This article proposes a novel algorithm employing space vector ellipse (SVE) in a complex plane to classify and visualize power quality disturbance-events (PQDEs). In the proposed method, at first, the time-domain signal and a reference signal, which are separated by 90°, are mapped in a complex 2D coordinates. Thus, the tip of resultant rotating vector traces an ellipse, from which three parameters, namely, semi-major axis, semi-minor axis and inclination angle, are obtained. Then, the ellipse parameters are exploited to classify and visualize nine types of PQDEs, namely, voltage sag, swell, interruption, harmonic, sagharmonic, swell-harmonic, notch, flicker and transient. To validate the practicability of the proposed approach, an extensive realtime simulation study is carried out on RTDS platform using a test microgrid network to generate a large number of PQDEs. The test events were successfully classified and visualized in complex plane. Moreover, the noisy and practical signals, recorded by IEEE 1159.2 Working Group, were successfully classified to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.