10 Smartest Villain Plans In Movies

[@WaddedBliss]

Ozymandias saying "I'm not some comic book villain," is a brilliant line.

[@jtfbreedlove]

In the comic he said he's not a republic serial villain.

[@jaylee9552]

He wasn't, he was a damn hero lol the world just not ready to talk about that 😂

[@WaddedBliss]

@@jtfbreedlove I was quoting from memory. I couldn't be arsed looking the actual quote up. 🙂

[@WaddedBliss]

@@jaylee9552 Thanos was right.

[@Nhamp2000]

@@jtfbreedlove Nah, no real hero. He was under the delusion that if there were an invasion from another dimension, that the world would put aside its differences and humankind would come together. It would work...temporarily. Look at the world after 9/11. For about 4 months we were civil to each other, didn't give a shit about celebrity relationships, etc. Now where are we? Right back to where we were beforehand, only worse.

[@masterofmythology]

"I'm not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome? I triggered it thirty-five minutes ago." is one for my favorite villain quotes of all time.

[@tryorse8340]

What makes Ozymandias's plan more impressive is that he frees himself of suspicion in a seemingly unrelated scene earlier on in the book. He tells his employee to invest in more of certain things in the stock market because war makes them go up in value. But given that by then he already had his plan going, he knew he would be at a loss by doing so, but did so anyway. This loss makes him seem unsuspicious as if he did not invest at a loss and then his plan took affect he would gain/save a lot of money. By actively investing at a loss he covers himself from an initial check if the government suspects foul play.

[@f.g.5967]

Ozymandias plan is impressive because it departs frim the one of the comic and succeeds. I wonder if Moore ever thought “hey cool idea”

[@jaycebee6857]

My mind is even more open now after reading what you stated . Thank you sir.

[@miguelcarunchod.1493]

What he does in the book is watching 9 or more tv channels at the same time and claims he can see the future of stock market and a future nuclear war only him can stop. The whole book shows the childishness of his plan with every character arc showing his idea of "cutting the gordian knot instead of solving it" is not ideal. And in both book and movie the world does not disarm they just arm together against a common enemy he would still make profit in the stock market for development of weapons against aliens.

[@HattaTHEZulZILLA86]

From the way I look at it, shaking off suspicions of the biggest threat of your plans is the BIGGEST PROFIT that makes the monetary loss WORTH IT.

[@sharkh20]

@@miguelcarunchod.1493 Yeah. The movie doesn't do a good job showing Ozymandias as a failure at the end. The book is pretty explicit that the plan is foolish and short term. I really like much of the movie, but that to me was the biggest miss.

[@WhiskeyPapa42]

Ozymandias's plan being executed prior to his monologuing was great. Him being the villain was pretty much the most obvious thing about the movie. Within roughly the first 10-15 min or so of the movie, they essentially spoon-fed that to the audience: _"it's someone who knows all of our secret identities and is extremely wealthy"_ .... and then the movie cuts over to Ozy and explains how he was previously in their group, quit, and now runs a super wealthy enterprise...

[@garethhughes7430]

Honestly the way twist villains should be. If you have no setup, its just a shock. If you know they're sus, you get tension

[@WhiskeyPapa42]

@Gareth Hughes Proper setup, yes. Breadcrumbs, so when the reveal happens, things click, and it makes sense. Giant neon signs pointing out the "twist villain," in my opinion, is not how they should be set up. The movie all but screamed Ozy was the villain from the opening sequences. There was zero subtlety to it.

[@yessum15]

@@WhiskeyPapa42 The reason for this is because the movie is fundamentally bad. This was a genuine mystery in the comic book. This seems like a Snyder decision. He deeply dislikes subtlety and nuance.

[@Azurann]

@@yessum15 I feel like it works in this movie's case though. Who the villain was didn't really matter. The "heroes" failing was the common thread throughout. The revelation that Ozy had set his plan in motion before they even landed worked well imo.

[@yessum15]

@@Azurann The "I detonated them 30 minutes ago" moment was excellent in the movie and the comic book. But giving away that Ozy was the villain from the early into the film was a bad decision. I agree, it's not critical because the comic book isn't primarily a mystery novel. But it did take one layer away from a story that was enjoyable mainly because it had many layers to it. However, overall this isn't what made the movie bad. What really did it was Snyder bungling many other scenes because he either did not understand, or did not care what they were meant for. For example, Ozy doesn't just beat the heroes, he convinces them to help him cover up his plan by murdering Rorschach. When Dr. Manhattan explodes Rorschach, Night Owl screams "Nooo" in anguish. In the comic, no one was present for, or cared about Rorschach's death. Rorschach is killed quietly and alone in the snow with Dr. Manhattan bearing silent witness. There was a reason for this and it ties heavily into the larger themes of the story. But Snyder is incapable of seeing Rorschach as anything other than a protagonist, can't conceive of a story without a hero, or a death without meaning. So he inserted Night Owl chewing the scenery in order to make the scene more gushy. This is bad filmmaking.

[@SidneyMosley]

_"Do 'that' Rorschach? I'm not a comic book villain... Do you _*_seriously_*_ think I'd reveal my master stroke to you with even the slightest possibility that you could effect the outcome? I triggered it 35 minutes ago..."_ - Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt

[@bbsy1]

He got lucky the heroes killed the only one in the group with a functioning brain.

[@cameronhodgetts920]

@@bbsy1 that's not the point though. Watchmen isn't a story about brains, it's a story about morality. None of them realised Veidt's plan because none of them were able to see that it was the only way to stop the war.

[@bbsy1]

@@cameronhodgetts920 it was far from being the only way. It doesn’t stop the war it postponed it.

[@cameronhodgetts920]

@@bbsy1 not according to Dr Manhattan

[@bbsy1]

@@cameronhodgetts920 or Alan Moore.

[@thomasblok2120]

I thought Malcolm Merlyn's plan in Arrow season 1 was particularly brilliant. The whole time you "know" the hero is going to disarm the bomb underneath the Glades. They do, and Oliver beats Malcolm hand to hand, only for Malcolm to say "If there's one thing I've learned in business, it's redundancy". There was a second bomb that no one knew about. He won with one of the simplest and most elegant tricks a villain could pull. It's quite similar to Ozymandias' plan. For most villains, doing this would result in them winning easily

[@Roman-gy7pr]

That's exactly what I thought of.

[@jackofalltradeshermes]

Another example of a good plan from the arrowverse is Reverse Flash's plan in season 1. He knew Barry had devoted his whole life to avenging the murder of his mom and he tried to use that. It almost worked, but then Barry was convinced by his alternate self not to do it.

[@LightningRaven42]

Absolutely. Arrow may have declined heavily during season 3 and after, but Season 1 and Season 2 were amazing.That ending showed the writers had balls to pull off complicated stuff.

[@EcnalKcin]

Is that one of those horrible netflix superhero shows nobody watches?

[@Roman-gy7pr]

@@EcnalKcin Not netflix, CW. Much, much worse.

[@raelik777]

Interestingly, the very thing that allowed Sauron to survive after the destruction of his body, namely binding his soul to the One Ring and making it nearly impossible to rid oneself of it, was also the thing that destroyed him in the end. In the Tolkien legendarium, it's made very clear that breaking oaths leaves one vulnerable to terrible curses, should the betrayed have the power and will to exact such vengeance. Gollum swears an oath to serve Frodo on the One Ring itself, and as the Ring gets closer to Mordor and begins to claim Frodo fully, Frodo becomes more able to use the Ring's true power. On the steps to Sammath Naur, the Cracks of Doom, after Gollum makes his penultimate attempt to claim the ring and is rebuked, Frodo uses the power of the Ring and Gollum's oath to curse him, telling him he will be cast into the fire should he touch Frodo again. Thus, Sauron's fate was sealed. Frodo didn't know at this point, but he could never willingly give up the ring, no more than Gollum could stop himself from trying to take it from him, which he did and was cast into the fire. In the end, evil destroyed itself.

[@taylormatson5691]

Brilliantly nuanced insights, thanks

[@krokettttt]

Not to mention it wasn't a failsafe, but the method how magical items (like the rings) were created.

[@darth_dan8886]

Honestly, for something so important, and created in secret, the facts that The One Ring housed Sauron's soul AND the that everyone knew it could only be destroyed in the flames of Mt. Doom are awfully convenient.

[@Navajonkee]

@@darth_dan8886 I think it's more that we were introduced to a bunch of exceptional people, men of power, wizards, elf rulers who are as old as the ring itself, if not older. I don't think all that many knew about the ring, much less the way to destroy it, but the ones who did were the most prominently featured characters throughout the story, so it may seem like "everyone knows about it".

[@darth_dan8886]

@@Navajonkee Yes, even the people Sauron specifically tried to hide the truths about the ring from, the rulers and the powerful wizards, knew about it. Makes me wonder, is this a convenient plot device, or was there actually some grave fault in his plan.

[@spikertaker]

Something you missed in #10: The heroes that came to fight the robot were personal friends of Mr. Incredible and his wife, Elastigirl, you could see them attend the wedding - the entire thing was way more personal.

[@kylepessell1350]

Well the Super Community as a whole was fairly tight-knit. Especially the upper echelons. Most of the famous supers knew each other by reputation if not personally. You get set up for the tragedy early on when Frozone and Mr. Incredible's talk earlier in the film mention how they've lost touch with a lot of their old friends but they have no idea that it's because they are being picked off one after another.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

If you're watching Mr Incredible in the scene where he is looking at the after action reports of the previous robots and the superheroes that they killed, you can see it was way more personal than that from the beginning.

[@NukeMarine]

Add to that that the Syndrome didn't train the robot against a team of supers, just one at a time. His plan was not in keeping with the theme of this video.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

@@NukeMarine He didn't expect a team, since he was killing them all off first.

[@iHoardOre]

@@NukeMarine well the creator of the vid misunderstood Sydromes entire plan to begin with,

[@davidcatlett4052]

10. Syndrome's Omnidroid (The Incredibles) 9. Hiding In Plain Sight, In More Ways Than One (Inside Man) 8. Irradiating Fort Knox's Gold (Goldfinger) 7. Frankenstein Switches Bodies (Revenge of Frankenstein) 6. Palpatine's Order 66 (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) 5. Sauron's Failsafe (The Lord of the Rings) {the One Ring as an extension of Sauron} 4. Joker's Plans Within Plans (The Dark Knight, 2008) 3. Thanos Wins (Avengers: Infinity War) 2. Ozymandias' Preemptive Strike (Watchmen, 2009) 1. Simon's Plan Would Have Worked (Die Hard With A Vengeance)

[@mrfister1899]

Nothing better to do?

[@AiH8U]

@David Catlett Thanks so I dont have 2 watch!!!!

[@justinhackstadt6677]

To actually plan against Dr. Manhattan, a near omnipotent being, Ozymandias literally thought of every possible outcome in a next level genius plan. 😳

[@chaost4544]

You point out something that made Ozymandias a great damn villain. He was a human formulating plans withing plans fully knowing a god exists amongst humanity.

[@PacMonster0]

The other part of what made his plan so good is he knew Dr. Manhattan couldn't stop the plan. If he did, it would have resulted in continued world conflict, which Oz knew Dr. Manhattan wouldn't support (with the little humanity the dude still had in him).

[@hansrojas9487]

I Remember that DR. Manhattan is kinda time-omnipotent, he knew everything he is witness to up until near the explosion. Dr. M knows his future knowledge has a shutdown somewhere on the future. So, Ozymandias also managed to block Manhattan time-sight. After that, Manhattan becomes a self omniscient being.

[@duvaintheodd5695]

@@hansrojas9487 He does it again too after Manhattan fully comes into his power. The thing is Manhattan isn't a major threat in any single way. Because Manhattan will not change his actions just because he can't see after a certain point and essentially meets the "event horizon" but by then Manhattan already knows what he will do and again it doesn't matter. It's hard to explain it but by doing certain thing you can ensure Manhattan won't kill you nor foil your plan despite him knowing how he got got. Manhattan is infinitely weaker in his own universe because he thinks he has no free will.

[@VicentitoGris]

using dr. manhattan instead a giant tentacle as happens in the comic was brilliant

[@jettblade]

So one of the things that actually stopped Thanos from personally stepping in to get the Infinity Stones was Odin. The MCU didn't do Odin justice other than casting Anthony Hopkins, -10 points for not showing any of Odin's power but +5 points for casting Hopkins. In the comics Odin was a force.

[@captainspaulding5963]

Yeah, exactly like they said....

[@foxskyful]

Lets not even talk about Zeus...

[@seansullivan7928]

Are you talking about the comic or the crappy movies

[@cmc891]

There was an end credit scene where thanos said "fine, ill do it myself" when odin was alive

[@TracyTroi]

@@cmc891 and then we don’t know what he did behind the scenes. He could have dropped the clues to lead Thor’s girlfriend to the reality stone. Could be a whole “Rogue One” style movie someday explaining how the fake gauntlet in that scene winds up in Asgard before Hela knocks in over.

[@Rotceev]

Nono, the Russel does not just accidentally stumble onto the detective. He drops a diamond into his jacket pocket. The detective throughout the movie mentioned about some issues about his financial status. Russell plays Robin Hood here :)

[@pawacoteng]

Yup, he was tipped off by his comrades in the car outside that Denzel was walking in, so it wasn't pure luck that he bumped into him.

[@iamchillydogg]

The diamond was for an engagement ring.

[@Ceares]

also, he wasn't the villain in this story

[@Jonathanizer]

@@Ceares Chase was the villain, the bank owner. He was more like an Anti-hero, or a criminal the audience can root for.

[@Freeden]

@@Jonathanizer I really liked this twist and it made much more sense that it was directed by Spike Lee because it gave the movie so much more meaning.

[@wesmcgrail1393]

I always thought the Lex Luther plan in the original Superman movie was pretty smart. He buys cheap land in the middle of the desert and then plans to nuke a fault line to make his property beach front. He would have gotten away with it if he had just kept his girlfriend happy.

[@jimh472]

Underrated comment for a underrated piece of classic cinema

[@TheKenzoidElkhorn]

The Narrator keeps saying the plan could work. Maybe Lex Luther could work. Honorable mentions Richard Pryor character in Superman 3 building Brainiac and The Matrix. Nobody thought Agent Smith would be able to pull it off .

[@robirvine6970]

Are you stupid? 1. The land is contaminated with nuclear fallout. 2. He's the obvious and clear suspect. He just brought all the land on the new coast.

[@gregrowe1168]

Funny thing is, Luthor was already rich, he didn’t need more money. I never really saw his motivation as a villain.

[@Mama_Badazh]

@@gregrowe1168 Greed. If Luthor ruled the Earth, he'd want the moon, too. Give him that and he'll want the whole solar system. In his dealings with Superman, it's also envy and confusion. Superman is the single most powerful being to exist in that setting, but rather than use his power to force everyone to kneel before him, he's humble. Luthor doesn't understand the motivations behind the lack of ambition. Luthor would love to have Superman's power for himself, but he can't, so he has to either bring Superman to heel or destroy him. He's become obsessed with Superman as a result. To the point where his obsession led him to combine his and Superman's DNA to create Connor... so, you could say Lex was so obsessed with Superman that he wanted to have his baby. :)

[@RICHIEV333]

In Serenity, "The Operative" has to find River Tam who is somewhere in a very large solar system filled with both terraformed planets and moons. Instead of searching each one. The bad guy uses a trigger (After visiting the facility where River's mind was altered) fed to the net, which causes her to turn into a weapon... The incident she caused was captured and made the news. Thus he was able to track her down without even a search. A brilliant plan.

[@artembentsionov]

He’s always calm and collected, except when his plans go pear-shaped

[@RICHIEV333]

@@artembentsionov The Operative: Captain Reynolds, I should tell you, so that you don’t waste your time - you can't make me angry. Inara: Please, spend an hour with him.

[@Boxfortress]

I still get chills when he says the world he's making has no place for him.

[@danielboatright8887]

@@Boxfortress Hes self aware, and knows hes not a good guy.

[@gregoryvn3]

@@RICHIEV333 I cackle like a crazy person every time I see that exchange.

[@SensorySymposium]

Fun fact, the great Jeremy Irons played Simon in Die Hard with a Vengeance... and he played the elderly Ozymandias in the Watchmen sequel series. Apparently he's the go to guy for criminal geniuses!

[@MandalorianRevan]

Has was the guy to cast as a villain in the early 90's as he was Scar in "The Lion King" and Damodar in "Dungeons amd Dragons".

[@randolphcroft4212]

@@MandalorianRevan - And Claus von Bülow in 'Reversal of Fortune.' Chilling.

[@gymbledore9739]

Except his ozymandius is not a genius and gets outplayed easily many times

[@lindseyquait1531]

Ew1,559i im,op,,pp

[@lindseyquait1531]

@@randolphcroft4212 m?

[@JulioPestana]

In his book "The hunt for Red October" Tom Clancy description of how the subs were was so perfect that the FBI questioned him. He got all the information he needed from the library of congress. It was public for anyone that knew where to look. I don't know if they classified the info after that but it was a big flaw in security.

[@nairbvel]

Several lifetimes ago, working for one of a bajillion government contractors, I was tasked with the periodic rewriting/update of the Secure Telecommunications Plan for a government entity. (NOTE: They definitely had more than 3 initials in their name, so no, it's not one of the [in]famous ones.) There were a LOT of physical barriers to anyone getting their hands on the actual document in either physical or electronic form, but by the second go-round I was struck by how mundane the information seemed (I was also simultaneously working on the non-secure equivalent document, and the similarities were amazing). When I brought this up to the security officer who was my contact, he told me that what made the "Secure" version of the plan "secure" was the fact that it had all the information in one single document -- he firmly believed (and turned out to be correct) that the entire contents of the "secure" document were easily available to anyone willing to just read through an ungainly but achievable stack of non-secure documents. Mind blown.

[@Insoma]

​@@nairbvel Tune in again next week to a brand new episode of "Things that never happened!"

[@seanmichaelpe2357]

if you ever reread the sum of all fears, Tom Clancy literally explains the process behind building a hydrogen bomb. he does specify however, that he obfuscated and changed some details for the book itself, but did point out that all the science (and even manufacturing tools!) needed to fabricate the bomb is public domain. according to him (and at the time he wrote the book), u could theoretically build a whole hydrogen bomb using public resources and commercially available tools/machines. at that point you'd only need the plutonium.

[@metallicarchaea1820]

Something similar happened with the early scenes in the Dr. Strangelove movie. The Bomber scenes and procedures were supposedly so close to the real thing that the Feds got suspicious and questioned the filmmakers as to how they got it so authentic. Keep in mind that this was the Cold War.

[@jasonwalker9471]

@@seanmichaelpe2357 At my work we have a large number of fully and semi-automated machines. Picking one of the simple ones, I know exactly how it works. I can describe in great detail every part of its operation and design. I can even describe finicky little details that would be hard for an outsider reading blueprints to replicate, like timing sequences of the automation mechanisms. I could not, however, build one of these machines without an ungodly amount of work and trial and error. Engineering does not work the way you think it works. Just because you know every detail of how something is built, doesn't mean you can replicate it. Even the companies building these machines have difficulty maintaining the tiny, insignificant seeming bits and pieces of knowledge necessary to keep making them. Getting a machine to work 90% of the time involves a good design, and some solid technical skills. Getting it to work 95% of the time involves a lot of testing, and small, subtle changes to the design. Getting it to work 99% of the time involves years and years of tweaks and seemingly random, semi-nonsensical changes to the prototypes. Changes that shouldn't possibly make a difference end up being the make-it-or-break-it changes. Going from 99% reliability to 99.99% is so hard as to be almost impossible. Most engineering teams give up, and just add in extra maintenance on "wear and tear" parts that shouldn't actually be wear and tear parts, but figuring out why they wear out faster than anticipated or don't quite work as predicted is so difficult and expensive that no one but NASA's deep space probe teams bothers to do it. As for hydrogen bombs, I too know how a hydrogen bomb works. It's all public. But I couldn't build one without a massive team behind me, and a lot of time, effort, and trial and error. So it's not super relevant that the broad details (or indeed, even specific blueprints) of a hydrogen bomb are public. You still can't just go build one. If you tried, it wouldn't work. Because the devil is in the details, and those details are so subtle that they're never properly documented.

[@LilyStarstrider]

Sauron would have survived with or without the master ring. The ring was not a failsafe. He's a maia. Basically an Angel. Tolkien makes it clear that the Valar and Maiar are finite in power, despite being godlike. When he forged the ring, it wasn't to survive, it was to dominate. He put his power into the ring so that the ring could function as intended: to control all the other rings of power. When he lost the ring, he was separated from his power and lost his physical form (which for the maiar and the valar is more optional). Without the power of his that was in the ring, it took millennia to craft a new physical form. When the ring was destroyed, it was the same. Only because he was tied to it, his power was lost for seemingly all time. However, because he is an immortal spiritual being who doesn't NEED a body, he may one day return, when he has gathered enough power to do so. But that is implied to be well beyond the scales of time for men. Until then, he exists, as he had from the very beginning, but as nothing more than a dark shadow of malice that haunts the dark corners of the globe, unable to do more than set the souls of men to unease.

[@Grim_Beard]

Thanks, I was hoping someone would have pointed this out.

[@jakub2682]

Is morgoth in the same situation ? Gone but not death? And what about balgorgs?

[@LilyStarstrider]

@@jakub2682 Yes to all of them. They cannot be truly destroyed. Just reduced in power and substance to being nothing more than shadows of evil

[@bluesbest1]

@@LilyStarstrider They also tend to get banished, either to the Void (Morgoth) or simply doomed to wander Middle Earth as a shadow (Sauron, Witch-King, Saruman)

[@androssgetzko2098]

@@jakub2682 Morgoth is banished and doesn´t have access to the middle earth anymore. The Balrog are basically in the same realm as Sauron just less powwerful

[@NicolasClark7732]

If you ask Edna, she would probably say Syndrome lost to a cape.

[@MorganSaph]

Edna complained about how many heroes died because of their capes. Ironic that Syndrome, a villain, died too. But Edna wouldn't complain, cause he was a villain

[@weldonwin]

I'd say he lost before that, when he lost control of the Omnidroid because it figured out its own built in weakness and he didn't think to include some kind of backup

[@gregoryannicchiarico3570]

You missed two GLARING EXAMPLES. Kaiser Soze's escape plan in The Usual Suspects and John Doe's plan in Seven!!

[@dudenotsoperfect9366]

The life of David Gale?

[@Lugi381]

Hmmm both Kevin spacey roles, coincidence?

[@gregoryannicchiarico3570]

@@Lugi381 Hey, regardless of the controversy, the guy picked some great roles.

[@WaddedBliss]

I came here to say that.

[@margaretgrace713]

@@Will-dn9dq - not in my opinion. Kevin is more believable than most and fictitious and grossly exaggerated "metoo" claims are not as believed as before. (As a survivor, I'm glad Amber Heard is as terrible an actress as she is a human.)

[@thisisthisis542]

The reason Thanos’ plan worked was not only patience, but the willingness to sacrifice. Cap says profusely “we don’t trade lives” but Thanos’ lieutenants willingly die to get to the stones. He even kills his daughter to get one. In the end, it was his willingness to die for what he believed in that won him the day.

[@milton7763]

He never sacrificed himself, so no proof he was willing to die: just willing to have others die

[@thisisthisis542]

@@milton7763 well, when he arrives on Vormir, he tells Red Skull, “I’m willing to do what it takes”

[@Sbozozo]

@milton7763 technically he sacrificed himself first... his whole entire life was dedicated to this one and only goal, everything else that can be defined as 'living your life' he gave up. Every single action he took was towards making his plan succeed and nothing else, by definition he sacrificed his whole life for this

[@Fyreflier]

And so when it came time for the Avengers to take him on once more in Endgame, it wasn't until Tony made the choice to trade his life for the win that they were actually able to defeat him.

[@Deathmare235]

@@Sbozozo but that was his main goal in life he only sacrificed everything cause that’s all what he wants

[@7thsealord888]

I think Megamind should've have gotten a mention. There is his jail break and clever 'fake Observatory' ploy at the start of the movie, and his impersonation of Metroman later on.

[@chrisjones5949]

I agree on principle, but I expect he doesn't count for two reasons: 1. No overarching "Master Plan" that comes together over the course of the entire story, and 2. When it's all said and done...he's not a villain. xD

[@samvisser9408]

@@chrisjones5949 I would take issue with 2; he *is*, in fact, a villain. Just not *the* villain. As in, he's a villain by identity throughout most of the film, but he's also the protagonist of the story. But I still take your point. :)

[@deeros100]

@@chrisjones5949 True, he's no villain. He is a supervillain!

[@mrcombustiblelemon2902]

@@deeros100 oh yeah? What's the difference?

[@ipanesm]

@@mrcombustiblelemon2902 PRESENTATION

[@fenrirwolfbone9714]

He activated order 66 after it became clear that the jedi where aware of who he was, not only because he'd turned anakin. Activating it then, gave him the perfect cover, the jedi had tried to seize control and made a attempt on his life, with out his true identity being revealed to the galaxy.

[@lynnerose7891]

Wow you didn’t watch the film AT ALL. The Jedi did NOT know who he was. They ONLY KNEW HE WAS A SITH LORD BECAUSE ANAKIN TOLD WINDU. Only AFTER Palpatine killed three Jedi Masters and Anakin had killed Windu, did he initiate Order 66. Additionally that makes NO DIFFERENCE because Order 66 was planned years beforehand, and it’s about the PLAN. Yikes. Listen.

[@bradchambers5886]

@@lynnerose7891 I know it's 2 months later, but I'm reading this now and you didn't disagree with OP at all. I'm sorry you were having a horrible day when you typed this comment and I hope you're feeling better now.

[@kerst4eva197]

@@lynnerose7891 wow its almost like the jedi found out after he killed 3 of them...

[@spiderFern]

The funny thing with Sauron's plan is the reason he had a failsafe and accepted the possibility that his plans would fail is because his plans have failed in the past. Badly. Like you can actually notice the shift where he accepts that his plans might fail and starts planning accordingly, and he gets way scarier after that point

[@LordSesshaku]

The true beauty of Sauron's plan was not properly explained though. It's not just "dark magic". Sauron makes a bet: all living creatures are like him. That means, than when presented the opportunity to keep the ring of power or destroy it, they would all keep it and try to use it for their own benefit, to order the world whoever they think right. This is more clear in the books, Sauron tought men and elves were planning on trying to USE the ring against him, he never tought they would actually try to destroy it. Yes, the ring has power to corrupt the holder and everyone around him, but it's not just "dark magic", it's kind of a morality tale on the nature of power itself. The ring is power incarnate, it's personal ambition, it's dreams and hopes, it's the possibility of doing everything you want. Just like Gandalf says, "he would try and use it for good", but you can't, because absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sooner or later "the ring" would win over you, and that would be Sauron's achievement. In fact, his plan was so good, that the only reason he lost, was hobbit's resilience to power (being simple minded and preferring the simple pleasures of life above power and ambition) and mere chance (in the books Frodo is finally corrupted, and the only reason the ring is destroyed it's because Gollum takes the ring and falls while celebrating). Yes, the ring of power is destroyed "by luck" due to Gollum's lack of awarenes while celebrating his triumph, kind of symbolizing that power and evil eventually end up destroying itself.

[@zkeletonz001]

@@LordSesshaku He never anticipated the Hobbits. He really couldn't since they didn't exist when he started making the rings.

[@no_activity]

@@LordSesshaku it's a misunderstanding of the Lord of the Rings to say that the One Ring was a fail-safe. Sauron Poured part of his soul/power into it so that he could control the 9 rings and 7 rings. He didn't know about the 3 rings, so he couldn't control them. When Sauron was killed by Elendil and Gil-Galad, it was his nature as a Maia allowed him to reincarnate, but he wasn't at full strength without his ring. It is implied, but not stated explicitly that he died during the collapse of his Tower in Mordor, and that his power was so limited that he never became a major threat again. By the way, Sauron had previously died during the collapse of Numenore, which took away his ability to take attractive forms.

[@LordSesshaku]

@@no_activity I agree it's not a failsafe. In the sense he always tought he was going to win. But it is a failsafe, in the sense that Sauron created his greatest weakness (knowing it could be a weakness) because of the reasons I stated before. Granted there's a bit of personal interpretation, but even in Tolkien's letters he more or less states that yes, Sauron tought no-one was ever going to be capable of actually destroying the ring. Also since you talk about Sauron's doom. I believe Tolkien stated in one of his interviews that Sauron more or less survived the ring, but was left to nothing of importance, kind of like Saruman spirit being blown away east.

[@danieljensen2626]

@@LordSesshaku Not sure why you specify "in the books" when that's exactly the way the scene in mount Doom goes in the movie.

[@iamskyfall]

Die Hard with a Vengeance is so underrated. I love the scene when McClane figures out that the plan was just a distraction to rob the gold depository.

[@CharlieGoldDirector]

Fun Fact, the film was actually written as a sequel to Lethal Weapon.

[@calibre97]

The kids on bikes actually figured it out but being kids, they didn't understand the scale. McClane made the leap to the scale of the reserve so yeah, he gets credit but it was those darn meddlin' kids that really did it.

[@dustinc6869]

I'll die on the hill that Die with a Vengeance is the best Die Hard. And I love #1, but #3 is so so good.

[@kirkus33]

@@dustinc6869 I agree, I will always watch Die Hard 1 during Christmas, but 3 is the best. Really good movie.

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

Palpatine should be way higher in this list. As usual he is underrated. The man had a long meticulous plan to control the galaxy and used his mortal enemy as pawns on his board to get what he wanted while getting them to wipe themselves out. He twisted the chosen one and ruled the galaxy for decades. Most villians have a short reign. His spans decades and movies

[@helaka]

yeah but he’s boring

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

@@helaka boring? Did you watch the prequels and clone wars?

[@AtomicF0x]

Palpatine definitely enjoyed all the benefits of his plans for way longer than most of the other villains. Most get stopped before their plans even come to fruition. Now, some might say Sauron did better by cheating death for two thousand years, but I'm willing to bet being disembodied, weakened, and forced back into the shadows for all that time was actually *_misery_* for him.

[@josephbanet5410]

Agreed. People often disregard him for some reason. In my totally unbiased opinion he should be number 1.

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

@@AtomicF0x he enjoyed every process of it and saw it through the whole way. It's a crime he's so underrated. I find him more interesting and terrifying than Vader who everyone ranks so high.

[@cyberdragon1000]

Initially I was wondering how ozymandias or thanos(who even destroyed the stones after that) was not on top 1 but gotta admit that if the plan was realistic enough that they actually had to prepare against it irl then nothing can beat that. Also adding some info on sauron; the reason he could think that up was he had a predecessor. He was a slave of someone who had a much larger army and power yet was defeated in the end.

[@kayleptwomoons1007]

His master got greedy and died without returning. Being a spirit tied to a body allows him to exist without requirement, but being power hungry and powerless isn't a good way to go about middle earth so he made the ring to bind himself to middle earth after he was banished from not earth.

[@manicwolfgaming4940]

Morgoth AKA Melkor, the Enemy, first and most powerful of the Ainur. I am not sure you could even say he was defeated. Sure, he remains in the void, but his dark plan will run in perpetuity till the end of the time. Despite there being no way for Morgoth to return from the void (although it is prophesied he will return), the lies he put in the hearts of the Children of Ilúvatar still remain and will create their evil results till the end of days.

[@cyberdragon1000]

@@manicwolfgaming4940 yeah if you looked at it that way then yeah sauron is worse off since he became mortal and was eventually killed

[@nuyabuisness7526]

In the same vein as the script writer for the last story is a story from Tom Clancy. He had a book where a crazy terrorist would hijack a plane and crash it into the US Capital during a joint session of congress. He called up a contact he had in the state department and asked if there was a plan for this scenario to make his story more realistic. He was left on hold for a while before getting told that they didn't have one and needed to come up with it.

[@Lionbright]

Debt of Honor. What's also interesting is that the antagonists are Japanese and partly motivated by America's hand in killing Japanese people in WW2. America entered WW2 by intentionally provoking Japan to attack them (Resulting in Pearl Harbor) and likely did the same with the Middle East, resulting in 9/11. Book came out in 1994.

[@DrDomich]

That sounds strangely familiar

[@brandonmunson2913]

@@DrDomich The book is Debt of Honor which is continued immediately in Executive Orders. Both good books and written in the mid 90s.

[@callumbreton8930]

Tom Clancy is a good example of why the idea of Black Swans is a load of horseshit

[@grimskid]

He was also questioned when he accurately describes the inside of a plane or helicopter. I don't remember the details but when asked how he knew he said the layout just made sense

[@TheElectricMayhem]

Valentine subverting the “Bond Villain” in Kingsman was pretty sharp. Just shooting his opposition in the head may not be “Clever”, but was was the smart call.

[@chrisjones5949]

His plan even largely worked! Millions of people died thanks to those mindjacking chips in the phones.

[@NukeMarine]

@@chrisjones5949 But we didn't see the outcome of it so that doesn't count.

[@chrisjones5949]

@@NukeMarine ... That's not accurate. We saw multiple scenes of violence erupting worldwide, tons of dead bodies, media reporting on the aftermath...

[@nicholasdsilva5273]

The villain from old boy should be on this list anyone who can keep a guy captive for over a decade, and then trick him in the sleeping with his own child, is a pretty diabolical villain

[@TheBlackSeraph]

'You shouldn't have asked why I kept you imprisoned for 18 years. You should have asked why I let you go.'

[@Kaiser_XIII]

I'm very surprised Keyser Soze wasn't included here.

[@duduken20]

The lord of the plot twists!

[@Rgdarkchild]

Came to say this

[@andreasbernardi3654]

Keyser Soze is so brilliant, even this channel didn't recognize him as a villain. When they upload this video, it's already too late for them to realize it, Keyser is gone.

[@evanmcelfresh3876]

@@andreasbernardi3654 This deserves more upvotes

[@kwcy92]

Keyser Soze doesn't exist!

[@STAXXX313]

I'm surprised Jigsaw wasn't on the list considering all of his games went exactly as he planned.

[@stoopidapples1596]

I think there’s a difference between “well designed plan” and “plan happens to succeed for plot sake.” They are over dramatic plans that could easily fail in about 100 ways and yet never do.

[@fusionwing4208]

Jigsaw could still be featured, the true Jigsaw intentionally built his death traps to actually be escapable if the prisoner had a competent brain and the will to handle pain. Only in the later movies were there traps that could not be escaped at all built by the fake one (jigsaw himself even points out this failure).

[@chrisjones5949]

Well...probably not the one where he died.

[@fusionwing4208]

@@chrisjones5949 if i recall, Jigsaw never actually got caught, he died having for the most part succeeded in his personal goals, and his successor had survived in the end (his true successor anyway)

[@chrisjones5949]

@@fusionwing4208 I don't disagree. I'm just saying that the plan he had to force someone to save his life was one that DIDN'T work out.

[@chaost4544]

Ozymandias's plan really was damn good. He was playing 3D chess while others were playing checkers. He's one of my favorite movie villains.

[@JaharNarishma]

Ozymandias was really well done. He had plans to unite the world which he put into action before the monologue - a monologue to help viewers understand. Oz also had a plan to deal with the near omnipotent Manhattan, which seemed to work at first. Additionally, Oz had a plan to look innocent by investing in the wrong things before the disaster struck. He incapacitated the most powerful being, did the deed before he could be stopped by others, and he made himself look innocent. His plan covered many bases.

[@bradleybiederer8796]

Fun fact: Jeremy Irons who played Simon Gruber also played Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) in the watchmen television show.

[@Laurenlena]

That show was absolutely brilliant

[@bradleybiederer8796]

@@TK421ps yup, a year or so ago on HBO

[@DiogenesDworkinson]

Gross show, should have left it at the movie...

[@alessandrozuffi5068]

We don't talk about that "show", it never existed

[@RockStationForChrist]

Ah yeah the BLM version of Watchmen

[@Jimmersaunt]

I can’t believe you didn’t mention Clyde in Law Abiding Citizen. He lost in the end, but his plan was pretty diabolical!

[@enhancdreality]

Possibly the worst ending in movie history. After showing how smart he is the entire movie, the careless ending is so frustrating

[@foxtayle683]

Funny this was the first movie I thought of when I saw the video title.

[@ExileTwilight]

One could argue he is the hero and not the villain :p

[@henrymccoy2306]

@@ExileTwilight for most of the movie I’d agree but the hidden bomb that the film ends with was guaranteed to kill civilians

[@daerwyn]

I heard that the original ending had him succeed but that viewers in prescreenings hated it so they changed the ending

[@jcaseyjones2829]

That Ozymandias line hit me so hard I went "HOLY F@$#" at high volume in the theater. Absolutely blew me away.

[@muzgash]

Ozymandias was not the "big bad of Watchmen", he was the only hero willing to save humanity from itself, even dr. Manhattan had to admit as much.

[@westberryjim]

Not arguing with you here. Just curious. Who is the big bad? Dr Manhatten is both a tool for Ozymandias and also just a watcher of humanity.

[@haggus71]

@@westberryjim You could argue that Dr Manhattan had become too detached from humanity to recognize the problems. It was Ozymandis's very humanity and willingness to take the destruction on himself that made him the bigger hero. The "big bad" of Watchmen was humanity itself, and its willingness to follow the road to oblivion. Like he said, he sacrificed millions to save billions.

[@margaretgrace713]

@@haggus71 - I completely agree with your comment, succinct yet all encompassing. The current Great Reset is proof of the "elites" inhumanity - they are deliberately doing it slowly to amplify the fear and horror.

[@WheelchairMania]

@@haggus71 If you have to sacrifice millions to save billions, perhaps we aren't worth saving. It's an interesting philosophical topic.

[@westberryjim]

@Rob Hagaman yeah but wouldn't that make the true "big bad" the American government? The majority of humanity just wants to be at peace and get on. Meanwhile the government officials want to dictate war.

[@doughboy3224]

You forgot that the Inside Man actually helped the cop by giving him the diamond in both ways.

[@olanmills64]

Thanos's plan was fine, but it doesn't seem like one of the "smartest". His plan was just to get all of the stones, and which he basically did with force. I guess the "smart" part was waiting for the Space Stone to be more vulnerable, but unless you're suggesting he orchestrated that, it wasn't really that clever

[@wittweirdo3066]

I agree, if we are going to put a MCU plan on this list, it should be Zemo's plan in Civil War. That was pretty clever.

[@olanmills64]

@@wittweirdo3066 yeah, that was some real chess master stuff there. Zemo found a way to destroy a team that he had no way to directly confront

[@Roguefem76]

Really two teams, if you count both the Avengers and the other Super Soldiers. Tbh I consider the discovery of his REAL intentions for the Super Soldiers to be one of the best "OMGWTF" twist moments in the MCU.

[@bradleynugent4991]

I Agree Thanos didn't have some mastermind plot, he was a powerful warrior and a good general, and just used patience to wait until his enemies were vulnerable to strike

[@m.a.s.productions4278]

I would have added Zemo’s plan from Captain America Civil War, but good list overall!!

[@jwil0508]

Zemo's was much better than Thanos' plan. Thanos' plan wasn't very aligned with his goal so I don't think it should be on here.

[@PacMonster0]

I mean Zemo's plan had no end-game (pardon the Marvel pun). He wanted the Avengers to fight amongst themselves but there was no greater point to it (I mean I guess as revenge for what happened with his family in Sokovia, but again, it's such an indirect way to go about revenge) and his plan really hinged on Tony Stark having the emotional restraint of a 12 year old. His fake-out plan of reviving all the winter soldier candidates as a private army was a better plan than his actual plan.

[@jarrodbright5231]

Zemo's plan was horrible. There was a gigantic list of things that had to go exactly the way they did in the movie for the plan to work the way it did. While the general idea of "get the Avengers to fight each other" was a good one, the way he went about it should by rights have never worked out.

[@jonathangreene4562]

@@jarrodbright5231 It worked because he studied them all carefully, and moved them around like pieces on a chess board. He knew exactly what Steve Rogers and Tony Stark were like, and what would happen when he stuck them in a room together and played that tape of a brainwashed Bucky killing Tony's parents. He didn't care if he died by the end either, only that the Avengers imploded from within. That is the most dangerous kind of antagonist, the kind who doesn't want anything you can offer them.

[@rixx46]

The demon in FALLEN was unstoppable. The ending of ARLINGTON ROAD is devastating

[@kenthehobo]

Yeah, but Azazel didn't really have a plan, he got lucky. If anything, Hobbes was the one with a plan

[@jaeusa160]

@@kenthehobo I wouldn't say Azazel got lucky. He likely knew he could possess animals. As such, he is remarkably difficult to kill and can rest assured in the fact. It isn't really a gamble that a cabin in the woods is in range of dozens or hundreds of hosts.

[@rjperkins365]

@@jaeusa160 Why did he sound so scared then? Sounded like he got lucky to me.

[@murphykenji]

The acts of terror in the movie Under Siege rank up there too.

[@janifer1251]

@@jaeusa160 so he's just being nice letting Denzel Washington think he won when really he could just have jumped into a bug or a mushroom to keep on living?

[@prjndigo]

The problem with planning to irradiate the gold is... you can't actually do that. A sub-fractional loss to fission down to Mercury _if_ the dirty bomb has a kiloton range but largely you just rinse the radioactive dust off with mild soap.

[@fluffcrunchmini4572]

I came to say this - am glad someone else caught it too

[@Swiftskice]

So you can't nuke gold?

[@Unethical.Dodgson]

@@Swiftskice you might melt some gold but you won't outright irradiate it.

[@fluffcrunchmini4572]

@@Swiftskice correct!

[@CNNBlackmailSupport]

But "an economist said it would have worked!" As if economists are somehow qualified to answer the feasibility of a plan to use a dirty bomb on gold. "They are good with money" lol.

[@sond.lollipop8919]

The Watchman movie was honestly fantastic. But watching it for the first time in theaters with my mom was fucking weird

[@Walt_Dismal]

Hallelujah.

[@bbsy1]

Because the only person with a functioning brain was executed needlessly? You know the difference between Thanos’ plan and Ozy’s? Thanos had a complete idea. Ozy’s depended on people not moving on from a boogie man that may never return if he thought that asinine BS would work and luck if he thought he would get away with it because all the heroes, including the all knowing one, were completely brain dead.

[@madmartigan2106]

@@bbsy1 respectfully disagree with your assessment. Although ultimately Rorschach did die needlessly thanks to his diary, he did need to die to progress the Veidt’s facade of the world peace. Furthermore,Veidt’s plan was more thoughtful and demonstrated his complete understanding of human nature and masterful maneuvering around a being that has the ability to see everything, as compared to a simpleminded brutish Thanos plan.

[@scottmantooth8785]

*perhaps awkward would be more accurate*

[@Lordoftheapes79]

Had she read the novel tho?

[@MrProdigy810]

You forgot Amy Dunne from Gone Girl. That frame job was one of the most chilling orchestrations I’ve seen, especially her understanding of the social construct and of her own husband’s mind.

[@jandubbers66]

I would strongly disagree with the Sauron-Theory. In fact his arrogance lead to his downfall since he believed himself more or less invincible - at least to men or elves. What defeated him was a kind of David/Goliath situation in which even the best odds can turn against you. And most of all, he was defeated BECAUSE he put part of his essence in The One Ring. Normaly the loss of a few fingers or his hand would never have stopped a Maia of his power. But the separation from the Ring - part of his essence - did. And this loss lead to the destruction of his physical form and the setback for millennia. He had/needed no safeguards, since he couldn‘t be completely destroyed in the first place. What happened was the worst case scenario from his point of view.

[@danielriley7380]

I took multiple issues on this entry until I remembered this is “movie plans” not the books. But still, soul? Ellie, the One Ring is not a horcrux!

[@davidmartensson273]

I agree, had the same thoughts, if you read the books the fact that he stayed on through the ring was not a plan but a side effect of putting part of his essence in the ring, and the reason he did that was to make sure it was his to control since the one ring also controlled the others, it was all about making sure he was in control, never about fallback.

[@christianotto5553]

The ring superpowered him but also created a crippling weakness. Quite similar to how Morgoth dispensed too much of his power into evil creatures. Evil defeats itself. And Sauron didn't cheat death with the ring - his essence is immortal to begin with.

[@thisguy69847]

@danielriley7380 here's the thing though. The ring does act like a horcrux, or a phylactery in the books. Sauron was on numenor when Eru Iluvatar destroyed the island. Sauron's physical body was completely destroyed by a divine smiting. However the ring was still in mordor where what was left of his spirit was able to rebuild himself.

[@christianotto5553]

@@thisguy69847 Sauron's spirit is immortal, being a maia. Has nothing to do with the ring. In fact, he's still there after the ring got destroyed, but very maimed.

[@treylehman6932]

Ozymandias’s plan in watchmen is genius. And even tho he murdered millions he prevented nuclear war

[@MrLeafeater]

That was a unique misreading of Sauron. I love this channel, but dang, you really got Sauron wrong. The One ring wasn't a failsafe. He was so arrogant he didn't acknowledge the risk. He got lucky once...that's not "planning ahead". You could have used Voldemort to illustrate that sort of caution.

[@maxpiemuse9584]

Nor did his soul transfer into the ring. Whoever wrote this clearly didn't read the books and probably saw the films once 20 years ago.

[@haggus71]

Yes, he made the ring because, by focusing all his power into it, it made him stronger. It was like a prism focusing the intensity of it.

[@marcning918]

Yeah the reason they gave being having a fail safe definitely describes Voldemort better than Sauron. Voldemort did on purpose with Sauron it was a side effect.

[@danielriley7380]

Ellie got a couple of things wrong, but just as many replies are also not fully understanding the One Ring. Sauron main goal with the Rings of Power was originally just dominating the Elves. It was when he put the One on the Elves became aware of his plans the ones wearing the Three (which Sauron had no part in making) took theirs off, he realised they were onto him. Then he waged war, managing to recover all the lesser rings, which he distributed between the dwarves and men. But in the creation of the One he’d poured so much of his malice and strength that now his existence was tied to it (not vice versa). That was a mistake, not a plan. And no: the Ring does not make him stronger, or act as focus. When he has it, he is simply whole, when he is deprived of it (say by a hobbit) part of his power is in the Ring, making it’s bearer live longer, slowly becoming more corrupted, and occasionally invisible.

[@danielriley7380]

@@haggus71 that’s a misconception about the Ring. Sauron was a Maia. When he made the ring he put much of his power into the Ring. Not much of an issue: if he’s wearing it he’s still whole. But it never made him more powerful except in that gave him control over the other Rings of Power. Then Isildur cuts the Ring from him: Sauron then loses all the power he’d put into the Ring, making him weaker

[@bastange8856]

06:40 Ehhhhhh, not so sure about this one. Sure Sauron placed a lot of 'himself' in the ring, which allowed his power to continu to exist on Middle Earth after his defeat, but Sauron is a Maya, meaning he was immortal anyway. But he didn't put his power in the ring because he was building a falesafe for if he was defeated, he did so to make sure his ring would dominate the other rings built from his knowledge of smithing (the 9 and the 7 that ruined a lot of humans and dwarves, creating the ringwraiths and being the root cause of the greed in the dwarves). When he was defeated, it was human greed that allowed the part of his power imbued into the ring to remain, the selfsame greed that his own power brought out in the ringbearers. There wasn't any nefarious plotting going on there on Saurons part. It is a clever literary reference on how human greed causes evil to remain in the world where selfless acts of sacrifice can alleviate it. This whole reference is influenced by ancient Norse myths about rings that promise wealth and power but bring ruin. Basically its a reinvention of those stories within his own fantasy world, in order to convey the moral of his story.

[@rustkarl]

You mean the Ring of the Nibelung?

[@bastange8856]

@@rustkarl Possibly. I know from an interview the one ring was based on a classic story about a magic ring promising power but bringing ruin and that the story came from Norse mythology, but little else 😅

[@stephanluciw7703]

@@bastange8856 It is that story, yes. Rusty was spot on, although it's really easy to tell if you already know about the origin myth in the first place; it's a carbon copy, just translated into a fantasy world/book xp

[@HistorysRaven]

To the brilliance of Palpatine's plan, you also need to take a bit of a deeper dive into the lore. Not too much, the lore is there to pick out. It comes with the fact that Order 66 is just one of ~150 Contingency Orders. The clones would know all of them, as would most of the military. Some Jedi, specifically the ones who worked within the military rather than just leading clones into battle, would know most, if not all, of them, too. The reason why no one looked twice at Order 66 is because of Order 65: "In the event of either (i) a majority in the Senate declaring the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) to be unfit to issue orders, or (ii) the Security Council declaring him or her to be unfit to issue orders, and an authenticated order being received by the GAR, commanders shall be authorized to detain the Supreme Commander, with lethal force if necessary, and command of the GAR shall fall to the acting Chancellor until a successor is appointed or alternative authority identified as outlined in Section 6 (iv)." Why would people think twice about the extermination of the Jedi Order if the Chancellor put an order saying he could be removed.

[@shizachan8421]

Basically this, in the context of all the contingency orders, order 66 doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary or unreasonable, its just an emergency order. I think the really crafty part is, that in Order 65 lethal force is only ordered if necessary and the primary objective is to detain the Supreme Chancellor, while in Order 66 lethal forces is required.

[@blackmantis1511]

@@shizachan8421 Even if you noticed it, the lethal force is required part wouldn’t cause most to blink I think, because of the super hero problem, the Jedi are so much stronger than almost the entire galaxy there is no realistic way to detain them outside of lethal force.

[@jarradroberts9598]

@@blackmantis1511 exactly, they can blow out walls with their minds, and only one place in the galaxy could hold them, at least in the older legends canon. The planet where the anti force bubble tree creatures live. I don't think it was really known until after Palpatine fell and the Death Star II was blown up. And that planet has predators that track using the Force, hence the adaptation of anti Force field projection.

[@kelechi321]

What book covers and describes these other Palpatine plans. I love the TRUE cannon SW books. I am read/listend to Fate of Jedi so many times. The Jace Solo into Darth Cadius arc is my all-time favorite SW story. I would love to read about Palpatine and his plans.

[@shizachan8421]

@@kelechi321 those were never true canon, not even under George Lucas. They were semi-canon with different levels how likely anything could be treated as canon.

[@Spirit_Yoshino]

Ozymandias breaking that tradition of the villains monologuing, reminds me of the film Kingsman, with Samuel L. Jackson's character.

[@jamesmacleod9382]

Dr. Draken says that monologuing is the best part of the job.

[@billr64]

I'm just SHOCKED she didn't include all of Wile E. Coyote's plans!

[@jamesbrice3267]

His over-reliance on Acme technology is a dead giveaway.

[@jamesmacleod9382]

He is a genius, even his business cards say so.

[@torquetheprisoner]

​@@jamesbrice3267 acme are the true villains

[@JMScibra]

Grand Admiral Thrawn from Timothy Zahn's Star Wars books (a dedicated "sequel trilogy" and a few books that filled in some blanks during the original trilogy). He was inspired by Sherlock Holmes among others; his plans only failed due to unexpected circumstances usually revolving around the Force, likely never fully comprehended the full potential of someone strong in the Force, or simply those capable in the Force were simply that formidable against his meticulous planning (probably a bit of both). One non-Force instance, where he finds a Millenium Falcon-like ship (YT-1300fp) to use as bait to capture Leia, though Leia's Force sensitivity could be argued as giving her a heightened "sixth sense" in regards to why she noticed it was bait and not Chewy piloting it.

[@joevarner9447]

Actually, he accounted for the force. What he didn't account for was someone finding the home of his cadre of assassins and undoing their loyalty to him. His blind faith in their enslavement was his one blind spot.

[@namvu2362]

@@joevarner9447 But... It was so artistically done... Chills man. I still remember the Heir to the Empire trilogy so clearly. Now that is the sequel series I would have loved on the big screen.

[@kevinshea7547]

The Space Girl in Lifeforce and Eva Galli from Ghost Story each had solid plans to draw in their intended victims, and that was to appear before those people in the nude. Their actual forms were terrifying, while the naked body is appealing and does not suggest even the slightest threat.

[@chessoc7799]

Ahh Matilda May was gorgeous Shame she was not in much else I would have gone to see films for her alone.

[@kevinshea7547]

She has plenty of credits, but many are in France, and she is still working.

[@finalboss1015]

The movie Seven, plays out the entire devious plans of one particular criminal whose goal was to have people die committing the seven deadly sins. The bad guy wins and his plans comes to fruition. Kinda shocked it wasn't honorably mentioned.

[@devilman3806]

"John Doe has the upper hand!"

[@Pecisk]

Good catch, yeah, it is sickeningly brilliant plan.

[@juanausensi499]

It wasn't perfect. He had the police on his trail before expected, and he was forced to rush is plan and play a little loose with his initial rules. For example, he didn't kill any sinner of 'wrath'. Instead, he killed a perfectly innocent woman (an her perfectly innocent unborn child), something he had never done before, to force the sin of wrath on Brad Pitt's character, who was also not killed. So, in the end, he undermined his own 'message', first with collateral damage, second by not killing one of the sins' avatars, and third by him being the cause of the sin instead of the punisher of the sin.

[@Verclads]

@@juanausensi499 but if you think the killer is murdering the detective family in a wrath of anger then we could say that the last sin is himself, and if that's not enough, he gets killed by wrathful person too...

[@juanausensi499]

@@Verclads He was envy, not wrath.

[@santiagocarrasco2523]

Michael Corleone's Baptism of Fire sequence in THe Godfather ought to have made the Top 2, as it worked brilliantly and left him with a perfect alibi.

[@TheMarcHicks]

I think you kind of misunderstood how Sauron's Ring actually worked. He put a lot of his native power into it when it was forged-not as a failsafe, but in order to be able to dominate the elves via the other rings he helped to make. In some ways, transferring so much of himself into the Ring made him a lot more vulnerable to permanent destruction

[@goyasolidar]

This.

[@deadpool075]

Considering Jeremy Irons also played Ozymandias in the series. He takes #1 and #2. All part of his plan.

[@Scubavangelist]

Lolita... The Lion King... Dead Ringers... The whole list could be Jeremy Irons if he wanted it to be!

[@bartoszlatus3091]

Simons plan worked in alternative ending. Also I love his scene on the ship with an egg and safety switch.

[@georgealexander1059]

I think Zemo had the best plan in the MCU. While all other villains fought against the avengers, he was able to turn them against themselves. While his plan ultimately was foiled, him being able to make the avengers fight themselves rather than fighting him is a brilliant move.

[@steelcladCompliant]

Sauron was defeated precisely because he was overconfident in his failsafe. He assumed it was foolproof, that the power of the ring HAD to have corrupted Aragorn and that was why he was marching into Mordor at the head of an army. Obviously Aragorn had the ring and foolishly believed he had power over it, a corruptible man as he was. Sauron counted on his enemies trying to use the ring against him The thought that they could have given it to some random hobbit, and that he would go DESTROY it instead of keeping it for himself, never even crossed Sauron's mind

[@shalomamigos]

I think many people make the mistake of thinking that everyone else thinks the same way they do. Some people are really nice, to the extent that it's difficult for some people to believe, and some are so cruel that it's difficult for other people to comprehend.

[@moralityisnotsubjective5]

Evil Cannot Comprehend Good in action.

[@chrisdonovan8795]

Thank Gandalf, a demigod, for keeping it in the hands of a hobbit. The ring fed the wearer with images of their greatest desire. A hobbit's greatest desire is to have a comfortable home with a full pantry.

[@steelcladCompliant]

@@chrisdonovan8795 Doesnt Sam see himself at one point as a super powered giant tearing down Barad Dur? Or am I completely hallucinating? That would make him pretty ambitious by hobbit standards

[@chrisdonovan8795]

@@steelcladCompliant He does pull out of it, I think. He willingly returns it despite the temptation.

[@Dopecheetah]

Inside Man is so so dope yo. There are two problems though, one not enough Willem Dafoe and two not enough banter between Jodie Foster and Denzel Washington!

[@frankconley6321]

I'll go with the plans of "V" in V for Vendetta.

[@rhettzkie]

I don’t think his V stands for villain tho. Antihero maybe.

[@frankconley6321]

@@rhettzkie Agreed. You have to agree his plan was brilliant. 100% based on what he knew his opponents responses would be every step.

[@ProfTuNichts]

I have a feeling of what's happening next. I can see it. What is the next step? It was only a feeling

[@Fleato]

After seeing thanos in the intro, I swear if thanos is in this video….his plan with infinite power to fix not having enough for people to survive is to get rid of people rather than…. Remake reality to have enough for everyone. At least in the comics, him doing it for the love of death feels like it makes sense.

[@RavenCloak13]

Well, what he wanted to do he got away with it which is the point. It's just the point of what he wanted to do was fucking stupid. It makes more sense in the comics.

[@Mdautkreix]

Wrong “plan” to focus on there. Video’s about each villain’s process of achieving their respective nefarious goals, not whether said goals were the best ideas in the first place given initial motivations. But as the dude above me said, yeah it was pretty dumb lol dude just wanted to go Old Testament on the universe to satisfy his god complex…and succeeded ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Fleato]

@@Mdautkreix yeah i guess im more focused on the goal of the plan rather than the execution which is fair.

[@TOOLandNINfan]

"Kill half of everything to save resources!" Just. Double. Resources. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@the_boar_king8990]

What everyone forgets is that doubling the resources is also pointless as the population will soon exceed those as well. Killing half the people makes more sense as a punishment mechanic but the blanket flip a coin on their lives is nonsense. Especially destroying the stones afterwards. If you really wanted them to learn to manage resources to sustain a population then follow-through is necessary.

[@austintgod9621]

If your movie plot can make the FBI doubt u for real,then you have really succeeded in making a masterpiece.

[@WardNightstone]

there was another bond villian who owned a news network and wanted to start a war for ratings not that far fetched

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

When I first saw it, I laughed at how unrealistic it is that someone would do something like that...now I would absolutely believe it and not be all that surprised.

[@steffenbendel6031]

But that does not give you much advantage over you competition. Most news are anyway not well researched, more opinion mixed with fantasy. So making sure to have it first does not help much.

[@user-px7no8um7z]

Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies

[@JoeSmith-lp8fl]

@@steffenbendel6031 Until you realize that almost all the major news outlets are owned by the same organizations and investors, so at that point are they really "competition"..? Then you think about back to 9/11 and all the media support for a war. Then you think back to the last 6 years of the media pushing a narrative for war with Russia... Now your nation is more then likely throwing billions, and eventually trillions, into a war with Russia... Hmm...

[@mattc3581]

The murder plot in minority report was pretty clever. How do you plan and enact a murder in a time when psychics can foresee the murder before you even commit it and you'll be arrested before it can happen?

[@0001captainawesome]

The ring only housed part of Sauron's power, and in fact Sauron had a physical body during the entirety of Lord of the Rings. It's also implied that he is the one who personally tortured Golem for the ring's location.

[@kylepessell1350]

I'm pretty sure that Sauron couldn't generate a physical body without the One Ring because he'd poured too much of his essence into it. That's the entire reason why Sauron couldn't lead his own armies or search for the ring himself. His spirit was stuck in the Tower and he had to rely on his servants for physical tasks.

[@davidburns9766]

No, he had a physical form, he just didn’t have the full power that he would if he got back the ring. He probably was the one who personally tortured Gollum and used the palantir, Pippin and Aragorn saw him in it.

[@jakobplobeck8006]

@@kylepessell1350 sauron issent a "lead his own armies" kinda guy. And in the act lf "gathering all evil to him" that includes the ring.

[@davidburns9766]

@@jakobplobeck8006 yeah, he was out personally in the last age because it was the last stand, he didn’t expect to lose that fight.

[@runtergerutscht4401]

I think he had a physical (much weaker) body that resided in the eye above Barad-dur

[@Seuration]

Several of my favorites are already listed below. John Does plan in Se7en, Kaiser Soze's escape plan in The Usual Suspects. But I think the most egregious overlook of this video is Clyde's plan in Law Abiding Citizen. I know he isn't a typical villain, more of an antihero, but he is still technically the antagonist of the movie. So I guess it counts.

[@phil8662]

Totally agree with you on Law Abiding Citizen.

[@soosandras555]

Sauron didn't survive because of the ring. He's a Maia, his spirit is immortal. Beings like him can't die, but they can be weakened enough to not be a problem. That's what happened to Sauron.

[@cosmiccheese4140]

The thing Is he had a phisical body that helped him to intervine in the world, When the ring was destroyed he didnt die ir anything, he was just there, without being able to do anything for the rest of the eternity doomed to exist as a being that cant do anything

[@AlexJade]

Quantum of Solace is a bond story that is something that groups are actually trying to do. Privatizing water is a huge issue. Like how Nestle is doing it in California

[@simonnading]

Movie may have sucked, but the plan was one of the best in Bond history.

[@AlexJade]

@@simonnading Yea it was bad. I feel bad for Craig getting so many bad scripts

[@Pecisk]

I think that realistic take (which I liked) was let down by movie being kinda meh.

[@kevintheprf6132]

Will always say Palpatines plan was so brilliant only because all his protagonist adversaries were amazingly stupid.

[@benjaminschiel3339]

Well before the clonewars break out the jedis were see as guardiens of safty and peace. they were respectet knights in shining armor. but in the clonewars they became generals. like every War they are coleteral damages. Even if the Seperatist army are mostly robots. And the clones avoid civialian lost. they will be still people that die. Engenier on ships ans spacestations. worker in fabrics. and in some battles the Seperatist realy use real lifeforms to fight. And both side use heavy weapons. Both side will reach point in that they are sick of the war( in the clonewars tvshow there was even a episode were the seperatis congress offer a weaponpeace to the republic senet votet also to make a weaponbreak. Paplatin as cancelor could not vote agains it and even doku on the seperatist side could not vote agains it. there last straw was a terrorist attack on one main powercenters of courasant black multi sectors and lead all trace toe the seperatist) The reputation of the jedi was gone. the public will see that they want county that war becaus they profit from it( what was kind of true). In the long run the republik will have riots agains the war. and the jedis were seen as officesrs that do everything to stay in power. Paplatins leak that he was a sith have bring the jedi in a shortcut reaction. They try to arrest him again the official way ( police arrest for treason and manipulation, the whole justice way with years of law work) For the public the whole sith thing was not revevant. They see that the jedi try to murder the cancelor for that they vote and proving they will do everything to stay in power. Order 66 was only the final nail. and even not needed. with the try to coup the democratic votet cacelor the whole repulic want to arrest or murder the jedi masters. Every try of the jedi to avoid a arrest only prove there Guilty. The Jedi have no real prove at all that Palpathin was the person that start the blocade over nabu and create the seperatist movment... Why paplatin have recordings how they break into his rooms and wants murder them. And its even more insane when you relise that at one point in the clonewars palpatin and docu could be both death. and the plan would still work. all they need to do was sure that a few radical enough persons are in power to favorit the votes in there interest. Then they only need to blam another Senator members that he was link to the seperatist and work for them and the Jedi will again take the same action and want arrest him ignoring the legal ways with the same outcome that the jedi were se as terrorist that want to coupe. and yes the jedis were idiots becaus they don't ask how order the clone army and were the money came from. And they also never research enough who the sith could be. they conquest fortrest and ships but never track down the communications ways. They don't place spys in the seperatist lines. don't try to bribe seperatist officers. don't hack into Seperatist database. or willed let a high officer escape too tracking him over a hidden tracker... On the others side, see in ourer world: Sadam Hussain was hide for almost 9 months. why his whole country was under US Occupation. and For for Osama bin laden... was on the most wantet list. a million bounty on his head. and he was hiden and still organisatet in parts the al quida for nearly 10 years.

[@TrexelCat]

"So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb." -Dark Helmet

[@molybdaen11]

„That's why evil will always rise again - because the heroes are so dumb.”

[@benmanktelow]

Surprised John Travoltas character from Swordfish didn’t get a mention.

[@JHR78]

He was the hero we need in real life. Every time there's a terrorist attack in the states, we should double it to the attackers interests.

[@matvangogh]

@@JHR78 good point. Great film

[@matthewluecke3704]

Quick Change (Bill Murray) is similar to Inside Man. Murray's plan works (eventually) with so many backups. He even helps the police chasing him at the end to arrest a bigger fish. Right as the plane is taking off, the lead investigator realizes Murray's character was the bank robber all along.

[@KaosKrusher]

I preferred the older french version with another legend: Jean-Paul BELMONDO (RIP)

[@torgnyaanderaa2334]

Delighted that Simon's plot is on top; I've always thought this plan was briliant - and that he sooooort of deserved to get away with it. (Particularly when, if memory serves, the only thing that ruins it, is McClane remembering some random guy's badge number, and trusting his memory enough to shoot a guy for it.)

[@chrisjones5949]

That does happen, but it's not what stops Simon's plan - by that point in the movie, the gold was already stolen. His plan is stopped by random chance, though - when McClane is strapped to a bomb on the ship and asks for an aspirin for his headache, Simon obliges with a laugh. That bottle of aspirin happens to have a store name on it: "Nord des Lignes." This store is located near Simon's base in Canada, which is how McClane finds him.

[@Pecisk]

Thing is, script writers agree with you, in original final draft Simon *gets* away with it, and it much darker ending, where McClane tracks him down (on his own) and kills him.

[@torgnyaanderaa2334]

@@Pecisk Thank you for the reminder! I saw the name of a youtube video the other day, talking about the "dark, alternate ending" to that movie. Forgot all about it, but now I will see if I find it again. Cheers!

[@edhdeckbuilding]

zemo's plan from captain america: civil war is a huge miss here. absolutely brilliant plan that actually worked.

[@irish9627]

Watchman is such an underrated movie

[@jaysondoak6184]

Inside Man remains one of my favourites. It's rare a swerve catches me and that one had me hooked.

[@marcusk.4369]

Kinda surprised that Se7en wasnt on here, definitely fits the criteria for incredible plans, and it actually worked in the end

[@BigDaddyJinx]

Palpatine proved that the best plans are on the back of "the long game".

[@thomasallen9974]

The singular issue he had was Padme Amidala. She was the only actual threat to his plans because she 1 came out of left field 2 was so closely tied to every facet of his plan that he had to work around her involvements (Anakin and the Senate in particular) 3 she put herself in such a position that removing her even with the best hidden means proved nigh impossible. In the end it was Padme who could be said to have won in the conflict, as the Rebellion only existed due to her and frankly Luke takes after her while Leia was definitely more like Anakin.

[@molybdaen11]

He could have won if he just keept his apprentice happy and married.

[@MegaRayland]

Note: the original ending of Die Hard: With a Vengeance showed Simon actually winning and escaping, with McClane catching up to kill him on his own many months later. It was changed for the theatrical cut.

[@jamesbrice3267]

"That would have made more sense".

[@damonbennett8376]

I think Gerard butlers character from law abiding citizen is good as well

[@9one984]

nah man, it can be one of the smartest plan if the movie have different ending. That ending is so dogshit too. I mean Clyde plan everything to perfection aside from the fact that the property he bought near the prison that he use to get out is traceable back to him and he for some reason did not have a backup plan for the last bomb. His plan is basically the reverse Sauron from this list.

[@HuckFlynn]

@@9one984 Agreed -- they made Clyde too smart because they needed him to be a super-scary bad guy. But then everyone starts rooting for him and clapping/cheering when the lawyers/judges get dusted. So then Clyde had to be "defeated" by the "good guy", the lawyer everyone despises. Thus the entire end of Law Abiding Citizen turns into a total joke because the plot suddenly derails to prevent Clyde from winning. Too bad because that was a great movie ... for the first 90% of it.

[@Rotceev]

It's an amazing secret of life, that writers have to be just as smart as any character they write, and any genius idea in a story is a genius idea in real life.

[@kennethsagers8576]

Depending on how we apply this, I think this is the most untrue thing said, or possibly still true, but reversible to make some supposedly brilliant characters not so smart. On the one hand, no, and it's a hack job how often "geniuses" are written by mediocre writing rooms trying to dish out generic drama. For instance, you can easily write a character who beats all the world chess champions, stumps the room with his wit everywhere he goes, leaves politicians speechless, and designs a homemade resusable rocket to Mars . . . despite being 12 years old. And you'll have audiences feeling impressed despite merely seeing illegible nonsense on a chalkboard and being swayed by the character's charisma. But no mistake, the character IS canonically, fictionally a genius. The writer has just avoided the work of being a genius themselves, and instead either left it out-of-shot implied work (we don't see a working rocket's schematics ) or simply created a world in which the stakes for being a genius are much lower (stunning wit that leaves room quiet and changes hearts in fiction would get you mocked in real life.)

[@mori1bund]

@@kennethsagers8576 this is where "show don't tell" comes into play. You can tell the audience that he's a genius and leave it at that, or you can show the audience an actual example of his genius, which makes a much better story, but that needs a better writer.

[@jamesmacleod9382]

@@kennethsagers8576 Do it again but use half the number of words.

[@johnstone9396]

I knew the joker was going to be in this list but I was thinking of the opening bank robbery not the Harvey dent thing

[@ZlothZloth]

Yeah, I got the feeling that the Dent thing was just a handy little side-caper rather than the "true intent." Strange thing is - for a guy who wants to mess with people by disturbing their plans, he's REALLY good at planning.

[@johncoe929]

Ava’s plan in Ex Machina is a solid contender for this list, IMHO

[@JHR78]

That was a great movie and left me in awe when I watched it. But I don't think her freedom will effect the world as much as these big type plans.

[@MurderMostFowl]

Poor gazorbeam. That cave scene still makes me sad

[@sidkemp4672]

Entertaining and interesting. Thank you! One note: Sauron's backup plan did occur as you said, but it was not intentional. Sauron never imagined anyone would kill his body and take the Ring. It just worked out that way.

[@bluesbest1]

Agreed. He poured that much of his soul into the Ring simply so he could dominate the lesser ones. In doing so, he essentially gave the Ring a life (or at least a will) of its own. That will, and the imbued essence of Sauron, gave it the features she described.

[@kenthehobo]

Tyler Durden in Fight Club! Talk about a plan... can't really talk about it though

[@Kritacul]

Inside Man overall is such a great and underrated movie. The plot and story is soooo good.

[@ValCronin]

Thank you for making this video. The most intetesting part of any plot is cleverness and brilliance applied to problem-solving...the rest of the screentime can often be tedious filler material such as (blegh) arbitrary romantic relationships, and obstacles-for-the-sake-of-conflict. So thank you for extracting the best parts of all of these films and compacting them in one nice meaty clever assortment of summaries. You chose great examples, too 👍

[@Blackhand47XD]

I would add plans from both main Kingsman movies (Valentine and Poppy). They really makes sense and both villains almost won.

[@MurderMostFowl]

You missed out on being able to use Syndrome’s “you got me monologuing!” Clip for your monologue log segment. This is kind of mind blowing since you already mention him in #10

[@facepalmjesus1608]

Cartman's revenge over Scott should be no.10 through no.1

[@Funky_Ghost]

Correction; Syndrome was defeated by Edna. She gave him the cape . . . ;)

[@Rembanspellsong]

I think his costume was home made

[@thepawchoe2749]

Ozymadias and syndrome are actually two of my favorite all time villians. Ozymandias is the embodiment of what I've always envisioned a true villian should be.

[@chaospoet]

If you ever make a part 2 include "He Never Died". While the person in charge of the gangs does get what's coming to him, and depending on what fan theory you believe literally meets his maker, he does technically win as he wanted Jack to snap and turn back into a rampaging killer while hurting Jack through his daughter as revenge for Jack killing his father. He won on both accounts. Though, if you ask me, totally not worth it for the guy after what Jack does to him when he finds out.

[@arekpetrosian4965]

That was a fun movie, that I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did.

[@Zangetsu666]

There is many problems with this list in my opinion. For one, I'd say that in order for any plan to be 'smart', it would have to have some twists and turns, or multiple moving parts that suggest deep thinking and massive planning in order to pull it off and many of these don't fit such criteria. One egregious violator of this is Thanos so called 'plan'. All he did was collect the gems and enacted its power. There was no plan. It was just an act that proceeded to its conclusion. As for great plans, I would say that the villainous group from the "Unbreakable" series was a great plan, as it came out of nowhere and no one saw it coming aside from Elijah, and even Elijah's plans weren't shown until the very end. Another great plan was Gerard Butlers in Law Abiding Citizen. Multiple moving parts and moving pieces.

[@gamepapa1211]

That Joker thing just supports the theory that he is either former military or former CIA. All of his plans seems far, FAR too calculated to be "just a dog chasing cars."

[@iamanowl26]

Doesn't at all, just shows he was clever

[@gamepapa1211]

@@iamanowl26 all the cleverness in the world can not prepare you for shooting a bazooka out of a moving truck. Now military and or special agent training though, that's another story.

[@steven-i6j]

Zemo in Captain America Civil war was one of the best villiain plans ever and should be on the list.

[@alexspain9103]

Ngl, Thanos's plan isn't that smart. His plan is quite simple, it's just well executed.

[@johnnylyttle]

Honestly saw this Top 10 and thought it has to be Die Hard With A Vengeance, but assumed it would be overlooked because most of the others are blockbusters like LOTR and Infinity War. The whole plan was brilliant. The John McClane grudge was misdirection to attack the vault. The bomb on the subway allowed them to hide in plain site around the bank. The bomb in the school was misdirection while they escaped. Even the megabomb on the boat was misdirection to pretend the gold was destroyed. Utterly brilliant plan.