Top 20 Movies Where the Villain Wins

Victory is theirs! For this list, we’ll be looking at the greatest cinematic examples of villains emerging victorious. Since we’ll be discussing endings in great detail, a major spoiler warning is also in effect. Our countdown includes “Avengers: Infinity War”, "Skyfall", “Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back”, "Seven", "The Silence of the Lambs" and more! Which bad guy do you think was right? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out these other bad guy related videos:
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Top 10 TV Shows Where You Root for the Bad Guy: • Top 10 TV Shows Where ...
Top 10 Video Game Bad Guys Better Than the Hero: • Top 10 Video Game Bad ...
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#villains #MCU #Marvel #starwars #avengers #thanos #saw #watchmen #bond #movies

[@WatchMojo]

Which bad guy do you think was right? Let us know in the comments below! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Oxl3uFh8d2n7M

[@jcj268]

Top 10 Best Movies of 2022

[@michaelmonthey5974]

Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War

[@marcocastillo1087]

@WatchMojo Top ten upcoming movies of 2023.

[@mousemd]

I watched the Wicker Man. The ending was awful!

[@rodrigocoockiemonster4460]

All of them, fuck heroes

[@DmitriStormblood]

Devil's advocate ends with the villain winning too as he resets everything and gets the last laugh.

[@joshuamohlman]

“Earnest Hemingway once said the world is a fine place and worth fighting for. I agree with the second part.” - Detective Somerset, Se7en

[@chelseacanales8763]

No Country for Old Men is Javier’s best work. No wonder he won the Oscar.

[@CrazeeAdam]

Funny he's on here multiple times as the said villain. :) but awesome

[@BloodHive35]

He’s almost as eerily scary as Christoph Waltz on Inglorious Basterds

[@melissaleoncreolenola]

Well Deserved.. plus his handsome as hell... and that's my Spanish heritage... last name Leon means Lion .. I'm from New Orleans and Spain ruled New Orleans at some point..

[@nathanstanbrough8226]

Hell yeah! Totally

[@razor8704]

​@@melissaleoncreolenolaall your heritage does is breaking into people's car at Walmart.

[@obcjosh3236]

Wow i am incredibly shocked The Dark Knight is not here. The ending of the movie has Jim Gordon literally saying "The Joker won".

[@michaelmonthey5974]

Kinda, but Batman took the fall for Harvey Dent’s crimes, which prevented Joker’s hopes of Gotham destroying itself. So they didn’t think it counted.

[@obcjosh3236]

@@michaelmonthey5974 Harvey turning into two face and dying are both wins for the joker though... Batman won the moral battle taking the fall, but Joker won the actual thing.He corrupted gotham's white knight, killed higher end/government affiliated people, killed rachel (which hurt both harvey and bruce), and basically spread terror through gotham. I think if the boat plan were to have worked as joker hoped, it would have been a more definite victory for joker, but I still consider him to have won. And in Dark Knight Rises cops still think of Batman as "the guy who killed harvey".

[@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom]

And Batman sacrificed himself to overturn it. Not all of it, just enough to ensure Joker DID NOT win.

[@obcjosh3236]

@@ThePrinceofHisOwnKingdom Joker certainly did still win though. Corrupting Gotham's white knight was a pretty big deal. Batman took the moral victory, so i suppose in a way, they both won and i suppose you could also say they both lost

[@obcjosh3236]

there's also a point to be made that destroying gotham wasnt joker's endgame. If his endgame was to corrupt gotham's hero and cause batman to bend/break his own rules, then joker most certainly won. I think it depends on what you interpret as Joker's true endgame.

[@davidcatlett4052]

20. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) 19. Funny Games (1997) 18. Hereditary (2018) 17. The Wicker Man (1973) 16. Skyfall (2012) 15. Identity (2003) 14. Watchmen (2009) 13. The Omen (1976) 12. Chinatown (1974) 11. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) 10. Saw (2004) 9. No Country For Old Men (2007) 8. Rosemary's Baby (1968) 7. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) 6. Oldboy (2003) 5. Primal Fear (1996) 4. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 3. Seven (1995) 2. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 1. The Usual Suspects (1995)

[@lessismore8533]

Thanks!

[@davidcatlett4052]

@@lessismore8533 You're welcome! 😁

[@LorenTR]

Thanks. You are a saint.

[@pramitdatta8327]

Tale of a mummy

[@alantonix213]

Ozymandias: "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."

[@theastonvillaseal585]

Thanos is fair yet tragic, good to see a story end like that. Whether you like to see it continue or not

[@michaelmonthey5974]

Edward Norton played another iconic villain who won. The Narrator in “Fight Club”.

[@UKLeonie]

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@edpadilla9402]

Top 10 Crossover We Wanted

[@walterhartwellwhite4890]

For me out of all movies where villain wins the best one is Arlington Road

[@bert72686]

Nice list. Might I add to it "A Shock To The System" and my personal favorite "Fallen". I love it when the 'bad guy' wins.

[@samkresil6011]

The Dark Knight (2008) and Gone Girl (2014)

[@kevinheath977]

After watching Oldboy for the first time , I immediately had to rewatch it . One of my favorite movies for almost 20 years

[@flippin_eh]

OMG I just watched this for the first time last night and was thinking exactly the same thing

[@SolCresta3405]

Technically Hannibal Lecter wasn’t the main antagonist of Silence of the Lambs, it was Buffalo Bill. Also, Dune: Part One ended with the Harkonnens taking over Arrakis.

[@michaelmonthey5974]

They already mentioned that Buffalo Bill was the main villain!

[@SolCresta3405]

@@michaelmonthey5974 Oh, sorry. I only skimmed the video.

[@thewhitewolf58]

I watched that movie and i just didnt get it. Maybe im just spoiled by the special effects of saw series but i was honestly a bit bored. Im putting it on a list of movies i will like one day (like star wars those special effects aged like milk but i understand that they were revolutionary at the time.)

[@SolCresta3405]

@@thewhitewolf58 Okay.

[@nikolastrikovic4033]

"Villain" and "Antagonist" are not necessarily the same. Even the protagonist can be the villain.

[@williamsummerson1204]

Darth Vader is arguably the greatest villain in movie history and Empire strikes back is a masterpiece. Kevin Spacey is phenomenal in both Se7en and The usual suspects.

[@danielferrieri7434]

Top Ten Villains Moments that made us Cry

[@LoveHandle4890]

“The villain is the hero of their own story.”

[@neveahhope4483]

Infinity War made me cry, but End Game made me bawl :(((

[@TSierra]

Another great video WatchMojo! Some of my favourites are Saw, Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars.

[@TheDealMaster]

Arlington Road has a jaw dropping finale that gives me the chills just thinking about it. If you make a part 2 of this video topic, you must include it. Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins are both fantastic.

[@raymondhopwood9393]

The bad guys got away, and the good guy became the scapegoat because he was dead.

[@smelkus]

You should do a list where it's a draw like Leon where Stanfield kills Leon but Leon manages to kill Stanfield before he dies

[@Mr_Creasy_]

Phone booth is such an amazing movie! I feel like a lot of people haven't seen it

[@antoniobotello4996]

You forgot A CLOCK WORK ORANGE, that's another evil way 😈

[@lessismore8533]

Man I misss honorable mentions! They should do Top Top HORROR films where villian didn’t lose. Hereditary and Omen and Saw aren’t the only ones. There’s some early 2000s ones too. I’d love that list!

[@mskrisclark684]

Empire is #1 one of the biggest surprises in movie history

[@Fancast100]

You should’ve mentioned Revenge of the Sith

[@chasehedges6775]

My all-time absolute favorite SW film

[@tbakhalid4781]

I clicked this thinking that ROTS might’ve won 😂

[@nerd26373]

The bad guys wound up in the most unfavorable circumstances in any type of show or film. Somehow there's more layers to them that eventually lead to who they are.

[@kenhill3230]

Excellent movies there with a lot of twist endings.

[@corymorimacori1059]

18:33 “You want to talk about death? How about the one that looked at you and swiped left?” Oppenheimer

[@jacobdrolet4262]

Amazing video watch mojo of villains win over the heroes, fantastic job.

[@maddalonefarms]

What about Planet of the Apes?

[@allengonzalez7693]

I Saw The Devil should be listed here. The ending was so tragic that it literally broke the Protagonist.

[@lolivingston6827]

That movie is INSANE!!! It's in my top 10 of all time

[@osmanyousif7849]

I'm surprised that Catherine Tramell, Amy Dunne, and Lou Bloom haven't made the list.

[@sassykaren7587]

The Devil’s Advocate should be on this list.

[@moleshaman3040]

The Wicker Man is one of my favorites. Many of the movies are enjoyable too except Funny Games that one is deeply disturbing and hateful like Michael Haneke’s other film that I saw The White Ribbon. Primal Fear was definitely memorable too as was « Usual suspects » of course !

[@pawnhearts8785]

Brightburn and Smile.

[@rubygracemoseley8144]

Oh my gosh! I saw The Usual Suspects for the first time about a year ago. My mom showed it to my sister and I. I remember thinking the whole movie that it seemed kinda weird that the guy knew so much about the villain’s life. He seemed to know more than someone should know about another person’s life without being that actual person. So the ending was to me not completely unexpected but I still thought it was ridiculously well done. The reveal was masterfully done

[@matthewbaduria]

The Omen and The Exorcist are two of my all time favorite horror movies The third is Rosemary's Baby.

[@pogesz007]

Swordfish was another great movie where the villains win at the end

[@bert72686]

Can we really call this one the Bad Guy? I mean, he was really working for the 'Good Guys' behind it all. But it really was a great Bad Guy moving on the surface.

[@kokafalasi]

Good list, but Arlington Road should be here 100%. Not surprised it’s not though, it’s one of the most underrated movies ever.

[@NathanDav42]

Was looking for this comment!

[@justagamer2672]

One of these days. Such an underrated film, with a killer twist ending.

[@TheDealMaster]

I 100% agree!

[@YouMon138]

Ayyyyyy that sick I wish all the bad guys could win in movies

[@theastonvillaseal585]

Orwell… what a story 1984 is. God bless, big and powerful adaptation

[@williamthomas3359]

if you're gonna do bad guy wins for a bond movie, how about On her Majesty's Secret service? That's among the most shocking endings in any movie, especially a Bond film.

[@gameoholic1994]

Why isn’t “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” on this list? That news reporter who wanted to shut down that house is the ULTIMATE bad guy; the “Infinity War” Thanos of his time he was so inevitable.

[@JBDude52]

Top 3 (In my opinion): 1. Avengers Infinity War 2. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back 3. Saw It was a tough choice, especially between Infinity War and Empire Strikes Back, two outstanding movies in the twos' greatest movie franchises of all-time, and as bad as I wanted to put Star Wars number 1 because it's better than Avengers, it ended up in Avengers favor on this list because Thanos had a better successful win than the Empire did because he wiped half of the hero squad which is a rare scene. Saw takes the last spot because it has one of the most twisted and creative stunts in movie history, thanks to John Kramer skillful setups, it was no wonder he would win it easily, not to mention the famous line that ends off his win, "Game Over!".

[@jbac5767]

Arlington Road was it for me!!

[@kokafalasi]

Yes! Thank you. I was hoping someone else commented that too. Such an underrated movie.

[@samkresil6011]

Should Spider-Man: Far From Home count? Because even after Mysterio is defeated when Peter takes back control of the E.D.I.T.H glasses, Beck got the last laugh in the mid-credit scene by revealing Spider-Man's identity with fake footage in order to frame him for his death.

[@steelcitysteve8794]

I'd like to see a version of this that doesn't include horror movies. Scary movies have switched to it almost being mandatory to have bleak endings cause that leaves sequels open.

[@checkmate9111]

The Inside Man was fantastic.

[@Walkman1286]

From what I remember of Skyfall M was shot by one of Silva's Goons during the Bond County Home Shoot Out and She later bleed to death in the Church at the end

[@colinmillerbernd3898]

The Great Silence (1968) should have been somewhere on this list. Criminally underrated. It is a masterpiece with one of the darkest and most brutal endings in history.

[@Lucky-zf5jd]

Yeah, 100% agreed, it's impossible not to hate Klaus Kinski after this ending. :-)

[@nHans]

18:30 _"... half of the entire universe is decimated ..."_ Cue in the language police! 🚨🚔👮‍♀

[@erinmccutcheon3751]

These are the movies that make me feel like there is no justice in the world.

[@Elizabeththegreatest]

Two movies on this list feature Javier Bardem, "Skyfall" and "No Country For Old Men"!

[@chasehedges6775]

Avengers Infinity War. What else needs to be said?

[@michaelmonthey5974]

The Joker in The Dark Knight and Joker were victorious! I was hoping that at least one of these movies would be included on this list.

[@UnifiedEntity]

No he didn't in dark knight

[@michaelmonthey5974]

@@UnifiedEntity He might not have gotten everything he wanted, but he successfully corrupted Dent, killed his targets, and spread mayhem. He scored more points in The Dark Knight Rises when the truth about Dent was revealed.

[@thedevilsrockstxr2309]

@@michaelmonthey5974 Gotham survived and didn't descend into chaos, tht is a fail

[@michaelmonthey5974]

@@thedevilsrockstxr2309 It did descend into chaos once again when Bane read Gordon’s confession to the public and broke the criminals out of prison. Under normal circumstances, they would have been paroled. Either way, the Joker wanted that to happen, and that wish came true. Another point for the Joker!

[@nixda9326]

@@michaelmonthey5974 thats not true. at the beginning of "the Dark Knight Returns" was Gotham in Peace, because they lied about what happened with Dent. it was Banes Doing in the End that descended the City into Chaos and not the Jokers. so it was not really his Victory.

[@thapelomothala2387]

Swordfish - Travolta ultimately gets away with it all

[@bert72686]

He gets away, but was he really a 'bad guy' if he was protecting the country?

[@theastonvillaseal585]

Poor ol Panther. Very real

[@philipcohen7192]

The vanishing better be on this list… and it isn’t and it’s a shame. Has one of the toughest to swallow endings of any movie.

[@andyhight9441]

Colossus: The Forbin Project should also be on this list.

[@kennethferrari5232]

I knew Empire Strikes Back was on here. Captain America Civil War and Rogue One are my favorites though.

[@Reddit_Freak]

Where's Gone Girl

[@elvisp116]

Upgrade. That movie is crazy

[@mauriciomagalhaes181]

Made by the guy who made saw and played adam

[@JBullock54]

Standalone films where the villain wins hit different, because the good guy ultimately ends up winning in the end in a lot of franchises/sequels

[@MrJoshinJosh]

I can relate to it in lots of ways. Beginning since childhood, I’ve dealt with plenty of villains who have successfully defeated an innocent person like me. It happened at school, a vocational training center in which I regretfully ever joined and the only worse thing than the first two is some of my relatives as well. They without were villains in which I wanted to successfully defeat. But in most ways, I couldn’t. Either way, I would’ve still lost against them😑

[@ConstantineGaming]

Memories of murder the Korean film from the early 2000s had such an amazing twist with the villain winning too

[@isaiahgarnica6109]

Can we get a top 20 Ghost Adventure evidence please

[@andrewmcnamara6305]

According to TV Tropes this list would fall in the category of "The Bad Guy Wins", "Downer Ending" and "Karma Houdini."

[@bardthenascarfanaticdragon]

Don't Forget Halloween Kills (2021). Michael Myers Killed Laurie's Daughter, Karen.

[@AdamJoneh]

Ibrahim Labyad. in arabic: (ابراهيم الأبيض) One of the most savage movies in the middle east history, with a brutal shocking end. 😞

[@bestrobloxedit2608]

where is Arlington road

[@kokafalasi]

Glaring omission!

[@Jaheem200]

I won’t be watching this video to the end . However I hope skeleton key makes the list .

[@estebangutierrez160]

Top 10: tv shows Nickelodeon rejected Savage moments from kids cartoon

[@tiananesbitt7156]

The chills from SAW!!

[@corymorimacori1059]

18:22 “You might be something in the MCU. But between us what’s the worst MC? You!” Oppenheimer

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Seven....that ending was hard to watch.

[@GamerFunOriginallyAarush]

Oh great!

[@BlenderStudy]

Thank you for the update, WatchMojo..!! I had to Google 'Anton Chigurh' to see where that surname came from, and I learned it was a made up name by the author. 🤣

[@keepitreal10081]

I can't believe" Arlington Road" is not on the list .

[@henrybelman7424]

Empire had an unhappy ending but the villains didn't win. Luke, Leia, the droids and Chewie all escape and lando is reformed. Vader is unable to capture luke. the only villains who win are boba fett and Jabba the hutt who are secondary at best

[@cameronjr8]

Top 20 Characters from loved to hated in movies!

[@RaguORagla]

Huh? Where's Paranormal Activity? Pretty much all of them finish with the bad guy winning.

[@adiosssssssssss]

Nice

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Phonebooth after this he went through the caller with the gun never was caught.

[@Spikes01k]

18:22 well those of us familiar with the comics, and everyone knowing that there was one more movie to go, did see it coming.

[@martinbuhrer3893]

I don't think that "Infinity War" and "the Empire strikes back" should be considered for this list. Yes, technically, the movie ends with the bad guys winning. But in each case, the story goes on for another whole movie and negates that win.

[@bwalyashula7912]

Oldboy is a masterpiece The ending is very shocking and yet makes you appreciate how good of the movie it is. I saw the devil Korean movie deserves to be on the list

[@gengarcrobat1576]

I wish The Stepford Wives was on here

[@MOTIVAION555]

I LOVE IT 🥶

[@barryle8413]

The skeleton key is a good one

[@mattep74]

I would argue against ininity war and empire since they were part of a series

[@nixda9326]

i would like to see a Video about Movies where it looked at first that the Villain won but in reality he lost in the End. not sure if that already exists.

[@mesodini246]

Although chiggur technically won, he lost all his aura. The woman made him realize that it isn’t fate that kills people, it’s him. She refuses the coin toss, yet he kills her, and he cements himself as no longer being an agent/force of nature. The car crash just shows that he’s vulnerable like everyone else.

[@camm970]

I never understand why Howie from the Wicker man didn't just run away....

[@robertsmith4145]

Basic Instinct

[@rubygracemoseley8144]

I remember the first time my sister and I watched the original Star Wars trilogy. It was probably 10 or 11 years ago. We were both flabbergasted when we learned that Darth Vader was Luke’s father

[@patrickspencer6550]

Spider Man: No Way Home is an example because Jameson slanders against Spider Man like a bitch, cyberstalked and attacked him unprovoked, and has not been sent to jail yet!!!

[@ryanhickey2448]

Here’s an idea. The top 10 bad guys that came back for the sequel. After all, there’s Robotnik from Sonic the hedgehog 1 and 2, Thanos from Avengers 3 and 4, Darth Vader from Star Wars episode 4, 5 and 6, and Van Pelt from Jumanji and Jumanji welcome to the jungle.

[@johnanderson9765]

Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon (released after but set before the previous two films in the franchise), Loki in Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kylo Ren in Thhe Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace and Solo.

[@ZeldaSam1]

15:32 I honestly wonder what type of criminal is worse: Rapists or Cannibals?