Some of the best movie bad guys were actually characters who started out good and then
became evil. Whether it be from personal tragedy or coercion or maybe they always had the potential
to be bad from the beginning, here are some movie heroes that epically turned into villains.
In the 2010 film "Megamind," the titular supervillain grows bored after finally defeating
his archenemy, a Superman pastiche called Metro Man. To get a taste of their legendary battles
once again, Megamind secretly doses hapless cameraman Hal Stewart with a concoction that
grants him superpowers. Thus, Hal becomes the new superhero "Titan," which he misspells. At first,
Hal behaves as any superhero should, righting wrongs and fighting Megamind to protect the city.
But soon Hal's personal desires start overtaking his duty towards his city,
particularly his desire to make news reporter Roxanne Ritchi love him. In the end,
Megamind realizes he has unwittingly created a new supervillain in Tighten
and is forced to take on a more heroic role to undo the damage wrought by a crazed Hal.
At the time of the events of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Saruman the White had already
completed his descent into the dark side and became a major villain. But later movies in "The
Hobbit" series that were set in the past showed just how noble and heroic Saruman had once been.
For centuries, Saruman leads the charge in the battle against Sauron,
but even though he defeats Sauron at one point, over time the lure of power proves too much.
Eventually, Saruman's priority changes from stopping Sauron to expanding his
own influence over Middle-earth. It is this newly power-hungry Saruman who comes into
conflict with Gandalf and his allies during the events of "The Lord of the Rings."
"We must join with him Gandalf. We must join with Sauron."
2012's twisted take on superhero origin stories, "Chronicle," focused on Andrew Detmer,
an awkward loner who gets abused at home by his father and bullied in school,
all while his mother is battling cancer. At his lowest point, Andrew, his cousin, and a friend
come across a meteorite-like object that grants them superpowers. At first Andrew and his friends
use their powers to play pranks, fly around the town, and gain popularity at their high school.
Andrew's powers take him in a darker direction. He accidentally kills one of his friends
and tries to use his powers to rob a store so he can pay for his mother's medication. A
series of misadventures later, Andrew reaches his breaking point and starts destroying everything
around him like a full-fledged supervillain, until he's finally taken down by his cousin.
2015's "The Witch" was Anya Taylor-Joy's breakout role
in the lead as Thomasin, the daughter of English settlers William and Katherine.
Set in the 1630s, the movie follows William and his family as they are expelled from a puritan
colony for William's controversial views. The family is forced to move to a desolate area near
the edge of the woods, where they must quickly try to store up enough food for the long winter.
Problems are compounded by a coven of witches who dwell in the woods — and who
have decided to make William and his family their latest victims.
Thomasin starts out a good and virtuous character who tries her best to get along
with the circumstances of her life. But gradually, the bitterness of the family members towards each
other, the paranoia surrounding their religious dogma, and the machinations of the witches
all serve to overwhelm Thomasin's conscience. In the end, she has no choice but to join the very
same coven of witches that destroyed her family just so she can survive.
A large part of the praise for "The Dark Knight" comes in for the realism of the movie,
which is what made Harvey Dent's descent into becoming Two-Face all the more heartbreaking.
In the beginning, Harvey is the man that even Batman wishes he could be.
Known as the "White Knight" of Gotham, Harvey is the hotshot
new district attorney who promises to be uncompromising and tough on crime.
But Harvey's good intentions can't withstand the onslaught of the diabolical Joker,
who's determined to prove that deep down, everyone else is just as twisted and evil as he is.
Thanks to a series of tragedies engineered by the Joker, Harvey loses the love of his life as well
as his faith in the judicial system. It's this bitter realization that the system will always
be rigged against decent people that triggers Harvey's transformation into the villainous
Two-Face. Harvey's journey gave rise to one of the most popular quotes in modern cinema:
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
John Connor from "The Terminator" series is right up there with Neo and Luke Skywalker as the
archetypal "Chosen One" character. As the leader of the resistance against the evil A.I. Skynet,
John was destined to save humanity in the future war between man and machines.
But then 2015's "Terminator Genisys" decided to take the whole thing in
a new direction. It's revealed that during one of the franchise's patented
time-travelling hijinks, John Connor had been attacked by the T-5000 terminator. As a result,
John is infected with machine phase matter and turned into a terminator himself.
Many longtime fans were mindblown and critical of the decision to show John in this new,
evil light. But the whole arc was still better-received than what
the makers decided to do to John Connor in "Terminator: Dark Fate."
Scooby-Doo's nephew Scrappy-Doo was a popular character among fans of the original cartoon,
which is why it made sense to include him in the 2002 live-action "Scooby-Doo" film.
Unfortunately, fans got more than they were looking for with the live-action Scrappy.
He believes he has been solely responsible for the success of the Mystery Inc. gang
and announces himself as their new leader. This prompts the gang to unceremoniously dump Scrappy.
All of this leads to the final act of the movie, in which Scrappy is revealed to be
the mastermind behind the story's main crimes. To cap it all off, Scrappy uses supernatural
means to transform into a hulking demonic entity that tries to destroy Mystery Inc.
In the end, Scooby and the gang are able to stop his power-hungry nephew,
but the relationship between Scooby and Scrappy is unlikely to ever be repaired.
"The Dark Phoenix Saga" is possibly the most famous "X-Men" comic storyline of all
time. Naturally, the live-action movies decided to incorporate the storyline
into their series, and that's how movie audiences got to see righteous hero
and general voice of reason Jean Grey transform into the genocidal supervillain Phoenix.
In 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand," we see Jean return from the dead after heroically sacrificing
her life to save the other X-Men in "X2." But this new version of Jean is far removed from
the original, which she proves in her first scene by killing Scott, the love of her life. Matters
get even worse when Magneto manages to sway Jean over to his side of the mutants-vs-humans debate.
The movie ends with Jean looking to kill basically everyone around her,
until a sobbing Wolverine is forced to stab her to death. Years later, the franchise made another
attempt to adapt the "Phoenix" storyline for the big screen with 2019's "X-Men: Dark Phoenix."
2019's "Joker" proved that even one of the worst comic book villains
ever can win the sympathy of the audience with a compelling enough backstory.
"Joker" focuses on struggling clown actor Arthur Fleck and his attempts to make it as
a stand-up comic. Arthur is far removed from the iconic Clown Prince of Crime at first.
He is a simple man who likes to make people laugh, wants to help his ailing mother get better,
and dreams of performing stand-up in front of cheering crowds
instead of the indifferent audiences he faces every day as an unknown comic.
Over time, we see Arthur's attitude change as life continuously beats down on him. He gets assaulted,
made fun of for his medical condition, and fired from his day job. Even worse,
his stand-up routine is used to make a mockery of Arthur's comic talent by his
favorite big-time talk show host. When Arthur finally snaps and becomes the maniacal Joker,
there is little surprise, just a sense of inevitability.
Max Eisenhardt's tragic story begins during World War II, when his entire family is massacred in
concentration camps. Max is spared because he's found to be a mutant, and the Nazis want to
make use of his power over metal for their own ends. When Max manages to escape, he takes on
the identity of Erik Lehnsherr and dedicates his life to destroying his former enemies.
In the middle of his mission, Erik meets Charles Xavier and the other X-Men. They inspire him to
step away from his vengeful path and become a force for good. Together, Erik and Charles
travel the world together, finding and recruiting young mutants in need of guidance and safety.
But in the end, Erik can't ignore his hardline sensibilities. Over time, he became convinced
that humans and mutants could never co-exist. And so Erik created his own rival faction of
the Brotherhood of Mutants, dedicated to a new world order where Mutants ruled over mankind.
Erik's descent into supervillainy is all the more tragic when you think about how close he
came to becoming a genuine hero alongside Charles, instead of turning into the X-Men's arch-enemy.
Anakin Skywalker was all set to become a legendary hero
destined to bring balance to the Force. But that was not to be.
Anakin's career starts out promisingly enough — he's strong in the force, stronger perhaps
than even Master Yoda. Anakin becomes known as the "hero with no fear," who can go on the
most dangerous missions alongside his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi and always emerge victorious.
After falling in love with and secretly marrying Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo,
Anakin's all set to become a caring family man.
But all that changes when Anakin begins to have visions of his wife dying during childbirth.
Obsessed with saving her, Anakin is lured to the Dark Side by the Sith and takes on the moniker
"Darth Vader." In his new identity, Anakin turns against his former allies and is ultimately
very nearly killed in a pitched battle with Obi-Wan. After being left for dead,
his broken body is rebuilt into the classic version of Darth Vader that fans know and love.
One of the most tragic figures in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is Bucky Barnes,
later to be known as the dreaded master assassin the Winter Soldier.
Bucky's MCU journey starts well. He volunteers to fight in World War II alongside his childhood
friend Steve Rogers. Unlike Steve, Bucky is accepted on the first try. Later,
after Steve is given the super soldier serum and embarks on a dangerous mission,
Bucky is right by his side until he's seemingly taken out by HYDRA forces.
But that's only the start of Bucky's nightmare. He pops up decades later in present times as the
Winter Soldier, a brainwashed assassin who has received the same serum as Steve Rogers.
With the help of Steve, Bucky is finally able to break his conditioning,
but the many murders he has committed as an assassin continue to haunt him,
along with the question of whether he'll ever be able to completely absolve himself of the guilt.
Played to perfection by Al Pacino in "The Godfather" movies,
Michael Corleone's struggle between his decent nature
and his legacy as the son of a mafia boss drives the main plot of the series.
When first we meet Michael, it is clear that he has no interest in following in his father Vito's
footsteps as the new don of the Corleone crime family. For his part, not even Vito
wants Michael to become embroiled in the family business. But that's not what fate has in mind.
After an attack is made on Vito's life, Michael has no choice but to follow in his father's path.
He becomes a member of the Corleone crime family, showing a talent for the work that surprises his
friends and enemies alike. Michael's civilian life continues to tug at him, but he has no choice but
to delve deeper into a life of crime once he finally succeeds his father as the new don.
And thus, the cycle of violence continues for the next generation of Corleones.
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