"What's your best examples of when a villain was right?"
As If Bees Don't Drive People Crazy Enough
"Ken from 'The Bee Movie'."
"I too would go absolutely berserk if a talking bee stole my girlfriend and gaslit me into thinking I was crazy."- NoahT5
If You Look At The Whole Story...
"Mr. Crocker from Fairly Odd Parents."
"Sure he was a bit crazy and did some bad stuff, but if it weren't for Cosmo being his stupid annoying a** self as usual, Mr. Crocker wouldn't have lost Cosmo and Wanda and his life would have been great again."- VisitSecure
Animals Have A Right To Be Weary Of Humans
"Shere Khan from 'The Jungle Book' (the 2016 live action version)."
"He comes during the drought, sees the man cub and warns everyone of the damage he can do, that he's a cub now but will become a man and man is forbidden from the jungle."
"So what does Mowgli do?"
"He steals fire from the human village, brings it to the jungle and causes a fire that probably killed a lot of animals before the elephants showed up and put it out."- Namocol
idris elba GIF by DisneyGiphyThe Powerpuff Girls
"Mo jo jo jo from the Powerpuff girls."
"He wanted to bring free energy and advanced technology to the people."
"And in one episode he actually did."
'He made the world an amazing place."
"And then the Powerpuff girls ruined it all."- LiamQ3
It Was The Booze Talking...
"Jim Lahey just wanted a clean, quiet, reshitivist-free trailer park."- inagadda
It Wasn't Their Fault They Ended Up There...
"The sharks from 'Sharknado'."
"Can you imagine you're just swimming around, minding your own business, then all of a sudden a tornado picks you up out of nowhere, drops you on land, and now you have to deal with Tara Reid?"
"Yeah, I would start biting people too."- Laoxpa
Sharknado GIF by CTV Sci-Fi ChannelGiphyThe Least They Could Do Was Knock
"Skelator."
"It did appear to be his castle."- Hip2jive
He Was Just Worried About Her.
"Baby’s dad in Dirty Dancing."
"Baby’s like 16 in that movie."
'He was absolutely right to be wary of a dude in his mid 20s hanging out with his teenage daughter."- bguzewicz
It's A Cat's Job To Chase Mice...
"Tom Cat, from 'Tom & Jerry'."
"Tom: trips over Spike’s pup."
"Spike: 'Don’t touch my kid, Cat!'"
"Tom: lies down to take a nap"
"Jerry: starts annoying Tom who just wants to sleep."
"That sequence is probably 80% of the episodes."- jabber2033
Scared Oh No GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphyThe Dangers Of Playing God...
"Roy Batty, the man just wanted to live."- whyyou
More Complex Than He Seems... Maybe...
"Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) in Hellboy 2."- muchomojo_tx
young thug day GIFStill Doesn't Excuse What He Did To New York...
"Loki wasn't wrong about Thor being unfit to rule Asgar."
"I mean, in the end Valkyrie ended up ruling while Thor ate cheetos."- AffectionateCable793
He Has Been Through A Lot...
"Magneto is my favorite villain of all time."
'Every time his motives are brought to light I get that 'yeah, I kinda get it' moment."- Alconbn
PTSD...
"General Hummel (Ed Harris) from 'The Rock'."
"Maybe not his tactics, but his reasoning was solid."- EggsAndBeerKegs
miss you GIFGiphyNo one is particularly interested in a villain who's bad simply for the sake of being bad.
When you actually find yourself unexpectedly sympathizing with a villain is when you become even more fascinated, or horrified, by their actions.
When we think of iconic movie quotes, there are several which come instantly to mind.
"Here's looking at you, kid."
"Love is never having to say you're sorry."
"I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse."
Appropriately, the ones that might haunt us the most, are those delivered by villains, who linger in our memories not only by their creepy attire and presence but by their devious choice of words.
Frightening us long after the credits stop rolling.
Redditor N_the_character was eager to hear what the Reddit community considered the best quotes from both Hollywood's legendary villains, as well as some lesser-known antagonists from film, TV, and video games, leading them to ask:
"What's the most bada** villain quote?"
Benedict from Last Action Hero
"Benedict to youg Danny in 'Last Action Hero':"
"I should tell you that I have killed people smarter and younger than you."- S-Markt
last action hero art GIF by xponentialdesignGiphyDonquixote Doflamingo
"Pirates are evil?"
"The Marines are righteous?"
"These terms have always changed throughout the course of history!"
"Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values!"
"Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right!"
"This very place is neutral ground!"
"Justice will prevail, you say?"
"But of course it will!"
"Whoever wins this war becomes justice!"- TimeisaLie
The Man with the Midas Touch...
"Goldfinger after Bond says 'Do you expect me to talk?'
"'No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die'."- Hunk_Studly
Interrupting GIF by James Bond 007GiphyThe Last Airbender's Azula
"Dai Li: 'You've beaten me at my own game'."
"Azula: 'Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player'."- herculesmeowlligan
Inigo Montoya, watch out!
"'Good Heavens, are you still trying to win?'"
"-the six fingered man."
Video game villains shouldn't be forgotten, ask Ghaul
“'You are not brave, you’ve merely forgotten the fear of death'."
"'Allow me to reacquaint you'.”- KentuckyBourbon94
The Good, the Bad, and the one-liners
"'When you have to shoot, shoot'."
"'Don't talk'."
"Tuco, 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'."- jpablo680
Whiterose of Mr. Robot
“'Because Phillip, I had to ask you twice'.”- Lontano64
The final frontier indeed...
"'A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place'."
"'To force them to acknowledge your greatness'."
"Gul Dukat, Deep Space Nine."- hamdingers
Deep Space Nine Dislike GIF by Star TrekGiphyA true villain will have you quaking in your boots with just one look.
But it's with their words that they really get you.
And how they instantly go from being merely villains, to legends.
Redditor Cutiebeautypie asked:
"Which actor/actress was so good at playing a villain role that you almost hated them in real life?"
Here were some of those answers.
Joffrey Was Always Doomed
"Jack Gleeson, the actor who played Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones."-Ashesza
"GoT wasn’t perfect, but boy did they knock it out of the park when it came to casting. Especially the Lannisters."-Jockobutters
"Such an incredible actor! I read stories that people would yell at him and spit on him when they would see him in public. Super f**ked up."-Breezy_Luv
GiphyThat Breaking Bad Energy
"Jesse Plemons. He’s always f**king Todd to me. F**king Todd. Shooting that kid. F**k you Todd."-hamtronn
"Oh god same!! I hate his face.. I know that's mean."
"He is so awful in BB. He's somehow kinda childlike and a psychopath at the same time. Sorry Jesse Plemons, and credit due for your epic acting skills."-Ilikezombiemovie
All Hail
"Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. Such a great actor for the role. He was terrible and also tragic, an overgrown child who was spoiled by his father who didn't love him and simply let him play around so he wouldn't need to deal with him, leaving him spoiled but empty inside."
"And the one time his father showed him any love it was when he was trying to take away all he had known to give it to someone else after he'd been promised it all his life. He was a f**ked up character, but you could see what f**ked him up."-JazzmansRevenge
GiphySee anybody you had a full body negative reaction to on this list?
Art School
"JK Simmons in 'Whiplash'. I can’t stand the guy now and shudder at his name because he was so damn good."-TravelSized504
"You know what really bothered me about that movie? He won, in the end. He (spoilers, movie is amazing go see it) abused students to the extent that they killed themselves, and the absolute emotional climax of the movie featured his student...listening to him."
"And letting himself be directed, and they produced amazing music together. It vindicated him. It essentially said, it's okay to treat your students like sh*t because you are pushing them and that drives them to become exceptional."-thebaehavens
George Is A Loser
"Not me, and not really a villain, but my wife absolutely and irrationally hates Jason Alexander, all because of George Costanza."
"I try to tell her that he must be a great actor to instill that kind of emotion but she won't listen."-ParsifalJones
GiphyWhen It Becomes Confusing
"I have a hard time deciding between John Lithgow in 'Third Rock From the Sun/Dexter' and Bryan Cranston in 'Malcolm in the Middle/Breaking Bad' for most jarring character change."
"Dick and Hal were both great lovably goofy characters and the later roles were both so brilliantly ruthless. It also makes me wonder what other actors also had polar opposite roles like those."-Buddahrific
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...All Work And No Play
"Jack Nicholson in the 'Shining'. The disdain he has for his wife in that movie is so real. Like you almost think that for him to access this level of contempt for his wife it must come from a real place."
"Brilliant acting. 'You think that MAAYYYBBEE we should get DAANNYYYY to a Doctor?!'”-user7890123456789
GiphyAnd these villains are very likely responsible for moments of TV and film that still haunt you to this day.
A Mimetic Polyalloy
"Robert Patrick in 'Terminator 2'. Patrick did some really amazing training and preparation for that role, including things like learning to shoot without ever blinking."
"Also, when he's running to chase Furlong on the dirt bike, it's not sped up; he was really running like a machine and not even breathing through his mouth."-guitarz333
GiphyMike Flanagan Loves His Villains
"Samantha Sloyan as Bev keane in 'Midnight Mass'. She's so disgusting and horrible. She talks down to everyone, is obviously prejudice and revels at being a holier than thou person."
"Everybody in their life, especially if you're a church goer, knows a Bev Keane. It's on netflix and it's a seriously great show by the guy who did haunting of hill/bly manor and geralds game."-FlynnLight
Love To Hate
"Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in 'The Walking Dead'. That guy just oozes charisma. I find him hard to hate while simultaneously hard to forgive. I gotta respect both the actor and writers for doing such a great job with that character."
"In the later seasons, I find him easier to respect than most of the other main characters. Like the paranoia and PTSD most of the characters have is totally understandable, but it's frustrating seeing it cause so many issues."-Buddahrific
GiphyWhile these villains are endlessly irritating, no story is complete without its antagonists. They are just as important to telling the story as the heroes.
And the actors aren't responsible for the things their characters do--or else, we need to have a serious conversation with everybody who has ever played "Iago" in Othello.
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At least during prep-pandemic times, moviegoers paid to go see movies on the big screen to be entertained, not lectured.
In some cases, a baddie's real life story contradicted with what was shown on screen.
This is purely conjecture, but some scripts introduce conflict without detailed exposition of a bad guy to avoid slow pacing.
So when it comes to historical villains and their accurate level of malevolence, it's complicated.
With Hollywood being just one example where a notorious "bad guy" was misinterpreted, Redditor Elytra__Firm wanted to explore more by asking:
"Who is the bad guy in history who isn't actually a bad guy?"
Cinderella Man
"More so sports history, but the film Cinderella Man portrayed boxer Max Baer as a murderous psychopath who gladly killed two fighters in the ring. In reality, he was personally devastated by these deaths. In the one he was most directly responsible for, he ended up giving his winnings from his next few fights to the fighters family."
Musical Rivals
"Despite what was portrayed in Amadeus, and though in reality they were musical rivals, Antonio Salieri was actually friends with Wolfgang Mozart. In fact, years after Mozart's death, Salieri assisted with and helped finance his son Franz Xaver's musical education as a tribute to his late friend."
The Truth About Billy The Kid
"Billy the Kid wasn't a good guy by any means, but was a victim of negative propaganda by the press at the time. He was orphaned in his early teens and fell in with the wrong crowd."
"After a brief run in with the law (I think he was lookout for a small robbery, wasn't even part of the main crew) he didn't want to wait around 6 months or a year for a judge to make their way to the tiny little town, so he escaped jail and ran. What teenager would act differently? He ran to Arizona looking for work."
"In Arizona he found work, but was still one of the youngest there. A bully in a bar picked on him for weeks until Billy got fed up and shot him. On the run again he goes back to New Mexico."
"In New Mexico he resorts to stealing to be able to survive. He steals some horses from a prominent rancher. Instead of prosecuting him, the rancher hires him. Billy is thrilled, and works hard. He is happy because he has a legit job again."
"The rancher had a corrupt as sh*t rival who had the local law in his pocket (he was related to the sheriff). The rival rancher killed Billy's boss in the street. Billy and his fellow cowboys that loved their boss decided this was not OK, and the Lincoln County War started. Billy is the only one of the men on his side of the war to have been in every battle."
"Eventually, Billy felt he had accomplished his revenge mission, so he settled down with his best gal. Problem was, she was Mexican, and he was white. His girlfriend's brother didn't like Billy being with his sister, so he tipped off the law as to where Billy was hiding."
"The Lincoln county sheriff showed up in the middle of the night and shot Billy in the back."
"There is a lot more to it. For example, when Billy was in Lincoln County jail, he talked to the New Mexico Territory Governor. The Governor promised him a complete pardon if he'd be a witness in the trials of the people from the corrupt rancher. Billy agreed and testified. The governor then went back on his promise and left Billy to rot. So Billy killed the jailers and fled again. (That governor was too busy getting an ambassadorship and writing the book Ben Hur to keep his promises)"
Machiavelli Was No Saint, But...
"Machiavelli would be shocked and saddened to know his name is synonymous with tyranny and pure evil. Guy was a staunch supporter of Republics and a savvy politician."
– itssuprs
"There are people surprised that his statue is up in Florence and shocked to see they actually admire him. When you learn more about him he's far more interesting then his historical reputation would have you believe."
– itssuprs
Darius III and Xerxes
"Darius III and Xerxes. They're portrayed badly because of Alexander the Great and also the movie 300."
"Yeah, in reality their Kingdom was actually fairly progressive, when taking over lands, local leaders and religions were allowed to remain however advisory members were sent in to help update settlements with better economic and civic organizations and so on. Really they weren't that bad of a Kingdom (for that time periods standards) and the reason they fought the Greeks was because classically Greek cities had tried to rebel with the support of Greek mainland city states, which prompted war."
"History isn't so black and white as Hollywood wants it to be."
– JayTrim
The Concerned Roman
"That Roman that gave Jesus vinegar to drink. Turns out that the roman military gave their soldiers a water/vinegar mix to drink as it was good for refilling salt levels after sweating. That means all the roman did was give jesus a sip of his own drink, not force him to drink vinegar as punishment/insult."
Pontius Pilate
"While we're on the topic, Pontius Pilate. The dude actually thought Jesus was innocent, and tried everything in his power to punish him without outright killing him, to satisfy the high priests and the crowds they turned against Jesus. His only real sin was that he sold out Jesus to save his own skin, but only after nothing else worked."
A Case For Prince John
"Prince John."
"The bad guy from Robin Hood was basically the steward of a kingdom his beloved brother haddn't even set foot on. While Richard the Lionheart was faffing about in the Crusades, John was running the kingdom and turning it into something that could sustain itself. While he was doing that, his useless brother gets his a** kidnapped so John has to raise taxes (cue Robin Hood) to bring back the 'rightful' king the people loved so much."
"So basically, Prince John runs England for his brother and people love his brother for it. Then said brother gets kidnapped so John Raises taxes to get him 'back' and becomes the bad guy in the eyes of the lords (and by extension the people) who want their rightful king back."
"The man eventually does become the rightful king, only to have all the lords hate him for the crime of investing money into the kingdom, as a result he signs the Magna Carta, limiting royal power."
"that said he wasnt a saint. The man did have a hand in the collapse of Norman France and wasted a lot of money and men trying reclaim the region. I'm not trying to say he was a 'good guy' per se, just not the bad guy for what people hate him for."
The Woman And Her Scalding Coffee
"A more modern example is the lady that famously sued McDonalds for their coffee being too hot in 1994. That lawsuit gets treated as an example of how oversaturated America is with litigation over small things. As it turns out, however, her situation was extremely justified. She suffered third degree burns that required skin grafting and had permanent disfigurement. Her labia fused together. Needless to say, McDonalds was serving their coffee far too hot and the case very well may have prevented future similar incidents."
"Edit: To the people saying it's her fault for spilling her coffee, here's a picture of her injuries (NSFW and NSFL). Does anybody really deserve those injuries for the simple mistake of spilling their coffee? Would you really expect third degree burns if you spilled coffee on yourself?"
– xGray3
Bad Press
"The Roman emperor Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula."
"Hell of a smear campaign his enemies did. Most likely brought upon himself because of his intolerance to the Senates' corruption and/or lack of effectiveness. The crazy stories? Most likely made up or were wilful misrepresentation of something Caligula said. The story about him making his horse consul because he was 'crazy?' Misrepresentation of him mocking the senate by telling them his horse could do a better job."
– Oddgit