Top 25 Villain Defeats/Deaths

So concluding my series of villains lists (well for the time being anyway), I'd thought to share with you the things that bring their ends which are defeats and or deaths. Of course expect some major spoilers ahead and if there be more than one villain in one franchise or series, only one per franchise or series and it will be from games I've played and films and TV shows that I have watched. So let's get to it:



25 - Tabuu (Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary)

As one Game Theory video has explained, each entry in the Smash Bros. series shows how much work Sakurai has put into each game, but his take on a story mode in Smash Bros. is OK, but I wouldn't go out and say that its great. It has no dialogue so we're left to imagine what the characters would say, but of all the bad guys that all these Nintendo characters have faced (as well as Sonic and Snake of course), I would say Tabuu is the worst of them. I mean from all that I've seen of him, he is effectively a god who has all the power in the world to take down all fighters and even enslave Master Hand who for a while, was the main villain of the series. Ultimately, with all this power, Tabuu had to be stopped and after going through the so called Great Maze, he would then prepare for another attack, only to be stopped by Sonic who until this point, we haven't seen much of. Then the boss battle would take place and then finally, Tabuu is destroyed, the subspace balls return all things in the world back (well expect for the Isle of Ancients) and the fighters look into the light. As I said, its not the best story mode in a fighting game I've played, but considering that at the time it wasn't competing with much, it was OK. But we all knew the minute we saw Tabuu that he had to be stopped at all costs.

24 - Clayton (Tarzan (the Disney version))

Now for a long time, Disney have been known to be quite dark and kill off a number of characters in their films, the mothers and villains especially (though the former was for personal reasons with Walt Disney himself which has since died down in recent times). The battle Tarzan had with Clayton was a near brutal battle, considering that he wanted all the apes to be hunted down like any hunter would. It all ends with one of the most darkest of ways to be killed off, hung by the vines of trees. Now of course this being a Disney film, they wouldn't show that and Clayton instead gets killed off screen, but if you pause at a particular frame in the film, you know how he died. Up until Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Disney would've never shown someone getting hanged, but this is just the tip of the iceberg for the amount of killing off Disney has done over the years so let us continue.

23 - Sauron (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)

I think its fair to say that when Sauron eventually died, everyone was thrilled. The One Ring got destroyed finally after sitting through almost 6 hours of films, Gollom who to this day is one of the best examples of CGI motion capture also finally got his comeuppance and everyone was giving it their all to make sure Sauron didn't succeed and eventually, it worked and Middle-Earth is at peace at long last. Can't say any more than that.

22 - Joffrey Baratheon (Game of Thrones)

Ever since I saw this kid in Game of Thrones, I just wanted him to die. I mean I know he was a king and all that, but just by how much of a dick he was to people, I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one that wanted him dead and finally in season 4, we would finally see this devil child die in a surprisingly not so brutal way, but through the means of poison in wine and I think everyone except his mother, rejoiced. Of all the characters in the show, this one was the one that really got on my nerves so I'm just glad he got what was coming to him.

21 - Bowser (Super Mario Galaxy)

Bowser has been defeated so many times by Mario, but of all the ways he has been defeated, I would say his final appearance in Super Mario Galaxy is his best one. The music and the build up to the fight is epic, the way he gets defeated is pretty spot on and the entire ending of the game is just spectacular, but also a bit confusing too. But at least Game Theory was able to make sense of it in the Mario timeline which I will admit, I didn't think there would be one, but you know these things happen.

20 - Syndrome (The Incredibles)

Syndrome's death in The Incredibles is one that makes what Edna said early on, true. In that wearing capes is bad as it just causes your death if near something like a tornado or in Syndrome's case, the engine of a jet. You just don't wear capes. Its bad. Syndrome is a great villain and all and he is very flamboyant and smart, but wearing a cape, was his downfall as well as underestimating his former idol, Mr Incredible.

19 - Richard "Dick" Jones (RoboCop (1987))

I will say that I did do a old and new post on the two RoboCop films, but thinking about it, the original was the better one as it was more violent and action packed and full of risks, unlike the other film which played it too safe in my point of view. There were plenty of villains that died or were defeated in the original film, but the one I like the most, was Dick's one. Basically, since RoboCop was the big thing, he wanted it destroyed and its creators either fired or killed. Ultimately, his plan almost succeeded if it wasn't for the fact that RoboCop was able to capture footage of his plan and reveal it to the board. But even then, he couldn't take care of Dick because of his 4th directive. That is until Dick's boss tells him that he is fired and then RoboCop took care of him in a pretty brutal way too that is a callback to Dick's own creation brutally murdering an employee early on in the film. Just goes to show that while most technology is stupid, when it becomes more human than machine, you don't want to underestimate it.

18 - Raoul Silva (Skyfall)

James Bond has had so many villains over the years in all his films and of them all, the one villain that I liked when he was killed, was Raoul Silva in Skyfall. Now some of you may say that there are far better villains who have died than him, but as someone who hasn't seen every single Bond film, this really was a no brainer for me. Raoul was a former agent of MI6 who did wrong and his one goal was to be rid of M. So when he infiltrated MI6, it was down to Bond to track him down. Ultimately, he was able to save M and take her to a place where they would have the advantage and in the end, Bond killed Raoul, but even then, Raoul's plan succeeded and M also died. So in a way, this could be one of a few times where a villain's plan did succeed, but not as he/she would've intended so its quite a unique death in its own right.

17 - Agatha Trunchbull (Matilda)

I will say that a lot of people do find that Matilda is far too dear to them which explains why the Nostalgia Critic would never review it. Personally, I like the film, but I wouldn't go out of my way to say that it has a place in my heart because in truth, I think there are far better films out there, though I do admire Danny DeVito's directing talent in this. But the question I have, is why didn't Trunchbull get fired earlier on because of all the torturing she did to her colleagues and students. I mean if I were one of the governors, I would have her sacked before any more damage is done. But in the end, she got what was coming to her and she ran away never to be seen again.

16 - The Shark (Jaws)

The film Jaws is in a way, Spielberg's idea of a thriller/horror film which for a while, had a troubled production, until he decided to do what Alfred Hitchcock did in his films, to make something that we don't see, the more terrifying thing in a film and that's what we got here. Now sharks in general are not the sort of creatures that you would want to hang around with as they feast on meat and flesh. But you know, when you have shark problems on a beach, something has to be done and so a group of individuals would then go out on a boat in the sea to take down this shark and do they succeed? Of course they do, but as anyone who has seen this film knows, because of how big this shark was, they of course will need a bigger boat.

15 - Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi)

In truth, Jar Jar Binks is the true villain in the Star Wars saga in that it was he who gave Palpatine emergency powers, letting him take control of the Senate and dispose of the Jedi using the Clone army that he controls, ultimately being aided by Anakin who served him under the name Darth Vader. But it wasn't until Obi-Wan almost killed him on a fiery planet that Anakin was truly dead and gave in to Darth Vader. From that point on, the so called chosen one would take control of the empire under the wing of Sidious (Palpatine's true identity) and would oversee the construction of the first and second Death Star and kill more Jedi in the process. In the end however, Vader did everything that Palpatine asked of him, but seeing his son getting tortured, was when Anakin's spirit inside Vader, told him to throw Palpatine out of the Death Star, killing him and himself while fulfilling his destiny. In a way, I can be sympathetic with Vader in that he has gone through so much loss, hate and rage that made him be the way he is until that one moment in Return of the Jedi where he came to his senses and did the right thing to save his son. Now if only he could've done the same with Leia who he interrogated and blew up her planet. Well I guess some things can never change.

14 - Frank Grimes (The Simpsons)

The Simpsons have had many enemies such as President Bush, Mr. Burns and of course the most consistent of them all, Slideshow Bob. But Frank Grimes I would say, is the worst of them. He enters a town where everyone kind of lacks some form of intelligence (with some exceptions) and seems to not understand why Homer is the way he is and why he does a bad job at what he does. So through all that, Homer tries to make amends with him, but fails at every turn which ultimately leads Grimes into fooling Homer into making a new Power Plant despite being a children's competition and as you might expect, Mr Burns approves of it, which leads Grimes into going insane, leading to his eventual death and his funeral being pretty funny, especially at the end of it. But you know, anyone going into Springfeild should expect there to be some pretty pea-headed people living there and should leave while they can. Several seasons later, we then see some guy trying to kill Homer for what he did to Grimes and so Homer enlists the help of Slideshow Bob to help him track the killer down. But I will say of all the villains in the Simpsons, Grimes was among the few who was just too dumb to understand anything that happened in that town.

13 - Howard Payne (Speed)

Speed is a great film that much like with gravity, is a full on adrenaline rollercoaster that has you at the edge of your seat to see who survives in a bus that has a bomb attached to it. While the villain was very smart in how he managed to perform this stint, he is another villain who underestimates his opposition and until the last minute, didn't realise that the footage he was viewing of the bus, was in fact a recording to keep him distracted. In the end however, he claimed about how smart he is, but somehow didn't see the light in the tunnel on that train and was beheaded. Just goes to show that being smart, has its limits.

12 - Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)

Davy Jones was a great villain in the Pirates of the Caribbean films who you can feel sympathetic for because of how cruel, heartless (literally) and evil he was, even when he was under the control of Lord Beckett. I know At World's End wasn't the best film of the series, but you got to admit, the maelstrom battle was pretty epic and in his final moments, Davy Jones had all the protagonists around him, knowing that his life is at the hands of them and it was this one moment where Captain Jack Sparrow knew that something had to be done and despite his hatred for Will and Elizabeth for them trying to kill him (though the latter succeeded in that), he helped fulfil Will's promise to his father and stabbed Davy Jones in the heart, which led him to his death and fell into the centre of the maelstrom, lost to his own locker. But as its foretold, the Ductchman must have a captain and so Bootstrap uses his power to make his son, the new captain and together with the Black Pearl, the two ships destroy Beckett along with the East India Trading Company, letting pirates be free once more. It was a great way to kill the two villains off, but Jones was more epic I thought and Bill Nighy's acting ability is great.

11 - Dermot "Lucky" Quinn (Watch Dogs)

I had some very mixed feelings when Lucky Quinn got killed off. I mean yeah he was the true mastermind behind the death of Aiden's loved ones (or one of them anyway), but it just didn't feel right to kill an old man. I felt satisfied that he got what was coming to him, but I also felt sad that an old man with a peacekeeper is dying in such a way. Its just one of those very rare video game moments where you get feelings towards the actions you make. The year Watch Dogs was released was not a great year for Ubisoft in general, but I will say through it all, they did well with Watch Dogs despite the graphics not being what were promised at E3 and even though the game didn't feel like you were the hacking god as it were, some games just have limitations to what you can do in them.

10 - Kai Leng (Mass Effect 3)

There has been a good choice of villains to pick from in the Mass Effect trilogy, but the one I felt most satisfied about, was with Kai Leng. The Illusive Man is a great villain as are the Reapers, Sovereign and Saren, but even though they all got killed off eventually, Kai Leng was the one I personally wanted to die the minute I saw him. I mean he is an absolute dick to everyone he meets and there were just a few times in the game that I just wanted to take control and give him what he deserved and this whole I need to recharge thing going on, that was just pathetic and a means to show how weak he is. Fortunately, we finally do get that chance to kill him and the way he gets killed was perfect in my eyes. A simple stab to the heart, if he even has a heart.

9 - Zeus (God of War III)

There are many versions of Zeus through all forms of adaptations of Greek mythology. His role in God of War is a villainous one where he and Kratos come to blows and in III, we finally get to kill him through one of the best boss battles that I have had the pleasure of taking part in, thus far and his ultimate end, comes in the form of a simple set of punches to the face, just going to show that despite how god like he is, even he has some weaknesses.

8 - Wheatley (Portal 2)

While I will admit that GLaDOS is a great villain, I find Wheatley's defeat to be much more satisfying. Basically, he begins helping you to take down GLaDOS, but its not until he takes over Aperture Science that he reveals his true colours and sends you and GLaDOS to the depths of the facility, forcing two enemies to form a truce to stop Wheatley and his plans which eventually has Chell send Wheatley flying into space, nearly killing herself in the process. As much as I find some of the villains in Portal to be quite extreme, Wheatley being thrown into space is as extreme as it gets. But its in no way a death as he is just a robot so he'll find a way to survive.

7 - Big Smile Lee (Sleeping Dogs)

Sleeping Dogs has a number of bad guys throughout the game, each having their own vendetta against Wei Shen and to be honest, of all these people who had something against him, Big Smile Lee had the most hatred to the point that he would torture him. So the one thing Shen did was escape his minions and hunt him down and after a brutal gun fight, he would eventually fight him hand to hand and even though most of the killings in this game are quite brutal and gory, Big Smile Lee's was the most brutal and gory of the lot. Couldn't put it any better myself.

6 - Ma-Ma (Dredd)

I may not be a hardcore Judge Dredd fan, but when you have a villain who holds an entire residential block as hostage to get her way, something has to be done and Dredd is the man to do it. He is a badass and after going through a lot of bullets, he eventually reaches Ma-Ma and goes Batman on her by outsmarting her and using her own drug against her to stop the bombs and also kill her. Of all the ways to kill off a bad guy, this is certainly one of the best and most brutal.

5 - Joker (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns)

Its always been inevitable that Batman and Joker would one day have that final fight and in The Dark Knight Returns (both the comic and the film, but in no way related to the Nolan Batman films), we get that fight and boy it is brutal. Knife stabbing, neck breaking, all while terrorising citizens in the surrounding area. It is what I would imagine their final fight to be like. Though it is dark for Batman to kill people which goes against his no killing rule, Joker needed to go as he had killed so many people just by Batman letting him live for all that time. But we knew in the end that he would get what's coming to him, one way or another. Also on something slightly unrelated, this is a good chance to see what Batman VS Superman may be like if you're still unsure about it.

4 - The Governor (The Walking Dead)

David Morrissey is a great actor, no question about it and his role as the Governor was one of his best. In season 3 of The Walking Dead, we find out that the zombies may not be the true threat that Rick Grimes and company face as The Governor who acts as the leader for the Woodbury community, actually chooses to kill humans and zombies alike to get what he wants. He comes to tensions with Rick which ultimately see's the downfall of him and the community he made. Then in season 4, he returns, joins a new community and has a face off with Rick as his new team storm the prison that Rick and company have made shelter at, while he also kills Hershal. But in the end, he got what was coming to him in the form of a stab in the back by Michonne and a bullet to the head by Lilly. He was a nasty piece of work and I think we can all be glad that he got what was coming to him.

3 - David (The Last of Us)

We get it. When the Apocalypse happens, its all about survival of the fittest. People wanting supplies to keep alive and weapons to use against the clickers. But in the case of the Last of Us, Joel and Ellie would journey across the US (presumably) to get to the Firefly's HQ. But when it seems that we were getting close, Joel gets badly injured and so Ellie spends a whole winter trying to restore him to full health. In doing so, she meets David who seems to be doing what she's doing at first, until Ellie realises that his friends were killed by Joel and her and that David is a cannibal. He eventually captures Ellie and the two go into a brutal fight with Joel not too far away. In the end, David gets a brutal beating by Ellie after all the torment he put her in and Joel comforts her and they go on their merry way. If I'm honest, I think I would've done the same if I were in a situation like that with no other means of escaping or the like.

2 - Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)

I know, a little bit cheesy considering that this got repeated a lot of times in other films, but I just find it to be so satisfying. Maleficent was almost able to have her plan succeed with removing Aurora from the world, only to be outsmarted by the 3 fairies (whom by the way, are much more alert of Aurora's movements than in the film Maleficent) and defeated by the prince. All is restored and everyone can live in harmony after this mistress of all evil got what was coming to her.

Honourable mentions to a majority of Disney villains as well as Rumpelstiltskin in Shrek Forever After, Lotso and Stinky Pete in the Toy Story films, the Illusive Man in the Mass Effect games, The Master in the 3 part Doctor Who series 3 finale, the many bad guys in the GTA games (particularly in IV and V) and so many others

1 - Gus Fring (Breaking Bad)

Of all the people on this list that I just wanted to see getting what's coming to them, Gus Fring would always be the top of the list. I mean since he appeared in Breaking Bad, I knew that despite his secretive nature of his work, that he is evil. I mean he tried to kill Walter and his family, had a lot of problems with the Mexican Cartel (even to the point of mocking Hector who was the last one of the cartel) and especially had some hatred for Jesse. In the end, Jesse wanted him dead, Walter wanted him to be well away from him and his family and Hector wanted him to know that with him around, the cartel will survive. So a truce was formed and the trio hatched a plan to kill Gus and to do that, Walter attaches a bomb to Hector's wheelchair which can be activated upon touch of the bell and that was the end of Gus and Hector, with only seconds of living for him to straighten his tie and see what damage the explosion caused to his face. Its a great way to see a villain die with the music making it look like the end and a trio of characters outsmarting a character who once thought, was indestructible. And that makes him number 1 on my list. But do please share what your favourite villain deaths or defeats is.