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,
00:04or simply did certain things that only a bad guy could dream of,
00:08this bunch of movie quote-unquote heroes were all secretly way more villainous than you may have realized 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.
00:22So with all that said, I am Gareth, this is WhatCulture, and here are 10 good guys who were secretly the villain.
00:2910. Tony Stark, the MCU
00:32The iconic Iron Man known as Tony Stark gave his life to save the entire universe.
00:37But in the time before that heartbreaking sacrifice, this Avenger certainly had more than his fair share of rather villainous moments.
00:45People grow, of course, and a few mistakes along the way don't necessarily make you an irredeemable supervillain.
00:51However, even after Tony realizes the error of his old playboy billionaire ways, and stops making weapons to be sold off,
00:58the founding member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes still did 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 souls.
01:15And remember when Stark just decided to chuck a kid into the middle of a superhuman battle against the likes of Captain America and the gang,
01:21and ultimately put him in all kinds of danger too?
01:24Again, it's not as though Stark was actively looking to cause damage or ruin lives with these choices,
01:29but that doesn't change the fact that his actions were eventually viewed as bad-slash-evil ones by the people who suffered the most because of them.
01:379. Miles Morales, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse
01:40He may be the lead protagonist during both of the masterful Spider-Verse animated pictures,
01:45but after the events of Across the Spider-Verse, there is an argument to be made for Miles Morales actually being one of the series' key antagonists.
01:53Coming into the 2023 flick, fans weren't aware that the spider Miles was bitten by during Into the Spider-Verse wasn't actually from his universe.
02:01It had 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
02:12that kicked off the series of events that resulted in the spot becoming the Spider Society and multiverse's biggest headache.
02:19In other words, had Miles not been painting graffiti in an abandoned subway station with his Uncle Aaron that night,
02:25perhaps fate wouldn't have eventually tried to correct this unplanned bite by having Earth-1610's Peter Parker killed,
02:31the super-powerful spot wouldn't have 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 event of his police captain father being killed
02:44could end up destroying his universe, does that stop Miles trying? Not a chance.
02:49He isn't the villain of his own story, but he would be in the stories of countless innocent souls if the multiverse does ultimately get decimated because of his actions.
03:00Though he may have started out as a rather innocent soul who just wanted to help his pal Gandalf and the rest of the gang get their nasty ring back into the volcano it came from,
03:09Frodo Baggins hadn't half turned into a whiny annoyance by the time The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King reached its dramatic conclusion.
03:16Over the course of his and Samwise Gamgee's quest to get the bling to Mordor, the One Ring began to corrupt the little hobbit.
03:23Baggins continually lashed out at his poor mate during this epic journey,
03:27with Frodo also not even thinking twice about telling his pal to get lost after being easily fooled by the Trixie Gollum.
03:34And even after all that, Sam still refused to give up on his petulant friend, returning to 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 ring 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 the flicks,
03:59and would inadvertently help destroy it after trying to wrestle it back off Gollum afterwards, not before having a finger chewed off,
04:06but he'd already established himself as the secret villain of the rings long before that accidental heroism.
04:117. Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man
04:14Swinging back into spider territory for this next entry, Andrew Garfield's version of the iconic web-slinger
04:20found himself in a rather unenviable position during the Amazing Spider-Man series.
04:25As his girlfriend's father lay dying in front of him, Parker was made to promise Captain George 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 that this was the only way he could ensure his beloved would stay out of harm's way.
04:46Not to mention the fact that breaking a promise you've made to a dead man isn't exactly hero 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,
05:00but Parker still ends 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 of more spidey drama and killed before films end.
05:12And it could have all been avoided had Parker not selfishly decided to ignore a dying man's wishes.
05:20The four sensitive warriors focused on keeping the peace in the galaxy far, far away
05:25may have felt they were the folks fighting the good fight in Star Wars,
05:28but 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 four sensitive youngsters,
05:42the Order would whisk them away from their families as children,
05:45with many not even properly remembering their parents' faces.
05:48That'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 particular,
05:56with the Masters on the Jedi Council doubting the return of the Sith
05:59and being quick to expel Ahsoka Tano from the Order in the Clone Wars animated series.
06:04After she was framed for an attack on the Temple.
06:06I know we're mostly talking about movies here, but it's still worth saying.
06:10And their response when Ahsoka was proved innocent?
06:12They tried to frame the ordeal as a trial that helped turn her into a better Jedi.
06:17The cheek!
06:18They also used Jedi mind tricks to control weak-minded folk,
06:22have a history of lying through their teeth,
06:24certain point of view my ass,
06:26and were even happy to completely bypass a trial and skip straight to executing individuals.
06:31With friends like these, who needs the Sith, right?
06:345. Dr. John Hammond, Jurassic Park
06:37There are those who would be quick to point to the terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex,
06:41chilling Velociraptors,
06:42and 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 and chaos
06:52was the bloke who decided to foolishly create the unbelievable theme park in the first place.
06:56Sure, Dr. John Hammond is very much a loving grandparent
06:59and a man who wanted to bring the joy of witnessing dinosaurs in the flesh to the world.
07:04However, he's also a rather arrogant person,
07:06who didn't stop to think whether what they were trying to achieve on Isla Nublar was ethical,
07:11rushing to unleash prehistoric creatures without bothering to question if it was even the right thing to do.
07:16And while Hammond would also claim to have spared no expense,
07:19it was the fact that stingy businessmen refused to pay the aforementioned Nedry more
07:23that ultimately kicked off the mayhem 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?
07:40During those first few trips to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
07:44the majority of viewers grew to respect and admire the powerful and wise headmaster known as Albus Dumbledore.
07:51However, by the time the Harry Potter series reached its end in 2011,
07:55it had actually become quite 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 under his roof wasn't bad enough,
08:06allowing Harry and Hermione to riskily travel back in time,
08:09allowing an underage student to enter the Triwizard Tournament,
08:12the list really does go on.
08:14The real reason he protected Potter for all those years was about as cold and dreadful as it gets.
08:19It turned out that Dumbledore wasn't looking after young Harry because he cared for the lad.
08:24Nope, he just realised long ago that he was actually likely another one of Voldemort's horcruxes,
08:29and had been manipulating him and raising the lad like a pig for slaughter to die at the proper moment all this time.
08:35Sure, Harry came back from the dead in the end,
08:38but that doesn't change the fact Dumbledore secretly planned for the death of a kid.
08:41Not what you'd call hero behaviour.
08:47There are certainly more than a few rather dark and annoying figures present in the magical experience
08:52that 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 film's main protagonist.
09:00First popping up on screen as an old bloke who had spent years in bed,
09:03due to not quite having the strength to stretch out his legs and support his family,
09:08the second his grandson Charlie 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,
09:17he actually goes on to perform a lively dance number.
09:20After years of not moving a finger to help his family,
09:23and happily smoking tobacco while everyone else struggles.
09:26He also selfishly reacts to the whole golden ticket reveal,
09:29like he was the person who found the damn thing.
09:31Singing, I've got a golden ticket!
09:34When Charlie was clearly the one who discovered the final factory invite,
09:37and simply asked Joe to come along for the ride.
09:40Oh, and there was also that moment when Joe nearly went and got Charlie killed within the factory too.
09:45Directly 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.
09:55Number two, Daniel Hillard, Mrs. Doubtfire.
09:58A father doing everything he can to be a part of his children's life sounds sweet on paper.
10:03However, the more you think about Daniel's actions during the hit dramedy known as Mrs. Doubtfire,
10:08the more you realize that this out-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 ex-wife's property,
10:18something that no doubt will have had quite an effect on his poor kids
10:21once he's revealed as the man underneath the Scottish nanny mask,
10:24Daniel also attempts to meddle with Miranda's relationship with stew,
10:28and almost kills the man by chucking pepper, something he's allergic to, onto his dish at a restaurant.
10:34Karma strikes back after that last act at least,
10:36with Daniel's mask literally slipping after performing the Heimlich Maneuver.
10:40But all of the freaky damage had already been done.
10:43And after all that, Miranda still ultimately forgives him,
10:45and gives the madman joint custody of their children.
10:48Would it have been so hard to have just been a good dad and earn your way back into their lives that way?
10:53Apparently so.
10:56During the frequently spectacular dive into the world of dreams known as Inception,
11:01extractor Dom Cobb is found risking it all to get back home to his children.
11:05And while that may seem like a pretty noble motivation for this information thief,
11:09the truth behind why Dom is forced to keep running,
11:12and performing these dangerous jobs, is a little more complicated.
11:16Early on, it's established that the projection of Dom's late wife, Mal,
11:19keeps threatening to cause chaos within his own mind and the missions he's a part of.
11:24But it's not until later on, after he's agreed to perform Inception on a target,
11:29when Cobb finally confesses to Ariadne, that he actually first performed this act on Mal.
11:34He did so on the back of the two experimenting with dream sharing.
11:38Mal simply refused to return to reality after spending 50 years in this dream state,
11:43which was an hour in reality.
11:44So Dom planted an idea in her subconscious that ultimately convinced her to wake up.
11:49However, when she did, Mal still didn't believe she had broken free from her dream.
11:54And it was her attempts to once again wake herself up,
11:56that eventually resulted in her taking her own life and dying in reality.
12:01So not only did Dom continually and quite selfishly put all of his team at risk,
12:05by not informing them about the real Mal truth,
12:08and also quite illegally infiltrate people's minds for a living,
12:11he also recklessly planted the idea that ultimately led to the death of his wife and the mother of his children.
12:17But at least he got back home, yay!