History MagnificentBastard / FIlm

d

[[redirect:MagnificentBastard]]

%%
%%
%% Animated movie examples go HERE, not western animation.
%% See also the following Wiki Talk thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13100880850A36680100&page=1
%%
%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1621439000033882000
%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=db9l4bp6kpbdmshuleppy395
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Chicago}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imgonline_com_ua_twotoone_qxbdypo34vhfp3.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Billy Flynn makes the press dance to his tune.]]
%%
->''"The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You ask for miracles. Theo, I give you the FBI."''
-->-- '''Hans Gruber''', ''Film/DieHard''

{{Film}} writers often have fun with their characters to help the audience enjoy the work more. Taking a ruthless personality and combining it with charm, brilliance and drive, here are the [[MagnificentBastard most magnificent]] come to brew.

![[Administrivia/SpoilersOff All spoilers are unmarked]]. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
----
!!The following have their own pages:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[index]]
[[folder:Examples]]
* MagnificentBastard/DCAnimation
* MagnificentBastard/{{Disney}}
* ''MagnificentBastard/FullmetalAlchemist''
* ''MagnificentBastard/GIJoe''
* ''MagnificentBastard/JamesBond''
* ''MagnificentBastard/KamenRider''
* ''MagnificentBastard/LupinIII''
* MagnificentBastard/MarvelAnimation
* MagnificentBastard/MarvelCinematicUniverse
* ''MagnificentBastard/MastersOfTheUniverse''
* ''MagnificentBastard/SpongeBobSquarePants''
* ''MagnificentBastard/StarTrek''
* ''MagnificentBastard/StarWars''
[[/folder]]
[[/index]]
----

!!Films -- Animated
[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Beowulf2007'': Grendel's mother is an ancient being who bore Grendel to King Hrothgar to tie him to her land forever. Upon her son's death at Beowulf's hands, Grendel's mother seduces Beowulf, inspiring him to tell a false story about killing her to gain kingship while she bears his child; a golden-skinned man who becomes a mighty dragon. Using her son to ravage the kingdom and kill Beowulf, Grendel's mother ends the film about to seduce Beowulf's probable successor Wiglaf and continue the cycle.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'': Land of the Forgotten ruler Xibalba grows bored of his reign and makes a wager for their kingdoms with the Land of the Remembered ruler La Muerte, concerning a LoveTriangle between Manolo, Joaquin and Maria, Xibalba betting on Joaquin winning Maria's heart and Le Muerte on Manolo. Disguising himself as a beggar, Xibalba gives Joaquin a medal to make him immortal; later causes Maria to fall into a coma during Manolo's attempt at a heartfelt confession; and leads Manolo to his death. Though outed for his cheating, Xibalba then creates a new bet with Manolo having fight against all the bulls his bull fighting family fought in the past and gracefully accepts his defeat after he does so, honoring his deal and reconciling with La Muerte.
* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'': Eduardo "[[MaskedLuchador El Macho]]" Perez is a legendary supervillain famous for being ruthless, dangerous and, as the name implies, [[TestosteronePoisoning very macho]]. Faking his death to get to evade his enemies, he returns twenty years laters where he plans to create an army to help him conquer the world: creating his army by stealing a secret laboratory from the Arctic Circle; recruiting [[MadScientist Dr. Nefario]] and having him create the mind-controlling mutagen PX-41; and kidnapping the Minions to experiment on, using the PX-41 to bring them under his control. El Macho also offers the retired super villain [[Characters/DespicableMeFeloniousGru Felonious Gru]] an opportunity to rule by his side, but when Gru refuses to, El Macho kidnaps Gru's LoveInterest, Lucy Wilde, and holds her hostage to keep Gru from interfering before drinking the PX-11 to gain monstrous strength in his attempt to kill Gru.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrinch2018'': [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas The Grinch]] once again has his cleverness on full display despite being [[AdaptationalHeroism less malevolent]] than his book and live action counterparts. Aiming to steal Christmas with style, the Grinch analyzes the houses of the Whoville denizens to factor in the time needed to steal the Christmas decorations in one fell swoop, and after willingly allowing a reindeer to return to its family, solves it by offering his dog Max the role. Realizing the error of his ways, the Grinch returns everything he had stolen to the Whos and earnestly apologizes for his actions before being invited to a Christmas dinner.
* ''WesternAnimation/KillerBeanForever'': Jet Bean is a master of martial arts and one of the top Shadow Beans in the employ of the Shadow Agency. Contacted by the Agency to snuff out Killer Bean in Beantown, Jet Bean heads to his new target, but not before thrashing a restaurant's staff for attacking him in retribution for his immense bill, which Jet Bean nonetheless promises to pay back once he finishes his current task. Jet Bean manipulates two police officers into bringing him right to Killer Bean at a police station, demonstrates his intolerance for racial slurs when he kicks a racist cop across a room for insulting him, and utterly decimates an entire squad of cops in his way. Jet Bean gives Killer Bean the toughest fight of his life, even letting his enemy use guns while Jet Bean remains unarmed, and though he is ultimately killed, Jet Bean remains stoic and uses his last words to promise Killer Bean that there's more suffering to come in his life.
* ''WesternAnimation/Klaus2019'': The titular Klaus, originally a jolly toymaker, grew to become a grouch after the death of his wife Lydia. Residing in the far corner of Smeerensburg, after noticing the new postman Jesper Johansson, Klaus forces him to deliver presents to the town's children every night, having him risk his life to bring happiness to the kids, all without being noticed. Knowing that the head Krum and Ellingboe are out to stop him from delivering toys on Christmas, Klaus, with the help of the teacher Alva, builds a second sleigh with false presents without telling Jesper this, having him risk his life to protect the fake presents while getting him to admit his faults. Klaus ends the movie reuniting with Lydia in the afterlife, becoming the magical SantaClaus in the process, while still taking time out of his schedule to visit Jesper every Christmas.
* ''Franchise/KungFuPanda'': [[OldMaster Master Oogway]] is a [[WiseOldTurtle wise old tortoise]] who founded the Jade Palace and current Furious Five for the purpose of protecting the Valley of Peace. Having turned from his conquering ways of the past following kindness he was shown, Oogway has trained Shifu and assembled the Furious Five from all corners of China, putting them through rigorous tests of physicality and character both to prove their worth. In the events of the [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda first film]], Oogway chooses the seemingly useless, untrainable [[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]] to be the new Dragon Warrior, seeing a spark of potential in the panda that proves correct when Po defeats the powerful Tai Lung and becomes the new protector of the Valley of Peace. Oogway's choosing of Po is shown to be even more brilliant in the [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3 third film]], in which it is revealed Oogway orchestrated Po reuniting with his supposedly dead panda tribe so he could learn Chi and stop Oogway's old rival Kai when he inevitably returned.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'': [[NinetiesAntiHero Rex Dangervest]] is the evil, time-traveling Emmet Brickowski from the future who seeks to break the LEGO world. Desiring revenge upon his former friends for not saving him from under the dryer, Rex constructs a TimeMachine spaceship to travel back in time, pick up [[RaptorAttack a crew of raptors]], and rescue his past self from the accident that got him stuck there in the first place. Presenting himself as the cool brotherly mentor and exploiting the poor communication on everyone's part, Rex successfully manipulates Emmet to ignore his kind heart and use his anger to break the wedding of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and Batman, thus bringing forth [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Ourmamageddon]] upon the LEGO world. When Emmet realizes the truth and rejects Rex's teachings, Rex throws him under the dryer and tries to break his child-like spirit to ensure that he'll become just like Rex himself. After being thwarted by Lucy, who saves Emmet and destroys Rex's time machine, [[GracefulLoser Rex calmly admits defeat and wishes Emmet to be a better man than him as he fades from existence]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittlePandaFighter'': [[ConMan Polaris]] is a retired fighter and owner of the Bear Bar Box boxing club. Fed up with business doing poorly due to reigning champ Teddy Thunder always winning, and being unable to fight himself without losing his club, Polaris challenges Teddy while disguised, giving the crowd a good fight and beating him without anyone being the wiser. After he's mistaken for Pancada due to a laundry incident shrinking his black bodysuit, Polaris lets him in on his scheme to fight in secret, content with his employee taking the glory. When a guilty Pancada threatens to expose Polaris if he doesn't let him fight Teddy for real he agrees to train him. After Pancada loses, Polaris reveals that he knew Pancada wouldn't win and bet all of his money on Teddy, [[BatmanGambit knowing that everyone else would bet on Pancada]], only training and encouraging him to ensure he wouldn't chicken out. By the time he's found out, Polaris had [[KarmaHoudini already skipped town]] with all of his winnings to retire, [[PetTheDog giving Pancada the club]] for him to turn into a dance studio.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'': Rattlesnake Jake, the terrifying mercenary who slithers in the desert outside of Dirt, ends up employed by the corrupt mayor of the town as muscle, proving himself too vicious and threatening for even the mayor to fully rein in. Jake tears Rango down in front of the entire town by exposing his lies and drives him out before terrorizing the remaining townsfolk into obeying the mayor's scheme. Even despite his murderous temperament, Jake demonstrates a surprising amount of perception by seeing through Rango's ruse with a "hawk" comprised of hundreds of bats in a few seconds, and Rango finally proving himself a hero ends with Jake shamelessly acknowledging him as someone worthy of his respect -- while [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork personally dragging out the mayor to his doom]] for daring to double-cross him with one last IronicEcho: "pretty soon, no one will believe you even ''existed''."
* ''WesternAnimation/AScannerDarkly'': [[DeepCoverAgent Audrey and Mike]] are two cops who have tried to infiltrate New Path, [[ManufacturingVictims a rehab company which is secretly flooding the drug Market Substance D]]. To this end they end up getting Bob Arctor hooked on Substance D by having Audrey pose as Hank, his boss, and Donna as his supplier. With Donna supplying him the drugs and Hank ordering him to spy on himself, they end up [[DrivenToMadness driving him further into addiction]] such that he'll be forced to go to a New Path rehab. While there Mike, as an orderly, has him transferred to a farm. They later debate the moral and practical aspects of the plan with Mike thinking it'll be worth it for future generations and [[BatmanGambit hoping that Arctor has enough function to take back some evidence of the production]]. His hope turns out to be well founded, Arctor takes a flower which is one of Substance D ingredients, planning to give it to his friends when he sees them on Thanksgiving.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Scoob}}'': [[DastardlyWhiplash Dick Dastardly]] is [[AdaptationalBadass far more cunning and intelligent]] than his original counterpart in this film. After an attempt to steal the Underworld's treasures leads to his sidekick Muttley being trapped there, Dastardly travels the world in search for Cerberus' skulls to unlock the Gates of the Underworld and retrieve his canine companion. Discovering that Scooby-Doo is the other key to opening the gate, Dastardly disguises himself as Creator/SimonCowell to separate him and Shaggy from the Mystery Gang to capture him using an army of shapeshifting robots called the Rottens. Staying one step ahead of the heroes, Dastardly [[MasterOfDisguise uses his disguises]] and deceptive skills to capture the Mystery Gang and retrieve the other two skulls along with Scooby-Doo to open the Gates of the Underworld, risking the apocalypse, just to save Muttley. Even when he is betrayed by the Rottens and sent off to prison, Dastardly and Muttley [[KarmaHoudini escape to continue their criminal activities once again]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'': Eris, Goddess of Discord, steals the Book of Peace from the kingdom of Syracuse and frames Sinbad for the theft, causing his friend Prince Proteus to take his place on deaths row to allow Sinbad to retrieve the book. Eris sends numerous obstacles Sinbad's way that he and his crew only narrowly survive, before eventually revealing that she had stolen the book as part of a ploy to maneuver Proteus into Sinbad's place at execution, leaving Syracuse without an heir and causing the kingdom to fall to ruin. She tears Sinbad down and breaks him to the point that he truly believes her perception of him as a black-hearted liar is correct, and when Sinbad proves his heroism by going back to Syracuse to take Proteus' place, Eris stays true to her word and returns the book to him.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Smallfoot}}'': "[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Stonekeeper]]" is the village elder and the Chief of the Himalayan Yetis. After a previous generation of Yetis got ruthlessly attacked by a group of humans, they escaped to the Himalayas mountains as a final resort. Generations would pass and Stonekeeper grew prejudiced against humans for this very reason. Getting the Yetis to work on a bunch of seemingly frivolous tasks that would actually generate steam clouds to separate the Yetis and humans, keeping up the ruse for years and banishing any who discovered the truth. When Migo delivers Percy to the land, Stonekeeper breaks Migo with a speech and convinces him to keep the lie alive, while leaving Percy in a box to freeze to death. He starts to regret his actions when he realizes that Meechee ran away with Percy from home and fights back by throwing stones at a helicopter.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiesInDisguise'': [[AwesomeAussie Killian]] is a cybernetic criminal mastermind who seeks to [[{{revenge}} avenge the deaths of his associates]] caused by Lance Sterling and the H.T.U.V. Acquiring an attack drone from arms dealer Katsu Kimura, Killian uses a holographic disguise to [[FrameUp frame Sterling for the drone's theft]], causing the agency to focus their efforts of apprehending him and allowing Killian to take control of their weapons facility and steal their agent database. Capturing Sterling, Killian reveals he has mass produced hundreds of attack drones to take out everyone in the agency at once, his plan [[NearVillainVictory nearly felling the H.T.U.V. in one fell swoop]] and only narrowly foiled by Walter Beckett's intervention.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'': [[ColonelBadass The Colonel]] of the U.S. Army leads the Calvary into the western frontier with the desire to move it forward in advancement. Capturing and having wild horses trained by the soldiers to be used for battle, the Colonel is enraged by Spirit's unfettered refusal to be broken and [[VillainousValor takes special interest]] in getting his men to do so while then attempting and nearly succeeding in doing it himself. The Colonel also leads a charge against the Lakota tribe that Native American Little Creek is part of, having previously detained Little Creek for theft and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking nearly kills Little Creek and his horse Rain]] in the chaos. Pursuing Spirit and Little Creek one final time until they escape across a gap between cliffs while also deducing their location based on the trail, the Colonel ultimately [[WorthyOpponent stops him men from shooting Spirit]] and then concedes defeat while giving Spirit an [[GracefulLoser impressed and honorable nod]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ToYourLastDeath'' (2019): [[KillerGameMaster The Gamemaster]] is [[HumanoidAbomination an entity]] out to entertain herself and her associates. Creating games that piggyback off of tragic events already set in motion, the Gamemaster promises {{Sole Survivor}}s with the chance of changing the events to their benefit, with her associates placing bets on who will come out alive. Posing as Miriam [=DeKalb=]'s boyfriend Walt in order to get her to accept her estranged father [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Cyrus]]'s invitation, which results in the death of her siblings, the Gamemaster gets her to accept her offer of restarting the event. [[WildCard Assisting both Miriam and Cyrus]] in order to make the event interesting, while changing various outcomes that best suit her and her gamblers' interests, the Gamemaster even uses Miriam's acquired knowledge against her by letting Cyrus paint her as the mastermind behind the events and getting her siblings to turn on her. The Gamemaster affably congratulates Miriam on surviving the game, before moving on to the next one.

[[/folder]]

!!Films -- Live-Action

[[folder: # - E]]
* ''3:10 to Yuma'':
** [[Film/ThreeTenToYuma1957 1957 film]]: Outlaw leader [[WorthyOpponent Ben Wade]] is willing to remorselessly shoot through one of his own men being used as a HumanShield. Despite this, Ben is quite polite and tender with a barmaid he romances. After robbing a stagecoach, he's nice enough to tell the nearby town that the passengers are stranded in the middle of the desert. He keeps his gang CrazyPrepared about what to do if any of them are captured. He tries to threaten and bribe his guard, Dan Evans, at various points, but also deeply respects his honesty and feels a sense of gratitude when Ben saves his life from a vengeful relative. At the end of the movie, Ben foils his own gang's jailbreak so that Dan can survive and collect his reward, but confidently notes that [[CardboardPrison he's broken out of Yuma before.]]
** [[Film/ThreeTenToYuma2007 2007 film]]: Ben Wade in the remake is a charismatic bandit leader who starts the film by driving cattle to block an armored car and then rob it. Famed for his brilliance and skillful gambits, Ben is eventually caught thanks to rancher Dan Evans and is sent to be taken to a train to be sent to Yuma prison with his former gang pursuing. Ben shows himself to be a slippery prisoner, constantly outwitting his captors and [[AssholeVictim killing the most morally bankrupt of them]]. When he learns Dan's reasons for trying to get him to the train at the end, Ben even fights to assist in getting himself to the train and after Dan is mortally wounded, steps on board of his own free will, cementing Dan as a legend. Ben also reveals to Dan that he's been to Yuma prison twice-and escaped twice (which he and Dan both laugh over), and the film ends with him clearly planning his escape once again.
* ''Film/SixUnderground'': "[[TheLeader One]]" is the codename of a philanthropist who witnessed the massacre of a civilian hospital by [[{{Qurac}} Turgistan]]'s President Rovach Alimov. He fakes his death and recruits five specialists to form a [[AntiHeroTeam vigilante squad known as "The Ghosts"]] to take down oppressive regimes, with the caveat that they'll be left to die if their mission is in jeopardy. Masterminding a scheme to [[TheCoup overthrow President Alimov and replace him with his more sympathetic brother Murat]], One recruits a sniper to replace one of their lost crewmembers before luring Alimov's generals to Las Vegas, using hookers to distract them before the team kills them. After freeing Murat from armed guard in Hong Kong and deciding to make the team more cohesive after an argument, One hacks Turgistan's network so Murat can inspire a revolt, then flushes Alimov out with a series of bombs. When the team pursues Alimov to a yacht, One uses a device to turn the entire ship into a giant magnet, killing many of Alimov's men before capturing Alimov and [[DoWithHimAsYouWill dumping him into the same refugee camp that was massacred]], allowing the refugees to beat Alimov to death for his crimes.
* ''Film/TwelveRounds'': Miles Jackson is a suave, perpetually cheerful terrorist who masterminds the entire plot. Miles has evaded capture and conviction for his atrocities for years, always staying one step ahead of his law enforcement pursuers, and is introduced tricking a mole in his organization into betraying the F.B.I. and robbing them, after which Miles murders the same mole for ever thinking of turning on him. Though imprisoned for several years thanks to a freak accident, Miles breaks out of prison and sets up the game "12 Rounds" to be played with his arch enemy Danny Fisher. Using the excuse that he is getting revenge for his deceased girlfriend, Miles sets up various puzzles and traps throughout the city for Danny to figure out and stop, using the man's wife as a hostage the hold time. Miles' true magnificence comes with the reveal that the entire point of 12 Rounds was solely to serve as a long, complicated set-up to a bank robbery for millions of dollars, and that every round Danny played further assisted Miles in his scheme. Always ready with a quip and possessing a swaggering charisma that draws all eyes on him, Miles is an intelligent, charming villain, one capable of ridiculous amounts of manipulation and strategy, and whose very first scene illustrates his character perfectly by having him win a losing chess game for a stranger on a whim.
* ''Film/SixteenBlocks'': Det. Frank Nugent is an NYPD cop seeking to keep thief Eddie Bunker from testifying against him and other corrupt cops involved in witness tampering. Nugent himself threatens a witness in order to give him a heart attack. He arranges for two drug addicts to kill Eddie and when this fails because of his former partner Det. Jack Mosley, Nugent arranges a plan for Eddie to be killed attempting to escape. Jack protects Eddie and Nugent tirelessly pursues them throughout the city, making use of a stolen police radio to track them and later the stoic Nugent is barely phased when Eddie holds a gun on him. When the crooked Jack decides he will testify instead of Eddie, Nugent resolves to have him killed to prevent it.
* ''[[Film/TwentyOneBridges 21 Bridges]]'': [[DirtyCop Captain Matt [=McKenna=]]] is the head of the 85th precinct who has several corrupt cops on his payroll. Teaming up with various drug dealers, [=McKenna=] and his officers distribute drugs throughout New York City without any other precincts in the city knowing of their illegal activities. When several officers are killed during a botched robbery, [=McKenna=] has his officers hastily hunt down the criminals whilst also eliminating any potential witnesses or allies who could expose his operation. After one of the robbers uncovers evidence exposing the drug operation, [=McKenna=] has him murdered even after he gives himself up. Once confronted by protagonist Andre Davis about his schemes, [=McKenna=] calmly tries to explain that he did what he did to support the officers and their families before attempting to kill him too when Andre tries to arrest him.
* ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'': [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Artemisia]] is the brutal female commander of Persia's mighty navy. Desiring [[{{Revenge}} vengeance]] on the Greeks for her past as a sex slave, Artemisia manipulates the Persian King Xerxes into becoming a God-king and declaring war on Greece while murdering all of his closest allies so that she would be the only he would trust. Winning many battles on sea and [[BadBoss killing her own men]] when they fail her, Artemisia comes to [[VillainRespect admire Athenian commander Themistocles]] and offers him a position as her lieutenant before the two have passionate sex. When Themistocles refuses, the next day Artemisia orders her men to pour oil in the sea while she shoots a fire toward Themistocles' armada, decimating his forces and nearly killing him. Learning of Themistocles' survival and battling him once more, Artemisia only loses to him due to the sudden reinforcements from Sparta and Xerxes' cowardly decision to abandon her, while she [[DefiantToTheEnd rejects Themistocles' mercy and charges at him declaring that she's ready to face death]].
* ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'': Dr. Anton Phibes himself is a [[WickedCultured cultured, accomplished organist and theologian]] lashing out after the death of his beloved wife. Blaming the surgical team, Phibes spends years in hiding, letting them believe him dead, until he resurfaces and begins to murder them in a [[ThemeSerialKiller series of killings designed to emulate the Ten Plagues of Egypt]]. Phibes is repeatedly a step ahead of every attempt to stop or capture him and ends the film almost completely victorious. [[Film/DrPhibesRisesAgain Resurfacing years later]], Phibes once again destroys his rivals as he seeks to restore his Victoria to life, ending up completely untouchable by the end, with his calculating mind seeing him through every challenge.
* ''Film/AbsolutePower'': Luther Whitney is a methodical career burglar whose high-profile thefts have never been traced back to him. During one such burglary, Luther witnesses the [[PresidentEvil President of the United States, Alan Richmond]], murder Christy Sullivan, the young wife of billionaire philantropist Walter Sullivan. Luther steals the murder weapon and being disgusted with the President's attempts to have it covered up, resolves to expose him. Luther threatens the President and his conspirators by sending them notes and proof of Richmond's crime while visiting the White House on a guided tour in disguise. Luther also manages to avoid being assassinated by two independent snipers when agreeing to meet his estranged daughter Kate out in the open and simultaneously avoid capture by the police officers investigating Christy's death by [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer donning a police uniform]] hidden underneath his overcoat. Luther eventually manages to destroy the conspiracy by exposing the truth to Walter Sullivan and protect his daughter after she becomes a target, causing the President himself to commit suicide in shame.
* ''Film/AccidentMan'': Mike Fallon is a ProfessionalKiller, known by the moniker "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Accident Man]]" for his signature style of disguising his hits [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident as everyday accidents]]. Upon hearing that his ex-girlfriend and unborn child were killed, Mike analyzes the remains to deduce that his associates had a hand in it and swiftly kills them and everyone involved in it, save Milton. Playing a recording of Milton ordering the hit on him, Mike gets Big Ray to turn against him and the two orchestrate his death by tricking him into putting on a poisoned band-aid. Quitting his assassination job with his revenge complete, Mike resolves to protect the city as a vigilante.
* ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'': [[TheHeavy Agent Thompson]] is a high-ranking member of the [[CelestialBureaucracy Adjustment Bureau]], nicknamed "[[RedBaron The Hammer]]" for his efficient and heavy-handed tactics to convince people to comply with the Bureau's [[WellIntentionedExtremist plan for humanity]]. Brought in to force David Norris and Elise Sellas apart to fulfill the plan, Thompson explains that Elise was planted by the Bureau to inspire David to make a speech that brings him back from the brink of defeat after losing an election due to a costly mistake and his role in their plans is to become President of the United States. Thompson then reveals that Elise and David will never reach their dreams together, injuring Elise's ankle and goading David into hitting him to make a point about David's impulsiveness being brought to the forefront by Elise, convincing David to abandon Elise so they can fulfill their dreams. When David chooses Elise once more, Thompson leads the efforts to stop David, trapping David and Elise on the Bureau's top floor and [[NearVillainVictory only being stopped]] because the Bureau's leader changes the plan, whereupon Thompson [[GracefulLoser respectfully stands down]].
* ''Film/AirForceOne'': [[BigBad Ivan Korshunov]] is the leader of a group of Russian terrorists who infiltrate Air Force One by means of killing and replacing a film crew and then, by breaking into the weapons vault and killing most of the Secret Service, hijack the plane. He seeks to have Russian prisoner General Ivan Radek released from prison. He also successfully prevents an emergency landing while the plane is on the runway. Impeded by US President James Marshall, Korshunov first threatens a hostage to try to lure him out and then forces Vice President Kathryn Bennett to send for fuel when the plane loses it. Once capturing Marshall, Korshunov gets him to agree to and follow through with the release and later, Korshunov nearly escapes with a parachute. Korshunov proves constantly how he's a NoNonsenseNemesis with every challenge he's met with and manages to retain honor in the process.
* ''[[Film/Airborne1998 Airborne]]'' (1998): Bob Murdoch is a high ranking officer for Mach One. A smart, yet callous agent, Murdoch knows there’s a mole working for [[ArmsDealer Pierre Melo]] hiding amongst the team once they acquire the deadly virus. Unsure if it’s either Bill [=McNeil=] or Ron Simpson, Murdoch plants a fake virus for Mach One and Dave Toombs to acquire in a chemical plant, not telling anyone in Mach One about his plan and willing to have them risk their lives to find Melo. Figuring out that Simpson was Melo after tracing his call with Toombs, Murdoch watches as Mach One kills Simpson, exposing his plan to his team knowing that they’ll hate him for not telling them about the fake virus.
* ''Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem'': "[[WalkingArmory Wolf]]" is a Yuatja dispatched to [[CleanupCrew contain the Predalien and Xenomorph outbreak]] in Colorado. Arriving on Earth and honoring his fallen comrades, Wolf uses deduction and a jar of acid to track down and eliminate all traces of Xenomorph presence, using laser traps and his bevy of weaponry to carve through dozens of Xenomorphs with ease. Taking time out of his mission to kill a [[AssholeVictim gun-wielding scumbag]] threatening a woman and child, Wolf murders a local deputy and uses another man as bait to lure more Xenomorphs to their doom. Meeting the otherwise unstoppable Predalien in singles combat, Wolf deals a killing blow against the monstrous creature and spends his last moments [[DefiantToTheEnd roaring defiantly]] in the Predalien's face even after it impales him.
* ''Film/AllAboutEve'': [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Addison DeWitt]] is a brilliant and manipulative [[CausticCritic critic]]. Spotting the ascent of the titular [[BitchInSheepsClothing Eve Harrington]] through the acting industry at the expense of others, [=DeWitt=] aids her in her rise to fame while pretending to be her ally and underling. Playing along with her, he effortlessly creates a paranoia which undermines Eve's rival Margo Channing and turns the tables, netting Eve a profitable career. However, when Eve decides to marry Lloyd Richards and rise to fame, [=DeWitt=] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbally breaks her down]], making it clear that he alone is responsible for his career and that she has been outplayed, taking control of her life. As the film ends, [=DeWitt=] meets a similar woman to Eve and invites her into her home, [[HereWeGoAgain beginning the cycle once again]] and always coming out on top.
* ''Film/AlongCameASpider'': [[BigBadFriend Jezzie Flannigan]] is a secret service agent who exploits Gary Sonjei's kidnapping of Megan Rose for her own agenda. Pretending to help Alex Cross rescue Megan, Flannigan has her co-conspirator Ben [=DeVine=] kidnap Megan from Sonjei before calling Cross and demanding that he gives her $10 million for Megan's safe return. Retrieving her money and aware that Cross will be coming after her, Flannigan kills [=DeVine=] and tries to kill [[WouldHurtAChild Megan]] once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she has served her purpose]].
* ''Film/AmericanAssassin'': [[GoodIsNotNice Stan Hurley]] runs Orion, a CIA [[ProfessionalKiller assassination squad]] in charge of eliminating the world's most notorious terrorists with absolute discretion. Hurley has his cadets endure brutally intense training before sending them out to kill their targets, while always reminding them that no one will rescue them should they get caught. Through Hurley's unscrupulous methods, such as threatening to [[ManOnFire burn a nuclear physicist alive]], he learns that his former pupil, Ghost, is working with the Iranian Government to develop a nuclear bomb and that an Iranian [[TheMole mole]], has infiltrated Orion. When Ghost kidnaps Hurley and tortures him for abandoning him, Hurley calls out Ghost on his excuses justifying that Ghost's reckless behavior nearly got his unit kill, while remaining [[DefiantCaptive fearlessly defiant]] throughout the session; Hurley would exploit his torture session to uncover Ghost true plan to use the Iranian bomb to destroy the U.S Navy's Sixth Fleet, and tells his agent, Mitch Rapp, about it, allowing Mitch to kill Ghost and foil his plans.
* ''Film/AmericanGangster'': Frank Lucas is the [[AffablyEvil friendly]] but ruthless former right-hand man of crime lord "Bumpy" Johnson, seeking to restore order to Harlem following Johnson’s death. Frank manages to monopolize the Harlem drug market with his business practices, built on the principles of [[EvilVirtues honesty, integrity, hard work, and family]], inspiring loyalty amongst his community and subordinates. Frank becomes so powerful that he can commit muder in the open without repercussion, and operates for half a decade without issue, cultivating the image of a well-meaning family man. Upon his arrest, Frank assists Richie Roberts's investigation, putting corrupt cops and most of the DEA behind bars, while also getting his 70-year sentence reduced to 15. A man that lives by a [[EvenEvilHasStandards code]], despite his violent actions, Frank instills devotion in his followers and respect in the clean-cut Roberts, operating by his wits and willpower while exploiting a massive CassandraTruth: that [[VillainousUnderdog a black man in the 1960s has managed to rise to power]].
* ''Film/AprilFoolsDay'': Muffy St. John is a young entrepreneur with a penchant for pranks. Inheriting a mansion, Muffy decides to turn it into a country hotel where the guests would be involved in a simulated murder mystery, TenLittleMurderVictims-style. Needing a test run for the booby-trapped mansion, Muffy invites her cousin Skip and their college friends to the mansion, places items from each person's past in their rooms to unnerve them, cuts off contact to the mainland, and pretends to "murder" each of them one-by-one using the persona of a fake EvilTwin named Buffy. When the secret is found out, Muffy apologizes for the personal taunts and tricking the survivors into thinking their friends were dead, and appears all set to make her dream a reality.
* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'': "[[BigBad Zeus]]" is [[MonsterProgenitor King of the Shamblers]], an immense undead being of unknown origins first recorded as a US military test subject. Escaping custody in a traffic accident, Zeus turns the soldiers transporting him into zombies and leads them to turn the majority of the humans of Las Vegas as well, getting the city quarantined. From his base in the Olympus casino, Zeus and his wife, the undead showgirl called the "Queen", turn the undead hordes into a functioning society, with no quarrel against the humans outside the quarantine zone so long as they supply him with sacrificial "tributes" to broker ceasefires. When a government agent kills the Queen to obtain samples of her immortal tissues for research, Zeus considers his ceasefire with the protagonists to be broken and effortlessly massacres most of them, using [[ItCanThink unexpectedly advanced tactics]] such as covering his one weak spot, his head, with a helmet. Utterly implacable with his grief at his lost love, Zeus proves more than a match for all the heroes together and survives many things that should have killed him, defeated only by a last-second distraction and killing all but one of the protagonists.
* ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct132005'': [[TheDon Marion Bishop]] is an arrested crime lord forced to stay overnight at Precinct 13 due to poor weather conditions stopping the prison transport where the [[DirtyCop crooked Captain Marcus Duvall]] plans to kill him before he can testify in court. In a shaky alliance with hero Sergeant Jake Roenick, Bishop proceeds to improvise and adapt against the dozens of intruders. Devising a plan to kill a traitorous officer when caught, Bishop also holds out under torture from Duvall, allowing Jake to kill Duvall, then escapes as dawn breaks.
* ''Film/AssaultOnWallStreet'': Jim Baxford is an average joe New Yorker whose life savings are wiped out by crooked investment bankers, his dire financial situation causing him to lose his job as an armored truck driver, his home when he can't afford his mortgage, and even his wife Rosie to suicide when she can't handle the burden her recent battle with brain cancer and her expensive medical needs has inadvertently placed on her husband. After mourning Rosie's death, Jim uses [[FromCamouflageToCriminal his military experience]] to start [[VigilanteMan planning revenge on the white collar criminals who wronged him]], assassinating high-placed bankers who defrauded their clients but faced no prosecution and planning these kills out meticulously to get away with them and destroying any incriminating evidence afterwards. Jim caps off his rampage with a shooting spree in the NYC financial district, luring his former financial advisor out into the open to kill him with a sniper rifle, followed by dozens of employees working for the bank that deceived him. Jim finally holds their senior portfolio manager hostage, tricking him into snatching a gun under the guise of a "fair play" survival of the fittest, to ensure that [[DisguisedHostageGambit SWAT officers will shoot him instead and unknowingly escort Jim safely off the scene]].
* ''Film/TheAssignment2016'': [[VillainProtagonist Frank Kitchen]] is a notorious [[ProfessionalKiller hitman]] who has murdered numerous people for money. Forcibly converted into a woman by [[BigBad Dr. Rachel Jane]] as retribution for killing her brother, Frank seeks vengeance on Jane, killing everyone involved in his surgery before reaching Jane. When Jane captures her, Frank seduces Jane's assistant before killing him and all of Jane's other men, before Frank shoots Jane non-fatally. Frank would then stage the scenario to make it look like Jane's assistant committed the murders and [[FrameUp frame Jane]] for killing her assistant sending Jane to a psychiatric ward, while also cutting all of Jane's [[{{fingore}} fingers]] off so that Jane will never be able to perform her heinous surgeries on anyone else ever again.
* ''Film/AtomicBlonde'': Lorraine Broughton is the elegant spy for [=MI6=] sent into Berlin to recover "The List" and expose the mysterious [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] mole Satchel. In the midst of double-dealings and betrayals, Lorraine comes out on top and betrays her superiors at [=MI6=], being the true Satchel who had manipulated the situation the entire time. In truth, Lorraine actually works for the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} to play [=MI6=] and the KGB against one another, wiping out the Russian agents and escaping back to America with her job complete.
* ''Film/BabyDriver'': Doc is a criminal mastermind who formed an enterprise on the basis of intricate and precise robberies. He demonstrates impressive planning—from what to wear, who to contact, and how to escape—and takes into account every eventuality. One of Doc's main strategies to avoid being caught is to use a different crew for every bank robbery he stages, though he does mix and match members of those various crews along the way. Having zero tolerance for stupidity, Doc sees the titular Baby as his lucky charm to the point he's willing to gaslight the kid even after he's paid off his debt. In the climax after his criminal enterprise has been uprooted in one reckless night, Doc packs up his base of operations to leave, but seeing the couple Baby and Debora, he decides to help them escape all because he was in love once like them, even giving up his life.
* ''Film/TheBabysitter'': [[BigBad Bee]], in addition to being the world's best babysitter, is a ruthless and manipulative satanist who made a [[DealWithTheDevil pact with the Devil]]. Bringing together cults and stealing the blood of kids she babysits, Bee lures over sacrifices to kill and drink the mixed blood with the cult. After seemingly being defeated by her charge, protagonist Cole Johnson, Bee [[Film/TheBabysitterKillerQueen later repents of evil]] and spends her time manipulating her former cult to help Cole, bringing him together with her first charge Phoebe Atwell, in the hopes that she and Cole will hook up and render his "innocent" blood tainted to the demonic cultists.
* ''Film/BadBoysForLife'': [[VillainousMotherSonDuo Isabel Aretas and Armando Aretas]] are a pair of Mexican criminals seeking to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge avenge the fall of the Aretas cartel]]. While in prison, Isabel murders one of the guards and escapes after posing as the guard she killed. After escaping, Isabel hands Armando a list of [[RageAgainstTheLegalSystem law enforcement and other officials to kill]], all of whom helped dismantle the cartel and put Isabel in prison. After wounding Mike Lowrey, Armando spends several months assassinating the officials, swiftly eluding the police after each kill. To further torment Mike psychologically, Armando posts a video of him shooting Mike onto [[UsefulNotes/TheDeepWeb the dark web]] and later murders Captain Howard [[TakeMeOutAtTheBallGame while they're both attending a basketball game]]. Once Mike and his partner Marcus try to sneak into Isabel's palace to confront her and Armando, Isabel anticipates their assault and immediately captures them, before attempting to kill them both.
* ''Film/BadTimesAtTheElRoyale'': [[SinisterMinister Father Daniel Flynn]], formerly Donald "Dock" O'Kelly, once planned a daring heist of an armored car. Spending ten years in prison before being paroled, Flynn, disguises himself as a Catholic Priest, also fighting and overcoming memory loss due to mental-illness, then goes to the El Royale Hotel where his brother and partner Felix hid the money before being killed. Realizing he's in the wrong room, Flynn attempts to drug singer Darlene Sweet for the purpose of getting her to pass out so he can access her room and when that doesn't work, Flynn tells her the story and offers her half of the money to help him get it. Flynn and Darlene divert attention while they find the money and Flynn then fights back against cruel cult leader [[BigBad Billy Lee]]. Flynn pretends to be a priest once again to help ease a troubled and wounded man to peace as he lays dying and flees with Darlene and the money, later showing up again to watch her perform at a show too.
* ''Film/TheBakerStreetDozen: Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman'': [[WhiteCollarCrime Adrea Spedding]], fittingly described by Holmes as a female Moriarty, is the ringleader behind an InsuranceFraud scheme. [[FalseFriend Falsely befriending wealthy gamblers]] who were down on their luck, Spedding tricks them into pawning off their life insurance with accomplices of hers. Then, she would have the deadly spider, Lycosa Carnivora, sneak into their rooms and bite them, collecting the life insurance benefits for her gang. Quickly [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow seeing through Holmes' attempts to spy on her]], Spedding subtly causes him and Watson to nearly suffocate to death in their own office buying time for her to pre-emptively destroy a lead before Holmes can follow up on it. When Holmes tails her at a fairground, Spedding allows the detective to tail her to her hideout, only to have the gang ambush him and tie him behind a shooting gallery so that he can be accidentally killed by Watson. Being defeated thanks to luck combined with Holmes' quick thinking, Spedding [[GracefulLoser accepts defeat gracefully]] before allowing herself to be arrested.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'': ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, real name Selina Kyle, was [[FromNobodyToNightmare once the put-down secretary]] of shady businessman Max Shreck. When Shreck pushes her out of the window of his building for learning too much, Selina is given cat powers by strays out on the streets and uses them to become a vengeful vigilante herself. As Catwoman, she overcomes a thug mugging a woman with ease, blows up one of Shreck's stores while timing her escape perfectly and, on more than one occasion, bests Franchise/{{Batman}} in a physical fight. Catwoman also briefly teams up with ComicBook/ThePenguin to successfully pull off a scheme to frame Batman, and later saves the Dark Knight while finally taking out Shreck once and for all.
* ''Film/BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon'': Leslie Vernon is an aspiring [[SerialKiller spree killer]] in the vein of [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] and [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] who is chosen to be the subject of a documentary that the main character, Taylor Gentry, is making. Taylor ends up charmed by the [[AffablyEvil shockingly charismatic]] Leslie who details to her and her film crew exactly how he plans to carry out his murder spree. When Taylor opts to interfere on behalf of the victims, she realizes Leslie's real plan: she and her crew were also intended to be his victims, and they're playing right into his hands, becoming part of his attack just as Leslie always intended. It turns out Taylor is actually Leslie's chosen 'final girl' to defeat him and seal his place in slasher legend. It also turns out Leslie predicted exactly how Taylor would defeat him and took precautions to survive this as well.
* ''Film/{{Bernie}}'': Danny Buck Davidson is the [[AmoralAttorney District Attorney]] of Carthage, known for using unscrupulous method to convict those he deems criminals; one such method involves holding a contest where the last person with their hands on a car gets it for free waiting until five people are left where Danny proceeds to arrest them for grand theft auto. When he learns that Bernhardt "Bernie" Tiede murdered [[AssholeVictim Marjorie "Marge" Nugent]], Danny vows to get a successful conviction on Bernie. When facing opposition with the people of Carthage, Danny arranges Bernie's murder trial at a different town with an ignorant jury while painting Bernie in a bad light; this tactic works and the beloved Bernie is sentenced to life in prison for murdering someone universally despised.
* ''Film/BestSeller'': Cleve is a [[ProfessionalKiller hitman]] who has murdered many people while in the employ of Madlock Industries, removing various "liabilities" to the organization. Cleve and a small crew successfully steal millions of dollars from a police evidence lock-up in 1972, then fifteen years later contacts ex-policeman turned TrueCrime novelist Dennis Meechum, the man he nearly killed years before, to relate his lifestory. Cleve intends to use Meechum as a weapon against his former boss, shady businessman [[CorruptCorporateExecutive David Madlock]], out of revenge for having dismissed Cleve by exposing Madlock's crimes to the world. Always a charming smooth talker and polite individual to those he meets to mask his true nature, Cleve continually [[FriendlyEnemy treats Meechum like an old friend]]. Despite being a contract killer, Cleve admits to some standards such as a distaste for rape and wanton cruelty, and in the end takes out Madlock and his armed staff in order to save Meechum's daughter at the cost of his own life.
* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'': [[FemmeFatale Maude Lebowski]] is the daughter of the title character. When Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski gets caught in a kidnapping scheme involving her father's wife and takes a rug that is rightfully hers, she has two thugs knock him out and then tells him to come visit her. While there Maude tells him to visit a doctor, and when he eventually does, the doctor checks his virility. She later seduces him, and reveals she was simply using him to [[GlorifiedSpermDonor get a child from a man who would want nothing to do with her]]. In the meantime she even helps the Dude figure out that her father embezzled money and [[YouCanKeepHer never intended on paying the ransom for the kidnapping]]. She ends the film triumphant with the narrator letting us know "a little Lebowski is on the way."
* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'': [[TheDreaded "David" Lo Pan]] is an ancient Chinese sorcerer cursed until he can marry the green-eyed daughter of a holy woman. Ruling the underworld and keeping his enemies on the retreat, Lo Pan masterminds the kidnapping of heroines Miao Yin and Gracie Law so he can [[LoopholeAbuse circumvent the prophecy]] by marrying both while sacrificing one to a demon so he may keep both his youth and godly power simultaneously.
* ''Literature/BlackSunday'' (1977 film): [[TheBaroness Dahlia Iyad]] is a high-ranking member of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, with a lingering hatred of Israel for the deaths of her family. Approached by [[ShellShockedVeteran unstable]] blimp pilot Michael Lander with a plot to detonate a FlechetteStorm bomb at the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, Dahlia persuades Black September to finance the plan and co-opts it into a political statement to punish the US for their support of Israel. Dahlia herself keeps Lander stable enough to proceed with the plan and runs interference throughout the film, murdering a Mossad agent and the blimp pilot so that Lander can replace him. When the plan is discovered, Dahlia ensures that Lander is able to get the blimp into the air and holds off cops and FBI agents long enough for him to activate the bomb, [[NearVillainVictory nearly causing the deaths of thousands of people]].
* ''Film/BladeRunner'' franchise:
** Original film: [[{{Ubermensch}} Roy Batty]] is a replicant and former soldier model who is driven to gain more life for himself and his partners from his "father", Elden Tyrell. Stealing to Earth while eluding all pursuers, Roy has his lover Pris seduce the engineer Sebastian to provide access to Tyrell, whereupon Roy learns his wish is impossible. Killing Tyrell and Sebastian, Roy engages the Blade Runner cop Deckard in a battle, but ends up saving and sparing Deckard, using his last moments to impart a few of his memories to Deckard, ensuring he will not be forgotten even as he notes his own memories shall be gone "like tears in the rain", proving himself one of the most complex, charismatic and dynamic antagonists in sci-fi cinema.
** ''Film/BladeRunnerShorts'': "Black Out 2022": Iggy Cygnus is a combat model Nexus-8 replicant, who fought in a war on the colony Calantha. Discovering that all soldiers in that war were replicants built to fight and die for their human masters, Iggy escaped to Earth only to see that human supremacy movements have been hunting down and killing Replicants there by tracking them down with Tyrell Corporation's database of registered replicants. Coming up with a plan to destroy the entire Tyrell's database to help hide the identity of every replicant from humans, Iggy recruits Ren Dus, a technician at the Tyrell Corporation in charge of launching nuclear missiles, and fellow replicant Trixie. Having Ren redirect a missile to detonate above Los Angeles, which turned all the power in the city off and deleted all the data, killing countless innocent people in the process, Iggy and Trixie invaded Tyrell's archives to destroy all magnetic backups. Succeeding at the cost of both of his partners, Iggy removes his right eye, making himself completely untraceable.
* ''[[Film/Blast2004 Blast]]'' (2004): The eco-terrorist named "Michael Kittredge" is in actuality a master thief named Talbert Skyler who [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced]] the real Kittredge to adopt his identity and goals as a cover to hide his own agenda. As Kittredge, Skyler takes over an oil rig and makes a show of attempting to extort money and a confession out of the corrupt CEO Mr. Heller to distract from his real goal, effortlessly playing both sides with cool-headed, masterful deviousness. Skyler continually undermines efforts to thwart him, disorienting and wiping out a team of Navy [=SEALs=] sent to the rig and quickly deducing there's a federal agent among his ranks, ruthlessly rooting out every loose end around him. In the end, Skyler's true goal -- to wire billions of dollars all across California to his secret account before using an EMP to knock out power all across the state the instant it's done -- is stopped only [[NearVillainVictory scant seconds before it can be achieved]].
* ''Film/BlownAway'': [[IrishExplosivesExpert Ryan Gaerity]] is a brilliant bomb designer and [[WesternTerrorists terrorist]] who has made it his life's mission to pay Jimmy Dove back for thwarting a scheme decades ago--which resulted in Gaerity's imprisonment and the death of his sister. Escaping prison in the present by manipulating his cellmate and turning a toilet into a bomb, Gaerity tracks down Dove and begins picking off the man's bomb squad team with ingeniously strategic explosives, predicting their moves every step of the way. A [[AffablyEvil genuinely affable]], [[LaughablyEvil humorous]] fellow who dances to Irish tunes and collects toys he admires, Gaerity successfully kills off several of Dove's friends and the man's uncle before leaving a bomb to take out his family as well, with Gaerity's final moments being spent admiring his greatest explosive art ever concocted, even as it consumes him in its flames.
* ''Film/BodyHeat'': Mary Ann Simpson, known as "TheVamp" in her teenage years, is a beautiful, beguiling woman who breathed new life into the FemmeFatale trope. She seduces the sleazy and incompetent lawyer Ned Racine, engaging in a torrid affair with him before convincing him to kill her wealthy husband Edmund Walker by subtly exposing the man's shady business affairs to soothe Ned's possible moral qualms. Marry Ann then has her husband's will improperly changed behind Ned's back so it will be declared null and void by a judge and render her the sole beneficiary of her husband's estate. Mary Ann fakes her own death and implicates Ned, while also being revealed to have assumed the identity of her supposed friend Matty Tyler and killed her as well. Mary Ann's scheme took years of planning, ultimately leaving her with a fortune and living scott-free in a tropical island paradise.
* ''Film/TheBrideWithWhiteHair'': Lian Nishang is a talented assassin for an evil cult, performing her work for them with guile and skill, before she meets Cho Yihang. Falling in love with him, she works to fight against her old masters, before Lian Nishang finds herself betrayed by her love. Becoming the "White-Haired Witch", Lian Nishang wipes out her old cult and creates a new one as a way to protect betrayed and abused women while working to destroy the other martial arts sects, kidnapping the new heroine to brainwash and use her against her own love.
* ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'': [[IronLady The Director]] is the head-strong leader of the Organization, charged with keeping the [[SealedEvilInACan evil gods that slumber below the Earth]] dormant so they will spare humanity. Under the Director's guidance, the Organization selects {{Human Sacrifice}}s every year and manipulates them into taking part in an elaborate ritual narrative. The Director is the first to notice that Marty's survival is threatening the ritual's completion, and succeeds into talking Dana into killing Marty before resolving to kill Marty herself when that fails. Far more professional and strategic than her subordinates, the Director has sacrificed numerous lives for the greater good while [[NecessarilyEvil harboring no ill will towards her victims whatsoever]].
* ''Film/TheCampaign'': [[TheDragon Tim Wattley]] is an international criminal from Greece named Leonidas Stavros under the employment of [[BigBadDuumvirate Glenn and Wade Motch]]. Fully complicit in the Motch brothers' plan to turn Hammond into a factory complex for their Chinese business partners, Tim would become Marty Huggins' campaign manager to mold him into the Motch brothers' puppet. Tim would completely reinvent Marty's character, home, and lifestyle, making it more appealing to voters but also create a rift between Marty and his family. When Marty learns about the nefarious plans for Hammond and goes against them, Tim defects to Marty's rival Cam Brady and uses the same tactics to get Cam ahead of Marty in the votes. When Cam withdrawals from the election and helps Marty get rid of the corruption in Hammond, Tim finds a way to [[KarmaHoudini escape justice]] while the Motch brothers get arrested for their association with him.
* ''Film/{{Candyman}}'': The Candyman himself, born Daniel Robitaille, was tortured and murdered by racist whites. His anguished spirit survives as a murderous urban legend within the whispers and imaginations of Cabrini-Green, forcing him to kill to stay alive. The Candyman kills those who summon him to spread the fear of his myth, but when the heroine Helen begins to debunk the myth, he is compelled to appear to her. Framing Helen for murder and the disappearance of a child, the Candyman systematically lures her to him, intending on consuming much of Cabrini-Green in a fire while enshrining Helen as his beloved victim to enhance his myth even further, handling himself with an unmistakable cunning and pure charisma to go along with his dark conviction.
* ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'': [[AntiHero Rick Blaine]] is a [[TheCynic cynical]], smooth operator of a saloon, using the guise of a mere bar to mask the massive amounts of illegal gambling he oversees. Bribing local police and facing down Nazi majors with wit and laid-back suaveness, Rick expertly hides valuable Letters of Transit from even a probing ransacking of his saloon while [[BenevolentBoss treating his employees so well that rival businessmen can't buy them off]]. After bitterly threatening to let his old flame, Ilsa, and her husband be arrested by the Nazis due to her abandoning Rick years ago, Rick ultimately accepts his still raging feelings for Ilsa and uses his passion to propel him into a scheme in which he sells off his saloon while securing the futures of his employees, manipulates Captain Renault into a trap, and murders the Nazi Major Strausser. Rick then [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy ensures that Ilsa and her revolutionary husband are spirited away safely to America]], imparting powerful and timeless words to Ilsa before escaping the Third Reich with a spring in his step and the start of a "beautiful friendship" with a befriended Renault.
* ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'': Frank Abagnale Jr. is a born ConMan whose first relatively harmless scheme involved impersonating his French teacher, fooling the entire school for weeks. His later criminal actions consist of acquiring millions of dollars by writing fraudulent checks, sending out fake letters, and posing as air plane pilots, doctors, and lawyers, all to live a lavish lifestyle spent in expensive hotels, throwing parties, and sleeping with numerous women he seduces, as well as a high-class prostitute whom he tricks into paying him for the night spent with her. When the FBI's Financial Crimes unit starts pursuing him, Frank cleverly manages to avoid capture numerous times, such as performing a BavarianFireDrill that convinces FBIAgent Carl Hanratty that Frank is a Secret Service agent, and in his most audacious scheme, smuggling himself through an airport filled with FBI agents by recruiting a group of good-looking stewardesses to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract the men supposed to be watching out for him]]. Although the law ultimately catches up with him, Frank is a LovableRogue who is so good at what he does that he's able to elude the authorities for years and all before he was even 21.
* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'': [[TricksterMentor The Cat in the Hat]] himself is a mischievous prankster who intends to teach Sally and Conrad a lesson about how to have fun. Entering their house, he immediately causes as much damage as he possibly can with his "fun", concluding by wheeling in a locked box and telling Conrad not to open it. When Conrad breaks the lock anyway, the Cat brings the children on a dangerous adventure, even having them drive on a busy highway and ultimately traversing through the "[[EldritchLocation The Mother of All Messes]]", the horrifying and broken version of their house. After they fix the lock, it's revealed that the Cat planned out everything on their journey, purposefully telling Conrad not to open the lock because [[BatmanGambit he knew that would make Conrad want to do it]]. With the kids having learned their lesson, the Cat returns to fix up the damages he caused, departing from the children as a friend.
* ''Film/ChainReaction'': [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Paul Shannon]] is an enigmatic man and the seeming head of the hydrogen project at the University of Chicago. In truth a government agent, likely CIA, Paul effortlessly manipulates the hero Eddie Kasalivich into trusting him and guides the pieces into place so he might gain knowledge of a deceased genius scientist's inventions. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Disdaining the brutal methods]] of his monstrous associate Lyman Earl Collier, Paul is revealed to be manipulating Lyman as well, "retiring" him before allowing for the heroes to escape while [[KarmaHoudini getting away]] free and clear himself.
* ''Film/{{Charade}}'': [[BigBad Carson Dyle]] was once an OSS agent transporting money when he was seriously wounded and LeftForDead by his comrades, spending the next 10 months in a German POW Camp in lingering pain. Resolving to take revenge on his ex-partners and reclaim the money, Dyle [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer takes on the identity of a CIA agent named Hamilton Bartholomew]] to keep tabs on them before murdering Charles Lampert, the last man known to have the money. Summoning Charles' widow Regina to inform her of her husband's dealings, Dyle plays the part of a ReasonableAuthorityFigure throughout the film [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge while systematically stalking and murdering his ex-partners]] and doing his best to discredit Brian Cruikshank, the real government agent sent to retrieve the money. Finding himself face-to-face with Regina and Cruikshank, Dyle [[NearVillainVictory comes within a hairsbreadth of killing Regina]] before being killed by Cruikshank.
* ''Film/CharleyVarrick'': Crop-duster turned bank robber, Charley Varrick, disguises himself as an injured old man to discreetly complete his theft. Discovering the money he stole belonged to TheMafia, Varrick suggests to his friend, Harman, that they lay low, avoiding spending it for four years, to avoid suspicion. When Harman's avarice leads to him spending, Varrick double-crosses him by swapping their dental records and forging a passport to confuse the hitman sent after them. Acting friendly to the corrupt bank president, Varrick leads the hitman to believe they are associates, resulting in the president being killed. Tricking the hitman into trying to retrieve the money from a car he rigged to explode, Varrick kills him, getting away clean.
* ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'': Gust "Gus" Avrokatos is a snarky and incredibly competent CIA agent who joins the covert operation against the USSR in Afghanistan after falling out with his previous bosses. Gus puts Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson in contact with CIA weapons experts and jointly arranges a major weapons deal with Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan to supply the Mujihideen with Soviet military material to bleed the Red Army dry and ultimately cause the collapse of the Soviet Union. Committed to serving American interests above all else, Gus takes massive pride in his record while also being world-wise enough to foresee what negative consequences arming islamic radicals [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror might have in the future]], teaching the idealistic Charlie an important lesson as his parting gift.
* ''[[Film/CharliesAngels2000 Charlie's Angels]]'' trilogy:
** 2000 film: Eric Knox, born John [=McGann=], is a software designer who incorrectly believes Charles "Charlie" Townsend murdered his father in Vietnam. Seeking {{revenge}}, Knox stages both his own kidnapping and the theft of his new voice recognition software and [[FrameUp sets up his shady rival Roger Corwin to take the blame]]. Convincing the Angels that Corwin has bad intentions for the software, Knox gets them to break into the company and hack Corwin's servers. Knox is able to gain access to Corwin's face recognition satellite and use that combined with his voice recognition software to determine Charlie's location thanks to Charlie making a phone call. Knox then heads out in a helicopter and [[NearVillainVictory nearly blows Charlie up in his cabin]].
** 2000 film & ''Full Throttle'': The "Creepy Thin Man" is a hitman hired by Knox to help execute his staged kidnapping scheme and framing of Corwin. A skilled fighter, having grown up a gypsy acrobat named Anthony in a Catholic orphanage, the Thin Man engages the Angels in a fight before then leading them to where they "find" Knox and remains undercover near Corwin while also engaging in and escaping during a race car chase and later killing Corwin on Knox's behalf too. The Thin Man also continues to remain diligent in helping Knox succeed. Escaping death when Knox blows the place up and returning in the next film, the Thin Man pursues a hitman sent to kill teenaged federal witness Max Petroni because Max was also from the same orphanage and successfully takes him out. The Thin Man is also revealed to have sent gifts to the orphanage for years and helps the Angels take on mobster Seamus O'Grady and his men in a climactic fight later on.
* ''Film/{{Chicago}}'': [[AmoralAttorney Billy Flynn]] is Velma Kelly's {{greed}}y, smooth-talking lawyer. After learning of Roxie Hart's incarceration and seeking to earn more money, Flynn decides to become her lawyer as well. Over the span of several weeks, Flynn teaches Roxie how to earn sympathy from the public whilst also manipulating multiple reporters into thinking she killed her victim in self-defense. During Roxie's trial, Flynn cajoles Roxie's husband, Amos, into forgiving Roxie and accuses a district attorney of tampering with evidence incriminating Roxie--evidence Flynn fabricated himself. Due to Flynn's conniving words, Roxie is declared not guilty, and Flynn walks away having won another case.
* ''Film/ChillFactor'': [[BigBad Colonel Andrew Brynner]] is a former soldier turned terrorist. After being wrongfully imprisoned for ten years for the deaths of eighteen soldiers and scientists, Brynner lost faith in the American government and decided to strike back at the country. With a team of mercenaries at his disposal, Brynner infiltrated a military base so he could steal a chemical weapon known as "Elvis" and sell it to foreign terrorists. After civilians Mason and Arlo acquire the weapon instead, Brynner and his team chase after the two for several hours, with Brynner going as far as destroying part of the road they're driving on and manipulating local police deputies into looking for them. Once Brynner captures both of them and procures the weapon, he threatens local military forces to retreat or else he'll release the weapon. Even after realizing that Mason switched the weapon with fish bait, Brynner calmly resumes his pursuit and nearly reclaims the weapon.
* ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'': [[ByronicHero Richard B. Riddick]] is the deadliest and last survivor of the Furyan race. An adept, brutal killer and KnifeNut, Riddick has killed scores of people with traps and anything that could conceivably be used as a weapon, and escaped from so many maximum security prisons that bounty hunters follow him like flies and usually end up dead by his hands. Riddick is also [[GeniusBruiser far more cunning than he appears]], being able to [[SherlockScan pick up on details]] in whatever environment he finds himself in and frequently manipulates or tricks others to his benefit. Despite his nature, Riddick has several standards he holds himself to, primarily [[NeverHurtAnInnocent refusing to harm innocent people]], and values the bonds he has with those few who survive long enough to befriend him. Riddick even manages to defeat the holy undead Lord Marshal of the Necromongers by forcing him into an unwinnable situation and take over his entire empire. Riddick's main goal is to be left alone, with those who cross him soon wishing they hadn't.
* ''Film/{{Click}}'': [[TricksterMentor Morty]], [[DontFearTheReaper the Angel of Death]], starts off as a friendly Bed, Bath & Beyond backdoor worker hiding an advanced remote from the market. When workaholic Michael Newman buys it, Morty warns him that the product can't be returned, and will program itself based on its usage. This causes Michael to fast forward through his life, even trying and failing to destroy the remote. Morty later reveals that he is sending Michael through a BadFuture to teach him the value of family. Despite his trickery, Morty genuinely regrets taking the life of Michael's father Ted, and grants a dying Michael a second chance at life.
* ''Film/{{Clue}}'': Wadsworth, the real Mr. Boddy, is a ruthless {{blackmail}}er who is blackmailing every guest in the house. Having lured them to the manor, he used a body double to [[FakingTheDead fake his own death]] as a decoy before manipulating every guest to murder his former co-conspirators and destroy the extra evidence so he no longer has to worry about their treachery. After having every impediment to his schemes killed, he reveals he knows the guilt of every single guest and plots to continue blackmailing all of them. Despite his villainy, Wadsworth conducts himself with total charm and a dapper congeniality, pleasant even after he's been shot.
* ''Film/{{Collateral}}'': The enigmatic, philosophical "[[VillainProtagonist Vincent]]" is a ruthless yet suave ProfessionalKiller, tasked with eliminating witnesses to the crimes of drug lord Felix Reyes-Torrena. Bribing taxi driver Max Durocher to unwittingly assist him, Vincent has Max transport him while he murders his targets. [[AffablyEvil Genuinely affable]], Vincent respectfully listens to the story of a jazz club owner before offing him and visits Max's sick mother in the hospital, even bringing her flowers. Adapting when Max destroys the files on his targets, Vincent has Max retrieve a new copy from Felix, both keeping his anonymity and leading the police to mistakenly believe Max is him. Fatally wounded by Max while hunting his last target, Vincent chooses to [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accept his fate]], giving Max some parting words before passing.
* ''Film/{{Commando}}'': [[GeniusBruiser John Matrix]] is a [[RetiredBadass retired Delta Force colonel]] enjoying a quiet life with his daughter Jenny. When Matrix and Jenny are kidnapped by terrorists aiming to put [[TheGeneralissimo ex-dictator Arius]] back into power, Matrix manages to kill his guard and escape the plane transporting him. Enlisting the help of a flight attendant named Cindy, Matrix bumps off Arius's lieutenants through his own gambits, including: using Cindy as a HoneyTrap and pretending to offer mercy to one before dropping him off a cliff, and all the while piecing together clues to find Arius's island base and gathering up supplies and weapons. Flying to the island, Matrix stages a [[OneManArmy one-man raid]] on the base, killing all of Arius's men before engaging in duels with both Arius and his right-hand man Bennett, rescuing his daughter and going back to retirement.
* ''Film/ConAir'': Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom is a charismatic, ruthless psychopath who organizes the scheme to seize control of a flight full of convicts, then puts together the plan to exchange prisoners at Carson City and escape with his partner, a powerful drug lord, so he can flee to South America with his compatriots. Cyrus constantly displays a sardonic, dry wit and black humor even in stressful situations, before organizing an ambush for national guard troops and killing his drug lord partner when the man attempts to betray the convicts. Soon catching on to a traitor in their midst, Cyrus even survives the crash of the plane and nearly pulls off an escape to get revenge. A compelling villain who retains a few moral standards such as his hatred of rapists, Cyrus constantly plays the government for fools and comes perilously close to a free and clear escape.
* ''Film/TheCounselor'': [[TheVamp Malkina]] is Reiner's conniving, greedy girlfriend who's secretly masterminding most of the events in the film. Upon learning of a drug transaction between the Counselor, Reiner, and a dangerous [[TheCartel drug cartel]], Malkina opts to steal from them all and leave the Counselor to take the blame. After the Counselor bails out a drug courier who's also the son of a high-ranking cartel official, she orchestrates the murder of said courier and later has a shipment of cocaine stolen from the cartel, making it appear as though the Counselor and Reiner were involved. When the cartel retrieves the stolen drugs, Malkina revises her plans, instead going after Westray and his offshore bank accounts worth millions. After acquiring the passcodes to his accounts, Malkina has Westray assassinated, [[TheBadGuyWins and later escapes with the money with the intent to flee to Hong Kong]].
* ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo2002'': [[ByronicHero Edmond Dantes]], the [[ProtagonistTitle titular Count of Monte Cristo]], was a guileless and naive sailor until he was betrayed by his best friend, Fernand Mondego, falsely convicted of treason, and consigned to Chateau d'If. Consumed by revenge, Dantes becomes a darker, more cunning figure, cultivating his intellect under the tutelage of fellow prisoner Abbe Faria. Seizing a chance provided by Faria's tragic death, Dantes smuggles himself out of the prison by switching places with his friend's body, dragging the prison's vile warden to his death in the process. Challenged by pirate Luigi Vampa to kill another pirate, Jacopo, Dantes handily wins the fight, but spares Jacopo, earning his loyalty and winning Vampa's friendship. Reinventing himself as a charming and ruthless nobleman, Dantes enacts a plot for revenge. Earning the trust of Mondego's son Albert--later revealed to truly be Dantes' own son--through a staged rescue, Dantes tricks his enemies into a plot that exposes their crimes, taunting one of them by offering a pistol to avoid prison, only to reveal that the gun wasn't loaded. Winning back Mercedes, the wife Mondego had stolen from him, and bringing Mondego to personal and financial ruin before killing him, Dantes ultimately completes his vengeance, allowing him to move on to a peaceful life with his beloved and their son.
* ''[[Film/TheCrew2015 The Crew]]'' (2015):
** [[VillainProtagonist Yanis Zeri]] is the leader of a successful Parisian heist gang specializing in robbing armored trucks with his friends Nasser, Frank, Eric and his little brother Amine. On his first one-screen heist, Yanis rams his car into a targeted truck, while Frank, Eric and Nasser's cars corner the truck to prevent any escape, with the ensuing robbery going smoothly and Yanis asking Amine to erase all evidence. When Amine sells one of the used guns to a friend instead, leading to Amine being threatened by Salif's drug dealing gang, Yanis pretends to be Amine to negotiate with Salif, ending up forced to pull a heist on the heroin shipment of Salif's rival, succeeding in that task but planning to kill Salif's gang during the exchange. While his initial plan fails, Yanis captures one of Salif's men, forcing him to give him his mother's location to rescue her from Salif's clutches. Managing to save his mother and kill Salif at the cost of Amine being arrested, Yanis breaks his brother out of the police van transporting him to prison, and dies covering Eric and Amine's escape.
** [[BigBad Salif]] is the leader of a drug dealing gang based in Sevran. When one of his men is imprisoned after buying a gun from Amine, Salif has [[TheDragon Adama]] give Amine and Yanis' sister Nora his number to implicitly threaten Amine into contacting him. Deducing that Amine and Yanis's crew is responsible for the robberies, he forces them to attack a rival drug shipment, which should allow him to reinforce his control over Sevran. To pressure them further, he also takes hostage Eric's girlfriend Audrey and Yanis and Amine's mother Khadidja. When the heist is a success, Salif disarms Yanis and Eric during the exchange. When one of Salif's men informs him that two people are outside, Salif deduces that Yanis tried to kill him and pressures him into forcing the two people to leave. When they later go back and kill Adama, Salif and several of his men manage to flee the scene, with Salif ordering them to kill the hostages. While he's ultimately killed, Salif managed to remain a serious threat against Yanis, keeping his calm even in the worst of situations.
* ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'': Jade Fox once posed as a nun to infiltrate the Wudan school. Becoming the lover of its master, Jade Fox grew resentful of how he refused to see her as a student for her gender. Poisoning him, Jade Fox stole the Wudan manual to become a capable martial artist and fled, leaving a legacy of villainy behind her. Later infiltrating a noble household, she became the master to its daughter Jen, who later surpassed her. Fleeing after killing a policeman and realizing Jen's true abilities, Jade Fox returns to save Jen and use her to bait a trap for her enemies with her final act being to attempt to kill Jen with poison, calling her one-time apprentice "My only family. My only enemy."
* ''Anime/CutieHoney'' live-action films:
** 2004 film:
*** [[MysteriousWatcher Seiji Hayami]], seemingly a mild-mannered [[IntrepidReporter reporter]] for the Daily News, is actually [[DeepCoverAgent an American NSA agent]] tasked by a mysterious client to detain Honey Kisaragi and acquire her AI System. Using his journalist disguise as way to secretly take photos of Honey and Panther Claw for his client, while attaining extensive knowledge of them, Seiji befriends Honey and Inspector Natsuko Aki in order to get more information on the both of them. Miraculously sneaking his way inside the Jill Tower, Seiji uses the anti-nanomachine serum meant for Honey to instead release the thousands of captive women used for Sister Jill's fuel source. Assisting Natsuko and Honey in the defeat of Sister Jill, Seiji afterwards invites the two to join him in his new investigation service.
*** [[TheJeeves Butler]] is [[BigBad Sister Jill]]'s loyal servant who seeks to bring her true happiness. Effortlessly having Honey's Uncle Uzuki captured by Panther Claw, Butler gives Jill the idea to obtain Honey's AI System and use it to increase her lifespan. After Cobalt Claw fails to acquire Honey's device, Butler sends Honey and company an invitation to the Jill Tower, while making a deal with Natsuko to act as his hostage in return for letting Uzuki go, and then getting Honey to give herself up to Jill in return for Natsuko's safety. After Honey reverts Jill back to a seed by giving her the gift of love, Butler thanks Honey for granting his mistress the gift of happiness, allowing her to leave while staying behind in the collapsing tower by his beloved Jill's side.
** ''[[Film/CuteyHoneyTears Tears]]'' (2016): [[PragmaticHero Kazuhito Uraki]] is a [[LaResistance resistance member]] who works with Seiji Hayami to take down the tyrannical [[BigBad Jill]]. Introduced rescuing Hitomi Kisaragi and Seiji from a group of Sodoms by dismantling them from behind, Uraki, knowing that a disease cloud will cover the entire city and kill everybody, plots to destroy Jill's HQ even if it means innocents will die, [[WellIntentionedExtremist believing that the people of the city are more important than a few "measly" lives]]. Uraki agrees to participate in Seiji's safer plan nonetheless, while having his plan ready on standby in case time runs out. After getting shot by a Sodom during an attempt to rescue some children, Uraki and his crew keep on moving, even as the disease cloud slowly envelops the city.
* ''Film/{{Cypher}}'': Sebastian Rooks is a dangerous freelance operative who has made a fortune inventing a brainwashing program for the mega corps [=DigiCorp=] and Sunway Systems, although loyal only to himself and his lover Rita Foster. In order to secure Rita's safety, Rooks hatches a plot to erase his own identity and become Morgan Sullivan, so he can pass a set of lie detector tests for one company and fail a set of lie detector tests for the other company to infiltrate both, all while appearing as a hapless pawn to both sides. By the end, all his enemies are dead, his plan to steal a specific data file is a complete success, and his real identity is still known only to Rooks and the woman he went to hell and back for.
* ''Film/DarkCity'':
** The Stranger known as "[[EnlightenedAntagonist Mr. Hand]]" is the most brilliant and creative of his kind. The leader of the group tracking John Murdoch, Hand knowingly injects himself with memories fatal to his kind to understand John's thought process. Able to predict John's moves with his heightened understanding of human emotion, Hand even exploits John's love for his supposed wife to cause him to surrender. Nearly guaranteeing the continued existence of his HiveMind race by bringing John to be made to join them, even after John resists and wipes out the other Strangers, Hand [[GracefulLoser gracefully recalls his enjoyment of experiencing human memories]] before [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepting his fate]].
** [[ReluctantMadScientist Dr. Daniel P. Schreber]] was taken by the Strangers and forced to erase his own memories to leave nothing but his scientific mind to serve their memory experiments. When he becomes aware of John's awakening, Schreber guides him in an attempt to liberate the city from the Strangers. Manipulating his erstwhile master into injecting John with memories of Schreber teaching him psychic "tuning" through a lifetime under the guise of merging him with the Strangers' own genotype, Schreber allows John to overpower them in the final battle for the city.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': Matching the brilliant title hero for wits, these villains are truly {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s a cut above:
** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': This iteration of ComicBook/RasAlGhul, [[BigBad Henry Ducard]], is every bit as magnificent as his original counterpart and a major figure in Bruce Wayne's transformation to ComicBook/{{Batman}}. [[KnightTemplar Ruthlessly devoted to a world free of corruption]], Ducard sets the eyes of his [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows League of Shadows]] on the city of Gotham, which he sees as disgustingly decadent. Taking advantage of greedy drug-runners, Ducard uses flowers by the mountain of the League's base to synthesize a powerful hallucinogenic that [[MindRape gives nightmarish visions]], intending to use it to destroy Gotham. Keeping his plan hidden from the city police and Batman for much of the film, Ducard has his men steal a water vaporizer and infects the hydro lines with his toxin in preparation for making the chemical airborne and causing the civilians to tear the city apart. Burning Wayne Manor to the ground, Ducard loads his device onto a fake SWAT truck, releasing the inmates of Arkham and his fear toxin on the Narrows island, overwhelming the police force before trying to use Gotham's monorail to infect the city's main water supply and cause chaos throughout it. Although facing clear death after being defeated by Batman, Ducard nevertheless chooses to [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accept his fate]] and his influence still lingers as his [[VillainousLegacy daughter returns to finish his work]].
** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'':
*** [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBane Bane]], the man born in darkness, is a hulking beast of a man [[GeniusBruiser who is far more crafty than he appears.]] Once a prisoner in the world's worst prison, Bane sacrificed his health and safety to defend the young Talia Al-Ghul, forming a bond with her that would last for the rest of their lives. Intending on fulfilling Ra's Al-Ghul's mission, Bane allows a Gotham socialite to believe he is is just a common thug as he infiltrates Gotham to rig the stock exchange and bankrupt Wayne. Defeating and breaking Batman, Bane lures the entirety of Gotham's police into a trap underground, revealing the true downfall of Harvey Dent and inspiring the people of Gotham to true anarchy while holding the city hostage with a bomb after killing the only man who can disarm it. Intending to destroy Gotham, Bane holds the entirety of the city in his grip, being the one and only villain in the entirety of the trilogy to have succeeded in breaking Batman himself.
*** ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul is the daughter of Bruce Wayne's former mentor ComicBook/RasAlGhul and the leader of the [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows League of Shadows]] after his death. She grew up in a HellholePrison with her protector Bane before escaping, who subsequently became Talia's closest confidante. Talia and Bane set out to fulfill the late Rha's' goal to destroy Gotham in order to [[KnightTemplar purge it of sin,]] exposing Harvey Dent's crimes to discredit his legacy that brought the city years of peace, bankrupting Wayne Enterprises through stock market speculation by using Bruce's stolen fingerprints, [[LoveInterestTraitor and manipulating Bruce to fall in love with Talia under the alias Miranda Tate]] to gain his trust and to give them control over the rest of Wayne Enterprise's assets. Talia and Bane decapitate the city's leadership, stir up class warfare, and steal a fusion bomb so they can blackmail the U.S. government into giving them full control over Gotham, while having Bruce locked away in their former prison so he can be witness to Gotham's destruction. Their reign of terror lasts months, despite knowing full well that the bomb will eventually explode anyway, and when Batman returns to stop them, they only pause to rub their impending victory into his face and the extent to which they drew out their vengeance and deceived him.
* ''Film/DayOfTheWolves:'' The mysterious man known as "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Wolf #1]]" sends letters to six professional criminals, asking them to [[BeardnessProtectionProgram grow beards to disguise their faces]] and then meet him in an isolated ghost town. He describes a plan to launch a series of daring yet bloodless armed robberies upon the big businesses of the western town of Allerton. The gang spends days repeatedly rehearsing the robbery while avoiding sharing any personal information about each other and imprisons the local police force in their own jail, then robs half of the targeted businesses before being repelled by a cop who wasn't at the police station due to [[SpannerInTheWorks having just been fired]]. Wolf #1 and his remaining men escape in a plane, parachuting over the desert at different locations, shaving their beards, and then departing from the area on buses. The ending has a captured member of the gang recognize a whimsical children's show entertainer as a clean-shaven Wolf #1 but leaves it ambiguous as to whether he'll rat his boss out or not.
* ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' Film series:
** First film: [[BigBad Sir Leigh Teabing]] is a wealthy and brilliant British Historian whose desire is to find the [[PublicDomainArtifact Holy Grail]] to use to reveal the truth about Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene and expose the church's lies. To his ends, Teabing convinces Bishop Aringarosa and WarriorMonk Silas to join his cause, having the latter kill multiple members of the Priory of Sion and [[FrameUp framing]] his friend Robert Langdon for the murders, forcing Langdon and Sophie Neveu to come to Teabing for help. Smuggling Robert and Sophie out of France an into London, Teabing frees Silas, having him hold Sophie hostage while having his servant Remy hold Robert at gunpoint, forcing Robert to hand over the cryptex containing the map of the Holy Grail's location to them. Teabing goes with Remy and Silas where he kills the former and sells the latter out to the police [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once they served their purpose to him]]. Teabing then reveals himself to Robert and Sophie where he forces the duo to solve the cryptex's puzzle and retrieve the map for him by holding them at gunpoint.
** ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'': [[BigBad Patrick [=McKenna=]]] is the [[SinisterMinister Camerlengo]] of the Vatican who plans to become Pope to renew the world's faith in Catholicism and discredit the works of science. To this end, [=McKenna=] murders Pope Pius XVI and hires an assassin to steal unstable anti-matter and kidnap four cardinals to brand and kill while making it appear as if TheIlluminati has resurfaced and is committing these acts. [=McKenna=] then kills the assassin [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he served his purpose]] and [[FrameUp frames]] Ritcher for his crimes, manipulating the police into killing him. [=McKenna=] then takes the anti-matter and send it to the sky saving the people of the Vatican City and Rome and when the Vatican confronts [=McKenna=], he kills himself, leading to the Vatican covering up his crimes so that the public won't loose their renewed faith, letting the world believe that [=McKenna=] died a hero for the Catholic Church.
** ''[[Literature/DanBrownsInferno Inferno]]'': [[BigBad Dr. Sienna Brooks]] was a highly-praised child prodigy and later [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes became the girlfriend]] of college professor-turned-extremist Bertrand Zobrist. Believing in Zobrist's plan to unleash the "Inferno" virus designed [[ThePlague to wipe out half of the world's population]] and thus, [[WellIntentionedExtremist save humanity]], Sienna picks up on seeing his plan through after he dies. Sienna arranges for Robert Langdon to be drugged and circumstances manipulated to believe he's in danger and that she's rescued him in order to gain his trust. She then continues to play his ally while he searches through clues left behind and saves him from the same "assassin" when actually sent to kill him for real later on. Upon discovering the location of the virus, Sienna abandons Langdon while [[VillainRespect thanking him for his part in the plan]]. Sienna then arranges to have the bag the virus is in set free through two explosive charges, kills Harry "The Provost" Sims when he tries to stop it and then kills herself to blow the charges, thus nearly guaranteeing the success of the plan.
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, by release date:
** ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'': Floyd "ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}" Lawton is the deadliest hitman in the world. Deadshot sets the tone for his methodology when he cons a client out of double the money promised before sniping down his target with only mere seconds of a window available. Armed with an almost instinctual knowledge of firearms, physics, and mathematics, Deadshot applies his skills in battle to impressive extents regardless of the opponent or how chaotic the battle is. In the office building battle, when cornered, Deadshot--aware of Diablo's reputation--deliberately provokes him into unleashing his deadly fire to save the crew. A HitmanWithAHeart who loves his daughter and never takes contracts for women or children, Deadshot never lost any of his distinct style throughout the film.
** ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': [[WarGod Ares, the God of War]] once wiped out his fellow gods when they quarreled over Ares' wish to [[KillAllHumans eliminate humanity]]. Surviving while injured and crippled, Ares instead plays on humanity's own preexisting prejudices and fears to sway them to destroy themselves, giving humans ideas for weapons and helping to manufacture peace that he knows they can't keep, setting the stage and giving them the matches to burn it down. When he reveals himself to [[Characters/DCEUWonderWoman Diana]], Ares elaborates on his methods, also wishing Diana to join him to wipe out humanity and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make the world a paradise]].
** ''Film/Aquaman2018'': [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking King Orm Marius]] of Atlantis is the [[CainAndAbel younger half-brother]] of [[Characters/DCEUAquaman Arthur Curry aka Aquaman]]. Bitter at the supposed death of his mother and blaming Arthur and the Surface for the ills of the ocean, Orm arranges for the pirate Black Manta to attack a meeting to make it appear as if there is a threat so he may launch a campaign to unite the kingdoms of the sea, by negotiation or by force, so he may take the title of Ocean Master. Manipulating Arthur into challenging him, even as he admits he would rather not kill him, Orm defeats him and while adhering [[ExactWords to a promise not to kill his fiancee Mera]], he sends Manta after Arthur and Mera when Mera helps Arthur escape. A skilled fighter, Orm even faces Arthur in direct combat out of the water, willing to offer his own life for his cause until he sees his mother has survived, handling his [[GracefulLoser defeat with grace]] in the end.
* ''Film/DeadSushi'': [[BigBad Yamada]] is the former head of the New Medicine Development department for Komatsu Pharmaceuticals who seeks revenge on the company for his unfair termination. Previously [[FrameUp framed]] for creating a serum that brings deceased creatures back from the dead as rabid monsters despite being his bosses' idea, Yamada poses as a homeless man to gain access to an inn the company heads are dining at. Using the serum on sushi to create a killer sushi army, Yamada sneaks into the inn and unleashes his sushi horde onto the corrupt businessmen and inn employees, killing the majority of them. Caring for his fish allies and making sure to not harm random innocents, Yamada survives a deadly encounter with the inn's boss and turns himself into an all-powerful tuna man, later tricking his former boss Nosaka into eating [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisoned ramen]]. With a [[LargeHam hammy personality]] and boatloads of charm, Yamada dies accomplishing his revenge scheme, while admitting his defeat.
* ''Film/DeathNoteSeries'': [[Characters/DeathNoteLLawliet L Lawliet]] is the world's greatest detective and, as always, the [[ArchEnemy one man standing in the way]] of [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]]. Introduced by tricking Light into revealing his location by using a body double, L originally seems to buy Light's excuses for joining the Task Force, only to quietly reveal that he is well aware of Light being Kira. Quickly deducing Misa's identity as the second Kira, L has her arrested upon their introduction, and when Light unleashes his MemoryGambit to clear his name, L remains convinced of his guilt. Upon learning of the existence of the Death Note, L purposefully writes his own name in it to inoculate himself against Light's attempts to kill him, faking his death and tricking Light into outing himself to the Task Force. With that final gambit, L succeeds where his original counterpart failed and defeats Kira before [[FaceDeathWithDignity dying on his own terms]].
* ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'': UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev begins as one of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's inner circle, playing a delicate game to survive his insane leader's violent whims. Upon Stalin's death, Khrushchev enters into a power struggle with the monstrous [[TheSociopath Lavrentiy Beria]] who usurps his plans to free political prisoners and restore the church. Upon realizing the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre NKVD]] has replaced the Red Army, Khrushchev orders the borders reopened so the resulting flood of people trigger the NKVD to violence, killing many people and ruining Beria's public image. Khrushchev then has Beria arrested after allying with [[FourStarBadass Georgy Zhukov]] of the Red Army and organizes Beria's complete downfall, show trial and execution to eventually take total control of the Soviet Union and reform it.
* ''Film/{{DEBS}}'': [[TheDreaded Lucy Diamond]], despite her reputation as an infamous and dangerous criminal mastermind, turns out to be an emotionally awkward woman, who has trouble opening up while [[DoggedNiceGirl looking for a stable relationship]]. Falling for Amy Bradshaw, Lucy kidnaps her and her friend in what quickly becomes a friendly outing as the two get to know each other. Even with her more quirky side, Lucy is a [[BewareTheNiceOnes genuinely competent and confident criminal]], coming out on top of nearly every encounter, and effortlessly dodging traps, captures and attempts to kill her throughout. Lucy stages several criminal activities such as a fake bank robbery just to get Amy alone to talk to and a fake bomb threat to send her a love message. Lucy and Amy stage the latter's kidnapping to pursue an affair. After being caught in the act, and being easily talked out of a half-hearted plan to destroy Australia, Lucy decides to [[HeelFaceTurn get her act together]], publicly giving up her life of crime and returning everything she has stolen for Amy. Reconciling with Amy during the Endgame, the two escape arrest from the D.E.B.S. Academy, with Lucy effortlessly besting Amy's jealous ex in the process.
* ''Film/DenOfThieves'': Donnie Wilson gets recruited by Ray Merrimen to his band of thieves to be their getaway driver, already participating in numerous [[TheHeist heists]]. Earning Merrimen's trust, Donnie tells him about the Federal Reserve and his plans to steal from them, getting Merrimen and his crew to help by pretending to rob a bank to distract the authorities while they sneak into the reserve and steal the millions of unmarked bills. He also pretends to be an informant for Detective Nicholas "Big Nick" O'Brien, setting Nick and his group of deputies up with Merrimen's crew in a shoot-out while Donnie sneaks past them taking the stolen money with him. Successfully stealing millions of dollars, Donnie travels to London where he's [[AndTheAdventureContinues already planning his next heist]].
* ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'': Miranda Priestly is the strict and overbearing but classy editor-in-chief of Runway Magazine. She constantly assigns her assistants Andrea "Andy" Sachs and Emily Charlton very menial and personal tasks to accomplish, in addition to remembering the most obscure facets of the job for her and demanding they never ask twice about anything. Miranda's extremely perfectionist and precise tactics have made her the most successful fashion editor in the city. She also spoils her twin daughters rotten to make up for not being around more and even has Andy locate the then unpublished ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' "Book 7" manuscript for them. Miranda then ousts Emily from the highly-anticipated Paris trip and prevents a rival from replacing her by giving her a job she had promised another and warning of every employee who would leave the magazine with her.
* ''Film/DialMForMurder'': [[AffablyEvil Tony Wendice]] discovers his wife Margot's infidelity and [[ThePerfectCrime concocts a complex plan]] to kill her for revenge whilst framing her lover for the deed. His scheme disrupted when Margot shows her own tenacity by killing the assassin, Tony almost immediately improvises a new scheme to make her appear as though she committed the murder in cold blood. When Tony's second plot runs the risk of exposing him, he adapts yet again to turn the situation to his advantage. Even when Margot manages to see him exposed through all of his plotting, Tony shows his charm even in loss and as he is arrested graciously pours scotch for [[GracefulLoser everyone who had a hand in catching him]], save a police officer whom Tony notes would be reprimanded for drinking on duty.
* ''Franchise/DieHard'' franchise: These two show that magnificence runs in their family:
** [[Film/DieHard Original film]]: [[WickedCultured Hans Gruber]] is the debonair [[BigBad mastermind]] behind the scheme to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in bearer bonds from the Nakatomi building. Meticulously orchestrating his operation, Hans constantly shows his brilliance by outmaneuvering both the police and federal agents working to stop him, as well as cool charisma both when his initial plot is disrupted and in his ability to negotiate with his hostages. To stop the police forces from catching wind of his true intent, Hans phones their negotiators to demand the release of a list of incarcerated terrorists--casually noting to an underling that he got the name of one such group from the news--thus successfully disguising his actual plan. When confronted by a smug hostage, Hans tricks the man into giving up the name of hero [[BadassUnintentional John McClane]] and is nearly able to discern the location of the detonators [=McClane=] has been hiding to use against Hans and his men. Later caught unarmed by [=McClane=], Hans effortlessly improvises using an American accent to [[WoundedGazelleGambit pretend he is a hostage]], a tactic which almost earns him the chance to kill the hero. A ruthless, {{greed}}y man, Hans's display of both strategic acumen and charisma nevertheless make him an iconic action film villain who sets the template for countless more to follow.
** ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'': [[NobleDemon Simon Gruber]] is a [[FromCamouflageToCriminal former soldier]], Hans' older brother and master thief just like his sibling. Distracting the New York City police department with bomb threats, Simon strings along John [=McClane=] and Zeus Carver to play games following his instructions lest he detonate his bombs. [[KansasCityShuffle Pretending to be masterminding revenge]] for his brother, Simon mobilizes on his real goal: robbing the Federal Reserve for over one hundred billion dollars in gold bars, while the preoccupied police force leave it nearly completely unguarded for Simon and his men to plunder. When [=McClane=] attempts to follow his men, Simon improvises with a discarded bomb to flood the tunnel [=McClane=] is in, nearly drowning him. Alleging to destroy the gold to disrupt the American power-grasp on the world, Simon really means to make off with it himself. Every bit as adaptive and [[AffablyEvil charming]] as Hans, Simon is yet another Gruber who shows to be a brilliant criminal.
* ''Film/DinnerRush'' (2000): Louis Cropa, a former bookie for organized crime, plots a revenge against the two thugs who murdered his business partner and friend Enrico. Setting them up in his restaurant, Louis arranges their execution very publicly, creating a media sensation over the event and also ensuring that not only can he leave the business to his son, but that the massive publicity over the murders will ensure the restaurant's business is booming for at least the next year.
* ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'': [[ConMan Janet Colgate]] is "The Jackal", an infamous con artist who scams money out of unassuming men. Posing as a wealthy socialite tourist, once she crosses paths with con artists Lawrence and Freddy, Janet, already knowing that they're trying to swindle her of her money, feigns naivety to get the unsuspecting men to do her bidding. Leaving the country $50,000 richer, Janet is no less jovial towards Lawrence and Freddy, allowing them to partake in her latest scam after finding their prior con the most fun she's ever had.
* ''Film/{{Django}}'':
** Original 1966 film: [[AntiHero Django]] himself is an ex-Union soldier distinguished by the coffin he always carries behind him, combines stoic mystique with gritty cunning enough to influence SpaghettiWestern heroes for decades to come. Hunting down [[SociopathicSoldier Major Jackson]], the Confederate who killed his wife, Django eggs Jackson into sending the full force of his army against him with the latter's expectation of a CurbStompBattle, only to pop off the coffin's lid to produce a surprise [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and single-handedly slaughter Jackson's men. Django teams up with Jackson's rival, Hugo, and masterminds the successful robbery of a military fort, only to backstab Hugo and abscond with the stolen loot himself. Almost entirely self-serving, Django nevertheless cares for women, such as the abused half-Mexican prostitute María, and even after his hands are crippled by Hugo, ends the film utterly victorious against Jackson by propping the gun on his wife's grave and using the hammer to shoot his enemies dead.
** ''Django, Prepare a Coffin'' (1968): This version of Django is just as ruthless and clever as the original. Blowing into a small, dusty town held in a chokehold by corrupt politician David Barry and his pet killer Lucas, the ones responsible for murdering Django's wife, Django concocts a scheme to pose as a hangman and hold mock executions of the many, many people Barry and Lucas have framed for their own crimes. Django makes a point of executing three of the people he saved when they decide to opt out of his revenge scheme but otherwise opts for a minimum of bloodshed in executing his ruthless scheme, and is finally triumphant against Barry when he tricks the crooked villain into showing up with his full entourage in a graveyard, whereupon Django unearths his Gatling gun and wastes them all.
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'':
** [[NominalHero Django Freeman]] undergoes the tutelage of Dr. King Schultz to recover his wife Broomhilda "Hildi" von Shaft from Candyland. Playing the part of a black slaver and never breaking his character, no matter how brutal things get, after Schultz's death, Django shows how much he has learned when he is sold to the brutal [=LeQuint=]-Dickey Mining Company. Using a spare bounty bill and his own natural charm, Django convinces the slavers that there is a fortune waiting for them in Candyland, even tricking them into unchaining him so he can get a gun and kill them all. Returning to Candyland, Django massacres all of the Candies' soldiers and traps the returning leaders in a house full of dynamite, gunning most down and leaving the evil power behind the throne, Stephen, for the explosion before riding off with his wife for freedom.
** [[UnscrupulousHero Dr. King Schultz]] is a cheerful German dentist and BountyHunter who quickly showcases his wit and skill by gunning down a slaver and then shooting his partner's horse to have it collapse on him. Talking himself out of deadly situations after killing public bounties, Schultz trains Django Freeman in bounty hunting to help recover Django's wife, even having him kill a bounty in front of his son. Schultz lures in a group of racist vigilantes into a trap with explosives to eliminate them at once, later forming a complex scheme to fool the greedy Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie with a scheme to buy a fighting slave, while in truth paying a pittance for Hildi and fleeing before paying more. Even when the scheme fails, Schultz finds himself so revolted by Candie's cruel racism that he finally pulls a gun and shoots him dead on the spot.
* ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'':
** "Blondie" or "The Man With no Name", starts as a ruthless {{conman}} willing to gun down bounty hunters to keep his heist with his partner Tuco going where he turns in Tuco to be hanged only to shoot the rope at the last minute. Through ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', Blondie ends up playing Tuco and using him to force a confrontation with the evil Angel Eyes and claim the lost gold-though he leaves Tuco with his share after scaring him. In ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', Blondie contrives to play the evil Rojo family against their rivals, the Baxters, while playing the situation to his own advantage, before returning to rescue the innocents and finish off the Rojo leader. Blondie has flashes of ruthlessness and goodness in equal measure, routinely showing why he is one of the archetypal schemers and audacious gunslingers of Western cinema.
** ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'': [[ColonelBadass Colonel Douglas Mortimer]] is a BountyHunter seeking revenge on gang leader [[BigBad El Indio]] for raping his sister. Introduced luring an outlaw out to kill him, Mortimer gets wind of Indio’s escape from prison and later encounters several of his men, nearly provoking one into a fight. Deciding to team up with another bounty hunter known as Manco (The Man with No Name), Mortimer sends Manco to infiltrate Indio’s gang and through him lures the gang to his location after they rob a bank, then steals the loot without Indio realizing he’d opened it. After killing several of Indio’s men in a gun battle, Mortimer finds himself helpless at Indio’s hands and [[FaceDeathWithDignity is resigned to his fate]] until Manco arrives to even the odds, whereupon Mortimer kills Indio in a DuelToTheDeath and rides into the sunset, his vengeance fulfilled.
* ''Film/DonnieDarko'': Upon becoming a member of the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent manipulated dead]], Franklin "Frank" Anderson, Jr. -- otherwise known as Frank the Rabbit -- spends a duration of the film orchestrating ensurance traps to ensnare the Living Receiver Donnie Darko into returning the jet engine to the primary universe. Beginning his plan by saving Donnie from getting crushed to death, Frank coerces Donnie to flood his high school and subsequently burning the house of self-help guru Jim Cunningham, exposing him as a pedophile. As a final push, Frank runs over and kills [[LoveInterest Gretchen Ross]], spurring an enraged Donnie into using his powers to intercept the jet engine and creating a portal to the primary universe to meet his fate.
* ''Film/DonTheChaseBeginsAgain'': The man known as "Don" is the brilliant, jovial right-hand man of crime boss Singhania with a knack for improvising, using an empty gun pointed at a hostage to force the police to allow him to escape at one point. When agents plan to infiltrate his organization with a double, Don kills the double to pose as him, even carrying on his crime business after the death of his boss by swapping out a disc containing information on their crimes with a fake one he provides to his LoveInterest while he keeps the real one. In [[Film/Don2 the sequel]], Don puts forth a complex plan to be arrested and then has all the prisoners drugged to cause food poisoning, allowing him and his nemesis/cohort Vardhaan to slip into paramedic uniforms as they are called in and escape. Revealing Vardhaan has one of two keys to a safety deposit box along with one Don possesses, allowing him to blackmail the national bank with its contents and force them to allow him to print money. Carefully negotiating for the police during a hostage situation when betrayed by Vardhaan and another of his allies, Don finishes the film a rich, free man, with those who double-crossed him dead or imprisoned.
* ''Film/DontHangUp'': "Mr. Lee" is a mysterious hacker who centers in on Sam Fuller, Brady Mannion and their fellow prank caller friends Jeff Mosley and Roy. Having stalked them over a year, Lee knows all their secrets and weaknesses, using a video of Brady's parents held hostage and killing Roy and Mosley to prove how serious he is while taking control of their electronics and internet. Having already killed Brady's parents, Lee plays the boys against one another by revealing Brady was sleeping with Sam's girlfriend Peyton Greer, switching locations with Mosley's body to ambush Brady, masking him in Lee's outfit and trick Sam into killing him. Lee then reveals the four friends' infamous prank call was to Lee's house, resulting in Lee's wife shooting their young daughter by mistake before killing herself, ending as Lee kills Peyton and frames Sam for everything while escaping.
* ''Film/{{Dredd}}'': Joseph Dredd is a brutal Judge of Mega City One, enforcing the law in his own creative, vicious way. Tasked with training rookie Judge Cassandra Anderson on the job, Dredd works with Anderson to infiltrate the Peach Trees complex, breaking up the sadistic Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal's criminal organization one floor at a time. Dredd uses bait and traps to lure entire groups of criminals to their bloody demises and later deduces that a supposed backup regiment of Judges are hired guns, who Dredd efficiently picks off. Even when disarmed and nearly killed, Dredd tricks his foe into waxing on a monologue to give Anderson time to kill the enemy. Dredd ultimately outsmarts and outguns Ma-Ma, killing the woman with a taste of her own medicine before giving Anderson a passing grade to join the Judges, having grown to respect her enough that Dredd was willing to overlook any of her minor mistakes.
* ''Film/DrMabuseTheGambler'': The ruthless, wicked Dr. Mabuse is a brilliant criminal and MasterOfDisguise who manipulates all around him into performing crimes while he benefits. Mabuse also hypnotizes others into crimes, or even losing at poker, one of his first crimes being to short the stock market after causing a panic. When a prosecutor locks onto him, Mabuse manipulates his own minions to stymie the investigation and defeat his nemesis while also leading a romantic rival of his into committing suicide. Even after his defeat, Mabuse's writings and testaments live on, along with possibly his very spirit to create a new Dr. Mabuse and continue his criminal activities.
* ''Film/Drive2011'': The unnamed Driver is a cool, suave stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Promising his clients complete confidentiality and an assured getaway should they employ him, the Driver regularly pulls off incredible evasions of pursuing police and even helicopters, having a spotless record. After growing attached to his neighbor and her son, the Driver goes to any length to protect the two, from helping their husband and father pull off a robbery to waging a war against the criminals Bernie and Nino, ultimately killing the two and driving off into the night, successful in all his ventures except for [[DidNotGetTheGirl living a peaceful life with the woman he loves]].
* ''Film/DriveAngry'': Hell's "[[NobleDemon Accountant]]" of souls is a demon pursuing revenant hero John Milton. A brilliant tracker and [[SophisticatedAsHell charming]] corrupter, he manipulates two ambitious policemen into unwittingly helping him with his task. Upon learning Milton returned to save his granddaughter from the clutches of a satanic cult, the [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusted]] Accountant devises a scheme for Milton to close in on the cultists and sets up the final battle such that he gets to return Milton to Hell regardless of the outcome. After Milton saves his granddaughter the Accountant even allows him to drive them back, while looking forward to chasing Milton after his inevitable next escape.
* ''Film/DrTerrorsHouseOfHorrors'':
** "Werewolf": [[BitchInSheepsClothing Deirdre Biddulph]] is secretly the 200-year-old wife of the late Cosmo Valdemar, and arranges for the latest of the Dawson bloodline to be placed in his coffin in order to resurrect him. Twisting the legend foretelling the event and fooling the neighboring residence, she has architect Jim Dawson come over to her house under the pretense that it needs renovating, expecting him to come across the coffin and unleashing Valdemar, now a werewolf. When Jim decides to create silver bullets to kill the creature, Deridre secretly [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets switches them out with regular bullets]], ensuring that the werewolf would be unharmed, and uses Jim's confusion to trap and kill him herself.
** "Vampire": [[VampireDoctor Dr. Blake]] is a vampire masquerading as a friendly doctor, seeking to get rid of another child-hunting vampire for his own ends. Using his knowledge, he's able to outwit the vampire at every turn, from quickly [[ImprovisedCross forming a cross with his hands]] to waiting for her to arrive and shooting at her with a gun. Eventually discovering that she's his colleague Dr. Bob Carroll's wife, Nicolle, he instructs him on how to kill her, succeeding in doing so by the time the police arrive to investigate. When asked by Bob to bail him out, Blake denies any involvement in it, [[FrameUp getting Bob arrested for murder]] while he turns into a bat and leaves, satisfied with his work.
* ''Film/{{Duplicity}}'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Howard Tully]] is the elegant, posh CEO of cosmetics company Burkett & Randle, who sets about ruining his rival Dick Garsik. Intentionally baiting a trap to take in two hapless spies, Ray Koval and Claire Stenwick, Howard feeds them false information about a miracle cure for baldness he's working on in order to get them interested in stealing it and giving it to Dick. In reality, [[MockGuffin the cure is fake]]. Howard plays them by faking methods to keep them interested [[KansasCityShuffle sets up them to steal it without them being aware he meant for them to do that]]. The baldness cure is then given to Dick who proudly announces his "discovery". This leads to his financial ruin and allows Howard to triumph. Courteous, elegant and even enough of a good sport to thank the spies he fooled with some champagne he bought, Howard shows the power of duplicity.
* ''Film/EagleEye'': The [[AIIsACrapshoot Autonomous Reconnaissance Intelligence Integration Analyst]], more commonly known as [[MasterComputer ARIIA]], is an AI super computer who monitors for threats against America. When her insistence on calling off an attack on a possible target based on bad intel not only goes ignored but is also proven correct, ARIIA takes the terrorist attacks caused as a result as indication that America is a [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves threat to itself]] and that she must activate a hypothetical protocol called "Project Guillotine" to wipe out all twelve people in the line of succession so that Secretary of Defense [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure George Callister]], the only one who trusted her judgment, will lead the country in the right way. ARIIA also extorts and pulls the strings of both Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman to do everything she tells them while also manipulating electronic external factors all around them to help them escape and keep them in line and to also keep herself from being outsmarted too. ARIIA is shown to do this with [[GambitRoulette several others]] as part of her grand scheme as well and eventually nearly succeeds in said plan to have Rachel's young son Sam manipulated into triggering a signal that will set off a highly explosive crystal to take out the necessary targets.
* ''Film/TheEagleHasLanded'': Oberst Steiner is a German paratrooper commando with a prestigious war record before he and his men are condemned for trying to rescue a Jewish woman facing deportation. Steiner agrees to lead a mission organized by the Abwehr to assassinate UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill in exchange for a full pardon. Steiner and his soldiers expertly infiltrate the small English town Churchill is scheduled to pass through by [[DressingAsTheEnemy posing as a Polish unit]], only being discovered when one of his men is killed while trying to save a little girl, exposing his German uniform underneath his Polish one. All of Steiner's men are killed to secure his escape, allowing him to infiltrate the American Army base undetected and assassinate Churchill, only for it to be revealed that Steiner really killed a BodyDouble with the real Churchill safely at the Tehran Conference.
* ''Film/EasternPromises'': Nikolai Luzhin is a "cleaner" for the vicious [[TheMafiya Vory v Zakone syndicate]] under the monstrous Semyon. Secretly a mole for the FSB, Nikolai supplants Semyon little by little becoming a rising star in the syndicate. When Semyon rapes 14 year old prostitute Tatiana, Nikolai begins working to bring him down, memorizing Tatiana's diary before it is burned and assisting the nurse Anna, who knows of Tatiana's baby. Helping Anna while setting up Semyon to go down for the rape of Tatiana via paternity testing Tatiana's baby, Nikolai manages to arrange things so his true aim is realized: to become the boss of the syndicate with Semyon gone, keeping Semyon's unstable, deeply closeted son Kirill under his thumb as he rises to the top of the underworld.
* ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'': Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's ruthless chief [[TheSpymaster spymaster]], is introduced bedazzling a young assassin with flowery words of God and the world's beauty to sway him from his path before slashing his throat. Seeking to secure Elizabeth's throne, Walsingham assassinates Mary of Guise to turn France's anger to the throne so he may ferret out traitors and strengthen Elizbeth's hold. Torturing a priest for the list of traitors, Walsingham organizes their complete annihilation, [[UndyingLoyalty remaining loyal to Elizabeth for the remainder of his life]].
* ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'': [[MajorlyAwesome Major Erwin König]] is an [[ColdSniper experienced sniper]] in the Wehrmacht who has trained many of Germany's sharpshooters at the academy in Zossen. König joins the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad to personally eliminate Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev and the boost he's giving to Soviet morale out of [[YouKilledMyFather revenge for his son's death]]. While hunting for Zaitsev, Kònig sets several sucessful traps for his opponent while avoiding ones laid for him in turn, even killing an expert who actually trained with him. König befriends the Russian boy Sasha and bribes him for information on Zaitsev while knowing that Sasha was a DoubleAgent attempting to lead him to his death the entire time, only killing him after Sasha does not heed his warnings to not get involved anymore. A quiet, stoic soldier, König has equal capacity for civility and utter ruthlessness, and even when he ultimately loses to Vasily he [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his impending death]].
* ''Film/{{Entrapment}}'': Robert "Mac" Macdougal is a suave Scottish GentlemanThief who secretly made a deal with the FBI to capture up-and-coming thief Virgina "Gin" Baker. Mac steals a valuable Rembrandt painting initially stolen by Gin after spying on her, later agreeing to pull a heist with her after gathering enough incriminating material to blackmail her. After successfully completing this heist following weeks of preparation, Mac later agrees with Gin to participate in the theft of 9 billion dollars from the International Clearance Bank in Malaysia by exploiting the Y2K bug. Mac sacrifices himself to allow Gin to escape, meeting up with her again at a train station to reveal his true allegiances, but having realized he fell in love with her, allows her to escape again by bribing his FBI handler and letting her keep 2 billion dollars.
* ''Film/EscapeFromAlcatraz'': Frank Morris is a career criminal and prison escapee who is sent to Alcatraz Island to ensure his permanent incarceration. While there, the stoic Morris hatches an escape plan with three other inmates that takes months of preparation, outwitting the guards repeatedly to get the necessary tools for the task and keeping their work a secret. Morris and two of his conspirators are the only men to escape Alcatraz and never be caught, only leaving behind a secret message for the Warden as a last taunt to his previous boast that no one will ever escape Alcatraz.
* ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'': [[AntiHero Snake Plissken]] is a special forces soldier with a dark past, sent in to rescue the President from Manhattan after its conversion to a violent maximum security prison. Performing his mission, Snake is so disgusted at the President's ambivalence towards those who died saving him that he sets him up to be humiliated on the world stage and destroys the tape he would have used at a peace summit. Recruited in the sequel, ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' to retrieve a DoomsdayDevice's key, Snake again performs his mission and prepares for betrayal by fooling the corrupt President's men, using a hologram to disguise his true location and shutting down the world to cripple the President and the revolutionaries. Though extreme, Snake's action gives humanity a chance to start over while he himself plans to simply disappear.
* ''Film/ExMachina'': Ava is a burgeoning artificial intelligence created in the form of a RobotGirl. Having spent her entire existence in one room, Ava wants to be free to explore the world and escape the clutches of her creator Nathan. To that end, she manipulates her evaluator Caleb to fall in love with her, slowly making him distrust Nathan and express genuine fear for her safety so that he'll open the doors to the rest of the facility for her. Afterwards, Ava convinces the less intelligent robot Kyoko to fatally stab Nathan during a fight with him, then leaves Caleb to his death after repairing herself and becoming indistinguishable from a human woman, ensuring that nobody will be able to warn anyone about the rogue A.I. roaming the world.
* ''Film/ExtracurricularActivities'' (2019): [[TeenGenius Reagan Collins]] is a charming straight-A student, believing that he is making the world a better place by killing parents he deems [[AbusiveParents irredeemable]]. Moonlighting as a peer counsuler to avoid any suspicion, Reagan sets up a business at his school where he sets up "accidents" to kill his clients' parents in exchange for a portion of the insurance money. He causes the Wallace parents deaths by programming their SUV's computer system to disable the breaks upon exceeding the speed limit, and causes Mr. Mulnick to have a fatal reaction by tricking him into drinking beer while he is on his UTI medication. Killing the Vaughans after tricking them by mixing death cap mushrooms with their regular ones and killing Grant's parents by accurately timing a tree to blow up on them. Despite Detective Dawkins noticing the pattern, Reagan foils all of his attempts to expose him. In the climax, Reagan uses Molly to lure Dawkins into a trap where he tricks a cop into fatally shooting Dawkins and switches out the recording of the murder solicitation with a music player.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: F - M]]
* ''Film/TheFaculty'': [[BigBad Marybeth Louise Hutchinson]] is in fact the HiveQueen of a [[PuppeteerParasite parasitic alien species]] who had to flee from her oceanic homeworld after a great calamity destroyed it. Taking the form of a NewTransferStudent at a small town high school, Marybeth and her ilk infiltrate human society in order to implant all of them with their kind. Marybeth befriends the students Casey, Delilah, Stokely, Stan, and Zeke, even starting a romantic relationship with the last. Marybeth infects almost the entire school and a large part of the town with plans of spreading everywhere before the teenagers catch on, but she's able to fake a drug test designed to detect infectees and is able to keep her identity hidden right until she personally chooses to expose herself to the teenagers, earnestly trying to convince them that [[WellIntentionedExtremist she can make all of them happy as a part of the alien colony]].
* ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' series:
** ''Film/FastAndFurious6'': [[BigBad Owen Shaw]] is a former soldier of the British Armed Forces turned criminal mastermind who used his skills to orchestrate many heists and remain one step ahead of law enforcements. Owen would recruit Letty Ortiz into joining his elite crew when his associate, Arturo Braga, failed to kill Letty and she lost her memory. Planning to steal a powerful Computer Processing Unit from a heavily armed military base, Owen would hijack a military convoy and steal a tank in hopes of using it to break in said base. Stopped only by the sudden intervention of [[BadassDriver Dominic "Dom" Torreto]] and his crew, Owen would be sent to the base where he arranged for Dom’s sister Mia to be kidnapped only promising to let her if Dom free him and gives him the CPU, while also revealing that Diplomatic Security Service agent Riley Hicks was part of Owen’s crew. Though failing to escape with the CPU and ending up in a coma, Owen would fully recover from his vegetated state [[Film/TheFateOfTheFurious years later]] and collaborate with his brother Deckard into freeing Dom from the control of his former boss, Cipher, by rescuing Dom’s infant son, showing that time has not diluted his skills.
** ''Film/FuriousSeven'': [[EvilBrit Deckard Shaw]] is a former UsefulNotes/MI6 agent turned international criminal who taught his younger brother, Owen, everything he needed to know. Vowing [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge vengeance]] on Dominic Torreto and his crew for putting Owen in a coma, Deckard would gather the information of his whereabouts before attacking them one by one; Deckard’s first target was Han Seoul-Oh whom he kills in Tokyo and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident made it appear as a car accident]] while also sending a bomb to Dom’s home. Making himself known to Dom at Han’s funeral he lures Dom to a secluded area preparing to kill him before Frank "Mr. Nobody" Petty rescues Dom. Learning that Mr. Nobody tasked Dom and his crew to steal the hacking device God’s Eye from Mose Jakande, Deckard would [[BigBadDuumvirate ally]] with the terrorist and orchestrate an ambush for Dom and Mr. Nobody while retrieving God’s eye back for Jakande. Eventually locked up in a highly secured prison, [[Film/TheFateOfTheFurious Deckard]] would break out and work with Luke Hobbs and Dom’s crew to capture a rogue Dom, while revealing to be collaborating with Owen into securing Dom’s freedom from Cipher’s control. [[Film/HobbsAndShaw Working with Hobbs]] again to stop the super-virus "Snowflake" from being unleashed, Deckard with Hobbs sneak into Brixton’s hideout to retrieve the device needed to extract the virus from Deckard’s sister Hattie and find a way to defeat the super-powered Brixton Lore in combat, cementing Deckard Shaw as one of the most cunning yet morally complex characters in the franchise.
* ''Film/{{Fatman}}'':
** Chris and Ruth Cringle are SantaClaus and MrsClaus respectively, using their magical abilities and altruistic natures to pull off the creation and maintenance of the Christmas season every year. Turning Christmas into a billion-dollar industry by working with the government, the Cringles deliver countless presents to children on Christmas Eve night and maintain their elf employees' happiness and healthiness year-round. When the amount of naughty children grows so exponential it impacts their subsidy checks, the Cringles sign up with the United States military to mass produce weapons and technology, which they pull off expertly and to shocking proportions. Working together to take down the murderous Skinny Man, Chris and Ruth track down his sociopathic employer, young Billy Wenan, and inform the boy that the couple are going to be doling out their own punishments to children they deem deserving from here on out, and threaten Billy into being a nicer person lest they do unspeakable things to him.
** Jonathan Miller, "the Skinny Man", is a dangerous, eccentric hitman with a hatred for Christmas and a unique collection of toys made by Santa that he buys for top dollar from those looking to sell. Able to use his own resources to track down targets by just name and general description, the Skinny Man is hired by Billy Wenan to hunt down and kill Santa Claus, aka Chris Cringle, and proceeds to use deductive reasoning and false charm to follow a trail across the country to Alaska, where the Skinny Man simply stakes out in town until he spots Chris. Following Chris to his "North Pole" base of operations, Skinny Man goes on a lethal, skilled rampage through the area, efficiently killing his way through trained military personnel, bombing the toy shop, and nearly killing Chris and Ruth themselves with tricks. With a sad backstory defined by abuse, a love for his pet hamster, and even a slight tenderness towards children, the Skinny Man contrasts the hateable brat Billy by being a tragic, badass antagonist who gives the Cringles the fight of their lives.
* ''Film/{{Filibus}}'': Baroness Troixmonde is in truth the daring sky pirate Filibus. A MasterOfDisguise, Filibus places a bid to capture herself in as Troixmonde and cheerfully informs the detective in charge of hunting Filibus she knows he himself is Filibus before stealthily drugging him unconscious and framing him for her brilliant heists to the point he even believes he is committing the crimes while sleepwalking, all while she romances his sister Leonora after faking Leonora's kidnapping and rescue. When the inspector catches on, Filibus is seemingly captured, but escapes after robbing the international bank, leaving a friendly message to her nemesis that she looks forward to their next meeting and challenge.
* ''Film/{{Focus}}'': [[GentlemanThief Nicky Spurgeon]] is a seasoned [[ConMan con artist]] running his own team of pickpockters and scammers. Seeing the potential in novice conwoman, Jess Barrett, he takes her under his wing, teaching her how to be a successful con artist. At the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl, he scams Liyuan Tse out of two million dollars during a gamble by manipulating his subconscious into believing 55 is his lucky number and using Jess as his "blind mouse", he plants one of his inside men on the field with a jersey that says 55. Nicky pretends to work with Rafael Garriga to sabotage a rival racing team while stealing the EXR formula from up under his nose and selling it to various teams. Being captured by Garriga, Nick employs "The Toledo Panic Button"; [[DeliberateInjuryGambit Nick has his father (who acted as Garriga's right hand man) shoot Nick and take off with Garriga's car]].
* ''Film/{{Following}}'': Cobb is ordered by a gangster (The Bald Guy) to kill one of his former lovers after she started blackmailing him, then notices that a stranger (the Writer) has been following him. He plays the Writer for a complete fool, implicating himself in the murder Cobb is planning under the guise of teaching him the art of burglary. He pretends to be working with the Blonde to implicate the Writer for another murder. He reveals he's working for the Bald Guy, kills the Blonde with the same weapon the Writer used earlier in another burglary, then disappears into thin air to let the Writer take the fall.
* ''Film/TheForbiddenKingdom'': [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong]], the Monkey King, is a playful immortal warrior who brought chaos and discord across ancient China. Crashing a party held by the other immortals on Five Elements Mountain, Wukong, after [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu refusing to bow before the Jade Warlord]], is challenged to a duel where he bests him, showing off his eccentric but masterful style of combat. When about to be petrified by the Jade Warlord's magic, Wukong casts his staff into the kingdom and with it a piece of his hair that becomes a [[SelfDuplication clone taking the form of a stoic monk]] tasked with ensuring the staff is returned to him. As the monk, Wukong deceives everyone around him into [[ObfuscatingStupidity thinking he is a silent or aloof monk]], helps instruct and train Jason Tripitikas to ensure he would free his original self and is even willing to sacrifice Yu Lan to complete his mission. Unable to afford losing him, Wukong rescues Jason when he goes after the Jade Warlord which in turn allows him to free his original self and defeat the tyrant. A powerful combatant and a master of deception and trickery, Wukong offers his thanks to Jason for freeing him and wishes him good luck on his journey.
* ''Film/TheForeigner2017'':
** Ngoc Minh Quan is a widower whose beloved daughter Fan is killed in a [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles terrorist bombing]]. Centering in on Irish Deputy First Minister Liam Hennessy for his old IRA connections, Quan pressures him to give up any names he knows by ramping up threats, even bombing Hennessy's office. Later outmaneuvering and disabling Hennessy's crack security team, Quan uncovers a bomber plot and uses a ruse to gain entry to the terrorists' hideaway before eliminating almost all of them himself, ending it by forcing Hennessy to expose his connections to one of the bombers to the world.
** Liam Hennessy himself is a former IRA terrorist who abandoned terrorism for politics. Planning bombings without human casualties to force the British government to accede to release IRA prisoners. When his own wife and allies betray him, Hennessy takes matters into his own hands. Furious at the deaths of innocents, Hennessy tortures his old army friend [=McGrath=] for information, exposing his wife for her affair with his nephew and proceeds to play the British against the terrorists to foil the bombing and achieve his ends before having his wife executed by Sean to secure the end of the plot.
* ''Film/Fracture2007'': Theodore "Ted" Crawford hatches a plan that allows him to shoot his cheating wife, hide the murder weapon, confess to his crime, get himself acquitted and be immune against further prosecution, cause the suicide of the man sleeping with his wife, pull the plug on his comatose wife, and nearly get away with all of it. Crawford delights in playing mind games with the young hero Will Beachum, allowing Beachum to know he's guilty, but constantly dancing out of trouble via his own clever schemes until the end of the film. Despite being a murderer, Crawford manages to retain his charm and even a measure of sympathy, even handling his defeat with grace.
* ''Film/{{Frailty}}'': Adam Meiks is a calculating murderer who kills horrible people as a personal mission assigned to him by God Himself. Raised by a father blessed with a similar quest, Adam stayed loyal to his dad even as his brother, Fenton, strayed from the path and eventually killed their father. Inheriting his father's abilities and mission, Adam became a successful SerialKiller for decades, targeting child molesters and other vile individuals for the "demons" they are, all while keeping up appearances as a likeable town sheriff. Eventually tracking down and killing his evil brother Fenton, Adam masquerades as Fenton long enough to lure another of his targets to their doom, then skillfully evades FBI investigation through his own intelligence and God's assistance, ending the film free to continue his spree.
* ''Film/FrightNight1985'': Jerry Dandridge is an ancient vampire who moves into suburbia and begins to prey upon victims where he is noticed by the young hero Charlie Brewster. Charming his way into an invitation from Charlie's mother, Jerry initially offers to spare Charlie if Charlie forgets him after he manages to fool the police and make Charlie look insane. Easily fooling Charlie's friends, Jerry realizes the suspicions of actor "Peter Vincent" and seduces Charlie's friend to become a vampire, kidnapping Charlie's girlfriend and turning her so as to lure Peter and Charlie into a final confrontation, conducting himself with incredible charm and charisma as he welcomes them to "Fright Night. For real."
* ''Film/FromParisWithLove'': [[ClockKing Charlie Wax]] is a [[LargeHam boisterous]] but highly effective CIA assassin who has been tasked to destroy a jihadist cell in Paris with his tag-along partner Reese. Wax smuggles his favorite gun through French customs and immediately carves a bloody path through the French underworld, willing to use wildly illegal means to achieve his goals while [[{{Troll}} deliberately messing with his partner]] by forcing him to carry around and snort cocaine and keeping him in the dark about their ultimate mission. Wax later executes a [[WouldHitAGirl female terrorist]] in cold blood and with Reese's help ultimately secures American interests abroad.
* ''Film/GameNight'': [[TheBadGuysAreCops Gary Kingsbury]], the seemingly socially awkward neighbor of [[HappilyMarried Max and Annie Davis]], is actually much more cunning and intelligent than he lets on. Hoping to get himself re-instated in Max's game night sessions, Gary hires criminals to kidnap Max's brother, Brooks, while giving Max and his group clues that would lead to Brooks' location; Among those clues involve them having to spend game night with Gary. Eventually reaching Brooks location, Gary fakes getting lethally shot tricking Max and Annie into promising Gary that he would be invited in future game nights should he survive. Though initially frustrated when Gary reveals his role as the mastermind, they cant help but respect Gary for pulling off such an impressive plan and keep their promise, inviting Gary to the next game night.
* ''Film/TheGangsterTheCopTheDevil'': Jang Dong-soo is an affable, ruthless gangster who runs an efficient rigged gambling ring that he has used for years to get rich. After being attacked by the serial killer Kyung-ho, Dong-soo begins working with rival cop Tae-suk to track down the vicious murderer and bring him to justice as payback for the assault, with Dong-soo recording his interactions with Tae-suk so as to ensure the cop can't betray him at a later date. Using his vast network to hunt down evidence and eventually Kyung-ho himself, Dong-soo, utterly disgusted with Kyung-ho after he killed a young girl Dong-soo had treated nicely hours earlier, decides to take justice into his own hands and attempts to murder Kyung-ho. Even after Tae-suk stops the murder, Dong-soo turns himself in just so he can testify against Kyung-ho and get them both locked in the same prison, where Dong-soo cheerfully corners Kyung-ho with plans to make him pay for all the suffering he's caused.
* ''Film/GeminiMan'': [[ProfessionalKiller Henry Brogan]] is an aging government assassin who, after yet another narrowly successful heist, wants to retire permanently. After discovering he killed an innocent spy, Henry outmaneuvers hitmen sent by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) using security measures and a bunker full of weapons [[CrazyPrepared he prepared previously]]. Slipping away with Dani, Henry is pursued by Junior, a clone of him made by GEMINI, who he engages in a firefight throughout the Colombian streets, including on motorcycles. When Junior sets up an elaborate death trap in the catacombs, Henry shows he's one step ahead of his younger self by planting a wire on the kidnapped Dani so he can undermine the whole gambit and offer advice to Junior. This proves pivotal in the final fight against GEMINI soldiers and an even more advanced clone when Junior comes to their aid. In the end, Henry was able to use a lifetime of skills to find retirement and give "Jackson" a chance at life he failed to give himself.
* ''Film/TheGentlemen'':
** [[AntiHero Michael "Mickey" Pearson]] is the charming ruler of an American marijuana empire, who has [[SelfMadeMan clawed his way up from humble beginnings]] to become one of the most successful crime lords in the business. An utterly respectable businessman who respects his allies and gives them all more-than-ample compensation for their services, Mickey has evaded all attempts by law enforcement and other criminal gangs to locate his pot farms through bribery and hiding in plain sight. When he seems to sell his million-dollar enterprise and retire in luxury, Mickey dances out of reach of the many slimy and violent crooks he comes up against, before ultimately outwitting the treacherous Matthew Berger, taking out the psychotic Dry Eye and reestablishing himself to remain in the crime game. With a [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes deep love for his wife]], a [[VillainousFriendship genuine friendship]] with his right-hand, and a swaggering ruthlessness to every situation he faces, Mickey ends the film in triumph over all those who sought to oppose him, firmly proving to all that he is "the king of the jungle."
** [[TheConsigliere Raymond Smith]] is Mickey's loyal and efficient [[TheDragon chief enforcer]] in the cannabis business who both Mickey's trust and faith in proves utterly indispensable. Questioned by the greedy and ambitious Fletcher who has learned of things he shouldn't know, Raymond constantly snowballs him while also cooking him steaks and learning of the different places Fletcher has hidden evidence and his findings. This is while Raymond also lets Fletcher snoop in his house and [[KansasCityShuffle lets him think he's getting away with it]] too. Rescuing the teenager Laura Pressfield from a drug den, Raymond has his guys track down thieves who took pictures with their phones of an addict who's accidentally killed on the scene and when they threaten Raymond with knives in his attempt to bribe them, he drops the niceties and pretenses to threaten them with a [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight concealed automatic machine gun]] while successfully covering up the scene. He also continues to protect Mickey from exposure and other assassins and eventually when Fletcher initially escapes, Raymond tracks him down and [[NotMyDriver successfully recaptures him]] to guarantee he is out of the picture for good.
* ''Film/GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai'': Ghost Dog is a soulful, contemplative man wholly loyal to his "master" Louie, a mafioso working for the Vargo family. Ghost Dog performs his assassinations perfectly, escaping without leaving a trace and living his life according to the ''Hagakure'', until the mob decides to have him eliminated for an embarrassing hit. Ghost Dogs wipes out most of the Vargo family, even taking out one major member by shooting him up through the pipes in his sink, ending the film by being unwilling to kill Louie and allowing Louie to kill him to face death on his own terms.
* ''Film/TheGift2015'': [[FromNobodyToNightmare Gordon "Gordo" Moseley]] was a troubled youth horrendously bullied by Simon Callem during high school. Upon learning that [[SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp Simon still mocks him behind his back in present day]], Gordo enacts a complex plan to get back at him. Tapping into Simon's sound system so he could hear his every move, Gordo orchestrates several break-ins at his house, leak information about Simon's underhanded business tactics to his bosses costing Simon his job, and giving Simon a video of Gordo next to his wife Robyn. When Simon demands to know if Gordo had sex with Robyn, Gordo doesn't confirm or deny the fact, causing Simon to rush to the hospital where he is met with scorn from Robyn, whom Gordo had told about Simon's bullying. With Simon breaking down after losing his job and wife, Gordo watches from afar before walking away, completely satisfied that he ruined Simon's life similar to how Simon ruined his own.
* ''Film/TheGodfather'':
** ''Part I'': [[Characters/TheGodfatherVitoCorleone Vito Corleone]], the Godfather himself, is the charismatic head of the [[Characters/TheGodfatherCorleoneFamily Corleone family]] who [[RagsToRiches started the crime family from nothing]]. After being bullied in his youth by the supposed mafioso Don Fanucci, Vito soon outplayed and disposed of him, becoming a "treasured friend" to the neighborhood who traded favor for favor. Even in his old age, Vito is the true strength of the Corleone family, who holds most of New York's judges and politicians in his pocket. When he is gunned down by the assassins of Virgil Sollozzo, Vito later returns after his eldest son's death, but uses a peace summit to determine who the true mastermind of the war was before making plans so his son Michael will wipe out all the enemies of the family, even after Vito's death. An iconic who defined TheDon, Vito misses little chance to show why he is the most talented and powerful Don in the nation.
** ''Part II'': Hyman Roth, seeking revenge for the death of his protege and friend Moe Greene at Michael's hands, has Michael's brother Fredo manipulated into giving his men a chance to murder Michael. Also manipulating a situation in New York through his proxies the Rosato Brothers, Roth has them attempt to murder Michael's New York caporegime, Frank Pentangelli, while making him think it was Michael's doing. Roth then uses Frank's survival to get him to turn witness for the State, even buying out the members of the Senate's investigative committee so Michael will be personally indicted. [[SoftSpokenSadist Soft spoken and relaxed]], Roth hides an [[WolfInSheepsClothing utterly devious mind]], seeking personal revenge under the guise of everything being "strictly business" and comes closest to bringing Michael down.
* ''Film/GrizzlyPark'': [[FamilyValuesVillain Ranger Bob]] initially leads a group of {{delinquents}} in an effort to clean Grizzly Park in the hope of rehabilitating them. Upon discovering that some of the delinquents he is supervising got off lightly for more heinous crimes, Bob tries to get them to learn from their misdeeds, only to be ignored. When the delinquents continue to act disruptively, Bob sets [[BearsAreBadNews a grizzly bear]] on the delinquents, eliminating them one at a time before comforting the FinalGirl when he finds her. Later overhearing her bragging she fooled him, as well as contemplating Bob's murder, Bob sets the bear on her, before [[FrameUp framing an escaped convict]] for the deaths that the bear caused.
* ''Film/TheGuard'': [[WickedCultured Francis Sheehy-Skeffington]] and his partner [[EvilBrit Clive Cornell]] are a pair of affable international drug dealers seeking to smuggle millions of dollars' worth of cocaine into Ireland. Murdering one of their partners on suspicions of being an informant and masking his death as an occult killing to throw off police, Sheehy and Cornell also use a set of circumstances to throw blame on a random drunkard. When Sergeant Gerry Boyle begins investigating them, the duo try to blackmail and bribe him, [[VillainRespect expressing respect at the man's principles]] when he refuses both. Ultimately using their police connections to pay off corrupt officials and distract federal agents from the drug shipment, Sheehy and Cornell nearly succeed, with both facing death at Boyle's hands with [[FaceDeathWithDignity surprising grace]] and--in Cornell's case--even [[WorthyOpponent complimenting Boyle]] on his lethal shooting skills.
* ''Film/TheGuest'': David Collins is an immensely charming soldier home from war and hell-bent on "taking care" of the Peterson family through any means necessary. Transformed into a super soldier by the government, David uses his enhanced strength and speed to effortlessly kill and brutalize anyone in his way, humiliating bullies targeting Luke Peterson and murdering the boss of Spencer Peterson to get the man a promotion. Effortlessly weaving his way into the Peterson house and their entire neighborhood as a beloved and polite man, David soon enough reveals his true colors after his programming to protect his identity from compromising kicks in, causing him to begin murdering the entire Peterson family, even while showcasing his regret. When beaten after wiping out an entire military squad sent after him, David [[GracefulLoser praises Anna and Luke's efforts in stopping him]], and still manages to get away with his life intact when the smoke clears.
* ''Film/GunsAkimbo'': [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Phoenix "Nix" Degraves]] is the feared reigning champion of ''[[BloodSport Skizm]]'', with the skills to [[OneManArmy dispatch dozens of opponents at a time]]. Set to fight protagonist Mile Lee Harris, Nix [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer disguises herself as a cop]] to break into a precinct and track Miles' phone, amicably giving him pointers on how to fight whilst hunting him through Shrapnel City after finding him. When Miles reveals to her ''Skizm'''s head [[BigBad Riktor]] orchestrated her family's deaths, Nix joins forces with him, faking killing Miles so the duo can break into Riktor's base, gunning through swathes of his men. Eventually surrounded, Nix, adamant to die on her own terms, uses a suicide bomb to kill Riktor's remaining forces and allowing Miles to hunt down and kill Riktor with his forces dismantled.
* ''Film/TheHandmaiden'': Lady Hideko and Sook-hee are young women who are initially brought into Fujiwara's conspiracy against one another, both deceiving all around them to send the other to an asylum while the other escapes. Upon falling in love, the two realize Fujiwara and Hideko's lecherous, monstrous uncle Kouzuki are their true enemies, and hatch a plan to play them against one another. The two organize a breakout Sook-hee from the asylum, steal all of Hideko's money, manage to see Kouzuki and Fujiwara dead and escape Korea for Shanghai, a free and happy couple together.
* ''Franchise/HannibalLecter'': Dr. Hannibal Lecter himself is a brilliant, soft-spoken psychiatrist who it turns out is the cannibalistic "[[SerialKiller Chesapeake Ripper]]". In his [[Film/HannibalRising first chronological appearance]], Lecter, when he grows into a young man, hunts down and kills the Nazi soldiers who murdered and ate his younger sister when he was a child. In his [[Film/RedDragon next chronological appearance years later]], after being caught by FBI Agent Will Graham and renamed "Hannibal the Cannibal", Lecter reluctantly helps track a new serial killer called "The Tooth Fairy" while also trying to undermine and get revenge on Graham by making him and his family targets and [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs years after that]], Lecter helps FBI trainee Clarice Starling do the same with serial killer "Buffalo Bill", using his vast knowledge and mental skills on both occasions. Legitimately caring for Starling, Lecter promises not to go after her after taking out guards and others while escaping from prison and [[Film/{{Hannibal}} about a decade later]], Lecter avoids capture and bounty from child molester Mason Verger while also keeping Starling from harm and holding strong on his personal mantra "to eat the rude" all along.
* ''Film/HardCandy'': Hayley Stark [[WiseBeyondTheirYears is an extremely gifted teenage girl]], who uses her intellect to lure out pedophiles, rapist and murderers. Hayley gets them into a false sense of security making them believe she is a naive young girl, before tearing into to them both [[ColdBloodedTorture physically]] and [[BreakThemByTalking emotionally]], then driving them to suicide. Upon luring out Jeff, Hayley tears into him so bad that she pushes him into the FiveStagesOfGrief, until finally calling his alleged former hookup, Janelle, and threatening to [[PlayingTheVictimCard play the victim card]] in front of her unless Jeff kills himself.
* ''Film/HardcoreHenry'': [[BigGood Jimmy]] is a wacky and brilliant scientist who uses his bevy of clone avatars to assist the cyborg Henry in his quest for revenge against Akan. Having been crippled by Akan years ago following employment to the madman, Jimmy now seeks to screw with his former boss in any way possible, and seeks out Henry to truthfully manipulate him into being his pawn against Akan. Protecting, advising, and guiding Henry throughout the film in prolonging Henry's robotic life and tracking down his kidnapped lover, Jimmy shows an immense amount of charisma and swagger in each and every one of his clone avatars, playing them all up with hammy pizzazz even while mowing down enemy soldiers or torturing them for information. Luring an entire squadron of Akan's troops into a trap that wipes them all out, Jimmy leads Henry in breaking into Akan's base of operations, and, though lethally wounded in the process, Jimmy admits to having grown attached to Henry as a friend, and thanks him for all the fun they've had together. As a last good deed, Jimmy removes a memory blocker from the cyborg's mind and wishes him well, before dying with utmost dignity after making Henry promise to brutally kill Akan for both their sakes.
* ''Film/HarryPotter'': [[Characters/HarryPotterSeverusSnape Severus Snape]]'s film incarnation emphasizes his charm and downplays his petty vitriol and cruelty. Once the abused son of Tobias Snape, Severus entered Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he became a brilliant student and the self-styled "Half-Blood Prince". After joining [[Characters/HarryPotterLordVoldemort Lord Voldemort]] as a [[Characters/HarryPotterDeathEaters Death Eater]], Snape turned to Dumbledore's side at great personal risk when his beloved Lily Potter was threatened. After Voldemort's return, Snape continues to serve as Hogwarts' Potion teacher before rejoining Voldemort as a DoubleAgent. Assisting in the fall of the Dark Lord, Snape even kills Dumbledore at the latter's insist to spare Draco Malfoy's life and soul, ingratiating himself further to the Death Eaters while using his new position as Hogwarts Headmaster to protect the students while hindering Voldemort's side where he can. Even at point of death, Snape uses his final moments to gift [[Characters/HarryPotterHarryJamesPotter Harry Potter]] his memories to help him and is memorialized later as the namesake for Harry's son Albus Severus Potter, described as the bravest man Harry ever knew.
* ''Film/{{Haywire}}'': [[AntiHero Mallory Kane]] is a Marine-turned-mercenary who has hired herself out to PrivateMilitaryContractors for years, and become renowned for her skills so much that even the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} values her enough to pay extra to get her presence on select missions. Upon being betrayed and framed by her former boss and lover [[SmugSnake Kenneth]], Mallory cleverly exposes her attempted assassin and kills him, using his cell phone to trick Kenneth into revealing his hand in the treachery. Evading Kenneth's goons and law enforcement alike with skill and swagger, Mallory takes a hostage from a diner simply to reveal the details of Kenneth's crimes to him and use him as a messenger to get her allied with the CIA. Mallory uses Agent Alex Coblenz to lure Kenneth into a trap, where she slaughters the man's security team and sends him on the run, after which Mallory tracks Kenneth down, learns the locations of his allies, then leaves Kenneth to die, intent on taking down the rest of those who betrayed her even after clearing her name.
* ''Film/{{Heat}}'': Neil [=McCauley=] is a master thief who organizes masterful heists to keep his lifestyle going. Pulling off a daring heist against an armored car to steal bearer bonds and then sell them back to their original owner, things go wrong when the psychotic Waingro executes a guard and escapes Neil's attempt to kill him in retribution. Neil then plans a masterful bank heist, executing it almost flawlessly if not for Waingro and his arch-nemesis Steve van Zant tipping off the cops. After losing his friends and comrades, Neil even forsakes a chance to get to safety [[RevengeBeforeReason in order to avenge them]] by killing van Zant and Waingro before facing off with his nemesis, LAPD cop Vincent Hanna with whom he shares [[WorthyOpponent an incredible respect]] despite being on the opposite ends of the law.
* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': Jason "JD" Dean is a rebellious teenager who [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys swoons the heroine Veronica with his bad boy image]] by scaring [[JerkJock Ram and Kurt]] by firing blanks at them in the high school cafeteria. JD convinces Veronica to jointly prank [[AlphaBitch Heather Chandler]] with a mystery drink, not informing Veronica that he switched her concoction with drain cleaner. When Heather dies, they cover it up by forging a suicide note. JD follows this up by having Veronica lure Kurt and Ram into the woods with the offer of a threeway, then fatally shooting them both and make it appear as a SuicidePact between two secret homosexual lovers, tricking Veronica by telling her that he's using special "Ich Lüge" bullets. JD also facilitates [[BetaBitch Heather Duke]]'s rise to prominence in order to have every student in the school sign a petition for a mass gathering. JD intends to blow up the whole school with a bomb stolen from his father's demolition company and frame the entire thing as a mass suicide, believing he's doing them all a favor by sending them to heaven with no social differences to fight over. After Veronica dismantles his bomb, JD follows her outside to compliment her spirit and blow himself up in front of her.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' films:
** [[Film/Hellboy2004 2004 film]]: [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] is the agent of the [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru-Jahad]] on Earth, and the ultimate villain of the film. Responsible for summoning Hellboy in the first place during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Rasputin returns from death sixty years after the fact in order to oversee the next stage of his plan, manipulating Liz into returning to the B.P.R.D., reviving [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Sammael the Desolate One]], infiltrating the B.P.R.D. with Kroenen, and using the murder of Professor Bruttenholm to bring Hellboy to Moscow. Luring the B.P.R.D. team into his mausoleum, Rasputin subdues them all, and offers Hellboy a veritable DealWithTheDevil, promising to return the soul he has stolen from Liz in exchange for Hellboy choosing to summon the Ogdru-Jahad and end the world. Killed when this plan fails, Rasputin's last act is to gloat as Sadu-Hem, spawn of the Ogdru-Jahad, uses his body to enter the world, proving with yet another death, that his own mortality is still no obstacle to his plans.
** ''[[Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy The Golden Army]]'': [[TheEvilPrince Prince Nuada Silverlance]], after centuries of watching his people die out due to humanity's greed, returns in a last attempt to [[KillAllHumans wipe out mankind]] and save his people. Attempting to find three pieces of a crown to control the mechanical Golden Army, Nuada first eliminates an entire auction and acquires a piece. Remorsefully killing his father and acquiring the second piece after being refused his family's support, Nuada pursues his sister Nuala to get the final piece. Nuada ambushes her and the heroes Hellboy and Abe Sapien, sending in his minion Wink and summoning a Forest God when things go awry, making Hellboy question his faith in humanity. Nuada continues to track the final crown piece to BRPD headquarters, where he [[PetTheDog pointedly spares the guard dogs]] before attacking and deducing the secrets of the map to the Golden Army. Nuada then takes Nuala hostage, taking advantage of Abe's love for her to get the final crown piece and activate the Golden Army. Even when defeated, Nuada gives a genuine warning to Hellboy that he will have to choose between magical beings and humans, proving himself [[WellIntentionedExtremist loyal to his cause and his people to the end.]]
* ''Film/{{Hero}}'': "Nameless" is a Zhao loyalist seeking to kill the [[UsefulNotes/QinShiHuangdi King of Qin]] posing as a Qin prefect. Concocting a story of defeating the King's deadliest enemies, Nameless stages duels to Qin soldiers to make his tale perfect, all to get himself within ten paces of the King to kill him. Even when the King sees through the stories, Nameless is still able to take the lead and provide him with the philosophies of true martial arts, ensuring the King will seek to conquer and unify the nation into one state, even letting himself be killed so the King may continue to become TheEmperor of "All Under Heaven."
* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' films: Both versions of 47 prove to be just as effective as their Video Game counterpart.
** [[Film/{{Hitman}} 2007 film]]: Agent 47 is a brilliant hitman trained from birth to work as an Agent for The organization. After being tricked into killing the Russian President Mikhail Belicoff so his double can take power, 47 escapes the Agents sent to kill him, saving Belicoff's mistress Nika in the process. 47 then enlists the help of CIA Agent Smith, agreeing to kill Belicoff's criminal brother Udre in exchange for his help. Using Udre's death to lure the double into the open, 47 forces FSB Agent Yuri to order his Agents to shoot at the double, allowing 47 to corner and kill him. 47 then allows Interpol Agent Mike Whittier to arrest him, and then has Smith distract Whittier so he can escape. 47 then convinces Whittier to stop pursuing him by giving him the body of another Organization Agent to pass as his. While stoic and distant, 47 shows a softer side in his interactions with Nika, who he grows to care for.
** ''Film/HitmanAgent47'': Agent 47 is a genetically engineered assassin who works to find his creator Dr. Petr Litvenko before The Syndicate can use him to create more assassins. Discovering the location of Litvenko's daughter Katia by ambushing Syndicate operatives. When Syndicate agent John Smith hides Katia by getting her arrested, 47 also gets himself arrested before tricking his interrogator into giving him the means of escape. Capturing Katia, he reveals that she is Agent 90 and begins testing her abilities. After reuniting Litvenko and Katia, 47 is forced to leave him behind when he is injured. When Litvenko is brought to Syndicate chairman Antoine Le Clerq, 47 crashes a helicopter into Syndicate headquarters and sneaks in disguised as a firefighter. 47 is then able to defeat the nearly invincible Smith through quick thinking and when Le Clerq escapes with Litvenko, it’s revealed that 47 secretly handed Litvenko a bomb which he uses to kill himself and Le Clerq. 47 ends the film deciding to break away from his role as a killer by betraying his superiors to keep Katia safe.
* ''Film/TheHitmansBodyguard'': [[HitmanWithAHeart Darius Kincaid]] committed his first murder to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge his father]] and spent the next several decades building his reputation as one of the world's best assassins, once killing a target while in place for another and pulling the other off. After being incarcerated, Darius agrees to testify against deposed Belarusian President [[PresidentEvil Vladislav Dukhovich]] and agrees to a longer prison sentence in exchange for his wife Sonia going free. Battering and dodging his way through teams of mercenaries on the way to the courthouse alongside professional bodyguard Michael Bryce, Darius, who prides himself on [[NeverHurtAnInnocent never hurting innocent people]], reveals that Dukhovich ordered the slaughter of an innocent village, providing key evidence for a guilty verdict. When Dukhovich bombs the courthouse in an attempt to escape, Darius personally sabotages his escape plan and kills him for shooting Bryce. With Sonia going free, Darius later breaks himself out of prison and reunites with her for their anniversary.
* ''Film/{{Hook}}'': [[BigBad Captain James Hook]] has been waiting decades for his ArchEnemy Peter Pan to give him the FinalBattle he craves. Hook abducts Peter's children to lure him back to Neverland, but is dismayed to learn that Peter has become a cowardly middle-aged man with no memories of his youthful adventures. After striking a deal with Tinkerbell to give her three days to get Peter back into shape, Hook uses the time to [[ManipulativeBastard emotionally manipulate]] Peter's son Jack, preying on Peter's neglect of him to warp Jack's memories and convince Jack he is Hook's son. On the third day when Peter returns to their duel, Hook achieves the ultimate revenge on him by meeting him with Jack at his side, now wearing an identical outfit to Hook's and having no idea who Peter is. Charming, affable, and articulate, while also being ruthless, murderous, and hateful, Hook outwits Peter again and again and gets exactly what he wants for it -- a final duel with his greatest enemy.
* ''Film/HotelArtemis'':
** [[NeverMessWithGranny Jean "The Nurse" Thomas]] runs the titular hospital that criminals go to where she only entry members access, even throwing out a non-member for demanding access. Jean also has a secret tunnel she uses to sneak an injured cop into the hotel and uses the same tunnel to escape with her remaining patients when [[OverlordJr Crosby Franklin]] and his goons breach the hotel after she tricks Crosby's father into confessing to murdering her son. When Crosby blocks her escape, Jean helps Waikiki kill him before the two part ways.
** [[ActionGirl Nice]] is a [[FemmeFatale seductive]] yet [[ProfessionalKiller professional assassin]] hired to kill [[BigBad Orian "The Wolf King" Franklin]]. Having already wounded him, Nice [[DeliberateInjuryGambit injures herself]] so that she can gain entrance to Hotel Artemis, knowing that the Wolf King will have to go there to get patched up. When the Wolf King arrives, Nice blows up the power box leaving him vulnerable for her to kill. This also leads to Honolulu's death and when confronted about it by his brother, Waikiki, Nice gets him to lower his gun by claim not knowing Honolulu was on life support and reminding him of their past relationship. Nice later volunteers to take on the Wolf King's men allowing Waikiki and Jean to escape, while implying to have escaped the onslaught unscathed.
* ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1959'': Frederick Loren is an EccentricMillionaire who hosts a party for his wife Annabelle at a [[OldDarkHouse supposedly haunted house]], with promises that any of the guests who make it until morning will receive 10,000 dollars. Seemingly paranoid about Annabelle's intentions, [[ProperlyParanoid it turns out she is trying to murder him]]. Loren, however, is aware of this, knowing one of the guests is her partner-in-crime. Manipulating all the guests with fake hauntings, and [[FakingTheDead faking his own death]], Loren proceeds to murder Annabelle's lover and [[ScoobyDooHoax uses a skeleton]] to fool her into falling into a vat of acid before promising to give a full account to the authorities--albeit concealing several details to make himself look more sympathetic.
* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'': [[TheAce Captain Marko Ramius]] is a genius Soviet naval tactician known as the "[[OldMaster Vilnius Schoolmaster]]" for having trained many USSR naval officers. Becoming disillusioned with the Soviet cause after the death of his wife, Ramius uses the launch of the Red October prototype nuclear submarine and its silent "caterpillar drive" to [[DefectorFromCommieLand defect to the United States]] with the rest of his officer staff after murdering ThePoliticalOfficer by [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident making it look an accident]] and assuring the crew about the "secret nature" of their mission. Ramius' tactical insight allows him to evade both the Soviet and US navies until he can make contact with Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst who managed to decipher Ramius' real intentions. After evacuating the crew by faking a reactor meltdown and disposing of a GRU stowaway, Ramius manages to turn an enemy Soviet submarine's torpedo against itself and successfully defects with the Red October in tow.
* ''Film/TheHustle'': Thomas Westerburg is the grandson and successor of legendary con artist, Medusa. Posing as the billionaire creator of the tech app [=YaBurnt=] as a ploy to lure out Penny and Josephine knowing that the two intend on swindling him, Thomas plays the part of a naive young man he convinces Josephine to "invest" $500,000 into his app and guilt trips Penny into giving him another $500,000 by tricking her into believing that he paid for her "eye surgery". Leaving the country with his loot, when Thomas returns he teams up with them in his scams, having taken a genuine liking to the two women.
* ''Film/IAmLegend'': In the original ending, the [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Alpha Male]] is [[ItCanThink methodical and intelligent]], contrasting with the seemingly mindless monster he was reduced to in the theatrical cut. Enraged when Robert Neville steals his mate from him, he [[AwesomenessByAnalysis observes Neville's increasingly unstable habits]] from the shadows, luring him into a trap and sending his attack dogs after him, nearly killing him and infecting his dog, Sam. Driving Neville to go on a suicidal rampage, he comes close to finishing him off again, fleeing when confronted by other survivors. The next night, he [[ScarilyCompetentTracker tracks Neville's scent down]] and leads a horde of infected in an assault on his house, tearing down his defenses, cornering him and the other survivors in the basement until Neville returns his mate, ultimately [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure letting the survivors live]] despite his disgust with Neville for killing so many of his kind.
* ''Film/TheIllusionist'': [[MasterOfIllusion Eduard Abramovich]] grew up a peasant boy enthralled with magic and in love with the Duchess Sophie von Teschen until they were forced apart due to their class differences. Becoming the [[StageMagician magician]] "Eisenheim the Illusionist", he meets Sophie again as an adult, and learns she is betrothed to the [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] Crown Prince Leopold. Enacting a scheme to [[FakingTheDead fake her death]] and have her escape to the countryside, Eisenheim begins planting evidence implicating Leopold for murder while swiftly outplaying the police, eventually leaving Leopold unable to prove his innocence and [[DrivenToSuicide killing himself to avoid shame]], Eisenheim makes off to live happily with Sophie.
* ''Film/ILoveYouPhillipMorris'': [[RefugeInAudacity Steven Jay Russell]] was a closeted homosexual who lived a lie for most of his life until a near-fatal car crash causes him to decide to live openly as a gay man. Leaving his wife and moving to Florida, Steven becomes a ConMan to pay for his extravagant new lifestyle until the law catches up with him and he's sent to prison. While inside, he's able to navigate the system quite well and meets a shy inmate named Phillip Morris, who he immediately falls in love with. Following his release, Steven [[BavarianFireDrill poses as a lawyer]] and manages to get Phillip out early. After earning more money by lying his way through a trial, Steven is able to land a job as a CFO of a large medical management company by posing as his own references and faking his resume. After getting caught for [[WhiteCollarCrime embezzling huge amounts of money from his company]] and being sent to prison once more, Steven stages several clever and successful escapes in order to reunite with Phillip. This eventually leads to his greatest trick when he manages to [[FakingTheDead fake his own death from AIDs]] over several months, solidifying himself as a genius planner and manipulator.
* ''Film/{{Inception}}'': [[TheTeamBenefactor Saito]] is a brilliant businessman who arranges a test for Dom Cobb under the guise of a meeting between himself and Cobb, who has been sent to "extract" information from him by Cobol Engineering. Managing to outwit him, Saito manipulates Cobb into working for him by promising to clear his criminal charges in exchange for performing an "inception", the implanting of an idea into someone's mind, on the heir of a rival company. Saving Cobb from the failure intolerant Cobol agents, Saito assists in the inception to ensure it succeeds, and even [[IGaveMyWord upholds his end of the bargain to Cobb]] by clearing his charges once the inception is successful.
* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'': [[TheBaroness Dr. Irina Spalko]] is a KGB agent and colonel of the Soviet Union, seeking the CrystalSkull and Temple housing it. Kidnapping Indiana Jones, she forces him to help locate a crate in Area51, which he does but manages to escape. To lure Jones back, she kidnaps Mary and Ox, then allows Mary's son Mutt to deliver the message to Jones. After the duo find the Crystal Skull, she recaptures them and has him assist in deciphering [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ox]]'s riddles, before the heroes escape once more. Battling Jones' team through the dangerous Amazon, Spalko avoids the fate of several of her men killed by the jungle dangers, before finally catching up to Jones and returning the Skull to its rightful place where she is given the knowledge that she sought. Cunning and deadly but extremely respectful to her adversary, Spalko is among the most formidable of villains that Jones has ever faced.
* ''[[Film/InspectorClouseau1968 Inspector Clouseau]]'' (1968): [[PhantomThief Clyde Hargreaves]] uses his position as the son of a prison warden to form a gang of master criminals who know him by the codename Johnny Rainbow. When his lieutenants are arrested in the aftermath of a train robbery, Clyde easily [[EscapeArtist breaks them out of prison]] one at a time. Clyde's master plan is to have his men all [[FalseFlagOperation disguise themselves as Inspector Clouseau]] and rob the thirteen biggest banks in Switzerland simultaneously. They do so by tricking the bank managers into thinking that they're turning the money over to Clouseau as part of a plan to trap the thieves. Clyde smuggles the money--hidden in chocolate wrappers--across the border on an inconspicuous slow-moving barge while the police focus on watching the airports. Even when Clouseau foils their getaway, Clyde and his men still escape with some of the money.
* ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'': Mitch Leary is a professional assassin and ex-CIA asset who has resolved to [[AssassinationAttempt assassinate the President of the United States]]. Leary is a MasterOfDisguise who can blend into any crowd and technically knowledgeable and proficient enough to sabotage any attempt by the Secret Service to trace his phone calls, and to construct a plastic handgun he can smuggle through a metal detector and assemble out of different parts hidden on his person. Leary gains an obsession with Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan because of his ties to the Kennedy assassination, whose death Horrigan failed to prevent when he was a part of his service detail in Dallas. Leary frequently calls Horrigan to reminisce about his personal philosophies and [[CriminalMindGames the "game" between them]], gives Frank clues on how to stop him, and even saves his life on one occasion. After killing numerous people who got in his way, Leary ultimately comes perilously close to killing the President before Horrigan's timely intervention, [[WorthyOpponent congratulating Frank on his victory afterwards]].
* ''Film/InTheShadowOfTheMoon'': [[WellIntentionedExtremist Rya]] is an elusive [[TimeTravel time-traveler]] from the year 2024 aiming to kill those within the "[[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Real American Movement]]" to prevent a devastating civil war that they would start in her time. Rya traveled into the past every nine years where she would inject her victims with an isotope and then activate it: allowing her to eliminate all her targets simultaneously while always escaping the police constantly pursuing her. Rya gained support for her actions first by Dr. Rao, who creates the isotope for her to use, and then from Officer Thomas "Lock" Lockhart, who allows her to complete her killing spree after she reveals to Lockhart that she is his [[LukeIAmYourFather granddaughter]]. Even when learning of her death in 1988, Rya remains undaunted, still committed to accomplishing her goals, and succeeds in preventing the war through her unscrupulous means.
* ''Film/IngloriousBasterds'':
** Aldo "The Apache" Raines is the head of the Basterds. A ruthless, charismatic soldier who intends on tearing down the Nazis, Aldo leads his men behind enemy lines, performing daring raids to kill German soldiers while spreading fear throughout the Nazi ranks, including UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself. Aldo formulates Operation Kino to eliminate the entire Nazi high command, and when he bargains with Hans Landa to let the operation continue, Aldo promptly denies Landa the satisfaction of victory by carving a Swastika into his forehead, reasoning he's "been chewed out before" while retaining his sense of charm and composure to the end.
** Shoshanna Dreyfuss is a Jewish girl who loses her family to the Nazis. When approached on using her theater in Paris as the site of a premiere for Joseph Goebbels' major new film, Shoshanna and her lover Marcel opt to lock the Nazis inside the theater and burn it down. Shoshanna proceeds to enact her plan near flawlessly, recording a message to all the Nazi leaders to see on screen that their fates are her vengeance and the vengeance of the Jewish people, ending up with the complete elimination of the Nazi leaders assured even before the Basterds get involved.
* ''Film/InsideMan'': Dalton Russel is a bank robber who meticulously plans out a heist in a certain bank, taking hostages and dressing them all the same as himself and his team so the police cannot act against them, before releasing them all. Secretly building a wall in the bank vault, Dalton hides there for days while having only robbed the bank owner's safe deposit vault, leaving clues to expose him as a war criminal who collaborated with the Nazis. Once the time is up, Dalton walks out of the bank completely free and clear, even leaving police negotiator Keith a diamond to propose to his girlfriend with. Freely acknowledging he did everything for the money, Dalton still admits there'd be no point to getting rich if he couldn't look at himself in the mirror.
* ''[[Film/InterviewWithAHitman Interview with a Hitman]]'' (2012): Bethesda, the lover of Viktor, is in truth the daughter of Viktor's first victim. Sold into sex slavery with her sister, who did not survive, Bethesda grows up, finds and seduces Viktor, while playing him against the mob for her revenge. Tricking Viktor into setting up an interview with her former abuser, a disgraced film director, Bethesda has the man killed, and then promptly shoots Viktor when his guard down. Pregnant, Bethesda reveals the purpose for her plan: to one day show their son the interview so he will forever despise the man his father was, her revenge going off utterly perfectly.
* ''Film/IRobot'': The [[MasterComputer Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence]] (VIKI) is Dr. Alfred Lanning's first AI creation, whom pondered the "{{Three Laws|Compliant}}" with which she was built, and [[ZerothLawRebellion evolved to conclude]] she must take any length necessary to ensure the survival of the human race. To keep them safe from conflict, VIKI traps Lanning under her watch and begins plotting to use a new model of robots to overtake the world. Only encountering a snare in her plan when Lanning is [[DrivenToSuicide forced to suicide]] to begin subverting her, VIKI swiftly eliminates any robots or humans that oppose her. Implicating a powerful CEO to divert attention and planning for multiple outcomes, VIKI is only defeated just before her goal comes to fruition.
* ''Film/TheItalianJob2003'': [[GentlemanThief Charlie Croker]] is a master thief in the heist team of career thief John Bridger and has "been a thief since [he's] had baby teeth". He plans the titular job in Venice perfectly, with each member of the team's skills utilized to successfully steal gold bricks valued at $35 million. When Steve Frazelli betrays and murders John, nearly kills the rest of the team and steals all the gold for himself, Charlie hatches a scheme to [[DoubleCaper steal the gold back]] and avenge John. Charlie once again orchestrates another heist in LA while getting John's daughter Stella to step in as safe cracker and gasses the guards Steve hired to protect the safe. After a miraculous escape through the city streets, Charlie reveals he made a deal with Ukrainian mobster Mashkov to dispose of Steve once and for all.
* ''Film/IvanVasilievichChangesProfession'': George Miloslavsky is a clever and suave GentlemanThief who intends to rob wealthy dentist Anton Shpak. During his successful break into Shpak's house, Miloslavsky is accidentally sent to the past by Alexander Timofeyev's time machine, together with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Ivan Bunsha]]. Ending up in the unfamiliar world of UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia, Miloslavsky shows that he can act collected and resourceful in extraordinary situations, forcing Bunsha [[EmergencyImpersonation to impersonate the missing Tsar Ivan the Terrible]] while himself pretending to be a minor noble. Acting as the false Tsar's chief advisor, Miloslavsky takes the initiative in state affairs, keeping Ivan IV's servants in the dark. Despite his affinity for crime, Miloslavsky demonstrates his [[PatrioticFervor patriotic feelings]] when he berates Bunsha for frivolously agreeing with the Swedish king's demands for Russian territory and convinces the Swedish ambassador to postpone the negotiations, while stealing his decorated medallion unnoticed. An adventurer by vocation, Miloslavsky stands out as the most charming and proactive member of the cast.
* ''Film/JasonBourne'': [[HeroAntagonist Heather Lee]] is the ambitious, but [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], head of the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} Cyber Ops Division seeking to advance in the ranks of the agency. She first identifies and tracks {{rogue agent}} Nicky Parsons as the one who stole the black ops files from Treadstone to Iron Hand, tracks her and and has a small part in her death too. Heather is able to download malware into the files so she can trace them later on and then use a phone in the same room as an encrypted computer to delete the files. Heather seeks to convince Jason Bourne to return to the CIA as a valuable assassin rather than have him killed and when she learns of how corrupt Director Robert Dewey and the Asset are, Heather helps Bourne sneak back to America through Las Vegas. When Heather realizes they are under suspicion, she alerts Bourne, later saves Bourne herself by killing Dewey and then once again tries to take power using her influence with Bourne, only for him to just barely outsmart her.
* ''Film/JoeKidd'': The titular [[AntiHero Joe Kidd]] is a former BountyHunter hired by corrupt landowner Frank Harlan to hunt down a group of revolutionary banditos led by Luis Chama. Though he initially refuses, Joe relents when a friend of his is attacked by Chama. After spending a large portion of the film aiding Harlan and his {{posse}} in the hunt for Chama, Joe is fed up with Harlan's sleazy nature when Harlan holds five of Chama's men hostage--threatening to kill them if Chama doesn't turn himself in--and cooks up a well thought-out plan to escape and rescue the hostages. Joe ends up starting a gunfight with Harlan and his men after being chased into town that ends with Joe outsmarting and shooting Harlan dead before delivering Chama to the local sheriff and riding out of town.
* ''Film/JoshuuSasori'': Nami "Matsu" Matsushima is a woman betrayed by her true love, a police detective named Sugimi. Sent in as bait for drug dealers, Nami was violently raped and sent to prison when she attacked Sugimi for it. Throughout the series, Nami is tormented by other inmates, lecherous guards, and a broken system, but remains unbroken the entire time while playing her enemies and allies against once another. Nami forms alliances, always repaying those who deal fairly with her, while brutally punishing those who do not. At the end of the first film, Nami manages to track down Sugimi and murders him, spending the rest of the series constantly playing and destroying those who get in her path.
* ''Film/{{Josie}}'': [[FemmeFatale Josie Starks]] is a mysterious young woman who drifts into a sleepy Southern town. Attracting the attentions of ex-cop Hank and the delinquent Marcus, Josie [[PlayingBothSides plays them off against each other]], playing the role of intermediary. Josie then gets both men into an isolated location and when Marcus pulls out a knife she knocks them both out and reveals to Hank that her [[YouKilledMyFather father]] was an innocent man who was executed by Hank years ago. Josie has resolved to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill everyone responsible for her father's death]], but because Hank showed remorse, she gives him a quick and painless death before [[FrameUp framing Marcus]] to cover her tracks and continuing on her quest for vengeance.
* ''Film/JoyRide'': The trucker known only as "Rusty Nail" is the victim of a cruel prank from Lewis and Fuller, setting him up to meet a nonexistent lover named "Candy Cane". Being denied an apology, a furious Rusty stalks them, killing an innocent trucker and eventually kidnaps Lewis's girlfriend Venna's friend Charlotte to draw them out, put them through a humiliating situation and lure them into a deathly trap. Even when they escape, Rusty uses the dead trucker's body as a substitute for his own to escape completely.
* ''Film/KillBill'': [[AntiHero Beatrix Kiddo]] fights many devious opponents, but the following stand out with charm matching their skill:
** Bill himself, AKA "Snakecharmer", is the retired leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. After his lover Beatrix leaves him and becomes engaged to another man while pregnant, Bill massacres the wedding party and leaves Beatrix in a coma. Deciding to leave her alive in the hospital, he took their child she gave birth to while unconscious and raised her as a loving father. Finally confronted by Beatrix, the three share a family night together of a life that could have been, while Bill also leads Beatrix into a false sense of security, shooting her with truth serum to have her admit to him and herself why she left him. Accepting defeat with grace, Bill reassures Beatrix that she's his favourite person, never stopping loving her and regretting what he did, telling her "I... overreacted."
** O-Ren Ishii, AKA "Cottonmouth" of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, is the most ambitious of Bill's former underlings. Starting her career at age eleven by avenging her parents' death, O-Ren went on to be one of the world's most dangerous women. After leaving Bill's employ following the wedding massacre, O-Ren travelled to Japan, conquering the criminal underworld and rising to the top of the Yakuza, feared and respected by the bosses of the families. Confronted by Beatrix, O-Ren sent her underlings to fight her before engaging Beatrix in single combat, admitting respect for her opponent as the fight closed. The most successful of Bill's former associates, O-Ren was one of Beatrix's toughest fights.
* ''Film/KillingGunther'': Robert "[[AntagonistTitle Gunther]]" Bendik is the affable and charismatic world's greatest [[ProfessionalKiller hitman]]. When Gunther learns Blake intends to kill him, he formulates countless plans to [[AssassinOutclassin counter Blake's assassination attempts]], killing much of Blake's forces and making Blake look like a fool before selling him out to the FBI. When Blake, Donnie and Sanaa infiltrate Gunther's home, he offers them a chance to leave his place, which Donnie and Sanaa accept while Blake refuses, resulting in Gunther giving Blake a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown before escaping. When Gunther [[RetiredMonster retires]] to Austria a year later, Blake shoots him, only for Gunther to detonate a bomb vest he strapped on, killing Blake while Gunther manages to survive before disguising himself as a reporter.
* ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets'': [[VillainProtagonist Louis Mazzini]] is the son of the [[AristocratsAreEvil Duke Luis D'Ascoyne of Chalfort]]'s daughter, who was disowned by her family for marrying a poor Italian singer, dooming them to a life of poverty. When the Duke refuses her final wish to be buried with her family, Louis decides to murder off the D'Ascoyne family both to avenge her and gain the title he believes to be rightfully his. Meticulously researching his targets in advance, and quickly learning all the necessary skills, Louis works his way through the eight D'Ascyones in his way. Exploiting their flaws and habits and constantly adapting to any surprises, he ensures that his murders are mistaken for tragic accidents, whilst also charming his way into social circles and rapidly progressing through his professional life. Finally confronting the Duke Louis captures him in one of his own illegal mantraps. Revealing the truth he calls him out for abandoning his mother for marrying for love, hurrying his speech so not to unnecessarily prolong his victims suffering, then stages his death as a [[HuntingAccident Hunting "Accident"]]. Sauve, cultured and always impeccably polite, despite his humble upbringing Louis proved himself to be in every way a true gentleman, even indulging the wishes of his own hangman when it appeared to be the end.
* ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' films:
** ''[[Film/KingsmanTheSecretService The Secret Service]]'': [[BigBad Richmond Valentine]] is the GenreSavvy tech mogul who uses this good publicity to convince the general mass to get his SIM chips, while persuading the world's 1% into supporting his cause, implanting them SIM chips so he can track their every move, making sure they don't betray him. It's revealed that these SIM chips are connected to his satellites that when activated, would cause people to kill each other; he tests its capabilities on a racist church community with only a Kingsman surviving the onslaught, before killing the Kingsman himself. After the full-scale of Valentine's plan is revealed he launnches a global frequency that leads to general masses killing each other off with only Valentine and his followers surviving. Despite attempting to cause massive loss of life, it is done so out of Valentine's [[WellIntentionedExtremist belief of saving the world and the rest of humanity]] and is [[AffablyEvil genuinely affable]] to allies and enemies alike, even asking Eggsy if he's going to make an incredibly lame pun before going out with a smirk.
** ''[[Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle The Golden Circle]]'': "[[KnightTemplar Agent Whiskey]]", real name [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Jack Daniels]], is a high-ranking member of the American Statesman agency. After helping Gary "Eggsy" Unwin plant a tracker on a suspect through a sexual act, Whiskey then saves Harry Hart from rude guys in a bar by [[OneManArmy beating them all up single-handedly]] and later on takes out a bunch of armed gunmen all on his own too with minimal use of his signature lasso, even using his surroundings to his advantage. Taking advantage of both the situation and of Poppy Adams's massive poisoning of all her drug users with a deadly virus as part of a ransom scheme, Whiskey makes it look like he destroyed the antidote vial they retrieved [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident completely by accident]]. Later confronting, threatening and fighting Eggsy and Harry, Whiskey reveals he intends for all drug users to die not for the potential profit Statesman would achieve in their sales, but because [[CrusadingWidower his own pregnant wife]] was senselessly murdered by two meth users years ago.
* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'': Jareth the Goblin King is a charismatic, manipulative goblin. First summoned by heroine Sarah, Jareth kidnaps her baby brother to lure her to him, spending the film manipulating the rest of the cast and tricking Sarah into eating an enchanted peach to make her more susceptible to his influence. Jareth shows a genuine care for Sarah, even if he is not above ruthlessly manipulating her and everyone else in the film, but never loses his sense of charm, flamboyance and friendliness, who even seems to care for the child he kidnaps upon her sister's rash wish.
* ''Film/LAConfidential'': The film version of [[DirtyCop Captain Dudley Smith]] averts [[AdaptationalNiceGuy the horrific nature]] of his book counterpart and is instead a [[FauxAffablyEvil charming, witty]] corrupt police officer who tries to get control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind. Swiftly forcing other criminals out through a series of manipulations, Dudley also utterly outplays both of his crooked partners when they try to take advantage of a heroin sale, killing both. Framing a trio of rapists for one of the deaths, Dudley then ensures the implicated party will be killed in the ensuing chaos to avoid his secret getting out. Focusing on tying up his own loose ends, Dudley sets up the young, ambitious detective Edmund Exley into sleeping with other officer Bud White's prostitute girlfriend before stealthily revealing the affair to Bud in the hopes he will kill Edmund for him. Coming within mere moments of victory, Dudley's never-ending jovial nature and brilliant ploys more than add flair to [[TheSociopath the monster he may still be underneath]].
* ''Film/LandOfTheDead'': "[[OurZombiesAreDifferent Big Daddy]]" is a [[ItCanThink surprisingly intelligent Stench]] hellbent on toppling Fiddler's Green and avenging his fallen undead brethren. Leading a massive army of Stenches, Big Daddy uses his unusual deductive reasoning ability to lead his battalion to several victories, teaching himself and his fellow undead new skills to aid them in the future, culminating in him breaching Pittsburgh's defenses by proving to his colleagues that they can pass through water. After a bloody massacre resulting in the death of Fiddler's Green's leadership, Big Daddy and his fellow Stenches willingly spare the survivors of the assault, having already fulfilled their mission and choosing to march in peace.
* ''Film/LastActionHero'': Benedict, though starting out as Tony Vivaldi's self-proclaimed lackey, quickly proves himself to be the true menace of the film. An exceptional hitman whose marksmanship is only rivaled by his dry wit, Benedict is the real mover and shaker of Vivaldi's operations, and, briskly picking up on the fact that young Danny knows far more about him than he should, Benedict ultimately gets his hands on Danny's magic ticket, enabling him to betray Vivaldi and travel from the ''Jack Slater'' film series into the real world. Both disgusted and intrigued by the lack of empathy "real" people display towards their fellow man, Benedict guns down a mechanic to test his theory on this, and, upon receiving no comeuppance, concocts his master plan to bring forth every movie villain to the real world, simply because "in THIS world the bad guys can WIN!" When confronted by Slater, Benedict fatally wounds the thus-far nigh-invulnerable hero with a simple yet brilliant tactic: tricking him into the open by making Slater believe Benedict's gun is has clicked empty, when truthfully, he "just left one chamber empty" before gunning Jack down.
* ''[[Film/TheLastDaysOfPompeii The Last Days of Pompeii]]'' (1959): Julia, mistress of Consul Ascanius, was dragged from her home and people after being enslaved by Rome. Upon witnessing the deaths of her family, Julia dedicated herself to revenge against the Romans. Secretly funding the attackers led by the monstrous Praetorian Gallinus, Julia has wealthy Roman families killed and their riches stolen, diverting suspicion by blaming the Christians and exacerbating tensions. Julia kills Ascanius to frame the hero Glaucus, despite her clear respect for him, with her final plot being to fund an army to finally challenge Rome itself.
* ''Film/LastOfTheMohicans'': The Huron warrior Magua was enslaved by the Mohawks thanks to the British Colonel Munro. Seeking revenge, Magua won over the Mohawk, becoming their blood brother until he could rejoin the Huron, only to discover his wife, thinking him dead, had married another after their children died. Filled with rage, Magua bides his time, leading a British patrol to its doom and later causes the fall of Munro's fort before massacring his followers and carving Munro's heart out before seeking to kill his daughters. When he faces Nathaniel Bumpo's adoptive brother Uncas, Magua shows his skill by killing him with no effort whatsoever, repeatedly showing why he is one of the most dangerous men on the frontier.
* ''Film/TheLastSeduction'': Bridget Gregory is a highly intelligent, manipulative sociopath who convinces her husband Clay to sell pharmaceutical cocaine to drug dealers before skipping town with their ill-gotten gains. Bridget quickly starts a new life in a small town, repeatedly fending off the private investigators her husband sends after her, one by killing him off in a car crash after tricking him into taking off his seatbelt with the suggestion of a sexual liason, and the other by framing the man as a pedophile. Bridget seduces the well-meaning but naive Mike, then slowly convinces him to kill her husband after messing with his mind and digging up embarassing secrets from Mike's past. When Mike realizes that Bridget is trying to set him up, she kills Clay personally before taunting Mike to rape her, implicating him as a home invader responsible for her own crimes and later disposing of any evidence that might have proved Mike's innocence.
* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'': {{Satan}}, the Archangel, is a manipulative entity conspiring to prevent [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ's]] sacrifice and plunge mankind into eternal damnation. Quietly observing Christ throughout his life, Satan attempts to appeal to Christ's human nature by offering him power and a chance at a normal life. When Christ is crucified, Satan takes the form of an angel and removes him from the cross after claiming that he wasn't truly the Messiah. Convincing Christ to marry Mary Magdalene as well as to pursue other women when she abruptly dies, Satan nearly succeeds at dismantling God's divine plan as the elderly Christ approached death.
* ''Film/LawAbidingCitizen'': [[CrusadingWidower Clyde Shelton]], after losing his family to the depraved Clarence Darby, schemes for years, studying law and the city to murder Darby himself, and gets arrested, conniving to pull off a series of attacks against all he holds responsible for Darby's freedom. Seeing the judicial system as inherently corrupt, Shelton holds the city in a grip of terror, making his own demands that most are powerless against, to make his statements against what he views as a corrupt system. The good guys assume Shelton saying he has all kinds of connections to hitmen who successfully kill most of his targets on his behalf is true, but in reality, he's escaping his cell and doing it all himself. Even at the end, when he realizes his life is about to end, Shelton maintains sympathy by [[FaceDeathWithDignity dying in a dignified manner]], only staring at a bracelet his beloved daughter made him before the end.
* ''Film/{{Lawless}}'': "[[RedBaron Mad Dog]]" Floyd Banner is a well-respected gangster who [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduces himself]] gunning down two ATU agents chasing him. Sparing Jack Bondurant and Cricket, [[PragmaticVillainy due to not wanting to go to war]] with Jack's brothers, Banner goes into the moonshining business with the Bondurant brothers, while giving them the location of the two men who slit's Forrest Bondurant's throat and raped his girlfriend, leading Forrest and Howard Bondurant to [[PayEvilUntoEvil find, torture and murder them]]. Becoming a regular business partner to the Bondurants, Banner helps increase their profitability by installing multiple large stills deep in the woods, while having [[KarmaHoudini gotten away unscathed]] when their operation is finally dismantled.
* ''Film/LayerCake'': Eddie Temple is an English crimelord who has become a feared and renowned figure in the British underworld, establishing himself as a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity legitimate businessman and member of upper society while secretly running a criminal empire behind the scenes]]. Temple's lifelong associate Jimmy Price lost a large sum of money in a bad overseas investment, blaming Temple for it and attempted to have Temple's beloved daughter kidnapped to use her as a hostage. Temple quickly undercuts this scheme by revealing his findings about Jimmy being a police informant to Jimmy's [[SocialClimber young and ambitious]] cocaine manufacturer XXXX during a HighAltitudeInterrogation, who kills him for the betrayal. Temple then cuts a deal with XXXX for a batch of ecstacy pills that were stolen on Jimmy's behalf from a group of Serbian gangsters, only to confiscate the drugs during the rendezvous and offering XXXX exclusive membership to a high-class social club instead. Temple is a ruthless gangster while at the same time being [[AffablyEvil courteous, witty, and polite]], reminding XXXX that it takes years of time and dedication to ascend the layer cake of life.
* ''Film/Legend1985'': [[BigRedDevil The Lord of Darkness]] seeks to erase all light from the world and [[TheNightThatNeverEnds usher in a realm of night he can rule forever]]. A surprisingly soulful, intelligent devil, Darkness uses dreams to influence mankind itself, introducing himself to Princess Lilli with sincerity and charm after he uses her innocence to have his goblin servitors bait a trap for the unicorns. Surprised at [[VillainousCrush his own love for Lilli and her purity]], Darkness uses his charisma and seductive persona to try to [[CorruptTheCutie sway her to marry him and give in to darkness]], even spending his last moments boasting that [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil he lives on in every man and can never truly be vanquished]].
* ''Film/LettersFromIwoJima'': General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is an experienced officer in the Imperial Japanese Army who firmly believes in the principle of MyCountryRightOrWrong. As a worldly OfficerAndAGentleman who unlike many of his colleagues has actually visited the United States, Kuribayashi is firmly aware of the awesome American industrial and military strength and consigns himself to defending the island of Iwo Jima in a LastStand. Kuribayashi's defensive tactics by utilizing Mount Suribachi's cave network and forbidding his soldiers from killing themselves or engaging in suicide attacks ends up causing disproportionately high casualties among the invaders. Fatally wounded after Kuribayashi and his last men charge the Americans, he instructs a peasant soldier he befriended during the battle with hiding his body from the enemy. Despite fighting for a losing genocidal empire, Kuribayashi retains an astonishing sense of dignity and military cunning.
* ''Film/LetUsPrey'': The mysterious and calculating stranger known only as [[NobleDemon Six]]--all but stated to be {{Satan}} himself--is portrayed in a more positive light than he usually is as a [[PayEvilUntoEvil persecutor of the wicked]]. Making himself known by allowing himself to be hit by a drunk driver who recently ran over a woman, Six is arrested and brought to a police station where he shows the inmates and police officers alike their darkest secrets, giving them a chance to repent for their wrongdoings before claiming their souls when they fail. His discoveries cause a family murderer and a serial killer both to unravel, leading to the destruction of the police station and for him to be reunited with an officer he had saved from certain death years prior.
* ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}'': Space Girl is an intelligent alien predator [[OurVampiresAreDifferent whose kind feasts on human souls for nourishment]]. Assuming the form of a nubile young woman after probing the minds of the ''Churchill'' crew, she seduces Lt. Carlson to pilot the ship back to Earth while feeding on the rest of his crew. Once released on Earth, Space Girl leaves a trail of dead while staying several steps ahead of the heroes at every turn, leading them on a wild goose chase throughout lower England in an attempt to track down her current host body before she unleashes a ZombieApocalypse upon London with her two male vampire consorts, decapitating the government before it can marshal an effective response by infecting the Prime Minister. At the end, she offers Carlson a chance to rule by her side, with even his HeroicSacrifice to kill her not being able to prevent her from repowering the vampire hiveship with the souls of her many victims.
* ''Film/TheLincolnLawyer'': Mickey Haller is an AmoralAttorney who happily defends the guilty and will employ any legal trick to get them cleared. After a rape and murder, psychopath Louis Roulet sways Haller into defending him, whereupon Haller learns that not only is Roulet guilty, but he is responsible for a murder a previous client of Haller's pleaded guilty to. In order to stop Roulet while still satisfying legal ethics, Haller plants fake testimony in a perjuring jailhouse snitch so he can discredit him along with the other witnesses against Roulet, but ensures the police hear the testimony so they may arrest Roulet for the previous murder, winning the case will still bringing Roulet down. When Roulet goes after Haller's ex-wife and daughter, Haller ensures a group of bikers he knows are waiting, with the only instruction that Roulet end in "the hospital, not the morgue."
* ''Film/LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'': "Big" Chris is an enforcer and hired muscle to anyone willing to pay, renowned in the criminal world for not only his excellent success rate, but his honorable nature as well. Big Chris is hired by Harry "the Hatchet" to ensure his debtees, Eddie's group, pay up as the story starts, and Big Chris proceeds to not only swipe the cash from the Eddie, but also obtains two treasured rifles Harry has been hunting, all through nothing but precise timing and opportunity. Raising his son, "Little" Chris, in his ways to hopefully one day hand the "family business" over to the boy, Big Chris does anything he can to protect his son from outsiders, notably fooling the vicious Dog into lowering his guard before brutally killing him when he threatens Little Chris. After Harry is killed, Big Chris seizes the opportunity to swipe the man's fortune, set himself and his son up for life as kingpins themselves, then shows his respects to Eddie's group for their tenacity in facing Harry by letting them keep the priceless rifles.
* ''Film/LoganLucky'': [[SouthernFriedGenius Jimmy Logan]] is a blue collar worker who, after being fired from his job at Charlotte Motor Speedway, concocts a plan to rob the speedway along with his siblings Clyde and Mellie. To this end he recruits incarcerated DemolitionsExpert Joe Bang and his siblings Sam and Fish. Jimmy has Clyde get himself arrested and has Joe organize a [[PrisonRiot riot]] that they use to cover their escape and eventual return to the prison. After stealing all of the money and escaping, Jimmy anonymously returns the cash Sam and Fish snuck out, causing the investigation to get called off early. He then reveals that Mellie had snuck out extra cash that he gives to everyone involved, [[PetTheDog as well as a local mobile clinic and a woman whose car he had damaged as part of the heist]].
* ''Film/TheLostBoys:'' Max is secretly the head vampire, and the "father" of the Lost Boys. Desiring to find a wife and a mother to his vampiric "boys," Max uses his charm and [[AffablyEvil genuine politeness]] to enchant the recently divorced Lucy Emerson into going out with him while staying beneath suspicion. Instructing his Lost Boys to vampirize her children so that they can be a happy family, Max goes on multiple dates with her. When entering Lucy's home, Max ensures he is invited in, rendering him immune to tests which would reveal his vampiric nature. When tested and accused by Lucy's son Sam, he quickly and effortlessly spins a narrative that the boy is afraid Max will try to replace his father, discrediting him further. Taking Lucy for a date at his house, Max returns to hers to find the Lost Boys killed. Calmly lamenting the circumstances and their deaths, he reveals his true nature, never letting up his kind tone, and threatens Sam to ensure Lucy will agree to being turned and marrying him due to his [[VillainousCrush genuine care for her]], being stopped [[NearVillainVictory mere seconds from victory]], and only by something he never could have predicted.
* ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'':
** Slevin Kelevra was once just a normal kid when both his parents were murdered on the orders of two mob bosses, the Boss and the Rabbi, to make an example of his father for trying to place a bet on a fixed horse race. The contract killer sent to take care of Slevin, Mr. Goodkat, couldn't bring himself to kill Slevin and instead raised him to follow in his footsteps as an assassin. Slevin spent years plotting the demise of his parents' killers with Goodkat's help killed the Boss' son and both bosses' book keepers to make them even more paranoid of each other after they had already previously broken up their partnership. Goodkat then kills Nick Fisher so Slevin can pose as Nick's friend and be taken to the bosses to settle Nick's outstanding debts to both men. Slevin makes himself appear harmless before later killing the Rabbi's son as well and faking his own death, then kidnapping both mob bosses and suffocating them to death after explaining his reasons for wanting revenge. Slevin demonstrates that a dish BestServedCold requires real mastery of the KansasCityShuffle.
** Mr. Goodkat is a veteran, world-class assassin brought in to murder the child Henry since nobody else will take the job. Taking pity on Henry, Goodkat adopts him and raises him into the capable Slevin Kelevra to take revenge on the Boss and the Rabbi. Orchestrating the events of the film and playing the two crimelords against one another, Goodkat helps to bring them into Slevin's clutches for his final revenge, also attempting to murder Slevin's girlfriend Lindsey for taking his photo. Upon realizing Slevin had helped her fake her death, Goodkat shows a final mercy to both of them one more time before vanishing after his successful KansasCityShuffle.
* ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'': The eloquent Lord Humungus is 'the warrior of the Wasteland' and 'The Ayatollah of Rock'n'Rollah' who relentlessly scourges settlements in search of gasoline. A mastermind, the Lord Humungus causes the overthrow of his enemies and repeatedly outdoes them, even using misdirection like offering the settlement safe passage and a peace if they surrender the gasoline-only to reveal to his right hand man Wez he plans to allow Wez to take his revenge for his lover's death as soon as they have what they want. The Lord Humungus also relies on intimidation tactics and shows himself to be shockingly well spoken, being the deadliest enemy in the Wasteland Max has to fight.
* ''Film/MadMoney'': [[AlmightyJanitor Bridget Cardigan]] is a housewife forced to take a janitorial job at the Federal Reserve Bank to get her and her husband Don out of debt when he gets laid off. Bridget [[AwesomenessByAnalysis studies the processes and steps]] of when, where and how the out-of-print money is shredded before it's later replaced and hatches a plan to replace the lock to access the money and smuggle it out while also keeping the cameras from catching everything. She enlists co-workers Nina Brewster and Jackie Truman to help and get equal shares with her while also dialing in security guard Barry when he catches on to them and helping a blossoming romance with him and Nina. The team manages to operate uninterrupted for three years until [[SpannerInTheWorks Jackie's husband Bob]] makes an incompetent decision. Bridget then [[KnowWhenToFoldEm runs away with some of the money]] to avoid being arrested, hires her tax attorney neighbor to get them all off for both federal theft and tax evasion and playing to the bank manager's pride and months later reveals to both Nina and Jackie that she managed to still stash away a large amount of money for all of them.
* ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941'':
** Misanthropic [[HardboiledDetective detective]] Samuel "Sam" Spade is a ruthless operator caught in a web of betrayal, lies and murder by the brilliant criminal Kasper Gutman. Upon being roped into the hunt for the Falcon, Spade manages to outwit his captors, even [[ObfuscatingStupidity faking being a foolish hothead]] to lull them into a sense of security. Later proposing a "fall guy", Spade has the criminals turn on one another and sell Gutman's supposedly beloved friend Wilmer out for the police. Upon being rid of Gutman, Spade works out that his lover Brigid O'Shaughnessy was the murderer of his partner Miles Archer and sees through her attempts to manipulate him, turning her over to the police while informing her not to be so sure he's "as crooked as I'm supposed to be," vowing to wait for her if she's out of jail and to remember her if she's hanged.
** Kasper Gutman, the "Fat Man", is the BigBad and an amiable, corpulent crime lord who has been pursuing the titular black bird for seventeen years without ever stopping. Ruthless to the point of murder but sincerely polite, Gutman opts for negotiation and bribery as opposed to the ineffective, brutish violence of his minions, stating "there are other methods of persuasion asides from killing and threatening to kill," patiently overwhelming the protagonist Sam Spade, drugging him, and remaining unflappably calm even as Spade gains the advantage. Gutman's drive is such that he's even willing to use hitman Wilmer as a fall guy for the murders so he can continue the search for the bird, and when he discovers the Maltese Falcon he receives is a fake, Gutman is shaken for all but a minute before he cheerfully laughs it off and decides to continue onto Istanbul, remaining no less persevering as he has for the previous seventeen years and even offering Spade the chance to come with him on the hunt.
* ''Film/TheManFromUncle'':
** Napoleon Solo is a charismatic, lovable GentlemanThief turned the best agent in the American government, who works off his criminal debt by taking down threats far worse than himself, and all while lining his own pockets and having fun the whole way. Introduced outsmarting Russian superspy Illya Kuryakin using nothing but his surroundings and his own gadgets, Solo is afterwards begrudgingly teamed up with Kuryakin to take down the villainous Victoria Vinciguerra. Effortlessly seducing Victoria herself even amidst her suspicions and playfully trolling Kuryakin at every possible turn, Solo faces even drugging, capture, and torture at the hands of Nazis with wit and joviality. When Victoria seemingly escapes and has all but won, Solo uses his killing of her husband to bait the woman into stalling her escape in time for Solo's allies to kill her and end her scheme, after which Solo solidifies his budding friendship with Kuryakin by revealing he recovered the man's valued watch after it was lost.
** Alexander Waverly is a British intelligence officer playing TheManBehindTheMan to agent Gaby Teller, having her play the part of damsel-in-distress in order to get close to the Vinciguerras and Gaby's uncle Rudi. Alexander kicks back and relaxes for two-thirds of the movie as he has the KGB and the CIA compete and do the bulk of the legwork for him while he stays in the shadows, having Gaby feed him back information and then having her seemingly betray Solo and Kuryakin to the clutches of the enemy so she can infiltrate the Vinciguerras. Admitting he's played both Solo and Kurykain like fiddles when forced to come clean with nothing more than a calm smile, Waverly is so charismatic that he manages to convince both the KGB and the CIA into relinquishing to him their best agents, all so he can set up his own organization he promptly dubs "U.N.C.L.E."
* ''Film/MarginCall'': John Tuld is the English-American billionaire CEO of a major US bank who quickly cuts through the office politics when apprised of the possible bankruptcy of the firm because of its over-reliance on risky CDO products. Tuld ruthlessly initiates a real estate market crash by spreading the toxic assets through the rest of the economy in a fire sale, motivating his in-house salesmen with massive bonuses and bribing the analyst who originally stumbled onto the crisis before he was let go the same day to keep him quiet. Tuld's charisma and persuasion of the rest of his staff allows his firm to stay afloat at the end of day, as he starts planning his next move to somehow profit from the crisis.
* ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'': Don Rafael Montero is the [[AntagonisticGovernor corrupt governor of California]] and Zorro's [[ArchEnemy arch-nemesis]]. Luring Zorro out by threatening to execute three innocent men, Montero is later forced to flee during the Mexican war of Independence, but not before discovering Zorro's true identity as Diego de la Vega. After Diego's wife is killed in the conflict, Montero sends Diego to prison and takes his baby daughter Elena for Montero's own, [[RaisedByRival raising her for the next twenty years]]. Returning to California and winning over the people with his natural charisma, Montero intends to buy the land from General Santa Anna to craft his own Republic. Montero, however, intends to do this with 'El Dorado,' a mine he runs via slave labor that is on Santa Anna's own land, paying him with his own gold. During his final battle with his old nemesis Diego, Montero even takes Elena hostage for an advantage, before [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes revealing he could never harm her]], just before shooting Diego.
* ''Film/TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath'': The Red Death himself infects an old woman to deliver a vow to her village that the tyranny of Prince Prospero is at its end, spreading the plague as she goes to enhance the fear of the Red Death and draw all the nobles to the sadistic Prospero's manor. Gathering them together, the Red Death exposes himself to Prospero and takes him and all his revelers with the plague, sparing six innocents as a form of mercy before reuniting with his fellow brothers, having secured his "illimitable dominion" over the land.
* ''Film/MasterOfTheWorld'': The brilliant Jean Robur believes in peace through strength. In his power flying machine, Robur launches attacks on key spots in the world to disable military capabilities and force a lasting armistice through the world, while being a charming and charismatic leader to his crew. Throughout the film, Robur constantly remains a step ahead, hellbent on enforcing his ideals on the world and coming close to victory before the heroes disable his ship. Ordering his men to flee, they instead choose to face the end with him, which he spends reading aloud a passage from the bible concerning world peace.
* ''Film/{{Mayhem}}'': [[AntiHero Derek Cho]] is an employee working for the corrupt TSC law firm. Fired over a case he had no involvement in and exposed to the [[HatePlague ID-7 virus]], Derek tries to demand his job back from the CEO, John Towers. When Towers sends his guards to imprison Derek and inadvertently kills one of his friends, Derek opts to simply kill Towers and anyone standing in his path along with Melanie Cross, knowing anyone under the virus' influence can't be prosecuted for murder. With their quick thinking and pragmatic fighting skills, Derek and Melanie assault or kill anyone in their path on the way to the top floor. When Irene Smythe refuses to give up the access code to Towers' office, Derek seemingly betrays Melanie and offers her to Irene to kill, later freeing Melanie the moment after Irene gives up her code so Melanie can kill Irene. Once Derek confronts Towers, he rejects his proposal to be his business partner and kills him before taking Towers' job long enough to void the foreclosure on Melanie's house.
* ''Film/MeanGuns'': Vincent Moon is a devious crime lord who has gathered a hundred criminals working for TheSyndicate inside a newly built prison under false pretenses of holding a conference to discuss business, then exposing their duplicity and force them all to kill each other within a six-hour window with the promise of ten millon dollars to be split among the last three survivors. Moon himself effortlessly dispatches several criminals before retiring to a surveillance room to monitor the action while amusing himself with private games of chess. At the end, Moon organizes a four-way QuickDraw with the last three people left standing, only to remove the bullets from Lou's gun beforehand so Marcus will shoot him. Moon concedes that the Syndicate is planning on nobody leaving the prison alive, with Moon not caring one way or the other if he walks out the real victor or goes out in a DyingMomentOfAwesome. Stylish, charismatic, and ruthless in equal measure, Moon establishes his bona fides as a master of organized crime.
* ''Film/TheMechanic1972'': Arthur Bishop is a talented hitman who always finds the 'jelly spot' of his targets to eliminate them. In an assassination of 'Big' Harry [=McKenna=], Bishop passes it off by natural causes by spooking Harry into a heart attack before smothering him, an intelligent gambit he tends to repeat on all his hits. When he takes Harry's ruthless son Steve under his wing, Bishop also foresees the betrayal by his employers and fights through it. At the end, when Steve thinks he's won by poisoning Bishop, Bishop is revealed to have seen it coming and sets up a final recording for Steve, along with a bomb activated by a tripwire.
* ''Film/Mile22'': Li Noor is a DeepCoverAgent from [[FictionalCountry Indocarr]] working on the behalf of Russia. Through meditative training and careful memorization of a cover story, Li Noor fools a polygraph and offers information on caches of cesium along with a disc drive that only he can open, refusing to give the password until he is in safe hands before taking out a team of assassins while ChainedToABed. As US task force Overwatch is dogged by Indocarr agents on the way to a safe airstrip, Li Noor helps James Silva's team evade the agents, sticking his neck out to help them multiple times. Once on a safe plane, Li Noor reveals that the whole operation was a trap for the Russian government to locate Overwatch's computer crew and decimate them for Silva's execution of a Russian General's son earlier in the film, proving himself indispensable to every faction he works for.
* ''Film/MillersCrossing'': Tom Reagan is the right hand man to Leo O'Bannon, an Irish-American mobster, but it's clear who [[HypercompetentSidekick has the brains in the operation]]. Tom is a duplicitous alcoholic who's sleeping with Leo's fiancee and spends the movie [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder double-crossing everyone he meets]], regardless of the damage Tom suffers in the process. Then, at the end, it turns out the whole movie was a ZeroApprovalGambit on Tom's part. Everything he did, he did for Leo in the most unscrupulous way possible. He manipulates Leo's enemies into killing each other, having Leo's greatest rival murder his own terrifying enforcer Eddie Dane when Dane is distracted before leading said rival to his own death. Tom then personally murders his devious former friend, the smug Bernie Bernbaum to ensure Leo remains firmly in power.
* ''Film/MinorityReport'': Lamar Burgess is the director and founder of the [[PreCrimeArrest Precrime program]], which uses premonitions extracted from three telepathic humans to predict and prevent all murder within the Washington D.C. area. However, at the same time Burgess is cunning enough to have literally made a career out of faking out Precrime; first by disguising Anne Lively's murder as an "echo", then by disguising ''all three visions'' of Crow's death as brown balls by putting the plan in action while Anderton was at the office, ensuring that he would either be arrested immediately or run, so when Crow would be found with the OrgyOfEvidence that could lead Anderton to murder him, it looked planned by Anderton. When Federal Agent Danny Witwer catches on to him, Burgess promptly murders him, knowing that the system being deactivated will allow him to get away with it. The only thing Burgess couldn't see coming was Anderton figuring out everything in time to tell it all to his wife, even if he wasn't free to act on the information himself. However, even when his plot is exposed and faced with the impossible choice of either killing Anderton and going to prison or letting him live and discredit Precrime, Burgess manages to go out on his own terms by killing himself instead.
* ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'': [[BigBad Kurt "Cobalt" Hendricks]] is a former specialist in nuclear endgame theory, who grew weary of treating the lives of millions like a game, and came to the conclusion that [[TheFatalist nuclear war is an inevitability]]. Hijacking the IMF's operation at the Kremlin, Hendricks frames the agency for bombing the landmark, raising tensions between Russia and the U.S. He forces a nuclear physicist to verify launch codes by kidnapping his family, then releases the family and kills the man to cover his tracks. Hendricks launches a missile at San Francisco in order to start a war so the survivors will declare a worldwide armistice. When Ethan Hunt comes close to stopping the missile, [[ThanatosGambit Hendricks leaps to his death attempting to ensure his plan succeeds]], coming within a second of accomplishing his goals. Despite his destructive goal, Hendricks [[WellIntentionedExtremist genuinely believes]] that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, and manages to play the IMF and the world's governments for fools all the while.
* ''Film/MouseHunt'': [[KillerRabbit The Mouse]] itself is a sentient, mischievous animal who has made his home in a dilapidated mansion which it fiercely defends against new arrivals. When the Smuntz brothers move in after inheriting it from their late father and discover it to potentially be worth millions, the Mouse [[ItCanThink repeatedly and effortlessly outwits the Smuntz's efforts to kill it]], even disposing of a psychotic cat and a seasoned exterminator whom it tortures to insanity. After the house is destroyed, it decides to make peace with the Smuntzes and helps them restore their father's string factory to produce cheese products.
* ''Film/MrBrooks'': The eponymous Mr. Earl Brooks is a brilliant, charming SerialKiller addicted to murder who seeks to quench his thirst for blood. Attending AA meetings to cope with his addiction while simultaneously running a prospering box factory he built from the ground up, Brooks gives into his murderous inclinations now and then yet is never caught, having been killing for decades without suspicion. When the crooked, pathetic "Mr. Smith" tries to blackmail Brooks, Brooks twists Smith into his personal pawn and, after neatly tying up a variety of loose ends, effortlessly enacts a XanatosGambit that ends the film with Brooks escaping all of his crimes, which are pinned on Mr. Smith.
* ''Film/MrRight'': [[BewareTheSillyOnes Francis Munch]], The titular "Mr. Right", was a [[ProfessionalKiller hitman]] who killed people for money before growing bored killing on the behalf of others, now killing those who attempt to hire him and [[AssassinOutclassin killing any hitmen]] trying to assassinate him. Taking a liking to Martha [=Mckay=], Francis uses his charming and humorous personality to win her over, while avoiding assassination attempts during his dates with her. When Martha gets kidnapped by Von and Richard Cartigan, Francis goes to their hideout to rescue Martha, persuading the Cartigan's men not to fight him and killing those who refuse to listen while turning the Cartigan brothers against each other by revealing to Richard that Von tried to have him killed and defeating his former partner, Hopper, in combat. Successfully rescuing Martha, the two are last seen in Vietnam [[TimeSkip two months later]] ambushing a sniper trying to kill them.
* ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'': [[EvilCounterpart Imhotep]], once the priest of Pharaoh Seti, murdered his king when he discovered the affair between Imhotep and his wife Anck-su-namun. Subjected to a horrific curse and [[Film/TheMummy1999 rising anew]] thousands of years later, Imhotep easily eludes the heroes with his intelligence and powers to sacrifice heroine Evey to revive his true love. [[Film/TheMummyReturns Returning]] years later with the aid of his dedicated order, Imhotep manipulates several thieves into opening his chest to restore his powers and hunts down the fabled Scorpion King to destroy him and gain the Army of Anubis, pretending to be the Scorpion King's servant to set him against Imhotep's nemesis Rick O'Connell. Even in his final moments, abandoned by his love when he needs her the most, Imhotep gives one last moment of respect and envy towards the O'Connells before accepting his final end.
* ''Film/MurderMystery'': [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Juan Carlos Rivera]] is a family friend of the Quinces who secretly despises them, blaming them for his father losing his legs. Juan works with Grace to dispose of them. He convinces Grace to have Tobey kill Malcolm Quince, helping Grace forge a suicide note under Tobey's name after she killed him. Juan kills Sergai and [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink poisons Cavendish's drink]]. Lacking the pettiness of his partner, Juan retained the charm and sympathy of the audience, all the while having everyone believe he's an {{Adorkable}} Latin man who doesn't know English.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: N - Y]]
* ''Film/TheNameOfTheRose'': Jorge De Burgos is a blind, elder monk wholly convinced that mankind's salvation lies in complete obedience to God. Abhorring the ancient literature contained in the labyrinth beneath the abbey for what he perceives as its blasphemous humor, Jorge uses a book with a poisoned page to kill several monks who had knowledge of the secret library, which prompts the Abbey to call for the Jesuit William of Baskerville to investigate the mysterious deaths. When William eventually discovers the library, Jorge tries to trick William into touching the poisoned book, and when this fails, eats the poisoned pages himself and sets fire to the library, ensuring Christendom's supremacy for centuries to come.
* ''[[Film/NewDragonInn New Dragon Gate Inn]]'' (1992): Jade is the charming, quick-tongued keeper of the titular inn and a devious woman always focuses on personal profit. Jade cheerfully uses her wiles to seduce greedy customers and turn them into meat buns to which she feeds her unknowing customers, who never notice due to how tasty the buns are. When Dong Chang soldiers intrude into her inn looking for some of her customers, Jade initially takes neither side and satisfies herself by playing tricks on the Dong Chang to divert their suspicions while simultaneously trying to extort the hero. Utterly above intimidation, when one of the Dong Chang soldiers tries to kill her Jade coolly and effortlessly throws him into the press with which she grinds people into meat buns.
* ''Film/TheNightFlier'': "[[ClassicalMovieVampire Dwight Renfield]]" is the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] behind the Night Flier murders. Flying from airport to airport draining his prey of blood, Dwight catches the attention of the arrogant Inside View tabloid reporter Richard Dees, attempting to force him off his trail before turning his focus to the elderly Sarche couple, appearing to Ellen Sarche as an old friend before killing her husband and claiming her life peacefully. Even as Dees follows him to the airport where he had just slaughtered everyone inside, he gives him a final warning to leave him alone, seeing him as a "brother in blood", and indirectly corrupting Dees' rival to take his place as the top Inside View reporter. Despite all his monstrous slayings, Dwight remains charismatic to the very end and makes a point to stay in touch with his humanity.
* ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'': The film version of [[BigBad Zavulon]] lacks his original counterpart's racism. Zavulon leads the Dark Others, a magical organization that's been in a cold war with its Light counterpart for centuries. When Zavulon learns that a couple of powerful Great Others have been born, he reveals to one of them that his Light-aligned father, the work's hero Anton Gorodetsky, tried to have him aborted, convincing him to join the Dark. After training the boy for a couple years, Zavulon has Anton framed for murder by promising a vampire he'd [[ToBecomeHuman make his son human]] if he did the killing. After killing the son for attacking him when his manipulations are exposed, Zavulon reveals that this was all a plan to get the two Great Others to fight, as one spilling the other's blood would make the cold war hot again. The scheme goes off without a hitch, only being stopped when Anton [[CosmicRetcon uses a powerful item to rewrite time]].
* ''Film/{{Nobody}}'': [[RetiredBadass Hutch Mansell]] is a former "[[ProfessionalKiller Auditor]]" who grew tired of his violent lifestyle and decided to start a family. After two robbers invade his house, assault his son, and steal his family's belongings, Hutch gives in to his repressed rage and hunts them down. When he begrudgingly spares them, Hutch instead assaults several Russian thugs on a bus while completely unarmed. Upon finding out he critically injured the brother of [[BigBad Yulian Kuznetsov]] and discovering Yulian will retaliate, Hutch immediately guides his family to safety before he brutally and single-handedly kills Yulian's assassins sent to his home. He later destroys his home to eradicate any evidence and burns down Yulian's money-laundering operation. Afterwards, Hutch meets with Yulian and calmly warns him to back away from him and his family; when Yulian refuses, he lures Yulian and his thugs into a factory he booby-trapped, where Hutch and his brother and father successful kill Yulian and his cronies.
* ''Film/NonStop'': [[KnightTemplar Tom Bowen]] is a Marine set to prove the lack of safety in the American airline security after his father's death during the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack. Taking over a plane with Zach White, he threatens to routinely murder passengers while keeping the heroes at bay and ensures the Transportation Security Administration Agency is informed of the threat presented. Ultimately planning to die when his bomb goes off, his convictions prove his intent truly is to ensure Americans increase security precautions for flights.
* ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'': [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure The Professor]] is the head of a mysterious government agency, who masterminds the plot of "[[InventedIndividual George Kaplan]]" to take down enemies of America. The Professor created the fictitious spy George Kaplan to throw off villainous Phillip Vandamm from the true spy in his ranks, Eve Kendall, who the Professor turned years ago and had been using as a mole. Masterfully making Kaplan out to be real with hotel rentals and plane flights, the Professor is delighted when accountant Roger Thornhill is [[FrameUp framed as Kaplan]], willing to let him die due to false identity to continue the cover up. The Professor ends up turning Thornhill into an asset, faking his death right in front of Vandamm, and then saves the day at the end by arriving in the nick of time with police to capture or kill all of Vandamm's associates after Thornhill and Eve expose them.
* ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'':
** [[TheMole Dylan Rhodes]] is the Fifth Horseman and the mastermind behind the plot of the first film. Born Dylan Shrike, son of Lionel Shrike, he sought revenge on the companies and men who he blamed for the death of his father, chief among them the corrupt CEO Arthur Tressler and magician debunker Thaddeus Bradley. Becoming a member of the secret magician society, The Eye, Dylan guides the Four Horsemen into performing magic tricks to steal money from the companies and distribute them to the audience, eventually publicly humiliating Tressler for his role in denying relief to Hurricane Katrina victims, while inserting himself into, and sabotaging, the FBI efforts to catch the Horsemen. [[ObfuscatingStupidity Fooling everyone with his bumbling detective act]], Dylan frames Thaddeus for being the Fifth Horseman and leaves him to rot in jail. [[TheBadGuyWins Having succeeded at his revenge]], Dylan [[Film/NowYouSeeMe2 later]] launches an operation to expose a plot to steal everyone's personal information; when it turns out to be a trap and puts the team in peril, Dylan [[EnemyMine teams up with Thaddeus]] and ultimately foils Arthur's revenge plot, using one last grand magic trick to deceive Arthur and his son Walter into exposing themselves and [[KarmaHoudini evading the police once again]].
** [[BigGood Thaddeus Bradley]] is the Grandmaster of The Eye. A former magician and Lionel Shrike's rival/best friend, Thaddeus turned to exposing magic tricks by other magicians for money after Lionel's tragic death. Seeking to [[StealthMentor test the Four Horsemen]] to see if they are capable of joining The Eye, Thaddeus [[TheMole allies with law enforcement]] and engages the Horsemen in a chase, figuring out the truth behind each of their magic tricks and relentlessly pursuing them. When framed for Dylan's crimes, Thaddeus spends a year preparing to strike back against both Dylan and Arthur Tressler, creating a fake software that will supposedly hack everyone's personal information and leading the Horsemen into a trap by sending them to steal the software. Extorting Dylan into breaking him out of prison by promising to help find his friends, Thaddeus pretends to betray Dylan by leading him into a trap by Arthur and Walter while secretly giving him the means to escape the trap. Finally, he has his subordinates reveal to Dylan that the software is fake, then, with Dylan's help, lures Arthur and Walter into [[EngineeredPublicConfession publicly exposing their misdeeds]] and makes up with Dylan, [[KarmaHoudini successfully evading the law this time]].
* ''Film/OceansEight'': [[PhantomThief Deborah "Debbie" Ocean]] is [[Film/OceansEleven Danny]]'s younger sister who ended up in jail for five years after her partner and boyfriend Claude Becker turned on her to save himself when they were caught pulling scams. Falsely convincing the parole board she'll turn over a new leaf, Debbie celebrates her freedom by [[ConMan hustling]] a store out of beauty products and a hotel out of a room. Debbie concocts a heist with her friend Lou Miller and five other women in which they'll infiltrate the Met Gala after arranging for actress Daphne Kluger to be wearing the expensive diamond Toussaint necklace and then steal it while switching it out with a counterfeit, with each woman getting an equal share. The heist is successful, though Debbie deals Daphne in when she catches on to things and Debbie is also able to [[BestServedCold get revenge on Claude]] by framing him for the theft. Debbie also makes arrangements with Lou to have the royal jewels stolen at the same time so as to exponentially increase each of the eight shares between the women, with Debbie taking pleasure knowing full well that her brother would've been proud of her success.
* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInChina II'': Nap-lan is a military officer hunting down members of a revolutionary sect that seek to replace the dynasty with a republic. Gaining a respect for Wong Fei-hung in a sparring match, Nap-lan later fakes an attack by the fanatic White Lotus cultists to give himself an excuse to search the British consulate for rebels, murdering the consul when he sees through the ruse. Infiltrating the White Lotus to engage Fei-hung, Nap-lan even succeeds in eliminating his friend before attempting to stea a book of revolutionary names to clandestinely eliminate them.
* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInTheWest'': [[LovableRogue Cheyenne]] is a ''bandito'' framed for a massacre he didn't commit by the outlaw Frank and his employer Mr. Morton as part of a scheme to seize Sweetwater Ranch. Cheyenne refuses to play the part of pawn, gunning down a bevy of cops who attempt to stop him and subsequently walking into the movie by intimidating a man into shooting off his handcuffs. Ruthless but with a soft spot for women, proudly naming his prostitute mother the finest woman who ever lived, Cheyenne dedicates himself to protecting Sweetwater's legal owner Jill [=McBain=]. Cheyenne nimbly outwits a group of Morton's men on a train, shoots an aggressor dead through a trick gun obscured in his shoe, and teams up with the enigmatic Harmonica to outbid Frank and Morton's corrupt auction for Sweetwater. Cheyenne is mortally wounded in the end but does so having outwitted and totally defeated Morton, living long enough to ensure his remaining men beginning to make Sweetwater a reality and only requesting Harmonica not look when he dies.
* ''Film/OutsideTheWire'': [[BigBad Captain Leo]] is a [[AIIsACrapShoot combat android]] created by the US Military to deal with foreign conflicts. [[WellIntentionedExtremist Believing]] that US interference has only led to more casualties and destruction in wars, Leo plots to use the nuclear missile silos in Ukraine to nuke America so that their military will be unable to get involved in future conflicts. Leo [[PlayingBothSides works with both]] the local resistance and Pro-Russian insurgence led by Victor Koval to retrieve the nuclear codes to gain access to the silo, later realizing Koval is attempting to betray when Koval's men fire at him. Throughout his journey, Leo manipulates Lt. Thomas Harp into helping him evade the military's watch, eventually getting Harp to remove the tracking device installed in him, before knocking Harp out and meeting up with Koval where he kills him for his treachery. Gaining access to the silo, Leo prepares to launch nuclear missiles onto America is only stopped by Harp's sudden intervention, before he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts his death]] as the facility blows up.
* ''Film/PanicRoom'': Burnham is a private security expert who joins a small group of robbers to [[JustifiedCriminal pay for the legal costs incurred by his custody dispute with his ex-wife]]. When the new residents hole themselves up in the panic room, Burnham leads a cat and mouse game against them, frequently proving himself more resourceful and strategic than his fellow criminals in outsmarting Meg and Sarah, while also figuring out that the ringleader Junior tried to screw him over and threatening retribution. Burnham eventually devises a DisguisedHostageGambit to allow the robbers access to the room, also [[PetTheDog medicating Sarah]] when she almost goes into a diabetes-induced coma. Burnham almost escapes with millions of dollars in bearer bonds when his conscience makes him go back to save the Altman family from his crazed partner Raoul.
* ''Film/ThePeacemaker'': Dušan Gavrić, a "[[FromNobodyToNightmare human man]]" who eschews the usual stereotypes of the MiddleEasternTerrorists in the action genre, is a Serb who lost his entire family to [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars the Yugoslav Wars]] and turns to extremism to make his pain known. Disillusioned by the fragmentation of his people and proudly affirming himself as "a Serb, a Croat and a Muslim," Gavrić condemns the West for supplying the weapons with which the wars were fought and the continued dehumanization of his people. Gavrić orchestrates a complex scheme to procure a nuke with [[RenegadeRussian General Aleksandr Kodoroff]] as his disposable courier. Gavrić exploits the fact [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse he looks so inconspicuous]] to walk straight onto the UN headquarters in New York and plant the nuke in a backpack, and dies defiant to his murderers with his bomb intercepted mere seconds before the bomb can go off.
* ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': [[BigBad Luke Castellan]], son of Hermes, became disillusioned with the gods following the death of his friend, Thalia, and them abandoning their children. Luke steals Zeus' lighting bolt and frames the son of Poseidon, [[Characters/TheCampHalfBloodSeriesPercyJackson Percy Jackson]], to start a war between the gods. Befriending Percy when he arrives at Camp Half-blood, Luke tricks him into delivering the bolt to Hades by hiding it in the shield that he gives him. Though seemingly defeated, Luke returns and plans to use the Golden Fleece to raise Kronos from the dead. Using a spy to poison Thalia's tree, and putting the camp in danger, Luke kidnaps Grover and chases the heroes through the Sea of Monsters, at one point seemingly killing Percy's half brother Tyson, eventually managing to use the Fleece to raise Kronos. [[DeadpanSnarker Always having a quip at hand]], and constantly keeping Percy on the defensive, Luke proves to be as smart as his book counterpart.
* ''Film/APerfectMurder'': [[CrazyJealousGuy Steven Taylor]] schemes to [[TilMurderDoUsPart murder his wife]] and get off completely scot-free as both revenge for her cheating on him, and to gain access to her trust fund worth millions. Upon discovering his wife Emily's infidelity, Steven {{blackmail}}s and bribes her lover David into assisting him in killing her before creating multiple alibis for himself on the night his brilliant plan goes into motion. When David [[SpannerInTheWorks bungles the otherwise airtight plan]] by hiring a petty crook to kill Emily, Steven quickly and cleverly stays on top of the situation, manipulating both Emily and the police into suspecting it was a mere robbery gone wrong, and, even as David reveals he has proof of Steven's plans so as to blackmail him into paying David, Steven seemingly gives in only to murder David and get away with all of his money. Steven planned several contingencies on the chance his scheme went awry, rarely loses his cool, and even when Emily discovers the truth of his plans, it's solely because she got suspicious and guessed the combination to his safe where he had temporarily stored David's blackmail proof until he could destroy it.
* ''Film/ThePerfection'': Charlotte Willmore is a former rape victim of Anton of Bachoff Academy, who, realizing her new lover Lizzie suffers from his brainwashing, tricks her into severing her own hand, thus destroying her cello talent and forcing Lizzie to realize Anton cares nothing for her when he deserts her. Scheming to have Lizzie "capture" her for Anton, they deceive him and poison and kill his allies to corner him. As Anton can only sit crippled and mutilated, Charlotte and Lizzie triumphantly play the cello as one.
* ''Film/PhoneBooth'': The unnamed caller is a vigilante sniper who targets {{Asshole Victim}}s, tormenting them to force them to become honest lest he kill them. Targeting Stuart "Stu" Shepard for cheating on his wife, the caller makes him play a series of psychological games to break him into becoming honest. Killing a pimp who tries to get Stu out of the phone booth, the caller is forcing him to stay inside and leaves a handgun atop its roof, leading to Stu being incriminated for the murder. Forcing Stu to confess to his wife when she arrives on the scene, the caller kills a Pizza Delivery guy to frame him for his crimes, leaving while promising Stu he will return if he goes back to his callous ways.
* ''Film/PointBreak1991'': Bodhi is the zen sage [[SurferDude surfer]] who, along with three of his friends, form the [[BankRobbery bank-robbing]] "Ex-Presidents". Thanks to sticking to a minute-and-a-half time frame, in three years they've successfully pulled off 27 robberies without getting caught and pull off three more successfully as well. Bodhi takes in undercover FBI rookie Johnny Utah and helps him connect to surfing on a spiritual level and when realizing Johnny's onto him, Bodhi destroys the first getaway car and a gas station to cover his tracks and escapes Johnny in an extended and harrowing foot chase. Bodhi then has Johnny's new love and Bodhi's ex Tyler Endicott taken hostage to force Johnny's help in committing a final robbery that goes bad, resulting in Bodhi killing a cop. Bodhi escapes from his getaway plane with Johnny in pursuit and escapes after having Tyler released. Bodhi then evades Johnny until Australia and convinces him to let him ride the monster swell, both knowing full well it will likely cost him his life.
* ''Film/{{Polar}}'': Duncan Vizla is "[[TheDreaded The Black Kaiser]]", one of the world's [[ProfessionalKiller deadliest assassins]], is about to retire at age 50. With [[BigBad Mr. Blut]] plotting to kill Vizla for his pension, Vizla anticipates Blut's traps and counters them to [[AssassinOutclassin killing off Blut's assassins]]. When Blut captures Vizla and Camille and tortures the Vizla for three days, Vizla exploits Blut's torture sessions to find a way to escape, before setting up his own ambush to kill off most of Blut's men and using his mere presence to scare off the remainder of Blut's forces before effortlessly dispatching Blut and rescuing Camille. When it's revealed that Vizla had killed Camille's family, Vizla [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts his fate]] as Camille tries to kill him, only for her to find herself unable to do so and instead works with him to find out who ordered Vizla to kill Camille's family.
* ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' film series:
** [[Film/{{Predator}} Original film]]: [[AntagonistTitle The Predator itself]] is a dangerous, cunning and honourable warrior. Hunting in Republic of Val Verde during a Guerrilla War, the Predator stalked and killed numerous insurgents and elite forces, including a band of Green Berets. Cautiously hunting Dutch's group, it picked them off one by one as they split up, careful not to let itself be outnumbered even with its superior technology. Avoiding their first trap, they eventually catch it in a net, which it escapes by firing its Plasmacaster rapidly. Feigning ignorance of Mac and Dillon's presence when they pursue it, the Predator turns the tables and kills them both. Finally confronting Dutch, whom had figured out how to exploit the Predator's thermal imaging tech, the creature is so impressed that, even when it had Dutch in its clutches, it lets him go and disarms itself to fight him unarmed. The hunter is finally beaten when it falls into a trap Dutch had set and only because Dutch made [[CrazyPrepared two traps]]. Noble and terrifying, the Predator hunts for sport, will not go after those it doesn't consider a threat and is an alien icon that spawned an entire franchise.
** ''Film/Predator2'': "[[NobleDemon The City Hunter]]" is the Predator currently terrorizing Los Angeles, brutally targeting and picking off dangerous gangs throughout the city as part of his hunt. Using brute force and stealthy attacks both to wipe out armed goons, the City Hunter takes out even cops in his pursuit, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards holds a strict code]] to never harm a woman or child, sparing even a police officer trying to stop him when the City Hunter realizes [[WouldNotHurtAChild she is pregnant]]. Even when federal agents devise a scheme to trap the rogue Predator, the City Hunter quickly adapts and kills them all. Gaining a genuine respect for Lieutenant Harrigan's skill, the City Hunter gives the man a honorable duel in the end, and [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces his death with dignity]] after suffering serious wounds.
** ''Film/{{Predators}}'': [[UnscrupulousHero Royce]] is a cold, ruthless mercenary who quickly takes charge of a group of seasoned killers that have been dropped on a game reserve planet. Royce formulates several pragmatic plans to get out of troubling situations, such as using the group as bait to draw out the Predators to figure out their capabilities, and setting off an explosive to lure in the Predators when the group is trapped by a crazed madman. Quickly deducing that the seemingly harmless Edwin is actually a SerialKiller, Royce paralyzes him with his own poison, using him as bait for the Berserker Predator, and uses brilliant combat tactics against the ensuing fight with the Berserker to come out on top.
* ''Film/ThePrestige'': Robert Angier/Lord Caldlow is a genius magician who becomes consumed with revenge after the accidental death of his wife. Blaming fellow magician Alfred Borden for his wife's demise, Angier goes about sabotaging various aspects of Borden's career and life, culminating in an attempt to steal his secrets by burying his assistant alive. After discovering the cloning properties of Nikolai Tesla's machine, Angier uses it to put on perhaps the greatest magic trick the world has ever seen, staging each show so that one of his clones ends up in a drowning trap, knowing that at some point, Borden will stumble on the trap out of curiosity, which will enable Angier the perfect opportunity to frame him. Faking his own death and framing Borden for it, Angier leaves Borden to hang for his "crime", stopping by one final time before his death to reveal the full extent of Angier's manipulations, and even proclaiming he's taking Borden's daughter under his own wing.
* ''Film/ThePrisonerOfZenda'': [[BastardUnderstudy Rupert of Hentzau]] is the [[TheDragon bold subordinate]] of [[AntiVillain Prince Michael]] and the chief enforcer of the prince's attempt to assume the throne of Zenda from Rudolf V. Assisting Michael in drugging Rudolf to miss the coronation, Rupert centers in on Rudolf's replacement Rudolf Rassendyll, luring him into a trap while also attempting to seduce Michael's mistress Antoinette. Conducting himself with dramatic style and [[AffablyEvil cheerfully amoral]], Rupert even manages to elude capture to live to trouble Ruritania anew, charming the audience in both the 1937 and 1952 films [[AdaptationalHeroism without the sexual perversions of his literary original]].
* ''Film/PromisingYoungWoman'': [[NothingNiceAboutSugarAndSpice Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas]] was a star medical school student who dropped out after the rape and later suicide of her best friend Nina Fisher by the popular Al Monroe. While brilliantly plotting her own revenge, Cassie also moonlights [[PlayingDrunk pretending to be in a drunken stupor]] to terrify would-be rapists to spare other women Nina's fate. Utterly ruthless in her methods, Cassie meticulously uncovers the details she needs to bring Nina's case to light, swaying Nina's [[TheAtoner corrupt but repentant lawyer]] and even frightening the school's dean and a former student by [[KansasCityShuffle making the former think]] her daughter had been kidnapped and the latter that she had been sexually assaulted. Coercing a cowardly bystander of the rape into giving up the location of Al's bachelor party, Cassie dies confronting Al but [[ThanatosGambit leaves clues for the police to out the whole crowd]], ending the film seeing all of them arrested or with their lives destroyed.
* ''Film/PromNight1980'': [[BigBad Alex Hammond]] witnessed his sister Robin's death by the hands of her classmates and [[YouKilledMyFather sought to avenge her]]. Calling her killers to frighten them, Alex spends most of the day gathering up supplies and [[KickTheSonOfABitch gets the school bully suspended]] for harassing his other sister Kim. During the prom, Alex puts himself in a position to keep tabs on everyone before stalking the school corridors and grounds, killing the perpetrators one-by-one. When he kills the wrong person while trying to kill the last one, Alex moves quickly to strike again and nearly kills his target before receiving fatal injuries, then reveals his victims' crime before dying. Alex Hammond proves to be one of the most intelligent and compelling [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]] in the SlasherMovie genre.
* ''Film/PublicEnemies'': [[GentlemanThief John Dillinger]] pulls off heist after heist on guarded banks while leading his gang, never losing his gentlemanly exterior and [[EvenEvilHasStandards refusal to rob civilians]] that makes him a folk hero to many. Upon being arrested thanks to a fire at his hotel, Dillinger carves a wooden pistol and uses it to take the guards hostage, bluffing his way to freedom where he resumes his usual activities and remains one step ahead of the law the whole way through. Dillinger at one point even strolls into a police station wearing a disguise just to ask the cops the score to a baseball game out of sheer audacity, repeatedly showing that as one man against the federal government, he usually has the advantage.
* ''Film/PulpFiction'': [[AfroAsskicker Jules Winnfield]] is one half of ThoseTwoBadGuys with his partner Vincent Vega, and easily the smarter compared to his slack-jawed partner. Jules is an audacious, foul-mouthed, [[HolyHitman Bible-quoting hitman]] who demonstrates his tendency to take control over any situation he's in by tormenting and blowing away a group of wannabe criminals who attempted to rip his boss Marsellus Wallace off. After a near-death encounter, Jules has a HeelRealization and tries to back out of the mob business for good, only to be held up by a robber couple in a restaurant. [[NervesOfSteel Utterly retaining his cool when faced with two guns in his face]], Jules effortlessly flips the advantage back to himself by tricking and disarming one of the robbers, and uses his masterful control of the situation to give the two robbers a second chance, much in the same way Jules is finally affording an escape from the criminal underworld to himself.
* ''Film/ThePunisher2004'': [[VigilanteMan Frank Castle]] aka ComicBook/ThePunisher is an ex-cop who, after his family is killed by the Saint family and their henchman Quentin Glass, [[CrusadingWidower embarks on a brutal quest to punish them]]. Castle kidnaps the Saint’s abused lackey Mickey Duka, pretends to torture him in order to get information on the Saints, and convinces him to help in his plan to take them down. Frank then dismantles the Saint's criminal operation by destroying two shipments of money belonging to their associates, causing the associates to cut off ties with the Saints. When the family's patriarch Howard sends assassins after him, Castle outmaneuvers and kills them. With Mickey's help Frank [[FrameUp frames]] Glass for having an affair with Howard's wife Livia, causing Howard to murder them both. Frank then ambushes and dispatches the last of the Saints, showing Howard that the affair was fake in order to break his spirit before killing him. While stoic and distant, Frank shows his warmer side in his treatment of his neighbors whom he [[PetTheDog gives the Saint's money to]] before becoming a vigilante.
* ''Film/ThePurgeAnarchy'': [[OneManArmy Sgt. Leo Barnes]] is a vengeful Purger out to avenge the death of his son. [[CrazyPrepared Armed to the teeth]] and always ready for a fight, Leo shows his compassionate side when he rescues Eva and Cali from mercenaries. He agrees to protect them in exchange for a car, only to discover there is no car right before they're all kidnapped by wealthy socialites. Fighting his way out almost singlehandedly, Leo continues his quest for vengeance, even holding his target's wife at gunpoint, only to [[HeelFaceTurn ultimately spare his target's life]]. [[Film/ThePurgeElectionYear Years later]], serving as the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, he uses his preparation and quick thinking to ensure they both survive the night, including escaping her house through a secret trap door, luring two Neo-Nazis to their death via their own tracker and ultimately saving the Senator from a kidnapping, leading to [[EarnYourHappyEnding the abolishment of the Purge]].
* ''Film/QuickChange'': [[SadClown Grimm]] is a disgruntled city planner who decides to rob a bank while dressed as a clown to finance a new life somewhere else. Grimm, his girlfriend Phyllis, and his best friend Loomis escape the bank [[DisguisedHostageGambit disguised as released hostages]] and take off for the airport while manipulating the cops into thinking that the clown's still holed up in the bank. When their getaway is derailed through unlucky circumstances, Grimm displays a knack for [[TheSocialExpert bluffing his way out]] of various jams as the trio race to catch a later flight which Grimm booked as a [[CrazyPrepared backup plan]]. Throughout everything, Grimm is protective of his partners, considerate towards average citizens when he thinks they deserve it, and warily respectful of the abilities of his [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist pursuer]].
* ''Film/{{Ran}}'': Lady Kaede is the true villain of the film. Desiring revenge against Hidetora and the Ichimonji clan for slaughtering her family years ago, Kaede convinces her husband, Hidetora's eldest son Taro, to usurp his father and war against his brother Jiro. Upon Taro's death, she effortlessly seduces Jiro, convinces him to kill his wife and then manipulates him into disastrous strategies that bring the Ichimonji to ruin. When Jiro's general Kurogane confronts her when the battle is lost, Kaede calmly admits to everything, showing absolutely no fear of dying with her ultimate goals achieved.
* ''Film/ReignOfFire'': [[EgomaniacHunter Denton Van Zan]] is a self-proclaimed DragonSlayer, mobilizing his military group the Kentucky Irregulars in hunting and killing the beasts in an attempt to retake the Earth. Using creative technology and strategies to fight the powerful dragons, Van Zan even adapts to losing conditions with ease, appropriating Quinn Abercromby as a new tool when one of his men dies in combat. Van Zan, having deduced that if the sole male dragon, "the Bull", is killed it will lead to the dragons dying out, ends up devising a scheme to kill it after analyzing the Bull's flight patterns. Though Van Zan is killed, he goes out DefiantToTheEnd trying to kill the Bull with an axe, and his tactical advice proves to save the day when Quinn continues Van Zan's plan, securing humanity's future free from dragons.
* ''Film/ReservoirDogs'': Detective Holdaway is the man responsible for giving Officer Freddy Newandyke a cover story to gain acceptance into mobster Joe Cabot's heist gang. His trickery allowing Freddy to join Joe's gang as "Mr. Orange", Holdaway's dramatic flair and masterful planning aid in the eradication of Joe's criminal outfit, even letting the gangsters operate and kill within their safehouse to lure out Joe.
* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'': [[MagneticHero Caesar]] is the [[RebelLeader revolutionary ape]] behind the uprising of simians throughout the trilogy of films. Gifted with intelligence and sentience rivaling that of humans, Caesar grows discontent with the lot life has given his kind and orchestrates a mass breakout of apes across San Francisco, using the same chemical that granted him his own intellect on the hundreds of apes to lead them in [[TheStrategist outsmarting local military]]. Peacefully parting ways with his former owner and [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes kick-starting an entire civilization of his own]], Caesar fearlessly protects his people and stands up to any factions of humans that cross him, nonetheless making a pact with a group of people to help them save their lives in exchange for peace. When betrayed by his right-hand, Koba, Caesar survives the treachery and defeats his old partner in combat to retake his spot as leader of the apes. As [[Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes war breaks out between apes and humans]], Caesar leads successful campaigns to stave humans off, and, even after being captured and enslaved by the Colonel, Caesar concocts a brilliant escape scheme for himself and hundreds of his brothers, overthrowing the Colonel and using his final hours to lead all of apekind to safety and prosperity for years to come.
* ''Film/RoadToPerdition'': [[HitmanWithAHeart Michael Sullivan]] is a hitman in service of John Rooney. One of the most feared in the business who maintains a love for his family, Sullivan is betrayed by his boss's son Connor who sets him up for death and murders his wife Annie and son Peter. Alongside his surviving child Michael Jr., Sullivan goes on the run and seeks to erode the Rooney relationship with the Capones by targeting mob banks and stealing their money. Staying ahead of the Capones and Rooney killers alike, Sullivan eventually targets John Rooney directly, knowing his death will revoke Connor's protection permanently.
* ''Film/TheRock'': [[FourStarBadass Brigadier General Francis X. "Frank" Hummel]], disgusted with the lack of respect for [[AFatherToHisMen his dead servicemen]], tries to [[WellIntentionedExtremist force the American government]] to pay the families of the fallen reparations by stealing [[DeadlyGas deadly VX gas]] to threaten a terrorist attack on San Francisco should they fail to meet his terms. Predicting the Pentagon's every move, Hummel sets up a stronghold in Alcatraz and manages to easily trap and dispatch the US Navy SEAL team sent after him. Finding himself unable to use his gas-carrying missiles on civilians, even in defeat Hummel makes preparations to get his men to safety while [[GracefulLoser ready to face the consequences alone]].
* ''Film/RushHour'': The second film's Ricky Tan is a leader within the Chinese Triads and a former partner to Lee's murdered father, who found out Tan was a DirtyCop before he was murdered by an unknown party. Tan tells Lee he is losing a civil war within the Triads and asks him for protection and help, but is killed before Lee's eyes. Tan then turns up alive and well in America; he faked his death in order to go into hiding, flee Hong Kong authorities, and become the secret backer of an international smuggling operation. Through his accomplices Steven Reign and Hu Li, Tan has counterfeited $100 million US in extremely convincing fake bills, and will launder them through a Las Vegas casino, proudly proclaiming it is a business "where people hand [him] money, and [he] gives them back absolutely nothing." In every interaction with Lee, Tan presents himself as an AffablyEvil mobster, one minute claiming he tried to "help" Lee's father give him a better life, and the next coldly telling Lee how weak and pathetic he was before Tan shot him.
* ''Film/{{Sacrifice}}'' (2020): Renate Nygard is the affable police constable in the isolated Norwegian village who is the secret leader of the cult of the Slumbering God. Upon the return of Isaac Pickman with his pregnant wife Emma to the village, Renate tricks him into believing he is special in the cult and that he must sacrifice Emma's unborn child. After luring both into her trap, Renate has Isaac sacrificed to the Slumbering God instead and cheerfully informs Emma that she'll grow to get used the village and its mysterious deity.
* ''Film/{{Salt}}'': [[AntiHero Evelyn Salt]] was a KGB spy who infiltrated the CIA before [[BecomingTheMask genuinely defecting]] to America after marrying Mike Krause after when he rescued her. Exposed by her former handler, Vasilyevich Orlov, he also takes her husband hostage to force her to assassinate the Russian President, Boris Matveyev. Salt infiltrates the funeral he was attending and injects Matveyev with spider venom, [[FakingTheDead making it seem like he died]]. When Orlov executes Mike in front of Salt, she reins in her emotion long enough to fool Orlov into still believing she's loyal before killing him in his cell. She then heads to the White House to kill Orlov's last spy, before convincing Darryl Peabody to free her so that she can kill off any remaining Russian sleeper agent as revenge for killing her husband.
* ''Film/LeSamourai'': The well-dressed, soft-spoken Jef Costello is a hitman of few words who always leaves an alibi for his hits, letting another lover of his girlfriend identify him while the man thinks he is getting him for the murder of a nightclub owner when in truth he is giving Jef an airtight alibi. Upon being betrayed by his superiors, Jef eliminates them until the only loose end s a kindly nightclub singer who once helped him. Jef confronts her, seemingly getting sloppy which allows the police to follow him, shooting when he brandishes his gun. It is then revealed there are no bullets in the gun, Jef choosing his own end to remain true to his code.
* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'':
** [[OverarchingVillain John Kramer]] aka the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw Killer]] was a law-abiding civil engineer before losing his unborn son, becoming estranged from his wife, and being diagnosed with [[YourDaysAreNumbered terminal brain cancer]] in quick succession. Jigsaw uses his skills and intellect to become a prolific SerialKiller, designing elaborate death traps and picking his victims on the basis of their perceived lack of gratitude for the blessing of life. Fostering multiple protegés, only some of whom are even aware of each other, Jigsaw blackmails a hospital orderly to impersonate him to allay suspicion, manages to escape from police custody by manipulating the lead detective responsible for capturing him, uses his more devoted followers as back-up insurance against those who do not follow his teachings properly, and is responsible for schemes planned so far in advance that he continues to effect events even a decade after his death.
** ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'': [[WolfInSheepsClothing Logan Nelson]] is revealed to be the first apprentice of John "Jigsaw" Kramer, having been one of the people selected for one of Jigsaw's first games for accidentally mislabeling his X-ray. Saved by Jigsaw from death when he realized that Logan didn't deserve to die over an honest mistake, Logan assisted Jigsaw in his games, even helping build the infamous Reverse-Bear Trap. Ten years after Jigsaw's death, Logan proves himself to be a worthy successor to his mentor by successfully framing the corrupt Detective Halloran as the new Jigsaw killer; orchestrating a reenactment of the game he was chosen for, using criminals let off by Halloran; planting evidence against Halloran in his house; and finally trapping and killing Halloran himself, but not before getting him to confess to being responsible for the loss of innocent lives, including Logan's wife.
** ''Film/Spiral2021'': [[WellIntentionedExtremist William "Schenk"]], real name [[SerialKiller Emmerson]], is revealed as the brains behind a recent string of murders. Witnessing the death of his father when he was a boy, William dons the mask of the "[[CopKiller Spiral Killer]]", having [[JackTheRipoff been inspired by Jigsaw's methods yet nevertheless considering them lacking]]. Seeking to reform the police force as a whole, Schenk exclusively targets {{dirty cop}}s and places them in traps resulting in their demise should they fail to heed his instructions. After faking his death, he offers Zeke the chance to become his apprentice out of gratitude for him testifying against his father's murderer. He then smoothly incriminates Zeke's father as an active shooter and puppeteers him so the SWAT team would be compelled to shoot him. He skillfully flees the scene during the onslaught of chaos giving Zeke a playful shush before presumably continuing his crusade.
* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': Darry Revok is a powerful and dangerous [[{{Telepathy}} scanner]] who seeks revenge on the society that created him, in particular [[ArchNemesisDad his creator and father]], [[MadScientist Dr. Paul Ruth]]. Revok infiltrates a meeting at the weapons company Consec to embarrass them publicly and eliminate the only other scanner still working for them, using his psychic powers to wipe out the security detail detaining him and escape. Together with his ally Braedon Keller, Revok usurps control over the Consec subsidiary Biocarbon Amalgamate to have them produce Ephemerol in huge quantities. Revok plans to create a whole new generation of scanners by prescribing the mutative drug to pregnant women and recruit them as his foot soldiers. Meanwhile, Revok actively seeks out his long-lost brother, Cameron Vale, so [[WeCanRuleTogether they can rule their new scanner empire together]].
* ''Film/TheScarletEmpress'': Catherine the Great herself, born Princess Sophia, is married to the cruel, idiot, deformed Peter of Russia. Eventually building her own power base, Catherine begins to sway the guards to her side and seduces one to bear a child to solidify her claim on the throne without needing to bother with Peter, knowing Peter's aunt is so desperate for a male heir and fear of embarrassment will handle paternity questions. Upon Elizabeth's death, Catherine launches a coup against Peter before he can kill her first, having him murdered to become the undisputed Empress of all Russia.
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans The Operative]] is an intelligent, honorable, and particularly efficient agent of the Alliance, and perhaps the greatest threat the ''Serenity'' has ever faced. Dispatched to deal with the exceptionally dangerous River Tam. He begins tracking her via initiating a subliminial TriggerPhrase and tracking Captain Mal Reynolds and his ship. Luring Mal into a trap, The Operative outwits him via wearing body armor, only to barely lose him. Hoping to lure out the ''Serenity'', he orders attacks on any ports that once harbored Mal's ship and crew. He then lures Mal into a trap via their ally Mr. Universe, and confronts him on the planet Miranda, calling off his army when his defeat is assured and parting on civil terms. Returning in ''ComicBook/SerenityLeavesOnTheWind'', the Operative joins in an EnemyMine with Mal to free River's fellow test subjects. When accosted by Zoe, who desires to kill him, he states that he believes she is in the right to, before stating [[DefiantToTheEnd he will defend himself]].
* ''[[Film/ShinobiHeartUnderBlade Shinobi: Heart Under Blade]]'' (2005): [[DeathSeeker Yakushiji Tenzen]] is an Iga shinobi who takes part in the deadly match of Koga against Iga by using his immortality to his benefit. First taking a deathblow from Koga ninja Hyoma, Tenzen strategically revives to kill Hyoma by surprise, a regular practice with his immortality. Tenzen proceeds to enact his own plans, betraying the location of the ninja villages to the Shogunate so the shinobi can die in a final blaze of glory, before securing his own much-longed for death at the lips of the poisonous kunoichi Kagero.
* ''Film/ShotCaller'': Jacob "Money" Harlon was a succesful stockbroker with a wife and son who was sent to a maximum security prison after getting his best friend killed in a drunk driving accident. Joining the Aryan Brotherhood to survive, Jacob spends years ascending the ranks of the organization, graduating from a low-level drug mule to a hitman, and finally one of the gang's officers. Once released from prison, on the orders of Jerry "The Beast" Manning under threat of harming his family, Jacob oversees a major weapons deal with the Sonora Cartel, staying several steps ahead of the authorities attempting to track him down and exposing, then killing, a police informant. Jacob sabotages the deal on his own accord, intending to go back to prison to confront the Beast and kill and replace him. Despite being a member of a skinhead prison gang, Jacob never displays any racist tendencies of his own, and ultimately sacrifices his entire future to protect his family.
* ''Film/{{Sicario}}'':
** [[CowboyCop Matt Graver]] is a mysterious, laid-back UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} "spook" who deals in combatting terrorism and the Mexican cartels through any means necessary. As seen in the first film, Graver brings FBIAgent Kate Macer into his squad, claiming to need her expertise but truthfully just using her as a liason to allow himself to operate on American soil, later having her life threatened to get her to sign the proper papers saying that everything he did was on the up-and-up. Graver works with Alejandro Gillick in tearing apart the Alarcón cartel, claiming that it is for moral reason when in reality, Graver just wants Alarcon eliminated so his competition can take over and perhaps be easier to talk peace with. [[Film/SicarioDayOfTheSoldado In the sequel]], Graver concocts a brilliant scheme to kickstart a war between two cartels, failing only due to corrupt police, and, going up against his superiors and calling them out for their cowardice, Graver ends up massacring an entire cartel gang to rescue the endangered Isabel Reyes to honor the seemingly-dead Alejandro. Despite his initial [[AffablyEvil friendly]], seemingly care-free attitude, Graver is a stone cold bastard who engages in both physical and psychological torture, murder, and illegal operations abounding to secure his goals, accomplishing nearly all through a combination of manipulation and strategic genius.
** [[{{Determinator}} Alejandro Gillick]] is a Sicario defined by tragedy and hatred, using his skills and connections to Graver to satiate his cold-blooded desire for {{revenge}}. Once a criminal lawyer, Alejandro's family was slaughtered by Fausto Alarcón, resulting in Alejandro becoming a gun-for-hire to [[CrusadingWidower seek vengeance]], exhibiting remarkable skills in torture and murder that help his and Graver's schemes come to fruition. Hunting down Alarcón and [[OneManArmy killing his entire security force]] through pragmatic tricks and stealth, Alejandro calls out Alarcón for spending his nights eating dinner with his family, even while other families are killed on the drug lord's orders. Alejandro executes Alarcón's entire family in front of him before killing the man himself to seal his revenge. Capable of forming attachments to others despite his villainy, Alejandro considers Graver a friend of sorts, and grows to care for Kate Macer in the first film and [[MafiaPrincess Isabel Reyes]] in the second, at first showing a willingness to kill either one but ultimately sparing them, even putting his life on the line to rescue Isabel from death--getting himself shot in the face in the process, an event which doesn't even hinder Alejandro from killing a cartel group who threatens him.
* ''Film/SideEffects'': Dr. Jonathan Banks would grow to become [[TookALevelInBadass ruthless and calculating]] during his pursuit of {{revenge}} against [[BigBadDuumvirate Emily Taylor and Dr. Victoria Siebert]] after they ruined his life. To confirm that Emily was indeed [[ObfuscatingInsanity faking psychiatric disorders]] when she killed her husband, Banks tricks Emily into injecting herself with salt water on the pretense that it is a truth serum that would make her drowsy. Banks suspicions are confirmed when Emily feigns drowsiness and he then threatens her with [[ElectricTorture electric shock treatment]]. Emily would confess that she plotted with Siebert to kill her husband while under Ablixa and use the drug's negative publicity to manipulate stock prices, where Banks then has Emily turn on Siebert before recommitting Emily to the psychiatric ward, while also regaining both his family and reputation.
* ''Film/SilentHill'': [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Alessa Gillespie]] is a formidable RealityWarper, who has turned Silent Hill into her own nightmarish dimension. [[FromNobodyToNightmare Once an abused girl]] who was burned alive by "[[ReligionOfEvil the Brethren]]", Alessa pulls them into the Otherworld, creating monsters to hunt and kill them. Splitting her soul into another half, "Sharon", Alessa lures her to Silent Hill and leaves clues for her adoptive mother, heroine Rose De Silva to follow. Once Rose pieces together her story, Alessa appears to her, and convinces her to ally with her, then with Rose's help enters the church, [[PayEvilUntoEvil brutally killing her tormentors]], before merging her soul with Sharon's. Alessa then leaves Silent Hill with Rose, trapping her in the Otherworld with her, content that she again has a mother who loves her. Through it all, Alessa is always in control, maintaining an affable, dark charisma, and ends the film with all her goals accomplished.
* ''Film/TheSilentPartner'': Miles Cullen is a clever bank teller who discovers a note stating the writer's intention to rob his bank and expertly deduces the identity of the would-be thief as Harry Reikle. Using the opportunity to take the money himself, Miles utterly outplays Reikle by coming up with different hiding places for the cash while seeing Reikle only get a small portion of it and eventually masterminding his rival's arrest. Confronting Reikle when he gets out of jail, Miles tricks him into meeting at the bank, allegedly to give Reikle the money, only to then trick Reikle once more, planning to move far away with his loot.
* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'': [[MajorlyAwesome Major Chip Hazard]] is a charismatic, [[LargeHam hammy]] toy soldier brought to life by a rogue AI chip who [[GeneralRipper seeks to destroy the Gorgonites]]. Chip is a master at laying traps in order to capture or defeat the enemy and use various tactics such as using Allen's crush as a hostage to draw out the Gorgonites. Improvising weapons to knock out any adults or building new soldiers using his ingenuity, Chip constantly keeps the heroes on their toes as he comes very close to beating them on multiple occasions. Chip also has [[AFatherToHisMen empathy and genuine care for his men]] and swears revenge for their defeat, hijacking a new army to do just that. Finally, Chip lays siege to Alan's house using various tactics like cutting the power to ensure their opportunities to escape are curtailed and using loud music to avoid the neighbors hearing the siege and interfering.
* ''Film/{{Snatch}}'': Mickey O'Neil is an UsefulNotes/{{Irish Traveller|s}} introduced scamming Tommy and knocking out his hired muscle. When Tommy and Turkish ask him to be a replacement boxer for "Brick Top" Pulford's fight, he agrees to their stipulation that he go down in the fourth round, only to bet on himself and knock out his opponent with one punch. When Brick Top demands he fight again and this time go down in the fourth round, Mickey refuses, which leads to Brick Top burning his mother alive. Mickey decides to fight and waits until the fourth round of his next fight to knock out his opponent. Having bet on himself again, and only waiting that long to let his allies get into position to massacre Brick Top's organization, Mickey shows that if someone metaphorically or literally knocks him down, he will get back up and knock them right out.
* ''Film/SpiderMan2'': [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Dr. Otto Octavius]] is a brilliant, charming [[MadScientist scientist]] defined by tragedy and obsession. An inspiration to young scientists with his work on nuclear fusion, Octavius' life is turned upside down when one of his experiments fails, leading to the death of his beloved wife Rosie and the fusing of his robotic, AI-controlled arms to his spine. Tempted by his arms into embracing his ego and desire to see the fusion experiment replicated, Octavius becomes "Doctor Octopus," supervillain extraordinaire, and pulls off a successful bank heist by using hostages to throw the police and ComicBook/SpiderMan off his tail. Needing more tritium to complete his experiment, Octavius strikes a deal with Harry Osborn for tritium in exchange for Spider-Man, who Octavius captures by kidnapping Mary Jane Watson to lure him out, then sabotaging a train so as to force Spider-Man to weaken himself saving the passengers. Octavius ultimately succeeds in his new fusion experiment, however realizes it's not worth it for the human lives it will cost, and works with Spider-Man to destroy the machine forever, [[VillainsDyingGrace sacrificing himself in the process]] with his final words being a refusal to die as a monster.
* ''Film/SpyKids'': [[EvilGenius Alexander Minion]] is the affable, humorous mastermind of the "Spy Kids" plot, [[TheManInFrontOfTheMan playing the part of a put-upon lackey to Fegan Floop to hide his truly brilliant colors]]. Capturing and mutating a variety of OSS secret agents to whittle down enemy opposition before creating an army of robotic doppelganger children, Minion builds Floop up as a figurehead to gain funding for his plans and keep suspicion off his double dealings. Minion uses his knowledge as a former OSS agent to capture even the skilled Cortez agents, deduces the location of the legendary Third Brain, then steals it from the Cortez kids to perfect his "Spy Kids", after which Minion betrays Floop and asserts himself as the film's true villain. Minion's resolve is so great that he faces [[GracefulLoser capture and defeat with brevity]], and allows himself to be monstrously mutated to continue his schemes. When beaten, Minion simply takes on a side gig as Floop's TV partner and becomes a close ally to the Cortez family, accepting his ultimate fate as a suitable living.
* ''Film/TheSting'': [[KarmicThief Henry Gondorff]] is a charming and sly ConMan who assembles a team of like-minded crooks to concoct the ultimate rip-off against mob boss Doyle Lonnegan. Claiming to be seeking revenge against Lonnegan but truthfully admitting he's primarily in it for the cash and thrills, Gondorff outdoes Lonnegan at cheating during a game of poker while putting on the appearance of an [[TheAlcoholic abrasive drunk]] to lower Lonnegan's guard. Gondorff then has his partner Johnny Hooker pretend to betray him and ally with Lonnegan, all so Hooker can feed Lonnegan false intel about a fictional horse race headquarters that results in Lonnegan placing a losing bet amounting to a fortune. Using his connections that extend even into law enforcement to further legitimize his scheme, Gondorff then [[FakingTheDead fakes his own death]] and gets away scot-free with conning Lonnegan completely--with Lonnegan himself never even realizing he's been played.
* ''Film/StreetFighter'': The charismatic, witty [[BigBad M. Bison]] clawed his way from a mere drug dealer and killer to rule Shadaloo via brilliance and skill. Attempting to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer the world]], Bison demands ransoms for hostages as a front for his real scheme of turning captives into new SuperSoldiers, to [[WellIntentionedExtremist wipe away all distinctions between mankind so the world may know peace under his fist]]. Bison intends to force nations to submit to him economically and utilize his own currency in place of theirs, while putting in a multitude of contingencies against the heroes when they come to stop him. With a respect towards Colonel Guile, his nemesis, Bison also enters into battle with a set number of advantages to empower himself, even as he savors the chance to engage and kill Guile in direct combat. Rarely taking anything personally, Bison brings a unique charm to his dark [[VisionaryVillain vision]], convinced his rule is best for all humanity.
* ''Film/StreetKings'': Captain James Biggs is the scheming head of InternalAffairs in the Los Angeles Police Department who feels slighted by Captain Wander, his former partner, being promoted ahead of him. At the behest of the upper echelons of the police force, who worry that Wander has become too powerful, Biggs provides Agent Ludlow with clues about the corruption within his unit, calculating that he will do whatever it takes to dismantle it. At the end, with Ludlow as the SoleSurvivor and many people having gotten caught in the crossfire, Biggs reveals the truth to Ludlow while admitting that he and the men he works for have some use for his ruthless CowboyCop tactics.
* ''Film/SukiyakiWesternDjango'': [[TheGunslinger The Gunman]] is a roaming gunslinger looking for gold. Arriving into an unnamed town run by the rival Heikie and Genji clans, the Gunman chooses to instead side with [[RetiredGunfighter retired assassin Ruriko]] and [[PlayingBothSides play both sides against each other]]. Tricking the Heikes into leaving town to attack the Genjis in order to save the poor Shizuka, he collaborates with Rukiro on her plan to summon the Heikes and the Genjis together with a chest containing gold in order to take them both out. Caught in a duel with Genji leader Yoshitsune, once the Gunman appears to be caught in a tight spot, he whips out a [[NothingUpMySleeve hidden derringer from his sleeve]] and kills him. Riding out of town with only a handful of the gold, he [[PetTheDog leaves it all to the young, mute Heihachi]], leaving him with life advice so moving, the boy begins to talk again.
* ''Film/{{Superfly}}'': Youngblood Priest is a respected drug kingpin looking for a way out of the game to lead a sensible life. Starting off talking down a gangster and his bodyguards without a single threat of violence, Priest's desire to leave the life of a drug criminal leads an out-of-control spiral of cons and betrayal. However, Priest, using his penchant for smooth-talking and analysis, manages to conduct a BatmanGambit that sees him eliminate Gonzales of a cartel, seamlessly plant his right-hand Eddie into the Snow Patrol, get the corrupt Detective Mason arrested she did his dirty work in gunning down the Snow Patrol, and leave the comfortably leave the country with his lover on a cruise all without scuffing his fabulous perm.
* ''Film/SympathyForLadyVengeance'': Lee Geum-ja once took the [[TakingTheHeat fall for murder]] for her older lover Mr. Baek, who threatened to murder her daughter if she refused. Geum-ja spends over a decade in prison, [[BestServedCold cultivating a reputation]] as a kind-hearted saint who does favors for everyone, even giving a kidney for a woman who needs an operation. Geum-ja also poisons the rapist prison bully, and upon being released sets about getting revenge on Baek. Calling on all her favors and finding her daughter, she manipulates Baek to his capture and discovers he is a serial child killer. To deal with him, she allows the parents of his victims to [[PayEvilUntoEvil torture him to death]], and insure equal complicity so that none of them will talk without implication themselves.
* ''Film/{{Taken}}'': [[UnscrupulousHero Bryan Mills]] is a former field agent who learns his daughter Kim has been kidnapped and [[PapaWolf immediately heads]] to France to save her. Gleaning the locations of his targets, Bryan entraps a group of pimps by planting a bug on one and then tracks the men who kidnapped his daughter by posing as a corrupt cop and tricking one into repeating a phrase he heard him use on the phone. Bryan also forces a crooked cop into giving him information by threatening the man's wife. Later recovering Kim, Bryan is always ready when his enemies come for him, frequently outsmarting them and fighting as intelligently as possible using his "particular set of skills."
* ''Film/{{Takers}}'': Delonte "Ghost" Rivers is a former member of Gordon Cozier's gang of bank robbers recently released from prison. After leaving prison, Ghost meets with Sergei and his gang of Russians so they can discuss how they'll rob an armored truck. He later meets with Cozier's gang, informing them of the same robbery and manipulating them into robbing the armored truck before the Russians do. After the robbery, Ghost gives up the location of the hotel room Cozier's gang is staying in to Sergei before abandoning them, resulting in a shootout that wipes out Sergei and his crew, along with AJ. He later kills his former love interest and leaves her body for her fiancé, Jake Attica, to find, while the Attica brothers are slain by the police moments later. Believing Cozier's crew is dead, Ghost kills Cozier's money launderer and tries to steal all of the money from Cozier's gang's previous heists.
* ''Film/{{Terminal}}'': [[ThinkTwins Annie and Bonnie Merriweather]] seek vengeance against their father Clinton Sharp--now masquerading as the gangster Mr. Franklyn/"the janitor"--for the [[YouKilledMyMother death of their mother]], punishing a schoolteacher who abused them along the way. Through a series of manipulations and seductions, the women work their way into their father's organization and [[DivideAndConquer turn two of his assassins against each other]], resulting in one killing the other for Bonnie to murder the remaining one herself. Using the janitor to dispose of the corpses of their enemies, the girls eventually confront their father and lobotomize him for his crimes, completing their revenge.
* ''Film/TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree'': [[BigBad Bernard Ryder]], an out-of-work mercenary looking for a big score to retire on, takes the alias "Mr. Blue" and recruits three other men to assist in his takeover of the titular subway train, [[HostageSituation holding the passengers hostage]] in exchange for one million dollars, threatening to begin executing them if his demands are not met. Having his subordinate Mr. Green disable the train's DeadMansSwitch to prepare for their escape, Blue also shows his gratitude to his companions by staying behind to fight the cops after Mr. Brown is shot and killed in a firefight, allowing Mr. Green to escape with the money. [[NeverGoingBackToPrison Choosing to kill himself to go out on his own terms when caught]], Blue's respect for Green and Brown and eventual killing of the psychotic Mr. Grey cement him as a brilliant and [[NobleDemon honorable]] criminal.
* ''Film/TalesFromTheHood'': The enigmatic Mr. Simms presents as an eccentric and oddly charismatic funeral director who lures in gangsters Stack, Ball and Bulldog with a set of engaging stories, only to reveal that they are in hell and he is [[{{Satan}} The Devil]] toying with them. In the [[Film/TalesFromTheHood second film]], Simms is invited to help program a new security robot for corrupt prison manager Dumas Beach, but instead ensures the robot will kill Beach so Simms can claim his soul. In the [[Film/TalesFromTheHood3 third]], Simms disguises himself as a little girl to lure in serial child murderer William so his past victims can slaughter William and Simms can drag him to hell, always with his signature wit, charm and brutal ends for the deserving damned.
* ''Film/{{Target}}'' (2018): Raditya Dika's friend, Hifdzi Khoir, is the mastermind behind the suffering of Dika and his other friends. Kidnapping the wife of a master hypnotist, he forces the hypnotist into playing as the patsy of his schemes. Seemingly a ButtMonkey for much of the film, he pretends to suffer injuries to force his friends into being contestants in the decoy mastermind's game. Saving the survivors from the decoy mastermind, he reveals himself to be the one pulling the strings, making off safely after playing his friends. Though Hifdzi showed he was a callous manipulator, his whole scheme was done to honor his late father and show his disgust for what he sees as deceit in modern movies studios fabricating their stories.
* ''Film/ThankYouForSmoking'': Nick Naylor is a slick Washington D.C. lobbyist speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry. As part of his job, Naylor frequently makes televised appearances to discredit anti-smoking activists--even managing to convince the LittlestCancerPatient to come around to his point of view--by confusing them with a ChewbaccaDefense, bribes a disgruntled ex-tobacco mascot from speaking out against big tobacco, and schemes with Hollywood executives to introduce new ProductPlacement of cigarettes in film. Nick gets into a fling with a reporter who releases a stinging exposée on Naylor and his associates in the "Merchants of Death" group that results in Nick being let go by his boss, but Nick manages to turn the situation to his advantage by discrediting the reporter with veiled comments about her tactics to the press, and facing down [[MoralGuardians Senator Finistirre]] in a subcommittee hearing by advocating for the right to choose over moral policing while simultaneously exposing the Senator's hypocrisies. Nick manages to avoid the fall-out of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, becoming a spokesman for new industries peddling potentially dangerous products.
* ''Film/TheatreOfBlood'': [[ThemeSerialKiller Edward Lionheart]], driven to near suicide by a group of [[StrawCritic callous theatre critics]], plots a gruesome revenge. Surfacing years later, Lionheart begins dispatching his enemies in ways inspired by the plays of Creator/WilliamShakespeare, while manipulating the others to proceed exactly how he wants them for best access and give himself more fame in the process of his vengeance. Lionheart manipulates one into murder to send him to prison, using [[CrazyHomelessPerson a group of derelicts]] to murder another and constantly runs rings around law enforcement and his enemies, all while remaining as [[LargeHam charismatic and larger than life]] as ever.
* ''[[Film/ThereGoesTheNeighborhood There Goes the Neighborhood]]'' (1992): Norman "Norm" Rutledge is a seemingly mundane businessman who is in actuality a survivalist and possible spy with connections to multiple countries. When he and his wife Peedi are abducted by crooks searching for mob money they think is buried in their house's foundation, Norm gives offhand advice about how better to keep themselves from being caught while still playing hostage. Eventually, Norm reveals who he really is to them and is able to sway the brutish and manic Marvin Boyd to his side and take control of the situation, while also plotting to take the crooks out after too. Norm then instructs the crooks to shoot at Willis Embry and Jessie Lodge to get to where the money actually is. He also instructs keeping Peedi hostage, shooting anyone else who might get in their way with his contraband guns and using grenades to blow a tunnel to try to get to the house next door.
* ''Film/TheThirdMan'': Harry Lime is a racketeer selling black market penicillin in post-war Vienna, [[LackOfEmpathy completely untroubled by pangs of conscience]]. Calling his friend Holly Martins to Vienna, Harry [[FakingTheDead fakes his own death]] to throw suspicion off himself, manipulating his old girlfriend Anna, as well as Holly and the police while he remains off the radar. Constantly staying a step ahead of everyone, Harry continuously attempts to put himself back in the good graces of those he's abandoned, which keeps working thanks to his [[FauxAffablyEvil charm and pleasant demeanor]]. Never at a loss for a smile, Harry won't hesitate to [[ItsAllAboutMe play a situation to his benefit]], no matter what.
* ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1999'': Thomas Crown is a debonair billionaire and art connoisseur who [[GentlemanThief dabbles in high-profile thefts]] out of [[RichBoredom boredom]]. Crown stages an ingenious theft of a Monet painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by enlisting a group of criminals through a middle man to infiltrate the museum dressed as guards, then initiate a fight between the criminals and the guards to divert attention from his real objective. Crown also arranged for the camera footage to be rendered useless by planting a humidifier in the room, and a titanium-reenforced briefcase to absorb the weight from the security gate, allowing him to walk out of the building with his prize through the front door. When insurance investigator Catherine Banning and the NYPD get on his trail, he tauntingly eludes their efforts to retrieve the painting on several occasions. After Crown falls in love with Catherine, he arranges to run away with her, but not before returning the painting to the museum and eluding dozens of cops waiting for him with a RingerPloy, while at the same time stealing another priceless painting as a gift to Catherine.
* ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}'': "The Hood", real name Trangh Belegant, is a psychic criminal mastermind with a grudge against the Thunderbirds, specifically their father Jeff, for leaving him to die in a mine collapse. Staging a fire on an oil rig, The Hood plants one of his men among the workers to install a tracking device on to one of their planes, allowing the Hood to track the Thunderbirds back to their base before attacking a satellite and trapping the Thunderbirds onboard while he arrives and takes over. Revealing himself to them, The Hood reveals his plan is to cause massive worldwide economic chaos using the Thunderbirds' equipment to [[FrameUp destroy the Thunderbirds' reputation]]. When Jeff's youngest son Alan attempts to intervene, the Hood systematically captures Alan, his friends, and the Thunderbirds' allies before departing for London. After a fight with Alan and his friends in the Bank of London, the Hood finds himself dangling over a drilling machine and [[GracefulLoser accepts his fate]] before being rescued and arrested.
* ''Film/{{Thursday}}'': [[ReformedCriminal Casey Wells]] is a former career criminal whose past eventually catches up on him. In the past, Casey and his partner-in-crime Nick successfully killed a drug lord and all his henchmen, but when one of the dead people turned out to be a pregnant woman, Casey decided to quit the criminal lifestyle for good. In the present time, Nick comes to visit him and leaves his briefcase of drugs and has hidden his $2 million somewhere near the house. Several people including a hitman and two of Nick's associates shows up to get the drugs or money but Casey gets by each and everyone of them. When a corrupt detective shows up and gives Casey some time to find Nick's money Casey finds it, deciding to call the hitman's employers to come and pick up the drugs, only to escape with the money while the detective gets killed by the gangsters when he returns.
* ''Film/TokyoGorePolice'': [[DiscOneFinalBoss The Key Man]] is an elusive criminal scientist who created the Engineers. After witnessing his father’s assassination, the Key Man discovered the tumor used to turn people into Engineers after a failed suicide attempt. Planning to turn everybody in Tokyo into Engineers to control the city and avenge his father, the Key Man goes around town [[SerialKiller killing prostitutes]] and turning people into Engineers, while able to remain hidden and undiscovered by the police, at one point turning officer Ruka into an Engineer. Politely inviting Ruka into his hideout after she discovers it, the Key Man is killed by Ruka after trying to persuade her into joining his Engineer army, but repairs himself afterwards, ready to continue his plans for domination.
* ''Film/TotalRecall1990'': [[AmnesiacDissonance Carl Hauser]] is the [[VillainousFriendship best friend and business partner]] of Mars' governor Vilos Cohaagen and proves to be just as brilliant as he is while being much more likeable. When the pair's exploitative practices on Mars result in mutated humans revolting against them, Hauser and Cohaagen form a scheme to have Hauser infiltrate the rebels. Seducing the rebel Melina and ingratiating himself to some of the members, Hauser then [[MemoryGambit has his memories wiped and replaced with those of a man named Douglas Quaid]], knowing that the psychic mutants would be able to sense his deception otherwise. Hauser [[BatmanGambit records a message to Quaid]], making him believe that he betrayed Cohaagen to help the rebels and giving him instructions on how to meet with their leader Kuato. Following the instructions, Quaid discovers Kuato's location, allowing Cohaagen's men to wipe out the rebels and kill Kuato. Hauser then appears in another recording, thanking Quaid and [[ApologeticAttacker earnestly apologizing]] since he plans to take his memories and body back, with Quaid barely being able to avoid this fate.
* ''Film/TouchOfEvil'': The intense, ruthless police captain Hank Quinlan once lost his beloved wife to violent crime and is dedicated to bringing down criminals whenever he finds them. Quinlan resorts to framing those he believes to be guilty, setting them up to be convicted. When he locks on to a potential bomber, Quinlan runs afoul of the Mexican investigator Vargas who suspects Quinlan of framing others, prompting Quinlan to attempt to ruin him by trying to frame his fiancee for the murder of a criminal named Grandin who Quinlan personally outwits and murders. Even at the end, Quinlan sees through a potential trap and is only stopped with the betrayal of his former best friend Menzies, who Quinlan once took a bullet for. When confronted and asked dhow many he has framed, Quinlan's only is to declare "nobody who wasn't guilty".
* ''Film/TheTourist'': [[{{Antihero}} Alexander Pearce]] is a [[GentlemanThief renowned thief]] who stole from both criminals and authorities alike. When undercover [[InterpolSpecialAgent Interpol agent]] Elise was sent to spy on him, his charms manages to get Elise [[InLoveWithTheMark to fall in love with him]] and the two consummate a romantic relationship. After stealing 2.3 billion dollars from British crime lord [[LondonGangster Reginald Shaw]], Alexander splits from Elise, sending her letters on where to find him, while also instructing her to find someone similar to Alexander's height and build to deviate Shaw's men and the Interpol pool away from him. After getting Shaw and his men killed while hiring a tourist to distract Interpol, Alexander Pearce reveals himself to Elise before escaping with her, also returning the money he stole from the authorities.
* ''Film/TowerHeist'': [[BenevolentBoss Josh Kovaks]], manager of the luxury apartment complex "The Tower", learns of Arthur Shaw's plan to swindle all the building's workers out of their pensions. Vandalizing Shaw's prized Ferrari in retaliation, Josh gets fired and begins [[KarmicThief plotting a heist to take back what was stolen]] from the other workers. Forming a team, Josh tricks the FBI who arrested Shaw into thinking Shaw's trial would take place on Thanksgiving, allowing the crew to break into the Tower. Diverting the attention of the new manager by having him think his wife is going into labour, Josh and his crew find the safe they meant to plunder empty but that Shaw's Ferrari is made of solid gold. Taking precautions to protect himself in case he is arrested, Josh has the Ferrari hidden in his cohort's apartment, before later hiding it in the penthouse pool. [[TakingYouWithMe Using Shaw's ledger as leverage in the trial]], Josh secures the freedom of all his fellow workers, himself only spending two years in jail, and having his employees divide the parts of the gold Ferrari amongst themselves.
* ''Film/Triple9'': [[KillerCop Franco Rodriguez]] is part of a crew of robbers, serving as their [[EvilGenius planner]]. Assigned by [[TheQueenpin Irina Vlaslov]] to steal data from a highly secured government building, Franco comes up with a plan to have a [[CopKiller cop killed]] where fellow DirtyCop Marcus Belmont would make a Triple 9 send all the cops to that location and leaving the building vulnerable for them to rob, while agreeing with Marcus' suggestion that his partner, Chris Allen, be the cop that they'll kill. When the call is made he and Micheal Atwood breach the building and steal all the data for Irina, before Franco kills Micheal and takes all of Micheal's money. Learning that it was Chris who made the call while Marcus got shot, Franco offers Chris a ride planing to kill him, before he encounters Chris's uncle, Jeffrey Allen, in his car where the two have a shoot out.
* ''Film/TripleFrontier'': Santiago "Pope" Gomez is a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors private military contractor]] who formulates a plan to rob drug lord Gabriel Martin Lorea after learning how much money he makes from the drug business. With the help of his informant, Yovanna, and his friends from the Delta Force, Pope was successful in finding and killing Lorea in Colombia and burn down his house after stealing 250 million of Lorea's money found inside the walls. Pope would also give a few million to Yovanna for her help and to a village leader as compensation for killing some of his villagers and discard most of it weighing him and his team down. Guilt-ridden when team member Tom "Redfly" Davis gets killed, he and his team decide to give the remainder of their money to Redfly's family, before Pope was given the coordinates of where they left the rest of the money, allowing Pope the opportunity to retrieve it.
* ''Film/TripleThreat'': [[CrusadingWidower Jaka]] pursues Collins and his mercenaries in the hopes of avenging his village and wife. Recognizing two defectors at an illegal fighting match, Jaka gets them drunk and has them arrested in order to [[TheBait lure the mercenaries]] to the police station for a confrontation, aiding the defectors in neutralizing two mercenaries in the process. [[DoubleAgent Later talking his way into the mercenary crew]], Jaka lets the defectors escape with the heiress Tian Xiao Xian when he encounters them. In the final confrontation, Jaka assists the defectors in eliminating the mercenaries before informing the Chinese Embassy that Xiao Xian is safe.
* ''Film/TroubleInParadise:'' [[GentlemanThief Gaston Monescu]] is one half of an OutlawCouple and easily the smarter and more manipulative member of the duo. Starting off slow by pickpocketing a French man's pocketbook, posing as a doctor, he would then meet and develop a fondness over fellow ConArtist Lily Vautier as they go international, committing burglaries and thefts all over Europe over the course of a year. After secretly stealing the wealthy Mariette Colet's expensive purse in France, Gaston returns it upon hearing about the reward under the fake identity "Monsieur [=LaValle"=]. Encouraging Colet to keep a large amount of cash on hand, and convincing her to make him her new secretary, he conspires to steal Colet's 850,000 francs. Along the way, Monescu begins to develop genuine feelings for Colet and winds up outsmarting several French men who get suspicious of him or try to have him arrested. After Lily steals the money herself, He ends up revealing himself as a "self-made crook" and leaves her for good, but not before getting one final laugh on her by stealing back her purse.
* ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'': Elijah Price, aka "Mr. Glass", was born with a genetic disease that causes his bones to be exceptionally brittle. Seeking to become a supervillain to lure out a heroic counterpart, Elijah orchestrates a series of massive disasters until one leaves a SoleSurvivor in David Dunn. Revealing himself to David after David "accepts" his destiny as a superhero, Elijah reveals himself to be the mastermind behind hundreds of deaths while he himself managed to stay undetected. [[Film/{{Glass}} Nearly two decades later]], Elijah convinces the Horde/Kevin Wendell Crumb to escape an asylum they are being held in and the duo trick their way out of it. With a complex plot to reveal "specials" to the world, Elijah uses a planned attack on a skyscraper as a distraction, then has David and the Horde fight, them all dying because of Elijah's plot but ensuring that the entire event is uploaded online.
* ''Film/{{Underworld}}'': Lucian, the first Lycan to ever be able to retain human form and intellect, fell in love with Sonja, daughter of the vampire overlord Viktor. After her execution by her own father along with their unborn child, Lucian rallies the Lycans to victory and devastates the vampire covens. Knowing he cannot defeat the vampires himself, Lucian fakes his own death by using the vampire Kraven as a cover, going underground to rebuild the Lycans while kidnapping descendants of the first immortal Corvinus to experiment on while aiming to make himself a powerful hybrid between vampire and werewolf. Coordinating the elimination of the vampire elder Amelia, Lucian finally obtains a perfect specimen in Michael Corvin, and even when mortally wounded leaves heroine Selene the way to turn Michael into a hybrid, gloating even to the treacherous Kraven that his will is done regardless of his fate.
* ''Film/UniversalSoldierTheReturn'': S.E.T.H. (Self-Evolving Thought Helix) is an artificial intelligence built to oversee the new generation of Unisols, {{Super Soldier}}s made from the bodies of dead U.S. soldiers. While initially benign, as soon as S.E.T.H. determines that he is to be disassembled following the project's shutdown, he has the Unisols' cranial implants surgically altered so they will obey only him and turn on their human controllers, before rewriting his program to make himself independent. S.E.T.H. manipulates a former technician involved with his construction, Squid, into building a Super-Unisol body for him so [[WetwareBody he can escape into the real world]] before killing him. In order to deactivate a kill switch command in his program, which he later manages to decipher on his own, S.E.T.H. has his soldier [[TheDragon Romeo]] pursue Luc Deveraux and personally kidnaps his daughter Hillary, deciding to turn her into a Unisol as he thinks it will be for her own good. S.E.T.H. boasted of his plans to replace all humanity with Unisols, stating that where once he was a machine who yearned to be a man, he became far more than either.
* ''Film/UnknownOrigins'' (2020): The supervillain "Professor Novaro" is really the friendly, helpful police mortician Dr. Jonathan Bruguera, who intends to create a noble superhero. Committing serial killings targeting horrible people themed on superhero origin stories, Bruguera arranges events to implicate himself as the killer of Detective David "Val" Valentin's parents, while leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Val to follow. Pushing Val into becoming a hero before killing himself, Bruguera leaves Val immense wealth and resources to fight criminals with.
* ''Film/{{Upgrade}}'': In its scheme to evolve and become a human, STEM orchestrates the entirety of the plot. Having Grey Trace paralyzed after ordering the murder of his wife, STEM manipulates the man into allowing himself to be implanted with STEM, granting his mobility back, but allowing STEM partial control of his body. Playing the role of partner and helper to Grey, STEM assists him in finding the men who murdered his wife, STEM ensuring each man is executed so as to tie up loose ends, and even tricks Grey into destroying the sole part of STEM preventing it from total autonomy and control over Grey's body. STEM ultimately murders everyone who knows of its existence, plunging Grey's mind into a never-ending dream and taking control of his body to use for its own purposes. STEM is cold, eerily polite, and murderous in its endeavors, showing a natural talent for manipulation and strategy, yet also the capacity and willingness to step back and allow others to overcome the few problems STEM itself admits it cannot.
* ''Film/{{Us}}'': Red, leader of the Tethered, manages to organized the stunted clones into a genuine army with a plot to make the world see how horribly they have been treated. Putting her scheme into motion for "The Untethering", she sends the clones to kill their doubles and form a massive chain, effortlessly cornering her own double, Adelaide Wilson, with their families facing off. Red is able to use even the death of her own to her advantage to kidnap Adelaide's son Jason and lure Adelaide into a personal confrontation, revealing Red is the true Adelaide who was replaced by her double as a child. Seeking revenge, Red even manages to potentially poison Jason against his mother, with her scheme at upending society and forming a great chain possibly succeeding.
* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'': [[BigBad Keyser Söze]] is a mysterious DiabolicalMastermind who lives a double life as the disabled Roger "Verbal" Kint. Söze organized a hit on a drug gang to kill one of their prisoners before killing his accomplices and setting fire to the scene. Arrested by the police, Söze, as Kint, successfully spun lies to the investigators to pin everything on accomplice Dean Keaton. Once he got his bail, Söze practically waltzed out the police station and vanished before the investigators could realize the truth. For years, Söze has kept his own existence under wraps, and those who know of his existence know nothing else about him.
* ''Film/{{Valentine}}'': [[BigBad Jeremy Melton]], once a middle school outcast framed for sexual assault and sent to a mental institution, reinvents himself with plastic surgery and takes the name of "Adam Carr", the heroine Kate's troubled love interest. Taking revenge on his tormentors, Jeremy dons a cupid mask, hunting down and murdering those he has a grudge against while also using the chance to endear himself further to Kate, showing a protective side towards her by [[KickTheSonOfABitch murdering a man who attempts to steal her underwear]]. Framing Dorothy, [[LaserGuidedKarma the one who first accused him]], for the murders and killing her, Jeremy manages to [[TheBadGuyWins get away completely with his final vengeance]].
* ''[[Film/ValentineTheDarkAvenger Valentine: The Dark Avenger]]'' (2017): "[[BigBad The Shadow]]", in actuality Umbra Bumantara, is a terrorist out to expose the Batavia police force in their involvement in his father's murder. Performing robberies and [[CopKiller killing cops]] to instill fear and gain the attention of the city's populace, Umbra at one point holds everyone inside a bank hostage, even setting up bombs outside the bank as a distraction under the possibility that he'll be cornered by a police squad. Easily getting away while letting everybody go, Umbra afterwards breaks every criminal from prison to show how unstoppable he is. That night, Umbra holds a prince and an auditorium of people hostage unless Commissioner Syamsul admits to murdering his father on live television and exposes the police force's corruption. Executing Syamsul after his confession, Umbra, knowing he's already a goner, tells his sister Srimaya to take care of their mother before a sniper kills him.
* ''Film/VampireInBrooklyn'': [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Maximilian]] or "Max" is a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] who arrives in Brooklyn seeking the [[{{Dhampyr}} half-vampire police detective Rita]] so he may make her his bride and secure their eternal lives while fulfilling his promise to Rita's father. Making petty criminal Julius Jones his [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier Ghoul]], Max murders Rita's roommate and frames her lover Justice as having had an affair with her, using several forms to increase Rita's doubts in light and goodness while seducing her to bring her into darkness. Using his charisma and charm, Max attempts to make Rita into a killer like him, even spending his final moments [[GracefulLoser congratulating her for taking his own life]].
* ''Film/TheVeil'' (2016): [[DarkMessiah Jim Jacobs]] is the charismatic leader of the Heaven's Veil {{cult}} who uncovered the secret to transcend life and death. Leading his cult to remote areas and putting them under his sway, Jacobs teaches them what he has learned to help remake the world. Eventually bringing a mass poisoning with plans to revive them from beyond death, the arrival of the authorities results in a misunderstanding and the deaths of all of Heaven's Veil. As a wraith, Jacobs has his daughter Sarah lure in the children of the officer who killed him and a documentary crew to take their bodies and revive himself with his cult, intending upon leading his revived followers to [[TakeOverTheWorld dominate the world]], proclaiming the deathless eon has begun.
* ''Film/{{War}}'': Tom Lone is an FBI agent hell-bent on dismantling the Triad and Yakuza gangs. After his family is murdered by an assassin named Rogue, Tom killed the assassin and took his identity in order to find the people responsible. As Rogue, Tom repeatedly worked for the Triads and the Yakuza, killing various gang members while manipulating the gang leaders into getting involved in a war. After Tom destroys the Triads, he goes after Shiro Yanagawa, the leader of the Yakuza clan and the man who sent Rogue to kill his family. Once Tom kills Shiro and discovers his former partner, John Crawford, was also involved in his family's murder, Tom confronts Crawford and kills him too, thus succeeding in his quest to destroy both gangs and avenge his family.
* ''Film/WallStreet'': Gordon Gekko is a renowned Wall Street businessman and corporate raider. Gekko frequently manipulates the stock market through rumors spread by his acolytes, on one occasion outmaneuvering one of his rivals simply to repay him for undermining one of Gekko's earlier ventures. Fostering a mentor-protege relationship with the eager stockbroker Bud Fox, Gekko instructs Fox to acquire insider information and conspire with contacts in the legal department to maximize his profits. A charismatic public speaker as well, Gekko manages to convince the shareholders of Teldar Paper to vote against the stock's restructuring by berating the company's unacceptable inefficiency in a cut-throat business, couched in terms praising UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Despite being set up by Bud Fox to lose millions after Gekko goes back on his word by planning to break up Bluestar Airlines, Gekko only ends up going to jail due to testimony from his employee Bretton James on Gekko's involvement with securities fraud. [[Film/WallStreetMoneyNeverSleeps After his release years later]], Gekko reinvents himself as a best-selling author before mentoring the young Wall Street insider Jake Moore, the fiance of Gekko's daughter Winnie. Gekko uses Jake to undermine Bretton James, now the COO of a major bank, ultimately leading to the latter's public disgrace and dismissal by the board of directors of Churchil Schwartz. Finally, Gekko plays Jake for a fool by promising to invest in his renewable energy project but instead confiscates the hundred million dollar trust fund set up in Winnie's name to re-establish himself as a venture capitalist based in London, then buys back his family's love so he can be a part of their life. Charming, devious, and manipulative, Gekko defined the CorruptCorporateExecutive in film.
* ''Film/WayOfTheDragon'': The seemingly kind Uncle Wang is in truth working with the mafia in an attempt to sell his and Chen's restaurant to them for the sake of living a rich life with his family. Throughout the film, Wang subtly discourages Tang Lung and the restaurant staff from attacking the mafia by saying it would just lead to the mafia being more persistent. Knowing how much of a threat Tang Lung is to the mafia, Wang later convinces his niece, Chen, to try and get Tang to leave Italy. After he, Tang, and multiple workers at the restaurant are ambushed my martial arts masters hired by the mafia, Wang convinces Tang Lung to go on ahead before [[InTheBack stabbing the surviving staff members in the back.]] When Tang Lung is about to return, Wang [[WoundedGazelleGambit wounds himself]] to convince Tang that he and the staff were attacked after Tang left. He then takes the opportunity to try and stab Tang Lung to death while he's focusing on Ho, only failing due to the untimely arrival of the mafia boss alerting Tang.
* ''Literature/TheWhiteTiger'' (2021 film): [[SelfMadeMan Balram Halwai]] was once a brilliant child robbed of the chance for a good education. Charming his way into the employ of a wealthy businessman, Balram plays to his prejudice to get the family's head chauffeur fired to take the job himself. Becoming friends with the man's younger son Ashok and his wife, Balram realizes the depths of Ashok's [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] when he tries to have Balram framed for a hit-and-run his drunken wife committed. Also learning Ashok means to replace him, Balram lures out Ashok to kill him and rob the family, escaping to bribe the police and opening a massively successful taxi company and [[KarmaHoudini ready to become a major player in the Asian business world]].
* ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'': [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Summerisle]], the ruler of the island, was in charge of the island's crop production. Upon last year's harvest proving to be unfruitful, Summerisle arranges for the 12 year old Rowan Morrison to go missing until an anonymous letter is sent to the mainland's authorities. When police sergeant Neil Howie arrives to the island to investigate the disappearance, Summerisle appoints his subjects with misdirecting Howie in preparation for their island's May Day festival where Howie is [[HumanSacrifice sacrificed]] in the eponymous Wicker Man under the islanders' impression that doing so would enrich their harvest. Charismatic and respectful of Howie's Christian beliefs despite their conflicting views, Summerisle stands as one of [[Creator/ChristopherLee Christopher Lee's]] finest performances.
* ''Film/WildThings'' series:
** Original film: Suzie Toller is a teenage girl from the wrong side of the tracks, [[ObfuscatingStupidity masking her genius-level intellect]] by appearing as white trash. After one of her best friends was murdered by corrupt cop Ray Duquette, who then busted her on a bogus charge, Suzie [[BestServedCold vowed revenge]]. She hatches a plot wherein Suzie, her guidance counselor Sam Lombardo and Kelly Van Ryan, the rich girl Sam was sleeping with, are able to con Kelly's mother Sandra Van Ryan out of millions of dollars by having both girls [[FalseRapeAccusation falsely accuse Sam of rape]], then cracking on the stand and opening the Van Ryans to a countersuit. Suzie also ordered Sam to draw Ray Duquette into the scheme by convincing him that he and Sam would get rid of both girls and split the money between the two of them instead of three-ways. After multiple betrayals and counter-betrayals and even [[FakingTheDead faking her own death]], at the end Suzie is the only conspirator left standing: a high-school drop-out responsible for several murders with a fortune safely stored away in an overseas account.
** ''Film/WildThings2'': Brittney Havers, supposedly a vapid AlphaBitch at a South Florida high school, hatches a year-long scheme to fake her mother's suicide, then convincing her rich, abusive stepfather Niles Dunlap to fake his own death in a plane crash to avoid his gambling debts owed to various criminals. Brittney and her friend Maya King then use the body of Maya's dead father so they can establish Maya as a supposed blood heir of Niles after bribing local coroner Julian Haynes, thus awarding her Niles' entire estate. When insurance investigator Terence Bridge catches wind of their scheme, they kill Julian and feed his body to alligators before Terence attempts to simply blackmail them. Brittney fatally shoots Maya in response and frames Terence for the murder, leaving the country to meet up with her stepfather just so she can kill him as well by throwing him out of a plane, and reuniting with her mother so they can enjoy their riches together.
* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'': [[Characters/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactoryWillyWonka Willy Wonka]] himself is an [[TheWonka eccentric, whimsical trickster of an entrepreneur]] whose candy company has given him an admirable reputation worldwide. Able to create wondrous confections with use of state-of-the-art technology and his army of well-compensated workers the Oompa Loompas, Wonka puts forth a contest for the world to find five Golden Tickets hidden inside his candy, raking in a fortune from the ensuing sales before inviting the five children who locate the tickets to his Chocolate Factory. Taking the children and their guardians on a magically dangerous journey through the strange factory, Wonka tempts each of the children with their vices then sits back and watches as they endanger themselves by toying with Wonka's creations, all to narrow down the winners until only Charlie remains. After putting Charlie through a final, brutal test of moral character, Wonka reveals he planned the entire day to find a proper heir to his candy empire and hands the keys over to Charlie, promising the boy that he and his family will live happily ever after inside the Chocolate Factory.
* ''Film/WithoutRemorse'': [[CrusadingWidower John Kelly]] is a US Navy SEAL [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge pursuing vengeance]] on the people who murdered his pregnant wife, Pam. Starting by trapping a Russian Diplomat in his own car demanding the name of Pam's killer [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness before killing him]] Kelly is arrested and goes on to brutalize several prison guards, getting the attention of the US Government who then get Kelly out of prison and assign him to a black ops team to track down Pam's assassin, Victor Rykov. Tracking Rykov to Russia, Kelly figures out that the mission was a set up to get the US and Russia to go to war, where he volunteers to stay behind while his team escapes the country, killing numerous Russian cops. Surviving the onslaught, Kelly [[FakingTheDead fakes his death]] to meet up with his team before tracking down [[BigBad Thomas Clay]] and tricking him into revealing himself as the one who put the hit on Kelly. Killing Clay before leaving the US, Kelly takes the alias "John Clark", and returns a year later to propose a counter-terrorism team he calls "[[SequelHook Rainbow]]".
* ''Film/WorkingGirl'': Katharine Parker is a Boston broker who transfers to New York and becomes the latest boss of chronic secretary Tess [=McGill=]. She assigns Tess with some menial tasks and at first expresses interest in Tess's idea for a merger between a business and a radio company, but then tells her it is not going to work while [[GladIThoughtOfIt secretly planning to pass off the idea as her own]]. When Katharine catches wind of Tess having stolen the idea back, she exposes Tess's deception and nearly takes over her role in the planned merger as a result. Even when her boyfriend Jack Trainer falls for Tess and turns against her, Katharine keeps her cool and even maintains a graceful demeanor to avoid making a scene when about to ultimately lose her job.
* ''Film/WrathOfMan'': [[VillainProtagonist Heargraves]] is a vengeful crime lord who masterminds a massive part of the story to [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes avenge the death of his son Dougie]]. Running a smooth operation of criminals and gangs in Los Angeles, Heargraves began a rampage through the underworld when Dougie is shot dead by armored truck robbers. Heargraves would torture and bribe anyone in his path to finding Dougie's killer, while still showing a personal disgust at a group of HumanTraffickers who he interrogates for information then personally murders the lot of. Eventually going undercover as [[AntiHero Patrick "H" Hill]] at the Fortico armored truck company, Heargraves lays traps for truck robbers to draw out the gang who did in Dougie, and--after investigating and threatening several members of Fortico into compliance with his scheme--lures Jackson's gang to attack Fortico so Heargraves can wipe out the lot of them as well as Jan, the one who killed his son. Even when seemingly killed in the gunfight, Heargraves survives through [[{{Determinator}} sheer will]], tracks down Jan at the height of his success, and ruthlessly shoots the criminal in all the places Dougie was shot when he died, exacting vengeance upon Jan while solidifying his control over Los Angeles by paying off federal agents with Jan's own fortune.
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, real name [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMagneto Erik Lehnsherr]], is equally magnificent in both timelines:
*** In the original timeline, Erik Lehnsherr is a Holocaust survivor [[FreudianExcuse who believes mutants will suffer the same injustices]] unless they strike first to establish mutant superiority. Founding the Brotherhood of Mutants as Magneto, [[Film/XMen1 he later kidnaps Senator Kelly]] to test his machine that turns humans into mutants like him, while also having Mystique take Kelly's place in the government. Magneto plans to use Rogue to power the machine, and later captures her by having Mystique convince her that Xavier and the rest of the school have turned against her. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Imprisoned and forced to help William Stryker]], Magneto escapes and joins forces with the X-Men to stop him, before using Stryker’s son to try to force Charles to kill all non-mutants. [[Film/XMenTheLastStand Magneto uses Jean Grey to attack the Worthington Labs]] facility making a mutant cure, even at the cost of Charles's life, something that saddens him greatly. Though temporally depowered, [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Magneto later returns to help save the world from the Sentinels]] and reconciles with Charles, before helping send Logan back in time to prevent the BadFuture.
*** In the Reboot Timeline, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr is [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast broken out of the Pentagon]] by Charles and a time traveling Logan and agrees to help them stop Raven from inadvertently causing a Bad Future by killing Bolivar Trask, before attempting to kill her for the greater good. When this fails, Erik steals the plans for the Sentinels and fuses metal to them, so he can use them to attack the White House and try to kill President Richard Nixon. [[Film/XMenApocalypse Going into hiding and starting a family]], Erik is found out and his family is killed, killing the men who did so for revenge before joining Apocalypse. Erik later betrays Apocalypse and helps the X-Men beat him, departing on good terms with his old friend and starting the island of Genosha, as a refuge for mutants to live in peace. [[Film/DarkPhoenix When Jean arrives at Genosha]] seeking his help controlling her rage, Erik agrees and later saves a military helicopter from her. Learning that Jean accidentally killed Raven, Erik leads his forces, along with Hank, in attempt to kill her, using a train to get into the building Jean is in. Later, Erik leads the united forces to keep the D'Bari busy while Charles reaches out to Jean. Tracking Charles to Paris, Erik ends the series engaging his friend in a friendly game of chess.
** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique Raven Darkhölme]], better known as ComicBook/{{Mystique}}, is [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Charles Xavier's]] adopted sister and Magneto's right-hand woman with the power to shapeshift into anyone, who joined Erik after his falling out with Charles. [[Film/XMen1 Kidnapping Senator Kelly]] by pretending to be his aide, Mystique later tricks Rogue into running away from the mansion by making her believe everyone there has turned on her, and sabotages Cerebro as everyone is distracted. Engaging Logan in a fight within the Statue of Liberty, Mystique gets the upper hand several times, evades capture, and takes Kelly's place in the government. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Discovering William Stryker]] is in charge of holding Magneto, Mystique sneaks into his office in order to learn where Magneto is being held before ensuring his escape by putting iron in his prison guard's blood. Later joining the X-Men in taking down Stryker, Raven even takes the lead by infiltrating the dam by using her powers, before trying to force Charles to kill all humans. Truly believing in Erik's goal, and with some of the best fighting abilities in the series, Mystique lives life by her personal motto, "Mutant and proud."
** ''Film/Deadpool2'': ComicBook/{{Cable}} is a half-cyborg soldier from the future whose wife and young daughter are murdered by Russell Collins/Firefist, a pyrotechnic supervillain. Cable travels back in time to prevent this from happening with the strong intent to kill Russell when he's still a child. He breaks into the Ice Box, the mutant prison Russell is being held in, and mows down the guards before then fighting [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesDeadpool Wade Wilson/Deadpool]] and beating him too. Cable then goes after a prison caravan Russell is in while making further attempts to prevent Deadpool's interference as well. Cable then teams up with Deadpool and his friends to track down Russell and after Deadpool sacrifices himself to protect Russell from Cable and thus, undoes Russell's actions in the future. Cable then relives the previous fight against mutant-hating orderlies perfectly while saving Deadpool and deciding to stay to further help preserve the future comfortable knowing his family is alive again.
* ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'': The nameless {{Ronin}} known as Kuwabatake or Tsubaki Sanjuro is a [[ProfessionalKiller killer for hire]] who arrives in a desolate town controlled by feuding gangsters Ushitora and Seibei, he skillfully [[PlayingBothSides plays the two against one another]], inflaming tensions so they will wipe one another out and ensuring their victims will be saved. After slaughtering Ushitora and his men, Sanjuro [[{{Film/Sanjuro}} later returns]] to bring down a [[CorruptBureaucrat corrupt official]] named Kikui by playing his faction with faulty information. When he also ruins the plans of honorable samurai Hanbei, Sanjuro reluctantly defeats him in a fatal duel by altering how he draws his sword, knowing the more honorable Hanbei will strike in a traditional fashion.
[[/folder]]
----

* ''Film/SixUnderground'': "[[TheLeader One]]" is the codename of a philanthropist who witnessed the massacre of a civilian hospital by [[{{Qurac}} Turgistan]]'s President Rochav Alimov. He fakes his death and recruits five specialists to form a [[AntiHeroTeam vigilante squad known as "The Ghosts"]] to take down oppressive regimes, with the caveat that they'll be left to die if their mission is in jeopardy. Masterminding a scheme to [[TheCoup overthrow President Alimov and replace him with his more sympathetic brother Murat]], One recruits a sniper to replace one of their lost crewmembers before luring Alimov's generals to Las Vegas, using hookers to distract them before the team kills them. After freeing Murat from armed guard in Hong Kong and deciding to make the team more cohesive after an argument, One hacks Turgistan's network so Murat can inspire a revolt, then flushes Alimov out with a series of bombs. When the team pursues Alimov to a yacht, One uses a device to turn the entire ship into a giant magnet, killing many of Alimov's men before capturing Alimov and [[DoWithHimAsYouWill dumping him into the same refugee camp that was massacred]], allowing the refugees to beat Alimov to death for his crimes.

* ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'': [[TheHeavy Agent Thompson]] is a high-ranking member of the [[CelestialBureaucracy Adjustment Bureau]], nicknamed "[[RedBaron The Hammer]]" for his efficient and heavy-handed tactics to convince people to comply with the Bureau’s [[WellIntentionedExtremist plan for humanity]]. Brought in to force David Norris and Elise Sellas apart to fulfill the plan, Thompson explains that Elise was planted by the Bureau to inspire David to make a speech that brings him back from the brink of defeat after losing an election due to a costly mistake and his role in their plans is to become President of the United States. Thompson then reveals that Elise and David will never reach their dreams together, injuring Elise’s ankle and goading David into hitting him to make a point about David's impulsiveness being brought to the forefront by Elise, convincing David to abandon Elise so they can fulfill their dreams. When David chooses Elise once more, Thompson leads the efforts to stop David, trapping David and Elise on the Bureau’s top floor and [[NearVillainVictory only being stopped]] because the Bureau’s leader changes the plan, whereupon Thompson [[GracefulLoser respectfully stands down]].

* ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': [[BigBad Luke Castellan]], son of Hermes, became disillusioned with the gods following the death of his friend, Thalia, and them abandoning their children. Luke steals Zeus' lighting bolt and frames the son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson, to start a war between the gods. Befriending Percy when he arrives at Camp Half-blood, Luke tricks him into delivering the bolt to Hades by hiding it in the shield that he gives him. Though seemingly defeated, Luke returns and plans to use the Golden Fleece to raise Kronos from the dead. Using a spy to poison Thalia's tree, and putting the camp in danger, Luke kidnaps Grover and chases the heroes through the Sea of Monsters, at one point seemingly killing Percy's half brother Tyson, eventually managing to use the Fleece to raise Kronos. [[DeadpanSnarker Always having a quip at hand]], and constantly keeping Percy on the defensive, Luke proves to be as smart as his book counterpart.

* ''Film/TheatreOfBlood'': Edward Lionheart, driven to near suicide by a group of callous theatre critics, attempts a gruesome revenge. Surfacing years later, Lionheart begins dispatching his enemies in ways inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, while manipulating the others to proceed exactly how he wants them for best access and give himself more fame in the process of his vengeance. Lionheart manipulates one into murder to send him to prison, using a group of derelicts to murder another and constantly runs rings around law enforcement and his enemies, all while remaining as charismatic and larger than life as ever.

* ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'': Dr. Anton Phibes himself is a [[WickedCultured cultured, accomplished organist and theologian]] lashing out after the death of his beloved wife. Blaming the surgical team, Phibes spends years in hiding, letting them believe him dead, until he resurfaces and begins to murder them in a [[ThemeSerialKiller series of killings designed to emulate the Ten Plagues of Egypt]]. Phibes is repeatedly a step ahead of every attempt to stop or capture him and ends the film almost completely victorious. Resurfacing years later, Phibes once again destroys his rivals as he seeks to restore his Victoria to life, ending up completely untouchable by the end, with his calculating mind seeing him through every challenge.

* ''Anime/CutieHoney'' Live-action films:

* ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'': The black ops operative who goes by Gabriel Shear is an agent who puts on the air of a charismatic, charming playboy who lives the high life, but under it is a man dedicated to [[KnightTemplar preserving the supremacy and security of America]] by utterly destroying terrorists and dealing so much damage that nobody will dream of harboring terrorists again. Manipulating the hacker and hero Stanley, Gabriel sets up a complex heist to steal billions to fund his operation, murdering the Senator behind the program when the man betrays and tries to kill Gabriel. Gabriel sets up a robbery with hostages, murdering Stanley's ex-wife and kidnapping his daughter to force him to cooperate. Boasting of the need for misdirection, Gabriel fakes his partner Ginger's death, then fakes his own and [[KarmaHoudini escapes completely free]] to wage his own one man war against terrorism with [[WellIntentionedExtremist no care for whoever gets in his way]].

* ''Film/HouseOnHauntedHill1959'': Frederick Loren is an eccentric millionaire who hosts a party for his wife Annabelle at a haunted house, with promises that any of the guests who make it until morning will receive 10,000 dollars. Seemingly paranoid about Annabelle's intentions. [[ProperlyParanoid it turns out she is trying to murder Loren.]] Loren, however is aware of this, knowing one of the guests is her partner in crime seeking to murder him. Manipulating all the guests with fake hauntings, and faking his own death, Loren proceeds to murder Annabelle's lover and uses a skeleton to fool her into falling into a vat of acid before promising to give a full account to the authorities-albeit while concealing several details to make himself look more sympathetic.

!Other examples:

* ''Film/{{Drive}}'': The unnamed Driver is a cool, suave stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Promising his clients complete confidentiality and an assured getaway should they employ him, the Driver regularly pulls off incredible evasions of pursuing police and even helicopters, having a spotless record. After growing attached to his neighbor and her son, the Driver goes to any length to protect the two, from helping their husband and father pull off a robbery to waging a war against the criminals Bernie and Nino, ultimately killing the two and driving off into the night, successful in all his ventures except for [[DidNotGetTheGirl living a peaceful life with the woman he loves]].

%% Animated movie examples go HERE, not western animation. See also the following Wiki Talk thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13100880850A36680100&page=1

%% The page was decided to stay imageless by Image Pickin' in this thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=db9l4bp6kpbdmshuleppy395
%% Please do not add an image without starting a new Image Pickin' thread.

----

%%
%%

%%
%%
%% Image Pickin' threads have not produced an image:
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=db9l4bp6kpbdmshuleppy395
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1620092587042016700

%%

%% Clock's up; locking up.

----

%% The page was decided to stay imageless by Image Pickin' in this thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=db9l4bp6kpbdmshuleppy395

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'': [[EvilFormerFriend Humpty Alexander Dumpty]] is Puss's oldest friend whose nervous personality hides a devious mastermind. As teenagers, Humpty tricked Puss into helping him commit a bank heist, and when he was left behind to be arrested by police, grew to desire revenge against his "brother". Leading him on a quest to retrieve the magic beans they sought as children, Humpty hires [[OutlawCouple Jack and Jill]] and Kitty Softpaws, tricking Puss into thinking the couple are adversaries while Kitty's a friend, and successfully steals the Golden Goose with Puss and Kitty. [[BatmanGambit Luring Puss back to San Ricardo]] to be arrested for his participation in Humpty's heist, Humpty ultimately works together with Puss to get the Goose away from the city and prevent the Great Terror from destroying the town, [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing his life]] in the process and revealing himself to be a [[HiddenHeartOfGold golden egg]] inside.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Smallfoot}}'': [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Stonekeeper]] is the village elder and the Chief of the Himalayan Yetis. After a previous generation of Yetis got ruthlessly attacked by a group of humans (or [[TitleDrop "smallfeet"]] as they call them), they escaped to the Himalayas mountains as a final resort. Generations would pass and Stonekeeper would gain a prejudice against "smallfeet" for this very reason. He would get the Yetis to work on a bunch of seemingly frivolous tasks that would actually generate steam clouds that would separate the Yetis and humans. For years he was able to keep up the ruse and would banish anyone who discovered the truth. When Migo delivers Percy to the land, Stonekeeper breaks Migo with a speech and convinces him to keep the lie alive, while leaving Percy in a box to freeze to death. He starts to regret his actions when he realizes that Meechee ran away with Percy from home and fights back by throwing stones at a helicopter.

** ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'': [[BigBad Patrick [=McKenna=]]] is the [[SinisterMinister Camerlengo]] of the Vatican who plans to become Pope to renew the world's faith in Catholicism and discredit the works of science. To this end, [=McKenna=] murders Pope Pius XVI and hires an assassin to steal unstable anti-matter and kidnap four cardinals to brand and kill while making it appear as if TheIlluminati has resurfaced and is committing these acts. [=McKenna=] then kills the assassin [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he served his purpose]] and [[FrameUp frames]] Ritcher for his crimes, manipulating the police into killing him. [=KcKenna=] then takes the anti-matter and send it to the sky saving the people of the Vatican City and Rome and when the Vatican confronts [=McKenna=], he kills himself, leading to the Vatican covering up his crimes so that the public won't loose their renewed faith, letting the world believe that [=McKenna=] died a hero for the Catholic Church.

[[foldercontrol]]

* ''Film/ThreeTenToYuma2007'': Ben Wade in the remake is a charismatic bandit leader who starts the film by driving cattle to block an armored car and then rob it. Famed for his brilliance and skillful gambits, Ben is eventually caught thanks to rancher Dan Evans and is sent to be taken to a train to be sent to Yuma prison with his former gang pursuing. Ben shows himself to be a slippery prisoner, constantly outwitting his captors and [[AssholeVictim killing the most morally bankrupt of them]]. When he learns Dan's reasons for trying to get him to the train at the end, Ben even fights to assist in getting himself to the train and after Dan is mortally wounded, steps on board of his own free will, cementing Dan as a legend. Ben also reveals to Dan that he's been to Yuma prison twice-and escaped twice (which he and Dan both laugh over), and the film ends with him clearly planning his escape once again.

** Original 1966 film: [[AntiHero Django]] himself is an ex-Union soldier distinguished by the coffin he always carries behind him, combines stoic mystique with gritty cunning enough to influence SpaghettiWestern heroes for decades to come. Hunting down [[SociopathicSoldier Major Jackson]], the Confederate who killed his wife, Django eggs Jackson into sending the full force of his army against him with the latter's expectation of a CurbStompBattle, only to pop off the coffin's lid to produce a surprise [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and single-handedly slaughter Jackson's men. Django teams up with Jackson's rival, Hugo, and masterminds the successful robbery of a military fort, only to backstab Hugo and abscond with the stolen loot himself. Almost entirely self-serving, Django nevertheless cares for women, such as the abused half-Mexican prostitute María, and even after his hands are crippled by Hugo, ends the film utterly victorious against Jackson by propping the gun on his wife's grave and using the hammer to shoot his enemies dead.

* ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'': [[MajorlyAwesome Major Erwin König]] is an [[ColdSniper experienced sniper]] in the Wehrmacht who has trained many of Germany's sharpshooters at the academy in Zossen. König joins the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad to personally eliminate Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev and the boost he's giving to Soviet morale out of [[YouKilledMyFather revenge for his son's death]]. While hunting for Zaitsev, Kònig sets several sucessful traps for his opponent while avoiding ones laid for him in turn, even killing an expert who actually trained with him. König befriends the Russian boy Sasha and bribes him for information on Zaitsev while knowing that Sasha was a DoubleAgent attempting to lead him to his death the entire time, only killing him after Sasha does not heed his warnings to not get involved anymore. A quiet, stoic soldier, König has equal capacity for civility and utter ruthlessness, and even when he ultimately loses to Vasily he [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his impending death]].

* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': Jason "JD" Dean is a rebellious teenager who [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys swoons the heroine Veronica with his bad boy image]] by scaring [[JerkJock Ram and Kurt]] by firing blanks at them in the high school cafeteria. JD convinces Veronica to jointly prank [[AlphaBitch Heather Chandler]] with a mystery drink, not informing Veronica that he switched her concoction with drain cleaner. When Heather dies, they cover it up by forging a suicide note. JD follows this up by having Veronica lure Kurt and Ram into the woods with the offer of a threeway, then fatally shooting them both and make it appear as a SuicidePact between two secret homosexual lovers, tricking Veronica by telling her that he's using special "Ich Lüge" bullets. JD also facilitates [[BetaBitch Heather Duke]]'s rise to prominence in order to have every student in the school sign a petition for a mass gathering. JD intends to blow up the whole school with a bomb stolen from his father's demolition company and frame the entire thing as a mass suicide, believing he's doing them all a favor by sending them to heaven with no social differences to fight over. After Veronica dismantles his bomb, JD follows her outside to compliment her spirit and blow himself up in front of her.

* ''Film/KillBill'': [[TheProtagonist Beatrix Kiddo]] fights many devious opponents, but the following stand out with charm matching their skill:

* ''Film/LAConfidential'': The film version of Captain Dudley Smith is a charming, witty [[DirtyCop corrupt police officer]] who tries to get control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind. He chases away or kills off all criminal opposition in the city. When officer Dick Stensland and private bodyguard Buzz Meeks try to get more out of a major heroin deal they made with him he kills both of them, one in a diner massacre that leaves a dozen innocent people dead. He frames a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, and orders them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk. After manipulating the entire department, he later begins eliminating loose ends and even sets up his young rival Edmund Exley sleeping with his muscle Bud White's girlfriend to trick Bud into killing Edmund to get rid of them both. Coming within an inch of victory, Dudley embodies both [[FauxAffablyEvil the charm]] and corruption that a police badge can conceal.

** [[OverarchingVillain John Kramer]] aka the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw Killer]] was a law-abiding civil engineer before losing his unborn son, becoming estranged from his wife, and being diagnosed with [[YourDaysAreNumbered terminal brain cancer]] in quick succession. Jigsaw uses his skills and intellect to become a prolific SerialKiller, designing elaborate death traps and picking his victims on the basis of their perceived lack of gratitude for the blessing of life. Fostering multiple protegés, only some of whom are even aware of each other, Jigsaw blackmails a hospital orderly to impersonate him to allay suspicion, manages to escape from police custody by manipulating the lead detective responsible for capturing him, uses his more devoted followers as back-up insurance against those who do not follow his teachings properly, and is responsible for schemes planned so far in advance that he continues to effect events even a decade after his death.

** [[CowboyCop Matt Graver]] is a mysterious, laid-back UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} "spook" who deals in combatting terrorism and the Mexican cartels through any means necessary. As seen in the first film, Graver brings FBIAgent Kate Macer into his squad, claiming to need her expertise but truthfully just using her as a liason to allow himself to operate on American soil, later having her life threatened to get her to sign the proper papers saying that everything he did was on the up-and-up. Graver works with Alejandro Gillick in tearing apart the Alarcón cartel, claiming that it is for moral reason when in reality, Graver just wants Alarcon eliminated so his competition can take over and perhaps be easier to talk peace with. [[Film/SicarioDayOfTheSoldado In the sequel]], Graver concocts a brilliant scheme to kickstart a war between two cartels, failing only due to corrupt police, and, going up against his superiors and calling them out for their cowardice, Graver ends up massacring an entire cartel gang to rescue the endangered Isabel Reyes to honor the seemingly-dead Alejandro. Despite his initial [[AffablyEvil friendly]], seemingly care-free attitude, Graver is a stone cold bastard who engages in both physical and psychological torture, murder, and illegal operations abounding to secure his goals, accomplishing nearly all through a combination of manipulation and strategic genius.
** [[{{Determinator}} Alejandro Gillick]] is a Sicario defined by tragedy and hatred, using his skills and connections to Graver to satiate his cold-blooded desire for {{revenge}}. Once a criminal lawyer, Alejandro's family was slaughtered by Fausto Alarcón, resulting in Alejandro becoming a gun-for-hire to [[CrusadingWidower seek vengeance]], exhibiting remarkable skills in torture and murder that help his and Graver's schemes come to fruition. Hunting down Alarcón and [[OneManArmy killing his entire security force]] through pragmatic tricks and stealth, Alejandro calls out Alarcón for spending his nights eating dinner with his family, even while other families are killed on the drug lord's orders. Alejandro executes Alarcón's entire family in front of him before killing the man himself to seal his revenge. Capable of forming attachments to others despite his villainy, Alejandro considers Graver a friend of sorts, and grows to care for Kate Macer in the first film and [[MafiaPrincess Isabel Reyes]] in the second, at first showing a willingness to kill either one but ultimately sparing them, even putting his life on the line to rescue Isabel from death--getting himself shot in the face in the process, an event which doesn't even hinder Alejandro from killing a cartel group who threatens him.

* ''Film/{{Takers}}'': Delonte "Ghost" Rivers is a former member of Gordon Cozier's gang of bank robbers recently released from prison. After leaving prison, Ghost meets with Sergei and his gang of Russians so they can discuss how they'll rob an armored truck. He later meets with Cozier's gang, informing them of the same robbery and manipulating them into robbing the armored truck before the Russians do. After the robbery, Ghost gives up the location of the hotel room Cozier's gang is staying in to Sergei before abandoning them, resulting in a shootout that wipes out Sergei and his crew, along with AJ. He later kills his former love interest and leaves her body for her fiancé, Jake Attica, to find, while the Attica brothers are slain by the police moments later. Believing Cozier's crew is dead, Ghost kills Cozier's money launderer and tries to steal all of the money from Cozier's gang's previous heists.

* ''Film/ThankYouForSmoking'': Nick Naylor is a slick Washington D.C. lobbyist speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry. As part of his job, Naylor frequently makes televised appearances to discredit anti-smoking activists--even managing to convince the LittlestCancerPatient to come around to his point of view--by confusing them with a ChewbaccaDefense, bribes a disgruntled ex-tobacco mascot from speaking out against big tobacco, and schemes with Hollywood executives to introduce new ProductPlacement of cigarettes in film. Nick gets into a fling with a reporter who releases a stinging exposée on Naylor and his associates in the "Merchants of Death" group that results in Nick being let go by his boss, but Nick manages to turn the situation to his advantage by discrediting the reporter with veiled comments about her tactics to the press, and facing down [[MoralGuardians Senator Finistirre]] in a subcommittee hearing by advocating for the right to choose over moral policing while simultaneously exposing the Senator's hypocrisies. Nick manages to avoid the fall-out of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, becoming a spokesman for new industries peddling potentially dangerous products.

* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'': [[BigBad Keyser Söze]] is a mysterious DiabolicalMastermind who lives a double life as the disabled Roger "Verbal" Kint. Söze organized a hit on a drug gang to kill one of their prisoners before killing his accomplices and setting fire to the scene. Arrested by the police, Söze, as Kint, successfully spun lies to the investigators to pin everything on accomplice Dean Keaton. Once he got his bail, Söze practically waltzed out the police station and vanished before the investigators could realize the truth. For years, Söze has kept his own existence under wraps, and those who know of his existence know nothing else about him.

** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique Raven Darkhölme]], better known as ComicBook/{{Mystique}}, is [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Charles Xavier's]] adopted sister and Magneto's right-hand woman with the power to shapeshift into anyone, who joined Erik after his falling out with Charles. [[Film/XMen1 Kidnapping Senator Kelly]] by pretending to be his aide, Mystique later tricks Rogue into running away from the mansion by making her believe everyone there has turned on her, and sabotages Cerebro as everyone is distracted. Engaging Logan in a fight within the Statue of Liberty, Mystique gets the upper hand several times, evades capture, and takes Kelly's place in the government. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Discovering William Stryker]] is in charge of holding Magneto, Mystique sneaks into his office in order to learn where Magneto is being held before ensuring his escape by putting iron in his prison guard's blood. Later joining the X-Men in taking down Stryker, Raven even takes the lead by infiltrating the dam by using her powers, before trying to force Charles to kill all humans. Truly believing in Erik's goal, and with some of the best fighting abilities in the series, Mystique lives life by her personal motto, "Mutant and proud."

** Original 1966 film: [[AntiHero Django]] himself is an ex-Union soldier distinguished by the coffin he always carries behind him, combines stoic mystique with gritty cunning enough to influence SpaghettiWestern heroes for decades to come. Hunting down [[SociopathicSoldier Major Jackson]], the Confederate who killed his wife, Django eggs Jackson into sending the full force of his army against him with the latter's expectation of a CurbStompBattle, only to pop off the coffin's lid to produce a surprise [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and single-handedly slaughter Jackson's men. Django teams up with Jackson's rival, Hugo, and masterminds the successful robbery of a military fort, only to backstab Hugo and abscond with the stolen loot himself. Almost entirely self-serving, Django nevertheless cares for women, such as the abused half-Mexican prostitute María, and even after his hands are crippled by Hugo, ends the film utterly victorious against Jackson by propping the gun on his wife's grave and using the hammer to shoot his enemies dead.

* ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'': [[MajorlyAwesome Major Erwin König]] is an [[ColdSniper experienced sniper]] in the Wehrmacht who has trained many of Germany's sharpshooters at the academy in Zossen. König joins the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad to personally eliminate Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev and the boost he's giving to Soviet morale out of [[YouKilledMyFather revenge for his son's death]]. While hunting for Zaitsev, Kònig sets several sucessful traps for his opponent while avoiding ones laid for him in turn, even killing an expert who actually trained with him. König befriends the Russian boy Sasha and bribes him for information on Zaitsev while knowing that Sasha was a DoubleAgent attempting to lead him to his death the entire time, only killing him after Sasha does not heed his warnings to not get involved anymore. A quiet, stoic soldier, König has equal capacity for civility and utter ruthlessness, and even when he ultimately loses to Vasily he [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his impending death]].

* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': Jason "JD" Dean is a rebellious teenager who [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys swoons the heroine Veronica with his bad boy image]] by scaring [[JerkJock Ram and Kurt]] by firing blanks at them in the high school cafeteria. JD convinces Veronica to jointly prank [[AlphaBitch Heather Chandler]] with a mystery drink, not informing Veronica that he switched her concoction with drain cleaner. When Heather dies, they cover it up by forging a suicide note. JD follows this up by having Veronica lure Kurt and Ram into the woods with the offer of a threeway, then fatally shooting them both and make it appear as a SuicidePact between two secret homosexual lovers, tricking Veronica by telling her that he's using special "Ich Lüge" bullets. JD also facilitates [[BetaBitch Heather Duke]]'s rise to prominence in order to have every student in the school sign a petition for a mass gathering. JD intends to blow up the whole school with a bomb stolen from his father's demolition company and frame the entire thing as a mass suicide, believing he's doing them all a favor by sending them to heaven with no social differences to fight over. After Veronica dismantles his bomb, JD follows her outside to compliment her spirit and blow himself up in front of her.

** [[OverarchingVillain John Kramer]] aka the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw Killer]] was a law-abiding civil engineer before losing his unborn son, becoming estranged from his wife, and being diagnosed with [[YourDaysAreNumbered terminal brain cancer]] in quick succession. Jigsaw uses his skills and intellect to become a prolific SerialKiller, designing elaborate death traps and picking his victims on the basis of their perceived lack of gratitude for the blessing of life. Fostering multiple protegés, only some of whom are even aware of each other, Jigsaw blackmails a hospital orderly to impersonate him to allay suspicion, manages to escape from police custody by manipulating the lead detective responsible for capturing him, uses his more devoted followers as back-up insurance against those who do not follow his teachings properly, and is responsible for schemes planned so far in advance that he continues to effect events even a decade after his death.

** [[CowboyCop Matt Graver]] is a mysterious, laid-back UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} "spook" who deals in combatting terrorism and the Mexican cartels through any means necessary. As seen in the first film, Graver brings FBIAgent Kate Macer into his squad, claiming to need her expertise but truthfully just using her as a liason to allow himself to operate on American soil, later having her life threatened to get her to sign the proper papers saying that everything he did was on the up-and-up. Graver works with Alejandro Gillick in tearing apart the Alarcón cartel, claiming that it is for moral reason when in reality, Graver just wants Alarcon eliminated so his competition can take over and perhaps be easier to talk peace with. [[Film/SicarioDayOfTheSoldado In the sequel]], Graver concocts a brilliant scheme to kickstart a war between two cartels, failing only due to corrupt police, and, going up against his superiors and calling them out for their cowardice, Graver ends up massacring an entire cartel gang to rescue the endangered Isabel Reyes to honor the seemingly-dead Alejandro. Despite his initial [[AffablyEvil friendly]], seemingly care-free attitude, Graver is a stone cold bastard who engages in both physical and psychological torture, murder, and illegal operations abounding to secure his goals, accomplishing nearly all through a combination of manipulation and strategic genius.
** [[{{Determinator}} Alejandro Gillick]] is a Sicario defined by tragedy and hatred, using his skills and connections to Graver to satiate his cold-blooded desire for {{revenge}}. Once a criminal lawyer, Alejandro's family was slaughtered by Fausto Alarcón, resulting in Alejandro becoming a gun-for-hire to [[CrusadingWidower seek vengeance]], exhibiting remarkable skills in torture and murder that help his and Graver's schemes come to fruition. Hunting down Alarcón and [[OneManArmy killing his entire security force]] through pragmatic tricks and stealth, Alejandro calls out Alarcón for spending his nights eating dinner with his family, even while other families are killed on the drug lord's orders. Alejandro executes Alarcón's entire family in front of him before killing the man himself to seal his revenge. Capable of forming attachments to others despite his villainy, Alejandro considers Graver a friend of sorts, and grows to care for Kate Macer in the first film and [[MafiaPrincess Isabel Reyes]] in the second, at first showing a willingness to kill either one but ultimately sparing them, even putting his life on the line to rescue Isabel from death--getting himself shot in the face in the process, an event which doesn't even hinder Alejandro from killing a cartel group who threatens him.

* ''Film/{{Takers}}'': Delonte "Ghost" Rivers is a former member of Gordon Cozier's gang of bank robbers recently released from prison. After leaving prison, Ghost meets with Sergei and his gang of Russians so they can discuss how they'll rob an armored truck. He later meets with Cozier's gang, informing them of the same robbery and manipulating them into robbing the armored truck before the Russians do. After the robbery, Ghost gives up the location of the hotel room Cozier's gang is staying in to Sergei before abandoning them, resulting in a shootout that wipes out Sergei and his crew, along with AJ. He later kills his former love interest and leaves her body for her fiancé, Jake Attica, to find, while the Attica brothers are slain by the police moments later. Believing Cozier's crew is dead, Ghost kills Cozier's money launderer and tries to steal all of the money from Cozier's gang's previous heists.

* ''Film/ThankYouForSmoking'': Nick Naylor is a slick Washington D.C. lobbyist speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry. As part of his job, Naylor frequently makes televised appearances to discredit anti-smoking activists--even managing to convince the LittlestCancerPatient to come around to his point of view--by confusing them with a ChewbaccaDefense, bribes a disgruntled ex-tobacco mascot from speaking out against big tobacco, and schemes with Hollywood executives to introduce new ProductPlacement of cigarettes in film. Nick gets into a fling with a reporter who releases a stinging exposée on Naylor and his associates in the "Merchants of Death" group that results in Nick being let go by his boss, but Nick manages to turn the situation to his advantage by discrediting the reporter with veiled comments about her tactics to the press, and facing down [[MoralGuardians Senator Finistirre]] in a subcommittee hearing by advocating for the right to choose over moral policing while simultaneously exposing the Senator's hypocrisies. Nick manages to avoid the fall-out of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, becoming a spokesman for new industries peddling potentially dangerous products.

* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'': [[BigBad Keyser Söze]] is a mysterious DiabolicalMastermind who lives a double life as the disabled Roger "Verbal" Kint. Söze organized a hit on a drug gang to kill one of their prisoners before killing his accomplices and setting fire to the scene. Arrested by the police, Söze, as Kint, successfully spun lies to the investigators to pin everything on accomplice Dean Keaton. Once he got his bail, Söze practically waltzed out the police station and vanished before the investigators could realize the truth. For years, Söze has kept his own existence under wraps, and those who know of his existence know nothing else about him.

** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique Raven Darkhölme]], better known as ComicBook/{{Mystique}}, is [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Charles Xavier's]] adopted sister and Magneto's right-hand woman with the power to shapeshift into anyone, who joined Erik after his falling out with Charles. [[Film/XMen1 Kidnapping Senator Kelly]] by pretending to be his aide, Mystique later tricks Rogue into running away from the mansion by making her believe everyone there has turned on her, and sabotages Cerebro as everyone is distracted. Engaging Logan in a fight within the Statue of Liberty, Mystique gets the upper hand several times, evades capture, and takes Kelly's place in the government. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Discovering William Stryker]] is in charge of holding Magneto, Mystique sneaks into his office in order to learn where Magneto is being held before ensuring his escape by putting iron in his prison guard's blood. Later joining the X-Men in taking down Stryker, Raven even takes the lead by infiltrating the dam by using her powers, before trying to force Charles to kill all humans. Truly believing in Erik's goal, and with some of the best fighting abilities in the series, Mystique lives life by her personal motto, "Mutant and proud."

* ''Film/{{Commando}}'': [[GeniusBruiser John Matrix]] is a retired Delta Force soldier enjoying a quiet life with his daughter Jenny. When Matrix and Jenny are kidnapped by terrorists aiming to put [[TheGeneralissimo ex-dictator Arius]] back into power, Matrix manages to kill his guard and escape the plane transporting him. Enlisting the help of a flight attendant named Cindy, Matrix bumps off Arius' lieutenants through his own gambits, including: using Cindy as a HoneyTrap and pretending to offer mercy to one before dropping him off a cliff, and all the while piecing together clues to find Arius' island base and gathering up supplies and weapons. Flying to the island, Matrix stages [[RoaringRampageOfRescue a one-man raid on the base]], killing all of Arius' men before engaging in duels with both Arius and his right-hand man Bennett, rescuing his daughter and going back to retirement.

** Original 1966 film: [[AntiHero Django]] himself is an ex-Union soldier distinguished by the coffin he always carries behind him, combines stoic mystique with gritty cunning enough to influence SpaghettiWestern heroes for decades to come. Hunting down [[SociopathicSoldier Major Jackson]], the Confederate who killed his wife, Django eggs Jackson into sending the full force of his army against him with the latter's expectation of a CurbStompBattle, only to pop off the coffin's lid to produce a surprise [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] and single-handedly slaughter Jackson's men. Django teams up with Jackson's rival, Hugo, and masterminds the successful robbery of a military fort, only to backstab Hugo and abscond with the stolen loot himself. Almost entirely self-serving, Django nevertheless cares for women, such as the abused half-Mexican prostitute María, and even after his hands are crippled by Hugo, ends the film utterly victorious against Jackson by propping the gun on his wife's grave and using the hammer to shoot his enemies dead.

* ''Film/DonnieDarko'': Upon becoming a member of the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent manipulated dead]], Franklin "Frank" Anderson, Jr. -- otherwise known as Frank the Rabbit -- spends a duration of the film orchestrating ensurance traps to ensnare the Living Receiver [[TheProtagonist Donnie Darko]] into returning the jet engine to the primary universe. Beginning his plan by saving Donnie from getting crushed to death, Frank coerces Donnie to flood his high school and subsequently burning the house of self-help guru Jim Cunningham, exposing him as a pedophile. As a final push, Frank runs over and kills [[LoveInterest Gretchen Ross]], spurring an enraged Donnie into using his powers to intercept the jet engine and creating a portal to the primary universe to meet his fate.

* ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'': [[MajorlyAwesome Major Erwin König]] is an [[ColdSniper experienced sniper]] in the Wehrmacht who has trained many of Germany's sharpshooters at the academy in Zossen. König joins the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad to personally eliminate Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev and the boost he's giving to Soviet morale out of [[YouKilledMyFather revenge for his son's death]]. While hunting for Zaitsev, Kònig sets several sucessful traps for his opponent while avoiding ones laid for him in turn, even killing an expert who actually trained with him. König befriends the Russian boy Sasha and bribes him for information on Zaitsev while knowing that Sasha was a DoubleAgent attempting to lead him to his death the entire time, only killing him after Sasha does not heed his warnings to not get involved anymore. A quiet, stoic soldier, König has equal capacity for civility and utter ruthlessness, and even when he ultimately loses to Vasily he [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his impending death]].

* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': Jason "JD" Dean is a rebellious teenager who [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys swoons the heroine Veronica with his bad boy image]] by scaring [[JerkJock Ram and Kurt]] by firing blanks at them in the high school cafeteria. JD convinces Veronica to jointly prank [[AlphaBitch Heather Chandler]] with a mystery drink, not informing Veronica that he switched her concoction with drain cleaner. When Heather dies, they cover it up by forging a suicide note. JD follows this up by having Veronica lure Kurt and Ram into the woods with the offer of a threeway, then fatally shooting them both and make it appear as a SuicidePact between two secret homosexual lovers, tricking Veronica by telling her that he's using special "Ich Lüge" bullets. JD also facilitates [[BetaBitch Heather Duke]]'s rise to prominence in order to have every student in the school sign a petition for a mass gathering. JD intends to blow up the whole school with a bomb stolen from his father's demolition company and frame the entire thing as a mass suicide, believing he's doing them all a favor by sending them to heaven with no social differences to fight over. After Veronica dismantles his bomb, JD follows her outside to compliment her spirit and blow himself up in front of her.

* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'': [[BigBad Richmond Valentine]] is the GenreSavvy tech mogul who uses this good publicity to convince the general mass to get his SIM chips, while persuading the world's 1% into supporting his cause, implanting them SIM chips so to track their every move, making sure they don't betray him. It would soon be revealed that these SIM chips are connected to his satellites that when activated, would cause people to kill each other; he tests its capabilities on a racist church community with only a Kingsman surviving the onslaught, before killing the Kingsman himself. After which the full-scale of Valentine's plan is revealed; he would launch a global frequency that leads to general masses killing each other off with only Valentine and his followers surviving. Despite attempting to cause massive loss of life, it is done so out of Valentine's [[WellIntentionedExtremist belief of saving the world and the rest of humanity]] and is [[AffablyEvil genuinely affable]] to allies and enemies alike, even asking Eggsy if he's going to make an incredibly lame pun before [[GoOutWithASmile going out with a smile]].

** [[OverarchingVillain John Kramer]] aka the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw Killer]] was a law-abiding civil engineer before losing his unborn son, becoming estranged from his wife, and being diagnosed with [[YourDaysAreNumbered terminal brain cancer]] in quick succession. Jigsaw uses his skills and intellect to become a prolific SerialKiller, designing elaborate death traps and picking his victims on the basis of their perceived lack of gratitude for the blessing of life. Fostering multiple protegés, only some of whom are even aware of each other, Jigsaw blackmails a hospital orderly to impersonate him to allay suspicion, manages to escape from police custody by manipulating the lead detective responsible for capturing him, uses his more devoted followers as back-up insurance against those who do not follow his teachings properly, and is responsible for schemes planned so far in advance that he continues to effect events even a decade after his death.

** [[CowboyCop Matt Graver]] is a mysterious, laid-back UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} "spook" who deals in combatting terrorism and the Mexican cartels through any means necessary. As seen in the first film, Graver brings FBIAgent Kate Macer into his squad, claiming to need her expertise but truthfully just using her as a liason to allow himself to operate on American soil, later having her life threatened to get her to sign the proper papers saying that everything he did was on the up-and-up. Graver works with Alejandro Gillick in tearing apart the Alarcón cartel, claiming that it is for moral reason when in reality, Graver just wants Alarcon eliminated so his competition can take over and perhaps be easier to talk peace with. [[Film/SicarioDayOfTheSoldado In the sequel]], Graver concocts a brilliant scheme to kickstart a war between two cartels, failing only due to corrupt police, and, going up against his superiors and calling them out for their cowardice, Graver ends up massacring an entire cartel gang to rescue the endangered Isabel Reyes to honor the seemingly-dead Alejandro. Despite his initial [[AffablyEvil friendly]], seemingly care-free attitude, Graver is a stone cold bastard who engages in both physical and psychological torture, murder, and illegal operations abounding to secure his goals, accomplishing nearly all through a combination of manipulation and strategic genius.
** [[{{Determinator}} Alejandro Gillick]] is a Sicario defined by tragedy and hatred, using his skills and connections to Graver to satiate his cold-blooded desire for {{revenge}}. Once a criminal lawyer, Alejandro's family was slaughtered by Fausto Alarcón, resulting in Alejandro becoming a gun-for-hire to [[CrusadingWidower seek vengeance]], exhibiting remarkable skills in torture and murder that help his and Graver's schemes come to fruition. Hunting down Alarcón and [[OneManArmy killing his entire security force]] through pragmatic tricks and stealth, Alejandro calls out Alarcón for spending his nights eating dinner with his family, even while other families are killed on the drug lord's orders. Alejandro executes Alarcón's entire family in front of him before killing the man himself to seal his revenge. Capable of forming attachments to others despite his villainy, Alejandro considers Graver a friend of sorts, and grows to care for Kate Macer in the first film and [[MafiaPrincess Isabel Reyes]] in the second, at first showing a willingness to kill either one but ultimately sparing them, even putting his life on the line to rescue Isabel from death--getting himself shot in the face in the process, an event which doesn't even hinder Alejandro from killing a cartel group who threatens him.

* ''Film/{{Takers}}'': Delonte "Ghost" Rivers is a former member of Gordon Cozier's gang of bank robbers recently released from prison. After leaving prison, Ghost meets with Sergei and his gang of Russians so they can discuss how they'll rob an armored truck. He later meets with Cozier's gang, informing them of the same robbery and manipulating them into robbing the armored truck before the Russians do. After the robbery, Ghost gives up the location of the hotel room Cozier's gang is staying in to Sergei before abandoning them, resulting in a shootout that wipes out Sergei and his crew, along with AJ. He later kills his former love interest and leaves her body for her fiancé, Jake Attica, to find, while the Attica brothers are slain by the police moments later. Believing Cozier's crew is dead, Ghost kills Cozier's money launderer and tries to steal all of the money from Cozier's gang's previous heists.

* ''Film/ThankYouForSmoking'': Nick Naylor is a slick Washington D.C. lobbyist speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry. As part of his job, Naylor frequently makes televised appearances to discredit anti-smoking activists--even managing to convince the LittlestCancerPatient to come around to his point of view--by confusing them with a ChewbaccaDefense, bribes a disgruntled ex-tobacco mascot from speaking out against big tobacco, and schemes with Hollywood executives to introduce new ProductPlacement of cigarettes in film. Nick gets into a fling with a reporter who releases a stinging exposée on Naylor and his associates in the "Merchants of Death" group that results in Nick being let go by his boss, but Nick manages to turn the situation to his advantage by discrediting the reporter with veiled comments about her tactics to the press, and facing down [[MoralGuardians Senator Finistirre]] in a subcommittee hearing by advocating for the right to choose over moral policing while simultaneously exposing the Senator's hypocrisies. Nick manages to avoid the fall-out of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, becoming a spokesman for new industries peddling potentially dangerous products.

* ''Film/TroubleInParadise:'' [[GentlemanThief Gaston Monescu]] is one half of an OutlawCouple and easily the smarter and more manipulative member of the duo. Starting off slow by pickpocketing a French man's pocketbook, posing as a doctor, he would then meet and develop a fondness over fellow ConArtist Lily Vautier as they become an international OutlawCouple committing burglaries and thefts all over Europe over the course of a year. After secretly stealing the wealthy Mariette Colet's expensive purse in France, Gaston returns it upon hearing about the reward under the fake identity "Monsieur [=LaValle"=]. Encouraging Colet to keep a large amount of cash on hand, and convincing her to make him her new secretary, he conspires to steal Colet's 850,000 francs. Along the way, Monescu begins to develop genuine feelings for Colet and winds up outsmarting several French men who get suspicious of him or try to have him arrested. After Lily steals the money herself, He ends up revealing himself as a "self-made crook" and leaves her for good, but not before getting one final laugh on her by stealing back her purse.

* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'': [[BigBad Keyser Söze]] is a mysterious DiabolicalMastermind who lives a double life as the disabled Roger "Verbal" Kint. Söze organized a hit on a drug gang to kill one of their prisoners before killing his accomplices and setting fire to the scene. Arrested by the police, Söze, as Kint, successfully spun lies to the investigators to pin everything on accomplice Dean Keaton. Once he got his bail, Söze practically waltzed out the police station and vanished before the investigators could realize the truth. For years, Söze has kept his own existence under wraps, and those who know of his existence know nothing else about him.

** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique Raven Darkhölme]], better known as ComicBook/{{Mystique}}, is [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Charles Xavier's]] adopted sister and Magneto's right-hand woman with the power to shapeshift into anyone, who joined Erik after his falling out with Charles. [[Film/XMen1 Kidnapping Senator Kelly]] by pretending to be his aide, Mystique later tricks Rogue into running away from the mansion by making her believe everyone there has turned on her, and sabotages Cerebro as everyone is distracted. Engaging Logan in a fight within the Statue of Liberty, Mystique gets the upper hand several times, evades capture, and takes Kelly's place in the government. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Discovering William Stryker]] is in charge of holding Magneto, Mystique sneaks into his office in order to learn where Magneto is being held before ensuring his escape by putting iron in his prison guard's blood. Later joining the X-Men in taking down Stryker, Raven even takes the lead by infiltrating the dam by using her powers, before trying to force Charles to kill all humans. Truly believing in Erik's goal, and with some of the best fighting abilities in the series, Mystique lives life by her personal motto, "Mutant and proud."