Great villains need to be just as compelling and relatable as the heroes, and there are some movie antagonists who are hard to disagree with. As George R. R. Martin once wrote: “Nobody is a villain in their own story.” It’s important for villains to have motivations which are on par with those of the story’s protagonist. Otherwise, they won’t push the hero in any way, and their stories aren’t as interesting.
A lot of great movies blur the line between villains and heroes, either by creating interesting antiheroes or by making the villains right all along. In some movies, the conflict isn’t necessarily about who is right and who is wrong. It can also be about the means by which characters try to achieve their goals, or the deeper philosophy which underpins their view of the world. For many reasons, some of the best movie villains deserved better.
Related 10 Movie Heroes I Didn’t Realize Were Villains Until Much Later
Upon reflection, I realize that the protagonists of some famous movies, even some of my favorites, are actually the villains of someone else’s story.
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10 Killmonger
Black Panther (2018)
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Director Ryan Coogler Release Date February 16, 2018 Cast Chadwick Boseman , Lupita Nyong’o , Letitia Wright , Angela Bassett , Winston Duke , Michael B. Jordan , Danai Gurira , Forest Whitaker
Killmonger may be aggressive, but he is fighting for the right reasons. He sees that Wakanda has immeasurable wealth and power thanks to its vibranium reserves, and he believes that the nation should share its fortune with other countries. By pursuing an isolationist regime, Wakanda manages to fly under the radar, but this means that millions of people all over the world languish in poverty.
T’Challa eventually comes round to Killmonger’s point of view, even after defeating him in battle.
Killmonger wants the throne of Wakanda so that he can enact his mission to lift people out of poverty. When he is finally defeated by T’Challa, he gets to share his vision. It says a lot that T’Challa eventually comes round to Killmonger’s point of view, even after defeating him in battle. Black Panther ends with T’Challa announcing to the world that Wakanda is ready to share its wealth.
9 Chef Skinner
Ratatouille (2009)
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Director Brad Bird Release Date June 29, 2007 Cast Patton Oswalt , Ian Holm , Lou Romano , Brad Garrett , Peter O’Toole , Janeane Garofalo , Brian Dennehy , Peter Sohn , Will Arnett
Ratatouille proves that animation can make a character look a lot more evil than they really are. Chef Skinner has the permanent scowl and the brusque movements of an angry, irrational man with a Napoleon complex, but his only crime is that he wants his kitchen to be free of rats. He knows that his failing restaurant would be shut down by health inspectors if anyone discovered Remy.
His only crime is that he wants his kitchen to be free of rats.
Skinner is also trying to franchise Gusteau’s name by selling a range of microwavable meals. While this is certainly a money grab capitalizing on the fame of a dead man, it’s not quite as villainous as it seems. It could also help the restaurant. Ratatouille is one of the best Pixar movies, so it can get away with having a villain who isn’t all that bad. Chef Skinner’s character is often the butt of the joke, as he is the only one who sees Remy, and it infuriates him.
8 Roy Batty
Blade Runner (1982)
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Director Ridley Scott Release Date June 25, 1982 Cast Harrison Ford , Rutger Hauer , Sean Young , Edward James Olmos , M. Emmet Walsh , Daryl Hannah , William Sanderson , Joe Turkel
Blade Runner begins like any film noir detective story, with a cop given a risky assignment in a dangerous city. Gradually, Deckard learns that everything he has been told about the case is wrong, and the replicants are not evil. Roy Batty, the de facto leader of the band of replicant escapees, remains shrouded in mystery for most of Blade Runner. He only reveals his true nature at the end.
Blade Runner
‘s ending is remembered for Roy’s humanizing
“tears in rain”
speech, in which he looks back on his memories with a bittersweet sorrow.
Blade Runner‘s ending is remembered for Roy’s humanizing “tears in rain” speech, in which he looks back on his memories with a bittersweet sorrow. An equally important moment comes a few seconds before, when Roy chooses to save Deckard’s life as he slips on the rain-soaked rooftop. This proves that Roy values life, even the life of a man who has been tasked with hunting him down. Deckard comes to understand that the replicants are merely victims of an unjust system.
7 Koba
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
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Director Matt Reeves Release Date July 11, 2014 Cast Gary Oldman , Keri Russell , Andy Serkis , Jason Clarke
In the bold frontier of a world stricken with simian flu, Koba is one of the few apes who will challenge Caesar’s leadership. Koba believes that there is no hope for humans and apes to live peacefully side-by-side. Time and time again, he is proven right. In some ways, Koba’s prediction becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as he inspires apes to be less trustful of humans.
Koba is vindicated in the sequel
War for the Planet of the Apes
, which shows the depth of human cruelty more than ever before.
Caesar is frequently challenged by humans who push things too far, and his policy of non-violence doesn’t seem to send a message. He may be morally right, but Koba’s vision is the one that confronts the uncomfortable reality of human behavior, and ape behavior too. Koba is vindicated in the sequel War for the Planet of the Apes, which shows the depth of human cruelty more than ever before. The future of the Planet of the Apes franchise is teasing another confrontation between apes and humans.
6 Samuel Gerard
The Fugitive (1993)
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Director Andrew Davis Release Date August 6, 1993 Cast Joe Pantoliano , Sela Ward , Julianne Moore , Tommy Lee Jones , Harrison Ford
The Fugitive is one of Tommy Lee Jones’ best movies, and it provides him with one of his most memorable characters. Samuel Gerard is the U.S. Marshal tasked with finding Richard Kimble in a nationwide manhunt. This positions him as the villain, but he’s just a man doing his job to the best of his ability, and he never does anything which crosses the line or ignores the law.
He’s just a man doing his job to the best of his ability, and he never does anything which crosses the line or ignores the law.
The Fugitive works so well as a thriller because both the hero and the villain are justified in their actions, so it isn’t always clear who will come out on top. Samuel Gerard’s philosophy can best be summed up by his tense confrontation with Richard in the dam. Richard pleads his innocence, stating that he didn’t kill his wife, and Samuel responds simply “I don’t care.” He knows that he isn’t the judge or a member of the jury in Richard’s case.
5 Dalton Russell
Inside Man (2006)
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Director Spike Lee Release Date March 24, 2006 Cast Denzel Washington , Clive Owen , Jodie Foster , Christopher Plummer , Willem Dafoe , Chiwetel Ejiofor
Dalton Russell enters a Manhattan bank and takes everyone inside hostage, but his goals are surprisingly just. Throughout the long standoff with the police outside, everybody assumes that Dalton is after the contents of the vault, so it’s a huge surprise when the police find the vault untouched. His ultimate target is revealed to be the contents of a safe deposit box filled with incriminating evidence of the bank owner’s history of Nazi sympathizing.
Dalton’s motives remain a little mysterious, but his actions lead to a war criminal finally being outed in the public eye.
Dalton is intimidating and aggressive when he needs to be, but he makes an effort never to overstep his boundaries. All the hostages leave the bank alive, his crew’s weapons are all plastic replicas, and he doesn’t hurt Detective Frazier even when provoked. Dalton’s motives remain a little mysterious, but his actions lead to a war criminal finally being outed in the public eye.
4 Captain Gantu
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
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Director Chris Sanders , Dean DeBlois Release Date June 21, 2002 Cast Chris Sanders , Daveigh Chase , Tia Carrere , Ving Rhames , David Ogden Stiers , Kevin McDonald , Jason Scott Lee , Kevin Michael Richardson
Captain Gantu is the imposing Galactic Federation agent who must locate Stitch on Earth and capture him safely. Everything that he knows about Stitch suggests that he is a biological superweapon akin to a doomsday device, so it makes sense that he’s willing to overlook a little collateral damage. From his point of view, capturing Lilo is an unfortunate by-product of his main goal, which is to save the entire planet.
From his point of view, capturing Lilo is an unfortunate by-product of his main goal, which is to save the entire planet.
Gantu is ultimately fired for endangering Lilo and failing to bring Stitch back to the Galactic Federation, but he is more justified in his actions than the Grand Councilwoman gives him credit for. Gantu’s actions can all be attributed to a misunderstanding. If the Galactic Federation had examined Stitch more closely, there would be no need to go in all guns blazing.
3 Miranda
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
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Director Chris Columbus Release Date November 24, 1993 Cast Pierce Brosnan , Mara Wilson , Robin Williams , Sally Field , Matthew Lawrence
Miranda is often comically oblivious to Daniel’s deception in Mrs. Doubtfire. She seems like the only person who can’t see what’s really happening in front of her eyes, not that anyone could reasonably expect her to be on her guard in such a situation. Miranda is the main obstacle standing between Daniel and his children. Although this makes her the movie’s villain, it doesn’t make her a bad person.
Miranda is the main obstacle standing between Daniel and his children. Although this makes her the movie’s villain, it doesn’t make her a bad person.
Everything that Miranda says about Daniel’s irresponsibility is true. He may be a fun father, but he isn’t a considerate partner who shares the load of parenting equally with his wife. Mrs. Doubtfire has a great script which is designed to get the best out of Robin Williams, but the movie tends to ignore Miranda’s perspective. It can even be interpreted as creepy that Daniel is deceiving her to disrespect her wishes and get into her home. This makes him seem like more of a villain than her.
2 The Joker
The Dark Knight (2008)
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Director Christopher Nolan Release Date July 18, 2008 Cast Christian Bale , Heath Ledger , Michael Caine , Morgan Freeman , Nestor Carbonell , Ritchie Coster , Cillian Murphy , Chin Han , Gary Oldman , Eric Roberts , William Fichtner , Aaron Eckhart , Maggie Gyllenhaal , David Dastmalchian , Anthony Michael Hall Expand
Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as the Joker is part of what makes The Dark Knight such an influential superhero movie. As the Joker says himself, he is locked in a battle with Batman for Gotham’s soul. Their conflict cuts to the very heart of human nature, with Batman optimistically seeing the goodness in people and the Joker believing that civilized society is a fragile lie which conceals man’s true evil.
Although the Joker’s chaotic social experiments ultimately fail to plunge Gotham into a full-blown crisis, he does reveal the lengths that some people will go to in desperation.
Although the Joker’s chaotic social experiments ultimately fail to plunge Gotham into a full-blown crisis, he does reveal the lengths that some people will go to in desperation. His philosophy is also proven right in the sequel, The Dark Knight Rises, when the arrival of Bane shatters the thin veneer of respectability in the city. The Joker has more than his fair share of the best quotes in the Dark Knight trilogy, partly because his nihilistic worldview is so convincing.
1 Edgar
The Aristocats (1970)
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Director Wolfgang Reitherman Release Date December 24, 1970 Cast Phil Harris , Eva Gabor , Sterling Holloway , Scatman Crothers , Dean Clark , Paul Winchell
Any villain who mistreats animals automatically gets cast in a negative light. Edgar certainly went too far with his plan to get rid of Madame Adelaide’s cats, but his frustration is understandable. After being her loyal servant for decades, he suddenly discovers that Madame Adelaide is rewriting her will to give all her money to her cats before Edgar ever gets his hands on it.
Many rational people would also try to get the cats out of the picture in this scenario, and it’s worth noting that Edgar doesn’t try to kill them.
Edgar doesn’t necessarily deserve any of Madame Adelaide’s wealth, but he sees it as a slap in the face that she chooses to leave her enormous fortune to some cats instead. Many rational people would also try to get the cats out of the picture in this scenario, and it’s worth noting that Edgar doesn’t try to kill them. This would make his plan foolproof, but he has the humanity to let the cats live. The live-action adaptation of The Aristocats may have to reassess Edgar’s character.