The Best DreamWorks Animated Movie Villains Ranked

It takes quite a villain to live up to the grandeur of Captain Underpants. Thankfully, the nefarious Professor Pee-Pee Diahreeahstein Poopypants Esquire (Nick Kroll) more than rises to the occasion. A brilliant scientist suffering from an unfortunate name, Professor Poopypants (or "Professor P." as he prefers to be called) is the first real villain Captain Underpants faces on the big screen.

A talented inventor by trade, Professor Poopypants' accomplishments are perpetually overshadowed by his embarrassing name. His crowning achievement — winning the Nobel Prize — became a moment of crippling humiliation as the audience in attendance exploded into laughter upon hearing the professor's name said out loud. Since then, Poopypants has been hiding, secretly attempting to develop an invention capable of shrinking the Hahaguffawchuckleamalus — the part of the brain responsible for laughter. By doing so, Poopypants hopes to create a world free from joy and laughter, where he'll be able to live in peace without anyone mocking him for his name.

There are many villains that the filmmakers at DreamWorks might've chosen for Captain Underpants' first movie, but few are as downright hilarious as Professor Poopypants. A clever spoof of a stereotypical mad scientist, the character's intrinsic humor and lightheartedness makes him a hilarious foil to the briefs-clad hero. If that weren't enough to like him, Nick Kroll's exaggerated German accent and Poopypants' random tirades and childish outbursts bring a lot to his presence.

As enjoyable as the "Madagascar" films have been, the series always lacked a truly intimidating villain who posed a serious threat to the main characters. At least, that was the case until "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," which introduced viewers to one of the more dangerous and downright terrifying villains in the DreamWorks canon: Captain Chanel Shannon DuBois (Frances McDormand). A French officer in Monaco's Animal Control, DuBois is assigned to apprehend the animals roaming through Europe in the film, carrying out her assignment with the utmost gusto and enthusiasm.

Her first scene in the film tells you all you need to know about Captain DuBois — her personality, her motivation, and the twisted love she has for her professional responsibilities. Having developed a sadistic infatuation for killing animals when she was just seven years old, DuBois maintains a large assortment of taxidermy heads mounted on her office wall. Forever looking to add to her collection, DuBois uses her position in Animal Control to her advantage, giving her the opportunity to bag any new creatures who are unfortunate enough to catch her attention.

In pursuing the main characters of "Madagascar," DuBois is shown to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, pining after the fugitive animals with the enthusiasm of Kraven the Hunter and the singular determination of a Terminator. She may be far more comical than other determined DreamWorks hunters like Grimmel the Grisly or even Death, but she's every bit as relentless in her pursuit.

In this day and age, it's not uncommon for villains in family-friendly movies to receive some kind of redemptive character arc, allowing them to transition from a tragic antagonist into a sympathetic hero by the film's climax. Breaking that relatively new convention in children's movies is "Big" Jack Horner (John Mulaney), the secondary antagonist of "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish."

A larger-than-life figure in more ways than one, Horner grew up embittered at his lack of magical powers, especially when compared to the other fantastical creatures around him. As the basis for the well-known nursery rhyme, "Little" Jack Horner grew up desiring to match the acclaim of other, more notable fairy tales. Overshadowed by famous fables like Pinocchio, young Horner wanted nothing more than to gain magical abilities to impress people, ultimately becoming a feared pastry chef with an obsessive love of folklore.

Compared to the Wolf who pursues Puss throughout the movie, Horner doesn't live by his own set of morals. His only ambition is to secure power, lording it over others and obtaining it at the cost of lives. Despite the humor tied to his character, he has no redeeming qualities, existing as an outright megalomaniacal figure in the same vein as other "Shrek" baddies like Lord Farquaad or the Fairy Godmother. That being said, he's also an ideal malevolent force for Puss and his allies to deal with, unlike the morally gray Three Bears Crime Family similarly pursuing the Last Wish.

A resident of Metro City, Hal Stewart (Jonah Hill) is the hapless cameraman partnered with Roxanne Ritchi, a colleague for whom he has unreciprocated feelings. After the superhero Metro Man abruptly vanishes, his nemesis Megamind seeks to create a new adversary to spend his time fighting. Using Metro Man's DNA, Megamind accidentally channels superhuman abilities to Hal. Masquerading as a mysterious "Space Dad," Megamind trains Hal into becoming Metro City's protector, fulfilling the mantle left behind by Metro Man.

Donning the moniker of Titan, Hal's superhero career almost immediately fails when he realizes Roxanne doesn't share his romantic feelings, prompting him to go on a crime spree instead. Furious over being snubbed by Roxanne, Titan embraces the darker aspects of his personality, rampaging through the city with little remorse.

In many ways, Hal isn't exactly a bad person — he's just a man who, by all rights, shouldn't have inherited the powers and responsibilities that come with being a superhero. With his newfound abilities inflating his ego, he sees being Titan as a chance to finally accomplish something with his life, as well as a way to finally impress Roxanne. When neither of those things pan out, he resorts to using his powers for selfish gain, rather than actually using them to do good in the world or combat evil. In essence, he's like a family-friendly version of Homelander from "The Boys": an egomaniacal, self-interested "hero" who cares little for the greater good of Metro City.

Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) has the odd distinction of being the only antagonist in the "Shrek" franchise to appear in two separate movies. Depicted as a supporting antagonist in "Shrek 2" and later upgraded to the main villain of "Shrek the Third," Charming is a more overt satirical take on Disney's princes than Lord Farquaad. Handsome, dashing, and courageous to an extent, he's slated to rescue Fiona from her castle and marry into her family prior to the events of the first film (a plan established by Charming and his mother, the Fairy Godmother).

Upon discovering that Shrek has already saved the princess, Charming pieces together a scheme with his mother to separate Shrek from Fiona. By the movie's climax, their plot falls to pieces, with the Fairy Godmother accidentally taking her own life. Devastated by the loss of his mother, Charming returns in "Shrek the Third" seeking revenge, rallying traditionally antagonistic fairy tale creatures to his side to take up arms against Shrek and his family.

A spoiled, arrogant, and vain mama's boy, Charming is an entitled prince who insists on getting everything his way — only to lash out and whine whenever he doesn't. Having been handed everything in life, he grows up expecting everything to pan out in his favor, turned into a pampered man-child by the overindulging attention of his mother. With all that in mind, he's the perfect foil to Shrek, and arguably one of the most well-written characters in the "Shrek" series to date.

Mrs. Melisha Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) is among the most intimidating antagonists featured in a children's movie. Trapped in a loveless marriage to her husband Willard, Mrs. Tweedy owns a financially struggling chicken farm in northern England. Running the farm with the callous glee of a prison warden, the Tweedys have structured the farm like a well-run jail, complete with towering barbed wire fencing, vicious guard dogs that are always on patrol, and grueling punishments for any chickens caught trying to escape.

With her gaunt appearance, pale skin, and permanent frown, Mrs. Tweedy seems like the ghostly apparition of Death — an ominous figure whose mere appearance strikes fear in the hearts of her chickens. If her visage alone wasn't unsettling enough, her fiendish plot only adds another dimension to her ghoulish character. Tired of making miniscule profit, she tries to adapt her farm to an industrial meat factory, using state-of-the-art technology to butcher and bake a vast number of chickens into pie at once.

Grim, serious, and determined to yield some kind of income from her farming business, Mrs. Tweedy is a serious danger that the chickens of "Chicken Run" are desperate to escape. As passionate as she is in her hatred of the farm and the animals in her care, Tweedy's overconfidence proves to be her undoing. Underestimating the intelligence and resourcefulness of the chickens, she spends more time focused on creating her pie-making machine than anything else — although she comes incredibly close to massacring the entire farm by doing so.

The first 2D animated film from DreamWorks, "The Prince of Egypt" is still one of the studio's most ambitious projects. Based on the life of Moses and the Book of Exodus, the film acts as a relatively light but still dramatic Biblical epic, palatable for children and older viewers. True to the age-old story of Moses, the movie draws on the legend of Rameses II (Ralph Fiennes) to create the main antagonist for the film.

The adoptive brother of Moses and the heir to the throne of Egypt, Rameses was raised knowing the full weight of responsibilities that would one day be bestowed upon him when he assumed the title of pharaoh from his father, Seti. Constantly chastised by his parents whenever he embarked on reckless antics with Moses, Rameses was instilled with a lasting belief in the power of tradition and legacy, as well as a paralyzing fear that he would become the "weak link" responsible for the erosion of his family's influence in the world.

As Moses' sibling, Rameses is shown not to be an outright evil villain like so many other entries on this list. Instead, he's more focused on cementing his family's hold over Egypt, challenging himself to live up to his father's insurmountably large shadow. Never acknowledging his family's flaws (such as their culpability in prolonging slavery), he's a misguided ruler whose headstrong belief in upholding the status quo makes him an enemy of Moses by pure circumstance. Not content to see reason or give into morality, his stubbornness only leads to great suffering for himself and his people.

Is Death (Wagner Moura) a traditional villain along the same lines as Lord Shen, Mrs. Tweedy, or the Fairy Godmother? No, not at all. But given his antagonistic attitude towards Puss in Boots, it's hard to describe him as a strictly just character. The de facto villain of "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," the Wolf is the physical incarnation of Death, taking lupine form to pursue our hero.

Insulted by the fact that Puss has nine lives — eight of which he's frivolously wasted — Death seeks the retribution of taking Puss' ninth and final life. Shrouded in a black cloak and announcing his presence with an eerie low whistle, Death is not only the best villain in the "Shrek" extended universe; he's the best DreamWorks antagonist of all time.

Despite his threatening appearance and obvious ill regard for Puss, Death's motivations are strictly neutral. He feels rightfully slighted by the cat's haphazard disregard for life, and is interested mostly in teaching him a lesson. According to Death's philosophy, to truly value life you need to live each day as you would your last, giving the prospect of mortality the respect it deserves. All of this makes Death a uniquely memorable character. He lives by his own set of morals and rules, following them stringently and ultimately helping Puss grow more humble and appreciative of life in the process.