Top 10 Good Guys Turned Bad in Film
Hello, Toby Gold here and welcome to another Top 10 List. Today I'll be counting down my Top 10 Good Guys Turned Bad in Film. Since I already did my Top 10 Bad Guys Turned Good in Film, I thought I would complete the circle. For this list, I will show you characters in film who start off as good guys, only to become really bad. I'm excluding characters who were evil from the start. In case you haven't seen the movie, I will issue a spoiler alert. So, let's begin!
10. Carrie White - Carrie (1976)
In this blood-soaked Stephen King classic, Carrie White is a shy, unpopular high school student who is a victim of bullying, a situation not helped by the fact that her mother is a religious nutcase. Carrie's miserable life comes to a head during a high school prom, when some students kill a pig and dump its blood on her as a cruel joke. This causes her to unleash her long-hidden telekinetic powers, killing everyone who wronged her in various brutal ways. After killing her mother, Carrie becomes so distraught that her powers overcome her, causing her house to crumble and burn with her still inside. Bullying is a major problem in society, and you can only push someone so far until they snap.
9. Alec Trevelyan - GoldenEye (1995)
Pierce Brosnan's first enemy as James Bond came in the form of his best friend, Alec Trevelyan, aka Agent 006. During the Cold War, Bond and Trevelyan were sent to blow up a Soviet chemical weapons factory, but the latter was caught and apparently executed by the base's commander, General Ourumov. Presuming his friend dead, Bond completes the mission. Nine years later, the Iron Curtain has fallen, and Bond is in pursuit of a criminal organization called the Janus Crime Syndicate. However, Bond is shocked to discover that Janus, the syndicate's leader, is actually Trevelyan, who faked his own death and was left disfigured after Bond blew up the facility. Using the stolen GoldenEye satellite, Trevelyan plans to rob the Bank of England and erase the bank's financial records, crippling the British economy and government and causing global economic chaos on behalf of his fallen family and countrymen. In the end, Bond drops his fallen friend from the satellite's antenna, causing him to land on the dish; Trevelyan survives this, but the antenna falls down and crushes him to death.
8. Benjamin Barker/Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
In 1831, Victorian barber Benjamin Barker was falsely convicted and exiled by the corrupt Judge Turpin, who lusted after his wife, Lucy. 15 years later, Barker returns to London under the alias "Sweeney Todd," where he learns from meat pie baker Mrs. Lovett that Turpin raped Lucy, who then killed herself. Todd and Lucy's daughter, Johanna, is now Turpin's ward, whom the depraved lawman seeks to marry. Furious, Todd vows revenge, and after humiliating Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli in a shaving contest, the latter reveals himself as the barber's former assistant and blackmails him. To protect his identity, Todd cuts Pirelli's throat with his straight razor. Later, after failing to kill Turpin, Todd takes his rage out on as many customers as he can while he waits for another chance for revenge. Not only does he kill his customers with his razors, but Mrs. Lovett bakes their corpses into meat pies. Yuck. Later, a beggar woman shows up at Todd's shop. She recognizes Todd, but upon hearing Turpin coming, he kills her, unaware that she is actually his wife. After exacting his revenge on Turpin, Todd tries to kill Johanna, not recognizing her as his daughter, but ultimately spares her life. Todd then discovers that Mrs. Lovett misled him about his wife's death, and hurls her into the oven before dying at the hands of her young assistant. All that blood was spilled because a barber was misled.
7. Buddy Pine/Syndrome - The Incredibles (2004)
It's alright to look up to someone, but when hero-worship goes too far, things get problematic. And that's what sets the plot of Disney/Pixar's hit superhero film The Incredibles in motion. While fighting crime, white collar superhero Mr. Incredible encounters his biggest fan, Buddy Pine, who wants more than anything to help his idol, even endangering his own life to prove his worth. However, Mr. I coldly rebuffs him each and every time he appears. This causes Buddy to desire revenge on all superheroes, becoming extremely wealthy and spending the next 15 years killing former heroes. Now known as "Syndrome," he contacted various retired supers, telling them to come to his island base to disable a giant robot known as the Omnidroid. The heroes would triumph, and Syndrome would upgrade the robot, which would then kill the heroes who defeated the previous model. He then plans to send the Omnidroid to the big city and defeat it himself, fraudulently becoming a "superhero" and selling his technology to the world, rendering the term meaningless. When Mr. Incredible, now a fired insurance worker, gets the call, his wife, formerly known as Elastigirl, follows him to the island, accompanied by their kids, Dash and Violet. Syndrome detects them, and cruelly shoots down their jet. Luckily, Mr. Incredible's family survives, returns to the mainland, and defeats the robot. Syndrome later stops by the family's suburban home to kidnap their infant son, Jack-Jack, to raise as his sidekick. However, Jack-Jack's superpowers awaken, and Syndrome meets his literal biggest fan: the engine of his private plane. As a result of Syndrome's genocide, at least 10 supers are confirmed to be still alive. And this is a kid's film, for crying out loud!
6. Harvey Dent/Two-Face - The Dark Knight (2008)
In Christopher Nolan's 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight, Aaron Eckhart appears as newly elected District Attorney Harvey Dent, whose strong sense of justice goes too far when a vile young criminal known as the Joker plunges Gotham City into chaos. Considered to be Gotham's White Knight, Dent puts the entire mob behind bars, but after the mayor is nearly assassinated, he interrogates a paranoid schizophrenic by flipping a coin to decide whether he lives or dies. The Joker later kidnaps Dent and his fiancée, Rachel Dawes, and blows up a warehouse, killing Rachel and scarring half of Dent's face while Batman and the GCPD are misled about their locations. After waking up in the hospital, the Joker convinces the disfigured White Knight that the powers that be couldn't have prevented Rachel's death, prompting Dent to exact his double-sided brand of justice on a mob boss, a corrupt cop, and others connected to his loss. He kidnaps Commissioner Gordon's family and is about to judge himself, when Batman tackles him off the top of the building to his death. This act of extrajudicial justice is important in The Dark Knight Rises, as Batman takes the blame for Dent's crimes and vanishes into the night, while countless criminals are locked up in the fallen DA's name. In the end, Dent will never be remembered as a hero, only as a madman.
5. Jack Torrance - The Shining (1980)
Jack Nicholson is an amazing actor, having been nominated for 12 Oscars and winning 3, and one of his most famous roles is in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, an alcoholic author suffering from writer's block who takes up residence at the Overlook Hotel, hoping to use its solitude to write. Meanwhile, Jack's son, Danny, experiences increasingly disturbing psychic visions involving the hotel, and arrives on closing day with Jack's wife, Wendy, for a tour. A month passes, and Jack's writing does not progress. He slowly learns about the hotel's dark history, and encounters several ghosts, including the hotel's former caretaker, who tells him to "correct" his family. Jack then goes insane and tries to kill his wife and son, ultimately freezing to death in the hotel's hedge maze when Danny lays a false trail in the snow to mislead him. Those ghosts would have made a good story for Jack to write, but he didn't pick up on that and became a very dull boy.
4. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Before there was Darth Vader, there was Anakin Skywalker. Rescued from slavery by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, he was trained to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force by Qui-Gon's student, Obi-Wan Kenobi. During this time, Anakin falls in love with Queen-turned-Senator Padmé Amidala, whom he later marries. However, after having a vision of his wife dying, Chancellor Palpatine, the future Emperor, recruits him as his apprentice, telling him that the Sith have the power to prevent death. Upon finding out about Anakin's corruption, Obi-Wan and Padmé try to talk some sense into him, but the troubled Jedi-in-training chokes his wife nearly to death before being hacked to pieces and burned alive in lava by his former master. However, the still-living Anakin is rescued by Palpatine, who puts him in the iconic black shell that would hold him for the rest of his life. Padmé dies, but she survives long enough to give birth to twins, Luke and Leia, who ultimately bring their father back from the dark side. As Yoda warned, Anakin's fear of his wife's death led to anger at the Jedi, which led to murderous hatred, and ultimately led to the suffering of not only the entire galaxy, but also himself.
3. Saruman - The Lord of the Rings franchise (2001-2003)
Christopher Lee was a tremendous actor, known for various horror roles such as Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster, and in 2001, he introduced himself to a new generation by playing Saruman the White in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. As the leader of the Istari, Saruman is one of the wisest characters in Middle-earth. However, when Gandalf informs him that the One Ring has been found, the White Wizard reveals himself to have stared into the darkness long enough for it to corrupt him, literally. Saruman tears down the Forest of Fangorn to use as fuel for his war industry, breeds an army of orc-human hybrids called Uruk-hai, and releases them on neighbouring human settlements. His environmental destruction ultimately comes back to bite him when the Ents, giant tree-like creatures who reside in Fangorn, march on his fortress in Isengard, destroying the mines, breaking the dam, and stranding the corrupted wizard in his tower. No one is incorruptible, even the most noble of people.
2. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - X-Men: First Class (2011)
Michael Fassbender is no stranger to World War II movies, thanks to Band of Brothers and Inglourious Basterds, but his star-making role was a younger version of Sir Ian McKellen's mutant Holocaust survivor from the X-Men franchise. After witnessing the death of his mother at the hands of the Nazis, young mutant Erik Lehnsherr dedicated himself to avenging her. His pursuit of Nazi scientist-turned-mutant extremist Sebastian Shaw leads him to Charles Xavier, a telepathic mutant, with whom he becomes friends. Working for the CIA, the two mutants recruit others like themselves to stop Shaw from igniting World War III to ensure mutant supremacy. However, after finally cornering Shaw in his submarine, Lehnsherr tells him that he shares his exclusivist view of mutants, but, to avenge his mother, injects the Nazi coin used to experiment on him through Shaw's brain. CIA agent Moira MacTaggert later tries to shoot Lehnsherr, now calling himself "Magneto," but he deflects the bullet into Xavier's spine, paralyzing him. Nietzsche once said, "he who fights monsters should see to it that he himself doesn't become a monster," and this most definitely applies to Magneto, who killed a Nazi, only to become a bigoted mutant-power extremist just like him.
Before I reveal my top choice, here are some honourable mentions.
- Jean Grey - X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- Nina Sayers - Black Swan (2010)
- Sentinel Prime - Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
- The Narrator - Fight Club (1999)
1. Michael Corleone - The Godfather trilogy (1972-1990)
Unlike the rest of his criminally-inclined family, Michael Corleone wanted nothing to do with the family business. However, after a rival mob boss makes an attempt on his father, Don Vito's, life, Michael becomes involved in the life of the mafia, killing the rival don and a corrupt cop in his pocket. He flees to his ancestral home of Corleone, Sicily, where he marries a beautiful woman named Apollonia Vitelli. The marriage doesn't last long, however, as Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. This gives Michael an uncontrollable thirst for vengeance, and when his father finally dies, the youngest Corleone embraces his role as the new Godfather. Michael's power is subsequently solidified when he orders the deaths of his father's rivals, a casino owner, his sister's abusive husband, and an old friend of his father's who had betrayed him. His life of crime ultimately costs him everything: he orders the death of his second oldest brother, his second wife divorces him, and ultimately, his daughter is accidentally killed by a hitman. In the end, Michael retires from the mafia, returns to Sicily, and dies all alone. All actions have consequences, and Michael Corleone learned that too late and it cost him dearly.
Do you agree with my list? Who's your favourite movie good guy turned bad? This is Toby Gold, bidding you farewell until another day.
10. Carrie White - Carrie (1976)
In this blood-soaked Stephen King classic, Carrie White is a shy, unpopular high school student who is a victim of bullying, a situation not helped by the fact that her mother is a religious nutcase. Carrie's miserable life comes to a head during a high school prom, when some students kill a pig and dump its blood on her as a cruel joke. This causes her to unleash her long-hidden telekinetic powers, killing everyone who wronged her in various brutal ways. After killing her mother, Carrie becomes so distraught that her powers overcome her, causing her house to crumble and burn with her still inside. Bullying is a major problem in society, and you can only push someone so far until they snap.
9. Alec Trevelyan - GoldenEye (1995)
Pierce Brosnan's first enemy as James Bond came in the form of his best friend, Alec Trevelyan, aka Agent 006. During the Cold War, Bond and Trevelyan were sent to blow up a Soviet chemical weapons factory, but the latter was caught and apparently executed by the base's commander, General Ourumov. Presuming his friend dead, Bond completes the mission. Nine years later, the Iron Curtain has fallen, and Bond is in pursuit of a criminal organization called the Janus Crime Syndicate. However, Bond is shocked to discover that Janus, the syndicate's leader, is actually Trevelyan, who faked his own death and was left disfigured after Bond blew up the facility. Using the stolen GoldenEye satellite, Trevelyan plans to rob the Bank of England and erase the bank's financial records, crippling the British economy and government and causing global economic chaos on behalf of his fallen family and countrymen. In the end, Bond drops his fallen friend from the satellite's antenna, causing him to land on the dish; Trevelyan survives this, but the antenna falls down and crushes him to death.
8. Benjamin Barker/Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
In 1831, Victorian barber Benjamin Barker was falsely convicted and exiled by the corrupt Judge Turpin, who lusted after his wife, Lucy. 15 years later, Barker returns to London under the alias "Sweeney Todd," where he learns from meat pie baker Mrs. Lovett that Turpin raped Lucy, who then killed herself. Todd and Lucy's daughter, Johanna, is now Turpin's ward, whom the depraved lawman seeks to marry. Furious, Todd vows revenge, and after humiliating Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli in a shaving contest, the latter reveals himself as the barber's former assistant and blackmails him. To protect his identity, Todd cuts Pirelli's throat with his straight razor. Later, after failing to kill Turpin, Todd takes his rage out on as many customers as he can while he waits for another chance for revenge. Not only does he kill his customers with his razors, but Mrs. Lovett bakes their corpses into meat pies. Yuck. Later, a beggar woman shows up at Todd's shop. She recognizes Todd, but upon hearing Turpin coming, he kills her, unaware that she is actually his wife. After exacting his revenge on Turpin, Todd tries to kill Johanna, not recognizing her as his daughter, but ultimately spares her life. Todd then discovers that Mrs. Lovett misled him about his wife's death, and hurls her into the oven before dying at the hands of her young assistant. All that blood was spilled because a barber was misled.
7. Buddy Pine/Syndrome - The Incredibles (2004)
It's alright to look up to someone, but when hero-worship goes too far, things get problematic. And that's what sets the plot of Disney/Pixar's hit superhero film The Incredibles in motion. While fighting crime, white collar superhero Mr. Incredible encounters his biggest fan, Buddy Pine, who wants more than anything to help his idol, even endangering his own life to prove his worth. However, Mr. I coldly rebuffs him each and every time he appears. This causes Buddy to desire revenge on all superheroes, becoming extremely wealthy and spending the next 15 years killing former heroes. Now known as "Syndrome," he contacted various retired supers, telling them to come to his island base to disable a giant robot known as the Omnidroid. The heroes would triumph, and Syndrome would upgrade the robot, which would then kill the heroes who defeated the previous model. He then plans to send the Omnidroid to the big city and defeat it himself, fraudulently becoming a "superhero" and selling his technology to the world, rendering the term meaningless. When Mr. Incredible, now a fired insurance worker, gets the call, his wife, formerly known as Elastigirl, follows him to the island, accompanied by their kids, Dash and Violet. Syndrome detects them, and cruelly shoots down their jet. Luckily, Mr. Incredible's family survives, returns to the mainland, and defeats the robot. Syndrome later stops by the family's suburban home to kidnap their infant son, Jack-Jack, to raise as his sidekick. However, Jack-Jack's superpowers awaken, and Syndrome meets his literal biggest fan: the engine of his private plane. As a result of Syndrome's genocide, at least 10 supers are confirmed to be still alive. And this is a kid's film, for crying out loud!
6. Harvey Dent/Two-Face - The Dark Knight (2008)
In Christopher Nolan's 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight, Aaron Eckhart appears as newly elected District Attorney Harvey Dent, whose strong sense of justice goes too far when a vile young criminal known as the Joker plunges Gotham City into chaos. Considered to be Gotham's White Knight, Dent puts the entire mob behind bars, but after the mayor is nearly assassinated, he interrogates a paranoid schizophrenic by flipping a coin to decide whether he lives or dies. The Joker later kidnaps Dent and his fiancée, Rachel Dawes, and blows up a warehouse, killing Rachel and scarring half of Dent's face while Batman and the GCPD are misled about their locations. After waking up in the hospital, the Joker convinces the disfigured White Knight that the powers that be couldn't have prevented Rachel's death, prompting Dent to exact his double-sided brand of justice on a mob boss, a corrupt cop, and others connected to his loss. He kidnaps Commissioner Gordon's family and is about to judge himself, when Batman tackles him off the top of the building to his death. This act of extrajudicial justice is important in The Dark Knight Rises, as Batman takes the blame for Dent's crimes and vanishes into the night, while countless criminals are locked up in the fallen DA's name. In the end, Dent will never be remembered as a hero, only as a madman.
5. Jack Torrance - The Shining (1980)
Jack Nicholson is an amazing actor, having been nominated for 12 Oscars and winning 3, and one of his most famous roles is in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, an alcoholic author suffering from writer's block who takes up residence at the Overlook Hotel, hoping to use its solitude to write. Meanwhile, Jack's son, Danny, experiences increasingly disturbing psychic visions involving the hotel, and arrives on closing day with Jack's wife, Wendy, for a tour. A month passes, and Jack's writing does not progress. He slowly learns about the hotel's dark history, and encounters several ghosts, including the hotel's former caretaker, who tells him to "correct" his family. Jack then goes insane and tries to kill his wife and son, ultimately freezing to death in the hotel's hedge maze when Danny lays a false trail in the snow to mislead him. Those ghosts would have made a good story for Jack to write, but he didn't pick up on that and became a very dull boy.
4. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Before there was Darth Vader, there was Anakin Skywalker. Rescued from slavery by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, he was trained to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force by Qui-Gon's student, Obi-Wan Kenobi. During this time, Anakin falls in love with Queen-turned-Senator Padmé Amidala, whom he later marries. However, after having a vision of his wife dying, Chancellor Palpatine, the future Emperor, recruits him as his apprentice, telling him that the Sith have the power to prevent death. Upon finding out about Anakin's corruption, Obi-Wan and Padmé try to talk some sense into him, but the troubled Jedi-in-training chokes his wife nearly to death before being hacked to pieces and burned alive in lava by his former master. However, the still-living Anakin is rescued by Palpatine, who puts him in the iconic black shell that would hold him for the rest of his life. Padmé dies, but she survives long enough to give birth to twins, Luke and Leia, who ultimately bring their father back from the dark side. As Yoda warned, Anakin's fear of his wife's death led to anger at the Jedi, which led to murderous hatred, and ultimately led to the suffering of not only the entire galaxy, but also himself.
3. Saruman - The Lord of the Rings franchise (2001-2003)
Christopher Lee was a tremendous actor, known for various horror roles such as Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster, and in 2001, he introduced himself to a new generation by playing Saruman the White in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. As the leader of the Istari, Saruman is one of the wisest characters in Middle-earth. However, when Gandalf informs him that the One Ring has been found, the White Wizard reveals himself to have stared into the darkness long enough for it to corrupt him, literally. Saruman tears down the Forest of Fangorn to use as fuel for his war industry, breeds an army of orc-human hybrids called Uruk-hai, and releases them on neighbouring human settlements. His environmental destruction ultimately comes back to bite him when the Ents, giant tree-like creatures who reside in Fangorn, march on his fortress in Isengard, destroying the mines, breaking the dam, and stranding the corrupted wizard in his tower. No one is incorruptible, even the most noble of people.
2. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - X-Men: First Class (2011)
Michael Fassbender is no stranger to World War II movies, thanks to Band of Brothers and Inglourious Basterds, but his star-making role was a younger version of Sir Ian McKellen's mutant Holocaust survivor from the X-Men franchise. After witnessing the death of his mother at the hands of the Nazis, young mutant Erik Lehnsherr dedicated himself to avenging her. His pursuit of Nazi scientist-turned-mutant extremist Sebastian Shaw leads him to Charles Xavier, a telepathic mutant, with whom he becomes friends. Working for the CIA, the two mutants recruit others like themselves to stop Shaw from igniting World War III to ensure mutant supremacy. However, after finally cornering Shaw in his submarine, Lehnsherr tells him that he shares his exclusivist view of mutants, but, to avenge his mother, injects the Nazi coin used to experiment on him through Shaw's brain. CIA agent Moira MacTaggert later tries to shoot Lehnsherr, now calling himself "Magneto," but he deflects the bullet into Xavier's spine, paralyzing him. Nietzsche once said, "he who fights monsters should see to it that he himself doesn't become a monster," and this most definitely applies to Magneto, who killed a Nazi, only to become a bigoted mutant-power extremist just like him.
Before I reveal my top choice, here are some honourable mentions.
- Jean Grey - X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- Nina Sayers - Black Swan (2010)
- Sentinel Prime - Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
- The Narrator - Fight Club (1999)
1. Michael Corleone - The Godfather trilogy (1972-1990)
Unlike the rest of his criminally-inclined family, Michael Corleone wanted nothing to do with the family business. However, after a rival mob boss makes an attempt on his father, Don Vito's, life, Michael becomes involved in the life of the mafia, killing the rival don and a corrupt cop in his pocket. He flees to his ancestral home of Corleone, Sicily, where he marries a beautiful woman named Apollonia Vitelli. The marriage doesn't last long, however, as Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. This gives Michael an uncontrollable thirst for vengeance, and when his father finally dies, the youngest Corleone embraces his role as the new Godfather. Michael's power is subsequently solidified when he orders the deaths of his father's rivals, a casino owner, his sister's abusive husband, and an old friend of his father's who had betrayed him. His life of crime ultimately costs him everything: he orders the death of his second oldest brother, his second wife divorces him, and ultimately, his daughter is accidentally killed by a hitman. In the end, Michael retires from the mafia, returns to Sicily, and dies all alone. All actions have consequences, and Michael Corleone learned that too late and it cost him dearly.
Do you agree with my list? Who's your favourite movie good guy turned bad? This is Toby Gold, bidding you farewell until another day.
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