Professor Ratigan

In Disney's The Great Mouse Detective, Ratigan or Professor Ratigan is the World's Greatest Criminal Mind. He was plotting to be the first as supreme ruler of all Mousedom. Voiced by the late Vincent Price, Professor Ratigan is rated #17 on the Disney List of all-time best villains.

Price has long been known for his uniquely smooth, polite theatrical voice. In fact, Price's first major role in motion pictures was playing the Invisible Man in Universal's sequels, a role he was especially cast for due to his velvety voice.

But it turns out there's more to admire about Professor Ratigan than the voice artist. Obviously based on the often-discussed, but little-featured Sherlock Holmes villain - Professor Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime - Ratigan has just as much (if not more) in common with the traditional James Bond villain (or perhaps it's more appropriate to compare him with Dr. Evil this days).

Ratigan's plan is full of pure Bond-villain-like audacity. He wants to replace the Queen with a robot double and crown himself King? Who needs a shark infested pool (and sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads) when you have Felicia, a cat just as willing to dispose of your disgraced henchmen? Who needs to simply kill their enemies when a complex Heath Robinson-like trap will kill them eventually? (But sadly you don't have the time to wait and watch their demise) Who needs jet-propelled backpacks when you have a pedal-powered blimp to escape in? Pure Bond villain through and through.

But what I like most of all about Professor Ratigan is how his true nature, the one he has been denying throughout the film, is revealed in the film's climax. When Ratigan sheds his clothes and reveals the pure animalistic rat within, it really is quite effective and it makes for a thrilling conclusion to the film.

Did Ratigan die from falling from the clock face? Of course not! Like all true villains he found a way to survive, and even now must be plotting his revenge on Basil, one which will involve Basil's utter humiliation before his defeat.
 * - James Reader