10 cinematic heroes who are actually villains

Posted On August 4, 2024August 4, 2024

Throughout the course of cinema history, there have often been great battles between good and evil. After all, what is a better medium through which to explore our morality than cinema? On second thought, perhaps morality isn’t as black-and-white as it seems at first; perhaps we ourselves are more ethically ambiguous than we appear on the surface.

Looking back across the many brilliant works of cinema of the last century, there have been countless instances where the character we thought was the hero all along turned out to have far darker, more malicious intentions than they had originally let on, and such characters have to provide a fascinating insight into the realities of human nature.

Instances such as this really prove the maxim of not judging a book by its cover, certainly not until we’ve read the final page. When thinking about it, why would a villain ever reveal themselves as a villain from the off? Surely, they would be better suited to achieving their goals by throwing us off the mark and masking their evil qualities with a false air of benevolence.

We’ve compiled a list of ten characters who we thought were set to be the hero of a movie story but who completely switched the narrative and became villains in the process. So, from chocolate factory owners to mafia bosses, it’s time for some serious twists and turns from the boundaries of cinematic characterisation.

10 movie heroes who turned out to be villains:

Ferris Bueller

Matthew Broderick’s Ferris Bueller is brimming with charm and charisma. He begins the comedy film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as a champion of all the kids who want to bunk off school more than anything else in the world. As Ferris convinces his best friend to take a joy ride in his father’s prized Ferrari and takes no responsibility for the consequences, we eventually see that there is a far darker side to his character.

In reality, even though we initially cheer Ferris on for his bravery in taking on his school headmaster, we see through his charming façade to admit that he’s actually a manipulative sociopath who pretends to be raising money for charity only to bag the swag all for himself. He was a selfish little rotter to the core who certainly did not deserve his day off.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

The entire Star Wars franchise is essentially one big battle between good and evil, so it’s a good job that things are narratively separated between Jedi and Sith. When we are first introduced to the old Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, we think something along the lines of, “Well, this old dude sure seems like a righteous fella; he’s no doubt going to help Luke Skywalker in his quest against the Sith Lords.”

Some of that belief turns out to be true, but there’s a bit of a problem when it comes to Obi-Wan, and the truth is that he’s actually just a compulsive liar. First, he tells Luke that he fought alongside his father, Anakin, as a Jedi Knight and then that Darth Vader was his former student who took Anakin out. Of course, Anakin is Darth Vader, so it might have been easier to tell Luke the truth, but he prefers to manipulate the young Jedi in order to do his bidding. Even worse, he nearly let Luke fall in love with his sister.

Daniel Plainview

We begin Paul Thomas Anderson’s stunning drama There Will Be Blood with silver prospector Daniel Plainview digging down in the mud looking for his fortune, and my gosh, does he find out, only not in the way he had intended. After striking oil in Southern California, Plainview becomes one of the richest men of the turn of the century, although it’s for this very reason that he turns from starting hero to eventual villain.

They do say that power corrupts, and with money in his pockets, Plainview descends into sheer evil, which is defined by his ruthless and bloodthirsty journey towards greed. He smashes down anyone in his way and even abandons his adopted child, showing the kind of villainy that also lies within him, although it’s certainly a characteristic that is brought into play by his amassing of wealth.

Lou Bloom

Sure enough, in our ultra-desensitised modern world, we are all drawn to instances of violence, horror and depravity, but Jake Gyllenhaal’s character in Nightcrawler, Lou Bloom, takes things to another level. The film focuses on the world of late-night amateur videographers who sell footage of horrific accidents to news channels, with Bloom becoming one of the best in the very strange business.

However, eventually, Bloom starts manipulating those around him in order to create situations that he can financially gain. His character was always meant to be something of an anti-hero with a focus on the dichotomy between the attention economy and the working class, but by the time the film is done, we perceive Bloom not only as a bit of a sick individual but an outright malicious villain.

Alex DeLarge

The protagonist of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange seems like a nice enough lad; he enjoys the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, a nutritious glass of milk down his local bar, a couple of laughs with his dear droogs, and the odd menage a trois with a lucky pair of record shop-visiting young ladies. However, under the charismatic surface of Alex DeLarge lies a young man who is so inherently evil that he is forced to undergo experimental psychological conditioning in order to prevent him from committing any further violent acts.

It’s easy to see Alex as the hero of Kubrick’s movie, considering he is the leader of his little gang, but he quickly turns into the villain of the harrowing and controversial story, especially after raping and murdering an old lady. Most interestingly, though, perhaps Alex is the only person on this list who seems to come full circle as we eventually begin to garner sympathy for him, considering the way his former friends and family members treat him after undergoing the Ludovico technique.

Michael Corleone

Young Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary film The Godfather, didn’t even want to be part of his family’s criminal enterprise, having just returned from service in the Marines. However, when an attempt on his father’s life is made, Michael invariably gets wrapped up in the underground world of the mafia and slowly climbs the ranks to the top of his family.

Initially perceived to be a level-headed young man, Michael eventually becomes just as bloodthirsty and ruthless as his other family members, especially as events of The Godfather: Part II unfold. In fact, Michael turns into a complete villain, having his brother killed and preventing his wife from seeing their children, becoming an absolutely violent monster in the process.

Willy Wonka

Poor Charlie thought that by meeting the legendary chocolatier, Willy Wonka, that all his wildest dreams would come true, but upon closer inspection of the titular character in the 1971 fantasy movie starring Gene Wilder, the truth is that Wonka is not the greatest dude of all time, a purveyor of all things sweet, but something of an awful boss who “employs” the Oompa Loompas as slaves.

Of course, there are also some serious hazard issues in Wonka’s chocolate factory, and it’s only at the very last moment that the “lucky” visitors to his enterprise are saved from impending doom. What’s worst about Wonka is that he pretends to be all magically and the rest of it, but under the layers of chocolate and his piercing blue eyes, he’s actually the villain of the story.

Daniel Hillard

How bad would a father have to be in order to have the only way to spend quality time with his kids being to dress up as an elderly housekeeper? It might appear that voice actor Daniel Hillard from Mrs. Doubtfire, played by Robin Williams, is a devoted father to his three children, especially considering his recent divorce and harsh custody treatment.

However, under the surface, perhaps Daniel might not have got such a raw deal if he hadn’t neglected his children for work in the first place. When his disguise as Mrs Doubtfire comes in, surely the children would also think, “Where in God’s name is my dad? And who is this sudden Scottish lady?” Throw in the fact that Hillard toys with his ex-wife’s love life to try to bring her back, and it’s clear to see that he’s not the best bloke.

Leonard Shelby

We gain some serious sympathy for protagonist Leonard Shelby as Christopher Nolan’s narrative-bending Memento unfolds. He’s a man suffering from anterograde amnesia and short-term memory loss but he uses a system of tattoos, notes and photographs to remind him of the fact that someone killed his wife and that he must do everything in his power to find them.

However, as the backwards-moving story takes place, we discover that Leonard is seriously unreliable and that he’s already found the person who committed the murder. The truth seems to be that it was actually Leonard himself who killed his wife and that he’s been fooling us all along. Regardless of who you believe in this story, the truth is probably the fact that Leonard is a bit of a piece of shit himself.

V

The film responsible for the anonymous anti-establishment Guy Fawkes mask in popular culture is undoubtedly James McTeigue’s 2005 dystopian political action film V for Vendetta. Hugo Weaving plays V, a masked anarchist who wants to conduct several terrorist attacks to free the UK from its fascist totalitarian regime, bringing in Natalie Portman’s Evey Hammond to help him in his task.

So far, it seems like V is a pretty righteous freedom fighter. However, the truth is that V is just as manipulative as his hated oppressors. He causes serious harm to Evey, makes many of his followers sacrifice themselves and destroys a number of important landmarks. It might be easy to believe in V’s mission, but the reality is that he’s just as bad as those he’s fighting against.

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