Lady Tremaine

Lady Tremaine (also known as the Wicked Stepmother) She was voiced by the late Eleanor Audley in the first animation, and Susan Blakeslee in the second film and third. She was also portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the 2015 live-action film.

Summary
Lady Tremaine is the main antagonist of the franchise. She is based on the original character from the Cinderella fairy tale created by Charles Perrault. Animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, in their book The Disney Villain, describe animating Audley's voice as "a difficult assignment but a thrilling one, working to that voice track with so much innuendo mixed in with the fierce power." In contrast to the broad treatment given to some of the other characters, Lady Tremaine was animated in malevolent and subtle realism.

She is introduced in the prologue of the film. Cinderella's father, a widower, anxious for his daughter to have a mother figure, married Lady Tremaine, who is described as "a woman of good family". She was a widow herself, with two daughters from her first marriage. After years of living happily together as a family, Cinderella's father tragically died and Lady Tremaine showed her true colors: cold, cruel, and sadistic: pampering her own selfishly spoiled daughters, while forcing Cinderella to become a maid in her own home, causing the stately chateau to fall into disrepair. Lady Tremaine allows Cinderella to attend the Royal Ball, on the condition that Cinderella finishes all her chores and finds a suitable dress. When Cinderella finishes her work and appears ready for the Ball in a suitable dress, Lady Tremaine (indirectly, but intentionally) mildly mentions the beads and sash that Jaq and Gus stole from Anastasia and Drizella, provoking her daughters to cruelly tear apart Cinderella's dress, leaving her unable to attend the ball. When Cinderella, with the help of a Fairy Godmother, nevertheless attends the ball, her stepfamily does not recognize her, but Lady Tremaine notes a familiarity about her appearance as she dances with Prince Charming.

News promptly arrives by way of a Royal Proclamation that the Prince will marry the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper accidentally left behind by Cinderella at the Ball. Lady Tremaine, correctly guessing the identity of the mysterious girl at the Ball, slyly follows Cinderella up to the attic and locks her in her room, putting the key in her pocket. However, two of Cinderella's mice friends, Gus and Jaq, steal the key from Lady Tremaine's pocket (after Lady Tremaine almost boils Gus in a teacup) and succeed in returning the key to Cinderella, who rushes downstairs to the Grand Duke just as he and the footman are about to leave. Lady Tremaine attempts to convince the Duke that Cinderella is merely a lowly scullery maid who did not even attend the ball. But the Duke, who is required by the King's Royal Proclamation not to skip one single maiden in the kingdom on his quest for the mysterious girl the Prince danced with, solemnly rebuffs Lady Tremaine. The Duke also finds Cinderella strikingly familiar to him. He proceeds to try the glass slipper on Cinderella. Lady Tremaine then deploys one last trick up her sleeve, tripping up the footman bearing the glass slipper, causing it to smash. She deviously grins with wicked satisfaction as the Duke wails in despair and fear of the King's reaction when he finds out that the slipper was destroyed. But Cinderella still manages to come out on top by revealing that she has the other slipper and that it fits her foot, proving that she is the girl who danced with Prince Charming, to her stepmother's appalled horror.

She made her second appearance in the direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, this time voiced by Susanne Blakeslee. In this film, she only appeared in the An Uncommon Romance segment, where Anastasia has to go against her mother for the first time. A likable, slightly plump humble baker falls in love with Anastasia, as does she with him. Lady Tremaine and Drizella do everything they can to thwart this romance, but Cinderella encourages Anastasia to follow her own heart (which she does).

Her latest appearance was in the second direct-to-video Cinderella sequel, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (again, voiced by Blakeslee), wherein she resumes her role as the pivotal antagonist. This time, she acquires the Fairy Godmother's magic wand after Anastasia finds it. Lady Tremaine, strangely still bent on ruining Cinderella's life (in what she believes to be revenge) then uses the wand to reverse time to undo Cinderella's "happily ever after"; she manipulates the glass slipper to fit Anastasia so that Cinderella never gets to try on the slipper herself, then she brainwashes the Prince into forgetting Cinderella and marrying Anastasia. When Cinderella tries to set things right, Lady Tremaine thwarts her efforts, aided by the magic wand. Ultimately, Anastasia is her mother's undoing; feeling guilty about marrying someone she does not love, and who does not love her, she rejects the Prince at the altar. Furious, Lady Tremaine tries to turn Cinderella and Anastasia into toads, but the Prince defends the two from the spell and reflects it with his sword, turning Lady Tremaine and Drizella into toads. Anastasia then gives the magic wand to Cinderella so that she can undo all the wrongs that had been committed. During the end credits, Lady Tremaine and Drizella have been restored, but are wearing scullery clothes identical to those Cinderella used to wear, implying that they will be working in the palace as servants as their punishment.

Aside from the films, Lady Tremaine has also made various appearances on the Disney Channel series House of Mouse; she frequently shares a table with another famous wicked stepmother, the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Again, in these appearances, she is voiced by Susan Blakeslee. She also makes an appearance in the Who Framed Roger Rabbit Special Edition DVD in one of the menus.

She appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, along with Anastasia and Drizella. In the game, she plays out the same role as in the film, only this time, the extreme darkness in her heart creates two Unversed, fuelled by her jealousy of Cinderella. Aqua makes note of this as she passes Lady Tremaine, and later goes to the Tremaine's' chateau to kill her before her darkness harms anyone, but the Fairy Godmother stops her, advising her that Light and Darkness must coexist. After the slipper fits Cinderella, Lady Tremaine gives into her fury once again and her negativity transforms into a giant Unversed, known as the Cursed Coach (the first boss in Aqua's story). When Aqua jumps in and rescues Cinderella, the Cursed Coach accidentally drops a firebomb in front of Lady Tremaine and her daughters, which explodes and burns them to death.