Before Disney got hold of the word, "maleficent" was a highfalutin adjective meaning "causing harm," the opposite of "beneficent." Even if you were not quite sure what it meant, you would know from the "mal-" prefix that it was up to no good, in the same wicked family as "malignant," "malevolent," and "malicious."
Maleficent is based on the evil fairy godmother from Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. In Perrault's version, she's an evil, old fairy who was left out of the princess' christening because she hadn't left her tower in years, and most of the kingdom thought she was dead.
“At first, she has beautiful, flowing hair but when she gets older and more bitter, she is more scary. She's hiding her hair and we put headwraps on her, which are a very, very important part of her costume. …
Growing up as an orphan in the Moors, Maleficent believed herself to be the last of her kind. As she grew into adulthood, she became the de facto protector of the Moors. One day, Maleficent suffers a ruthless betrayal and deceit that turns her pure heart to stone.
The Truth Behind Mal's Parents Maleficent and Hades
What mental illness did Maleficent have?
Maleficent. Maleficent, the evil lady from Sleeping Beauty is one of the evilest characters of Dinsey. She suffered from Borderline personality disorder (BPD) which means a person has inappropriate or extreme emotional reactions, is highly impulsive and has a history of unstable relationships.
Maleficent confirms that Aurora will grow in grace and beauty, "beloved by all who know her", but as revenge for not being invited by the kingdom, she curses Aurora so that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die.
Later, Stefan betrays Maleficent and steals her wings so he could claim that he killed her and become king. After the painful loss of her wings, Maleficent becomes enraged over his treachery, and as her heart of gold turns to stone, she becomes the evilest magical being in the land.
Maleficent used to be a powerful fairy living in the Moors, a magical forest realm bordering a human kingdom. As a young girl, Maleficent meets and falls in love with a Scottish human peasant boy named Stefan.
Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent is an explicitly satanic figure: “mistress of all evil,” in league with “all the powers of Hell.” At the climax she transforms into a dragon to battle Prince Philip, the most archetypally heroic male lead in any Disney cartoon.
With Maleficent distracted, the Queen fires her crossbow. Maleficent saves Aurora, but is struck by the arrow, dissolving into ashes. Devastated, Aurora mourns over Maleficent's death. However, as Aurora's tears fall on the ashes, Maleficent is reborn as a Phoenix.
She was called "Beastie" by Maleficent. At first, Maleficent hated Aurora, but Maleficent soon had developed a close bond with her, so she now calls Aurora "Beastie" as a nickname and a sign of affection towards her.
Even though Maleficent is a heroine, she is still presented as a satanic figure. Her iconic horns (which Disney artist Marc Davis, who designed Maleficent, says were inspired by the traditional look of the devil, to “frighten everybody half to death”) are present even before Stefan's betrayal.
Aurora is officially Queen of the Moors and rules the tranquil kingdom kindly and fairly. But when Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson) asks Aurora to marry him, all of Maleficent's fears of losing her adopted daughter come to the surface.
In the original Sleeping Beauty (1959), Maleficent is a horned witch-monster who can fly, apparate out of nowhere, shape-shift into a dragon, command the thunderous sky to do her bidding, and, of course, issue death curses at an infant christening she wasn't invited to.
Maleficent forces Mal into a magical "staring contest" in order to establish her power over Mal's, who loses and finally accepts to go on with the plan with the other three.
Shortly after Stefan is done with his chat with Maleficent's wings, Queen Leila dies of an illness, and she never gets the chance to meet her daughter, who on the other hand is unaware of her identity and was not given the chance to learn about her mother due to Stefan's obsession causing him to neglect her as well.
Some people might hate Maleficent for her villainous beginnings, which makes sense. Some people hate this new era of Disney and don't like the idea of turning villains into less villainous versions of themselves. They like the classics and don't like what Disney is doing with them.
Stefan, mocking Maleficent for being wingless, and his most famous quote. King Stefan (also simply known as Stefan) is the main antagonist in the 2014 Disney dark fantasy film Maleficent, which is based on the 1959 Disney animated classic film Sleeping Beauty.
Angry over not having been invited, Maleficent casts a spell, promising that before sunset on Aurora's 16th birthday, she'll prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die.
The irony is that Aurora was taken from her mother to protect her from Maleficent, but, to Aurora, Leila is simply the woman who gave birth to her while she refers to Maleficent as her Fairy Godmother.
