Everyone knows that the most interesting character in any movie is the villain—and no more so than when the bad guy is a lady. Perhaps that’s why Disney decided to make its latest feature, Maleficent, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the evil queen’s point of view. It stars a gorgeous and fearsome Angelina Jolie with a cameo by her daughter Vivienne. Here are 16 other magnificently mean female characters from Cruella De Vil to Nurse Ratched, and of course The Wicked Witch of the West.

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Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com.

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