As long as there have been movies, there have been movie villains. The bad guys of the narrative. The ones you are supposed to root against while the hero kicks their butt. Over the years cinema has given us a number of memorable villains planning a range of dastardly deeds with undisguised glee, which makes it very satisfying to watch them ultimately bite the dust during the climax of the film.
But not every movie villain comes to a sticky end. Occasionally you get movies where the villains end up better off than before, or even straight-up win. Sometimes such an ending leaves the audience feeling dissatisfied, but other times the villain might have had enough character development to actually earn their victory. Let us take a look at a few such movies where the villain gets to have the last laugh.
19 Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs
One of the greatest villain performances of all time is Anthony Hopkins playing the role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Yet, despite getting an Oscar for the part, Hopkins is not the main villain of the movie. That role is fulfilled by a serial killer named Buffalo Bill, who is the center of an investigation by the FBI due to the disappearance of several young women.
It is in connection with the investigation that FBI trainee Clarice Starling is forced to seek the help of Doctor Lecter, an expert psychologist who also happens to be a ruthless cannibal. Lecter spends all his time in a prison cell during the consultation at first, but he manages to turn the situation to his advantage near the end, breaking out of prison by murdering the security team overseeing his imprisonment. The film ends with Lecter once again loose in the world, plotting to kill and eat his next victim.
18 Catwoman - The Dark Knight Rises
Chrisopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is often hailed for being different from all the other superhero movies. But one of the biggest ways the trilogy departs from tradition is rarely remarked upon. Which is that it gives a definite end to Bruce Wayne aka Batman's career instead of showing him fighting crime well into his old age, which is what usually happens in the comics and cartoons.
In The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce has started to feel the toll of years of crime fighting on his body. While fighting his greatest enemy yet in the form of Bane, Bruce encounters another villain named Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, Bruce and Selina cannot deny their attraction towards each other. In the end, the duo defeat Bane and his army, and Selina gives up her life of crime to settle down with a now-retired Bruce in a foreign country.
17 Iago - The Return of Jafar
1994's Aladdin is generally considered one of the greatest animated movies ever made. A reimaginning of an old Chinese folk tale, the movie features a main villain in the form of the sorcerer Jafar. But Jafar does not work alone. He is aided and abetted by his talking parrot Lago, who is a greedy and cunning bird with a penchant for human riches who actively helps Jafar plot the downfall of the kingdom of Agrabah.
Iago gets trapped along with Jafar in a magic lamp at the end of the movie, but the sequel The Return of Jafar shows the parrot managing to escaping its enchanted prison. Instead of freeing Jafar, Iago elects to team up with the main hero Aladdin and his allies. Although initially hesitant to trust him, the sultan of Agrabah eventually pardons Iago, and the parrot becomes an official member of Aladdin's team as they embark on many adventures together.
16 Darth Vader - Return of the Jedi
One of the most iconic villains in cinema is also one of the medium's most tragic figtures. Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise was a promising Jedi knight who was supposed to bring order to the galaxy. Instead, a series of events and backstage manipulations turn Anakin over to the dark side. He transforms into the dreaded Darth Vader, a Sith warrior with a legendary list of crimes including blowing up an entire planet.
But despite years of criminal behavior, Vader proved there was still some good left in him when he finally turned on his master Emperor Palpatine to save the life of his son Luke. Vader died protecting Luke, but that was not the end of the character. He appears again in Return of the Jediafter having become one with the Force, and smiles proudly at his son while standing alongside other deceased heroes, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
15 Alexander Lemtov - Eurovision
One of the biggest pop culture phenomenons in the world is the Eurovision song contest tournament that takes place every year, attracting some of the most popular artists from around the world to show off their talents in front of millions of viewers. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a 2020 comedy movie staring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdamsthat that explores the world of the contest and the people who take part in it.
The villain of the piece is Alexander Lemtov, a flamboyant Russian singer who seems poised to be the stereotypical foreign villain at first. But as the story unfolds, Lemtov proves to have unexpected depth in his character. He is shown to be dealing with his own issues since his sexual orientation is considered unacceptable in his home country. In the end Lemtov manages to escape the suffocating confines of his life in Russia and sets off to find personal happiness in more congenial locales.
14 Draco Malfoy - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
If you think of the villain of the Harry Potter franchise, the first name that pops into mind is Lord Voldemort, the dreaded Dark Lord who wanted to enslave the wizard world. But the series also features a lot of other villains that inflicted much less damage, but were no less reprehensible. Like Draco Malfoy, a rich, spoiled bully studying alongside Harry and co. at Hogwarts since the start of the series.
Draco regularly belittles the other students at school. He is also openly hateful towards many groups of people like muggles, and eventually joins the Death Eaters in service of Voldemort. But the real world turns out to be much more brutal than Draco had anticipated, and he starts having serious doubts about his allegiance to the Dark Lord. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Draco leaves Voldemort's side and manages to survive the war, and even gets married later. After the war Draco remains wealthy and well-connected and is able to turn his life around despite his long list of crimes.
13 Sandman - Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man is one of the few comic heroes who can give Batman a run for his money when it comes to interesting villains. One such villain is Flint Marko aka The Sandman. The character made his live-action debut in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, where it is revealed that years ago Marko was directly responsible for the death of Spider-Man aka Peter's uncle Ben Parker.
Despite his life as a seasoned criminal, Marko is given a sympathetic backstory involving a broken marriage and a sick daughter. He acts as an adversary to Spider-Man throughout the movie. But in the end, upon discovering that Peter is Spider-Man, Marko reveals that Ben's death had been an accident, and he has been consumed by guilt over the incident ever since. Peter finally decides to forgive Marko, and the latter is allowed to leave unhindered, so he can continue taking care of his daughter.
12 Loki - Thor: Ragnarok
Disney
A recurring complaint about the MCU is that the villains featured in the franchise are rarely as interesting as the heroes. One of the few exceptions to this rule is Loki, who was the main villain in the first Thor movie, as well as the first Avengers movie. In both the films, Loki manages to cause a lot of damage to Asgard and Earth.
But then came Thor: Ragnarok, and Loki unexpectedly found himself in the middle of a redemption arc. He helps Thor escape from prison and the two unite to defeat their evil sister Hela. The film ends with Loki saving the last of the Asgardians and becoming an official member of Thor's entourage as the siblings reforge their familial bond. Unfortunately, the happiness is short-lived, as Loki dies in his very next appearance in Avengers: Infinity War, but still manages to pull off a heroic sacrifice against the main villain Thanos.
11 Gru - Despicable Me
The 2010s was a time when superhero movies were in their golden age. Yet none of the live-action movies were taking the time to show the world from the perspective of the supervillain. Enter 2010's Despicable Me. As the tittle suggests, the film tells the story of a supervillain named Gru, who needs to establish his street cred. So he decides upon the biggest heist of all time: Stealing the moon.
What makes the process all the more complicated is that part of the plan involves adopting three orphan girls. Soon little Edith, Margo, and Agnes arrive at Gru's doorstep. Although he intends to ditch them in a park the moment his plan is completed, Gru unexpectedly finds himself forming a bond with his new daughters. The film ends with Gru giving up a life of supervillainy to become a proper family man and a father figure for the girls.
10 Taskmaster - Black Widow
The MCU had been chugging along for more than a decade before the makers decided to finally give Black Widow a solo movie. There was great excitement among comic book fans when it was announced that the main villain of the story would be Taskmaster, a dangerous character from Marvel Comics who is a mercenary for hire and can mimic the fighting ability of any opponent he encounters.
The movie version of Taskmaster turned out to be quite different from the comics. After being depicted as a ruthless and unstoppable force of destruction for most of the runtime of the film, it is revealed near the end that Taskmaster is actually Antonia, the brainwashed daughter of the main villain. In the climax, Black Widow manages to break Antonia out of her conditioning so she can escape and rebuild her life as a free woman.
9 Anton Chigurh - No Country for Old Men
Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are among the best storytellers Hollywood has ever produced, and one of the best films the duo ever made was 2007's No Country for Old Men. The bleak neo-Western takes a look at the desert cities of West Texas in the '80s. Drug cartels play a deadly game of cat and mouse with the local law enforcement, and above all the proceedings there looms the figure of one Anton Chigurh.
A remorseless psychopath, Chigurh works as a hitman for the cartel. He operates through a twisted code of honor that seeks to bring balance to the world through luck and chance as decided by a flip of a coin. Chigurh commits a lot of mayhem across the movie. But despite leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Chigurh completes his mission of death without facing any sort of consequence beyond a broken arm. It is also indicated at the end that the sheriff in charge of catching Chigurh decides to retire, meaning the assassin is free to continue with his work with impunity.
8 Megamind
Cartoon superhero movies are often a lot closer to the spirit of comics than live-action films because they can be a lot more wacky and over-the-top, and really lean into the absurdity of the underlying premises of superhero mythos. Such is the case with Megamind, a pastiche of Superman stories, but from the point of view of the titular main villain, depicted as a cross between Lex Luthor and Brainiac.
After defeating the superhero defender of their city, Metroman, Megamind believes all his dreams have finally come true. But he is disappointed to find that the absence of Metroman has left his life empty and without direction. Thus Megamind decides to make his own superhero to battle against. Unfortunately, he discovers that it takes more than superpowers to make a superhero. In the end Megamind is able to work through his issues, get rid of the "villain" tag, and find a happy ending as the new protector of his city.
7 Thanos - Avengers: Infinity War
Disney
The first three phases of the MCU wrapped up with the Infinity Gauntlet saga in Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel. The franchise needed a big threat to counter the many heroes in the MCU by that time, and Thanos the Mad Titan more than delivers on that premise. Kicking things off by defeating Thor and Hulk at the same time, Thanos quickly proved he would allow for nothing to stand against him in his quest to find the infinity stones.
The reason behind Thanos' singular mindset was his belief that half of all life in the universe needed to end in order for the rest of the world to thrive. Naturally, this brought Thanos into conflict with the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But despite the might of the entire MCU roster of heroes pitted against him, Infinity War ends with Thanos having completed his mission and retired to a farm to spend the rest of his days in peace.
6 Aladeen - The Dictator
Sacha Baron Cohen delights in creating characters that are as amusing as they are hard to root for. The best example of this is the lead character of General Aladeen, played by Cohen, who appears in the 2012 political satire The Dictator. Aladeen is the supreme leader of the Arab country of Wadiya, and he is strenuously fighting to keep himself in power in the face of international revolt.
A full list of Aladeen's crimes would need a separate article. The movie makes no attempt to hide the fact that Aladeen is an unrepentant monster. Still, he is the protagonist of the story. In the end Aladeen marries the love of his life, and manages to return to power as the ruler of Wadiya. He continues his despotic rule over the country while pretending to be a reformed democrat in front of the rest of the world.
5 Satan - The VVitch
Robert Eggers is one of the most daring filmmakers in the horror genre today, and he proved his mettle early on with his debut movie The VVitch. It tells the story of a group of New England settlers who are driven out of their community and forced to set up a new home at the edge of a forest said to be haunted by witches.
While most of the horrible things that happen in the movie are blamed on the witches, the puppet master behind the whole incident is none other than Satan himself, disguised as a goat named Black Philip. In the end, not only does Satan manage to win by having most of the members of the family destroy each other out of fear and paranoia, but he also succeeds in luring the oldest daughter of the clan, Thomasin, into becoming one of his acolytes alongside the rest of the witches living in the forest.
4 Lily - Thoroughbreds
Movies about teenagers usually focus on how intensely you experience emotions when you're young and struggling to deal with the world at large. But 2017's Thoroughbreds goes in the opposite direction with a female lead named Amanda who is medically incapable of feeling any emotions. Because of this Amanda leads an isolated life to the point that her mother has to pay a classmate to spend time with her. That classmate turns out to be rich, popular, and nerdy Lily.
She and Amanda had been friends at a young age, before drifting apart as teens. Over the course of the movie, Lily and Amanda begin to reconnect and try to see the world through each other's eyes. At least, that is Amanda's aim. As it turns out, Lily was actually looking for someone to pin the blame upon after she kills her father over a personal disagreement. The plan does end up working. Amanda takes the blame for the murder, and Lily is free to continue leading her self-absorbed life without facing any consequences for her actions.
3 Roy/ Aaron - Primal Fear
Edward Norton has carved out a spectacular career as a character actor with leading man potential. The actor's skills as a performer are on full display right from his debut movie Primal Fear, as he manages to more than hold his own onscreen against established movie star Richard Gere. Norton plays Aaron Stampler, a young man accused of murdering a beloved Archbishop.
Gere plays a lawyer named Martin who defends Aaron against the charge. As the case gets explored further, it is revealed that Aaron suffers from a split personality named Roy who is extremely aggressive due to past trauma the young man suffers from. Martin is able to use Roy to prove Aaron's actions are the result of insanity. But in one of cinema's most famous twists, it is finally revealed that "Roy" was a persona Aaron had fabricated to escape punishment, which he is able to do by fooling everyone with his acting, including Martin.
2 Dr. Evil - Austin Powers in Goldmember
One of the greatest pieces of satire in movie history is the Austin Powers franchise, which riffs on old James Bond movies to immensely entertaining comedic effect. While Austin Powers is the Bond-like hero of the series, the true breakout character is Dr. Evil, a bumbling mad scientist at the head of a powerful organization plotting to take over the world.
As his popularity grew, Dr. Evil became an increasingly important part of the franchise with plenty of backstory development. This comes full circle in Austin Powers in Goldmember, where it is revealed that Dr. Evil is actually the long-lost brother of Austin who was stolen by gypsies at a young age. Finding out his true heritage during the climax of the film turns Dr. Evil good again, and he quits his life of crime to reunite with his biological brother and their dad.
1 Joker - The Lego Batman Movie
- Warner Animation Group
Batman and Joker have possibly the most tortured relationship in all of comics. The duo are diametrically opposed in every way, yet they also exert an irresistible attraction towards each other to the point that they might as well be best friends. At least, that is what Joker believes, and he says as much to the Dark Knight in The Lego Batman Movie.
The Clown Prince of Crime feels deeply hurt when Batman forcefully tells him that they are not, and never will be, anything resembling close friends. But then in the third act, after a series of learning moments on Batman's part, he is finally able to admit to Joker that the latter is an important part of his life. The two are thus able to patch up their relationship and come together just in time to save Gotham from certain doom.