Villain Protagonists: The Top 5

It’s Good to be Bad

Heroes are usually the main characters. Threats push them to rise above others and become shiny paragons. On occasion, the main character will be the protagonist’s sidekick and witness their transformation. But good was never the only option. What happens when the protagonist is evil?

Villain Protagonists embrace solutions that no hero would touch. Their evil ranges from being a charming con artist to becoming genocidal gods hellbent on revenge. Viewers don’t know if they are watching a monster’s rampage or a slow redemption arc. Whatever the outcome, a villain protagonist makes viewers question morality and ask if their means justify their ends. So who are the top 5 villain protagonists? Let’s find out.

#5 Darth Vader

Played By: Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, David Prowse

Villain protagonists often twist heroic traits. They need valor to perform their crimes, wisdom informs evil schemes, but love is the worst. A villain motivated by love is unstoppable as they protect the ones they care for. Love doomed this villain protagonist and love saved him.

Anakin Skywalker was a slave living on Tatooine. He met Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn who discovered that Anakin was a powerful Force user. Qui-Gon freed Anakin in exchange for Anakin’s help getting his allies off of Tatooine. Along the way, he developed a crush on Queen Padme Amidala, whom the Jedi were protecting.

Obi-Wan Kenobi became Anakin’s teacher after Qui-Gon’s death. Anakin became a powerful Jedi and was reunited with Padme. They secretly married just as a galactic war began. Long absences, high stress, and nightmarish visions of Padme’s death wore on Anakin. He finally broke after killing a Jedi to save his mentor Palpatine, discovering that Palpatine was secretly the Big Bad grooming Anakin to be his apprentice.

Palpatine renamed Anakin Darth Vader and ordered him to hunt Jedi. Vader accidentally killed Padme and was nearly murdered by Obi-Wan. Darth Vader threw himself into his work, doing Palpatine’s bidding for a decade until he discovered his long-lost son, Luke Skywalker. Caught between loyalty to his master and love for his son, Anakin Skywalker sacrificed himself to kill Palpatine.

#4 Omni-Man

Played By: J.K. Simmons

Many villain protagonists are chained to morality by another character. They could perform the cruelest acts imaginable, but hold back to not traumatize their loved one. What happens when this villain protagonist pulls on his leash?

Nolan Grayson is a Viltrumite, a warlike alien conqueror. He fought in the Viltrumite civil war to kill their weaker, pacifistic members. After wiping out so many of his kind, Nolan was assigned to test cross-species reproduction on Earth.

He arrived on Earth and introduced himself to the world as Omni-Man. He fell in love with a human and had a son named Mark. After 17 years of waiting, Mark developed Viltrumite powers and became known as Invincible. Omni-Man began killing superheroes to prepare for an invasion of Earth.

Invincible learned his father’s secret and fought him. Omni-Man tried to break his will by slaughtering thousands of people mid-fight. He wanted to instill a Viltrumite mindset in Invincible, but Mark reached the sliver of humanity in Nolan. Omni-Man fled Earth, unwilling to kill his son and knowing he’d be killed if he returned to Viltrum.

Read up on the further adventures of Invincible and Omni-Man in our reviews of seasons one and two.

#3 Light Yagami

Played By: Mamoru Miyano, Brad Swalie, Tatsuya Fujiwara

Ideals are deadlier than any blade. If a character has a cause they believe in strongly enough, then they can break any rule, commit any crime. The end justifies their means. The problem is when a villain protagonist thinks he knows best and has the power to back up that claim.

Light Yagami was a genius high school student who believed the world was corrupt. He envisioned a utopia, where criminals and other undesirables were killed. While walking home from school, Light found a journal called the Death Note, with a message that anyone whose true name is written in it will die.

Light tested the Death Note on a pair of criminals and caused them to die from heart attacks. He chose to keep the note, seeing it as the perfect way to create his utopia. Light’s killing spree earned him the nickname Kira, a corrupted version of the word Killer, once people realized that only criminals were victims of the heart attack epidemic.

Kira was joined by Ryuk, a death god and the Death Note’s bored owner. He had dropped it to see what would happen and couldn’t be happier with the results. Light was recruited for an anti-Kira taskforce and met L, an eccentric detective. L quickly deduced that Light is Kira and searched for proof while Light struggled to learn L’s real name so that he could kill him. Who will win their battle of wits?

#2 Char Aznable

Played By: Suichi Ikeda, Tom Edwards, Steve Blum

Villain Protagonists don’t need to be evil at all times. They run the gamut of character alignments to further their goals or for personal reasons. Mobile Suit Gundam’s breakout villain has played every role from savior to monster.

Char Aznable was a pilot serving the Principality of Zeon. He was their most famous soldier, easily identified by his signature silver mask and preference for piloting pinkish-red giant robots. Char served as the vanguard of Zeon’s war for interstellar independence and became the only soldier to survive multiple battles against the Earth Federation’s secret weapon: The Gundam.

Char is secretly Casval Rem Deikun, the son of Zeon’s founder. His father died under mysterious circumstances and Casval believed that the ruling Zabi family assassinated him. He joined their army and fought to get close to the Zabis so he could kill them. Complicating matters, Char discovered that his little sister was one of the Gundam’s pilots and often manipulated both factions to keep her safe.

Once the war ended, Char was left floundering. He had killed the Zabis and discovered that he was a Newtype, a human who had evolved into a psychic by living in space. Char fought to protect Newtypes, eventually reforming Zeon and attempting to destroy Earth so that humanity would be forced into space and become Newtypes en masse. Char died battling the Gundam one last time, but his soul has appeared to mentor Newtypes as a force ghost.

Fun Fact: Char is popular enough in Japan to count as his own brand. Every Gundam sequel and spinoff has a major character reflecting his traits. If you spot a blonde member of the enemy faction, a rival associated with the color red, a soldier with family issues and a tragic backstory, or anyone wearing a mask, chances are you’ve found the Big Bad. You want a perfect example of a Char clone? Look no further than fellow villain protagonist Darth Vader.

#1 The Punisher

Played By: Jon Bernthal, Thomas Jane, Dolph Lundrgren 

Anti-heroes and villain protagonists walk a knife’s edge. Many anti-heroes won’t notice as they become worse than the monsters they fight. Villain protagonists also realize they have friends they’d do anything to protect. This one can play both roles at once.

Frank Castle was a soldier awaiting discharge. He took his family on a picnic, where they were caught in the crossfire of a mob hit. Castle snapped and swore to kill every criminal as The Punisher.

The Punisher carved a swathe through Marvel’s criminal factions. Heroes reluctantly allowed him to continue since he targeted worse villains and refused to harm innocents. The Punisher is sadistic with his foes. He’ll gladly torture them for information and perform cruel acts to throw other criminals off their game. His greatest fear is a day when he runs out of criminals and starts killing civilians because he can’t stop fighting.

We’ve collected a dossier on the Punisher’s backstory for your perusal.

Which villain protagonist do you find the best? Is there one more evil than these? Tell us in the comments.

Image: Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) in Lucasfilm’s OBI-WAN KENOBI, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.