Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!
This villain was proposed but was rejected by the community for not being heinous enough or lacks what is necessary to be a Pure Evil villain. Therefore, this villain shall be added to our "Never Again List", where proposed villains rejected by the community shall be placed to prevent future proposals of the same evil-doer. They can be proposed again (with the permission of an administrator) if new elements appear in their series that can change their status as non-PE villains.
Any act of adding this villain to the Pure Evil category without a proposal or creating a proposal for this villain without the permission of an administrator will result in a ban. Additional Notice: This template is meant for admin maintenance only. Users who misuse the template will be blocked for a week minimum.
“
Yes. Well done, Mr. Evers. I must say I'm impressed. You are more persistent than I would have ever imagined.
„
~ Ramsley revealing his true nature to Jim Evers and the fact that he murdered Elizabeth Henshaw.
Ramsley is the main antagonist of Disney's 2003 comedy-fantasy film The Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney attraction of the same name.
He seems at first to be just an ordinary butler. However, it is later revealed that Ramsley is actually capable of much evil, even murder. He is Jim Evers’ archenemy.
Ramsley started off as a long-time servant to the the Gracey family, eventually becoming a father figure to Edward Gracey when he became the new master of the mansion. However, it turns out that Ramsley is a racist as he despised Edward's love interest Elizabeth Henshaw (who was a low-class but respected servant of African-American heritage) and feared that Edward's marriage proposal to Elizabeth would ruin his white heritage and lineage; despite the fact that Edward is willing to extend his heritage and lineage to black people. To that end, Ramsley secretly murdered Elizabeth with a poisoned drink during a ball and made it look like she committed suicide by hiding her letter accepting Edward's proposal and replacing it with another one detailing her rejection.
Despite being satisfied that he disposed of Elizabeth, Ramsley did not expect that Elizabeth's death would devastate Edward into following suit and hanging himself out of grief. Upon Edward's suicide, a curse was cast over the mansion and everyone inside the mansion (including Ramsley) have all been turned into ghosts.
Ramsley and the occupants soon learned that the only way to break the curse is for Elizabeth and Edward's spirits to be reunited, otherwise they would be unable to leave to the afterlife. Despite this, Edward and the rest of the occupants remained unaware about the true causes of Elizabeth's death.
Role[]
Years later, a real-estate agent named Jim Evers and his family were lured to Gracey Manor, as Jim's wife Sarah was the spitting image of Elizabeth (since she and her family are of African-American heritage), and Ramsley believed that she could satisfy his master's desire for Elizabeth, despite Sarah being married to Jim.
As the family looks around the mansion, Jim's children Megan and Michael were lured by a spectral orb to a picture of Elizabeth (resembling Sarah) in the mansion's attic, and Jim encounters a ghost named Madame Leota, who tells him about the curse and gives him clues to finding the truth about Elizabeth's true fate.
Following Leota's directions with the help from the footman Ezra and the maid Emma, Jim and the kids discover a key in the mansion's cemetery that leads to a chest inside the mansion's attic. Jim opened the chest and found Elizabeth's real letter detailing her acceptance to Edward's proposal. With that in mind, Jim, Ezra and Emma then suspect that someone murdered Elizabeth, staged it as a suicide, and gave Gracey a forged letter.
However, Ramsley revealed his true colors by admitting that he murdered Elizabeth out of prejudice against black people, prompting an offended Jim to declare that he will report Ramsley's crime to Edward. Anticipating this, Ramsley gets Jim thrown out from the mansion before having it magically sealed so that Jim cannot get back in. He even locks up Megan and Michael in the chest and coerces an uneasy Ezra and Emma into keeping his secret.
Meanwhile, Sarah is confronted by Edward, who believes that she is Elizabeth's reincarnation, but she denies this and runs away in terror. Edward begins to doubt that Sarah is his lover reborn, but Ramsley assures him that Sarah is Elizabeth, and tells his master to prepare for his long awaited wedding. As it turns out, Ramsley is planning to use Sarah to break the curse, so he blackmails Sarah into agreeing to the marriage by threatening to harm Megan and Michael; he even blackmails Ezra and Emma into playing along with the wedding ceremony.
At the wedding, Ramsley takes on the role as the royal priest and puts iocane powder into the ceremonial wine in order to kill Sarah once she and Edward finish their vows. However, Jim uses his car to break into the mansion's conservatory (with the help from Leota) and rescue his kids before giving Elizabeth's real letter to Edward, revealing Ramsley's true role behind the curse. At first, Ramsley tries to deny this by calling Jim a lunatic, but Edward (after reading the letter) refuses to accept this and demands Ramsley to tell the truth.
Realizing that he is unable to cover his tracks further, Ramsley reluctantly admits to having murdered Elizabeth to end the "unacceptable" union because of his racism against black people. With this revelation revealed, Edward furiously berated Ramsley for his actions, but Ramsley didn't care by saying that he spent all of his life living up to the Gracey name and honor and that he will no longer bear of it due to Edward's genuine love for Elizabeth. As such, Ramsley angrily condemns everyone to be sent to Hell and summons several wraiths to attack everyone else present.
However, with Ramsley admitting to his heinous crime, a Satanic dragon composed entirely of fire comes out of the mansion's fireplace and scares away the wraiths. The dragon then wraps its tongue around Ramsley to drag him to Hell to face punishment for his crimes. Out of spite for being foiled, Ramsley grabs onto Jim, attempting to drag him down with him, but Edward saves Jim at the last moment, leaving a screaming Ramsley to fall down alone into his damnation.
Despite Ramsley's defeat, Sarah succumbs to the poison, but is revived by the same spectral orb that is revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost, who reunites with Edward following Ramsley's defeat. The curse is finally lifted, allowing Edward, Elizabeth, Ezra, Emma and their fellow ghosts to ascend into Heaven and for Jim and his family to inherit the mansion's deed, thus leaving Ramsley's plan in vain and Elizabeth's death avenged.
Gallery[]
Ramsley in the hallways.
Ramsley being dragged into Hell as punishment for his actions.
Quotes[]
“
Jim: Why'd you kill her?! Ramsley: Because the master would not listen to reason! He had everything in the world, and yet, he was willing to throw it all away for love. l did tell him it would end badly. Jim: You're a real cold dude! Ramsley: No, Mr. Evers.... I am a rational man. lt was my responsibility to the house. My duty, sir, to see to it that the boy did not make a foolish error in judgment. Running away with that girl would have destroyed this house. It would have destroyed everything. And I could not stand by and watch it all fall to ruin. Megan: Punch his face in, Dad! Jim: Yeah, but first, I'm gonna tell his master what really happened! Ramsley: The master must never know! Edward and his love will be reunited, and this curse will be broken. Jim: But that's not her, that's my wife! Ramsley: And what she sees in you, I'll never know. But that is of little importance now.... the only thing that matters is that the master's pain must end, and it will end tonight. The curse will be broken, and we can all finally move on.
„
~ Ramsley admitting that he killed Elizabeth out of prejudice against black people, as well as admitting his true plan of using Sarah to break the mansion curse without revealing his role behind it.
“
Ramsley: Must we continue to listen to the ramblings of a lunatic? Gracey: But it's written in her hand! Jim: Yeah, it's written in her hand, explain that, Ramsley! Gracey: Well?! Ramsley: Your union was unacceptable... I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen. Gracey: So you killed her. Ramsley: I told you it would be a mistake to run away with that girl. Gracey: BUT I LOVED HER!! WAS LOVE MY MISTAKE?!! Ramsley: YES!! I tried to protect you! All these years, I've sacrificed for you.... but what would you understand of sacrifice, duty or honor? You loved her! Well, damn you! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!
„
~ Ramsley's infamous last words after Jim exposes the truth to Gracey.
The fictional poison iocane powder first emerged and used in the 1973 fantasy romance novel The Princess Bride by the late William Goldman and the 1987 feature film of the same name.
Terence Stamp said of the film "I was very disappointed that so much of the work I did on The Haunted Mansion didn't arrive in the final cut".
Accordingly to Stamp's statement, some deleted scenes fleshed out more of Ramsley's backstory: he used to serve another family in England until the family's son was threatened to be caught for a crime that he committed, leading Ramsley, who was loyal to the family's father, to save the boy from going to prison by taking the blame. However, prior to his intended execution, Ramsley was saved and hired by Edward's father George, who took him to the United States for safety. This led Ramsley to become so loyal to the Graceys, explaining why he was so interested in not letting Edward commit any "mistakes", though it still doesn't excuse his prejudice against people of African heritage.
Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Ramsley before Terence Stamp was cast.
Ramsley is the second Disney villain to be an unfaithful butler behind their master's back, the first being Edgar Balthazar from The Aristocats.
Ramsley was the first main antagonist from a film based on the Walt Disney World's theme park attraction The Haunted Mansion. The second one would be the Hatbox Ghost, who appeared in the 2023 eponymous film starring Rosario Dawson.
✓
Villains