By Vishal Sangwan
The best movie villains are driven by some motive, a motive that gives their character depth.
Here is a list of 10 such Iconic Villains and their motives
Joker – Anarchy
“Some people just want to watch the world burn.” That’s very true for the crime prince of Gotham. Joker isn’t a rational man and cannot be reasoned with, he wants to bring out the evil in people. All he wants to do is cause chaos and confusion. And like all clowns, he wants to put a smile on everyone’s face.
Gollum – Greed
Gollum, a small-slimy creature, is Smeagol’s evil split personality that takes over due to his prolonged use of the ring. Gollum is torn between his lust for the ring and his desire to be free of it. He is so obsessed with ring that he starts referring to it as “my precious”.
Loki – Jealousy
The charming half-brother of Thor, Loki was always too competitive and from a young age started feeling jealous of Thor’s feats. The God of Mischief did not want to live in Thor’s shadow and wanted the throne and the glory that comes with it. Upon knowing he is adopted, he decided to take things in his own hands.
Darth Vader – Power
After failing to save his wife, Anakin believes he needs to be more powerful and turns to the dark side in his quest. Upon becoming a Sith lord, he, like all Siths, craved power and desired to rule the whole Galaxy.
Max Cady – Revenge
Max Cady is a despicable man, sentenced to prison for rape and battery. He finds out the sentence could have been reduced, had the lawyer Sam Bowden not buried the evidence. Enraged, Max starts studying law in prison and once out he wants nothing but revenge on Sam and his family. A possessed Max, played by Robert De Niro, makes Sam’s life more than just miserable as he is always lurking around somewhere.
Lord Voldemort – Immortality
Voldemort had become one of the most powerful and feared sorcerer who ever lived and so that’s what he wanted – to live forever. Voldemort was so dedicated to achieving immortality that he split parts of his soul to create horcruxes by committing the heinous act of murder.
Amy Dunne – Betrayal
Amy finds out about her husband’s affair and believes it to be the reason for her marriage falling apart. She is a cold woman who devices a plan to frame her husband for her murder and disappears.
Thanos – Save the Planet
Thanos truly believed that humanity cannot sustain for long and thus decided to take matters in his own hands by swiping out half of it. There is a theory that he did so to save earth from Galactus, as the energy sent out from earth was too high and would attract the planet-eating Galactus for a feast.
Magneto – Acceptance
Magneto’s fight is against humans because of how they have treated mutants time and again. He does not believe in humanity now and sees them as the enemy. All Magneto wants is acceptance for mutants even if it means human extinction.
Ivan Drago – “Defeat all men”
Ivan Drago was a brutal boxer who won his matches by beating his opponents up badly. ‘If he dies, he dies” is what Ivan believed and he did kill with his bare hands. He was trained to win all his fights via KO. And of course, like most Hollywood villains, he was Russian.
Now that we know their motives, how different would the story look if it were shown from their perspective?
