Jadis the White Witch

In the 2005 Walt Disney Pictures feature film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she was portrayed by British actress Tilda Swinton. Swinton's performance won particular acclaim among fans and critics. BBC film critic Stella Papamichael wrote:

“ As the cold hearted White Witch, Tilda Swinton sets the tempo for this bracing adventure. She is a pristine picture of evil, like the spectre of Nazism that forces the children out of London to the sanctuary of a country manor. ”

Tilda Swinton reprises her role as The White Witch in the forthcoming film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. In a scene exclusive to the movie, the trio that planned to resurrect the Witch in the novel manage to conjure up an apparation of her form behind a mythical wall of ice. The Witch says that she needs a drop of Adam's blood to live again, which she tries to take from Caspian and then Peter. However, Edmund shatters the ice before the Witch can completely materialize. It is unknown yet whether Swinton will return to play the character in a film adaptation of The Magician's Nephew.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she has usurped power over Narnia, having magically forced the land into an "endless winter" during her reign, which at the beginning of the book had lasted for a hundred years. Even though it had been winter for so long, the Witch prevents Christmas from ever coming during that time.

During her reign, the White Witch is styled "Her Imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia, Chatelaine of Cair Paravel, Empress of the Lone Islands". She makes two claims which, if true, might have given her authority to rule over Narnia. The first is that she is human. At the beginning of Narnia, Aslan gave "sons of Adam and daughters of Eve" dominion over all the beasts and magical creatures of Narnia. (Narnian dwarfs are not considered to be human, even though they can and do reproduce with humans; they are referred to as "Sons of Earth".) Although the White Witch appears human (despite her irregular skin color and abnormal height), Narnian rumor holds that she descends from Adam's first wife, Lilith, and was half-Jinn and half-giantess, and thus not even partially human.