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Top: Mangiafuoco in the original novel
Bottom: Mangiafuoco (now named Stromboli) in the Disney adaptation
Adaptational Villainy in Animated Films.
  • Alice in Wonderland:
    • The Queen of Hearts is depicted as an Ax-Crazy villainess in the Disney adaptation, and her subjects are openly scared of her. In the book by Lewis Carroll, while she does constantly order executions, the King later quietly pardons everybody she sentences to death and no real harm is done. She never notices this, and the inhabitants of Wonderland just choose to play along with her. Also, it's outright said by the Gryphon that she doesn't execute anyone. She's less openly antagonistic to Alice and occasionally treats her with kindness - she's more impulsive and short-tempered than actually evil, and her subjects don't really take her outbursts as serious threats.
    • The King himself goes from pardoning people to openly supporting the Queen's executions.
    • The White Rabbit in the Disney version is a pompous servant of the Queen. In the book he's a little friendlier to Alice, advising her not to play well in the croquet game so the Queen can win.
  • In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a Jerkass who threatens to eat park visitors and a Card-Carrying Villain who tries to forcibly change Alvin into a monster when he is disappointed by the original monster's gentle nature. In the novel, Victor's characterization is more nuanced, he doesn't actively harm anyone in creating his monster, and he isn't a cackling villain.
  • In the book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the real Rat Piper shows up at the end, and while initially appearing imposing and dangerous, he eventually turns out to be a Loveable Rogue who respects Keith for running the same scam as him, but needs to maintain an image. In The Amazing Maurice, he's a crazed cannibal.
  • Rasputin, the antagonist in Don Bluth's Anastasia, is a sorcerer and former confidant to the royal family, who magically causes the revolution that deposes the czar out of revenge for losing favor with them. In real life, Rasputin was an ordinary monk who was close to the royal family, because Czarina Alexandra believed he was a healer who could cure youngest son Alexi of his hemophilia. In fact, that closeness to the royals, and the subsequent power and privileges he acquired because of it, was what lead to his eventual assassination (and the subsequent myth that it took far more effort than a bullet to the head.) The real Rasputin was dead long before the revolution even started.
  • In Animal Farm, a small group of pigs protested Napoleon's coup but were quickly silenced and later killed by the dogs. In the 1954 film, none of the pigs make any objections and are happy to go along with Napoleon’s coup.
  • Bambi:
    • In the Disney movie Bambi, Ronno the deer is a jealous bully who spends much of his time antagonizing Bambi, culminating in their battle over Faline. In the original book, Ronno and Bambi are actually good friends instead of enemies, although this does change as they grow older and see each other as competition for does. Ronno is also the Big Bad of Bambi II.
    • The human hunters in the book are ordinary people who are frightening and god-like from the perspective of the animals, although Bambi's father makes a point of showing Bambi a dead hunter to teach him that humans are subject to the same rules as the forest animals are. In the Disney movie, the hunters are explicitly reckless and careless, shooting everything that moves and setting the forest ablaze from a badly tended campfire. Bambi's mother is, judging from the time of her death in early spring, the victim of a poacher.
  • Batman: Gotham by Gaslight replaces Jacob Pecker with Jim Gordon as Jack the Ripper. Barbara Eileen-Gordon is also his Psycho Supporter. In addition to the added misogyny, Harvey Dent is perfectly willing to help frame Bruce Wayne over his relationship with Selina Kyle (whom Harvey wanted an affair with) and takes on an antagonistic role without becoming Two-Face.
  • The titular Batwoman in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman is much more of an anti-heroine than the original Kathy Kane (and it predated the Kate Kane Batwoman), so they DC insisted that the filmmakers not actually use Kathy Kane. This didn't stop them from homaging her via the character Kathy Duquesne or making her a suspect... or even making this Kathy one of the Batwomen.
  • In the comics Rip Jagger is a hero who goes by the name of Judomaster. In Batman: Soul of the Dragon he acts as The Mole for the Kobra Cult among the students in Nanda Parbat, and kills Jade to open the gate for the Naga Demon.
  • The BFG: In the book, the evil giants were actually sincere about upholding the idea that Ape Shall Never Kill Ape despite their frequent abuse of the BFG. They feel betrayed by the BFG when he orchestrates their capture, but it's too late for them to do anything about it. In the animated movie, the Fleshlumpeater outright attempts to murder the BFG in the climax.
  • The three witches in The Black Cauldron are grasping and sneaky, if not evil, characters who try and trick Taran into giving up a treasure for the cauldron. In the book, they are neutral figures who bend their own rules to help Taran and the others get rid of it. The books almost explicitly state that Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch are the actual Fates. (Taran's mentor Dalben was originally raised by them, which is why he's so weird.)
  • In the children's book The Brave Little Toaster, the new appliances in Rob's apartment are friendly and helpful to Toaster and the other older appliances, helping them find a new owner via a radio show, and feel guilty for their role in replacing still useful appliances. In the movie, they are arrogant and cruel to them, even tossing them into a dumpster out of jealousy.
  • A Bug's Life: If you consider this movie an adaptation of "The Grasshopper and the Ants", then the grasshoppers are portrayed much more evil here. In the original fable the grasshopper was merely lazy and careless, but didn't want to harm the ants. Here, Hopper is a malicious thug who terrorizes the ants to give the food their collect to him and his fellow grasshoppers.
  • In Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone, Ogthar is the main villain who plots to conquer Dinotopia. In the original books, King Ogthar was a mythical king who is spoken of by dinosaurs and humans alike with great reverence.
  • Fantasia 2000: In the story of "The Firebird Suite", the titular creature aids a Prince to defeating an evil wizard. In the animated segment at the end of the film, the Firebird is a destructive Eldritch Abomination in the shape of a bird that destroys an entire forest.
  • In Gnomeo & Juliet, Benny (the equivalent of Benvolio) is a malicious trickster who exacerbates the antipathy between the Feuding Families. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio is a mild-mannered Nice Guy (although oddly, there is a line from Mercutio that describes Benvolio as hot blooded and eager to start fights). Word of God is that Gnomeo is a Composite Character of Romeo and Mercutio, and the effect of this is that "Benny" was basically left with the nastier side of Mercutio's personality (and Benvolio's name).
  • In the Green Lantern comics, Boodikka is a loyal member of the Green Lantern Corps, but in Green Lantern: First Flight, she sides with Sinestro in his coup against the Guardians of the Universe.
  • The animated movie Heidi's Song is a curious example of this, as it not only makes Fräulein Rottenmeier much more villainous and scary, but also turns Sebastian the butler (in the book a Servile Snarker but very much a kind man) into her Dragon — but utterly reverses it when it comes to Tinette the maid, who in the book is a haughty and snooty woman whom Heidi is slightly afraid of but in the movie is a sweet and sympathetic person. Possibly the shift was done so the movie wouldn't have two female villains.
  • In Disney's Hercules,
    • Hades is a Satan-like villain (as usual), intent on overthrowing Zeus and taking over Mount Olympus. In Classical Mythology, he was a neutral but just ruler of the dead and no worse than the other Greek gods, arguably considerably nicer than most - while feared as ruler of the Underworld, he didn't generally mess around with living people. Hades did kidnap Persephone (with Zeus's permission and help) and, depending on the version, trick her into being forced to return to the Underworld each year. However in all their other appearances they actually seem to be a relatively happy together, with Hades being a much more faithful husband than Zeus or Poseidon. As for overthrowing Zeus, Hades never tried that in the myths. In regards to Heracles specifically, Hades was probably the least antagonistic god he met in the original myth. Their only interaction is when Heracles was sent to retrieve Cerberus for one of his twelve labors. Their exact interaction varies, but in general Hades allowed Heracles to attempt to capture Cerberus, with some versions even having Heracles attack Hades in the process. In others Hades willingly sent Cerberus along with Heracles, the only condition being a polite request that Heracles bring Cerberus back when he's done (which he did, of course).
    • Megara initially works for Hades before joining Hercules' side. In the mythology, Megara has little role beyond being tragically murdered by her husband.
    • The three Fates (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) are neutral characters but associate with the villains in the movie and in other Disney media, such as Mickey's House of Villains. In mythology, while they were largely neutral beings by nature, they assisted the Olympians at least once, joining them in their battle against the Giants by killing two Giants with clubs. They were also worshipped to some degree, particularly by women.
  • In The True Meaning of Smekday, the Gorg were the true Big Bad while Smek was more incompetent than actively malevolent. In Home (2015), he's the Big Bad, and the Gorg are only attacking the Boov because he stole a rock containing the next generation of the Gorg species.
  • In Hotel Transylvania, Quasimodo is portrayed as a French Jerk chef who is willing to cook and eat people, the film's closest thing to a villain.
    • While Abraham Van Helsing would already have been a dubious character in the Hotel Transylvania movies, given that Dracula in the setting is not evil or a threat to humans, he goes above and beyond with his genocidal attitudes towards all monsters, not just Dracula, and seems to treat hunting monsters as the Family Business rather than something done to protect people. However, he does Heel–Face Turn once he is saved by Dracula and his great-granddaughter Ericka falls in love with the vampire, which convinces him to drop his attitude.
  • In Howl's Moving Castle, the main villain of the book, the Witch of the Waste, is downgraded and drained of power. Meanwhile, two of the book's nice characters, the kindly, motherly Mrs. Pentstemmon (who in the book is murdered by the Witch) and the absent and also kindly Wizard Suliman (who in the book is captured and cursed by the Witch) are combined into one character and made evil, the real villain of the movie.
    • Pentstemmon was Howell's beloved mentor. Suliman marries Sophie's sister.
  • While Deadpool is a Psycho for Hire in the comics, he's still an Anti-Hero who has some redeeming qualities. In Hulk Vs., Deadpool is a unrepentant member of Weapon X. Deadpool makes jokes about killing babies and almost shoots a child, when these are lines Deadpool would never cross in the comics.
  • It may be surprising to learn that Claude Frollo of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a more sympathetic character in the original novel by Victor Hugo. While driven to evil deeds later by his lust for Esmeralda, he willingly adopts and cares for Quasimodo, instead of threatening to throw him down a well as he did in the Disney version of the story. He does so while also looking after his layabout of a brother, Jehan (who most movie adaptations composite with Claude), and being orphaned himself to boot. He's also more tolerant of gypsies, asking only that they keep their activities away from the cathedral rather than actively hunting them down.
    • Frollo was originally archdeacon of Notre Dame; in the movie, the archdeacon is a separate, kindly character, who induces a guilt trip on Frollo at the beginning and is beaten up by him at the end. In a sense, both these scenes depict the man struggling with himself. It's believed the reason for this Adaptational Villainy was due to Disney being concerned that having a priest for a Big Bad would offend people, and their solution was to divide the literary character in two and give one all the good qualities and the other all the bad.
  • Joseph: King of Dreams leaves out the part of The Bible where Joseph's oldest brother, Reuben, planned to rescue him from the pit into which their other brothers threw him. (There's also a bit of Adaptational Heroism for the other brothers, though: in the Bible they planned to kill Joseph until Reuben intervened, while here they never go farther than the pit/selling-into-slavery plan.)
  • The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling:
    • One of the most famous examples is Kaa the python. In the book, he is a mentor and friend of Mowgli as much as Bagheera and Baloo are, and helps to save him when he is kidnapped by monkeys, engages him in friendly wrestling matches, and offers him advice for battle against the dholes, indeed never harming or threatening him in any way and saving his life more than once. The other animals in the jungle respect and fear him for his wisdom and powers of hypnosis, to which only Mowgli, because he is human, is immune. In the Disney movie and its sequel, he is a Laughably Evil villain whose only role in the plot is to serve as a minor nuisance. Apparently it was thought by Disney that audiences wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character. In the sequel Kaa, while still a conniving predator, is rather ineffective and pitiful rather than the genuinely effective, whilst comedic, villain he originally was (well, he was pretty pathetic from the start, but the sequel takes it up to eleven). Although ironically, this made him arguably the most popular character from the film and one of Disney's best recognised villains. The live-action movie adaptation portrayed him as a mindless monster who is used as a Shark Pool by King Louie against thieves (in the novel, incidentally, Kaa was the only animal that the monkeys feared — that's why Bagheera and Baloo went to him for help); this depiction draws on a different snake who appeared in The Second Jungle Book. In the 2016 adaptation, Kaa remains a villain but her serious nature, immense size, and knowledge of the jungle are restored.
    • Shere Khan himself is upgraded slightly with each Disney adaptation. In the books he was an antagonist, but represented as somewhat pitiful (he has a bad leg, restricting his ability to hunt), is something of an arrogant fool, and is taken half-heartedly by a lot of residents of the jungle, including Bagheera. The other animals generally see him as a troublemaker and a coward because he attacks humans (something forbidden under the Law of the Jungle), and characters like Bagheera and Kaa command a lot more respect and fear. In the original Disney film, he is somewhat comedic and playful, but is genuinely feared and implied to be stronger than many animals put together. In TaleSpin, he is given much more deathly serious and calculating demeanor, but also is rather affable and more of an Anti-Villain in many of his appearances, with a moral code that restrains his villainy. In the sequel to Disney's Jungle Book he is an out and out dark presence whose only goal is to rip Mowgli to shreds, and he has a similar characterization in the 2016 live-action adaptation.
    • Interestingly the Jungle Cubs animated series refers closer to both characters' novel personas. Kaa is a friend of the other animals and, while still a predator, is far less intentionally antagonistic about it than his adult counterpart. Meanwhile, Shere Khan is an arrogant bully, but somewhat ineffective and occasionally sympathetic. In a chronological sense, this means the Disney counterparts started off loyal to the novel ones, before being embittered into their more malicious adult forms.
    • In one early draft of the Disney movie that was a little closer to the book, Kaa did try to eat Mowgli, but apologized on being confronted by Bagheera and otherwise seemed to be on decent terms with the panther - the incident was more Kaa acting according to his role as a predator and not knowing Mowgli was off-limits than anything malicious.
  • Aquaman and Wonder Woman in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, even more so than their comic books counterparts. While in the original storyline the war began due to the trickery of their deceptive subordinates, in this film the bloodshed started when Mera confronted the Amazon for having an affair with Arthur. This leads to Diana murdering the Atlantean queen, claiming her crown as a trophy and mailing her decapitated head to her husband. By the time the film takes place, Aquaman has devolved into a surface-hating supremacist who floods half of Europe, while Wonder Woman became a misandrist dictator responsible for decimating the entire male population of the UK. When two of the most beloved heroes of all time are converted into two genocidal maniacs, you know this trope has been dialed up.
  • Justice League: Gods and Monstersnote :
    • In the movie proper, Doc Magnus and the Metal Men are the main villains.
    • Also from the movie proper, Highfather is willing to double cross Darkseid.
    • The tie-in miniseries, Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles sees Harley Quinn undergo this. Sometimes, Harley is portrayed as an Anti-Villain with some sympathetic qualities. This version, however, is an Ax-Crazy psychopath who Would Hurt a Child — and as the Joker isn't seen, this version is doing this of her own free will.
  • In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, the Ocean Master is far more evil than he is in the comics, where he was an Anti-Villain. He is shown working with Black Manta and staging a false flag attack on Atlantis, which in the comic book storyline the movie is based on were done by Vulko. He also knowingly wages an offensive war on the surface, when in the comic he believed he was acting in self defence due to the aforementioned false flag attack. He also murders his mother, while in the comics she faked her death.
  • In Dorothy Of Oz, the jester was being controlled by the Wicked Witch of the West’s ghost and in the end redeems himself. In Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, he only fakes having a Heel–Face Turn to trick Dorothy into ruling Oz with him. Dorothy is having none of it.
  • The Kralahome in the animated version of The King and I is not a stern but genuinely loyal chancellor, but rather an Evil Sorcerer who actively plots to overthrow the King.
  • In Norse Mythology, Hel was a cthonic goddess who, while not exactly friendly, was a fair goddess that kept to herself and, like Loki, was vilified along with her realm in more Christianized versions. In Legends of Valhalla: Thor she's the Big Bad, launching a campaign of war against Asgard alongside the Giants as revenge for her disastrous love affair with Odin.
  • The Lion King:
    • Believe it or not, Scar qualifies. With the first film being a loose adaptation of Hamlet, Scar is obviously meant to be King Claudius (brother of the original king, murders said king to take the throne, etc.). Claudius, however, was shown to be an affable man and a relatively decent ruler who was Happily Married to the queen and bore no ill will towards his nephew, the titular Prince Hamlet, even urging him to stay in Denmark to inherit the throne from him and showing genuine concern over his feigned madness. Heck, there are quite a few points wherein Claudius actually shows remorse for killing his brother and this remorse is a huge plot point. Scar on the other hand is an unrepentant and selfish psychopath who reduces the Pridelands to a barren wasteland after taking the throne from Mufasa, implicitly abuses the former queen Sarabi (verbally and physically), tries to get Simba killed along with Mufasa because he knows the heir will be a threat to "his" rule and shows absolutely no remorse for killing his brother whatsoever.note 
    • In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, as an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the Montague family is given a fair amount of this. In the original, the Montagues and Capulets were meant to be similar (bordering on Grey-and-Grey Morality), most likely as the Bard's way of saying that the feud between them was pointless. In this version, however, the "Outlanders" (called this because Simba banished them after taking the throne) are depicted as more or less an insane cult that worships Scar, led by Zira (effectively Lord and Lady Montague merged into one), an Ax-Crazy lunatic who's hopelessly in love with Scar and trains her adoptive son Kovu (our Romeo parallel) to be a Tyke Bomb against Simba and his family. In the play, Shakespeare makes a point of showing that both Feuding Families were to blame for the tragedy, each showing a mix of sympathetic and unsympathetic qualities, while in Simba's Pride all of the actual violence and manipulation is from the Outlanders, Zira especially. While Lord Montague makes amends with the Capulets after Romeo and Juliet are found dead and his wife dies of a broken heart, taking responsibility for his role, Zira refuses to make peace even when offered forgiveness by the Pridelanders and commits suicide.
  • The Little Mermaid:
    • The Sea Witch in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is a neutral character who shows no vindictive intentions toward the unnamed mermaid. She only makes the famous tongue-for-legs exchange with the mermaid and doesn't lie or trick her, even bluntly warning the mermaid of the consequences of the transformation. She doesn't go back on the deal or interfere with her relationship with the prince until the mermaid's sisters request it, and then only indirectly. In the Disney Animated Canon film The Little Mermaid (1989), she is named Ursula, is an out-and-out villain with a tendency toward Faustian deals, and gets in the way of Ariel's romance with Prince Eric far more than the character in the fairy tale did.
    • The witch being evil in Disney's version may have been pinched from Dvorak's opera Rusalka; both it and Andersen's story are themselves adaptations of a medieval French fairy tale.
    • Ursula also takes the place of the princess whom the prince eventually marries in the original, who is innocent in Andersen's fairy tale and genuinely loves him.
  • This Little Mermaid adaptation by the Australian company Burbank Animation Studios actually turns the princess into a Royal Brat whose father is planning to take over the prince's kingdom.
  • In the Chinese animated film Lotus Lantern, Erlang Shen, the main antagonist, is a cruel god who unjustly punishes his sister Sanshengmu for marrying a mortal, first by killing her mortal husband and then imprisoning her underneath a mountain in exchange for the safety of her young demigod son Chenxiang. But in traditional Chinese folklore, Erlang Shen is usually a noble and just god who vanquishes demons and monsters.
  • Mortal Kombat Legends:
    • Nitara in the original timeline while she looks evil is actually more of an Anti-Hero than anything else being the last of her kind and an enemy to Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. In Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge like the 2021 film she’s a monstrous henchwoman of Shang Tsung who lacks even basic humanity seen in the games, screeching at Johnny when tries some small talk with her at the banquet.
    • In the games, Li Mei was trying to get rid of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. In Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, she's working with Shao Kahn — alongside Shang Tsung. It’s likely they just combined Li Mei’s role with Mileena or Sindel (who both got Adapted Out) as the purple wearing Dark Action Girl of the villain team.
    • Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind does this to Kano. Make no mistake, Kano is a colossal prick in the games too but in Mortal Kombat 11 when he gains ultimate power in the form of Kronika's powers, Kano comes to the conclusion that Wanting Is Better Than Having and actually relinquishes his godly power for the sake of living a thrilling and challenging life. In the Snow Blind telling however Kano instead uses Kronika's power to keep himself a ruling tyrant and has no epiphany or change of heart.
    • Kabal in both the original timeline of the games and the Continuity Reboot is the Defector from Decadence concerning the Black Dragon and in the latter continuity actually ends up joining the heroes before his death at Sindel’s hands. In Snow Blind however he’s just a Smug Snake who has no Redemption Quest whatsoever.
  • NIMONA (2023): The Director was already pretty nasty in the original comic, but the movie goes even further by adding regicide to her list of crimes, and for an absurdly petty reason at that. And then there's the finale, where rather than going down fighting the berserk Nimona as in the original, she instead madly tries to destroy Nimona with a Wave-Motion Gun, not caring at all that over half the city would be destroyed in the process.
  • The Phantom Tollbooth: the Lethargians in the book are merely unhelpful small creatures and suggest that Milo rest and not go anywhere — frankly, they were too lethargic to do anything so difficult as trying to stop him physically. The movie Lethargians can liquefy their bodies, and then combine or separate from one another, and use the suggestion of rest only as a ruse, to allow them to either kill Milo or make him one of them. After all, breathing is doing something.
  • The puppeteer from Pinocchio (Mangiafuoco in the book, Stromboli in the film). In the film he was far more cruel and simply wanted to exploit Pinocchio and states that he'll use him as firewood after he can't perform anymore. In the book, although he initially does want to use Pinocchio as firewood after the boy accidentally ruins one of his puppet shows, Pinocchio is able to convince him not to do so, and he even gives the talking puppet some coins to help Geppetto out. This is probably an influence from Alexey N. Tolstoy's book adaptation, The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino, where the puppeteer, named Carabas Barabas, is the main villain and a very ominous person (although, incidentally, the scene mentioned above still happens anyway, but even that he does for a completely selfish reason).
  • Puss in Boots being a spin-off Shrek (see below) naturally does this to a few fairy tale/nursery rhyme characters.
    • Jack and Jill rather than just being an innocent couple or brother and sister (depending on the interpretation) who fall down a hill while fetching a pail of water are instead an Outlaw Couple willingly to help try and annihilate a town full people.
    • Humpty Dumpty in his nursery rhyme is just some schmuck (in later versions a egg person) who climbs on top of a wall and falls off breaking to pieces. In the film, he’s the Evil All Along Evil Genius Big Bad who frames his adoptive brother Puss and tries to destroy San Ricardo his hometown. Subverted though as Humpty is really a Tragic Villain who felt he wasn’t wanted and didn’t belong anywhere and even manages to pull a last-minute Heel–Face Turn and Heroic Sacrifice and upon breaking apart it is revealed he was a golden egg inside.
    • While not a villain per say, Little Boy Blue here is The Bully, unlike his original nursery rhyme where he’s some innocent kid who falls asleep under a haystack.
    • The sequel indulges in this too. Here, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, originally some wildlifenote  and the little girl who snuck into their home, are presented as a crime family (although one that helps the heroes to save the day in the end) while Jack Horner, originally a silly little nursery rhyme character who stuck his thumb in a pie, is an unscrupulous, power-hungry pie magnate who pridefully declares himself to be "dead inside".
  • The Rats of NIMH:
    • Jenner in the Don Bluth film The Secret of NIMH, what with destroying Mrs. Brisby's home and killing Nicodemus. However, in the book on which the film is based, he is not nearly as villainous, but is a slightly more sympathetic and much less malicious Commander Contrarian who only appears through flashbacks and dies offstage. He disagrees with Nicodemus about leaving for Thorn Valley, but he doesn't resort to violence like his film counterpart — in the book, he was actually one of Nicodemus's closest friends (even before they were both captured by NIMH) despite their ideological differences, helped mastermind the rats' escape from NIMH in the first place, and is grumpy at worst.
    • While he isn't much of a villain in the movie, since he refuses to kill Nicodemus, warns Justin that Mrs. Brisby is being attacked by his boss Jenner, throws Justin his sword during the ensuing fight, and ultimately kills Jenner when he tries to murder Justin, Sullivan is a very minor character who never associates with Jenner in the book.
    • In the movie, Brutus, while he isn't a villain, scares Mrs. Brisby away from the rosebush while in the book he just gives her a hard time about it before he ultimately lets her in. The book also makes it more clear that it's just an act and Brutus isn't really mean, although he does try and help pull up the Brisby home later in the film, too.
    • The human scientists at NIMH in the book are portrayed as simply people doing their jobs — they are not pointlessly cruel to their research animals and even treat them kindly. In the film, they are mad scientists who abuse the animals, and the reasons for their experiments aren't explained.
    • In the (non-Bluth directed) sequel to the movie, Martin, a good guy in both the film and book, becomes a crazed villain (although as the result of brainwashing).
  • In Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, the Magic Mirror is an outright villainous character. He can control trees and threatens to crush one of the dwarfs to death if Snow White does not surrender to the queen. He then taunts the dwarf, mocking his appearance and revealing that Snow White will be killed. He soon tries to kill all the dwarves, acting as the Climax Boss of the film.
  • Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss is a loose and Lighter and Softer adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with most of the characters depicted as seals. The villain is an elephant seal named Prince, a Composite Character of Prince Escalus and Paris, a member of his family who is arranged to marry Juliet. The Prince in the play is a Reasonable Authority Figure whose antagonism comes from his frustration with Romeo and Juliet's Feuding Families, while Prince in the film is a Fat Idiot villain who banishes Romeo to a shark-infested island out of jealousy. While Romeo was banished in the play, this was an act of mercy on the Prince's part as the alternative was Romeo being outright executed for murder. Paris, although his exact characterization depends on the production, seems to genuinely care about Juliet, courts her in the appropriate manner for the time period by asking her father, and is at worst a Type IV Anti-Villain who attacks Romeo because he thinks that Romeo is vandalizing her tomb.
  • Both played straight and inverted in Shrek — some archetypal good guys are subject to this trope.
    • Prince Charming becomes a Prince Charmless who is angry at Shrek rescuing Princess Fiona when it was he who was supposed to, and is part of the Fairy Godmother's plot in the second film to take Fiona from Shrek to get the fairy tale ending they want and therefore become eventual king, and when that fails, he is reduced to a miserable theater actor in the third film. Upon the death of King Harold, he convinces the villains of Poison Apple Inn to help him take over the kingdom and capture everyone, with the endgame of executing Shrek to cement his rule.
    • Robin Hood and his Merry Men, while still claimed to steal from the rich and give to the poor, are one scene villains in the first film who do an Unwanted Rescue of Fiona, then try to kill Shrek and Donkey when they realize she is with the ogre instead.
    • The Fairy Godmother, who was Charming's mother and helped arrange for him to save Fiona, is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing with Fantastic Racism for Shrek and ogres in general, claiming they don't live happily ever after, and actively bullies Fiona's father Harold to try to get her with Charming like originally arranged, even brewing a love potion that would force Fiona to love Charming.
    • Puss in Boots is originally an assassin Harold reluctantly hires to go after Shrek in the forest in the second film, but undergoes a Heel–Face Turn to become one of the ogre's greatest allies.
    • Red Riding Hood, due to the below mentioned Adaptational Heroism of the Wolf, briefly appears among the villains in the Poison Apple Inn in the third film. The below mentioned puppeteer from Pinocchio also appears among those villains. They, along with every other villain in the inn, undergo a Heel–Face Turn upon Artie telling them they don't have to be villains.
    • On the other hand, the Big Bad Wolf is one of the heroes, along with one of Cinderella's stepsisters and traditionally Always Chaotic Evil creatures like ogres and dragons.
  • The Jetlag Productions version of Snow White does this to the magic mirror. He has the ability to trap the evil queen, but never uses this when she tries to murder Snow White. He only uses this ability on the queen when she tries to destroy him.
  • The version of Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a utterly amoral Mad Scientist from the beginning, with detachable tentacles, whereas the mainstream comics continuity version only became evil after a lab accident which fused his tentacles to his body and damaged his brain.
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse:
    • More like Adaptational Antiheroism but Miguel O'Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 gets a good amount of this. In the comics while he isn't quite the All-Loving Hero Peter is, being full edgy angst and substance addiction typical of a 90s hero, he's still got a fully fuctioning moral compass and was even worthy of wielding Mjölnir. Most importantly he gets along very well with other universe Spider-Men, literally the only hostile encounter was when Peter was taken over by Doctor Octopus. Here however he's much more of a flawed character, having replaced his dead Alternate Self who had a family — resulting in the destruction of that universe. He also demonises Miles, deriding him as a mistake that was never supposed to happen to the point where other Spider-People like Gwen and Peter call him out on his callousness. While Miguel does have justification for his extreme actions regarding Miles, given what happen to him, he's still far more of an antagionist than he's ever been in the comics. In fairness though he's not supposed to be the exact same Miguel O'Hara from the comics.
    • The Spot is mostly a Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain in the comics, like Mysterio he's willingly to work with some of the worst of Marvel's villains but is far less scummy than the majority of them. In particular he has a Delicate and Sickly son that he genuinely loves and at one point was able to break free of his Pocket Dimension and return to normal world just by thinking about his boy. Across Spider-Verse keeps Spot's Freak Lab Accident origins but dials the From Nobody to Nightmare traits up to eleven and throws out his more likeable and sympathetic qualities from the comics, making Spot a Giygas-like Humanoid Abomination Multiversal Conqueror that seeks to ruin Miles's life.
  • Clayton in Disney's Tarzan. In the novels, he is Tarzan's cousin who inherits the title after Tarzan's parents are presumed dead. His worst fault is that he is not as brave or capable as Tarzan, and his worst crime is concealing Tarzan's true identity as Lord Greystoke after he figures out the truth so that he can keep the title. Other than that, he is a decent man who is willing to sacrifice himself for Jane. The true villain is Rokoff, their guide, who kills Clayton. In the movie, he is an Egomaniac Hunter with a VERY LOUD VOICE, and effectively fills Rokoff's role.
  • The Steam Engines of Oz: The heroic Tin Man of the original Land of Oz novels has become a heartless despot: seeking to eliminate all magic in Oz, and to commit genocide on the munchkin race.
  • In Superman vs. the Elite, Atomic Skull is an unrepentant mass murderer who would deliberately target civilians to pick a fight with Superman, which leads to his death at the hands of the Elite. However in the comics he wasn't nearly as bad and actually had a Heel–Face Turn.
  • While he was always a Card-Carrying Villain, Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more sadistic and cruel than in the games. He's a Bad Boss (in stark contrast to the games) who's more than willing to mistreat his troops if they displease him including his adoptive father Kamek, tortures Luigi and Toad, and tries to perform Human Sacrifice of his prisoners (including Luigi) in Peach's honor during their wedding.
  • Whereas in the comics, Algrim/Kurse was loyal to Asgard after he cut ties with Malekith, in Thor: Tales of Asgard, Algrim's presented as resenting Odin and Asgard for not coming to the aid of the Dark Elves against the Ice Giants (and going against them when the Dark Elves turned to Surtur for help) and blames them for the extinction of the Dark Elves, and was willing to use the Sword of Surtur against Asgard.
  • Ivan Sakharine in the Tintin comic The Secret of the Unicorn. While sinister-seeming and a nuisance, he isn't evil, and is victimized by the real villains, a pair of unscrupulous treasure hunters. He even gets an implied Pet the Dog moment — a cameo in Red Rackham's Treasure suggests that he offered his own Unicorn model for Captain Haddock's maritime gallery, and in turn Haddock seems to be on good enough terms with Sakharine to invite him to an exhibition there. In the movie based on the same comic, he is a much darker and more threatening character with a blood vendetta against Haddock's family who takes over the role of the comic's villains.
  • In Wreck-It Ralph, a number of villains get together for a support group, and among them is Zangief, who isn't a villain in the games — though he is often a victim of this trope, being a villain in both the first live-action Street Fighter movie and Street Fighter American cartoon. This makes his comments toward Ralph during his sole scene all the more poignant. According to screenwriter Phil Johnson, Zangief's villain status was given partially out of spite from the ass-beatings he got in Street Fighter II when he was younger.


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