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Mother Gothel. (Tangled, 2010)

Being the main antagonist in Tangled, Mother Gothel kidnaps the princess Rapunzel as an infant and raises her; Mother Gothel claiming that she is Rapunzel’s mother. This is because Rapunzel possesses the magical healing powers of a golden flower that was used by Mother Gothel to remain youthful, before it was sought and consumed by a deathly ill Queen (Rapunzel’s true mother).

In order to keep Rapunzel from ever knowing the truth about her parentage, and to have Rapunzel’s powers close at hand to continually use to remain youthful, Mother Gothel keeps her locked in a well hidden tower and lies to her on a daily basis, right up until Rapunzel is 18. 

Mother Gothel’s villainy is mainly represented in her treatment of Rapunzel. Unlike most villains, Mother Gothel has developed a close relationship with her victim since they had spent 18 years together in a tower. This is used to her advantage, as Mothel Gothel raised Rapunzel from an infant, and so knows virtually every weakness, and this is employed mainly through emotional manipulation (”Oh great. Now I’m the bad guy.”), belittling Rapunzel at every opportunity (”Oh look, you’re here too!”), and lying about the world outside, as she never let Rapunzel leave the tower to see it for herself (Mother Knows Best, Tangled). Throughout this abuse, Mother Gothel still maintains a ‘loving’ motherly facade; treating Rapunzel to her favourite dinners, luxurious paint materials, acting as a protector of the outside world, all in order to keep Rapunzel dependent on and loyal to her.

The creators have stated before that she was designed to be a polar opposite to Rapunzel, from her hair (long, dark curls as opposed to Rapunzel’s straight blonde) to her clothing, which was from the Renaissance (approximately 400 years or so before the time period of Tangled) to further emphasise and hint to just how old Mother Gothel is. 

Ultimately what makes her different from most traditional villains is that her motivations aren’t for revenge or power. At the beginning of the film it shows that she was willing just to take a lock of baby Rapunzel’s hair to fulfil her narcissistic wish, but when that didn’t work (the hair had to be attached to Rapunzel for the magic to work) she resorted to a more desperate measure and actually took the baby, and this is purely down to her desire to remain youthful as well as an overarching fear of death.