This article is about the character from the 2014 live-action film. For other articles that share the same name, see Maleficent (disambiguation).
Maleficent is the titular protagonist of Disney's 2014 live-action film of the same name and its 2019 sequel. She is a powerful fairy who lives in the Moors, a magical forest realm that she fiercely protects. As a child, Maleficent befriends a young peasant Stefan and eventually falls in love with him as they grow up, until Stefan cuts off her wings to become king of the neighboring human kingdom. Bent on revenge, Maleficent casts an unbreakable curse on Stefan's newborn daughter Aurora, but as she watches the princess grow up, Maleficent begins to rethink her actions, realizing that Aurora may be the key to both mending her broken heart and ending the protracted conflict between humans and fairies.
She is based on both the wicked fairy from the 1697 fairy tale La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault and the character of the same name from the 1959 animated feature film Sleeping Beauty.
Background[]
Maleficent was born in the Moors, a forest kingdom located in the Scottish Highlands, which was inhabited by all kinds of fairies and magical creatures. For many years, it was engaged in a prolonged conflict with the neighboring human kingdom, which was ruled by the greedy and cruel King Henry, who sought to strike the Moors down. Maleficent's parents, Lysander and Hermia, attempted to make peace between the kingdoms, until one night, when Maleficent was a baby, Henry's army launched an offensive against the Moors. The forest army was able to repel the attack, but Lysander and Hermia were killed during the battle, and since then the inhabitants of the Moors collectively raised Maleficent and took care of her.[2]
Personality[]
In her own film, Maleficent is much more complex and her backstory is explored. Rather than a woman who is evil just for the sake of being evil, Maleficent suffers a devastating betrayal from the man she really loved and cared about the most, resulting in the loss of her own fairy wings. She grows bitter and hateful of King Stefan and the world in general. Due to her hatred of Stefan, she vents her anger on his infant daughter, cursing her to be killed by a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday. She also develops a certain amount of sadism telling Stefan that she enjoys watching him beg. However, Maleficent is also very lonely and hurt inside, resulting in her rescuing Diaval, more because she needs a companion than out of pity.
Maleficent also appears to be a perfectionist; due to the incompetence of Aurora's three fairy guardians, Maleficent has plenty of opportunities to kill Aurora, or just watch her die in an accident, but she makes sure Aurora stays alive until her sixteenth birthday, so that her revenge will happen in exactly the way she planned. Maleficent's desire for the perfect revenge gives her time to connect with Aurora in a way that she never anticipates; she grows to care for her like a daughter and tries to cancel the curse, eventually succeeding when she kisses Aurora's forehead. Originally Maleficent seems somewhat disgusted by Aurora, thinking that as a baby she was "ugly" and frequently referring to her as "Beastie". However, by the time she wakes Aurora from her enchanted sleep, this degrading name has become a term of affection rather than revulsion.
Maleficent is originally somewhat abusive to Diaval, often transforming him into various different forms without permission. However, she does value him for his loyalty and usefulness. She grows to care about Diaval and willingly gives him the opportunity to leave her for his own safety before infiltrating Stefan's castle.
Maleficent is very protective of her home and later Aurora and Diaval. Although she is generally very pessimistic, believing that there is no such thing as "true love", Maleficent clings desperately to the faint hope that Phillip might be able to awaken Aurora with a kiss. When the kiss fails, as Maleficent fully expected it to, she is still distraught. She thinks Aurora is beyond saving and is astonished, relieved and joyful when her own kiss wakes her.
In the sequel, Maleficent is shown to have come with living with Aurora in peace. Even acting as a mother figure to her. She is also shown to be selfless as she sacrifices herself during the battle and she turns into a phoenix. She is also very considerate as at the end of the film, as she is shown winking at the couple telling them that she'll see them at the christening.
Powers and abilities[]
- Dark Fey Physiology: Maleficent is a member of a subspecies of fairies called Dark Fey, human in size and appearance however with large feathered wings and horns. Additionally, Maleficent is a direct descendant of the Phoenix. As such, she has the Phoenix's power, making her more powerful than other Dark Fey.
- Immortality: As a fairy, Maleficent is immortal, retaining the appearance of the same age, and is immune to death by natural causes and aging.
- Flight: As a fairy, Maleficent could manifest a pair of bird-like wings, giving her the ability to fly. She can also use the size of the wings to enhance her strength and overpower and knock down other individuals who are larger and heavier than herself. Coupled with the ability to fly effortlessly at great speed, her wings allow her to seamlessly glide in any direction, which allowed her to swoop down and grab objects or people from the ground with ease. Despite their size, her wings move as if weightless.
- Healing Factor: Maleficent has the ability to heal herself from the wounds or diseases of others or themselves.
- Magic: Maleficent is the most powerful fairy of the Moors. Her powers are projected in the form of orange, yellow and green energy. Some examples of her magic includes;
- Self-Resurrection: Due to Maleficent's phoenix blood, she can resurrect herself from death.
- Cursing: Maleficent has created her own spells and curses, and is noted to have made the Sleeping Curse herself cast upon Aurora. Her spells were normally so powerful that only "the heart's true love" could undo her curses.
- Elemental Magic: Maleficent has the powers to control the elements, conjure green fire, forests, and even control the weather in her battles.
- Telekinesis: Maleficent has the ability to move, levitate and otherwise manipulate objects using her psychic energy in a remote manner.
- Transmutation: Maleficent can manipulate matter at will. She can change Diaval's appearance into a human, a wolf or a fire-breathing dragon. She also changed a twig into a walking staff (which later became her magic staff).
- Blessing: Like Knotgrass, Thistlewit, and Flittle, Maleficent has displayed the ability to give/create powerful blessings to those she deems worthy of them or those who have shown her kindness.
- Shapeshifting: Maleficent is able to transform into a giant phoenix-like creature.
Appearances[]
Maleficent[]
Maleficent as a child.
Years after the death of her parents, Maleficent lives peacefully in the Rowan Tree located on a great cliff in the Moors.[3] One day, when Maleficent was still a child, a peasant boy named Stefan sneaked into the Moors and stole a gem from the pool of jewels. As the border guards corner Stefan, Maleficent arrives and urges him to give up the jewel, before escorting him to the border between the kingdoms. On their way, Stefan tells her about his dream to live in the royal castle and reveals that he is an orphan, which Maleficent is sympathetic to due to her being in the same situation. The children take a liking to each other, and Stefan promises to come back to see Maleficent again, although she warns him it might not be safe. Soon after, Stefan begins visiting the Moors regularly and becomes Maleficent's best friend. As they grow up, their friendship gradually blossoms into love, and on Maleficent's sixteenth birthday, Stefan gives her what she believes is a "true love's kiss" as a gift. However, as the years pass, Stefan drifts away from Maleficent, tempted by his ambition to become king of the human kingdom, while Maleficent, being the strongest of the fairies, becomes the sworn protector of the Moors
Maleficent as a young adult discovering that her wings were cut off by Stefan.
One day, King Henry and his soldiers attempt to invade the Moors once again to conquer them, but with the help of the forest army, Maleficent manages to repel their attack, while also mortally wounding Henry. On his deathbed, the king vows that whoever kills Maleficent will become his successor and marry his daughter Leila, and Stefan (who worked as a servant in the castle) decides to use this chance to fulfill his ambitions. That same night, he comes to the Moors to warn Maleficent that Henry wants her dead, and they spend the night together like they used to, until Stefan secretly drugs her unconscious. When Maleficent wakes up the next morning, she discovers that Stefan has cut off her wings, leaving her heartbroken and devastated. Maleficent creates a staff from a tree branch to help herself walk, and leaves the Moors, settling in an abandoned castle nearby to grieve in solitude. Some time later, she comes across a farmer who has captured a raven and, taking pity on the bird, turns it into a human. After the farmer runs away in fear, Maleficent approaches the transformed raven, who introduces himself as Diaval and promises to be her servant in gratitude for his rescue. On Maleficent's orders, Diaval flies to the royal castle, where he witnesses Stefan's coronation as the new king after Henry's death (with Princess Leila as his wife), which Diaval informs his mistress about.
Maleficent casting the curse of eternal slumber on the newborn Aurora.
After learning that Stefan stole her wings to become king, an embittered and infuriated Maleficent returns to the Moors and proclaims herself their new queen, as the darkness looms across the forest kingdom. A year later, Diaval informs Maleficent that Stefan and Lelia have given birth to a daughter, whom they named Aurora, and Maleficent sees this as an opportunity to take revenge on Stefan for his betrayal. On the day of the child's christening, Maleficent crashes the celebration at the castle and places an unbreakable curse upon Aurora, predicting that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, the princess will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep-like death for eternity. When Stefan begs her to spare his daughter, Maleficent mocks his plea, but states that Aurora can be awakened from her slumber by true love's kiss (which she no longer believes exists) before triumphantly leaving the castle. Soon after, Maleficent surrounds the Moors with an impenetrable wall of thorns to prevent any possible invasion by Stefan and his men, while Diaval discovers that Stefan has sent Aurora away from the castle to a cottage deep in the forest, with the three pixies Knotgrass, Thistlewit, and Flittle as her guardians (under the guise of the human "aunts" of the princess). Realizing how incompetent pixies are as caretakers, Maleficent begins to secretly watch over Aurora to make sure that she will live to the day when the curse is fulfilled, reluctantly taking care of the little "beastie" from afar and even meeting her face-to-face one day.
Maleficent unsuccessfully trying to remove the curse from the teenaged Aurora.
As the years pass and Aurora grows up, Maleficent gradually becomes fond of her, discovering the princess' strong connection with nature and her interest in what lies beyond the wall of thorns. When Aurora is fifteen-years-old, Maleficent decides to let her through the wall and see the Moors, as well as to reveal herself to the princess. Being aware of Maleficent's presence throughout all her life, Aurora comes to believe that she is her "fairy godmother," which both surprises and touches Maleficent. Aurora starts visiting the Moors regularly, becoming friends with all their inhabitants, and as Maleficent spends more time with her, she begins to show her more lighthearted side again. Realizing that she has come to love Aurora like a daughter, Maleficent regrets her past choices and attempts to revoke her curse, but fails, since she herself stated that "no power on earth can change it." Shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Aurora tells Maleficent that she wants to stay with her in the Moors when she is old enough, which Maleficent gladly accepts and offers Aurora to live there now, seeing this as a chance to prevent the curse from happening. The next day, while walking in the forest, Aurora meets Phillip, a prince from the neighboring kingdom of Ulstead, and they instantly become attached to each other. Maleficent and Diaval observe their encounter, and Diaval believes that Phillip may be the key to breaking the curse, but Maleficent disagrees, still convinced that true love does not exist.
Maleficent awakening Aurora with her kiss of maternal love on the forehead.
On the day before her sixteenth birthday, Aurora tells her "aunts" that she intends to leave them, and the pixies are forced to reveal to her the truth about both her royal lineage and Maleficent's curse. Aurora rushes to the Moors and confronts her "godmother," who remorsefully confirms that she was the one who cursed the princess, causing her to flee home in tears. The next morning, a heartbroken Aurora leaves the cottage and rides to Stefan's castle, while Maleficent desperately orders Diaval to search for Phillip. As the sun begins to set, Maleficent finds Phillip in the forest looking for Aurora, puts him into a trance, and takes him with her to Stefan's castle riding on Diaval transformed into a horse. Meanwhile, Aurora (possessed by the power of the curse) finds a spinning wheel in the castle's dungeon and pricks her finger on the spindle, succumbing to the deep slumber just as Maleficent arrives at the castle. As night falls, Maleficent and Diaval sneak into the castle and bring Phillip to the sleeping Aurora, after which they hide and watch Phillip approach and kiss Aurora, but the princess remains asleep. After the pixies drag Phillip out of the room, Maleficent approaches Aurora herself and tearfully apologises to her for what she did to her. She gives the princess a farewell kiss on the forehead, and Aurora wakes up, as Maleficent's maternal love for her was true enough to break the curse.
Maleficent regaining her wings during the final battle with Stefan.
As Maleficent, Aurora, and Diaval attempt to flee the castle, Stefan's soldiers ambush them and trap Maleficent under an iron net, which weakens her due to the destructive effects of iron on fairies. Maleficent turns Diaval into a dragon, and he lifts the net off her, but the guards quickly subdue him. Maleficent is then confronted by Stefan, who has gone completely insane in the years since she cast her curse, and is bent on killing her. While Stefan taunts Maleficent and beats her up, Aurora finds and releases Maleficent's caged wings, which reattach themselves to their owner just before Stefan can kill her. With her wings back, Maleficent frees Diaval, who manages to defeat the guards, while Maleficent carries Stefan to the top of one of the towers and prepares to finish him off, but decides to spare his life for Aurora's sake. Stefan refuses defeat and tackles Maleficent from behind, causing them to fall from the tower, but Maleficent manages to shake him off, and Stefan falls to his death. With Stefan gone, Maleficent takes down the wall of thorns and restores the Moors to their former glory. Soon after, she crowns Aurora as the new queen of both the human and fairy kingdoms, finally establishing peace between the two lands. While Aurora starts a romance with Phillip, Maleficent celebrates regaining her wings by happily flying through the skies with Diaval.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil[]
Maleficent in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.
Five years after Stefan's death, Maleficent remains the protector of the Moors. Despite the fact that she saved Aurora from her own curse, as well as Aurora's relationship with Phillip, Maleficent is still considered a villain in the kingdom of Ulstead, where Phillip comes from. When Aurora accepts Prince Phillip's request to marry him, Diaval, Maleficent's ally, relays this news to her to announce to all the fairies of the Moors.
Meanwhile in Ulstead during dinner time, Queen Ingrith accuses Maleficent of crimes of what she did to two men last seen in the kingdom. Having a conversation with the Queen, Maleficent loses her temper and warns Aurora that Maleficent is a dangerous menace to everyone in Ulstead after noticing King John being cursed into an eternal slumber (reflecting the role of Princess Aurora in an eternal slumber in the animated incarnation of Sleeping Beauty). Maleficent retreats but is then hit by a projectile fired by Gerda, Ingrith's servant. Maleficent almost falls to her death but is saved by a mysterious creature with wings similar to hers.
Meanwhile in the underground caverns, Maleficent finds herself in a colony of winged and horned creatures that look like her called Feys, among their leader Conall who heroically rescued Maleficent from falling to her death and Borra, another of her kind who is misanthropic against humans preparing for war against. When exploring, Maleficent is described as one of the last Dark Feys, a species of dark fairies hunted down to near-extinction due to many of them killed by heroic humans. It is then known that Maleficent is the descendant of the Phoenix, a legendary mystical bird that is an ancestor to the Dark Fey. After interacting with Conall and Borra, they believe that Maleficent is to end the conflict with humans by peace or war. Throughout her discovery, the Feys residing in the kingdom prepare for war while Maleficent masters the power of the Phoenix while Conall gets wounded during battle while trying to protect her.
Maleficent reconciling with Aurora.
Meanwhile, when Queen Ingrith discovers a crimson powder that eradicates every single fairy, the Feys that Maleficent met begin fighting against humans to avenge Conall's death with the soldiers firing crimson powder at the Feys, eradicating them instantly while Maleficent remains in the kingdom. However, Maleficent arrives in the kingdom to join the battle to save her kind from being eradicated by the powder. Maleficent dodges the crimson powder fired by the soldiers and prepares to kill Ingrith for her tyranny and prejudice against fairies. When Aurora stops Maleficent from doing this to Ingrith, Maleficent ultimately sacrifices herself to save Aurora from Ingrith's arrow. Later, Maleficent revives in the form of a Phoenix to Aurora's delight and Ingrith's horror.
The Queen is later transformed into a goat for her crimes while Prince Phillip forms a peace pact between the fairies and humans. Maleficent reverts to her fairy form and breaks the spindle in the spinning wheel, awakening King John from his eternal slumber. When Prince Phillip marries Aurora, Maleficent flies away with a group of younger Dark Feys to promise to come back for their child's christening.
Video games[]
Disney Infinity[]
Maleficent makes an appearance as a townsperson in Disney Infinity. In the 3DS version, she makes a cameo appearance, where she will force the last place player to remain in the last place by removing their emblems.
Her 2014 film incarnation appears as a playable character in Disney Infinity 2.0. She was voiced by Rajia Baroudi, due to Jolie having prior obligations. However, Jolie did approve the design of Maleficent's figure personally.[4]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Unlike her animated counterpart from Sleeping Beauty, which was depicted as the embodiment of pure evil, this version of Maleficent portrays her as a far more tragic and complex character with a more elaborate backstory and the origin of her villainy (with King Stefan taking over as the story's main villain). Over the course of the film, Maleficent goes from being a victim to a villain, following Stefan's betrayal, and eventually into a hero because of the maternal love she develops towards Aurora.
- Maleficent is the only villain in the Disney animated features canon to date who was killed off in her original appearance, but survived in a live-action adaptation.
- Jafar doesn't count because the original version of the character was only killed in the sequel.
- According to the development documentary for the 2014 Maleficent film, "From Fairy Tale to Feature Film", Maleficent being depicted as good and sympathetic had been screenwriter Linda Woolverton's idea, and Angelina Jolie attempted to reign in on Woolverton's attempts at making Maleficent good and remind her that Maleficent is supposed to be a villain (however the sequel defies the odds).[5]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rudnick, Elizabeth (2014). Maleficent. Disney Press, page 16. ISBN 9781423190486.
- ↑ Rudnick, Elizabeth (2014). Maleficent. Disney Press, page 3-30. ISBN 9781423190486.
- ↑ Rudnick, Elizabeth (2014). Maleficent. Disney Press, page 35. ISBN 9781423190486.
- ↑ REPORT: 'Disney Infinity' Marvel Super Heroes Hands-On and News
- ↑ https://href.li/?https://www.thespectrum.com/story/entertainment/movies/2014/11/06/disney-try-destroy-childhoods-maleficent/18626659/
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