Though many movies focus on the adventures of their heroes, it is also true that they often rely on the villain to anchor the story. In fact, it is often the case that it is the villain, more than the protagonist, who manages to steal the show, drawing the viewer in and demonstrating just how compelling and attractive villainy often is.
While many villainous performances rely on established (and often worn out) tropes, it is also the case that there are many that do not. In fact, the users of Reddit have helpfully identified a number of villain scenes that manage to break new ground.
Commodus - Gladiator (2000)
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Gladiator remains one of the best movies set in ancient Rome. With its story about a general who becomes a gladiator, it is the traditional hero’s journey story. However, the movie’s villain, Commodus, is a fascinating and cruel figure, someone willing to destroy anyone, even his own family, who oppose his rule.
AManInACape, notes: “Back to back scenes, “Am I not merciful!?” scene to his sister and then his final speech to Maximus.” These scenes are unsettling precisely because they work against the restrictive tropes of villainy. Commodus isn't just the cardboard cutout of a Roman emperor seen elsewhere. Instead, he is motivated by his own twisted psychology and relationship with his family.
Hannibal Lecter - Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Streaming On fuboTV and AMC+
Anthony Hopkins has been in many great roles, but Hannibal Lecter remains one of his most notable and one of his best. The scene in which he meets Clarice is a truly remarkable moment of performance as it shows just how charismatic and dangerous he is.
As one Reddit user notes, this scene “Sets the whole mood for the rest of film and cements Lecter as a legendary villain.” Other movies would probably have relied on the trope of the villain just being this sinister enigma. Instead, Hopkins gives viewers someone with infinite charm and charisma, as enchanting as he is disturbingly deadly.
The Joker - The Dark Knight (2008)
Streaming On HBO Max
Before his early death, Heath Ledger had shown that he was one of Hollywood’s finest actors, and he was in many great roles. One of his most enduring is that of the Joker in The Dark Knight, and he makes the character into something indelibly disturbing, a person determined and willing to spread chaos wherever he is.
Moviessuck writes: “Heath Ledger's first appearance as The Joker in The Dark Knight was something else on first viewing in the cinema.” His is now the characterization against which most other interpretations of the Joker are measured, precisely because of its uniqueness. Rather than just following the trope of the villain being deranged (or campy, as in some other iterations of the character), Ledger creates someone who eludes all attempts to understand or pigeonhole him.
Thorwald - Rear Window (1954)
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Alfred Hitchcock was one of Hollywood’s most well-respected directors, famous for producing many movies that stand the test of time. Rear Window is one of his best, and if features a chilling performance from Raymond Burr as Thorwald, a man who murders his wife. We-are-all-monsters observes the moment in which he is sitting in his apartment, “sitting there in the dark, smoking. With every drag, all you can see is the glow of the cherry.”
It’s a chilling moment, all the more so because it doesn’t rely on the sort of reductive tropes one usually associates with villains and their actions. He isn't just a sinister blank space, something that viewers can project themselves onto, but instead riddled with complexity, a man who has murdered his wife but still, somehow, seems tormented by what he's done.
John Ryder - The Hitcher (1986)
Streaming On HBO Max
Rutger Hauer brings a piercing, sinister energy to his character of John Ryder in the movie The Hitcher, in which the title character proves to be a terrifying force. There are many things that help to make this performance of villainy one of the most notable in the movies.
As one Reddit user notes, “Rutger Hauer was a master of intimidation,” particularly when he holds a knife to a kid’s eye. Rather than relying on stereotypes or other limiting depictions--which would have made him either a camp figure or just one-dimensional archetype of evil--Hauer makes the character into something new and fascinating, and for this reason the movie manages to terrorize the viewer as much as the characters within it.
Harry Powell - The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
Streaming On Tubi and PlutoTV
The Night of the Hunter is an underrated classic Hollywood movie. It is notable for its unsettling atmosphere and, in particular, for Robert Mitchum’s character of Harry Powell, a preacher who terrorizes and pursues two children in the pursuit of money.
NoHandBananaNo focuses in particular on the scene in which he is singing outside of the house while the children look on, writing “Robert Mitchum singing outside the house in Night of the Hunter has a similar feeling as the NCFOM [No Country for Old Men] scene, to me.” As with so many other great villains, Powell is something more than just an agent of chaos (one of the most enduring tropes of evil). Instead, he is the embodiment of evil itself, someone as convinced of his own righteousness as he is of his right to the hidden wealth.
Jack Torrance - The Shining (1980)
Streaming On HBO Max
There have been many strong adaptations of Stephen King’s works, and one of the most notable is The Shining. In large part, this is because of the sinister charisma of Jack Nicholson’s character Jack Torrance, who has a demented energy that makes the movie.
SnooChickens2536 has this to say: “I think the sequence at the end of the Shining where Jack Nicholson is completely unhinged including 'Here's Johnny', and the dragging himself around the maze is v memorable.” It was a unique scene at the time, and it remains so, a testament to Nicholson’s skill as an actor. In less capable hands, this villain could have fallen into the trope of the crazed artist, but Nicholson elevates it into something almost sublime. He is mad, yes, but he is also tragic, someone who has fallen into darkness.
Bane - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Streaming On HBO Max
Tom Hardy brought his own powerful charm to the character of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, one of Christopher Nolan’s best movies. DisneyDreams7 notes: “Tom Hardy on the plane introducing himself as Bane. Tom Hardy would have made the perfect Thanos.”
It’s a moment that demonstrates why Hardy was the perfect person to play the character of Bane, as he manages to make the character into something uniquely ominous and sinister, a fitting villain counterpart to Christian Bale’s Batman. He resists the trope of the one-dimensional villain so common in superhero stories, becoming instead a sinister force, someone with his own motivations and sense of self. Viewers may not always like him, but they can't look away from him, either.
Smaug - The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)
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Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy is a fitting follow-up to The Lord of the Rings, and while the trilogy might lack the operatic grandeur of its predecessor, it is notable for its villains. In particular, the dragon Smaug is a terrifying force, in large part because he manages to avoid many of the more limiting tropes associated with this creature.
Dbcanuck agrees, stating that, while “the trilogy was pretty mediocre, but the gold hoard scene was perfect.” It’s a moment that highlights just how powerful Smaug really is. What's more, he's more than just the trope of the dragon hoarding his gold. Instead, as the movie--and his Cumberbatch's performance--make clear, a truly powerful entity in Middle-earth, capable of wreaking great havoc and destruction wherever he goes.
Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood (2007)
Streaming On PlutoTV
There Will Be Blood is a brooding, atmospheric movie about the power of wealth to corrupt and destroy a man and his family. It also features a powerful performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, who brings out the sinister humanity of Daniel Plainview.
Each of his scenes is unique in its own way. Purplejlt focuses in particular on its conclusion, writing: “the final scene in the bowling alley is pretty unforgettable.” It’s a moment in which he finally makes his absolute descent into darkness and depravity, a marker of just how irredeemable he is. In a different movie, Plainview would have just been another cynical and brutal businessman--a trope well-established in popular culture. Instead, he becomes a sort of tragic villain, someone so convinced of his own rightness that he can't see how corrupt and destroyed he's become.