10 Good Guys Who Were Secretly The Villain
Those sneaky hobitsies, space wizards, and dream walkers who were actually the bad guys all along.
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00:00Whether they were aware of just how much chaos they were causing or not, or simply did certain
00:05things that only a bad guy could dream of, this bunch of movie quote-unquote heroes were
00:11all secretly way more villainous than you may have realised during a first watch.
00:16Oh yeah, and just a special thank you to GeekDaddy75's tweet on X that inspired this very list too.
00:23So with all that said, I am Gareth, this is WhatCulture, and here are 10 Good Guys Who
00:27Were Secretly The Villain.
00:2910.
00:30Tony Stark, The MCU The iconic Iron Man known as Tony Stark gave
00:35his life to save the entire universe.
00:37But in the time before that heartbreaking sacrifice, this Avenger certainly had more
00:42than his fair share of rather villainous moments.
00:45People grow, of course, and a few mistakes along the way don't necessarily make you
00:49an irredeemable supervillain.
00:51However, even after Tony realises the error of his old playboy billionaire ways, and stops
00:56making weapons to be sold off, the founding member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes still
01:01did some rather questionable stuff over the years.
01:04There was that time he ignorantly helped create Ultron in an attempt to keep the planet safe,
01:09with that move almost leading to the population's destruction and still killing many innocent
01:14souls.
01:15And remember when Stark just decided to chuck a kid into the middle of a superhuman battle
01:19against the likes of Captain America and the gang, and ultimately put him in all kinds
01:23of danger too?
01:24Again, it's not as though Stark was actively looking to cause damage or ruin lives with
01:28these choices, but that doesn't change the fact that his actions were eventually viewed
01:32as bad-slash-evil ones by the people who suffered the most because of them.
01:379.
01:38Miles Morales – Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse He may be the lead protagonist during both
01:42of the masterful Spider-Verse animated pictures, but after the events of Across the Spider-Verse,
01:48there is an argument to be made for Miles Morales actually being one of the series'
01:52key antagonists.
01:53Going into the 2023 flick, fans weren't aware that the spider Miles was bitten by
01:58during Into the Spider-Verse wasn't actually from his universe.
02:01He'd been pulled into Earth-1610 by a pre-spot Jonathan Owen during a collider test.
02:07The fact this Earth-42 spider then bit Morales led to him becoming the original anomaly that
02:12kicked off the series of events that resulted in the spot becoming the Spider Society and
02:17multiverse's biggest headache.
02:19In other words, had Miles not been painting graffiti in an abandoned subway station with
02:23his Uncle Aaron that night, perhaps fate wouldn't have eventually tried to correct this unplanned
02:28bite by having Earth-1610's Peter Parker killed, the super-powerful spot wouldn't
02:33have been created, and the multiverse wouldn't be in danger of falling apart.
02:37And also, despite being told by the Spider Society that trying to stop the incoming canon
02:41event of his police captain father being killed could end up destroying his universe, does
02:46that stop Miles trying?
02:48Not a chance.
02:49He isn't the villain of his own story, but he would be in the stories of countless
02:53innocent souls if the multiverse does ultimately get decimated because of his actions.
02:588.
02:59Frodo Baggins – The Lord of the Rings Though he may have started out as a rather
03:02innocent soul who just wanted to help his pal Gandalf and the rest of the gang get the
03:06nasty ring back into the volcano it came from, Frodo Baggins hadn't half turned into a
03:11whiny annoyance by the time The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King reached its dramatic
03:15conclusion.
03:16Over the course of his and Samwise Gamgee's quest to get the bling to Mordor, the One
03:20Ring began to corrupt the little hobbit.
03:23Baggins continually lashed out at his poor mate during this epic journey, with Frodo
03:28also not even thinking twice about telling his pal to get lost after being easily fooled
03:32by the Trixie Gollum.
03:34And even after all that, Sam still refused to give up on his petulant friend, returning
03:38to literally carry the increasingly annoying Baggins up Mount Doom.
03:42What was Gamgee's reward for being the real hero of this story?
03:46Frodo having a properly villainous change of heart at the last minute, and popping the
03:50ring on his finger after rejecting the idea of dumping it in the lava.
03:54Sure, poor Frodo did have to deal with carrying a poisonous burden no one else could throughout
03:59the flicks, and would inadvertently help destroy it after trying to wrestle it back off Gollum
04:03afterwards, not before having a finger chewed off, but he'd already established himself
04:07as the secret villain of the rings long before that accidental heroism.
04:117.
04:13Parker the Amazing Spider-Man
04:14Swinging back into spider territory for this next entry, Andrew Garfield's version of
04:19the iconic web-slinger found himself in a rather unenviable position during the Amazing
04:23Spider-Man series.
04:25As his girlfriend's father lay dying in front of him, Parker was made to promise Captain
04:29George Stacey that he would not continue seeing his daughter.
04:33This would help keep Gwen safe from the dangers being associated with Spider-Man could bring.
04:38So while it would unquestionably be a tough decision, Peter must have known deep down
04:42that this was the only way he could ensure his beloved would stay out of harm's way.
04:47Not to mention the fact that breaking a promise you've made to a dead man isn't exactly
04:50hero behaviour either.
04:52But does that stop Parker from ultimately going back on his word one film later?
04:56Nope.
04:57Sure, they do eventually break things off at one point in the sequel, but Parker still
05:00ends up professing his love for Gwen as the pair go on to plan a life together in England.
05:05All this leads to the heartbreaking moment Gwen inevitably gets caught in the middle
05:09of more Spidey drama and killed before film's end.
05:12And it could have all been avoided had Parker not selfishly decided to ignore a dying man's
05:17wishes.
05:186.
05:19The Jedi – Star Wars The Force-sensitive warriors focused on keeping
05:22the peace in the galaxy far, far away may have felt they were the folks fighting the
05:26good fight in Star Wars, but the Jedi Order certainly weren't perfect by any means.
05:31In fact, there were times there when they were downright villainous.
05:34Just look at the way they recruited the next generation of potential Jedi Knights and Masters.
05:39After searching the galaxy for Force-sensitive youngsters, the Order would whisk them away
05:43from their families as children, with many not even properly remembering their parents'
05:48faces.
05:49That's rather cruel whatever way you slice it with a lightsaber.
05:51They were also extremely arrogant and rash around the time of the prequel trilogy in
05:55particular, with the Masters on the Jedi Council doubting the return of the Sith and being
06:00quick to expel Ahsoka Tano from the Order in the Clone Wars animated series.
06:04After she was framed for an attack on the Temple – I know we're mostly talking about
06:08movies here, but it's still worth saying – and their response when Ahsoka was proved
06:12innocent, they tried to frame the ordeal as a trial that helped turn her into a better
06:16Jedi.
06:17The cheek!
06:18They also used Jedi mind tricks to control weak-minded folk, have a history of lying
06:23through their teeth – certain point of view, my ass – and were even happy to completely
06:27bypass a trial and skip straight to executing individuals.
06:31With friends like these, who needs the Sith, right?
06:355.
06:36Dr. John Hammond – Jurassic Park
06:37There are those who would be quick to point to the terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex, chilling
06:41Velociraptors and the selfish Dennis Nedry as the iconic Jurassic Park's true villains.
06:46But you've always known, deep down, the person truly responsible for all of the death
06:51and chaos was the bloke who decided to foolishly create the unbelievable theme park in the
06:55first place.
06:56Sure, Dr. John Hammond is very much a loving grandparent, and a man who wanted to bring
07:00the joy of witnessing dinosaurs in the flesh to the world.
07:04However, he's also a rather arrogant person, who didn't stop to think whether what they
07:08were trying to achieve on Isla Nublar was ethical, rushing to unleash prehistoric creatures
07:13without bothering to question if it was even the right thing to do.
07:16And while Hammond would also claim to have spared no expense, it was the fact that stingy
07:20businessmen refused to pay the aforementioned Nedry more that ultimately kicked off the
07:24mayhem that led to numerous fatalities.
07:27Put simply, here was a guy who selfishly chose to wield a power he didn't fully understand,
07:32playing God in order to make money from the return of the dinos.
07:35At least he learned his lesson by film's end, though, eh?
07:41During those first few trips to Hogwarts' school of witchcraft and wizardry, the majority
07:45of viewers grew to respect and admire the powerful and wise headmaster known as Albus
07:50Dumbledore.
07:51However, by the time the Harry Potter series reached its end in 2011, it had actually become
07:55quite difficult to class the mighty wizard as an out-and-out hero.
07:59If the fact that he routinely put his students in serious danger whilst they were being educated
08:04under his roof wasn't bad enough, allowing Harry and Hermione to riskily travel back
08:08in time, allowing an underage student to enter the Triwizard Tournament, the list really
08:13does go on.
08:14The real reason he protected Potter for all those years was about as cold and dreadful
08:18as it gets.
08:20It turned out that Dumbledore wasn't looking after young Harry because he cared for the
08:23lad.
08:24He'd just realised long ago that he was actually likely another one of Voldemort's
08:28horcruxes, and had been manipulating him and raising the lad like a pig for slaughter to
08:33die at the proper moment all this time.
08:35Sure, Harry came back from the dead in the end, but that doesn't change the fact Dumbledore
08:39secretly planned for the death of a kid.
08:41Not what you'd call hero behaviour.
08:433.
08:44Grandpa Joe, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
08:47There are certainly more than a few rather dark and annoying figures present in the magical
08:51experience that is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
08:54But arguably the most villainous of the lot can regularly be found by the side of the
08:58film's main protagonist.
09:00First popping up on screen as an old bloke who had spent years in bed, due to not quite
09:04having the strength to stretch out his legs and support his family, the second his grandson
09:09Charlie returned with a golden ticket, something miraculous happens to Grandpa Joe.
09:14Not only does Joe suddenly discover the strength to wiggle out of bed, he actually goes on
09:18to perform a lively dance number.
09:20After years of not moving a finger to help his family, and happily smoking tobacco while
09:25everyone else struggles, he also selfishly reacts to the whole golden ticket reveal like
09:29he was the person who found the damn thing, singing I've got a golden ticket, when Charlie
09:34was clearly the one who discovered the final factory invite and simply asked Joe to come
09:39along for the ride.
09:40Oh, and there was also that moment when Joe nearly went and got Charlie killed within
09:43the factory too, directly disobeying Wonka's orders not to consume the fizzy-lifting drinks
09:49and foolishly putting his grandson in serious danger after thinking he was above the rules.
09:54What a role model!
09:552.
09:56Daniel Hillard – Mrs Doubtfire A father doing everything he can to be a part
10:00of his children's life sounds sweet on paper, however the more you think about Daniel's
10:05actions during the hit dramedy known as Mrs Doubtfire, the more you realise that this
10:09out-of-work voice actor was actually a bit of a bad'un.
10:12On top of creepily dressing up and pretending to be a nanny in order to trespass on his
10:16ex-wife's property, something that no doubt will have had quite an effect on his poor
10:21kids once he's revealed as the man underneath a Scottish nanny mask, Daniel also attempts
10:25to meddle with Miranda's relationship with stew, and almost kills the man by chucking
10:30pepper something he's allergic to onto his dish at a restaurant.
10:34Karma strikes back after that last act at least, with Daniel's mask literally slipping
10:38after performing the Heimlich manoeuvre, but all of the freaky damage had already been
10:43And after all that, Miranda still ultimately forgives him, and gives the madman joint custody
10:47of their children.
10:48Would it have been so hard to have just been a good dad and earn your way back into their
10:52lives that way?
10:53Apparently so.
10:541.
10:55Dom Cobb – Inception During the frequently spectacular dive into
10:58the world of dreams known as Inception, extractor Dom Cobb is found risking it all to get back
11:04home to his children, and while that may seem like a pretty noble motivation for this information
11:09thief, the truth behind why Dom is forced to keep running and performing these dangerous
11:13jobs is a little more complicated.
11:16Early on it's established that the projection of Dom's late wife Mol keeps threatening
11:20to cause chaos within his own mind and the missions he's a part of, but it's not until
11:25later on, after he's agreed to perform Inception on a target, when Cobb finally confesses to
11:30Ariadne that he actually first performed this act on Mol.
11:34He did so on the back of the two experimenting with dream sharing.
11:38Mol simply refused to return to reality after spending 50 years in this dream state, which
11:43was an hour in reality, so Dom planted an idea in her subconscious that ultimately convinced
11:48her to wake up.
11:49However when she did, Mol still didn't believe she had broken free from her dream, and it
11:54was her attempts to once again wake herself up that eventually resulted in her taking
11:58her own life and dying in reality.
12:01So not only did Dom continually and quite selfishly put all of his team at risk by not
12:05informing them about the real Mol truth, and also quite illegally infiltrate people's
12:10minds for a living, he also recklessly planted the idea that ultimately led to the death
12:15of his wife and the mother of his children.
12:17But at least he got back home, yay!