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Evil Is Cool / Live-Action Films

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  • A good majority of slasher villains tend to fall into this due to the memorable designs and creative executions they come up with:
    • Freddy Krueger, who has his dream powers and razor claw glove. He's also notable for being one of the few slasher villains to speak, which helps contribute to his popularity due to his penchant for wisecracks. Helped even further by Robert Englund's magnificently iconic performance as the character.
    • Michael Myers, thanks to his extreme stealth skills and explicitly being Made of Evil with Nigh-Invulnerability. Not to mention for being utterly terrifying. Even age in Halloween (2018) has not slowed him down too much.
    • Jason Voorhees, who has a sweet hockey mask, habit for large body counts in creative fashion and a large capacity for strength and durability. He eventually became a reviving zombie after being killed before upgrading into a robot. That's not even getting into the fact that he's gone up against armed cops and trained soldiers and taken them all out by himself with nothing but his bare hands and whatever he could get his hands on.
    • Jigsaw, thanks to his interesting philosophy and motivation, according to which he teaches people to value their lives, as well as the Tobin Bell's iconic performance.
    • Child's Play: Chucky, due to his hilarious one liners, (Brad Dourif)'s extremely iconic performance as the character, his capability to be actually creepy, and his incredibly creative kills. His stitched up and scarred appearance in the later installments also help.
  • Alien: The Xenomorphs have a creepily fascinating design and Body Horror that makes them incredibly memorable. They're also super smart and come with frightening speed, strength, spiked tails and acid blood that make them incredibly hard to kill. These reasons alone have formed a large component of what has made the creatures such memorable villains in the pantheon of science fiction and film.
  • Avatar. Colonel Miles Quaritch. Works out to stay strong on a planet with weaker gravity, commands a platoon of tough ex-armed forces mercenaries, rocks a customized mecha with a freakin' dragon painted on the gun barrel and a huge-ass combat knife, holds his breath, kicks down a door and steps into toxic air simply to pursue a traitor with his assault rifle, sports scary scars on one side of his face, and rides to battle in the Dragon Gunship while sipping fine Arabica Roast coffee. That he possesses the courage and determination to keep fighting no matter the odds merely adds to his Colonel Badass bona fides. It helps that he is considered a Designated Villain and a Well-Intentioned Extremist by many fans, in contrast to the heroes, who are considered Designated Heroes with Protagonist-Centered Morality.
  • Barbarella: The Black Queen. She makes her debut by murdering two rapists that were about to assault our titular heroine, while wearing an Eyepatch of Power and showing phenomenal skill with two knives. She carries herself with flair and confidence even as her attempts to seduce Barbarella fail time and again. And it's her, not Barbarella, who puts a stop to the real Big Bad's plans, accepting that she will die in the process (due to sheer luck, she doesn't, happily enough).
  • The independent horror/comedy film Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon has the coolest new killer who looks up to Jason and Freddy, who lets a crew document his future reign of terror. Leslie Vernon is not only charming, witty, and genuinely friendly; before beginning his legacy, while in a library, he says, "Paradise Lost? Found it!" while grabbing John Milton's Paradise Lost. And he keeps turtles as pets and then tells the young woman interviewing him that he only kept pets that he could eat. His mask is amazing as well.
  • Big Game: Hazar has a very charmingly Faux Affably Evil onscreen presence, with some ominous and humorous lines, and Mehmet Kurtuluş looks quite good in Hazar's expensive-looking leather and mock Great White Hunter getup.
  • Blade Runner:
  • The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: Cesare. There's a reason that so many other characters - usually nicer ones - look like him.
  • While Cats & Dogs gets flak from cat lovers for making all felines villainous, it does redeem itself a bit with this trope, with Mr Tinkles and his henchmen often claiming more amusing personalities and gags than the heroic dogs.
  • The Cell: While in the real world Carl Stargher is an awkward, pathetic pervert, the Demon King, the most evil of his Mental World personas, is a terrifying and muscular devil who rules over a byzantine kingdom of death and torture.
  • Christine is a demon/force of evil that brutally murders upward of half a dozen people. It happens to inhabit a gorgeous '58 Plymouth with a V8 that growls like a tiger and a radio that plays Nothing but Hits. Since the film came out, it's become practically a cliche among real-life classic car buffs to restore their Plymouths with Christine's striking red-and-white paint job, just because everyone wants a Christine of their own.
  • The Chronicles of Narnia:
    • In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Queen Jadis in her bright attire out-cools almost all of her opponents on the battlefield, possible because actress Tilda Swinton is inherently cool in all her roles. She gets a war chariot pulled by polar bears!
    • In Prince Caspian, nasty uncle Miraz has some of the best lines (although it's hard to beat Edmund), the best beard (not counting Aslan's), and probably the genuinely best set of armour. Miraz was less cool in the book, but the all-dialogue scene in the Howe with the hag and the werewolf was one of its most memorable bits, mostly due to the werewolf's creepy bragging. It ranks up there with Aslan growing delicious grapes for everyone and the duel.
  • Vincent from Collateral dresses himself in some badass threads, is dangerously efficient as his job (case in point), has a fairly extensive knowledge of jazz, and is pretty friggin' handsome.
  • Holli Would from Cool World. She is a surprisingly effective seductress with an elegant air, getting her goals with ease, and nearly undoing reality to suit her desires. Being very attractive doesn't hurt matters at all.
  • Top Dollar from The Crow (1994). Top Dollar is very well-regarded by fans due to his hilarious lines, awesome voice, memorable appearance, and general badassery as well as Michael Wincott's fantastic performance which has the right combination of charisma and menacing sadism. He even has an impressive sword collection to showcase his coolness.
  • The Skeksis from The Dark Crystal are perhaps the most entertaining characters in the film due to their ruthlessness, especially skekSil the Chamberlain. He holds off the terrifying Garthim sicced on the protagonists through his own will, and singlehandedly topples an enormous stone arch with one hand.
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy:
  • Deep Rising:
  • Die Hard: Who wouldn't want to root for Hans Gruber, considering he's a total Chessmaster and incredibly charming at it? There's a reason he's one of the most iconic action movie villains ever.
  • Col. Koobus from District 9. He's undeniably a Colonel Badass in every respect (though also a mass-murderer, which hasn't stopped a Misaimed Fandom bordering on Draco In Leather Pantsing).
  • Dune (2021) has a few:
    • The Sardaukar were already a Badass Army in the novel, but the film reimagines them as a psychotically devoted Proud Warrior Race who speak in Black Speech and practice human sacrifice rituals accompanied by Mongolian-style throat singing. From their introductory scene they immediately come off as more badass and intimidating than the Harkonnens themselves.
    • The Bene Gesserit are more morally ambiguous than outright evil, but they have a wonderfully intimidating aesthetic, with most of their representatives being covered head to toe in flowing black robes and Reverend Mother Mohiam herself coming across as almost a Wicked Witch with how she's able to push Paul around with the Voice.
    • Despite his lack of screen time, the Baron has quite a few fans thanks to his genuinely unsettling appearance, as well as Stellan Skarsgård's performance perfectly portraying the ruthless and cunning schemer that he was in the novel. Skarsgård also achieved the not small feat of making fans accept a stark Adaptation Personality Change, as his portrayal of the Baron gives the character a gravitas and dignity than his novel version lacked.
      • Feyd-Rautha finally returns to the big screen after forty years and does not disappoint, being a badass and surprisingly honorable warrior who steals every scene he is in, thanks to Austin Butler's mesmerizing performance.
  • Jobu Tupaki from Everything Everywhere All at Once. Picture the playful reality bending of Bill Cipher or Discord and the single-minded stoicness and implacability of Agent Smith in the body of a teenage girl, and you have one hell of an entertaining and complex villain.
  • A Field in England: O'Neill is an intelligent, intimidating evil alchemist with a badass Irish accent and a cool-looking cape and hat.

  • Five Nights at Freddy's (2023):

    • Golden Freddy manages to be a creepy yet wickedly smart Manipulative Bastard who has hit it off with the fans. His manipulation of Mike in particular is credited as one of the film's most engaging scenes.
    • The Big Bad William Afton is only in a few scenes, but is credited as the scariest and most charismatic incarnation in the franchise. The fact that he even goes out with a Defiant to the End, unlike his game counterpart who was a Dirty Coward, is considered a plus.
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019):
  • Gremlins: Stripe is a thoroughly nasty piece of work even amongst the Gremlins, but he's very enjoyable to watch for his maniacal, cunningly vile and commanding personality.
  • Pinhead and the cenobites from the Hellraiser franchise. Pinhead is the face of the Hellraiser series. Also, the other Cenobites who appears throughout the franchise also qualify, mainly due to their and Pinhead's unique physical appearances and creative supernatural kills.
  • In Highlander, Victor Kruger/The Kurgan is a psychotic and immortal Russian barbarian played by Clancy Brown. He's a Large Ham, in fact he's the entire suckling pig. Loathsome, but undeniably awesome.
  • Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds. Despite being a Nazi officer, his intelligence, smooth and confident demeanor, and being a polyglot serve to make him probably the biggest Ensemble Dark Horse in the movie.
  • Many of the James Bond villains evoke this trope, and some have even been memorable.
  • In-universe with the Indominus Rex of Jurassic World. This Mix And Match Critter mutant dinosaur was created by Masrani geneticists to replace good ol' Rexy as the biggest, baddest super-predator mascot of the park. Too bad she's also a psychopathic killing machine. This trope also applies to the Indominus itself, as it has all the best attributes of the T. Rex and Velociraptors rolled into one.
  • Gazelle from Kingsman: The Secret Service, the badass double amputee with Absurdly Sharp Blades for legs and enough skill to vertically bisect a Kingsman before he knew what hit him.
  • Labyrinth; the bad guy is David Bowie and he has Adorable Evil Minions; need anything more be said? Not to mention wearing the pants that launched a million girls headlong into puberty.
  • The Lord of the Rings films bring a perfect examples of this.
    • While the men of Gondor are just a bunch of unshaven men wearing plate mail, Sauron has not just his orcs and trolls, but the soldiers of Rhûn, spearmen with remotely creative looking armor and warchants that sound like the Haka, and the Haradim, who ride Mûmakil, which are essentially the ninety foot tall war elephants that Hannibal had wet dreams about. Their impact onto the frontlines of a charge from the Riders of Rohan (which had routed an orc army of dramatically superior size) was a moment where even the orchestra abandoned the forces of order as the Haradim rampaged through the helpless Riders until driven off by the Strong as They Need to Be protagonists. Plus, Sauron's armour is ridiculously cool looking. Spikes everywhere, a huge, crownlike helmet that looks like a horse's skull, and the whole thing has a faint and delicate poison ivy motif etched into it.
    • Also, just as applicable, Saruman. It helps being played and voiced by Christopher Lee.
    • For a giant eyeball, Sauron is quite cool-looking himself. And then there's the Nazgûl.
    • Even though he was a minor bad guy, the Uruk-hai captain (named Lurtz) that popped up at the end of the first flick was also cool. He's one of the few characters that gets to permanently kill off a main character and smack Aragorn around a little, does a really cool Captain America-like shield throw, and has the audacity to shove Aragorn's sword into his gut the rest of the way with utter contempt and defiance.
    • The Uruk-Hai in general are basically 'orcs, but cooler'. They're bigger and more intimidating, they've got stylish purpose-made weapons and armour rather than being a Rummage Sale Reject army, they conduct themselves with proper military discipline (most of the time), and they've got lots of fancy toys from their Mad Scientist master like black-powder explosives, making them one of the most high-tech factions in the setting.
    • The Balrog, who is probably the Boba Fett of the movies series: he's a One-Scene Wonder in The Fellowship of the Ring that takes out a major hero for the remainder of a movie and is one of the more memorable characters.
    • Smaug, ALL THE WAY, in the second Hobbit film. He's brought down kingdoms single-handedly, and he's voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch
  • Man of Steel: Zod and his minions sport some pretty badass ships, armor and weapons, that's for damn sure.

  • While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had some lackluster villains in the past, there are a few stand out examples:
    • Ultron from Avengers: Age of Ultron, even more so than usual. Many found him a worthy successor to Loki, even more as Ultron actually fights the heroes by himself, is eight feet tall and sounds like a mixture of an ultra-snarky Tony Stark and Handsome Jack.
    • Ego the Living Planet from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was very well received as a rather unique villain in terms of powers, motivation, and mentality, and he's considered an exception to Marvel's usual run of having weak villains. Kurt Russell's performance as Ego maintaining an affability that becomes a mask for coldness, especially in his nonchalance at the horrible brutality and violence of his actions, was considered quite compelling and disturbing.
    • Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket from Ant-Man certainly is this in just appearance alone, with a badass-looking suit that rivals even the one used by Ant-Man. Being played by Corey Stoll helps as well. While Cross was never a big-name villain in the comics, this portrayal of the character (an Evil Counterpart to Ant-Man in the original Yellowjacket suit) became so well-received that Marvel started incorporating this version's costume and character traits into the comics version.
    • Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, from Spider-Man: Homecoming got this thanks to his complex and sympathetic characterization (a big change from the source material), a fantastic and creepy update on his costume, and Michael Keaton's memorable and menacing performance.
    • In Thor: Ragnarok, Hela's first scene has her crushing Mjölnir with her bare hands, and it only goes uphill from there. She's so powerful that it takes a literal apocalypse to destroy her.
    • From Black Panther:
      • Many critics have come to praise Erik Killmonger from as one of the best aspects to the movie, owing to his considerable amount of complexity, especially compared to the MCU's longstanding problem regarding developing villains, his relationship with T'Challa and the performance given by Michael B. Jordan.
      • Klaue is a fan favorite for almost the exact opposite reasons, thanks to being both totally hilarious and genuinely badass, not to mention Andy Serkis' gloriously ridiculous, swaggering performance.
    • A lot of fans took quickly to Ghost from what little was seen of her in the Ant-Man and the Wasp trailers. When the movie came out, she didn't squander her potential, being a highly competent, badass, and sympathetic Dark Action Girl who ends up getting away with it in the end when Janet stabilizes her powers and lets her escape.
    • After being built up for several films beforehand, Thanos finally arrives in Avengers: Infinity War and despite some memes about his appearance in the trailers, he has taken the crown for possibly the best villain the Marvel Films have ever had. His coolness points come from his very interesting philosophy making him a Well-Intentioned Extremist, his utter Curb-Stomp Battle introduction against the heroes and in the end he wins!
    • Quentin Beck/Mysterio from Spider-Man: Far From Home, while having no real powers, is a shining example of a character you Love to Hate, with Jake Gyllenhaal's charismatic performance truly selling him as being a master planner and manipulator.
    • Dormammu from Doctor Strange (2016). Dormammu, who's an Eldritch Abomination (or more like an Eldritch Location personified) with an Evil Sounds Deep voice and is essentially omnipotent, only losing thanks to a "Groundhog Day" Loop scheme created by Doctor Strange.
    • Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch by the time of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Corrupted by the Darkhold and more powerful than ever, she unleashes her might against anyone in her path in creative and horrifying ways, with special mention going to her merciless, brutal, but effortless and awesome massacre of the Illuminati. Even some critics who dislike Wanda suddenly turning evil offscreen have admitted how much fun Elizabeth Olsen has in Chewingthe Scenery and playing a new, remorseless version of her character; the performance has been by far the most praised aspect of the film.
  • The Matrix has an obvious example of this trope: Agent Smith. Hugo Weaving in general apparently loves playing awesome bad guys. Take a look at V and Red Skull Even more so, Megatron .
  • Dr. Decker from Nightbreed. Dr. Decker, even those who aren't members of the Breed fandom have called him the clear highlight of the movie. Given his body count, Soft-Spoken Sadist demeanour, sharp suits and surprisingly good performance by David Cronenberg, he's up there with the Cenobites for Clive Barker cool evil.
  • Dr. Lilith Ritter from Nightmare Alley (2021). She creates a multi-layer charade to get payback on two men that wronged her, gets loads of money in the process and remains squeaky clean and with a sympathetic story. Most importantly, she completely obliterates Stan when it comes to reading and manipulating people, playing him like a fiddle without him ever figuring it out until the bitter end. Oh, and she always dresses nicely and also runs a respectable practice, where she genuinely helps people in need.
  • Nothing but Trouble: Judge Valkenheiser is such an over the top combination of Small-Town Tyrant and Hanging Judge that he's easily the most entertaining character in the movie, ruling Valkenvania like a king and executing people on a rock & roll rollercoaster that he built himself. Plus, while he's prone to levying disproportionately harsh sentences, some of his victims really did have it coming. Even the state troopers secretly love him!
  • Frank from Once Upon a Time in the West fits very well to the trope. Its combination of badass, Professional Killer, Deadpan Snarker and his suit practically makes him a cool villain.
  • In-universe in Pacific Rim, where evil Kaiju are coming out of the ocean to kill humanity. The scientist Newt loves Kaiju, has tattoos of them on his arms, and even wants to see one up close some day. He's viewed by the others as a freak bordering on The Quisling. On one hand, 2500 ton giants with wings and knife-heads and acidic saliva and tentacle tails. On the other hand, murderous monsters. And eventually, he gets his wish. Twice.
  • The Tall Man from Phantasm. He's an interdimensional monster and the personification of death itself, played by the late, great Angus Scrimm. He poses as an intimidating mortician in a nice suit with surreal powers that make the protagonists (and the viewers) question what's real or not, has iconic chrome spheres called sentinels that can kill people in creative ways - such as drilling into people's skulls and draining their blood - and can turn the undead into his minions, with plans to use them to conquer this world and many others. He's incredibly durable, strong, intelligent, and cannot be killed. He essentially wins in the end, as the final film shows Earth has been conquered, with the remaining protagonists choosing to try and go somewhere he can't reach. How he is not one of the more iconic horror flick villains is an absolute shame.
  • Predator, the titular villain proved to be far more remembered than the movie's heroes thanks to it being a badass that can Curb-Stomp Battle Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fist fight in addition to its cool weapons and gadgets. The mystique that it maintain all the way to the end credits and its (admittedly alien) sense of honor also contribute. Most of the Predators in the franchise have similarly followed suit with Wolf from the second Alien Vs Predator film being a notable example.
  • In-universe for Ra.One: video-game designer Shekar creates a game with an unstoppable cool, evil, and undefeatable villain for his villain-fanboy son. It turns out the kid should have been careful what he wished for...
  • Santa's Slay: Santa is the spawn of Satan, rides a sleigh powered by a loyal Helldeer, is a musclebound brawler, and goes around killing a large number of Jerkasses. Who in the audience isn't rooting for the guy?
  • Darryl Revok of Scanners. Darryl Revok is a powerful psychic with a dream and plan to build an empire. He's also not hesitant to get into the fray, performing a daring infiltration of Con Sec in order to embarrass them and assassinate the only scanner they have.
  • The School for Good and Evil (2022): Rafal is the Big Bad, who not only kills his brother, but tries to massacre the students of both schools. However, he is also considered to be a great and cool villain within the fandom due to him being The Chessmaster and his actor Kit Young bringing a lot of charisma to the role.
  • Spider-Man 3:
    • In-Universe and Subverted in a way when Peter Parker is possessed by the symbiote. He thinks he becomes this, but he is still noticeably our favorite geeky and clueless hero— he's just now arrogant and out of control. Though eventually he realizes that the symboiote is corrupting him and gets rid of the symbiote suit before more harm can be done. Furthermore, the symbiote eventually merges with Eddie Brock, who is noticeably slimy, unctuous, and creepy.
    • Harry Osborn gets this treatment in the 3rd film. Calmly rubbing a break up in your best friend's face is so wrong, but boy did Harry make it look cool. Especially while he is enjoying a pie. Plus this guy went through some of the worse beatings in the film and STILL survived most of them.
  • Star Trek Into Darkness: The Badass Longcoat wearing Evil Brit John Harrison. And then we find out he's Khan, and it gets a million times cooler.
  • Star Wars:
    • Darth Vader (pictured on the trope's main page) kicked this trope into high gear, to the point that he became one of the series mascots, inspired a slew of expies, and became one of the most beloved characters in pop culture, villain or otherwise.
    • There are only two things in The Phantom Menace that are, without debate, universally considered awesome: Duel of the Fates New World Symphony and Darth Maul. Both of which occur at the same time. Maul is a badass, intimidating fighter who wields a two-bladed lightsaber in one of the series best fights.
    • Emperor Palpatine's spectacular combination of hammery, badassery, and Manipulative Bastard-ry in Revenge of the Sith turned him into the star of the film. Even the many detractors of the movie will traditionally concede that he was an excellent villain.
    • Boba Fett and moreso his father Jango, who get this for their distinctive voices and armor, to the point supplemental materials made up for their unimpressive film showings by giving them a large upgrade in badassery that permitted them the ability to take on Jedi and live.
    • Grand Moff Tarkin. There's only two people in the universe that can order Darth Vader around—the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin. And Tarkin's not even a Jedi nor a Sith of any kind. In Rogue One, he expertly out-maneuvers Krennic at every turn and eventually blows him up with his own Death Star.
    • The Death Troopers (not to be confused with the book) from Rogue One, who wear all-black armor, speak in creepy distorted voices and utterly smash the much-mocked "stormtrooper effect" by mowing down Rebel troops and main characters like target dummies.
    • Director Krennic is this despite being almost the exact opposite of every other villain on this page, thanks to showing way more personality than most Imperial officers and his sheer quotability. The white cape really helps, too.
    • Kylo Ren, especially in The Last Jedi. His debut appearance gives him a really cool suit, mask and lightsaber... but he also behaves like a wangsty Emo Teen throughout the movie and becomes a Hate Sink by killing Han Solo, his own father. In the sequel, he blossoms into one of the most complex and interesting villains in the saga; while still a childish, impulsive hothead, he becomes more deadly and competent as a fighter, overthrows his master Snoke as Supreme Leader, and reveals his unique motive of eradicating the existing duality of light vs. dark and Jedi vs. Sith.
    • Supreme Leader Snoke, who first appears as a three-story-tall hologram, has a menacing booming voice, and is played by nerd movie legend Andy Serkis. His awesomeness only increases in The Last Jedi, where he gains the below-mentioned Praetorian Guard, golden pimp-dud looking robes, and a thirty-seven mile-long flying wing as his flagship. He tosses his enemies and allies alike around with the Force like mere rag dolls, and also, unlike Palpatine, displays a wicked sense of humor and biting sarcasm, mocking Kylo Ren for his goofy-looking mask and smacking Rey with her own lightsaber. It's part of what makes it so genuinely shocking when Ren assassinates him.
    • Nines, aka "TR-8R", your average garden-variety Stormtrooper who took on a lightsaber user and won.
    • Snoke's Praetorian Guard. All they had to do was stand their in their red samurai armor and look badass and they already had a fanbase.
    • Dryden Vos is a straight example, being a massively intimidating, scarred, ultra-wealthy and violently unstable crime boss played by Paul Bettany to sinister perfection. Who wouldn't want to be an ultra-rich, pimp cape-wearing space mafia don riding around in a swanky, high-class yacht spaceship with his super-hot second-in-command/girlfriend and dealing with Imperial officers (and seemingly all other problems) via stabbing?

  • Terminator runs on this with the titular machines, so much so that the one played by Arnold Schwarzenegger got promoted to be a good guy in the second movie. In fact, Arnold hasn't physically played a bad guy note  since the first movie.
  • TRON: Legacy.
  • Keyser Soze of The Usual Suspects is clearly a monstrously evil man if even half of the things said about him are true, but his coolness in doing them is indisputable, particularly given the famous twist ending has made him a by-word for the Diabolical Mastermind.
  • Transformers Film Series:
    • The Decepticons, as they usually are in most Transformers series. Case in point: the Autobots are limited by their desire to make Earth their second home, and must take on friendly appearances and altmodes to blend in with civilians. The Decepticons, on the other hand, have no such limitation. Therefore, they take on the forms of tanks, F-22s, and satellites, or, in the case of Megatron and Shockwave, simply reject reformatting their original forms. Additionally, they have access to numerous weapons, ranging from Transformer-sized fighter jets to a giant mechanical worm that serves as a war beast. Even the humans are aware of this, as Epps, at one point, asks to no one in particular "How come the Decepticons get all the good shit!?"
    • Megatron (as mentioned above) is possibly the best example of this among the 'Cons themselves, especially in the first movie where he's at his most Ax-Crazy and badass, and is easily the most interesting and entertaining of the robots in the movie, despite getting less screen time than the humans or Autobots. Oh, and he's voiced by Hugo Weaving (see above).
    • Bumblebee: The Decepticons Shatter and Dropkick have quite a following, due to their designs striking a good balance between the Bayverse and original G1 designs, coupled with their villainous buddy-cop duo dynamic and them being portrayed onscreen with distinct personalities.
  • The X-Men Film Series has multiple examples.
    • Magneto, in both the original timeline and the new timeline, being a Cultured Badass with a compelling and sympathetic backstory as a Holocaust survivor, with his power manifestation at Auschwitz being the opening scene of both the first X-Men film, and First Class (which began the new timeline), who's played by the highly charismatic Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender. Since the former is well-dressed and tends to get the best lines (usually at Wolverine's expense), while the latter is an intense Troubled, but Cute Nazi Hunter (the epic Ho Yay between him and James McAvoy's Charles Xavier doesn't hurt), and both versions are easily among the most powerful characters in the franchise with some of the most visual powers, this isn't surprising - especially since he's invariably depicted as redeemable and as actually having a point (because Humans Are Bastards, albeit not exclusively).
    • Liev Schreiber's take on Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine has also been received well, even amongst people who didn't like the film. Mainly due to having the personality down and being genuinely terrifying.
    • The Hellfire Club from X-Men: First Class. What else did you expect with villains that seem to have just stepped out of a Bond movie - and in the case of Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw/Klaus Schmidt, owning every scene he's in, even the ones with Michael Fassbender's Magneto.
    • Donald Pierce in Logan. He's badass, charismatic, threatening, and played by Boyd Holbrook. Many viewers were actually disappointed when it turned out he wasn't the film's main antagonist.

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