An elderly narrator tells the story of Maleficent, a powerful fairy living in the Moors, a magical realm bordering a human kingdom. As a young girl, she meets a human peasant boy wandering the Moors, named Stefan. The two befriend one another, and after spending the day together, Stefan expresses his wish that he would one day live in a castle. Their relationship blooms into what Stefan calls "true love". As they grow older, Stefan stops seeing Maleficent, leaving her to grow into the role of protector of the Moors. One day, the human king tries to conquer the Moors, having promised to do so when he came to the throne, but is thwarted by a mature Maleficent, forcing him to retreat. The king, fatally wounded in the battle, declares that whoever slayed Maleficent would be named his successor. An older Stefan hears this while attending to the king, then goes to see Maleficent in the Moors, lying that he has come to warn her of the king's plot. Stefan drugs Maleficent and attempts to kill her, but cannot bring himself to do it, so he instead cuts off her wings with iron, a material which burns fairies, and presents them to the king as proof of her death. Maleficent awakens to find herself wingless, and laments. Crippled, she fashions a walking stick and wanders in pain. She eventually rescues a raven named Diaval, whom she gives a human form, to serve as her informant, who later reports to her that Stefan has been crowned king. The realization that Stefan betrayed her to gain the throne devastates Maleficent and in retaliation, she declares herself Queen of the Moors, forming a dark oppressive kingdom with Diaval as her one companion.