- "You claim to be radiant, but all I see are shadows of jealousy, hanging thick on your heart."
- —Terra to the Queen.
The Queen, also known as The Old Peddler Woman and The Witch, is a character in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. She appears in her homeworld of Dwarf Woodlands as an antagonist, taking on both her Queen and Hag forms. She is the stepmother of Snow White. In Disney canon, she is named Queen Grimhilde. The Queen's first appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series was actually in Kingdom Hearts, a picture of her hag form appearing on Snow White's stain-glass podium in the Dive to the Heart.
Journal Entry
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
- The Queen
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
A vain woman who is convinced she is the fairest of all. When the Spirit of the Magic Mirror revealed Snow White to be fairer, the Queen decided to take the maiden's life.
- Old Peddler Woman
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
A mysterious old woman who dropped an apple. She claimed Terra threatened her with the Keyblade to find out about Master Xehanort--a troubling thought for Ventus.
- The Witch
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
A form the Queen assumed by drinking a potion. Jealous of Snow White's beauty, she wished to decieve the maiden into eating a poisonous apple. She succeeded in putting Snow White into a deep sleep, but the dwarfs chased her down, and she was never seen again.
Story
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
In Terra's scenario, the Queen asks him to bring her Snow White's heart, and would allow Terra to ask her Magic Mirror about Master Xehanort's whereabouts in return. Terra fails in this endeavor, causing her darkness to grow in her anger. She takes control of her mirror to fight Terra, who wins the battle. The Queen reluctantly allows Terra to use her mirror and begins plotting how to kill Snow White once Terra leaves.
In Ventus's scenario, she appears under the disguise of an old hag and prepares to carry the poisoned apple to Snow White, but drops it on her way. Ventus, unaware of her motives, politely gives the apple back. She also tells Ventus how deep Terra is dabbling into darkness.
Some time between Ventus and Aqua's scenarios, the Queen succeeds in having Snow White eat the poisoned apple. She is then only briefly mentioned in Aqua's storyline by the Seven Dwarfs, who tell Aqua they chased away the Queen following her foul deeds. The Magic Mirror later tells Aqua that the Queen is dead and he is no longer under her control.
Appearance
The Queen is a pale-skinned woman with blue eyes, red lipstick, and seemingly penciled-on eyebrows. She wears a gold crown with five spikes on the front and a jewel on the tip of the middle and tallest spike. She also wears what seems to be a black balaclava that covers her ears, neck, and hair and only leaves her face exposed. She wears a close-fitting, han blue dress with enormous hanging sleeves with white cuffs. The Queen's dress has a high collar that is white on the inside and she wears a red cape, much like Snow White and The Prince. She also wears a gold pendant around her neck with a ruby set in it, as well as a long, rope belt tied around her waist.
In her hag form, the Queen dons a black, hooded robe that retains the hanging sleeves of her dress. Her physical appearance changes from that of a youthful queen to that of an ugly, old witch with long, tangled white hair. She has thick, black eyebrows, green eyes, and dark rings around her eyes. Her nose becomes long and crooked and gains a large wart and she only has one visible tooth on her bottom jaw. Her hands are gnarled and have pointed, dirty fingernails. In this form, the Queen is also often seen with a basket filled with poison apples. She also seems to wear grey slippers.
Personality
The Queen, personality-wise, shares many traits with Maleficent. Like Maleficent, she is depicted as a vain and jealous individual. She is quite cruel, willing to kill Snow White out of her own jealousy, and shows no kindness to anyone, including her own servants. She also has zero tolerance to failure, punishing anyone who defies or fails her, an example of this is when she turns the Magic Mirror into an Unversed when he refused to attack Terra.
Abilities
The Queen is known to be an evil witch, which makes her magical in the dark arts. She has control over the Magic Mirror and can make it act according to her bidding.
In the Disney film, she is shown to be able brew potions and casts a spell to activate the potion that would turn her into an old hag.
Origin
The Queen made her debut in Disney's first ever animated film; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Stepmother of Snow White, she longed to kill the girl out of jealousy of her beauty. Consulting her Magic Mirror, she hired a huntsman to do the job. The man let Snow White escape, however, much to the Queen's displeasure.
She eventually found the girl in a cottage owned by the Seven Dwarfs, and transformed herself into an old hag; her intention was to look like a kindly grandmother, yet this was not the case. She convinced Snow White to bite from a poisoned apple that would kill her unless she received Love's First Kiss. The Dwarfs went after the Queen, however, and sent the villain toppling off a cliff when one of her own schemes backfired.
Quotes
- "Spirit of the Mirror-come from the farthest space. Through wind and darkness I summon thee... Speak! Show me thy face."
- "Magic Mirror on the wall-who is the fairest one of all?"
- "Wait. Ah, yes...I have a task for you. If you succeed, I will ask the mirror where you might find this Master Xehanort."
- "There is a young maid who resides in this castle. Her name is Snow White. Kill her. And to make sure you do not fail, bring back her heart in this."
- "What I demand is her life. I have had more than enough of her light."
- "That is no concern of yours. Now, heed my words. My radiance is all the light this kingdom needs."
- "You will pay for such insolence! Magic Mirror on the wall, consume this fool, once and for all!"
- "You dare defy your Queen?"
- "Magic Mirror, instruct this knave! Give him the answers he doth crave."
Gallery
- 1396witch.jpg
The Queen's Hag Form
- Queen and Terra.JPG
The Queen in her true form, conversing with Terra.
- Ven&theQueen.jpg
Ven handing the Hag the poisoned apple.
- Awakening Snow White.jpg
A picture of the Snow White's podium from the Awakening. (The Queen can be seen on the bottom in her hag form).
Trivia
- In the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, the Queen uses her own darkness to control the Magic Mirror and force it to battle Terra. In the English version, however, she simply smashes a potion on the Mirror to make it obey.
- In the English version of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, the Queen is voiced by Susanne Blakeslee, who also voiced Maleficent, Flora, and Lady Tremaine in the same game.
- Her iconic scene with the Magic Mirror is near-faithfully recreated in the English version, save for changing her term to refer to the mirror from the original film's "slave" to "spirit".