Top 10 Villain Protagonists
Protagonist doesn’t necessarily mean good guy. It just is the primary character of a story, whose point of view is typically the one we as the audience experience. To make them relatable, likable, & marketable the protagonist typically is a hero, good guy, or at least doing the right thing. An antagonist, by definition, is just someone who opposes the protagonist, so they’re not exclusively villains. Sometimes, these norms swap so that the protagonist is villainous, deceitful, or a bad person. Those folks will be highlighted on this list. To make this list, they have to be villainous for a majority of the film, though they can be redeemed at the end. Please note that all of these feature SPOILERS for their respective films.
Gru (Steve Carell) from ‘Despicable Me’- Starting with a slew of animated films that feature a villain in the lead role, the first & most successful is ‘Despicable Me.’ Starring the voice of Steve Carell as Gru a professional supervillain whose aim is to steal the moon. Dream big. Of course, by the end of the film the man with a vaguely Eastern European accent is redeemed with three new daughters to show for. The film has spawned three sequels (the most recent of which came out summer of 2024), as well as two spinoff/prequels focused on the Minions. Banana.
Megamind (Will Ferrell) from ‘Megamind’- A few months after ‘Despicable Me,’ DreamWorks released ‘Megamind.’ The film is a take on the Superman story with two aliens, one who is a handsome alien who looks human & the other, a giant headed blue man, landing on Earth. The hero, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), is raised rich in Metro City and becomes a superhero, while Megamind (Will Ferrell) is raised in prison and becomes his archenemy. Megamind eventually succeeds in taking down Metro Man and gets bored without a hero, and long story short, becomes a hero himself. A sequel was released in 2024 titled ‘Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate’ though none of the original cast returned and it has 9% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) from ‘Wreck-It Ralph’- Disney felt left out, so 2 years later in 2012, they released their villain to hero story, ‘Wreck-It Ralph.’ While ‘Despicable Me’ is undoubtedly more popular & successful, I personally prefer Ralph’s story, starring John C. Reilly in the titular role. The story follows the villain of a classic arcade video game who just wants to be loved, so he goes on a quest to become a hero. He eventually succeeds and his story continued in 2018’s ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet.’
Ebenezer Scrooge (various) from ‘A Christmas Carol’- Charles Dicken’s classic Christmas tale has been adapted to the silver screen countless times. The basic plot follows Ebenezer Scrooge (or some version of the character) who hates Christmas, but goes on an overnight quest with three spirits that shows him the err of his ways. Some notable actors who have portrayed Scrooge in live action include; Will Ferrell, Michael Caine, Bill Murray, Albert Finney, Alastair Sim, & Seymour Hicks, while actors who have voiced the character include; Alan Young, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Carrey, & Luke Evans.
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) from ‘American Psycho’- Based on Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name, this 2000 satirical slasher film stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, an investment banker who moonlights as a serial killer. Also starring Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, & Reese Witherspoon, this film ends with Bateman attempting to confess for his crimes, but no one believing him.
Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) from ‘A Clockwork Orange’- Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 dystopian crime film features the character of Alex DeLarge, the leader of a gang of ‘droogs’ who spend their time assaulting, fighting, crippling, & pillaging. Alex’s gang eventually turns on him and is turned over to the authorities, who brainwash him into being a contributing member of society. The ending of the film reveals that Alex wasn’t truly cured.
The Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) from ‘Joker’- Typically the antagonist of a Batman story, this film features the Joker as the titular character and finally gives him a back story. A failed stand-up comedian, Arthur Fleck, quickly loses his mind and begins a crime movement in Gotham City. Phoenix won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role & was joined by Lady Gaga in the 2024 sequel, ‘Joker: Folie à Deux.’
Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) from ‘The Shining’- Another Kubrick film, this story finds its roots in the Stephen King novel of the same name. It follows Jack Torrance and his family as they become winter caretakers of a hotel and Jack loses his mind. The psychological horror film ends with Jack freezing to death while trying to kill his family and then one of the most confusing closing shots in film history.
Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) from ‘Nightcrawler’- In this Oscar-nominated original film, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom a petty thief who becomes a journalist and seeks out violent events so he can sell the footage, going so far as to begin setting up the events himself. The film ends without Lou ever facing justice and really just turning his business up all the way.
Tony Montana (Al Pacino) from ‘Scarface’- Based on the 1932 film based on the 1930 novel (both of the same name), which is in turn based on the real life gangster Al Capone, in ‘Scarface’ we see Cuban immigrant Tony Montana make his way up the chain until he’s the time drug lord in Miami. Montana does eventually face justice, not from the law, but from another criminal he wronged.
Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) from ‘Gone Girl’- I debated whether or not Amy or Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) was the protagonist of ‘Gone Girl.’ While Nick is the protagonist of the first act, once the big twist comes around of Amy still being alive, she takes centerstage and I would say is the overall lead character. They are both flawed people who make a lot of mistakes, but Amy is definitely the more deranged and villainous of the two. She plots, schemes, kills, & ultimately succeeds.
Stuntman Mike McKay (Kurt Russell) from ‘Death Proof’- I would say most of Quentin Tarantino’s have bad traits as they’re often criminals, but none quite have the evil side of them that Mike McKay does. McKay is a serial killer who murders young women with his souped up cars. While this is not Tarantino’s most popular outing (in fact I would argue it’s his least popular), the film received praise for it’s stunts & tribute to the now dead genre of ‘exploitation’ films.
Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) from ‘The Usual Suspects’- This one is a little different, because we don’t learn that Verbal Kint was the audience until literally the very end of the film. Verbal recounts to Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) the saga of Keyser Söze and how all his associates were killed by Söze. We the audience realize that Kint was actually Söze himself all along between Kujan’s realization and Kint’s narration.
Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) from ‘There Will Be Blood’- The role that won Daniel Day-Lewis his second of three Oscars, Daniel Plainview starts as a prospector looking to make some cash, before being consumed by his greed. This causes him to compromise any preexisting morals & ends with a nonrepentive Plainview.
Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) from ‘Star Wars: Episode III’- I really contemplated this one. I’m a big fan of Anakin Skywalker & I think Hayden Christensen played the part well (and I’m glad to see him finally receiving praise). I think Darth Vader’s redemption at the end of ‘Return of the Jedi’ brings the character full circle and proves that he was the chosen one. All the being said, in ‘Revenge of the Sith’ he does turn on the Jedi, align himself with Darth Sidious, indirectly kill Padme (still his fault though), lead to end of the Jedi Order, try to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi, kill all the remaining Separtists, & well, slaughter the younglings. This isn’t even counting anything he does post Episode III, which includes enslaving countless planets & turning the Galaxy into a Galactic Empire. Just wait until ‘Dune: Messiah’ comes out and I get to add Paul Atreides to this list!
