Halloween Special: Top 25 Surprise Villains

Had the year not have this pandemic, I would have done a list of the best pandemics in media. But then I thought actually most tend to be zombie pandemics than anything else so let's do something else. Now on this blog I have done many different villain posts for Halloween and other times during the year (I even did two villain song lists without realizing that I did two, but one of them also had themes as well) so deciding what was the next logical step was tricky. I have many ideas for Halloween posts and I decided this year in light of the surprising moves people have done to cope with 2020 that I would look at surprising villains. Now these villains are the sort that are not revealed as a villain from the get go with marketing making out that they are not villains. Then we play, listen or see whatever it is that these characters are in and sure enough they are eventually revealed as the villain. Think Hans from Frozen or Haytham Kenway from Assassin's Creed III who are both good examples of villains that no one saw coming as the reveal of their villainy. As always with these lists, all the characters come from things that I have seen, read, watched, played and/or listened to. Villains that look and act like villains from the get go do not count. Only villains that are not villains or not seen as villains at first will be counted and although possibly tricky, one villain per franchise. I will also include villains that surprisingly turn out to be one of the good guys too. So let's see how surprising some of these villains can be and for obvious reasons, there may be spoilers within:

25 - The Illusive Man (Mass Effect)

Its probably not as surprising as many would think that the Illusive Man had lots of plans when it came to reviving Commander Shepard and for a while lots of us assumed that his interests aligned with Shepard. But then came the issue about what to do with the Collector tech and it was here where the Illusive Man was revealed as a greedy but nevertheless mysterious man who wanted power and control. This led to him becoming one of the main antagonists of Mass Effect 3 in which Cerberus become more hostile than ever before with the guy hellbent on getting control of the Reapers which he would've done had Shepard not been the one that makes that decision. So yeah not as surprising as many of these villains, but still worth a mention.

 

24 - Tabuu (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

For a long time many of us assumed that Master Hand was the main antagonist for the Super Smash Bros. series. But then came along Tabuu who became the true main antagonist when it was revealed that everything Master Hand did at least in The Subspace Emissary was actually this being all along. Its debatable on who is more dangerious out of Tabuu and the villains seen in the more recent World of Light. But while the villains in the game that story was in were revealed quite earlier on, Tabuu was a surprise right from the start. That is unless you were into watching all that leaked footage of Brawl. But still a very surprising villain especially from a game that's otherwise a fighting game more than one with a story to it.

 

23 - Rex Dangervest (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part)

Rex was one of those villains who came as a surprise due to the film's advertising making out that someone or something else is the main villain. In this case, most people felt it was Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi which was backed up with her having a villain (sort of) song and having what sound like evil intentions, but is later revealed to be a failed attempt at communicating across a peace treaty which in the real world is revealed as a sibling rivalry that needed addressing. Rex is revealed to not only be an embodiment of Chris Pratt's acting career, but also a version of Emmet from the future who has gone bitter and was never able to let go of being abandoned by his friends. As such he assembled a ship that would allow him to travel back in time to ensure that the impending Ar-mom- geddon does happen as revenge. He did everything he could to make sure it happens while also ensuring his own existance by sending Emmet to the same place that he ended up. But in the end, Emmet wasn't abandoned and he ceases to exist. So yeah another surprise villain, but perhaps one that most may have assumed from the get go just by the way he treats Emmet above his own friends.

 

22 - Hank Scorpio (The Simpsons)

For as long as its been going on, The Simpsons has had a number of villains with some being more obvious like Fat Tony, Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob and others being less obvious. But what came across as the most surprising was Hank Scorpio. A character who treats his people well, it comes as a surprise that he is in fact a villain. No one would really know because he treats his people so well and even when he has The Simpsons themselves part of his area, they are all oblivious to his actions just because of how he treats his people. His evil intentions come as a means for wanting to conquer the East Coast which he of course is successful in doing even after The Simpsons finish their dealings with him. In fact, he was almost considered for being the main antagonist for The Simpsons Movie. But in the end, it was an original villain instead though still having his voice actor to do that villain's voice. But yes of all the villains that ever encounter The Simpsons, Hank Scorpio is the most surprising and also the only known one to succeed in his evil plans without ever getting annoyed at the family.

 

21 - Auto (Wall-E)

There has been a lot of debate about whether Auto is truly a villain or some robot following protocols. I guess what makes him surprising is that as the autopilot for the Axiom, he's doing the captain's job, so he doesn't have to. But his somewhat villainous intent is revealed when he outright refuses to bring the human race back home which is later revealed as the humans left behind saying that the planet is no longer habitable and is given secret orders to keep the humans in space for an eternity. Debatable sure, but why even when Wall-E and Eve provide evidence that it can support life, does Auto still keep his outdated orders. Well I guess we never know. I mean most of us know that robots may become the dominant species in the future. Kind of scary to think that the robotic wheel of a ship would doom a species from living the life that they crave on their home planet. But in the end, Auto is relieved of duty, so I guess it doesn't really matter much if he was being the villain or just following orders.

 

20 - Ernesto de la Cruz (Coco)

Sticking with Pixar, another surprising villain comes in the form of a well known singer. That is until it is revealed that Ernesto is a fraud and was not the true mastermind behind his work. The true mastermind just so happened to be his childhood best friend who he murdered to steal his work and gain fame and fortune. A classic scenario for a villain to want fame and fortune over everything else, but I ask why so many do that. I mean sure fame and fortune is great and all, but its overrated and to do that over friendship is perhaps the cruellest thing any guy could do. Its probably just as well that Ernesto got what was coming to him (twice) and as such was forgotten as a beloved singer, but remembered for the fraud that he was. Justice was served in the end and music became a big part in Miguel's life again as it was no longer feared by his family.

 

19 - Severus Snape (Harry Potter)

So as well as villains that were once good, I'm also using this list to look at those that were once bad but turned good. Snape is certainly a complex character. He for a long time served Lord Voldemort as one of his death eaters, but upon learning of Lily and James Potter's murder (the former of which he loved dearly, but she could never return the affection) he was conflicted. Enter Albus Dumbledore who offered him a place on the Order of the Phoenix as well as a Hogwarts professor for Potions (despite him longing to be a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher which he would eventually do in Harry's sixth year) which allowed him to secretly conspire against Voldemort while pretending to do the same against Dumbledore. Throughout the whole saga, he was often seen as a neutral but untrustworthy character which would later be cemented for a little while when he kills Dumbledore. Though Harry hated him for it, he would eventually learn as Snape died in his arms that he truly was on the side of good as he wanted to protect the boy because he wasn't able to save his mother who he loved. Debatable throughout up to that particular point on which side he was truly on. But he wouldn't die in vain as Harry would go on to finally be rid of Voldemort once and for all and would name his son after Snape too. No one would have thought that the potions master could be such a complex character in the franchise and yet that's what he came to be.

 

18 - Turbo (Wreck-It Ralph)

Just like with Ernesto, Turbo also wanted attention and would do anything to ensure that would happen. This would lead to him destroying two racing games (one of which is his own) which forced him to find another way to get what he wanted. This of course led to him finding his way onto Sugar Rush and establish himself as the self proclaimed King Candy (even though its actually Venelope that's the true ruler of the land). But eventaully do to Venelope and Ralph's interferance in the Sugar Rush game, he would eventually be revealed as a virus that got onto Sugar Rush and caused Venelope to be glitchy and seemingly unwelcome in her own game. This villain is probably not all that surprising that he is a villain as there were many hints to that quite early on in the film. But his eventual reveal as being that one racer that destroyed two games, makes him quite dangerous not just to Sugar Rush but to the entire arcade too due to him being more virus than the actual Turbo racer that he once was. But still a surprising villain nonetheless.

 

17 - Wheatley (Portal 2)

This one came as quite the surprise. So a lot of us know of Stephen Merchant as the comic partner of Ricky Gervais and largely plays minor comic relief in most of the things he does. But I guess no one expected him to play a villain. Wheatley as GLaDOS points out, is best described as a moron. A character who originally wanted to help Chell get out of the testing chambers, but ultimately betrayed her when the power that GLaDOS once had, he took away from her. With Wheatley in control, nothing could stop him. That is until white panels somehow land on the moon and a portal is made that sucks Wheatley into orbit never to be seen again. That is until Lego Dimensions when he somehow returns but is now pretty much useless. The lesson we can learn from Wheatley is to never underestimate the power of anyone but at the same time don't let it consume you.

 

16 - The Mandarin (Iron Man 3)

The Mandarin is arguably one of the biggest and baddest villains to ever be an enemy of Iron Man. But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he isn't as we all expected. In the marketting for the film, the trailers made out that this guy was a great threat to Iron Man. But in the film, it turns out that he is nothing more than just an actor being used as a puppet by the real villain, Aldrich Killian. So I guess you can call this one the kind of villain that really isn't a villain but rather a puppet. It happens in governments and it happens to get the attention away from the true masterminds. That's really all it is.

 

15 - Scott Shelby (Heavy Rain)

When Quantic Dream began their partnership with Sony, they became known for making realistic games with motion capture as well as exploring graphical engines that would go on to be used in many of Sony's games from the PS3 onwards. In their first game in this partnership Heavy Rain, players get to play as four different characters who each offer their perspective of the events portrayed in the story. One character Scott Shelby, is a private detective who is out to visit families that were affected by the Origami Killer and his victims. But little do we know is that he is visiting these families to take away evidence because turns out that this guy is in fact the Origami Killer. While he is the only known character to actually make it to the end, various outcomes occur. He could get away with what he did if any that opposed him are all dead or in prison or he could be killed by any of the other characters if they are alive and the player manages to get all the quick time events done in time. It is a great way to surprise us with one of the playable characters being the true villain. It's great.

 

14 - Henry J. Waternoose III (Monsters Inc.)

Returning to Pixar, we go into the world of Monsters Inc. In the film there is one obvious villain in the form of Randall and then we have Waternoose who at first is a guy who really cares about the power that the city recieves and is facing the stress of a lack of power due to children not being scared by monsters anymore. He sees Sulley as the best scarer the company has and often finds that children can be poisonous to monsters. This however is proven false when Boo enters the facility and plays with Sulley's tail that leaves him completely unharmed. Being far too desperate to cure the power crisis causes Waternoose to reluctantly use villainous means to find a solution. But he is ulimately found out and sent away to prison while Mike and Sulley take over upon learning that laughter is more powerful than scares. Well I guess his plan to save the company did succeed as did finding a solution albeit with someone else doing that instead of him. Just a shame that desperation can make you a villain if it gets to breaking point.

 

13 - Norman Bates (Psycho)

Back during the days when Alfred Hitchcock was around making films, no one would've thought that Psycho could be such a perfect horror film and it's not completely horror either. One of the best things about it is of course the iconic shower scene which had people questioning who the killer was. Some thought it was Norman Bates, others said someone in drag which could also be Norman Bates or his mother. But the most surprising thing came at the end when it was revealed that Norman and his mother are one and the same. This was further explored in it's modern day prequel/remake Bates Motel which revealed that Norman may have developed a split personality as a result of a series of mistreatment not just by his actual mother, but by other people too. Still a pretty messed up dude that should've died or gone to jail much much sooner.

 

12 - Buddy (Baby Driver)

It's kind of hard to determine who trully is the main villain in Baby Driver because there are just so many potiental canidates. But ultimately the true main villain ended up being Buddy who was a charming man who treated his girl and his fellow robbers well. Even going as far as to share a common interest in Baby's music. But that soon changed when Baby wanted out of the heist buisness and unintentionally killed Buddy's girl which caused Buddy to have big plans that are so dangerous and deadly that he trully is the main villain of the film. These things happen though I'm afraid.

 

11 - Stinky Pete (Toy Story 2)

In the marketting for Toy Story 2, there were two villains that were pretty obvious that would be in the film. But what we didn't expect was one of those villains being minor and a completely different character being one of the true main villains. Of course with Stinky Pete, there may have been hints that he is the villain such as how he manages to convince Woody to stay as part of the Roundup Gang and the whole thing with the remote. But the truth of the matter is that Pete was never bought as a toy and over the years developed a hatrid for kids and other toys and saw the idea of being in a museum as a means to finally be appreciated even though he was never bought. But in the end despite being outwitted by a cowboy doll and a spaceman toy (the latter of which was one reason why he was never bought), he did get given to a kid and one that likes art. So in a way despite being a surprising villain, he is one of a few that actually did get what he wanted which was appreciation. Also I do feel that some people underestimate Kelsey Grammer because he can play great villain roles if given the chance.

 

10 - Yokai (Big Hero 6)

Sticking with Disney, we get the villain of Big Hero 6 whose only surprising thing was who was under the mask. Now near to the start of the film, we are led to believe that Callaghan died in a fire with Tadashi who went him in an attempt to save. But it was in vein as the former survived and used Hiro's invention to get revenge on a major corporation that were responsible for his daughter's disappearance. So his means for vengance are just, but why go to all this trouble just to get revenge. Surely a trail at court would be more civil. But no its a film and it needs that villain. But in the end, Callaghan got his daughter back but chose to pay the heavy price of jail for the crimes he commited in retaliation for her disappearance which included the sacrifice the original Baymax made to get her and Hiro back home.

 

9 - Tighten (Megamind)

Now for a film that is about the main villain, you would like to think that he stays as the villain. But you'd be wrong. In an attempt to relive the whole supervillain thing after supposedly killing his arch nemesis, Megamind creates a new hero to fight him. All seems to go well at first until this hero decides that being the villain is so much better. While largely a suprise in its own right, there were some hints to Tighten turning into a villain such as being turned away by who would become Megamind's lover and just thinking of how much fun he could have as a villain. But in the end, he got what was coming to him and Megamind became the new hero that the city deserved whether he wanted it or not.

 

8 - Fairy Godmother (Shrek 2)

So many of us know that a fairy godmother is normally a person that is always kind and looks out for those that need help. But in the Shrek universe which is far from the norm of fairytales, this Fairy Godmother is the villain. The surprising thing here is that this goes against the norm when it comes to fairy godmothers. Because this one refuses to help ogres and became somewhat responsible for Fiona's place in a castle guarded by a dragon. She also tries to get her into a forced marriage to Prince Charming which is reminicent to some religous beliefs where arranged marriages are a thing. But I guess her biggest crime is underestimating what her enemy can do which led to her downfall. The stuff that Shrek can do being that he has fairy tale creatures at his disposal and that nothing can stop his love for Fiona which even extends to her own father who outright refused to give her the kissing potion presumably because he accepted Shrek and feels bad that he has been at the mercy of the Fairy Godmother. I guess some things don't have happy ever afters, but no one would ever think that such a sweet and kind natured fairy could be so evil.

 

7 - Dawn Bellwether (Zootopia/Zootropolis)

In a film about animals with lots being predators, no one would suspect that a sheep of all things is the main villain. The film itself takes a lot of risks in its content with the biggest one being the animal version of racism which in this case is the fight against predators. The mastermind behind the whole operation as far as the drug that makes them go predatorial is concerned, is a herd of sheep led by the assistant mayor who is always getting the hard jobs. Understandable that she just wants some appreceation, but not so much when she wants rid of an entire line of animals where being a predator is their natural instinct. Still again no one would suspect a cute and kind little lamb for being the main villain. Well done Disney.

6 - Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Like Snape, Zuko is another one of those complex villains. At first he's set on finding the avatar as he believes its his destiny to find and capture him. But after the first book, he seems to try and find peace alongside his uncle but finds it difficult when his sister Azula intervines. But finally in the third book, he is revealed to be on the side of good when he eventually comes to accept that his destiny is to be Aang's fire bending teacher and wants to use his uncle's way of fire bending to be the driving force behind the fire nation's fire bending ability. Which until the second book was built upon anger instead of a more peaceful means. So I guess the surprising thing is that this guy was a villain, but ended up being a protagonist out of many potiental canidates to be the fire bending teacher Aang needs.

 

5 - Zachary Hale Comstock (BioShock: Infinite)

Keeping with complex characters, next we have Comstock. Throughout BioShock: Infinite, he is largely seen as a protector to Elizabeth who wants nothing more than to keep her safe. But the way he goes about it is seen as being overprotective and also power hungry as we later learn that Elizabeth has time and space bending powers. But the most surprising thing about him is that he is later revealed to be an alternate version of Booker DeWitt who accepted his baptism and created Columbia of which he thought was the true America and is basically a racist. Although he would eventually die by the player character Booker DeWitt, his existance in multiple realities meant that the Booker we the players played as, had to die. By doing so, the events of the game would never happened which does feel like a cop out from an otherwise great game. But I guess its one way to trully defeat the villain even if the villain just so happens to be the same character we play as but from an alternate universe.

4 - Prince Hans (Frozen)

Very rarely do we see the prince character in Disney films be the villain and Hans is one that is most definitley surprising. At first he seems charming, kind and caring as he goes to great lengths to be in the sisters' good books even offering to look after the kingdom while Anna goes to find Elsa now that the truth of her ice powers is now out. Unlike the other surprise Disney villains on this list whose villainry is hinted at throughout their respective films leading up to their eventual reveal, Hans was a complete surprise. Just when things are starting to look up for the weak Anna, he turns bad and wants to rule Arendelle after being at his brothers' mercy for so long which was revealed earlier on. But it wasn't enough to convince me that he is the villain. So many great Disney princes have come and gone and this one turned bad. It was inevitable.

3 - Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones)

Yeah you all knew this lass was going to be on this list. So for a long time, Game of Thrones was a great TV series that was widley known for betrayals, lots of adult content and twists and turns that make some of us scratch our heads. It was never trully clear on who was the main villain or hero as its one of those TV shows that has more than one set of characters and even locations to focus on. When it came to Daenerys, lots of us were rooting for her as throughout the series, she liberated the world to free slaves and any that opposed her would die by her dragons. Quite the formidable gal, but isn't as ruthless as say Cersi. But then came the controversal final season where during the battle to free Kings Landing, Daenerys refused to accept the enemy's surrender and chose to burn the city to the ground which claimed a lot of innocent lives. This dramatic turn from being a heroine people rooted for and looked up to, was quite surprising. But as we all know, the book series that this show is based on was not completed by the time it reached the sixth season and therefore had to rely on the outlines that George R.R. Martin laid out to the showrunners. In fact this sudden change to villainry even had Emlia Clarke question why this happened. But it happened, Daenerys reluctantly got what was coming to her and the rank of ruler of the seven kingdoms went to someone else and one that no one would have ever wanted to be its ruler. But dang what a way to end what had been for a while a great series.

 

2 - Scrappy Doo (Scooby-Doo (2002))

It of course goes without saying that a Scooby-Doo live action film would suck regardless of how it played out. Its something that both Warner Bros. and Hanna Barbera learned that some cartoons cannot translate well into live action films unless it goes down the Roger Rabbit route which was the reason why those live action Looney Tunes films did so well (though technically those were more hybrid films than anything else). But the first one did do some good things. It did feel like a Scooby-Doo film despite the cheap efforts at CGI in a year where CGI was getting good. Plus you cannot fault some of the casting choices such as Rowan Atkinson as the original villain and Matthew Lillard as Shaggy who would go on to voice him in animation after 2009. But perhaps the best and worst thing to happen in this film is having Scrappy Doo as the true main villain. Best because he was a very annoying character in the series with lots of fans hating him to the point that he never trully returned to the series after the 80s (alongside Shaggy's red t-shirt). But worst because in the film he was left abandoned by the Mystery Gang which is largely against the series norm. Nevertheless he was trully a great villain in the film with laughable qualities. I guess you should never fault the writing to some of these bad films especially as this one was written by James Gunn who would go on to create the two Guardians of the Galaxy films and a new version of Suicide Squad.

While I am sure there are loads of surprising villains out there, lots of them are hinted almost imediately that they are bad guys. This list has been quite difficult to make hence why I'm not putting in any honourable mentions this time around. But now let's look at my number one choice:

 

1 - Haytham Kenway (Assassin's Creed III)

So in the marketting for Assassin's Creed III, we never got to see Haytham Kenway in any of it. It was always Conner and that was it. So I guess it was a surprise that as soon as we enter the Animus, we start to play a completely different character to what was advertised and for a while most of us assumed that this was leading into us playing as the assassin we saw in the trailers. Which of course it was doing, but we all assumed that Haytham was also an assassin especially as he has all the qualities of one. But it was when sequence 3 ended that we learned that Haytham was in fact a templar and not just any templar, but the Templar Grand Master. Trully a most unerving thing to come from a series that has always been a simple good verses evil scenario. But that's not everything. Oh no because throughout the game, Haytham tries to make out that what he is doing is for the good of America which has us question whether we are actually doing good or evil. It really is one of those occasions where we just question what is good and what is bad. But in the end, he got what was coming to him before going on to be the central character in the Kenway Saga having made an appearance in each of the games. But the idea of being a templar is further explored in Rogue where we play as a assassin turned templar and yet again question if what we are doing is good. Never has there been a villain that is so surprising that well after their reveal do they try to tell us that what we are doing is bad. The game may not be as well recieved as some of the many other games in the series, but it has one of the best villains ever and one that is quite surprising which is why Haytham is number one.

And that is my list. As always let me know in the comments of your picks and whether you agree or disagree with my choices. Happy Halloween and as always, stay safe. 🎃