- “Do you know what makes a great leader? The ability to instill fear in your subjects and use that fear against your enemies.”
- ―Ingrith to Aurora
Queen Ingrith is the main antagonist of Disney's 2019 live-action film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The Queen of Ulstead, wife of King John, mother of Prince Phillip, and Aurora's future mother‐in‐law, Queen Ingrith is a worthy adversary to the dark fairy Maleficent, with an evil plan to divide humans and fairies forever.
Background[]
Personality[]
Ingrith is motivated by the tragic death of her brother, who she believes was killed by one of the enchanted forest's creatures. Her sole purpose is to protect her people, and for her, the ends justify the means. She is described as wicked, cunning and selfish, having a fear of the unknown, which in turn, translates to aggression, with attack being her best defense.
She is self-righteous and xenophobic, viewing the fairy creatures of the Moors as monsters, no matter how peaceful or harmless or innocent they might be. Her desire for revenge against them is all-consuming, and she believes them responsible for the death of her brother purely for the fact that they are not human and that her brother's body was apaprently found in the Moors, leading her to accuse them.
Ingrith's obsession with destroying the fairies was such that she was willing to curse her husband so that she could accuse Maleficent, and even imprison her son for going against her, displaying she was willing to ruin her own family all for the sake of revenge. She even claimed that a great leader (herself) would willingly scare their own subjects in order to direct their fear and animosity to an outside threat, and needlessly endanger their lives for the sake of war.
Ingrith was a coward, throwing Aurora off a tower to distract Maleficent so she (Ingrith) could escape.
Role in the film[]
Following Aurora's coronation as Queen of the Moors, Ingrith begins spreading the false story of Maleficent's role with the princess, reputing her as a villain, and instilling her people with fear of magical beings. She secretly conspires against her husband, King John, by replicating the sleeping curse, through the magical spinning wheel which she acquires. Once her son announces his engagement, Ingrith hosts a banquet, which is attended by her future daughter-in-law, Aurora, Diaval and Maleficent. As tension rises between the two mothers, Maleficent loses her temper, which Ingrith uses to her advantage, cursing the King to sleep while distracted, and blaming Maleficent, turning Aurora and Phillip against her, further turning the dark fairy against humans, in a larger bid to destroy all magical beings.
After Ingrith's advisor Gerda failed to kill Maleficent by shooting her in the sky, she informs the queen of what happened and that Maleficent was rescued by another Dark Fey, who was named Conall. To further her plan, Ingrith has another minion of hers, Lickspittle, who creates red iron dust made from Toom Bloom flowers (which the people from the Moors use to bury their dead), which will kill all magical beings who come in contact with it. She continues trying to convince Aurora that Maleficent is a threat, in addition to pressuring her into fitting into her new role as the future queen of Ulstead, such as telling her there's more to being queen than walking around barefoot with flowers in your hair.
However, once Aurora finds her way into Ingrith's secret chambers after Phillip gives her a Tomb Bloom flower and discovers the spinning wheel, she finally discovers via her connection with it that Ingrith was the one who cursed John, not Maleficent, and makes Lickspittle see the error of his ways, reminding him Ingrith cut off his wings. Unfortunately, Ingrith herself confronts her and reveals the reason why she hates magical creatures: she believes her brother was killed by a magical creature, which caused her father, who wanted peace between magical people and humans, to be overthrown by his own people, something that led Ingrith to be exiled. Afterwards, she married King John of Ulstead, another weak king who wants peace, and now her own son has such delusions too. She then has Aurora locked up.
Beginning her genocidal plan, she has Gerda gather the people of the Moors inside a chapel, where Aurora and Phillip's wedding will supposedly be held, only for them to be locked up and Gerda to blast red iron dust into them via an organ, which starts killing them. However, they are eventually rescued by Aurora, Diaval, and Flittle, with Knotgrass and Thistlewit making Gerda fall to her presumed death after Flittle’s sudden death. As for Ingrith herself, she and her men attack fairies charging towards Ulstead with red iron dust as well. Phillip confronts Ingrith, explaining to his own mother she's committing a massacre, and asking her if she was protecting John as well if she claims to be protecting Ulstead. Ingrith tells Phillip he's a fool for believing peace can be achieved and tries to have him sent to his room, only for Phillip to escape. Maleficent arrives to kill Ingrith, but Aurora manages to appeal to her, leading to Maleficent ultimately sacrificing herself to save Aurora from Ingrith's arrow.
Emerging victorious, Ingrith tells a heartbroken and enraged Aurora that she will pay for being a traitor to her kind and triumphantly informs her people that Maleficent is dead and they will no longer have to live in fear. Aurora charges towards Ingrith, but Ingrith's men stop her. Suddenly, the black ashes that used to be Maleficent rise and take on Maleficent's form, but as a phoenix, much to Aurora's joy and Ingrith's horror. Terrified, Ingrith pushes Aurora off the tower, creating a diversion for Maleficent, who saves Aurora while Ingrith escapes. Unfortunately for Ingrith, her plan of escape is thwarted by Borra, who promptly throws Ingrith off a balcony, where she is repeatedly caught by vines before finally falling to the ground. Defeated and humiliated, Ingrith continues to proclaim they cannot live with the magical creatures, but is cut off when Maleficent transforms her into a goat.
As the transformed Ingrith walks nearby Aurora and Phillip's wedding, the latter recognizes her due to her wearing his mother's jewelery. Diaval confirms this assures that Maleficent can perhaps turn Ingrith back, but John (now awake due to the spindle being destroyed) reminds them that it's only if they want Maleficent to. This further implies that John wants Ingrith to remain as a goat as punishment for her crimes until she learns the error of her ways.
Trivia[]
- There is no mention of Prince Phillip's mother in the original animated film.
- However, a version of her exists in the Sleeping Beauty story of the Disney Princess Annual 2010, where she is portrayed like King Hubert, as fat and jolly.
- In one of the original Sleeping Beauty fairy tale versions, the prince's mother (whom Queen Ingrith is based on), is a villainous ogre, who wanted to eat the princess and her children.
- The false story of Maleficent she spreads throughout her kingdom are the events of Sleeping Beauty.
- Queen Ingrith was also loosely based on Christopher Columbus.
- Queen Ingrith’s costumes were designed with white and silver colors to directly contrast the dark aesthetic of Maleficent’s clothes.
- Queen Ingrith's final costume resembles an armor.
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Photography[]
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