20 Ugliest Disney Characters (Princesses & Princes Included)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say. However, there are some universal “truths” about what’s beautiful and what’s not – and Disney knows it, too. Their princesses and princes are usually the beautiful ones, while the villains are ugly, but it’s not always like that.

That’s why I’m bringing you the ultimate list of the 20 ugliest Disney characters ever, including some iconic princesses and princes. Note that beauty (or ugliness) doesn’t always come from one’s outside appearance but from the inside and from their heinous actions. Let’s dig in!

20. Phil (Hercules)

The first character on this list is here solely because of his outside appearance, because his inside is as beautiful as any prince or princess. Phil, aka Philoctetes, is a Satyr (half-man, half-goat) who trains aspiring warriors to become real heroes. However, Hercules is his one last hope.

At first, Phil seems like a snobby, grumpy, stubborn old goat, but underneath the horns, hooves, chubby gut, red beard, and big nose lies a fiery but kind guy who has a huge heart and love for his friends. Oh, and a keen sense for music! If you don’t know this song, where’s your childhood.

19. Mother Gothel (Tangled)

Now, this one is as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. With the big, devilish eyes, and an attitude of a menace, Mother Gothel is one of the most hated characters in the movie Tangled. She’s the one who held Repunzel closed in the big tower and is eventually revealed as the biggest villain of the film.

She is actually a hundreds-of-years-old witch that uses Rapunzel’s magical hair to stay alive. Mother Gothel is selfish, evil, sociopathic, and just overall ugly.

18. Kristoff (Frozen)

Now, now – don’t get me wrong. Just like Phil, Kristoff is a kind, loving, and possibly misunderstood good guy. But, unlike Phil, he’s not really ugly, per se – he’s just not your typical, handsome, charming Disney prince, which is probably why people like Kristoff so much.

He is brave, bold, kind, and loving but mostly referred to as the ugliest Disney prince. Kristoff is actually simply average-looking, and the beauty of his heart more than makes up for any physical imperfections. Luckily, Anna saw that and dumped that horrible Hans guy with ginger sideburns looking like he fell out of the 17th century.

17. Hercules (Hercules)

Okay, this is another entry that some of you might not agree with me on, but come on. Hercules looks so weird that I honestly don’t know why the crowds were going bonkers for him. When he was young Herc, his body was totally disproportionate. Like, his hands and feet looked like scuba diving equipment.

And, don’t even get me started on grown-up Hercules. What’s going on with his chin? My friend told me she was enamored with Hercules when she was a kid, and although I absolutely love the movie, and Herc was my favorite Disney character for years, the dude was NOT pretty.

16. Roz (Monsters Inc.)

She is always watching, but just barely, since her eyes are almost closed, and she has those big glasses on. Roz is one of those characters that gives you creeps but still reminds you of your grandma. Kind of?

Anyways, she definitely deserves a spot on this list. I know we’re talking about monsters here, but there’s just something disturbing about Roz’s appearance and attitude that gives great material for memes. Roz is a slug-like monster with spiky grey hair and a huge mold on her chin.

15. Snow White (Snow White And The Seven Dwarves)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was one of the boldest, high-risk moves in the history of cinema, being the first animated feature film ever. And, as it turns out, it would be the film that changed the movie industry forever. If you count in the inflation, it’s the tenth highest-grossing film of all time and by far the highest-grossing animated film ever.

Still, it might be just me, but the ritual character, Snow White, still gives me the creeps. She is super pale with bright red cheeks and an odd, porcelain doll-looking face. Oh, and how about the fact that she just laid there like a corpse, and a guy came and kissed the corpse to wake it up? Sounds more like a horror film than a children’s film, but hey – it might be just me.

14. LeFou (The Beauty And The Beast)

I always found LeFou to be the funniest character in The Beauty And The Beast. He is Gaston’s best friend that is a total goof but incredibly loyal and would do anything for his friend. He’s never taken seriously, partly because of his personality, and partly because of his appearance. LeFou is short, chubby, and stumpy, with a big red figgy-like nose and huge gaps between his teeth.

The character reappeared in the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, where LeFou was reimagined as the first-ever openly queer Disney character. However, the actor, Josh Gad, shared regrets about not taking it on more bravely in the film.

13. Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)

I believe that the new, live-action version of Maleficent (portrayed by Angelina Jolie) gave the character a better arc, more flesh, and made it more human. That’s why we forget how ugly and, well, maleficent, the original Maleficent was.

The main antagonist of sleeping Beauty was insanely thin, with pale greenish skin and huge horns on top of her head, making her that much more menacing. However, it’s not her appearance that made Maleficent so ugly – it was her horrible, evil nature that had her curse a newborn just for kicks, or revenge – whatever.

12. Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove)

I feel like The Emperor’s New Groove doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. It was an awesome movie, and I loved the awesome emperor/llama spitting grapes. Still, the heroes and villains of the film get quite overlooked, which is why Yzma is frequently forgotten.

However, she was certainly one of the ugliest villains Disney had ever created. She was as thin as a skeleton and had huge yellow-shot eyes, extra-long eyelashes, and almost no hair. The blue undertone of her skin made Yzma that much more obscure and scary. She was ugly inside and out.

11. The Fates (Hercules)

The Fates were the three sisters/witches that shared a single eyeball and helped Hades learn about Herc’s main weakness. They were absolutely hideous, especially while the eyeball wasn’t in their possession. There was this scene where one of them had a spider hanging out of her nose – and she just snorted it back in. Ugh.

They certainly gave me nightmares, but the Fates were just a side character with a cameo role, so I can’t really put them much higher up on the list. Believe it or not, though, we’re still not done with characters from Hercules…

10. Jumba (Lilo & Stitch)

Stitch looks like an ugly but cute space dog. However, he was actually an experiment – a weapon created to destroy everything in its path. And, Jumba was the guy that created Stitch. He’s a big, fat alien that has two sets of eyes – two big and two tiny ones. He looks horrifying, although he serves as a nice comic relief in the film.

Luckily, he found out that his experiments failed and that Stitch learned how to be good, so Jumba did the right thing in the end, proving he wasn’t as ugly on the inside as we initially thought.

9. Shan Yu (Mulan)

This ugly, horrifying, dark figure was the reason why I was always on the fence about rewatching Mulan as a kid. I absolutely loved Mushu, so I wanted to watch the film all the time, but I was so scared of Shan Yu that I fast-forwarded through the most important parts of the film, where he appears.

Shan Yu is the huge leader of the Huns, with yellow eyes, dark hair, and a thick unibrow. He almost looks like a demon, not a person – especially after you see that the guy literally has fangs like a vampire. He still gives me the creeps.

8. Hades (Hercules)

One thing that the Hercules movie certainly didn’t lack is ugly characters – and the main antagonist, Hades, is by far the ugliest. Hades is the brother of Zeus and the god of the Underworld that aims to destroy Hercules and overthrow all the gods from Mount Olympus by releasing the Titans.

Hades has a blue fire on his head instead of hair, big yellow eyes, blue skin, and piranha-like teeth. Still, I loved Hades even as a kid, as I found him quite funny. His character is ugly inside and out, and yet, you kind of like him.

7. Quasimodo (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame)

Quasimodo is the perfect example of how easily we can misjudge people solely because of their appearance. The Hunchback is one of the ugliest characters Disney has ever drawn but also one of the kindest.

I loved the movie, and I believe it carried a very important message for kids. Don’t judge a book by its covers. If somebody is ugly (by our regular standards of beauty), that doesn’t mean they are automatically evil. Everybody is beautiful in their own way, even Quasi.

6. Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians)

I hate everything about Cruella De Vil and have hated it since I was a kid. Who would kill puppies to make clothes? Not only is Cruella De Vil cruel and evil (pun intended), but she is also one of the ugliest characters ever in Disney movies.

She is freakishly slim, with half-black-half white hair, gouging eyes, and a slightly purple-ish skin tone making her look almost undead. The new interpretation of the character from Emma Stone makes Cruella more human, but I still hated her. Don’t mess with animals, especially puppies and kittens.

5. Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

I was so scared to go into the sea when I was a kid because I was convinced that Ursula would take me. The big, fat, octopus-like creature with blue skin, red lipstick, and a heinous, evil smile is definitely one of the ugliest characters in Disney’s history.

Ursula wasn’t just ugly, though. She was sinister and really a great villain, ready to go the distance and do anything it takes to get to her goals, no matter what that meant.

4. Dr. Facilier (The Princess And The Frog)

Many people say that Dr. Facilier, aka the Voodoo Man, is one of the most underrated Disney villains ever, and I couldn’t agree more. His outside appearance was quite ugly and creepy – skinny, wearing a hat with a skull and bones on it, a big mouth with separated teeth, and a shadow that moved on its own.

However, his actions were terrifying and even uglier than his appearance. Oh, and his signature song, Friends on the Other Side, might be the creepiest Disney song ever.

3. Jafar (Aladdin)

Jafar had huge ambitions and complexes, but the means he used to get to his goals were not just sinister – they were ugly. Of course, he had an appearance to match, with an awful, evil smile, thin physique, weird beard, and an overall creepy-sorcerer vibe. He is one of my favorite villains that you just love to hate.

Honestly, I didn’t particularly like that the new live-action Aladdin film kind of “beautified” Jafar because it just felt that they stripped off a layer from the character that made him so iconic. That’s why I always turn back to the old animated Aladdin, although the new one wasn’t that bad compared to some other Disney live-action projects.

2. The Hag/Evil Queen (Snow White And The Seven Dwarves)

The Hag is actually the same character as the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Both are ugly on the inside, but the Hag is by far the uglier character on the outside. She has big gouging eyes, a large, warted nose, missing teeth, and having an overall witch-like appearance.

I always wondered how Snow White was so silly to trust that horrifying person at all. If I saw the Hag, I’d literally run in the opposite direction. I’d put her at number one, but the real number one on this list just couldn’t be placed anywhere else but on the top.

1. Horned King (The Black Cauldron)

If you want to scar your kid for life, get them to watch The Black Cauldron. I literally had nightmares and was scared the Horned King would come for me. The character is absolutely hideous, with banged-up nails, a skeleton-like brown face with messed-up teeth and red glowing eyes, looking like a demon straight out of a horror movie.

However, that’s only the beginning. The Horned King’s actions were way worse. So, the guy – in a children’s movie – ripped out people’s hearts and drained them of blood to create his personal army of undead skeletons. The Horned King, to me, is by far the ugliest, scariest, most hideous Disney character of all time.