They aren't exactly good but they are entertaining.

When many people think of villains in the world of animation, Disney tends to be the first on their minds. It's only natural: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was North America's first fully-animated feature, and the Evil Queen was a terrific villain. Since then, Disney has released dozens of iconic bad guys ranging from evil animals to all-powerful gods.

However, as more animation studios have appeared over the years, more animated villains divorced from Disney have been able to make their marks. Some of these villains take inspiration from the archetypes used in early Disney films, while others are entirely their own. In either case, serve as a thematic antithesis to the heroes of their stories, or at the least are entertaining to watch.

After escaping from the National Institute of Mental Health, genetically altered rats built a civilization in a farmer's rosebush. However, they needed to steal electricity to survive, prompting some members to propose a plan for independence. The opposition leader, Jenner, calls the plan a child's dream, but as it gains popularity, he resorts to extreme measures to end the debate.

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Director Don Bluth wanted The Secret of NIMH to recapture the magic of Snow White, and Jenner works in the same vein as the Evil Queen. Instead of envy, his great sin is pride: he believes the rats surpass humanity despite stealing electricity, to the point where they could defeat humans if needed. Like many prideful individuals, he comes across as charismatic and confident to fool people, captured perfectly by Broadway and Shakespearian star Paul Shenar,

In ancient times, Hexxus, a dark spirit of destruction, was sealed away by the fairies living in an Australian forest called Ferngully. He is accidentally freed by human loggers and quickly grows in strength by feeding on the pollution produced by their machines. Once strong enough, he manipulates the loggers into going into the forest to destroy his hated enemies.

Though not the most complex villain, Hexxus stands out among other eco-terrorists thanks to his performance and design. He takes on many forms through the movie, including a puddle of tar, a handsome man made of smoke, and a skeleton made of tar and fire. Performance-wise, it's hard to go wrong with Tim Curry, who is well known for playing flamboyant villains like in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Two brothers from the future develop the means of traveling back in time. One of them uses this gift to bring joy to the people of the past, like by giving dinosaurs sentience and then transporting them to New York City to entertain children. The other prefers to scare people with a demented circus and pills that revert people to their primal selves.

Professor Screweyes steals the show in a very tonally unfocused story. When the characters arrive at his circus, he plays the part of the classic devil, always eager to make a deal that ultimately benefits him. Yet, like the devil, he is not as all-powerful as he believes, and the scene of his defeat is one of the creepiest in animated family films.

A sinister wizard banished for trying to usurp King William's crown, Rothbart vowed that when he got his power back, everything the king owned and loved will be his. He made good on that threat by killing William and kidnapping his daughter, Odette. When she refused to marry him, he turns her into a swan during the daytime until she changes her mind.

Disney has made villains with transformative magic as far back as The Evil Queen in Snow White, but none of them would transform the heroes until Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove. Director Richard Rich showed how intimidating a villain with this power is, and how it forces the heroes to adapt. It also doesn't hurt to have Jack Palance lending his sinister voice to them.

In a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals live together, Darla Dimple is the biggest child star in Hollywood and won't stand for anyone taking her spotlight. Unfortunately, an optimistic young cat named Danny accidentally upstaged her during a rehearsal. This sets Darla on a war path to ensure Danny, and none of his fellow animal actors will advance in the industry.

The character is an inverse of the iconic child star, Shirley Temple. With Dimple, the image of a cute little girl is a mask that hides her ruthless and cut-throat nature, which lends itself to many great jokes. She's also accompanied by a hulking gorilla manservant, so tall that he doesn't fit in the frame, which adds a fun huge and little dynamic.

The villain of DreamWork's breakout movie is a diminutive lord who hates fairytale creatures as much as he hates not being a king. To solve this, he consults a magic mirror, who tells him of princess Fionna, locked in a tower and guarded by a dragon. He tasks the ogre, Shrek, with retrieving her in exchange for the removal of displaced fairytale creatures from Shrek's home.

Related: 'Shrek' at 20: The Complicated Legacy of the Hit Animated Film Everything about Farquaad, from his chiseled chin and massive ego, was made to poke fun of then Disney CEO, Michael Eisner,who had a falling out with DreamWorks' founder, Jeffrey Katzenberg. It results in a memorable villain who cannot see his own faults as he shamelessly brags about his success. 3rd Rock From The Sun'sJohn Lithgow captures this perfectly with a voice caught between authoritative and petulant.

Every bakery in the woods is being robbed by the Goodie Bandit, who makes off with their recipes. As a detective interrogates Red Riding Hood and those who broke into her grandmother's house, he notices a friendly rabbit, Boingo, seems to pop up whenever something suspicious happens. It turns out he's the bandit and intends to industrialize the woods by factory-producing everyone's recipes.

Despite its crude animation, Hoodwinked is a good satire of fairy tales, and Boingo works as a satirical villain. The idea of a fairytale villain industrializing to defeat cottage production mimics the real world during the industrial revolutions. If Disney had taken inspiration from him when designing their twist-villains in films like Frozen and Zootopia, the villains might have been better received.

Although the villainous Gru concocts an ambitious plan to steal the moon, the local villain bank won't back him because of his age and lack of major success. Instead, they support Vector, a young up-and-coming villain who has stolen the great pyramids. When he takes a shrink ray Gru needs for his plan, Gru adopts three girls to steal it back.

Related: 'Despicable Me 4' Sets 2024 Release Date Vector works so well as a villain because of the commentary he represents of young and up-and-coming talent challenging the old guard of his profession. This concept can reflect the production company, Illumination, which has quickly risen to be another contender in the world of CGI films. It's also no accident that his design is based on Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates.

When the gang of animals from New York City head to France on their journey home, they attract the attention of animal control Captain Chantel DuBois. When she spots Alex the Lion, she makes it her mission to kill him and complete her trophy collection. Not even international borders will stop her and her dedicated team, who pursue Alex and his friends when they join a rundown circus.

Related: Why 'Madagascar' Is a Better DreamWorks Franchise Than 'Shrek'

DuBois is one of the most fun villains in DreamWorks' library. Her single-minded drive to get Alex, and her inhuman strength and reflexes, turn her into a child-friendly version of the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Actress Frances McDormand has a ball voicing such a driven villain and even gets a hilarious and inspiring musical number sung in French.

Raised in the town of Cheesebridge, Archibald Snatcher always wanted to join the cheese-eating town elite, known as the White Hats. When the mayor denied him admittance, Snatcher proposes a deal. If he could exterminate the local creatures called Box Trolls, he would gain admittance to the circle of cheese-eaters, despite having a cheese allergy himself.

Snatcher is a great example of a villain willing to destroy themselves for social standing. His cheese allergy causes him to swell to dangerous levels, but since that is what men of high society dine on, he will as well if it means leaving behind a life he hates. He lives by the philosophy that nothing can stop a man with ambition, which unfortunately blinds him to reality.

Next: 10 Animated Moves From The 90s That Failed at Being Disney

Tyler B. Searle graduated with a degree in Journalism Web and Print in 2017 and Television Writing and Production in 2018. He has been a lifelong fan of storytelling, particularly in the realm of animation and fantasy stories. The Disney Renaissance is his favorite era of Disney, and his favorite non-Disney animation company is DreamWorks. When he isn't writing lists, he's enjoying a fantasy novel in his home in Ontario, Canada.

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