When we watch a Disney movie, we root for the heroes and we ooh and aah over the animation, but we keep a special place in our hearts reserved for the bad guys. And no Disney villain is complete without a song to sing about how awesome they are while they bring the heroes under their mercy! Here are my top twelve Disney villain songs. But let’s keep them between us, okay? If any villain asks you, tell them I said that their song was my favorite. That’s one class of character you do not want to make angry…

12. “Shiny” (Moana)

This movie’s still new enough that I’d like to avoid spoilers if I can, but when Moana and Maui confront the giant crab Tamatoa, he launches into a song about how they’ll never beat him because…he’s “too shiny.” I spent more time laughing during this scene than any other in the movie. How can I take a villain who says he “sparkles like a wealthy woman’s neck” seriously? Still, it’s a catchy tune, so on the list it goes.

11. “Gaston” (Beauty and the Beast)

We’re gonna see a lot of ego on this list, given the tropes involved, but going straight from “I’m too shiny” Tamatoa to “no man in town half as manly, perfect, a pure paragon” Gaston makes me want to start laughing again. My nostalgia for this movie, coupled with this song’s valuable illustration of society-endorsed toxic masculinity, pulls Gaston’s tune up a level from Tamatoa’s, but for me it falls behind another song in which a group of lackeys over-praise their villainous boss…

10. “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” (The Great Mouse Detective)

Professor Ratigan is a less well-known Disney villain, but he stands out as one of the scariest figures of my childhood. On the surface he oozes class and poise—but in the middle of listing his past crimes and plotting a new one, a slip of the tongue from one of his lackeys gives us a glimpse at the monster he truly is. How could I not include him on this list? “To Ratigan, to Ratigan, the world’s greatest criminal mind!”

9. “Friends on the Other Side” (The Princess and the Frog)

This villain song is the first one on the list to spend more time furthering the plot than telling us about the villain; Dr. Facilier is one who would rather keep his true motives a secret than brag. What makes “Friends on the Other Side” stand out to me, aside from its undeniable catchiness, are the visuals. Keep an eye on Facilier’s shadow—it might take a few watches for you to catch all of its tricks. And when Prince Naveen takes Facilier’s office, everything gets downright bizarre!

8. “Prince Ali (Reprise)” (Aladdin)

Jafar doesn’t get a full song of his own. Instead, he makes like a true bad guy and steals one from the hero, taking the previously-happy “Prince Ali” and adapting it into a mocking reprise. Messing with the hero’s songs is a brilliant storytelling tactic to convey just how much things have gone wrong. “So long, ex-Prince Ali!”

7. “Mother Knows Best” (Tangled)

Mother Gothel is one of Disney’s more insidious villains, because she masks her evilness with the claim that she cares about her victims. When Rapunzel asks permission to leave her tower, Gothel lists off all the imagined horrors that await outside the tower and delivers a stream of insults to Rapunzel regarding her capability and looks, capping it all off with the excuse, “I'm just saying 'cause I love you.” It makes me shudder every time. And somehow the song is still catchy…

6. “Trust In Me” (The Jungle Book)

Forgive me for giving more weight to nostalgia again. Kaa and Gothel both lure in their victims by claiming that they care, understand, and will never hurt you. But Kaa’s a snake. He wants you to trust him so that he can eat you. “You can sleep, safe and sound, knowing I am around…” And just like that, I’m too creeped out to feel like sleeping anymore!

(It really doesn’t help that he sounds just like Winnie the Pooh. Seriously. They’re both voiced by Jim Cummings.)

5. “Cruella De Vil” (One Hundred and One Dalmatians)

Cruella is that rare Disney villain who doesn’t sing at all, but I still count this as her Disney villain song. It’s all about her, after all! This was one of my favorite tracks on the Disney mixtape I grew up listening to. There’s just something really fun about this song. Maybe it’s the rhymes. “She's like a spider waiting for the kill; look out for Cruella De Vil!”

4. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (The Little Mermaid)

“Those poor unfortunate souls, so sad, so true…” It’s nigh-impossible for me to hear “Disney villain” and not have Ursula pop into my head. She is the witch. Pat Carroll’s performance is flawless. And this song’s been stuck in my head longer than any of the others while I’ve been working on this list, so near the top it goes!

3. “Be Prepared” (The Lion King)

I admit I tossed this one and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” back and forth for quite a while, not sure which to put above the other. But in the end the months I spent working at the Festival of the Lion King pulled me back towards Scar. Also, this song is why I smile whenever I see a certain yellow diamond-shaped sign on the highway: “Be prepared!”

2. “Hellfire” (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

In an interesting twist, my top two Disney villain songs aren’t based on nostalgia at all. I didn’t see The Hunchback of Notre Dame until I was a senior in high school. But “Hellfire” is a show-stopper if I ever heard one. “It’s not my fault if in God’s plan he made the devil so much stronger than a man!” It keeps me listening even as I hate what Frollo is saying. It’s probably the choir backing him up. This movie has a gorgeous score!

1. “Oogie Boogie’s Song” (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

For number one, I gotta go with the one that sets my feet a-tapping every time I hear it, the song sung by the biggest, baddest bag of bugs around! Oogie Boogie’s more a cult hit than a classic villain, but for me he has the best rhythm. And some of the best lines. “It's much more fun, I must confess, when lives are on the line – Not mine, of course, but yours, old boy – Now that'd be just fine!”

Besides, if there’s one villain on this list I really don’t want hunting me down for not calling them my favorite, it’s the literal swarm of insects who decided torturing Santa Claus sounded like a good way to spend an evening.