I’ll tell you why: She’s not really after anything except to step on King Stefan’s sandcastle and enjoy watching everyone freak out over it. It seems that for Disney villains there is always a cause, a proverbial chip, some reason that they feel the need to wreak havoc. Captain Hook wants Peter Pan to pay for cutting off his hand; the Evil Queen is obsessively jealous of Snow White’s beauty; Christopher Robin dreams of pulling the stuffing out of Winnie the Pooh… oh wait, I think that’s someone else I know. Anyway, my point is that Maleficent is just evil, pure and simple.

Okay, fine. Yes, some may say that she’s seeking revenge for being snubbed by Stefan and his queen’s lack of invitation to Princess Aurora’s christening. But, think about it. Do you really think she cares about a christening? Does she strike you as a God-fearing sorceress? I say nay. She was bored and looking for something to do. When she realizes there’s a party going on with all of the goodie-goodies, she sees fun waiting to be had. She makes a dramatic, explosive entrance and launches into a diatribe about how offended she is and oh, by the way, I’ve got a little curse, whoops! I mean “gift” to give the little darling. She scares the hell out of everyone and then makes a flashy, cackling exit.

Now, come on. We all know that she barely made it back to her castle atop Forbidden Mountain before her sleek sides were splitting with laughter. She and all of her ugly creature minions sat around and had a good laugh. You can almost hear her, “You should have seen the look on that pompous ass’ face when I said I, too, had a gift for princess. He about wet himself!” And I imagine the wisecracking proceeded from there.

And can I say one more thing? Dragon. Bad. Ass.

Okay, two things. That striking, billowing black and purple cloak and fearsome horns atop her head? She’s by far the best dressed villain.

So, why is Maleficent the greatest of the Disney villains? Because she’s just evil for the sake of evil. She owns it (with style!). There’s no revenge going on, merely an excuse to entertain herself by swooping in and wrecking the royals’ world. She is who she is – tall, proud, pointy, and sassy. Think about it.