50 Movie Villains Who Were Probably Right
Sandman (Spider-Man 3)
The Bad Guy: Flint Marko, a struggling father who turns armed robber before an unfortunate incident with a particle accelerator turns him into a shifting mass of sand.
How They Were Right: Marko is essentially a decent man driven to despair by his daughter’s sickness and his inability to care for her.
Though He Probably Shouldn’t Have: Turned his gun on any civilians, least of all Spider-Man’s uncle.
Government Agents (ET)
The Bad Guys: The government suits who set about hounding poor E.T. as soon as he touches down on Earth.
How They Were Right: It’s probably within the government’s remit to look into the case of an alien invader who has established a troubling bond with a young boy.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Nope, they pretty much played it by the book!
Prince Humperdinck (The Princess Bride)
The Bad Guy: The war-mongering regent who has rather nefarious intentions towards the beautiful Buttercup.
How They Were Right: Buttercup had agreed to marry him, so its not as if he hasn’t got a claim on her affections. And when she gets kidnapped, who goes riding out to save her? Humperdinck, that’s who!
Though He Probably Shouldn’t Have: Been planning to kill her in order to manufacture a war. That kind of undercuts his image as a would-be romantic…
Carl Anheuser (2012)
The Bad Guy: The slippery chief of staff turned president who closes the doors of his escape craft, leaving thousands outside to drown.
How They Were Right: His actions would ensure the continuation of the human race. What’s he meant to do?
Though He Probably Shouldn’t Have: If he wasn’t such an objectionable douche for the rest of the film, his actions probably wouldn’t stick in the craw so much.
Vernon Wormer (National Lampoons Animal House)
The Bad Guy: The long-suffering Dean of Faber College, who’s forever looking to ruin the fraternity’s fun.
How They Were Right: To be honest, Wormer would have been well within his rights to shut the fraternity down long before he eventually did. They killed a horse, for heaven’s sake!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Put up with it for so long. If anything, he wasn’t villainous enough!
Marsellus Wallace (Pulp Fiction)
The Bad Guy: A good old-fashioned criminal, who makes his money through a number of illegal enterprises and boasts a pair of hit-men at his disposal, 24/7.
How They Were Right: Marsellus might be a badass, but Butch is the one who screws him over, so his attempts to kill him are somewhat justified. He even goes as far as to call off the debt when Butch saves his life some minutes later…
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Thrown Tony Rocky Horror off that fourth-story balcony. If indeed that’s what happened.
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)
The Bad Guy: A drill sergeant with a flair for the sadistic and a fine line in confidence-stripping abuse.
How They Were Right: Hartman isn’t in the business of holding his recruits’ hands. He’s charged with toughening them up enough for them to cope with the rigours of modern warfare.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Been quite so hard on Private Pyle, for his own sake if nobody else’s.
Karl (Die Hard)
The Bad Guy: A bleached blonde Euro-baddie and the primary muscle for Hans Gruber’s criminal posse.
How They Were Right: Not only did John McClane kill his brother in cold blood, he stuck a Santa hat on his head and openly mocked poor Karl over his grief. No wonder he’s out for blood.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Been there in the first place. Taking hostages will kind of put you in the line of fire…
The Sheriff Of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves)
The Bad Guy: Alan Rickman’s moustache-twiddling, Christmas-cancelling upholder of the peace.
How They Were Right: He might not be a terribly nice chap, but the Sheriff has a job to do bringing criminals to justice, and Robin Hood is a thief, no matter how well-intentioned his motives.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Scheduled in some public hangings as part of his proposed wedding celebration. Bit grisly.
Magneto (X-Men 2)
The Bad Guy: A holocaust survivor who has learned first hand the cruelty of humanity, and wishes to eradicate it for good.
How They Were Right: For all Xavier’s peaceful protests, humans still treat mutants like second class citizens, and Lensherr knowns more about that then most. You can certainly see where he’s coming from.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Gone so far the other way. Do we really have to kill all humans?
The Hyenas (The Lion King)
The Bad Guys: Scar’s cackling henchmen, who just can’t wait for their next meal…
How They Were Right: They have to eat other animals to survive. Sure, it ain’t pretty, but we don’t see Simba and Mufasa making do with leaves and berries, do we?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: If they could just tone down how much they seem to enjoy their killer instinct…
Tommy DeVito (Goodfellas)
The Bad Guy: Pint-sized wiseguy Tommy is a walking liability, with a quick tongue and an even quicker trigger finger.
How They Were Right: Tommy would defend his buddies to the end, and would never dream of turning rat. He’d be a valuable addition to any crew if he could only keep his temper under control…
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Let said temper out of the box quite so often.
Frankensteins Monster (Frankenstein)
The Bad Guy: A hulking, undead brute, cobbled together from various mouldering body parts from the local morgue.
How They Were Right: All the monster ever wanted was a little kindness in his life. Since all he has known is rejection, its no wonder he turns out to be a little maladjusted.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Throttled everybody who crossed his path. There are ways and means of working through your issues…
Gaston (Beauty & The Beast)
The Bad Guy: The preening huntsman with designs to get Beast’s hide in his trophy cabinet.
How They Were Right: Monster abducts local beauty, and so local badass sets out to recover her… what’s so bad about that?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Played dirty in his final fight with Beast… it’s what gets him killed in the end.
Jonas (Twister)
The Bad Guy: A rival tornado-chaser who uses corporate backers and expensive machinery rather than pure “instinct”. Which obvs makes him a villain.
How They Were Right: His goals are the same as Bill’s… to learn more about tornados in order to create a better early warning system and thus save lives.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Been such a meanie to Bill. Other than that he seems a fairly stand-up guy.
Detective Bobby Monday (Premium Rush)
The Bad Guy: A corrupt cop who finds himself in too deep with some Chinese mobsters.
How They Were Right: Monday isn’t exactly in the right, but all he wants to do is to get himself out of trouble with some gangsters when a BMX-riding goodie-two-shoes comes along to spoil it all!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Monday’s case might be a little easier to make if he didn’t kill any gangsters along the way, accidentally or otherwise.
Xenomorph Queen (Aliens)
The Bad Guy: The death-dealing Queen alien, who goes toe to toe with Ripley in one hell of a cat-fight at the end of Aliens .
How They Were Right: At the end of the day, she’s just a mother protecting her offspring. It’s not as though she invited those marines for a cup of tea and a sit-down…
They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Erm… nope, she seems well within her rights throughout!
Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
The Bad Guy: A fiendish sea witch with an axe to grind, who offers Ariel the chance to follow her dreams, at a price…
How They Were Right: She offers Ariel a very explicit deal, and explains the trade-off. It isn’t her fault that Ariel is too love-struck to pay attention.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Gone on to try and kill Ariel and her new beau. That’s not in the spirit of things at all.
Javert (Les Miserables)
The Bad Guy: An obsessive police inspector who dedicates his life to the pursuit and capture of the heroic Valjean.
How They Were Right: Valjean is guilty of theft, even if he only does it to feed his family. The law is the law.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Dedicated his entire life to the incarceration of a petty crook. Overkill, much?
Agent Smith (The Matrix)
The Bad Guy: A cyber-policeman charged with shutting down any potential threats to humanity’s mechanical overlords.
How They Were Right: Look at the state of Zion compared to the Matrix. Who cares if the “real world” is actually a fantasy? If it feels normal, then who cares? And it’s not as if we’ve never used machines to our advantage in the past…
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Had the temerity to rise up in the first place. Know your place, fax machine!
Tony Perkis (Heavy Weights)
The Bad Guy: A sadistic personal trainer at a fat camp for obese kiddies. It’s almost as though it’s his job to get them in shape…
How They Were Right: As we mentioned before, whipping these fatties into shape is his job. And not only that, he’s doing them a favour!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Lost his shit the way he does in the final act… although he has been held captive by the kids!
Two-Face (The Dark Knight)
The Bad Guy: The grotesquely disfigured Harvey Dent who sets about taking his vengeance on the people he blames for his accident.
How They Were Right: Poor old Harvey has been taking on Gotham’s underworld in a legitimate way that everyone can get behind, rather than prancing around in a cape, and he’s the one who loses everything? No wonder he flips.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Put a gun to Gordon’s kid’s head. Too much…
Mr. Hector (Home Alone 2)
The Bad Guy: Tim Curry’s oily hotel concierge, who seems determined to pick holes in Kevin McCallister’s story.
How They Were Right: As an employee of the hotel he has every right to look into the questionable occurrence of a ten year old boy checking himself into an expensive suite.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Let him in in the first place? Just a thought.
Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph)
The Bad Guy: The designated villain in Fix-It Felix Jr. who just can’t resist smashing in those windows.
How They Were Right: It’s his job to play the bad guy, and nobody shows him the slightest bit of appreciation. No wonder he’s got the hump!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Gone game-jumping. It’s a dangerous business…
The Operative (Serenity)
The Bad Guy: A single minded killer with the firm belief that his actions are contributing towards, “a better world, a world without sin”.
How They Were Right: He is an utterly selfless being, who takes no pleasure from his atrocities, and even goes as far as to comfort his victims. Sure he’s nuts, but he’s not all bad!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Gone through with the whole “murder for the greater good” policy. It’s a bit unhinged.
Dr Jarrett (Mans Best Friend)
The Bad Guy: The creator of the genetically engineered killer dog that creates all the film’s mayhem. He tests on animals too. Boooo!
How They Were Right: In fairness to him, he was attempting to create a superior guard dog after his family were killed, and takes every step to keep his creation under control. It's only when the hero gets involved that this all goes to shit.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Embarked upon the endeavour in the first place. Genetically engineered killer dogs have a tendency to turn bad…
Dr Octopus (Spider-Man 2)
The Bad Guy: Otto Octavius, a mad scientist with a set of mechanical tentacles surgically grafted onto his body.
How They Were Right: Octavius only took his turn for the villainous while in the process of experimenting on a new clean energy source. He didn’t ask to go nutso, the tentacles took over!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Allowed himself to go quite so far off the rails, attempting to kill innocent civilians and all…
Bruce The Shark (Jaws)
The Bad Guy: A massive great white shark, with a penchant for munching swimmers of the coast of Amity Island.
How They Were Right: He’s only following his nature, and those pesky swimmers have had more than enough warning. Go to the pool if you want to swim.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Eaten Quint. He and Bruce would have made good pals!
Little Bill Daggett (Unforgiven)
The Bad Guy: The ruthless Sheriff of Big Whiskey, with an obsessive hatred of gunslingers.
How They Were Right: Whatever you think of his methods, Little Bill has a job to do, and given the proliferation of gun-toting outlaws in the Old West, perhaps it's no bad thing to have a lawman who’s equally badass.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Stuck poor old Morgan Freeman’s corpse out in the town square for all to see. That shit was cold…
The Predator (Predator)
The Bad Guy: The ultimate killing machine, this member of the Yautja species loves nothing better than the thrill of the chase.
How They Were Right: Hunting is in the culture of the Yautja, who may be barbaric, but have their own code of honour, as evidenced by the way they pick their targets from those who will be a worthy match.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Picked on Arnie. That was foolish.
Senator Kelly (X-Men)
The Bad Guy: The hawkish senator pushing for the mutant registration act.
How They Were Right: He might come of as a little fascistic, but if there were a sub-species of super-powered individuals living in our midst, wouldn’t you want somebody to be keeping tabs on them?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Been quite so prejudicial in his approach to mutants… they’re still people!
Biff Tannen (Back To The Future)
The Bad Guy: The local bully in Hill Valley, Biff is a fully paid-up douchebag with an unfortunate tendency to end up head-first in a pile of manure.
How They Were Right: He might be a bully, but in fairness, George McFly is even more of a creep. Lurking outside Lorraine’s window, hoping to see her getting changed? Not very heroic, is it?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: He should have listened to Lorraine when she said “no”.
Loki (Thor)
The Bad Guy: The God Of Mischief, and brother to the altogether more heroic Thor.
How They Were Right: Throughout much of Thor, the titular “hero” acts like a bit of a prat, puffed up with his own reputation and risking the peace of Asgard. No wonder Loki is sick of him.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Tried to kill him. Getting him turfed out of Asgard would have been enough.
Sid (Toy Story)
The Bad Guy: A sadistic little monster who enjoys nothing better than torturing his poor toys.
How They Were Right: To be fair to Sid, he doesn’t know that his toys are sentient beings capable of feeling pain. At least he’s only torturing toys, and not his fellow kids!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Teased his little sister. That’s just mean.
Mitch (Patch Adams)
The Bad Guy: Patch’s smug roommate, who resents Patch’s medical prowess and rails against his unconventional methods.
How They Were Right: Those unconventional methods in full: practising medicine without a licence, stealing from a hospital, ignoring patients’ background history.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Accused Patch of cheating. Accusing him of being an irritating twat would have been sufficient.
Prince Nuada (Hellboy: The Golden Army)
The Bad Guy: The crowned prince of the Clan Bethmoora elves, who is determined to fight back against humanity in order to protect his kind.
How They Were Right: Nuada presents a fairly reasonable argument that asserts the world would be a vastly poorer place without him and his kind.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Tried to kill Hellboy after the big man had spared his life!
General Hummel (The Rock)
The Bad Guy: A former Vietnam War hero gone rogue in his attempts to expose the government’s shabby treatment of his men.
How They Were Right: Hummel's cause is driven by the refusal of the government to acknowledge the sacrifices made by Black Ops soldiers. On top of that, he reveals later in the film that he never had any intention of letting any innocent people die.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Recruited an army of fanatics who didn’t get that last part of the memo.
Roy Batty (Blade Runner)
The Bad Guy: A Replicant with attitude, which usually translates to the wholesale murder of his human masters.
How They Were Right: All Batty wants is a way for he and his fellow Replicants to live longer than the four years allotted to them. Doesn’t seem unreasonable, does it?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Started going kill-crazy. Maybe a strongly-worded letter, instead?
Harry Osborn (Spider-Man)
The Bad Guy: The second Green Goblin, fuelled by a murderous desire to avenge his father.
How They Were Right: Spidey did kill his old man, rightly or wrongly. And come to think of it, he also stole his girlfriend. And then there’s the fact that Spidey is Peter Parker, who is Harry’s best friend!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Followed in his father’s footsteps. Look how that wound up?
Ed Rooney (Ferris Buellers Day Off)
The Bad Guy: The pesky Dean of Students, who’s hell-bent on spoiling Ferris’s fun.
How They Were Right: He might be a bit obsessive, but he’s only doing his job. Ferris is bunking school after all…
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Maybe pitching up at his house and bothering his sister was overstepping the mark a little…
Captain Skroeder (Short Circuit)
The Bad Guy: The military man in charge of taking down Johnny 5 after he’s struck by lightning and granted free will.
How They Were Right: He might seem all cute and cuddly, but Johnny 5 is a malfunctioning piece of military hardware. Ipso factor, it's Skroeder’s responsibility to shut him down!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Ignored the PR nightmare of attempting to kill anything so self-consciously cutesy.
Ozymandias (Watchmen)
The Bad Guy: Adrian Veidt, a manipulator of the highest order, who initiates a nuclear attack on New York City.
How They Were Right: Taking his narcissistic streak aside, Veidt’s actions are motivated by a desire to end the cold war, uniting America and Russia against a supposed alien threat.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Demonstrated such an infuriating superiority complex along the way.
The Wicked Witch Of The West (The Wizard Of Oz)
The Bad Guy: Dorothy’s nemesis, who swears to kill a small girl and her little dog too. Hard one to warm to…
How They Were Right: She was after Dorothy’s ruby slippers, which lest we forget, were prized off the cold feet of her recently deceased sister. Who was inadvertently killed by Dorothy. Hmm.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Brought the dog into it.
Sauron (The Lord Of The Rings)
The Bad Guy: The embodiment of evil in Middle-earth, possessing of a massed army that’s just waiting to seize power…
How They Were Right: Sauron was actually promising a bright new day for goblins, orcs, Uruk-hai and the rest of Middle-earth’s less cuddly inhabitants. Why shouldn’t they have their moment in the sun?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Killed so many people. It makes it hard to root for him, really…
Bodhi (Point Break)
The Bad Guy: A gnarly surfer dude by day, a hardened bank robber… also by day. He’s a mess of contradictions, isn’t he?
How They Were Right: What’s a little money skimmed off a mega-rich bank among guys who are all about the peace and love? Hmm?
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Started shooting people. That’s bad karma, bro.
The Lizard (The Amazing Spider-Man)
The Bad Guy: Dr Curtis Connors, part-time scientist, part-time giant lizard.
How They Were Right: Connors’ research into limb re-growth could conceivably have been of great benefit to humankind. No mad schemes to take over the world here!
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Tested it on himself. That never ends well.
Syndrome (The Incredibles)
The Bad Guy: A wannabe superhero, embittered by the rejection he received from a young Mr Incredible.
How They Were Right: Syndrome’s plan to bestow everybody with super-powers actually has some merit. It would solve the problems faced by the X-Men for a start.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Tried to kill Bob Parr and his family. That’s just petty.
T-Rex (Jurassic Park)
The Bad Guy: Hulking king of the lizards, Tyrannosaurus Rex himself. Goats, approach with caution.
How They Were Right: Jurassic Park was clearly an accident waiting to happen, and the kindly old T-Rex went out of his way to demonstrate that before the gates were opened to the public.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Eaten the lawyer. Actually, on second thoughts…
Ras al Ghul (Batman Begins)
The Bad Guy: The big cheese of the League Of Shadows, who act as a check against humanity’s tendency to wander off the straight and narrow.
How They Were Right: Ra's al Ghul’s vision of a utopian society where crime no longer exists. And he’s right, Gotham is a bit of a cess-pool…
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Bundled the innocent in with the sinners for the sake of ease. His scorched earth policy isn’t exactly even-handed.
Silva (Skyfall)
The Bad Guy: Bond’s blonde-coiffed, softly-spoken nemesis who might look like the Man from Del Monte, but is a hell of a lot more sinister.
How They Were Right: Whichever way you cut it, M did screw him over and leave him for dead. His bitterness is understandable.
Though They Probably Shouldn’t Have: Compromised the identity of a raft of MI6 agents in the field nor launched a terrorist attack on London.
George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.
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