Iconic Movie Villains We Hate to Love and Love to Hate
The cinema world would be so much poorer without them, right?..
1. The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)
Roll up, roll up! The Dark Knight is about to meet his equal. Gotham City? It's now merely a board on which the Joker plays his twisted games. With chaos his only agenda, the Joker embarks on a rampage of anarchy. The mob, the police, the citizens; he wants them all to break. Remember when he burnt that stack of cash? Money's not the goal. The Joker wants one thing: to show everyone that deep down, they're all as mad as he is.
2. Darth Vader in Star Wars (1977-1983)
The galaxy is vast, the stars are many, but there's only one Darth Vader. A name that carries the weight of a thousand star destroyers. Once a Jedi named Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader succumbed to the dark side of the Force. A hero turned villain, the black-clad Sith Lord serves Emperor Palpatine with a gloved iron fist. He hunts the Rebel Alliance, captures Princess Leia, and fights with the light-saber wielding Luke Skywalker. But, beneath the menacing helmet, can redemption be found? Perhaps the dark isn't as black as it seems.
3. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Have you ever dined on liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti? Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist turned cannibalistic serial killer, becomes the muse for rookie FBI agent, Clarice Starling. She seeks his insight into the disturbing Buffalo Bill murders. Lecter, sly as a fox, agrees to help but only if Clarice shares her own dark memories. Murders, mysteries, and mind games ensue. But when Lecter escapes his confinement, a terrifying chase is set into motion. The lamb's silence will be heard, but at what cost?
4. Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
An asylum, a stage, a puppet master. Nurse Ratched, cold and calculating, holds the strings of the Oregon psychiatric hospital. Enter Randle McMurphy, a convict feigning insanity to avoid prison labor. A clash of titans, a battle of wills. Ratched employs her arsenal of medication, electroconvulsive therapy, and manipulation. McMurphy, undeterred, incites rebellion among the patients. When authority and anarchy collide, who will rise from the ashes?
5. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Bonjour! Step into the boots of Hans Landa, the Jew Hunter, as he sniffs out enemies of the Third Reich. The Nazi colonel, charming yet menacing, interrogates French farmer Perrier LaPadite. As Landa suspects the farmer of harboring Jews, tension tightens like a noose. In an explosion of violence, Landa's true nature is revealed.
The Basterds, a group of Jewish-American soldiers led by Aldo Raine, wage a guerilla war against the Nazis. As plots converge and cinema turns into a battlefield, will Landa's linguistic prowess save him or be his undoing?
6. The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Enter the Technicolor world of Dorothy Gale, the girl from Kansas who dreams of a land far, far away. When a tornado sweeps her and her dog Toto to the magical land of Oz, they meet the Wicked Witch of the West.
The green-skinned villain, hell-bent on revenge for her sister's death, seeks Dorothy's ruby slippers. Aided by flying monkeys and a cackling laugh, the Witch tracks Dorothy, who is joined by a Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. But as the Wizard of Oz reveals himself, the Witch's power wanes. Can water really be a witch's undoing?
7. Sauron in The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
The One Ring – a band of gold imbued with the power to corrupt. Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, seeks the Ring, lost for millennia. Nine members of the Free Peoples form the Fellowship of the Ring, their quest: to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. From the Elven woods of Lothlorien to the depths of Moria, from the plains of Rohan to the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Fellowship faces peril at every turn. But with Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, inching closer to Mordor, can the eye of Sauron be blinded?
8. Ursula in The Little Mermaid (1989)
Deep below the ocean waves, Ariel, the mermaid princess, longs for life on land. Enter Ursula, the sea witch, with a deal too tempting to resist. Ariel's voice for legs? Done. But as Ariel tries to win Prince Eric's love, Ursula's schemes unravel. With King Triton's trident in her grasp, the sea witch towers over all. Can Ariel's voice be the key to Ursula's downfall?
9. Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects (1995)
Who is Keyser Söze? Five criminals, a police lineup, a myth. In a tale of deceit, manipulation, and murder, Verbal Kint spins a yarn about the shadowy figure of Keyser Söze. The heist, the Hungarian mob, the revenge plot – all seem to be pieces of a puzzle. As the web of lies tightens, the truth becomes as elusive as Söze himself. When the dust settles and the smoke clears, who will remain standing? Perhaps the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
10. Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007)
The coin has been flipped, and your fate is sealed. Anton Chigurh, a cold-blooded assassin, hunts for stolen drug money. His method? A cattle gun and a relentless pursuit. Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, becomes the target, leading Chigurh on a chase across the Texas desert. Each bullet, each choice, each coin toss carries the weight of life and death. When the dust settles, will there be a country for old men?