Queen Ravenna

Ravenna, also known as The Evil Queen, is the primary antagonist of Snow White and the Huntsman and The Huntsman: Winter's War.

Ravenna is the cruel and misunderstood ruler of the kingdom of Tabor as well as a dangerously powerful sorceress. She is the older sister of Finn and Freya and is also the widow of King Magnus, and the stepmother of Princess Snow White. Because of her extreme beauty, Ravenna was regarded as being the "Fairest of Them All". However, when she learned that, since coming of age, Snow White had now surpassed her as the "fairest", Ravenna becomes determined to kill her stepdaughter and consume her heart, which would not only grant her eternal youth and evergreen beauty, but would also maintain her powers forever. After being defeated by Snow White and resurrected by Freya via her mirror, Ravenna plots revenge against those who brought about her demise, with her sister's help, only to be defeated once more by Eric the Huntsman, with Freya's assistance upon learning she killed her infant daughter.

Early Life Ravenna was born to an unknown sorceress and lived with her mother and her siblings, Finn and Freya, in a small village. It is unclear exactly when Ravenna was born; she is implied to be far older than she looks due to her magical powers and her comment about having "lived many lives" suggests she could be over a hundred years old. Even as a child, Ravenna was noted to be of extraordinary physical beauty, to the extent where her mother viewed her as "the fairest of them all".

When she was still quite young, Ravenna's village was attacked by the King of that land. Believing that her oldest daughter's beauty was the only thing that could save her - and by possible extension, her younger siblings as well - from this assault, the sorceress placed a spell on Ravenna that would make her young and beautiful forever. However, she also warned Ravenna that the spell could be undone by one of "fairest blood". Immediately after, Ravenna, Finn and, presumably, Freya, were captured by the king's men and taken away. Though it was neither confirmed nor specifically stated, it was heavily implied that their mother was later killed by this assault, as Ravenna comments to Snow White that her mother died when she was younger.

It was never revealed as to what truly happened to Ravenna and her siblings after they were forcefully separated from their mother, but it was possible that the king who attacked their village had later sexually assaulted Ravenna, given how she once mentioned that she was "ruined by a king". It was also implied that the three siblings had a difficult upbringing, living in extreme poverty and eating scraps.

Rise to Power At some point in her life, presumably in her twenties, Ravenna discovered that she had inherited her mother's magical powers, and subsequently became a potent sorceress. She manipulated the spell that her mother had cast on her to grant her two formidable abilities that would become her primary means of offence and defense: the first was the ability of youth-absorption, which enabled her to maintain her own youthful beauty by draining the life-force of other beautiful females. The second was unnatural resilience, which made her impervious to most weapons and even the element of fire. She obtained the Magic Mirror, which replied to any question asked with nothing less than the total and absolute truth, and therefore was an invaluable ally to her in her plots.

As the years passed, Ravenna's strength and magical power grew, but so did her hate and bitterness towards the world for what had happened to her, and eventually, she sought vengeance in her own unique way. She would seduce and marry a king, then murder him at the moment when he least suspected anything was amiss, then steal his kingdom. Guided by the Mirror and armed with her magical abilities, Ravenna was practically invincible over the years. None were able to oppose her and numerous kingdoms fell, one after another, to her unnatural beauty and devious schemes.

In the midst of her conquest of kingdoms, Ravenna's younger sister, Freya, served as her constant faithful companion, and the two were shown to share a warm and loving familial relationship. However, Freya appeared to possess no magical powers of her own, and had given up all hopes of the matter despite Ravenna's assurance that she would, one day, come into her own as a powerful sorceress like her.

Betrayal of Freya During one of her tyrannies, Ravenna found out that Freya had a secret love affair with a nobleman of her court: the Duke of Blackwood. In fact, the affair had resulted in Freya becoming pregnant. However, she flatly told Freya that the Duke had already been engaged to another - an engagement that even she could not break, and she believed that the Duke would deny her sister and the child that her sister was carrying. The two sisters got into a silent, yet short-lived argument over the matter, with Freya concluding that Ravenna might end up being surprised by the outcome, for it was impossible for her to know everything. As Freya left her sister's presence, Ravenna ominously refuted Freya's last comment, stating that she indeed knew all, and turned to look at the Mirror.

A few weeks after her niece (Freya's daughter) was born, Ravenna learned from the Mirror that her niece was destined to grow to be more beautiful than she was, but if any harm should befall her niece, Freya would unleash a power unlike any the world has ever seen. The first part of the Mirror's prophetic warning grieved and frightened Ravenna, due to her mother's previous warning that the spell of everlasting youth and evergreen beauty - in other words, her very own powers - could be broken by someone who was more beautiful than she was. In tears, Ravenna begged the Mirror for mercy, to which the Mirror replied that it was only a mere reflection, and that she must make her own choices, and it knew that she already had - from Ravenna's perspective, her niece had to die in order for her to live.

One day, Ravenna forged a love letter from the Duke, and had it sent to Freya, ensuring that her sister would be lured away from the child on that very night. When night fell, Ravenna cloaked herself thoroughly so she could not be recognized by anyone, slipped into the Duke's room, and proceeded to cast a mind-control spell on him, after which she handed him a flaming torch and ordered him to kill the child. As the Mirror had foretold, the child's death led to the awakening of her sister's long-dormant powers of ice magic, the strength of which caused even Ravenna to gasp. Freya, believing the Duke had murdered their child to cover up their affair, killed him. Consumed by the grief and rage of her loss, Freya left Ravenna to seek a kingdom of her own, leaving Ravenna alone, until she was later joined by her brother Finn.

Becoming the Evil Queen Ravenna eventually plotted to take over the kingdom of Tabor. She began by conjuring an army of Dark Fay to invade Tabor, thus luring its recently widowed king, Magnus, to her. Ravenna pretended to be a prisoner of war captured by the army and seduced King Magnus. Missing his wife and enchanted by Ravenna's beauty, Magnus fell under her spell and brought her back to his castle, where he soon married her.

On their wedding night, however, Ravenna poisoned Magnus, then stabbed him with a dagger to finish him off. She then opened the castle gate for her brother, who was waiting outside with a human army (presumably, Ravenna had gathered human followers over the years - the army may also have come from lands Ravenna had previously conquered). Ravenna had almost everyone in the castle killed and established herself as Tabor's new queen overnight. The only ones to survive were those who escaped with Duke Hammond, and Ravenna's stepdaughter, Snow White. For unknown reasons, Ravenna chose to spare the princess - stating that "One never knows when royal blood can be of use" - and kept her locked in the castle tower - a decision that ultimately lead to her downfall.

The Fairest of Them All Ravenna ruled over Tabor through tyranny and violence for ten years. However, on the day of her stepdaughter's eighteenth birthday, Ravenna learned from the magic mirror that Snow White was now regarded as being the 'Fairest of Them All'. This inspired both anger and great fear in Ravenna, who remembered her mother's warning that "by fairest blood" the spell that maintained her power and immortality could be broken. When the Mirror informed Ravenna that if she killed the fairest, then she would be all-powerful, Ravenna ordered Finn to bring Snow White to her, so as to kill her and obtain true immortality. Unfortunately for Ravenna, Snow White managed to escape and fled to the Forbidden Forest, much to Ravenna's rage. Ravenna ordered Finn to find her someone who could navigate the Forest and track Snow White down. Finn brought her Eric the Huntsman. Ravenna forced him into serving her, as she had done with so many men over the years, by promising him something - she would bring his dead wife back to life.

Of course, Ravenna had no such powers and was merely using him to get to her stepdaughter so she could kill her and complete the ritual. However, Eric betrayed Ravenna and decided to help Snow White when he learned this. Ravenna sent Finn and her strongest troops to track down the Princess. Although they succeeded in this, they were unable to capture Snow White, and the soldiers and Finn were all killed, much to Ravenna's anger and grief. Ravenna decided to deal with Snow White personally, despite being greatly weakened, disguising herself as William to trick her stepdaughter into eating a poisoned apple. With Snow White incapacitated, Ravenna reveals herself and draws a dagger. She mocks Snow White, before stating she's lucky that she will never have to know "what it is to grow old" before preparing to kill her and cut out her heart. Just in time, however, Eric and the real William arrive and disrupt the murder attempt, forcing Ravenna to turn herself into a flock of ravens and flee back to castle, now weaker than ever. She drains the life-force of dozens of girls and women to restore her youth and strength.

Downfall and Death When Snow White and Duke Hammond's forces attacked the castle, Ravenna remained in her private rooms with the mirror, waiting for her stepdaughter. When Snow White arrived with her companions, Ravenna conjured Dark Fay to distract them, leaving Snow White to face her alone. Ravenna quickly gained the upper hand with her great strength, taunting Snow White about the death of her father and the fate of her kingdom. However, Ravenna underestimated Snow White, who was able to fatally stab Ravenna with a knife. A dying Ravenna scrambled away from Snow White towards her mirror (perhaps hoping it could save her), rapidly aging to her true age. Snow White watched her sadly, telling her "You can't have my heart." Ravenna succumbed to her wounds soon after, finally ending her tyrannical reign over Tabor. However, unbeknownst to Snow White and her allies, in spite of Ravenna's physical death she was able to encase her spirit in the Magic Mirror, waiting for someone to liberate her.

Ravenna was shown throughout the two films (Snow White & The Huntsman and The Huntsman: Winter's War) to be cruel, arrogant, power-hungry, and extremely vain. She is obsessed with maintaining her beauty and immortality, and would go to any lengths to achieve her goals.

Despite her great age, some of Ravenna's personality traits - such as her extreme emotional outbursts and overreactions to bad news - are rather childish in nature, implying a severely stunted emotional growth. She is also a consummate seductress, knowing well how to use her beauty, her body, and her innate cunning to intrigue and manipulate men - especially kings - to her best advantage. Ravenna seems to genuinely believe that rebellion must be suppressed through violence and fear, and that she is actually a more benevolent ruler than other Kings (such as the one who ruined her own life). In fact, she also seemed to believe that she was doing Snow White a mercy by killing her while she was young, so that she will never have to experience growing old. All of this implies that she is extremely delusional.

One notable trait of Ravenna would be her anger issues: she does not forgive failure easily, even if the one who had committed the mistakes was her very own brother, and her rage at Snow White's continued successful evasion of her attempts to kill her leads her to become increasingly deranged and paranoid as the film progresses. Her arrogance is also evident in her underestimation of Snow White, for she believes that it is impossible for someone like Snow White to defeat her - an unshakeable belief that ultimately leads to her death. Another eminent trait in Ravenna would be her extreme misandry: she has a pathological hatred for the opposite sex (men), believing that they are vermin, and that they only see women as either sexual conquests or toys to be manipulated at their will. The only man that appears to be exempt from her misandry is her brother, and even then, she was shown to treat him poorly on numerous occasions. She is also shown to despise weakness, clearly demonstrated by the lengths she goes to in attempt to make her sister Freya "strong" and views things such as mercy and compassion as symptoms of weakness and thus of little value to her.

Despite her cold and cruel nature, Ravenna does appear to be capable of love and affection to some extent. She demonstrated an unexpected vulnerable side to her when she recalled how she and her siblings had been forcefully separated from their mother by the King who later "ruined" her - a recollection that actually reduced her to tears. She had a genuine love for her siblings, particularly Freya, who served as her constant companion as she conquered kingdom after kingdom with her beauty and magic. In fact, Freya once commented that chess was a pointless game to them since Ravenna always let her win, and Ravenna actually conceded with a warm sincere smile that Freya was her one soft spot. She was also shown to assure Freya - who had given up all hopes of acquiring magical powers - that she would become a powerful sorceress like her one day. While this could be viewed as Ravenna playing favorites with her siblings, given how she was never shown to favor Finn as dearly as she did Freya, it also testifies that, for all her numerous flaws, Ravenna could be genuinely affectionate and warm to those of her immediate family circle.

However, this degree of love and affection does not extend to her forgoing what she viewed to be her own best interests. Though she did appear to be hesitant and almost truly reluctant to harm her infant niece (whom the Mirror foretold would grow to be more beautiful than her one day), and she knew beforehand how grief-stricken Freya would be should any harm befall the child, Ravenna ultimately had no qualms with killing the child, and even framed the Duke of Blackwood (Freya's lover and the father of the child) for the murder. The second instance would be when Finn died: though Ravenna was devastated by this, it must be noted that she chose to sacrifice him to save herself, emphasizing the fact that even when it came to the immediate family members whom she loved, she would always put herself first.

In spite of all this, Ravenna was also shown to be more than a mere villainess, and was actually an intensely complex character for an antagonist: in Snow White & The Huntsman, Ravenna once confessed that Snow White was the only one pure enough to "save her", which implies that, in her heart of hearts, Ravenna knew all along that what she was doing was wrong, but was also powerless to stop herself. Likewise, in The Huntsman: Winter's War, Ravenna declared that she actually envied Freya for the love she once had and the child she had borne - all these things Ravenna had secretly desired, and her certainty of the impossibility of her ever acquiring them for herself had thoroughly broken her.

Because of this, Ravenna can be viewed as a victim of tragic circumstances, who suffers from extreme psychological damage, due to the trauma of her early years. Many of her traits can be traced back to the trauma she suffered, a desire both for vengeance upon the world and to never be weak and defenseless again, whatever the cost. Ravenna's misandry could also be attributed to the king who had not only forcefully separated her and her siblings from their mother, but also proceeded to "ruin" her. It is a plausible theory that this "ruination" was what caused Ravenna to lose her faith at being able to find a man who would truly love her for what she was and give her a child of her own, and made her believe that men view women as only sexual conquests or objects they could toy at will.

It can therefore be said that, though Ravenna did terrible things, terrible things had been done to her as well, and those slight glints of positive human feelings like familial love and warmth demonstrated by her seem to testify to her still being a sympathetic character, though her own choices confirm her role as an antagonist.

Ravenna is depicted as being an extremely beautiful woman, with long, wavy, pale gold hair, fair skin and pale blue-grey eyes. She often appears to be in her 20's/early 30's, but is actually implied to be far older - if she uses her powers excessively or does not consume the life force of others, she starts to age, gaining wrinkles and grey hair.

Ravenna often wears elaborate, dark-colored gowns and a lot of jewelry, appearing to favor a black and silver color scheme. Her clothes often have a metallic-like appearance, make her appear taller and more intimidating and finely detailed with a great deal of ornamentation. She also wears a cloak with black feathers and a collar resembling a bird's wings. Ravenna is rarely seen without her crown, which resembles spikes and is black gold in color, inlaid with purple gemstones. She often wears dark eyeliner and also frequently wears a ring resembling a claw on her right hand. After being resurrected, Ravenna's appearance remains much the same - however, her color scheme seems to be gold and black, perhaps reflecting the fact she is now an entity of the Magic Mirror, which is golden in color. She notably wears a long cloak resembling golden feathers with black tips.