Here is our list of misunderstood movie villains and why they don’t deserve to be hated!
Every movie whether it’s a superhero film or a drama needs an antagonist or bad guy. However, have you ever though “hey, this guy isn’t all bad, he’s just misunderstood!”. Well, we are right there with you. Here is our list of the 15 most misunderstood movie villains .
Misunderstood Movie Villains
1. Frankenstein’s Monster – Frankenstein
Frankensteins monster, wasn’t really the monster in the movie. Dr. Frankenstein created him using body parts from corpses and strange chemicals. His whole life is unnatural which leads him to be confused and ultimately aggressive.
Not only was his creation surrounded by darkness, he was also rejected and alienated instantly! Dr. Frankenstein abandons his creation/monster which leads him to violence.
2. The Joker – DC Comics
Sure, The Joker become a homicidal clown maniac, but only because his mental illness left him rejected from society. Joaquin Pheonix’s portrayal of The Joker gives us a sympathetic view point of the poor treatment of the mentally ill and impoverished.
His origin story is really sad and depressing. He was abandoned by his true father and Batman who is not only his enemy is his half brother as well!
3. Severus Snape – Harry Potter
Severus Snap is dark, gloomy and has ties to Lord Voldemort. However, that’s not all he is. He was a misunderstood kid, who was bullied by his crushes new boyfriend. That’s got to suck.
Not only that, he ends up saving Harry Potter multiple times despite hating his father. He also tried to save the entire Potter family but was only able to save Harry. Snape spent the rest of his life trying to make up for his Death Eater past and eventually died for it.
4. Harley Quinn – DC Comics
Another example of how mental illness is villainized. She had a psychotic episode and fell in love with The Joker, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person.
The Joker takes advantage of her and the only real love she knows is abuse. In her new movie Bird of Prey she even claims to be a good guy!
5. Maleficent – Sleeping Beauty
In the Maleficent movie it explains her very justified reason for her anger and evil behaviour. Not only did the love of her life completely betray her and took her wings!
She cast a sleeping spell on his daughter as an act of revenge, maybe that was wrong. She probably should have just kept it between herself and the king, but her anger is justifiable.
6. Jason Voorhees – Friday the 13th
Ok, so yes he is psychotic and undead but his story is also sad. Not only was he tormented and bullied, he was also drowned by those very same bullies!
He is mentally still a child even though he is a massive, undead adult. Additionally, he doesn’t have the best role models. His mother not only was a killer herself, but he thinks his mom is telling him to kill when it is actually Freddy Krueger pulling the strings!
7. Yzma – The Emperor’s New Groove
Emperor Kusco fires Yzma because she was old! She was in her right to defend that, however poisoning him may have been extreme. Yzma did everything for him and in return he fired her for basically no reason at all.
8. Sharpay Evans – High School Musical
Sharpay may be stuck up but she was hard working, talented and determined. Her and Ryan worked hard to be in every musical production, then Troy and Gabriella come in and get the leading roles with no experience.
Additionally, Sharpay hooked Troy up with interviews and opportunities. She wasn’t a bad person, she just had a bad attitude.
9. Carrie White – Carrie
Although Carrie did burn down the prom and kill basically everyone in the school, she didn’t really mean to do it. She was horribly abused by not only her peers at school but also by her mother.
When she gains these new powers, she has literally no control over them. If Carrie was an X-Men movie, she would be at Charles Xaviers School For Gifted Youngsters.
10. Miranda Priestly – The Devil Wears Prada
Why is it that women in power are always bad guys? Miranda Priestly is a perfect example of this. A Hard working, powerful and successful woman who knows what she wants and when she wants it.
Sure, she was hard on her employees but that is because she worked so hard for her own career. She saw potential in Andy and even after Andy deserted her during Paris Fashion Week, she still wrote glowing recommendation letters for her.
11. Catwoman – Batman Returns
Not only was Michelle Pfeiffer hilarious in this role, she wasn’t a bad guy! She was mistreated and looked down upon by her male bosses. Not only was her boss abusive, he literally tried to murder her.
Her only fault is that she tries to kill that man who tried to kill her. She is just taking justice into her own hands!
12. John Kramer – Saw
Saw might be gory and brutal but its all for the greater good. The people in the saw traps were all pretty awful. His plans also worked a lot of the time. The ones who escaped become better members of society.
In most of the saw movies the whole premise was team work, listening and to let go of selfish behaviour. It may be a completely psychotic method but it worked like 50% of the time.
13. Ursula – The Little Mermaid
Ursula was kicked out of Atlantica for reasons that are largely unknown and decides that she is going to teach people a lesson. People or sea creatures ask her for help because they want to change their appearance. If anything she offers lessons of why it is important to love yourself!
14. Loki – Thor
He is the God of mischief, but he isn’t all bad. He is not only constantly over shadowed by his younger brother, he is told he will never have the throne of Asgard.
Not only that, he is told he was adopted from the frost giants, which are the enemies of Asgard. Everyone always looks down on him because of his mischievous behaviour but his magical abilities are largely underrated.
15. Kyle Ren – Star Wars
He was receiving Jedi training from Luke Skywalker but because Luke senses a little darkness in him, he tries to kill him! Not only that, his parents completely abandoned him.
He wasn’t born evil, he was shaped by the people around him. When he was looking for community and love he unfortunately fell into the dark side.
Who do you think are misunderstood movie villains?
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