Prepare to be chilled to the bone as we delve into the dark origins of cinema's most infamous villains. From tragic betrayals to horrific experiments, these backstories reveal the complex motivations behind some of the most iconic antagonists in film history. Discover how seemingly ordinary characters were transformed into the villains we love to hate.
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00:00Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most devastating reasons
00:11movie villains turned evil.
00:13Spoilers ahead, so tread carefully.
00:20Number 10.
00:21Maleficent, Maleficent.
00:22Disney's animated Sleeping Beauty features what is easily one of the most iconic villains
00:36in Maleficent, the witch who puts the sleeping curse on Princess Aurora.
00:40Re-framing the fairy tale from the antagonist's point of view, this origin story gives a shockingly
00:46powerful reason for her hatred for the girl.
00:48Maleficent is a misunderstood fairy.
00:51Once in love with a young and ambitious Stefan, he betrays her in order to become king.
00:56Stefan even drugs her and cuts off her wings to attain his goal.
01:07Despite its fantasy trappings, it's an incredibly tragic scene that holds a lot of disturbing
01:12subtext.
01:13Disney's performance in the scene is simply shattering.
01:29Number 9.
01:30Severus Snape, Harry Potter Franchise.
01:41Severus Snape's arc is a wild ride, with most of its sharpest turns in the last three
01:46installments of the series.
01:48He reveals himself to be on the side of Lord Voldemort, only for the truth to be far more
01:53complicated and heartbreaking.
01:55With his dying breaths, he transfers his memories of Harry's deceased mother Lily.
02:01Much of his hatred for Harry stems from his hatred for his father James, who tormented
02:05him and yet one Lily whom Snape deeply loved.
02:09He carried that love and the regrets associated with it all these years.
02:14And knowing this, a lot of his actions suddenly make so much sense.
02:18His last words about Harry having his mother's eyes still have fans weeping all these years
02:24later.
02:29Number 8.
02:30Godzilla, Godzilla Franchise.
02:36Exploding onto the scene in a 1954 Japanese film, the menacing kaiju creature is known
02:42for stomping through cities and sinking ships, but Godzilla's story is steeped in a painful
02:47history.
02:48The scientists fighting to stop it realize that the creature has been powered by ongoing
02:53H-bomb testing.
02:55Given the horrors of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the atomic breathed
03:00creature becomes a metaphor for the Pandora's box opened by these devastating weapons.
03:12While many of the modern American versions of the story have downplayed its original
03:16and possibly controversial origins, the true circumstances of Godzilla's creation have
03:21a profound impact.
03:40Number 7.
03:41Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
03:46Based on a musical that was in turn based on a penny dreadful about a murderous barber
03:59and the woman who makes meat pies of his victims, Johnny Depp stars as the vengeful Sweeney
04:04Todd.
04:05Some of his backstory is even a mystery to him until Mrs. Lovett fills in the blanks.
04:10Her solo, Poor Thing, reveals what happened after the treacherous Judge Turpin sent Todd
04:16away on trumped up charges.
04:18His wife Lucy was preyed upon by the judge in his absence and he took Todd's daughter
04:23as his own.
04:31Todd devotes the rest of his days to getting his revenge and honestly, it's hard to blame
04:36him.
04:43Number 6.
04:44Killmonger, Black Panther, Marvel's epic superhero film introduced millions to Wakanda.
04:57The incredibly advanced nation in the middle of Africa maintains its power and unity by
05:02shutting itself away from the world.
05:04Eric Killmonger Stevens' father was a Wakandan agent but eventually used the country's prized
05:11technology to help oppressed people outside Wakanda.
05:27Eric's father is murdered as a result, causing Killmonger to live a rough childhood thereafter,
05:33alienated from his homeland.
05:35This isolation from everything his father knew coupled with his death makes him cold
05:40and vengeful and the movie makes us watch that happen.
05:43It gives the ideological tensions of the entire movie equal weight.
05:58Number 5.
05:59Carrie White, Carrie
06:10You might argue that some characters on this list aren't villains but are pushed to villainy
06:15by extreme circumstances.
06:18Carrie White is one such example.
06:20While her merciless reign of fire and revenge on her senior prom is absolutely cold-blooded,
06:25much of the movie follows her as she endures pitiless tormenting from everyone in her life.
06:39This treatment has clearly been going on her entire life and the fateful prom is just
06:44the culmination.
06:45If it were just her classmates, it would be one thing but even her own mother gets in
06:50on the action.
06:51By the end, she's so twisted up that even the people who showed her kindness look like
06:56enemies to her.
07:06Number 4.
07:07Arthur Fleck, The Joker, Joker
07:14Todd Phillips' gonzo reinterpretation of the classic Batman villain is not your typical
07:19superhero movie.
07:20It's more a character study of one man's descent into madness after years of social isolation
07:26and mistreatment.
07:27Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for playing Arthur Fleck, the aspiring stand-up comedian with
07:32a neurological disorder brought about by abuse.
07:36Things go from bad to worse for him, leading him to murder and terrorism and inspiring
07:42a city-wide descent into chaos and lawlessness.
07:50It's a far cry from the cartoonish villainy of Jack Nicholson's Joker and goes even further
07:55than the parental cruelty suffered by Heath Ledger's version of the character.
07:59Ledger's vision for the iconic villain is far more savage and far more terrifyingly
08:05realistic.
08:08Number 3.
08:09Magneto, X-Men Franchise
08:18Professor X believes mutants should assimilate into larger society.
08:22Magneto is convinced that mutants are a superior race who must violently assert their power.
08:28Magneto's viewpoint takes on a new and profoundly uncomfortable dimension when we know Magneto's
08:34early life in Nazi-occupied Poland.
08:36Originally known as Erich Lencher, he lived through the Holocaust.
08:41His family, however, did not, with his mother being killed right in front of him.
08:46This experience has clearly had a profound effect on his view of morality.
08:54Full of rage and vengeance, he has no patience for mutants who seem convinced that people
08:59and mutants can live in harmony.
09:01When you've seen the hate he has seen firsthand, it's not hard to figure out why.
09:19Number 2.
09:20Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West
09:23Wicked Part 1
09:31The Wizard of Oz isn't too interested in humanizing the Wicked Witch.
09:35She isn't even given a name before she's melted in the original.
09:39It would take decades for Elphaba to get that name, let alone a story of her own.
09:44Adapted from the Broadway musical, Wicked tells the story of Elphaba and Glinda the
09:48Good Witch's relationship before Dorothy.
09:51Elphaba is an outcast from the start, for both her green skin and her social awkwardness.
09:57While Glinda eventually takes a liking to her, their friendship was torn apart by politics
10:02and romantic rivalry.
10:11Elphaba is cast as a villain, but in fact frequently holds the moral high ground.
10:16Back to incredible, shiver-inducing music, the entire reinterpretation of her story is
10:21enough to give us goosebumps for days.
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10:44Number 1.
10:46Frankenstein's Monster – Frankenstein For years, Frankenstein's Monster has been
10:57thought of as a lumbering ghoul terrorizing rural villages, but that's not even half
11:02the story.
11:03Since Boris Karloff donned the makeup in the most well-known version of Mary Shelley's
11:08sci-fi horror classic, his expressive eyes have made us second-guess our fear of the
11:12character.
11:21Think about it.
11:22Imagine waking up as a collection of body parts by a father who doesn't want you,
11:26and everyone who sees you runs from your hideousness.
11:29He's essentially a newborn babe in the body of a grown man, but with no one to teach
11:34him how to behave or control himself.
11:36It's a torturous existence made even more torturous by his creator Dr. Frankenstein's
11:42palace abandonment.
11:51Which of these backstories got to you?
11:53Tell us in the comments.
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