part of her survives preserved inside Romualdo's mind until it is eradicated by the White Witch as she again comes to Fantaghirò's rescue. However, the Black Witch's character turned out to be so popular that the director decided to bring her back for all the next chapters of the saga. In the third film, Fantaghirò and the Black Witch's former apprentice minions, Bolt and Lightning, reluctantly restore restore her to life because Fantaghirò needs the help of her magic against Tarabas, and the witch is forced to teach the princess. At the height of her power in the second film, she could transform herself as well as other living beings and objects near her into anyone or anything at will (including turning herself into an eagle and Fantaghiro into a bullfrog). However, once the Black Witch has helped the good Fantaghirò, her own evil powers become greatly weakened. In the fourth and fifth films, she constantly tries to get rid of Fantaghirò so she can be powerful again. The original script envisioned the Black Witch as a blonde. Director Lamberto Bava said that otherwise she looked just as he and the screenwriter imagined her: "gigantic (between heels and helmet she reaches two meters), beautiful, with all the sexy power that transpires from her costume's abysmal slit and generous décolleté." Nielsen said she based her deliberately over-the-top "seductive, sinister, choleric, and excessive in everything" acting in Fantaghiro 2 on the character of the Evil Queen in Disney's Snow White, adding she really enjoyed being "an angry and screaming witch". According to the Italian Wired in 2017, she was one of the reasons for the series' popularity in the country, described as "a unique and memorable character ... a majestic monument of irrational evil, busty and very tall, with heavy make-up and strictly black and skimpy dresses, the wicked queen is the ultimate glamorous incarnation of any fairy tale villain." Her wardrobe and hair color (from long red to medium black) radically change between the second film and the later installments after her resurrection, as do most of her other aspects. Nevertheless, despite having been reduced from an imperious and sensual villainess remembered for her imposing figure and cold gaze to a comically hysterical character in a much more campy, even drag queen-like portrayal in the sequels, the Black Witch has remained a fan-favorite and one of the few roles in Nielsen's