Though many movies concenter on the adventures of their heroes , it is also genuine that they often rely on the villain to drop anchor the story . In fact , it is often the causa that it is the villain , more than the admirer , who manages to steal the show , drawing the looker in and demonstrating just how compelling and attractive villainy often is .

While many nefarious performances rely on prove ( and often put on out ) figure , it is also the slip that there are many that do not . In fact , the user of Reddit have helpfully identify a number of villain scenes that superintend to let out new reason .

Commodus - Gladiator (2000)

Not Currently Streaming

Gladiatorremains one of the good moving picture plant in ancient Rome . With its taradiddle about a full general who becomes a prizefighter , it is the traditional hero ’s journeying chronicle . However , the movie ’s villain , Commodus , is a fascinating and cruel figure , someone willing to destroy anyone , even his own family , who fight down his dominion .

Hannibal Lecter - Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Streaming On fuboTV and AMC+

Anthony Hopkins has been in many slap-up theatrical role , but Hannibal Lecter remains one of his most notable and one of his skilful . The scene in which he meets Clarice is a truly remarkable moment of performance as it show up just how charismatic and grave he is .

As oneReddit usernotes , this scene “ typeset the whole humor for the relief of film and cement Lecter as a legendary villain . ” Other movies would in all likelihood have relied on the trope of the scoundrel just being this dark enigma . alternatively , Hopkins feed watcher someone with infinite charm and personal appeal , as enchanting as he is disturbingly deadly .

The Joker - The Dark Knight (2008)

Streaming On HBO Max

Before his other expiry , Heath Ledger had shown that he wasone of Hollywood ’s all right actors , and he was in many great roles . One of his most abiding is that of the Joker inThe Dark Knight , and he construct the grapheme into something indelibly troubling , a person dictated and unforced to circulate topsy-turvydom wherever he is .

Moviessuckwrites : “ Heath Ledger ’s first appearance as The Joker inThe Dark Knightwas something else on first viewing in the cinema . ” His is now the characterization against which most other interpretations of the Joker are measure , precisely because of its uniqueness . Rather than just following the figure of speech of the villain being deranged ( or campy , as in some other iteration of the character ) , Ledger creates someone who eludes all attempts to understand or pigeonhole him .

Thorwald - Rear Window (1954)

Alfred Hitchcock was one of Hollywood ’s most well - prize directors , famous for producing many movies that stand the test of meter . Rear Windowis one of his best , and if have a shuddery performance from Raymond Burr as Thorwald , a piece who off his married woman . We - are - all - monstersobserves the bit in which he is sitting in his flat , “ sitting there in the dark , smoking . With every drag , all you’re able to see is the incandescence of the cherry . ”

It ’s a chilling mo , all the more so because it does n’t rely on the sort of reductive tropes one usually associates with villain and their actions . He is n’t just a sinister blank blank , something that viewers can envision themselves onto , but instead riddled with complexness , a military man who has murdered his married woman but still , somehow , seems tormented by what he ’s done .

John Ryder - The Hitcher (1986)

Rutger Hauer land a piercing , minatory energy to his fictional character of John Ryder in the movieThe Hitcher , in which the claim character proves to be a terrific military group . There are many things that help to make this execution of villainy one of the most illustrious in the movies .

As oneReddit usernotes , “ Rutger Hauer was a master key of intimidation , ” specially when he agree a knife to a kid ’s optic . Rather than bank on stereotypes or other limiting depictions – which would have made him either a camp figure or just one - dimensional pilot of wickedness – Hauer makes the character into something new and fascinating , and for this reason the picture manages to terrify the viewer as much as the characters within it .

Harry Powell - The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

Streaming On Tubi and PlutoTV

The Night of the Hunteris an underrated classic Hollywood movie . It is illustrious for its unsettling atmosphere and , in particular , for Robert Mitchum ’s character of Harry Powell , a preacher who terrorizes and pursues two children in the pursuit of money .

NoHandBananaNofocuses in particular on the view in which he is singing out of doors of the house while the small fry look on , writing “ Robert Mitchum singing outside the mansion inNight of the Hunterhas a similar look as theNCFOM [ No Country for Old Men]scene , to me . ” As with so many other great villain , Powell is something more than just an agent of topsy-turvyness ( one of the most enduring trope of evil ) . Instead , he is the embodiment of evil itself , someone as convinced of his own righteousness as he is of his right to the hidden riches .

Jack Torrance - The Shining (1980)

There have beenmany strong adaptations of Stephen King ’s works , and one of the most famous isThe Shining . In large part , this is because of the sinister charisma of Jack Nicholson ’s type Jack Torrance , who has a demented energy that makes the movie .

SnooChickens2536has this to say : “ I think the sequence at the terminal of theShiningwhere Jack Nicholson is completely unhinged include ' Here ’s Johnny ' , and the get behind himself around the maze is v memorable . ” It was a unique scene at the fourth dimension , and it remains so , a will to Nicholson ’s skill as an actor . In less capable manpower , this scoundrel could have pass into the trope of the crazed artist , but Nicholson upgrade it into something almost sublime . He is frantic , yes , but he is also tragic , someone who has fall into darkness .

Bane - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Tom Hardy wreak his own potent charm to the character of Bane inThe Dark Knight resurrect , one of Christopher Nolan ’s good movies . DisneyDreams7notes : “ Tom Hardy on the plane introducing himself as Bane . Tom Hardy would have made the utter Thanos . ”

It ’s a mo that demonstrates why Hardy was the perfect person to diddle the character of Bane , as he manages to make the fictional character into something uniquely menacing and minacious , a meet villain opposite number to Christian Bale ’s Batman . He resists the trope of the one - dimensional villain so common in superhero stories , becoming instead a sinister force , someone with his own motivation and sensory faculty of self . Viewers may not always wish him , but they ca n’t look away from him , either .

Smaug - The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)

Peter Jackson’sThe Hobbittrilogy is a meet follow - up to The Lord of the Rings , and while the trilogy might miss the operatic grandeur of its forerunner , it is notable for its villains . In particular , the dragon Smaug is a terrific force , in large part because he manages to ward off many of the more constraining tropes associated with this animate being .

Dbcanuckagrees , stating that , while “ the trilogy was jolly mediocre , but the gold hoard scene was double-dyed . ” It ’s a moment that highlights just how powerful Smaug really is . What ’s more , he ’s more than just the trope of the dragon roll up his gold . Instead , as the movie – and his Cumberbatch ’s operation – make clear , a in truth powerful entity in Middle - earth , capable of work great havoc and destruction wherever he goes .

Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood (2007)

Streaming On PlutoTV

There Will Be Bloodis a brooding , atmospherical movie about the power of riches to corrupt and destroy a man and his kinfolk . It also features a powerful execution by Daniel Day - Lewis , who bring out the sinister humanity of Daniel Plainview .

Each of his scenes is unequalled in its own way . Purplejltfocuses in particular on its conclusion , write : “ the final panorama in the bowling alley is pretty unforgettable . ” It ’s a moment in which he last makes his right-down origin into darkness and depravity , a marking of just how unredeemable he is . In a different movie , Plainview would have just been another cynical and brutal man of affairs – a image well - established in popular culture . rather , he becomes a sort of tragic villain , someone so convinced of his own rightness that he ca n’t see how tainted and destroyed he ’s become .

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The Thunderbolts looking up and looking shocked in Thunderbolts

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

Sidious, Tyranus, Maul, and Vader.

Commpdus being threatening in Gladiator and Harry Powell staring at the camera in Night of the Hunter

Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) confronting Maximus (Russell Crowe) as he is chained up in Gladiator

Hannibal Lector and Clarice Starling in Silence Of The Lambs

Joker in a holding cell in The Dark Knight.

Jeff watches Lars through his lens in Rear Window

Rutger Hauer in The Hitcher.

Robert Mitchum in The Night of the Hunter

Jack breaking through the door with an axe

Bane Unmasked Dark Knight Rises Plane Tom Hardy

Smaug in The Hobbit

Daniel Plainview abandons his son in There Will Be Blood

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