With the notable exception of Gru from Despicable Me, most villains aren't evil for evil's sake. Just ask Tom about his feline instincts, Walter White about the state of American healthcare, and Pixar baddie Sid about the apparent sentience of the toy aisle.
From The Wicked Witch of the West looking to avenge her sister's untimely death to Kilmonger's valid concerns about Wakanda's absence in global politics, here are 21 movie and TV villains who actually did nothing wrong.
1
“Gollum. All he wanted was to live in peace with his precious. The only thing he loved was stolen from him, and when he attempted to get it back, he became a slave to Frodo and Sam who threatened to kill him if he did not lead them to Mordor.”
2
“Doctor Doom. The guy has actually seen the future and the only way to protect the Earth is by actually listening to him. He only wants to control the world to save it.”
3
“Gaston was just trying to save the girl he loved from the monster that kidnapped her. The beast should never have been turned into a beast. He was just a kid, left home "alone" (all the house staff was there). The butler is the one who should have been answering the door for the poor old lady /witch. The real villain is Cogsworth.”
4
“Inspector Javert. Reformed or not, Jean Valjean is still a convicted criminal and fugitive from justice; I don't know about French law, especially during that time period, but one reason the US President and many state governors have the power to pardon and commute sentences is because of the potential for situations like that.”
5
“The king slayer, Jaime Lannister. He killed the Mad King to save the city and he took on the title of traitor and did what needed to be done. He was also justified pushing Bran. He shouldn't be spying on people having s—x."
6
“Ursula. It's not her fault Ariel was dumb enough to not read a contract and literally sign it with her eyes closed.”
7
“Sid from ‘Toy Story’. He didn't even know he was hurting the toys, and besides, it's better something assumed to be inanimate than a known living thing.”
8
“[Killmonger] was right that Wakanda should have done something to aid the plight of African people. I can see Killmonger’s position a lot better than fandom bad guy darlings Zemo or Thanos.”
9
“Mr. Freeze from [‘Batman & Robin’]. Man just wanted treatment for his wife, not to harm.”
10
“Walter White. I mean, US healthcare really [stinks]. High schools [stink]. His wife's a b—h. Who could blame him, honestly.”
11
“Lex Luthor. Everyone seems to be alright with a power existing that could, on a whim, destroy the planet or take over. Lex Luthor is trying to protect to human race from a potential threat. He has some more selfish aspirations but at his core he is doing what is best for humanity. If he could stop being so d—n evil and killing people for no reason, that might make him a little more of a complex character.”
12
“Magneto. In every X-men movie he keeps saying 'The humans are going to wipe us out!' and then in 'Logan' you can see that the humans have pretty much wiped them out.”
13
“Frankenstein’s Monster, dude was just trying to make the best of his situation and kept getting s—t on and never asked for any of it. Frankenstein was just a dweeby little p—k who stumbled on something greater than his own understanding.”
14
“Raoul Silva in ‘Skyfall’. Tortured for days even weeks, his cyanide capsule failed severely disfiguring him and from his point of view he was completely abandoned by his agency. But I may just be biased because I think Javier Bardem played him brilliantly.”
15
“Cutler Beckett was really just a different side of the coin. He wanted money and power in the same way the pirates wanted money and power. Cutler got his from the existing power structure and the pirates got theirs from going around it.”
16
“The Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy drops a house on her sister and steals her shoes. WWW was totally justified in getting revenge. Dorothy played the naive, innocent girl to the hilt, but she's a stone, cold murderer.”
17
“Sharpay Evans. Spends years honing her talent only to be pushed aside in favour of a short basketball player and a squeaky voiced girl in a lab coat.”
18
“Darth Vader. Up until he just became Palpatine’s lackey he had a very good reason for doing what he did. He had nothing cementing him to the Jedi except Obi Wan, as the other Jedi had treated him somewhat poorly growing up and they were afraid of his skill. He was born a slave and lost his mother (which had been shown to him by the Force) and was afraid of losing his wife and children, the last people he truly loved. The Jedi couldn’t help save her from dying so when Palpatine offered to help, he jumped at the bait. This isn’t to say killing kids is justified, but you can understand why he was so desperate for power that he would become a Sith.”
19
“The landlord in ‘Rent.’ He just wanted them to pay their rent. LAST YEAR'S RENT. He was very forgiving to let it go on that long! Like, it's all well and good that they're bohemians and pursuing acting and music and stuff, but maybe get a job on the side?”
20
“The ‘machines’ in ‘The Matrix.’ We destroy our own planet to destroy the machines, only to have the machines kindly take us underground and put us into pods where we can live in virtual reality that's exactly like how we lived before we destroyed our planet.”
21
“Tom, from Tom and Jerry. I mean that’s his job, there’s a rodent in the house.”
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