One of my favorite things about being gay is how we often relate to cartoon villains more than cartoon heroes. Something about the binary of wholesome/deviant or something like that. Whatever the reason, I’m guessing you feel the same, so I made us a little quiz. I, um, took some liberties with some of the Disney villains, but if they’re gonna queer code all their baddies, that means we get to do what we want with them! As always, I would love to know your results!
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Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Heather has written 1718 articles for us.
Poison Ivy… mmm, that tracks
Choosing just one was SO hard for a lot of these questions, harder than usual. Why can’t I have both Nebula and Evil Willow as my sidekicks?
I got Hades and I do feel pretty seen by this description:
It’s the incompetency of “heroes” that really compels you to do things your own way.
“A network/streamer canceled my favorite show and then removed it from the platform forever.”
Willow. WILLOW. WILLOW!
This was mine too! Willow, Legendary (which I had JUST discovered,) and I am VERY concerned about the fate of Reservation Dogs and A League of Their Own after the final season drops.
Is it me? Am I the problem?
I’m late to the bad news party but this is how I’ve discovered Willow was cancelled and I’m… devastated!!!
Listen, my cat is my sidekick and I in turn am sidekick to Dark Willow
Poison Ivy!
Also Miranda Priestly is not a villain NATE is the villain of The Devil Wears Prada. The crushing weight of your college boyfriend wanting to trap you around what he needs is the horror that can haunt us all.
Poison Ivy? I am honored to get this “villain.”
Catra! And I am a big softie, that is very true. And I love She-Ra!
Also, whoever added Morgana from BBC Merlin to this list is my hero because I absolutely love that show!
I’m down with Captain Hook. Kind of a big Peter Pan fan. Well the mythos of it. Abhore the racism and other shit.
Captain Hook! \o/
“A bitch looks good when they’re out here sailing the high seas.”
Catra. So I guess that means I won.
Poison Ivy makes sense for me really
Catra!
Evil Willow should get her own misandrist spinoff.
Ursula!
“Yeah, that’s right, you’re the president of the Bad Girls Coven and you are not going to apologize for it.”
Hell yeah. Happy to be a drag queen inspired villain trying to circumvent women from giving up their lives for milquetoast men.
Catwoman for the win—–and Heather for Queen of the cat goddesses!
Harley Quinn.
That tracks.
Lefou. I’d rather be Ursula, because she’s aquatic. But I guess she’s too commanding and ambitious to fit my personality.
So it’s OK for queer people to love and relate to queer-coded fictional villains. (What about explicitly queer villains?) But is it OK for a disabled person to love and relate to a disabled fictional villain? I’ve been feeling ashamed of doing so, of condoning a portrayal that perpetuates harmful stereotypes, the sort that are condemned by other disabled people. Yet it seems queerness is different?
Catra is so accurate that I find it unspeakably rude.
Poison Ivy. And I’m so glad because today I met another transwoman online and we immediately started crushing on each other