feel it’s a show best experienced live, and I unfortunately have not had the proper pleasure of witnessing it in such a fashion. Hopefully someday that will change.

3. The Lion Guard.

There is a LOT I could say about this show, just revolving around Scar alone, and I DO mean a LOT. It’s kind of hard for me to figure out where to begin. I will attempt to be as succinct as possible. “The Lion Guard” was a Disney Junior series that acted as a spin-off/official sequel to “The Lion King,” and covers the period of time between the end of the first movie, and the events of the earlier sequel film, “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.” The first season of the show was essentially a series of disconnected adventures, with the main characters - led by Simba’s son, Kion - having to protect the Pride Lands from a variety of antagonists. However, in Season 2, Scar was brought back, and became the main villain of the series until early in Season 3. (A new main antagonist, Makucha, became the primary rogue for the remainder of the show’s time.) Resurrected in the form of an angry, fiery spirit, dwelling in the bowels of a vast volcano, Scar is unable to do anything DIRECTLY to cause chaos for his rivals, but the phantom’s mind remains as cunning as ever. He thinks up an elaborate scheme to destroy the Pride Lands, vowing that if he cannot rule, no one shall. Instead of Jeremy Irons (or James Horan, or even Jim Cummings, who helped with singing duties in the original movie after Irons strained his vocal chords), Scar is voiced in the show by one David Oyelowo, who brings his own unique flair to the part while still carrying the mixture of foppishness and cruelty the original version had. The show gave us what are now considered the official origins of Scar, and while I have a few niggling issues with those origins, it did lead to some interesting story points for the show in its final season, as - much like in KH - Scar’s wicked deeds still have an effect even after his second defeat. Again, a villain with a legacy is a grand thing, and this is probably Scar’s biggest post-original-film outing, outside of direct adaptations of the same. “The Lion Guard,” in general, was a surprisingly well-crafted series; it went a little deeper and a little darker than most other Disney Junior shows have gone before or since. You might say it is the “Batman: The Animated Series” of Disney Junior…though how much that’s really saying is somewhat up to debate. Regardless, while neither Scar’s depiction nor the show as a whole were totally perfect, both have more than earned their placement in my Top 3.

2. “Disney Villains: Scar” Comics.

Recently, Disney teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment - a comics company that I know best for publishing things like “The Shadow” - to produce a series of comic miniseries focusing on the stories of several of their greatest villains, all set in a time before the Events of the original films. Of all the ones I’ve read so far, Scar’s miniseries is by far the best. This simple four-part miniseries takes place in the time between Simba’s birth and…well…the rest of the movie. It tells the story of how Scar formed an alliance with the hyenas, and thus began to work out the machinations of his grand scheme for power. While this is an interesting premise on its own, what these comics do so beautifully, and why they take top-billing, is that they do something for Scar that, honestly, no other version has really achieved before: they humanize him. (Or…lionize him, I guess? Semantics.) While Scar is, of course, fully immersed in the shadows by this point, so to speak, the comic dives into his mind and his heart, as we see what really makes him tick. The way he’s written, and the way other characters rebound off of him, gives us a more empathetic and almost tragic look at the dark lion than anyone has really ever attempted. Past origin stories of Scar always depict him as a bad seed, even before getting his namesake wound and becoming the scoundrel we all know and love to hate. “The Lion Guard” indicated Scar already had a desire for power and glory before getting his scar, and an earlier story, “A Tale of Two Brothers” (now considered non-canon) was much the same. While this comic doesn’t describe Scar’s origins, per say, it actually makes you FEEL for him, as we get the feeling there WAS some good in him somewhere, and he DID have a chance to see the light. The tragedy of Scar, as the comic makes it out to be, is that he was so blinded with anger and jealousy, there was no way to save him: it wasn’t that he didn’t have a good side, it was that he SHUNNED that goodness in favor of his ambitions and his rage. That’s something no other version has honestly TRULY achieved, which is funny because, in my opinion, Scar is one of the easiest of the Disney Villains TO make into a sympathetic, or at least empathetic, character. This miniseries does that, but still makes sure to make it clear that Scar is too far gone to be anything but the bad guy…which, of course, is what we love him as best. I actually debated making this one number one…and considering what I DID end up making number one, I sincerely hope it won’t be considered blasphemy of the highest order that I did not…

1. Leona Kingscholar, from Twisted Wonderland.

Okay, so…I had to fight with myself over whether or not I SHOULD make this lad and this game my number one. Because he’s not actually Scar HIMSELF, and therefore it felt like massive cheating to make him number one. After discussing the issue with a friend, they made a very simple and very good point: “I think Leona should be number one, because it’s been a long time since you’ve gone this crazy over a character.” I realized…yeah, that was correct, and therefore, even if I HAD placed Leona at number two, it wouldn’t have really been HONEST. For those who don’t know or have simply forgotten: “Twisted Wonderland” is a game that takes place in a parallel world, set in a school of dark magic called Night Raven College. The school is inspired by seven of the great Disney Villains, and many characters reference those villains. Scar is the villain who inspired the Savanaclaw dorm at NRC, and is seen in some flashbacks…but his main claim to fame here is the analogous character, Leona Kingscholar. Like Scar, Leona is the second prince of an African-styled kingdom ruled by leonine beings, but whose claim to the throne has been ruined by his nephew, after years of living in his older brother’s shadow. Also like Scar, Leona is sadistic, lazy, gluttonous, selfish, and while he absolutely can throw down in a physical fight, his true asset is his intellect. Leona lacks Scar’s elegant manners, but underneath his more beastly exterior, he’s a genius and a master strategist, who always has schemes within schemes (within schemes, sometimes). He’s also indicated to be one of the most powerful characters at NRC, second only to the Maleficent character, Malleus. Despite all these despicable elements, what separates Leona from his inspiration is the same as many other TW characters: he isn’t too far gone yet. While he resents his family, he actually does still care about them, and despite his at times downright narcissistic behavior, he genuinely cares for his kingdom as well. He’s not very nice, and he’s willing to go to some dangerous extremes to get what he wants, but he’s not pure evil the way Scar is often seen to be. It’s hard for me to say why I love this guy so much, but the fact is that I do. It’s probably going to be something a lot of people disagree with, but at the end of the day, he takes the cake at number one on this list. Whether it’s Scar or Leona…Long Live the King.

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