Top 50 Villains In Cinema: 50-46All endearing, interesting heroes are nothing without villains who exhibit the same audience-garning qualities. Batman and the Joker, Frodo and Sauron, Eliot Ness and Al Capone, so on so forth. Just as a hero's courage, composure and flaws define his character, it takes either perversions of those qualities or those exact same qualities that determine the villain's appealability.
This countdown is a homage to the villains that have for many years haunted our imaginations, all 50 of them.
Before we commence the aforementioned countdown, I will first mark off the criteria needed for a villain to appear on it.
1) He or she or even it had to appear on the silver screen, in theaters, not on a direct-to-DVD or made-for-TV format. This also applies to animated characters or characters appearing in (strictly speaking) live-action children's movies.
2) Needs either a character, or a presence. An example of the latter would be, say, the shark from Jaws. Obviously, as a shark we barely see, it doesn't have much in terms of charaterization, but the sheer terror it weighs on the film makes such a terrifying atmosphere it compensates.
3) The villain must have had a major or even minor impact on culture, in matters of style or substance.
4) The Legacy Factor; the villain's character must be able to endure the test of time, and elicit strong reactions from modern day audiences, inspiring contemporary artists, writers and even social commenters.
Let's begin.
50: Dr. René Belloq, from Raiders of the Lost Ark, as played by British actor Paul Freeman.
Belloq reminds us why we're attracted to villains who stand as sinister versions of their heroic couterparts. In some ways, they're remarkably similar; intellectual equals, mercenaries/archaeologists paid by the rich or by various governments to unearth (or even steal) priceless historical artifacts, willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals, and as cunning as foxes.
That is where their similarities end. It's the little differences that set Belloq apart from Indy.
While Indy does - almost - whatever is necessary to achieve his goals, Belloq ruthlessy pursuits all possible options, such as forging alliances with the Nazi's, and exploits them with obnoxiously smug grins; happily leaving his rival in the proverbial dust as he basks in glory knowing he has one upped his archrival. Indy loves a good brawl; Belloq shies away from any form of confrontation that would leave him broken and battered, cunningly employing all his resources to win battles.
Indy's humour is dry blunt sarcasm; Belloq's sense of humour is cheerily delivering insults and mockingly making light of horrific ordeals, taking delight in the suffering of others which is very much a schadenfreude-esque perspective.
Indy is dressed in tattered, beaten attire; brown leather jacket, brown pants, dirtied shirt, and a fedora hat that should be drenched inside with the man's sweat by now. Belloq is attired completely in white, as a proper, impeccably polite, upperclass gentleman. Indy digs in the dirt; Belloq has an entire escavation crew do it for him as he's sitting comfortably in a tent drinking French wine.
Indy, by no means a gentleman, is straightforward when it comes to women. Belloq tends to be gentlemanly charming, politely wooing the object of his desire. Spielberg once said that the original script for Raiders had featured a love triangle with Indy and Belloq competing with a torn Marion for her affection, but it was dropped.
I digress.
Belloq is well aware of the Yin and Yang relationship he shares with Indy, referring to it in the upcoming quote. He's even quite aware of his lack of moral fibre, hinting he revels in his despicable amoral acts because of all the subsequent benefits.
"You and I are very much alike. Archeology is our religion, yet we have both fallen from the pure faith. Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light."
In the entire movie franchise, Belloq has proved to be Indy's most dangerous adversary, by virtue of having eery insight into Indy's character thereby making the hero easily predictable. Belloq would have been well on his way to having a spot in the Pantheon of Fiction's Magnificent Bastards if he hadn't realize that the Ark would never have let evil hands control, let alone even touch, its awesome might. Still, he is a favorite among the fans of the series, having been spoofed countless times in parodies of Raiders.
Character Alignment: Neutral Evil.
Character Tropes:
Magnificent Bastard
Affably Evil
Hannible Lecture (his Defining Moment of Villainy and Crowning Moment of Awesome)
We're Not So Different
Shadow Archetype (Lampshade Hanging)
Evil Counterpart
Gentleman Thief
Rene Belloq's Defining Moment of Villainy; persuading the relentlessly determined Indiana Jones to surrender.
"All your life has been spent in pursuit of archeological relics. Inside the Ark are treasures beyond your wildest aspirations. You want to see it opened as well as I. Indiana, we are simply passing through history. This, this IS history."
49: The Predator, from the movie of the same name, designed by special effects marvel Stan Winston.
Today, most viewers watch The Predator not for Arnold Schwartznegger's hammy acting ("GO! GET TO DA CHOPPAH!"), but for the amazingly, terrifying badass alien hunter that visits our blew jewel to stalk human warriors, skin them alive and take their skulls. Ever since its introduction, the Predator has grown as a pop culture icon to be one of the most famous Hollywood monsters of the modern age, along side its rival the Alien, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
As a successful franchise, there have been Predator novels, comic books, action figures and video games. It's hard to see how it couldn't have become so financially well endowed.
Take a look at the alien; an eight foot tall, beefy, reptilian humanoid in an alien jockstrap sporting advanced technology all designed for one common goal; to kill other living things in interesting ways. The Predator is like a poacher, only with weapons powerful enough to cause planet-wide genocide.
How is that not aesthetically appealing?
In the first film, it's established the Predator skins prey deemed unworthy, only collecting the skulls of the worthiest of fighters. You would think an alien species so advanced to be capable of interstellar travel wouldn't act so savagely, hunting down species that are nowhere near as advanced physically or technologically as themselves for no better reason other than to have some kind of hobby. But the audience doesn't care about the obvious questions the franchise's plot holes open up like picked scab wounds; what more do you want than a near unstoppable beast with ray guns and eight inch wrist blades?
What matters is the presence the Predator had in the first film. An invisible, murdering spirit... seen only in glimpses... seemingly the demonic manifestation of the luscious South American jungles... the American soldiers, though brave, stricken with absolute terror.
This is atmosphere that works, and this is why the other Predator movies were never as good as the first. Up until the third act, no one knew what the alien looked like, we were kept in suspense and we were wowed by Stan Winston's special effects in an era before the advent of CGI, and when the Predator showed his ugly mug for the first time in the final act it was well worth it. The sequels could never reclaim that element (namely, the build up) that made the Predator the popular creature he is today.
It doesn't help that the first sequel attempted to emulate the same plot structure as the first film, with the first act having the alien invisible, murdering cops, criminals and Federal agents building up to a fight to the death with the main character in the climax. Personally, I would have liked it if the first film was the only one. So, I simply ignore the rest.
The film may have had plot holes and mediocre acting, but it was a groundbreaking technological tour de force, proving we didn't need to resort to 3D generated video game-like animated simulations to create monsters, aliens and the like. Not to mention, of course, it gave birth to one of the most memorable monsters in horror films, the Predator; warrior, sadist (look at the bloody skinned bodies it leaves behind) and badass.
Character Alignment: Depending who you ask, a Predator is either Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil. Personally? I don't care what the fanboys say, they are a sadistic species of murdering, genocidal monsters. Lawful Evil.
Character Tropes:
Proud Warrior Race Guy (duh)
The Collector of the Strange
Never Hurt An Innocent
Badass
One Man Army
The Predator's Defining Moment of Villainy: Skinning a squad of green berets, hanging their bodies from a tree branch and leaving their corpses to rot in the tropical climate.
48: Angel Eyes, from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as played by Lee Van Cleef.
This guy is my all time favorite Western villain. When I think evil-to-the-core gunslinger, I think of those piercing eyes, camly focused on their target with 20/20 vision and an itchy trigger finger. This man exhibits calm and coolness as he jovially murders entire families, rival outlaws and soldiers. He kills because it's fun, because it's a game. He's quick to remind the other characters that trusting him is the equivalent of stabbing yourself in the back with a note attached reading; "Alas Poor Idiot."
Whenever he's not busy killing people by the second, he's laidback, mockingly friendly, even snarky. But you can always spot the malice in his namesake, so you quickly wonder if you can run away as fast as you can before he draws his gun and fills your back with hot lead.
He tortures with a smile, and a dash of joy. When his guns are drawn, everyone in his vision is a target, even children. Yet, despite that, thanks to the natural charisma of Lee Van Cleef, Angel Eyes comes off as a bonafide badass. This man is what happens when you combine the above two villains into a Western outlaw, I'm serious.
Kills for fun, schemes for the gold, exploits all options, and still ends up as likeable as the hero. Angel Eyes, ladies and gentlemen, he never misses.
Character Alignment: Neutral Evil.
Character Tropes:
Bait The Dog
Bounty Hunter
Screw The Money I Have Rules
Badass
Gunslinger
Ax Crazy
Psycho For Hire
Badass Mustache
Eviler Than Thou (to Tuco)
Angel Eyes' Defining Moment of Villainy: Murdering an entire family.
47: Mr. Blonde, from Reservoir Dogs, as played by Michael Madsen.
Mr. Blonde, my God. He's more sociopathic and sadistic than Angel Eyes it's not even funny. This man made the catchy rock tune "Stuck In The Middle With You" pure undiluted nightmare fuel. For those of you who have never seen Quentin Tarantino's first feature film, Mr. Blonde is a psychotic criminal hired by a crime boss to be the muscle of a team of thieves on a heist to obtain rare, priceless diamonds.
When this heist is compromised and some of their number dead in the mayhem, the surviving crooks hide in an abandoned warehouse figuring out who among them could have been the mole that set them up. Mr. Blonde, who in the story had just gotten out of prison, shows us why he was locked up in the first place in the movie's most infamous scene.
I would hate to spoil the scene that caused an entire generation to cringe in fear whenever "Stuck In The Middle With You" would play on the radio for the new generation with an interest in Tarantino's filmography, so I adamantly refuse to reveal it.
Like Angel Eyes, Mr. Blonde is a cool guy. Giving off a vibe he's not one whose path you should cross (read: badass), you'd be surprised to know he's a soft spoken jokester with a penchant for snarking, cracking jokes, getting into playful mock-fights with his chums and eating happy meals. Reading this, and forgetting everything I've written before, he sounds like a decent person, right? Wrong. Oh so wrong.
Behide his friendliness is pure, unbridaled sociopathy.
Character Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Psycho For Hire
Evil Laugh (oh, sweet merciful Jesus...)
Nightmare Fuel ("Stuck In The Middle With You")
The Big Guy
Ax Crazy
Dumb Muscle (Subverted)
Badass
Duct Tape For Everything
Mr. Blonde's Defining Moment of Villainy: ... Not telling.
46: Bill, from Kill Bill Volumes One and Two, as played by David Carradine.
Ah, another Tarantino villain, and nowhere near as horrifying. Bill is an odd case on this list. In the first volume, we barely see Bill. Aside from the very first scene where we take a ride in perspective, all we know of Bill are fleeting references.
But much like the impression the Dark Lord Sauron left on Middle Earth after his demise, the characters seem to make him out to be this sort of Bond villain, someone who holds all the cards, someone who casually orders the deaths of innocent men and women while listening to Beethoven (or "Stuck In The Middle With You") and stroking a fat white cat.
This conception is later reinforced by the final scene of the first film when we see Bill - or only his torso and arms - comfort the survivor Zoey after the House of Blue Leaves Massacre.
When we finally see him in the second volume, we find we're only half-right. What were we wrong about? Bill is the result of what happens when you cross the typical Bond villain with David Carradine's cult classic character Caine from the Kung-Fu TV series.
He's graceful, friendly, wise, charming, kind, caring, snarky and generally "cool." He's a loving father and treats those closest to him with love, equality and dignity.
He's a gentleman. He's a cowboy. He's a samurai. He's a movie buff. He's a comic book geek. This guy is basically the coolest grandpa you'll ever meet.
He also happens to kill people. Lots of people. Hundreds of people.
Bill is described as one of the most dangerous men on the planet, but you wouldn't believe it. He has connections with just about every criminal organization in the world, he's trained the best of the best assassins in the world, he's perhaps the deadliest man in the world himself and you just can't believe it... until we see the scene where it shows he ordered the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad to kill everyone at the main character's wedding recital unflinchingly. He even walks in to find the battered, beaten Bride to clean the blood off her face and shoot her at point blank range.
By his own admission, he's a bastard, and it's then we reluctantly come to believe him. But he's still one hell of a cool guy.
It's easy to call Bill an anti-villain, since in spite of his villainy he's genuinely noble. Aside from noting his Defining Moment of Villainy, he also has his Defining Moment of Chivalry when at the end of their final confrontation, Bill dies by the Bride's hands. But in his final moments, he dispatches some of his wisdom onto her, enlightening her with a moving epiphany, calls her a good person at heart, let's her know he has always-and-will-always love her, fixes his shirt, gets off his chair and walks over to the grim reaper's door with dignity.
Manliness, thy name is Bill.
Character Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.
Character Tropes:
Affably Evil
Noble Demon
Badass
Badass Grandpa
Badass Teacher
Big Bad
Anti-Villain
Graceful Loser
Wicked Cultured
Alas Poor Villain
Disproportionate Retribution
Defining Moment of Villainy: Ordering his assassins to massacre everyone at the Bride's wedding recital and shooting her in the face right after she pleads to be spared because of the baby they share. Cold.
50 to 46 end here. Stay tuned for the next five of my Top 50 Countdown of the Greatest Villains In Cinema History.
Enjoying The Show
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"He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhereland, making all his nowhere plans for nobody."
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"He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhereland, making all his nowhere plans for nobody."
SCIENCE!!!
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"He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhereland, making all his nowhere plans for nobody."
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