In the 1959 Disney animated film *Sleeping Beauty*, there is only one primary character who definitively dies on screen, though several others meet significant fates.
### 1. Maleficent (The Mistress of All Evil)
Maleficent is the only major character to die in the film. Her death occurs during the climax in a dramatic battle at the gates of King Stefan’s castle.
* **How she dies:** After Prince Phillip escapes her dungeon, Maleficent transforms into a massive, fire-breathing dragon to block his path. As Phillip struggles to defeat her, the Three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) enchant his **Sword of Truth** with their magic.
* **Specific Detail:** Phillip throws the sword directly into the dragon’s heart. Maleficent let out a final, agonizing scream and fell forward off a high cliff. When she hit the ground, her body vanished in a burst of green flame and smoke, leaving behind only her tattered black-and-purple cloak with the sword still pinned through it.
### 2. Diablo (Maleficent’s Raven)
While his fate is magical in nature, Maleficent's loyal pet raven, Diablo, meets a permanent end on screen.
* **How he meets his end:** During Prince Phillip’s escape from the Forbidden Mountain, Diablo attempts to fly away to warn Maleficent. He is pursued by **Merryweather**, who is smaller and faster.
* **Specific Detail:** Merryweather uses her magic wand to strike the bird, instantly turning him into a **solid stone statue**. He remains a lifeless stone figure perched on a balcony for the remainder of the film, effectively "dead" in the context of the story's resolution.
### 3. Notable "Near" Deaths and Fates
* **Princess Aurora:** Though Maleficent’s original curse was for Aurora to **die** on her 16th birthday, Merryweather’s intervention softened the curse to a "death-like sleep" that could only be broken by True Love's Kiss. While she is presented as "dead" to the kingdom (with the fairies even putting the entire castle into a slumber to hide the tragedy), she is ultimately revived.
* **Maleficent’s Goons:** During the escape from the Forbidden Mountain, Phillip and the fairies fight through Maleficent's army of goblin-like goons. However, the fairies primarily use "soft" magic to neutralize them—for instance, turning their arrows into flowers and their boiling oil into rainbow-colored bubbles. No goons are explicitly shown dying.
* **King Stefan and Queen Leah:** In the 1959 original, Aurora’s parents both survive the film and are happily reunited with their daughter at the end. (Note: In the 2014 live-action *Maleficent* reimagining, Queen Leah dies off-screen, but this does not happen in the 1959 classic.)