Maleficent (Disney)

"Before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel...and DIE!"

- Maleficent cursing Princess Aurora. "You poor simple fools. Thinking you could defeat ME?! Me, the Mistress of All Evil!"

- Maleficent's famous quote.

Maleficent is the main antagonist of Disney's 1959 animated fantasy film Sleeping Beauty. She is an evil fairy that takes offense at not being invited to the christening of Princess Aurora, and attempts revenge on King Stefan and Queen Leah by cursing their beloved daughter Aurora.

Contrary to popular belief, Maleficent is a fairy, albeit a dark one, responsible for all misfortune in King Stefan's kingdom; she appears to be particularly unfond of the Three Good Fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, her polar opposites, who do all in their power to keep Maleficent's overwhelming evil magic at bay. With her gothic, elegant design, dramatic and flamboyant animation and unlimited arsenal of magic powers, Maleficent is one of the most popular and well-known Disney villains.

Angelina Jolie portrayed the titular role of the same villainess in Disney's 2014 live action film Maleficent.

Sleeping Beauty
At the christening of the newly born Princess Aurora, the Three Good Fairies come to bestow 3 gifts on the child: Flora’s gift is Beauty, and Fauna’s is Song. Before Merryweather has a chance to give the child a gift, Maleficent enters with her raven Diablo, perched on her Staff. Mad at not receiving an invitation, she curses the child, decreeing that, before the sun sets on Aurora’s 16th birthday, the child shall die, by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She then leaves, cackling. Merryweather, unable to undo the entire curse herself, is able nevertheless to alter it such that Aurora will not die, but merely enter a deep sleep, to be broken with true love’s first kiss.

As Aurora's 16th birthday draws near, Maleficent punishes her Goons, who have stupidly been searching for a baby for 16 years. She then sends Diablo, her Raven, to find the princess. Diablo discovers that Aurora, as "Briar Rose", is living with the Three Good Fairies (who are posing as mortals) in a cottage in the woods. When the princess and the fairies return to the castle late that afternoon, Maleficent finds Aurora alone and, as a will-o the wisp-like apparition, lures her to a spinning wheel. She pricks her finger and falls to the floor. The fairies arrive in time for Maleficent to scoff at them; she then disappears. She and the Goons go to the cottage, where they wait for Prince Phillip, who had arranged to meet Aurora (whom he only knew to be 'Briar Rose,' a peasant girl). When he arrives, they capture him and take him to her castle at the Forbidden Mountain.

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather rescue Phillip and gives him the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth; this is noticed by Diablo, who fetches the Goons. The prince and fairies are still able to escape, and Merryweather turns Diablo to stone. However, Maleficent emerges, sees Phillip escaping and attempts to strike him down with lightning. As he continues, she summons thorns to surround King Stefan’s castle. When she sees that Phillip, with help from the Good Fairies, is able to hack through the thorns, she appears before him, and transforms into an enormous dragon.

The two battle, but Phillip eventually kills her when Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather enchant his sword. She falls from a great height, and Phillip looks down to see that she has become her cape; the Sword of Truth, still embedded in the cape, turns black. Phillip then awakens Aurora with a kiss.

Maleficent (film)
Main article: Maleficent (Maleficent Film) The 2014 movie Maleficent presents an alternate take on the character, casting her in a more sympathetic light.

Birth by Sleep
Maleficent appears as one of the main antagonists in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. When Terra arrived at the Enchanted Dominion, he eventually came across Maleficent. Almost immediately, Maleficent could tell that Terra was never from around from those parts, seeing how he was never asleep. Terra ask her if she has seen Xehanort, to which she answered no. However, she did see a mysterious man as she was leaving the castle, so Maleficent took to where she think she saw the mysterious man. Eventually they came across a sleeping Princess Aurora. Maleficent told Terra if he want any information about Xehanort, all he had too do was steal the princess' heart.

At first Terra refused, but the darkness inside his heart eventually took over, causing him to steal Aurora's heart. When Terra comes to his senses, Maleficent states that the Keyblade is necessary to retrieve the remaining hearts and asks Terra to join her. Terra refused Maleficent's offer and attempted to attack her. However, an Unversed caused an explosion, causing Terra to be distracted. Before Maleficent left, she warned Terra that the darkness inside his heart can never be suppressed by force.

Eventually, Maleficent encounters Ventus while he was searching for both Terra and Aurora's heart. As soon as Ventus saw Maleficent, he attempted to strike her down while holding her responsible for the theft of Aurora's heart. As soon as Maleficent saw Ventus' Keyblade, she could immediately knew who he was. She explained to Ventus that she knew about the power of the Keyblade thanks to a demonstration by Terra. She even told Ventus that Terra was the one who stole Aurora's Heart. Ventus thought that she was lying, and that Terra would never do such a thing. Even though Maleficent was asked not to harm Ventus, she was left with one choice but to fight him. With the help of the Three Good Fairies, Ventus was able to fend off Maleficent. Ventus still refused to believe that Terra would perform such an evil deed.

Just then, Aqua showed up, telling Ventus not to believe in Maleficent's lies. Shortly after, Ventus ran off to find Terra. Before Aqua could chase after Ventus, Maleficent stopped her after noticing that Aqua was a Keyblade Wielder. Much like Ventus, Maleficent told Aqua that Terra demonstrated the powers of the Keyblade. Aqua began to believe that Terra really did help Maleficent steal Aurora's heart, but he refused to help Maleficent when she offered Aqua to join her. Maleficent then revealed to Aqua that she knew Master Xehanort, and that he thought the Aqua was a stubborn girl. Maleficent then send Aqua to the dungeon to have time to think of Maleficent's offer.

With the help of Prince Phillip, and the Three Good Fairies, Aqua was able to escape, the Forbidden Mountain. However, Maleficent casted a spell to place a forest of thorns to prevent them from escaping. She then teleported in front of Aqua and Prince Phillip. Aqua demanded Maleficent on what Master Xehanort told her. Instead, Maleficent said was that Aqua did not have Terra's gift for obedience, and that he easily embraced the darkness within his heart. But Aqua still believed that Maleficent was lying. Knowing that this was going nowhere, Maleficent transformed into a enormous dragon, and confronted Aqua and Prince Phillip. During the fight, Maleficent managed to push back Aqua, but with the help of the fairies, Prince Phillip tossed his sword into Maleficent's chest.

Despite this, and her curse had ended, Maleficent managed to survive and was reverted back into her original form. Aqua informed a weaken Maleficent that love was the reason why she lost. But Maleficent refused to have something as insignificant as love defeated her. Aqua also informed her that she can defeat someone with a heart of light, to which Maleficent replied; "As long there is light, there will be darkness." Maleficent then retreated while coming up with plans to gain control of the darkness within the hearts of others.

While this was going on, Maleficent traveled through various worlds using the Corridors of Darkness. And by doing so, she created a team of various Disney villains. The first one she recruited was Pete after he was imprisoned in a dark realm. Other villains who joined Maleficent were Jafar, who became her second-in-command, Hades, Ursula, Captain Hook, and Oogie Boogie. She also managed to capture 4 of the seven Princesses of Heart; Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle.

Kingdom Hearts
Maleficent is the secondary main antagonist in the video game series Kingdom Hearts as well, and the game's most prominent Disney villain. She first appears after the hero defeats the Sneak Stealth in the Deep Jungle, watching his victory from her perch in Hollow Bastion. She, along with her team (which includes popular Disney villains Captain Hook, Ursula, Jafar, and Oogie Boogie), watched Sora stride away from the battle victoriously. She and her allies muse on the nature of darkness and the Heartless, and Maleficent declares that "he could be quite useful" before bringing out the kidnapped Alice.

After locking the Deep Jungle keyhole, Jafar asks what made the Heartless come to that world. Maleficent then replies "The hunter lured them there" because of the darkness in his own heart.

However, her willingness to submit to darkness proves to be her downfall, as Xehanort's Heartless (in Riku's body) releases her inner power, turning her into a massive dragon. She fights Sora, but he is too much for her, and she is eventually defeated, dissolving in a blaze of emerald fire. All that is left behind is her cloak, which "Riku" steps on and it disappears. He declares her fate "a fitting end for such a fool" as the Heartless were using her since the beginning.

Kingdom Heats II
She returns in the sequel, Kingdom Hearts II, having used what remained of her evil power to resurrect. She immediately returns to her evil ways, but when her plans are thwarted by Organization XIII, she actually helps Sora and his friends, leading them to conclude that help can come from unexpected places.

Kingdom Hearts coded
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Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
Sometime while Sora and Riku were trying to become Keyblade masters, Maleficent and Pete escaped from the digital world. Shortly after, the two arrived in King Mickey's castle, and held Queen Minnie hostage. Maleficent threaten to kill Minnie if she did not have control over the Mysterious Tower, saying that she preferred it in a more darker, more ominous permutation. However, Mickey began to question Maleficent's goals as she would go this far just to take over one world. Maleficent then explained to Mickey how Master Xehanort told her how to travel to different worlds, how to win the hearts into darkness, and about the Seven Hearts of Pure Light, the hearts that would allow her to take over all worlds. She also admit that she miscalculated during her last attempt. She then revealed that she seek the Data for all the worlds, that Mickey and his friends discovered. Maleficent that demanded Mickey to give her the Data. Mickey asked her why she wanted the Data, but Maleficent did not say.

Mickey refused to give the Data, so Maleficent retaliates by attacking Mickey, Donald and Goofy. However, one of Lea's chakrams appeared through the Corridor of Darkness, and blocked Maleficent's magic. With that distraction, Minnie was able to escape from Pete. Mickey and his friends were about to confront Maleficent, but Pete recommended that they retreated. Before she retreated, Maleficent proclaimed that what she seeks lies within the walls of the Mysterious Tower. She then threaten that she will eliminate Mickey and his friends in good time. Maleficent and Pete processed into a Corridor of Darkness.

House of Mouse
Maleficent is one of many villains who take over the House of Mouse, under the leadership of her male counterpart, Jafar. During the villains' song, Maleficent turns into her dragon form, and Chernabog seems to fall in love with her.

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Magical Special Edition
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Magical Special Edition was a fireworks show at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California that ran from November 16, 2014 to February 28, 2015. It was a relatively small show intended to bridge the gap between two of Disneyland's most extravagant fireworks shows of all time: Believe... There's Magic in the Stars and Magical: Disney's Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations. In November 16, 2014 My Litle Pony Friendship is Magic: Magical Special Edition was performed at due to refurbishment of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

MLP FiM: Magical Special Edition was created by Disneyland's in-house entertainment department while Walt Disney Creative Entertainment was in the process of developing Remember... The show contained elements of Magical Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations , Disneyland's fireworks show from 2009 - October 2014. MLP FiM: Magical Special Edition replaced with My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Magical Special Edition during Valentines Day 2015 for two weeks before Believe... made its debut.

MLP FiM: Magical Special Edition also was the first Disneyland fireworks show to employ pneumatic launch technology. This technology uses compressed air instead of gunpowder to launch shells into the air, thus resulting in reduced pyrotechnic fallout into the park and surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Kingdom Keepers
In the novel series, Maleficent appears as one of the 2 foremost antagonists (the other being Chernabog) and leads a group of villains called the Overtakers (a bunch of certain Disney villains made by Walt Disney and his company). The Overtakers serve as the main antagonists of the series. At first, the reader would think she is the leader, but she is actually second in command. Chernabog is the leader. The evil fairy at first tried to scare Finn Whitman and his friends in the first book, but seeing the kids as a threat to the evil plan, she tried to kill them-mostly Finn. He almost died because of her.

The Disney Universe
Thanks to her given power and popularity, Maleficent is often depicted as a really prominent Disney villain; she is often seen leading other bad guys from various movies in Disney parks.

Trivia

 * Maleficent is often tied with, or else comes close to either above or below, Jafar as the most popular Disney villain. They also share many similarities, as they are both evil sorcerers who wield a magic sceptre, have a pet bird, and transform into a reptilian monster. These similarities are parodied in one episode of House of Mouse.
 * Maleficent shares similarities with Jafar's twin sister Nasira for both are evil sorceresses, wielding a magic staff, and desire absolute power over all.
 * Maleficent acted as the main villain in the original Kingdom Hearts game, but was merely a pawn of the game's true main villain.
 * Maleficent's dying cry when she gets stabbed sounds remarkably similar to that of the Evil Queen when she falls over a cliff.
 * Maleficent's introduction to King Stefan and the court is similar to Queen Nehelenia introducing herself to Queen Serenity and the Silver Millenium in the Sailor Moon manga. They both are uninvited guests who crash a celebration of the birth of the Kingdom's princess and before vanishing (Maleficent departed while Nehelenia was sealed away), they bestow a death curse on the infant princess.
 * Maleficent is one of the 3 of the earlier Disney villains to say "hell", the other two being Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Forte from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.
 * Maleficent and Lady Tremaine are both voiced at first by Eleanor Audley and currently by Susan Blakeslee.
 * Malchior from Teen Titans has some resemblance to Maleficent's Dragon Form.
 * My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic villains seem to be inspired by her; Nightmare Moon, who speaks in a similar voice, says "Stand back you foals" (much like Maleficent says "Stand back you fools"), and Queen Chrysalis has a similar transformation sequence and green fire magic.
 * Airachnid, a female Decepticon from Transformers Prime has a similar head structure to her.
 * Maleficent is regarded as one of the most evil Disney villains along with Shan Yu, Percival C. McLeach, Judge Claude Frollo and Judge Doom, but is far less evil than all four in terms of crimes. She is however, one of the darkest pre-Disney Renaissance villains, alongside The Horned King, Bill Sykes and The Coachman.
 * Maleficent has been mentioned by Miss Nettle in her villain song, which says "I'll be as famous as Maleficent" so maybe, she thinks that Maleficent is the most famous fairy of the Disney world.
 * Maleficent may be the first Disney villain to appear in an adaptation told from her perspective.