Top 10 Film Villains Who Had a Valid Point
Hello, Toby Gold here and welcome to another Top 10 List. Today, I'm going to be counting down my Top 10 Movie Villains Who Had a Valid Point. For this list, I've chosen cinematic baddies who may be evil, but had understandable reasons for their actions. If you haven't seen the movie, I will issue a spoiler alert. You have been warned. So, let's begin.
10. John "Jigsaw" Kramer -- Saw franchise (2004-present)
In this brutal horror franchise, John Kramer is a former civil engineer who suffers from an inoperable frontal lobe tumour developing from colon cancer. After being diagnosed, he tried to end his suffering. However, he survived his suicide attempt with a newfound appreciation for life and a mission to teach others to appreciate their blessings. Unfortunately, his methods involve forcing people into deadly scenarios in which they must inflict harm upon themselves and/or others in order to survive. Unlike most serial killers in fiction, Jigsaw, named for a post-murder ritual he performs, wants his victims to survive and gives them a new lease on life when they do. However, more often than not, his victims die, partially because his disciples tend to rig the traps so that they fail. Some people take life for granted, and Jigsaw wants to rehabilitate those people, but he frequently loses his test subjects (which is often not his fault), causing him to be seen as a murderer as opposed to a saviour.
9. Adrian Toomes/Vulture -- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Michael Keaton is famous for playing winged animal-themed superheroes in Batman and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), but in 2017, he took to the sky as a villain in Marvel's teen superhero comedy film Spider-Man: Homecoming. After the Battle of New York, salvage company employee Adrian Toomes was hired to clean up the mess. However, when the government shut him down in favour of a contract with Tony Stark to clean up after the Avengers' battles, Toomes used unaccounted-for alien technology to construct a winged suit of armour for himself, calling himself "Vulture." When high school student Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, catches wind of Toomes' arms trafficking operation, he teams up with Stark to bring him to justice. However, when you take away the suit, the bird-dressed crime lord is just a blue-collar father trying to provide for his daughter and Parker's classmate, Liz. Toomes' unconditional love for his daughter drives him to darkness, and despite battling a fifteen-year-old, prefers to keep innocents out of the line of fire. At the climax, Toomes gains respect for Parker after the teenage web-slinger rescues him and Liz, and is subsequently arrested. Toomes did not have a criminal record prior to the Battle of New York, so if I were him, I would have kept it that way.
8. Inspector Javert -- Les Misérables (2012)
A cop's job is to hunt down and arrest criminals, and the antagonist from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables seeks to do just that. Played by Russell Crowe in the 2012 musical film adaptation, Inspector Javert spends 10 long, musical years chasing Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean, an ex-con who broke parole after being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his nephew. Stealing, regardless of motivation, is wrong, and Valjean more than faced the music for it, no pun intended. Living under various aliases, Valjean tries to live an honest life, but Javert doggedly pursues him, believing him to be beyond redemption. After being exposed as a spy while infiltrating a group of student revolutionaries, Javert is confronted by Valjean, who, despite having the chance to kill him, spares his life, proving the determined inspector's black-and-white view of the law wrong. Javert kills himself not long after by jumping into the rapids. If you look at Les Mis from Javert's perspective, it's about an early 19th century cop who's just doing his job. However, the story was told from the perspective of a criminal and he ended up as the villain.
7. Gellert Grindelwald -- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
As a teenager, Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore used to be friends with Gellert Grindelwald, a devious wizard with whom he considered dominating the non-magical, commonly known as Muggles (or No-Majs in America). However, tragedy struck, causing the two wizards to break up, and Grindelwald proceeded with the revolution he and Dumbledore had planned alone. Considering the history of the Wizarding World, one can't really blame Grindelwald for trying to take over the world. You see, wizardkind went underground to avoid persecution by Muggles, and the second most powerful Dark Wizard of all time doesn't want to live in shadows anymore. These views are exemplified by Credence Barebone, a young wizard living in New York City with an abusive, puritanical adoptive mother. Due to the suppression of his powers, Credence harnessed the power of a destructive force known as an Obscurus, and under the control of Director of Magical Security Percival Graves, goes on a rampage in the Big Apple. When confronted by eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander and his friends, Graves, revealed to be Grindelwald in disguise, goes on a rant, declaring that he is tired of living in the dark and is subsequently arrested. However, years ago, Grindelwald had a vision of himself ruling supreme, and in two months, he will try to make that vision come true. I am against ethnic cleansing, but considering the... nature of Grindelwald and Dumbledore's relationship, I understand the dark wizard's views and wish him the best of luck for the next four films.
6. Loki Laufeyson -- Thor (2011)
It's always hard when you find out that you are adopted, and Marvel's god of mischief is no exception. Long ago, the gods of Asgard waged war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, and after the dust settled, Asgardian King Odin raised an orphaned Frost Giant baby as his son. The baby grew up into the god of mischief known as Loki, who grew up in the shadow of his adoptive brother, Thor. After causing Thor to be banished to Earth for destroying the treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim, Loki eventually finds out that he is an heir to a throne, but not the one that raised him, and ascends to the throne after Odin goes into a regenerative sleep. He offers his biological father, Frost Giant King Laufey, a chance to kill Odin, but later betrays and kills him so he can use the attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to wipe out the Frost Giants. Interestingly, Loki's goal is not to become king of Asgard, but to prove himself worthy in the eyes of his adoptive father. No one wants to find out that their life is a lie, and Loki totally lost it when he discovered that he was adopted to serve as a living treaty. It's not hard to see why Loki has a massive fanbase despite being a villain.
5. Richmond Valentine -- Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Climate change is a major problem, and Samuel L. Jackson's over-the-top villain from Kingsman: The Secret Service sought to solve it. Richmond Valentine is a billionaire philanthropist who, believing mankind to be a virus and himself the cure, uses tainted SIM cards to brainwash humanity into culling itself in order to reduce the world's population to a more sustainable number. This attracts the attention of Harry Hart, an agent of a British espionage organization known as Kingsman, and his unrefined but promising protégé, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, the latter of whom completes the mission after his mentor is shot while investigating a bigoted church brainwashed into murderous rage by Valentine. As a result of the twisted tech genius' plan to save humanity, many of the world's governments literally lost their heads when the Kingsmen activated their implants. If I were Valentine, I would have stuck to fundraising.
4. Roy Batty -- Blade Runner (1982)
In Ridley Scott's neo-noir sci-fi masterpiece, replicants are bioengineered beings who are virtually identical to humans, excluding superhuman abilities. Nexus 6 replicants only have a 4-year lifespan, preventing them from developing human emotions. Roy Batty, the leader of a group of renegade Nexus 6 replicants, is highly intelligent, fast, and skilled at combat, but is still learning how to deal with developing emotions. A combat model designed for off-world military service, Roy and five other replicants come to Earth looking for a way to extend their lifespan. Roboticist Dr. Eldon Tyrell is Roy's creator, referring to him as his "prodigal son," and not even he can extend the replicant's life. After learning this, Roy kills Tyrell, and, as he is reaching the end of his lifespan, saves his pursuer, LAPD blade runner Rick Deckard's, life. Before going out with a smile, Roy tells Deckard about the things he has seen and how all those memories will be "lost in time, like tears in rain." 4 years is a painfully short time to live, and Roy was just doing what anyone else would do if they found out that their days were numbered.
3. Tai Lung -- Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Like the aforementioned Loki, Tai Lung, a snow leopard who serves as the villain of DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, was driven to evil because he was lied to his whole life. The elderly Master Shifu raised Tai Lung since he was a cub, and trained him in the art of kung fu. However, Tai Lung sought to become the Dragon Warrior, but the wise Master Oogway saw darkness in his heart and denied him his perceived destiny. Outraged, the vicious leopard went on a rampage through the Valley of Peace before Oogway subdued and imprisoned him on the borders of Mongolia. 20 years later, Tai Lung fights his way out of Chorh-Gom Prison and confronts Shifu, resulting in a painful fight between master and student which is only broken up when Po realizes that the secret of being the Dragon Warrior is to believe in oneself. However, Tai Lung never realized this and was reduced to gold mist at the end of a long and humiliating battle with Po. Tai Lung was groomed for greatness since he could walk, only to be told that he did all that hard work for nothing, so it is understandable why he fell from grace.
2. Henry J. Waternoose -- Monsters, Inc. (2001)
The city of Monstropolis gets its electrical power when employees of a company known as Monsters, Inc. cross over into the human world to scare children to the best of their ability, then harvest their screams to be used as energy. However, the company has fallen on hard times, with the new generation of kids being harder to scare. Monsters, Inc. CEO Henry J. Waternoose is determined to find a solution to the crisis, and in cooperation with reptilian scarer Randall Boggs, kidnaps human children and hooks them up to the Scream Extractor, a machine that clamps over the mouth of the restrained victim and forcibly extracts their fear. When top scarers James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and Mike Wazowski encounter a human toddler named Boo, they discover that she is not toxic as previously thought and try to protect her from Randall and Waternoose. After destroying the Scream Extractor, Mike and Sulley trick Waternoose into confessing his plan to the monster authorities, who subsequently arrest him. Monsters, Inc. has been in Waternoose's family for three generations, and thus he was desperate to keep his business afloat. Had he known that laughter was more powerful than screams, he would have solved the energy crisis without resorting to illegal means.
Before I reveal my top choice, here are some honourable mentions.
- Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel -- The Rock (1996)
- Raoul Silva -- Skyfall (2012)
- Ava Paige -- Maze Runner franchise (2014-2018)
- Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto -- X-Men franchise (2000-present)
1. Erik Killmonger -- Black Panther (2018)
According to the golden rule, you must treat others as you would like to be treated, and that's exactly what Erik Killmonger, the villain from Marvel's 2018 barrier-breaking superhero film Black Panther, wanted to do. Oakland native Killmonger has ties to the royal family of Wakanda, the most technologically advanced country in the world, and seeks to overthrow his cousin, King T'Challa, and use the country's resources to ignite a global revolution. Wakanda, despite having advanced technology, does not use it to help the outside world, instead isolating themselves by posing as a third-world country. This is a problem for Killmonger, who had endured racism and violence in the United States, and losing his equally radical father as a child at the hands of T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, was the final blow. As an adult, Killmonger returns to his motherland, challenges and deposes T'Challa, and ascends to the throne, waging war against those who have historically oppressed his people. However, T'Challa resurfaces, and the two kings duke it out until Killmonger is stabbed with a spear and chooses to die a free man rather than be incarcerated. In the end, T'Challa sets up an outreach centre in his cousin's former home, fulfilling Killmonger's goals in a more peaceful manner. A Black Panther in the American sense of the word, Killmonger sought to improve the lives of his brothers and sisters, but he pursued those goals in ways that exclusively benefit himself at the expense of both black and white people alike.
Do you agree with my list? Which movie villain do you think had a valid point? This is Toby Gold, bidding you farewell until we meet again.
10. John "Jigsaw" Kramer -- Saw franchise (2004-present)
In this brutal horror franchise, John Kramer is a former civil engineer who suffers from an inoperable frontal lobe tumour developing from colon cancer. After being diagnosed, he tried to end his suffering. However, he survived his suicide attempt with a newfound appreciation for life and a mission to teach others to appreciate their blessings. Unfortunately, his methods involve forcing people into deadly scenarios in which they must inflict harm upon themselves and/or others in order to survive. Unlike most serial killers in fiction, Jigsaw, named for a post-murder ritual he performs, wants his victims to survive and gives them a new lease on life when they do. However, more often than not, his victims die, partially because his disciples tend to rig the traps so that they fail. Some people take life for granted, and Jigsaw wants to rehabilitate those people, but he frequently loses his test subjects (which is often not his fault), causing him to be seen as a murderer as opposed to a saviour.
9. Adrian Toomes/Vulture -- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Michael Keaton is famous for playing winged animal-themed superheroes in Batman and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), but in 2017, he took to the sky as a villain in Marvel's teen superhero comedy film Spider-Man: Homecoming. After the Battle of New York, salvage company employee Adrian Toomes was hired to clean up the mess. However, when the government shut him down in favour of a contract with Tony Stark to clean up after the Avengers' battles, Toomes used unaccounted-for alien technology to construct a winged suit of armour for himself, calling himself "Vulture." When high school student Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, catches wind of Toomes' arms trafficking operation, he teams up with Stark to bring him to justice. However, when you take away the suit, the bird-dressed crime lord is just a blue-collar father trying to provide for his daughter and Parker's classmate, Liz. Toomes' unconditional love for his daughter drives him to darkness, and despite battling a fifteen-year-old, prefers to keep innocents out of the line of fire. At the climax, Toomes gains respect for Parker after the teenage web-slinger rescues him and Liz, and is subsequently arrested. Toomes did not have a criminal record prior to the Battle of New York, so if I were him, I would have kept it that way.
8. Inspector Javert -- Les Misérables (2012)
A cop's job is to hunt down and arrest criminals, and the antagonist from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables seeks to do just that. Played by Russell Crowe in the 2012 musical film adaptation, Inspector Javert spends 10 long, musical years chasing Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean, an ex-con who broke parole after being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his nephew. Stealing, regardless of motivation, is wrong, and Valjean more than faced the music for it, no pun intended. Living under various aliases, Valjean tries to live an honest life, but Javert doggedly pursues him, believing him to be beyond redemption. After being exposed as a spy while infiltrating a group of student revolutionaries, Javert is confronted by Valjean, who, despite having the chance to kill him, spares his life, proving the determined inspector's black-and-white view of the law wrong. Javert kills himself not long after by jumping into the rapids. If you look at Les Mis from Javert's perspective, it's about an early 19th century cop who's just doing his job. However, the story was told from the perspective of a criminal and he ended up as the villain.
7. Gellert Grindelwald -- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
As a teenager, Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore used to be friends with Gellert Grindelwald, a devious wizard with whom he considered dominating the non-magical, commonly known as Muggles (or No-Majs in America). However, tragedy struck, causing the two wizards to break up, and Grindelwald proceeded with the revolution he and Dumbledore had planned alone. Considering the history of the Wizarding World, one can't really blame Grindelwald for trying to take over the world. You see, wizardkind went underground to avoid persecution by Muggles, and the second most powerful Dark Wizard of all time doesn't want to live in shadows anymore. These views are exemplified by Credence Barebone, a young wizard living in New York City with an abusive, puritanical adoptive mother. Due to the suppression of his powers, Credence harnessed the power of a destructive force known as an Obscurus, and under the control of Director of Magical Security Percival Graves, goes on a rampage in the Big Apple. When confronted by eccentric magizoologist Newt Scamander and his friends, Graves, revealed to be Grindelwald in disguise, goes on a rant, declaring that he is tired of living in the dark and is subsequently arrested. However, years ago, Grindelwald had a vision of himself ruling supreme, and in two months, he will try to make that vision come true. I am against ethnic cleansing, but considering the... nature of Grindelwald and Dumbledore's relationship, I understand the dark wizard's views and wish him the best of luck for the next four films.
6. Loki Laufeyson -- Thor (2011)
It's always hard when you find out that you are adopted, and Marvel's god of mischief is no exception. Long ago, the gods of Asgard waged war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, and after the dust settled, Asgardian King Odin raised an orphaned Frost Giant baby as his son. The baby grew up into the god of mischief known as Loki, who grew up in the shadow of his adoptive brother, Thor. After causing Thor to be banished to Earth for destroying the treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim, Loki eventually finds out that he is an heir to a throne, but not the one that raised him, and ascends to the throne after Odin goes into a regenerative sleep. He offers his biological father, Frost Giant King Laufey, a chance to kill Odin, but later betrays and kills him so he can use the attempt on Odin's life as an excuse to wipe out the Frost Giants. Interestingly, Loki's goal is not to become king of Asgard, but to prove himself worthy in the eyes of his adoptive father. No one wants to find out that their life is a lie, and Loki totally lost it when he discovered that he was adopted to serve as a living treaty. It's not hard to see why Loki has a massive fanbase despite being a villain.
5. Richmond Valentine -- Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Climate change is a major problem, and Samuel L. Jackson's over-the-top villain from Kingsman: The Secret Service sought to solve it. Richmond Valentine is a billionaire philanthropist who, believing mankind to be a virus and himself the cure, uses tainted SIM cards to brainwash humanity into culling itself in order to reduce the world's population to a more sustainable number. This attracts the attention of Harry Hart, an agent of a British espionage organization known as Kingsman, and his unrefined but promising protégé, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, the latter of whom completes the mission after his mentor is shot while investigating a bigoted church brainwashed into murderous rage by Valentine. As a result of the twisted tech genius' plan to save humanity, many of the world's governments literally lost their heads when the Kingsmen activated their implants. If I were Valentine, I would have stuck to fundraising.
4. Roy Batty -- Blade Runner (1982)
In Ridley Scott's neo-noir sci-fi masterpiece, replicants are bioengineered beings who are virtually identical to humans, excluding superhuman abilities. Nexus 6 replicants only have a 4-year lifespan, preventing them from developing human emotions. Roy Batty, the leader of a group of renegade Nexus 6 replicants, is highly intelligent, fast, and skilled at combat, but is still learning how to deal with developing emotions. A combat model designed for off-world military service, Roy and five other replicants come to Earth looking for a way to extend their lifespan. Roboticist Dr. Eldon Tyrell is Roy's creator, referring to him as his "prodigal son," and not even he can extend the replicant's life. After learning this, Roy kills Tyrell, and, as he is reaching the end of his lifespan, saves his pursuer, LAPD blade runner Rick Deckard's, life. Before going out with a smile, Roy tells Deckard about the things he has seen and how all those memories will be "lost in time, like tears in rain." 4 years is a painfully short time to live, and Roy was just doing what anyone else would do if they found out that their days were numbered.
3. Tai Lung -- Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Like the aforementioned Loki, Tai Lung, a snow leopard who serves as the villain of DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, was driven to evil because he was lied to his whole life. The elderly Master Shifu raised Tai Lung since he was a cub, and trained him in the art of kung fu. However, Tai Lung sought to become the Dragon Warrior, but the wise Master Oogway saw darkness in his heart and denied him his perceived destiny. Outraged, the vicious leopard went on a rampage through the Valley of Peace before Oogway subdued and imprisoned him on the borders of Mongolia. 20 years later, Tai Lung fights his way out of Chorh-Gom Prison and confronts Shifu, resulting in a painful fight between master and student which is only broken up when Po realizes that the secret of being the Dragon Warrior is to believe in oneself. However, Tai Lung never realized this and was reduced to gold mist at the end of a long and humiliating battle with Po. Tai Lung was groomed for greatness since he could walk, only to be told that he did all that hard work for nothing, so it is understandable why he fell from grace.
2. Henry J. Waternoose -- Monsters, Inc. (2001)
The city of Monstropolis gets its electrical power when employees of a company known as Monsters, Inc. cross over into the human world to scare children to the best of their ability, then harvest their screams to be used as energy. However, the company has fallen on hard times, with the new generation of kids being harder to scare. Monsters, Inc. CEO Henry J. Waternoose is determined to find a solution to the crisis, and in cooperation with reptilian scarer Randall Boggs, kidnaps human children and hooks them up to the Scream Extractor, a machine that clamps over the mouth of the restrained victim and forcibly extracts their fear. When top scarers James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and Mike Wazowski encounter a human toddler named Boo, they discover that she is not toxic as previously thought and try to protect her from Randall and Waternoose. After destroying the Scream Extractor, Mike and Sulley trick Waternoose into confessing his plan to the monster authorities, who subsequently arrest him. Monsters, Inc. has been in Waternoose's family for three generations, and thus he was desperate to keep his business afloat. Had he known that laughter was more powerful than screams, he would have solved the energy crisis without resorting to illegal means.
Before I reveal my top choice, here are some honourable mentions.
- Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel -- The Rock (1996)
- Raoul Silva -- Skyfall (2012)
- Ava Paige -- Maze Runner franchise (2014-2018)
- Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto -- X-Men franchise (2000-present)
1. Erik Killmonger -- Black Panther (2018)
According to the golden rule, you must treat others as you would like to be treated, and that's exactly what Erik Killmonger, the villain from Marvel's 2018 barrier-breaking superhero film Black Panther, wanted to do. Oakland native Killmonger has ties to the royal family of Wakanda, the most technologically advanced country in the world, and seeks to overthrow his cousin, King T'Challa, and use the country's resources to ignite a global revolution. Wakanda, despite having advanced technology, does not use it to help the outside world, instead isolating themselves by posing as a third-world country. This is a problem for Killmonger, who had endured racism and violence in the United States, and losing his equally radical father as a child at the hands of T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, was the final blow. As an adult, Killmonger returns to his motherland, challenges and deposes T'Challa, and ascends to the throne, waging war against those who have historically oppressed his people. However, T'Challa resurfaces, and the two kings duke it out until Killmonger is stabbed with a spear and chooses to die a free man rather than be incarcerated. In the end, T'Challa sets up an outreach centre in his cousin's former home, fulfilling Killmonger's goals in a more peaceful manner. A Black Panther in the American sense of the word, Killmonger sought to improve the lives of his brothers and sisters, but he pursued those goals in ways that exclusively benefit himself at the expense of both black and white people alike.
Do you agree with my list? Which movie villain do you think had a valid point? This is Toby Gold, bidding you farewell until we meet again.
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