Maleficent

Maleficent is a major antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts series. She is an evil fairy who made her first appearance in Disney's Sleeping Beauty and seeks to gain control over all worlds and spread darkness throughout them.

Maleficent is introduced in Kingdom Hearts as the leader of a band of Disney Villains who seek to conquer Kingdom Hearts and rule all worlds. To this end, Maleficent and her allies assist the Heartless in capturing the seven Princesses of Heart and devouring the hearts of the worlds. However, Sora and his friends manage to thwart Maleficent's plans by defeating her cohorts and eventually the witch herself.

Other games in the Kingdom Hearts series depict Maleficent's initial rise to power and her later attempts to regain it, and while other Disney Villains rarely have any significance outside of their home worlds, Maleficent's influence almost always extends throughout all worlds.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Sleeping Beauty (1959)

A terrifying evil fairy with a command of dark magic.

She attended the celebration of Aurora's birth, despite not being invited, and prophesied that 16 years later, Aurora would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.

'' From Master Xehanort she learned about the existence of other worlds, and that she could rule them all by gathering seven hearts of pure light. ''

''Maleficent's gleeful account of Terra's misdeeds has left Ven troubled. ''

First Entry
''A sorceress of awesome power. She controls the Heartless, and is said to have destroyed many worlds. No one knows what her true intentions are.''

She first appeared to curse Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).

Second Entry
''A sorceress of awesome power. She leads the villains who seek to harness the power of the Heartless. She has also tricked Riku into joining her and is using him as part of her evil plans.''

She first appeared to curse Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).

Third Entry
''A sorceress of awesome power. She tried to use the Heartless for her own evil ends, but the Heartless were actually using her. She turned into a huge dragon when cornered by Sora and his friends.''

She first appeared to curse Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).

Sora's Story
''A witch who commands the darkness. Sora faced Maleficent and her Heartless once before.''

She stole Belle's heart to perfect her dark powers, though Belle had seen through her plan.

Reverse/Rebirth
A witch who commands the darkness.

Maleficent's charms won over Riku, and she empowered him with darkness.

In Castle Oblivion she stood before Riku again, this time as a token of the indelible darkness in his heart.

Main Entry
Sleeping Beauty (1959)

''A sorceress of frightening power. In the last adventure, she controlled the Heartless and led a group that was trying to harness the power of darkness. As part of her villainous plan, Maleficent tricked Riku into making the choice to dive into the realm of darkness.''

''In the end, Maleficent yielded to the power of darkness herself and was defeated by Sora and his friends. But by using her last bit of evil power, she was able to come back again some time later.''

Timeless River
Sleeping Beauty (1959)

A sorceress of frightening power who's behind the strange goings-on at Disney Castle.

Maleficent is determined to take over Disney Castle, and she's using the power of darkness in her evil scheme.

Halloween Town
Sleeping Beauty (1959)

''A sorceress of frightening power. She's using the Heartless as part of her scheme to bring all the worlds under her control.''

Lock, Shock, and Barrel are just what Maleficent needs to make trouble for Sora and his friends while they're in Halloween Town.

Kingdom Hearts coded
''A terrifying evil fairy who commands dark magic. On one of Sora's previous adventures, Maleficent led the hordes of darkness in an attempt to conquer all worlds.''

It was her servant, Pete, who led her to this strange new world; while unaware of its true nature, she can see the potential it holds for steeping other worlds in darkness.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
"Sleeping Beauty" (1959)

''An evil fairy who wishes to see all worlds cast into darkness. She has clashed with more than one Keyblade wielder.''

This time, she tried to use Minnie as a bartering chip and claim the "data" of all worlds.

Kingdom Hearts III
"Sleeping Beauty" (1959)

''An evil fairy who first learned about the existence of other worlds from Master Xehanort over a decade ago. This knowledge led her to seek power over all worlds and attempt to cast them all into darkness.''

''Maleficent clashed with several Keyblade wielders on her quest for power, and numerous defeats eventually caused her to set her sights on the Data Worlds of Jiminy's Journal. While these worlds were far easier to take over than their real-world counterparts, King Mickey saw to it that they remained out of her clutches.''

''Thwarted once again, Maleficent soon discovered that Master Xehanort had used his Heartless, Ansem, to manipulate her into gathering the seven hearts of pure light during Sora's first journey. It turns out these hearts were essential in forging the χ-blade the correct way, and in an act of vengeance, Maleficent decided she and her sidekick Pete would once again assemble a team of villains from across the worlds to combat Xehanort's forces and forge the legendary weapon before the elderly Keyblade Master had a chance to do it himself.''

Before Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Maleficent was known and feared throughout Enchanted Dominion as a sorceress that was not to be angered. Despite not being invited to the celebration of Princess Aurora's birth, she attended anyway and gave the infant princess a special "gift": on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. However, Merryweather, one of the three good fairies, altered this curse so that, instead of dying, Aurora would simply fall into a deep sleep from which only true love's kiss could wake her. The three good fairies raised Aurora deep in the forest for the next sixteen years, in a cottage where she would be safe from Maleficent and her Goons.

On the day of Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Maleficent discovered her living under the assumed name "Briar Rose" and arranged for the princess's curse to take effect. She also imprisoned Prince Phillip in her dungeon to prevent him from breaking it.

At some point, Maleficent met Master Xehanort, who revealed to her the existence of other worlds and the seven Princesses of Heart, whose hearts could be used to conquer all worlds. He also told her of certain wielders of the Keyblade that she would encounter. After this meeting, Maleficent's ambitions would grow to domination over all worlds.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Terra arrives in Enchanted Dominion, searching for Master Xehanort, and he encounters Maleficent at the bridge leading to the gates of King Stephan's castle. The evil fairy claims she does not know of Xehanort, but she tells Terra of a man she saw leaving the castle who spoke of "imprisoning the light." Terra enters the castle, and he finds Aurora asleep in her room. Maleficent appears to him again and tells him of the seven hearts of pure light that grant the power to rule all worlds; she then offers to tell Terra about Master Xehanort if he steals Aurora's heart for her. When Terra refuses, Maleficent uses the darkness inside him to put him into a trance. She then uses the Keyblade wielder to take the sleeping princess's heart herself. When Terra comes to his senses, Maleficent states that the Keyblade is necessary to retrieve the remaining hearts of pure light and asks the young man to join her. Terra rejects Maleficent's offer, and in response, Maleficent tells him that he cannot suppress his darkness by force. Maleficent then leaves Terra, and the Keyblade wielder goes off to fight a mysterious Unversed.

Ventus later arrives at the Forbidden Mountain, the location of Maleficent's fortress, with Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to retrieve Aurora's heart. After successfully freeing it, the group discovers Maleficent in her throne room, furious. She tells Ventus that Terra was the one who stole Aurora's heart, and despite having been warned by Master Xehanort not to harm the young Keyblade wielder, she battles him. Ventus defeats Maleficent, but she restates that Terra willingly took Aurora's heart.

Aqua arrives in time to hear this, and she reassures Ventus before he takes off in search of Terra. Maleficent drops Aqua into the dungeon when she refuses to join her, but Aqua escapes the fortress along with Prince Phillip and the three good fairies. When the protagonists reach the bridge of Kingdom Stephan's castle, Maleficent surrounds the area with thorns and confronts them, claiming Terra willingly embraced the darkness. The evil fairy transforms into a monstrous dragon, and after a fierce battle against Aqua, Prince Phillip throws his enchanted Sword of Truth at her; the blade pierces Maleficent's heart, and she falls in defeat. Returning to her normal form, Maleficent is told by Aqua that it was the power of true love that led to her downfall. Maleficent departs, but not before telling the Keyblade Master that she will not be defeated by something as insignificant as love, and as long as there is light, there will be darkness.

After these events, Maleficent begins plotting to take over all worlds. To ensure her success, she uses the Corridors of Darkness to begin recruiting allies from other worlds, including the recently banished Pete.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
Over the next several years, the Heartless appear in the Realm of Light, and Maleficent decides to use her dark powers to command them. She captures Aurora and causes her own world to fall into darkness, making the abandoned Hollow Bastion her new home. Maleficent manages to gather most of the pages of Ansem's Report, which she and her allies use to better understand the nature of Heartless.

With Pete's assistance, Maleficent recruits Hades, Jafar, Ursula, Oogie Boogie, and Captain Hook, and they use the Heartless to further own ambitions while searching for their worlds' Keyholes and the Princesses of Heart. In the meantime, Maleficent dispatches Pete to assemble an army of powerful Heartless for her.

Kingdom Hearts
When Riku wakes up alone in Hollow Bastion after the destruction of the Destiny Islands, Maleficent approaches him and gives him a room in the castle.

Later, Maleficent uses her magic to watch Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat the Guard Armor with her allies. The Disney Villains discuss Sora and monitor his progress as they continue to pursue their own ambitions, and as her allies implement their own schemes in their respective worlds, Maleficent occasionally comes to advise or observe them, as well as to make sure they continue to search for their worlds' Keyholes and the Princesses of Heart.

When her allies witness Sora sealing the Keyhole of Deep Jungle, Maleficent assures them that it will take the boy ages to find the rest and notes that he is unaware of their plan regarding the Princesses of Heart.

Maleficent begins coaxing Riku to assist her, and she grants him the ability to travel between worlds. When Riku encounters Sora in Traverse Town and sees him with Donald and Goofy, Maleficent convinces him that Sora has forgotten about him and Kairi. In exchange for assisting him as he searches for Kairi himself, Riku agrees to help the evil fairy gather the Princesses of Heart.

In Agrabah, Maleficent checks on the status of Jafar's search for the world's Keyhole and the capture of Jasmine, one of the Princesses of Heart. She reminds Jafar of the importance of the Princesses and warns him against being careless with the darkness. Maleficent appears again in the Lamp Chamber after Jafar uses Genie's powers to reveal the Keyhole, and she learns that Sora has continued to interfere. Sora and company arrive on the scene, and Sora realizes who Maleficent is before she disappears. Maleficent returns to Hollow Bastion and has Riku capture Jasmine and take the princess there, as well. Maleficent tells Hades that Jafar was overcome by his hatred and warns the Lord of the Dead not to make the same mistake. To honor her deal with Riku, Maleficent sends the boy to sail with Captain Hook to find Kairi.

While Riku tries to torment Sora inside Monstro, Maleficent comes to check on him. She warns the boy to beware the darkness in his heart, as the Heartless prey upon it, but he tells her to mind her own business as she steps into a Corridor of Darkness. Maleficent later encounters Riku on Captain Hook's ship, where Kairi's comatose body is resting, and she tells the boy that the power and wisdom of Kingdom Hearts will allow him to recover Kairi's heart once they gather the seven Princesses of Heart. Maleficent then gives Riku the power to control the Heartless.

After Riku takes Kairi to Hollow Bastion via a Corridor of Darkness, straining himself in the process, Maleficent tells him that relying too much on darkness puts his heart at risk. She also tells him about the Beast, who had been able to reach the deserted castle from his home world through sheer force of will. Maleficent then amplifies Riku's dark powers, allowing him to enter Dark Mode.

As Sora and the Beast enter Hollow Bastion, Maleficent uses the power of the gathered Princesses of Heart to reveal the Final Keyhole in the Grand Hall. She is joined soon after by Riku, who is now possessed by Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and armed wit the Keyblade of heart. Maleficent realizes with shock that the Keyhole and Keyblade are both incomplete, due to the absence of Kairi's heart. She leaves to finish off Sora and his friends herself, but she is defeated, and she retreats to the Castle Chapel's tower with the protagonists in pursuit. The possessed Riku arrives, and he impales Maleficent with his Keyblade, unlocking the darkness in her heart. Overwhelmed by the dark power, Maleficent transforms into a dragon and attacks Sora again, only to be destroyed.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
A memory-based illusion of Maleficent appears before Riku in the twelfth basement of Castle Oblivion, in a projection of Hollow Bastion. Although she is aware that she is only a figment of Riku's memory, Maleficent taunts him, reminding him of how he used to embrace the darkness and telling him that the only people he will find on his journey are people from his memory with the same dark hearts. When Riku declares he will destroy each denizen of darkness he encounters, Maleficent fights him in the form of a dragon, only to be conquered. Zexion is able to smell this Maleficent's presence, and he informs Vexen and Lexaeus of it. Vexen states that the real Maleficent cannot return from the Realm of Darkness of her own volition.

When Sora enters the memory-based Hollow Bastion, he discovers Maleficent has kidnapped Belle and is trying to trap the Beast in an effort to steal Belle's heart. Belle sacrifices herself to save the Beast, and Maleficent disappears with Belle's heart. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast pursue her. When they catch up to the evil fairy, she tells them that her magic requires hearts of utmost beauty and that the love in Belle and the Beast's hearts makes them ideal. Maleficent transforms into a dragon to battle Sora and his friends, but she is defeated and Belle's heart is set free.

Kingdom Hearts II
After Sora leaves the Mysterious Tower, Maleficent's Raven brings the evil fairy's empty robe to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's chamber, and their memories of her bring her back to life.

Maleficent regroups with Pete at Villain's Vale, where she learns that her former allies are off dealing with their own matters. Maleficent has Pete bring her up to speed on what has transpired since her defeat, including the actions of Organization XIII and Sora. She is disgusted by Pete's chain of failures, however, and she breaks ties with him. When Pete somehow summons a door to the past, however, she decides to give him another chance and has him interfere with the Cornerstone of Light so that she can take over Disney Castle. With the power of the Cornerstone weakened, Maleficent begins sending her dark influence into the castle, allowing the Heartless to invade and filling the Hall of the Cornerstone with thorns. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive with Queen Minnie, Maleficent projects her image before them and taunts them. Even though Sora and company successfully stop Pete and save the Cornerstone, Maleficent has Pete resume the search for new allies and powerful Heartless to place under their control.

Maleficent later appears in Halloween Town, where she recruits Lock, Shock, and Barrel for her plan to destroy Christmas Town. After spying on Sora, Jack, and the others at Santa Claus's house, she decides to resurrect Oogie Boogie in order to exact her revenge upon Sora. Maleficent grants the three pranksters under her command the use of the Prison Keeper while Oogie recovers. Although Maleficent has the villainous bag of bugs kidnap Santa so that he can destroy Christmas Town while she turns Santa into a Heartless, Oogie's faulty memory and uncooperative attitude drive Maleficent to leave him to his own devices.

At some point, Maleficent hires the Gullwings as spies to keep tabs on the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee's activities. They continue working for her until they discover she retreated from a battle.

During the Heartless invasion of Hollow Bastion, Maleficent tries to fight the Nobodies her Heartless forces, but they are easily outmatched, and she sets them on Sora, Donald, and Goofy instead. Later, when Saïx reveals the Organization's goal to be obtaining Kingdom Hearts, she appears and stakes her own claim on the heart of all worlds. Maleficent has her Heartless attack Saïx, only for them to be quickly defeated by Dusks. Maleficent attempts to hold off the Nobodies herself to let Sora and the others escape, demanding that they find a way to defeat the Organization once and for all. Maleficent is forced to retreat, but she opens a Corridor of Darkness underneath the protagonists, dropping them into the Realm of Darkness.

Maleficent and Pete inflitrate the Castle That Never Was while the Organization is dealing with Sora and the others, and Maleficent decides to take the castle for herself, despite Pete's misgivings. Later, as Sora and company travel to the Altar of Naught for their final battle with Xemnas, Maleficent and Pete hold off an immense wave of Heartless to buy them time. Maleficent points out that the castle will be hers in the end before the heroes proceed.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Maleficent and Pete survive the destruction of the Castle That Never Was, and Maleficent returns to plotting her conquest of the worlds. She sends Pete to Disney Castle to spy on King Mickey, and when Data-Riku transports Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket into the datascape, Pete gets pulled in as well, appearing in a hub between the data worlds. He calls Maleficent, who uses her magic to enter as well. Despite her unfamiliarity with the concept of computers and computer data, Maleficent decides she and Pete must conquer the data worlds, immerse them in darkness, and then use the link between the data worlds and Disney Castle to overrun it with Heartless. Maleficent tasks Pete with interfering with the data worlds, and he cuts the link to the real world, trapping Mickey and the others. After Data-Sora corners Pete in the digital version of Agrabah, Maleficent appears before him. Although she cannot differentiate between him and his real-world counterpart, she destroys his digital Keyblade, recognizing it as a fake. When Data-Riku tries to attack her, the evil fairy subdues him and takes him along, saying he will be "useful." Maleficent and Pete corrupt Riku with Bug Blox, forcing him to fight Sora in the data version of Hollow Bastion. After Sora debugs Riku's data from within, Maleficent attempts to trap him by closing the connection to the outside world. Sora escapes, however, and he defeats Maleficent in her dragon form. Maleficent disappears, vowing to conquer all worlds.

When the datascape begins to collapse, Jiminy remembers that Maleficent and Pete are still inside and are in danger of being deleted. Data-Sora goes after them, and he finds them in battle against the source of the bugs, Sora's Heartless. The Heartless's attack casts them into a rift in the data, but they are rescued by Data-Riku, who escorts them from the datascape. When Data-Sora uses the Hollow Bastion World Card in the data version of Castle Oblivion, he encounters an illusion of Pete who summons an illusory Maleficent once he is defeated. This false Maleficent transports them to a room where Data-Sora must traverse a gauntlet of Bug Blox across bottomless gaps. Maleficent and Pete taunt Sora and disappear after he reaches them on the far side of the room.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
While Mickey, Donald, and Goofy oversee Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam with Yen Sid, Maleficent and Pete invade Disney Castle and take Minnie hostage. Maleficent has her raven deliver a letter and Minnie's crown to Mickey at the Mysterious Tower; Mickey immediately returns home with Donald and Goofy to stop her. Yen Sid surmises that Maleficent's actions are prompted by the growing darkness throughout the worlds and considers it a sign of Master Xehanort's impending return.

At Disney Castle, Maleficent reveals to Mickey how Xehanort once told her of other worlds and the seven hearts of pure light that would enable her to rule them. However, due to the complexity of the worlds, Maleficent states that she decided to take a different approach, using the worlds' data to conquer them. When Mickey refuses to give Maleficent the data she requests, the evil fairy attempts to eliminate him with her magic. However, the flames she summons are blocked by one of Lea's Chakrams; the other surprises Pete and allows Minnie to escape from him. Maleficent and Pete retreat into a Corridor of Darkness; Maleficent vows to return for the worlds' data.

After Master Xehanort's revival in The World That Never Was, the elderly Keyblade Master reveals that he had manipulated Maleficent into gathering the seven hearts of pure light as a part of his plan to recreate the χ-blade.

Kingdom Hearts V CAST
Maleficent appears in the non-canon Kingdom Hearts V CAST. She serves as the main antagonist of the game, and her lair is its final level; it features the toughest Heartless in the game.

Appearance
Fair and green-skinned, Maleficent possesses shining, yellow eyes that are heavily shadowed with violet make-up, and her lips are painted red. Her head is topped with a black-horned headdress. Maleficent wears a long, tattered black robe with a purple trim and maroon edges which flare outwards. She carries a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip, through which she casts her spells. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Maleficent wears a golden ring with a circular black stone in it. This was featured in her original design from Sleeping Beauty, but it was absent in Kingdom Hearts. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III, it appears once again.

Origin
Maleficent made her film debut in Disney's 1959 animated feature film, Sleeping Beauty. Appearing unexpectedly at Princess Aurora's birth ceremony, she is greatly angered upon not receiving an invitation to the occasion. Hiding this behind a calm demeanor, she then proceeds to give the infant princess a "gift" in the form of a curse, saying that she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel before sunset on her sixteenth birthday and die. King Stefan attempts to have his guards seize Maleficent at that moment, but she escapes using her dark magic. Fearful for his daughter's life despite the fact that Merryweather's gift for the child would cause Aurora not to die but sleep should she prick her finger, King Stefan then issues a decree that all spinning wheels in the kingdom are to be burned. In a last attempt to delay Maleficent's curse and prevent Aurora from pricking her finger, the three good fairies decide to take her into the woods to live and be raised as a peasant in an abandoned cottage that once belonged to a woodcutter until after sunset on her sixteenth birthday. The fairies succeed in keeping Aurora's location and identity a secret, and an enraged Maleficent sends her loyal raven Diablo to search for the girl after her Goons fail her.

Diablo discovers Aurora's whereabouts, and Maleficent lures the girl to a spinning wheel upon her return to King Stefan's castle. Aurora pricks her finger, and then Maleficent departs for the old woodcutter's cottage, aiming to capture the princess's betrothed, Prince Phillip, who intends to meet the peasant girl that was Aurora there. Capturing the prince, Maleficent places him in her dungeon, intending to keep him there for 100 years. However, Prince Phillip escapes Maleficent's clutches with the help of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. The evil fairy attempts to stop him from reaching Aurora's sleeping form and King Stefan's castle with a forest of thorns, and as Phillip cuts through them, a desperate Maleficent appears before him. Transforming into a mighty dragon, she then engages the prince in a climatic battle. In the end, Maleficent is stabbed in the heart by the Sword of Truth, and Prince Phillip goes on to awaken and marry Aurora.