Ah, what could have been. Early on production, Elsa called ‘Greta’ and was a cold-hearted villain. I thoroughly enjoy the more heart-felt, nuanced take we ended up with, but I can’t help wondering what darkness we missed out on.
Elsa is still a villain though. She gets good right at the end, but before that she plunges her kingdom into ice, nearly kills her sister and several NPCs and only gets more and more powerful.
If this was the basis of a Table Top Role Playing Game, what we have hear is an adventure with two very different outcomes. Either the heroes convince Elsa to listen to sis and find her compassion… or they have to kill an ice queen.
Spoilers: And yes, I know who the ‘real’ villain is, we’re going to score them at the same time. He’s not worth a separate score sheet, and Elsa makes a much more fascinating BBEG.
Presence – 2 out of 5
First act, Elsa is barely present, and when she does show up she is as meek as they come.
Second act, Elsa is confident and focused, until her sister shows up and then she’s uncertain again. On the plus side, that insecurity adds to the unpredictability. She’s much more dangerous when she’s conflicted.
Third act, we’re back to meek. She’s squinting through the ice storm she created.
Hans Score: 3 – charming, reasonably brooding at the turn, makes an attack on Elsa whilst making it look like he’s saving her. Pretty Good.
Atmosphere – 5 out of 5
Some monsters in Dungeons & Dragons have lairs. Some super powerful monsters actually transform their layers to suit them just be being present. Some incredibly powerful monsters also affect the surrounding area with.
Shutting down an entire kingdom with your ice powers is top tier Big Bad Evil Guy energy. She’s not in control or enjoying the experience, but that’s why we separated ‘presence’ and ‘atmosphere’. She’s slowly killing a realm just by being nearby. 5 out of 5.
Hans Score: 1 – he’s present, but he’s whole thing is about playing down his influence here.
Omniscience – 1 out of 5
Not only is she not really maintaining her cold kingdom, she doesn’t even know she did it until Anna tells her. You’d think she’d look around and see the giant cloud forming. Only the trolls seem to know how magic works in this world; Elsa only realises that being happy might make her magic happier by the finale.
Hans Score: 3 – has a good plan, sees the way the cold wind is blowing better than most, but he doesn’t understand the magic any better than Elsa does.
Henchmen – 3 out of 5
When you ice blast a kingdom and bounce, you will struggle to keep the NPC guards around you. The whole point is that she is alone.
She has one henchmen, but he’s a pretty good one. A big ice golem that grows extra spikes when he gets mad. A swift chop to the leg brings him down, but he’s not destroyed by this. If he’s built like Olaf, which is a safe assumption, then he might be able to reform and refit himself at will. Immune to impaling, vulnerable to fire damage.
Hans Score: 2 – if you count the NPC guards he’s tricked into helping him, he gets a two for their reasonable competent.
Threat Level – 5 out of 5
Cold powers limited only by her mental state. Ability to create snow creatures at will. Builds castles and changes landscapes in an instant.
Normally I’d drop a point for Elsa’s inability to ‘go in for the kill’. The conviction to be The Threat is important, otherwise you’re just talk. However, Elsa is so powerful that she puts people at risk all the time. No only is her regional affect slowly killing the kingdom, but an emotional outburst can lead to a wall of spikes to launch at everyone in her vicinity.
One head-shot is crippling. One heart-shot is deadly.
Hans Score: 1 – Doesn’t give much evidence of being good with a sword, gets levelled by a single punch.
Finale – 3 out of 5
Difficult to measure this one. If we’re going purely with what happens in the movie, we have a cool scene – ice-clogged harbour – and out adventurers need to save Anna from Hans and reunited the sisters without causing Elsa to turn full-ice queen. It’s a cool, but (just like the movie) it’s a tad rushed. Adventurers aren’t really required.
However, adjust the outcome slightly you might have a true villain on their hand. A failure to capture Elsa, Elsa hearing about her sisters death after no one saved her, or any other minor adjustment could lead to a much more confused and angry situation.
If the PCs involvement or DM modifications push Elsa just a touch towards evil, this finale could be something much more grim. The potential for a big finale in the icy harbour is tantalising.
Hans Score: 2 – raises the stakes for Anna and Elsa, just barely.
Final Score = 3.16
Hans Final Score = 2.00
Need to have a think about this one. As we the nanomachines from Big Hero 6, Elsa’s powers are so amorphous that it is difficult to pin down as written stats and abilities. A lot of what she can do feels more like big narrative moments to be describe rather than acted out.
Legendary Actions and Lair Actions might need to be added.
(For Hands, just use a Noble stat block, maybe with improved persuasion/ deception modifiers.)
| Disney Villain | Score |
| Jafar | 3.83 👑 |
| Lyle Tiberius Rourke | 3.66 |
| Elsa of Arendelle | 3.16 |
| Hopper | 3.16 |
| Robert Callaghan | 3.00 |
| The Horned King | 3.00 |
| Gaston LeGume | 2.66 |
| Yzma | 2.66 |
| Prince Hans | 2.00 |
| Cruella de Vil | 2.00 |
Thank You For Reading
The other Disney BBEG contenders are right here.
Gamer Peak 