10 Disney Princesses From The 90s Reimagined As Villains

Whether they’re part of the official Disney brand or not, princesses have been a part of animated film history since the 1930s. But the decade that arguably gave us the most distinct Disney heroines was the 90s when they weren’t just pretty faces in dresses. Instead, they were actual characters with some form of agency.

But that doesn’t stop some from wondering how these heroines could have turned out differently. For instance, what if they became the villains of their own stories? To answer this question, here are a few pieces of fan art that reimagine 90s Disney Princesses as villains. Choose your favorite!

10 Nani

Despite not technically being a Disney Princess, Lilo’s big sister Nani was included in Kasami-Sensei’s “Twisted” art collection where Disney heroines are given a darker look. Additionally, Kasami-Sensei provides brief stories for how these characters ended up the way they did in context with their movie’s respective universe.

In Nani’s case, she was forced to become a spy/bounty hunter after Lilo gets abducted by Captain Gantu and the mad scientist Jumba Jookiba flees as well with Stitch. She is aided by the CIA agent Cobra Bubles who informs Nani that Lilo isn’t traceable but that doesn’t deter her.

9 Megades

Among the female characters that people wish were official Disney Princesses, but sadly aren’t, Megara is definitely one of the most popular. This is despite the fact that she originally worked for Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld and the main antagonist of Disney’s Hercules.

Granted, it was against her will and she did redeem herself at the end of Hercules when the titular hero saved her literal soul. But online artists such as Spiritwollf would like to imagine Megara ruling the Underworld instead of Hades with Hercules not around. Though in this case, it’s a combined version of Megara and Hades.

8 Kida

Regardless of whether Atlantis: The Lost Empire really did rip off the anime series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water or not, we can all agree that Princess Kida is one of Disney’s most underrated heroines. She was not only strong-willed and determined but also played a key role in saving Atlantis after merging with the Crystal.

With that said, Kasami-Sensei imagines a scenario where the King of Atlantis has Milo executed while Rourke and Helga try to capture Kida. Instead, they get crystallized in the same manner that Rourke did in Atlantis. Then Kida takes over Atlantis and sets out to conquer the world.

7 Jane

Following the moderate success of Disney’s Tarzan in 1999, its heroine Jane Porter was announced to possibly join the Disney Princess lineup. But for unknown official reasons, her candidacy never came up again after the announcement was made.

Some have speculated that it had to do with her color scheme being too similar to that of Belle’s, since they both wear yellow dresses and have dark brown hair. Nevertheless, she was included in jeftoon01’s “Twisted Princess” collection. They also give a backstory, where instead of Jane being rescued by Tarzan she has to survive in the wilderness on her own.

6 Esmeralda

Aside from The Black Cauldron, another Disney film that many people consider to be intriguingly dark is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It also gave us a very sexual heroine in the form of Esmeralda, who was part of the Disney Princess lineup but was removed in 2004 due to low sales.

So that more or less justifies her inclusion in Kasami-Sensei’s collection, which was actually inspired by jeftoon01’s. The story with this version of Esmeralda is that instead of Quasimodo saving her, she actually does burn alive by Frollo’s hand yet miraculously survives. She then decides to learn sorcery and swears revenge on Frollo.

5 Queen Ariel

While Snow White may have been the first true Disney Princess, Ariel was the one who raised the bar when it came to how Disney Princesses should be defined personality-wise. Instead of waiting for a man to sweep her off her feet, for instance, she traded her fins for feet to get a man.

Yet Ariel was still innocent and naive as she became part of a complex scheme by the Sea Witch Ursula to get ahold of her father’s magic trident. But in this alternate scenario proposed by James Dunn, Ariel instead gains the trident and Ursula’s tentacles becoming a questionably moral ruler.

4 Belle

As the live-action Disney remakes have demonstrated, the legacy of the Disney Renaissance period still lingers on especially when reflecting upon successes like Beauty and the Beast. Particularly its heroine Belle, whom many people admire for her unconditional love and intellect.

Though in the “Evil Disney Princess” collection by Willemijn1991, they picture a scenario where a curse afflicts the official and non-official Disney Princesses by turning them evil. Visually, this is demonstrated in their clothing and expressions but there’s no specifics given for how the princesses change personality-wise. In any case, it’s probably the opposite of their defined traits.

3 Jasmine

Regardless of how one feels about the Aladdin remake, it’s clear that most people still like the original better. This is even the case for Princess Jasmine, who arguably has a stronger personality in the original film than the remake.

Of course, the original Jasmine wasn’t without her faults either. This image by Kasami-Sensei is founded on an alternate ending to the original movie, where Jasmine gets the combined powers of the Genie and Jafar becoming an evil version of herself.

2 Pocahontas

If there’s one 90s Disney film that hasn’t aged well at all, it’s arguably Pocahontas. At the time of release, this film was criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans and romanticized take on historical events. Yet Pocahontas herself is still part of the Disney Princess lineup, and there were rumors of a live-action remake in the works. 

With that in mind, Kasami-Sensei decided to do a dark take on Pocahontas with the idea being that she gets possessed by the forest spirits after John Smith dies right in front of her. It’s a questionable take on the character, and certainly unsettling for multiple reasons.

1 Mulan

By contrast to Pocacontas, Disney’s Mulan is still praised to this day to the point where a live-action remake of it will be coming out in just a matter of months. This is largely due to the popularity of its titular heroine, who defied her culture’s gender expectations and saved China.

So naturally, alternate versions of Mulan were drawn online including villainous takes. In the case of this one created by xHybridus, it’s part of their “Gone Evil” project. They even provide a story for it, where Mulan joins Shan-Yu after being abandoned by Shang instead of heading to the Imperial City.