I’ve made a point of not doing Disney sequels. I didn’t care about most of the sequels even when I was little, and many have the same villain or no villain at all. If I get to the end of my list and I hear someone make a claim for a sequel villain being great, I will revisit them.
All this is to say, that I’m skipping past The Rescuers Down Under, which is a small shame because I watched it the other day and McLeach is a much superior Big Bad Evil Guy to Madama Medusa. He’s not getting on the leaderboard, but he’s better example of a villain.
I’m not too upset about overlooking him though. Now I get to talk about Prince John.
Presence – 3 out of 5
I’ve been hard on BBEGs and henchmen that are played for laughs. Prince John is a wimp who sucks his thumb. It’s fun to watch, but lowers the stakes as the main villain of your campaign.
However. Prince is more than the weepy mummys-boy. He’s also big and boastful, rageful and rash, violent and volatile. He is a dangerous cocktail of emotions topped with an ill-fitting crown.
Robin Hood leads him through a merry dance, whether in disguise or scaling the walls, but it’s always clear through the silliness that John could call for your execution at any moment. Pander to his wants and you’ll be safe, do anything at all to upset him and you’re in trouble.
Atmosphere – 4 out of 5
Prince John is the acting king, so when he says “jump”, everyone has to begrudgingly say “how high”. The wily fox is trying his best, but Prince John has his money-grubbing claws in the kingdom and it shows. The pathetic fallacy is strong here. The houses and homes are destitute. The little rabbits are weeping.
On the other, if John says “celebrate”, the world is bright and gleeful. He’s bringing his own fanfare and granting fun competition.
Then, when he says, “to jail”, no one is passing “Go”. The world switches moods with him.
Omniscience – 2 out of 5
As King he’s privy to a lot of knowledge of the world, but he’s not the most switched on villain. His Insight and Perception modifiers are low enough that he doesn’t notice Robin Hood, in a pretty flimsy disguise, loudly and brashly kiss giant jewels out of their fixtures on his fingers.
He did figure out Robin at the tournament, but he’s completely taken in by Little John, so much so that John gets a knife to his neck without issue.
Henchmen – 4 out of 5
So there’s a multitude here. A real mix of fun characters, powerful builds, play-for-laugh goofballs and dangerous soldiers.
Sir Hiss is ultimately thwarted by his lack of strength… and limbs, but he’s a cunning, stealthy fellow. Sadly he doesn’t really have the King’s ear (because his tongue is too tickly and John doesn’t listen), but he is able to steer his king’s more reckless behaviour.
The Sheriff is as gullible as the Prince, but his powers of Perception and Investigation are a little better. He appears powerful, imposing, but Friar Tuck handles him with a stick, and he needs an assist from Nutsy the vulture. The vultures are mostly played for laughs but they have some semblance of purpose.
The elephants and rhinos are impressive, larger than any other characters in this world. Yet the elephants are largely used as haulage and as trumpeters, and the rhinos do more harm than good trying to stop Robin Hood. And if your players are building characters to march Robin’s skill level, these guys are not offering too much of a challenge.
Having said that, their destructive klutziness give rise to all sorts of positive situations. All manner of skill checks and saving throws to avoid collapsing buildings or stampedes inside of carnival tents.
Threat Level – 1 out of 5
This is where Prince John falls down. He’s got an army to order around, and he has the power to have everyone in sight locked away (except the protagonist), but at the core of all that influence is a spindly anthropomorphic lion. When King Richard comes back, you really get the difference in size and strength.
Now physical stature isn’t everything, there’s many other ways our BBEG can show power. But this is a non-magic world, so Prince John needs some sort of martial prowess, and I’m not seeing any evidence of that.
Most importantly though, he’s a coward. So unless he thinks he can overpower you with a cheap shot or you’re the size of a snake, he’s going to be cowering behind the bedpost.
Finale – 3 out of 5
So this finale has a lot going for it. This is all happening because of Prince John, but his part in the actual shenanigans is very slight.
We got a rescue mission, a robbery, demolition, a fight in a burning castle, all whilst under attacks from guards. John is caught up in it as much as the hero, if not more so, and pretty powerless in how it all plays out.
Final Score = 2.83
Wimpy stats, but a fun little quirk or too. A few traits from 5th edition lion stats, (but not the pounce because he’s on two legs). He’s not causing anyone any harm, unless he’s attacking from behind someone else.
| Disney Villain | Score |
| Ursula | 4.16 👑 |
| Hades | 4.00 |
| Jafar | 3.83 |
| Shan Yu | 3.66 |
| Professor Ratican | 3.66 |
| Lyle Tiberius Rourke | 3.66 |
| Billy Pine, a.k.a Syndrome | 3.33 |
| Elsa of Arendelle | 3.16 |
| Hopper | 3.16 |
| Robert Callaghan | 3.00 |
Another narrowly missing the leaderboard. He’s a fun boss with delightful inspiration for a TTRPG world around him. He just lacks the staying power for a final fight.
If only there was someone that had magic, and a final form like all good bosses…
Oh… hi, Malificent.
Thank You For Reading
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Gamer Peak 
Maleficent, hell yeah!