48 Fun Facts About Villain

Which character tops the American Film Institute's 2003 list of the 50 greatest screen villains?

Hannibal Lecter ranked first on the AFI's 2003 list of screen villains, ahead of Norman Bates and Darth Vader; Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for the role.

The cannibal psychiatrist Dr Lecter first appeared in a small role in which 1981 Thomas Harris novel?

Red Dragon (1981) introduced Lecter in a supporting role; it was filmed as Manhunter in 1986 with Brian Cox as the doctor, spelled 'Lecktor'.

Thomas Harris's cannibal psychiatrist is written as having been born in which country?

Thomas Harris's novels Hannibal and Hannibal Rising make Lecter the Lithuanian-born son of an aristocrat, raised at Lecter Castle until his family is killed during the Second World War.

Norman Bates was loosely based on which real-life killer?

Ed Gein, the Plainfield, Wisconsin killer arrested in 1957, inspired Robert Bloch, who lived about 40 miles away, to write the 1959 novel Psycho that introduced Norman Bates.

Who physically played Darth Vader in the original trilogy, with James Earl Jones as the voice?

David Prowse, a former bodybuilder and weightlifter, wore the Vader suit in all three original films; Sebastian Shaw played the unmasked Anakin in Return of the Jedi.

Which actress played the Wicked Witch of the West in 1939 and introduced her green skin?

Margaret Hamilton played the Wicked Witch in MGM's 1939 film; the green skin was the studio's invention, absent from L. Frank Baum's book, where the witch rules the Winkie Country.

Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, was created by Ken Kesey in which 1962 novel?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won Fletcher an Academy Award on film; Sarah Paulson later played the character in the Netflix prequel Ratched.

According to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which Illinois city did HAL 9000 become operational?

In the film HAL says he became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on 12 January 1992; Arthur C. Clarke's novel gives the year as 1997.

Which actor voiced HAL 9000?

The name stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, and Rain voiced HAL in both film adaptations.

Which 1928 silent-film character was shown to the Joker's creators as visual inspiration?

Conrad Veidt's fixed-grin Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs (1928) inspired the Joker's look; Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson each told a different story of who suggested it for Batman #1 in 1940.

Heath Ledger's Oscar for The Dark Knight was the first acting Oscar for what kind of movie?

Ledger's 2009 Best Supporting Actor win as the Joker was the first acting Oscar for a superhero film; Joaquin Phoenix later won Best Actor for Joker (2019).

"I am Lord Voldemort" is an anagram of what?

Tom Marvolo Riddle's letters rearrange; translators often had to change the name so the anagram still worked, and Voldemort echoes the French vol de mort, 'flight of death'.

Which Hogwarts teacher did Voldemort possess in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?

Quirinus Quirrell, the stammering Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, carried Voldemort's face beneath his turban in Philosopher's Stone (1997) and died when Harry's touch burned him.

Sauron was originally the chief lieutenant of which first Dark Lord?

Sauron, a Maia, served Morgoth (Melkor), the first Dark Lord of The Silmarillion, before rising to power himself; in The Hobbit he appears only as the Necromancer.

Which actor gave Gollum his motion-capture performance in Peter Jackson's films?

Andy Serkis's motion-capture Gollum followed Brother Theodore in the Rankin-Bass cartoons and Peter Woodthorpe in Ralph Bakshi's film and the BBC radio version.

In A Nightmare on Elm Street, what did vigilante parents do to Freddy Krueger before he became a dream demon?

Burned him to death after he evaded prison; Wes Craven's child killer welded his own bladed glove, and Robert Englund played him for eight films.

Jason Voorhees first wore his trademark hockey mask in which film?

Jason first dons the hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part III (1982), taking it from the victim Shelly; in Part 2 he wore a burlap sack, and in the 1980 original he appears only as a boy.

Michael Myers' white mask in the original Halloween was made from a cast of which actor's face?

It was a Don Post Captain Kirk mask moulded from a life cast of William Shatner's face, bought for about $2 and painted white; Nick Castle wore it as The Shape.

How old is Michael Myers when he murders his sister Judith on Halloween night 1963?

He is six: the 1978 film opens on Halloween 1963 with young Michael stabbing his sister Judith, and fifteen years later he escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium to stalk Laurie Strode.

Pennywise returns to prey on the children of Derry, Maine roughly how often?

It returns roughly every 27 years: the novel's Losers Club fights it in 1958 and again in 1985. Tim Curry (1990) and Bill Skarsgård (2017, 2019) played the clown.

Thanos creator Jim Starlin conceived the character during college classes in which subject?

Jim Starlin created Thanos during college psychology classes; the name nods to Freud's death drive, Thanatos. The character debuted in The Invincible Iron Man #55 in 1973.

In the 1991 comic The Infinity Gauntlet, why does Thanos wipe out half the universe?

In The Infinity Gauntlet Thanos kills half of all life as a gift to woo Mistress Death, the personification of death he loves; the films swapped in an overpopulation motive.

Which weapon, normally used to stun livestock, does Anton Chigurh carry in No Country for Old Men?

Chigurh carries a captive bolt pistol, a compressed-air slaughterhouse tool for stunning cattle, which he turns on door locks and victims; Javier Bardem won the 2008 Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Cruella de Vil first appeared in a 1956 novel by which author?

Dodie Smith introduced Cruella in The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956); for Disney's 1961 film, animators modelled her mannerisms on Tallulah Bankhead and her lanky frame on Mary Wickes.

Magneto's backstory as a Holocaust survivor was created by which writer?

Claremont compared him to Menachem Begin, though later commentators reached for Malcolm X; his birth name is Max Eisenhardt.

In his earliest 1940 comic appearances, Lex Luthor was drawn how?

Luthor debuted in Action Comics #23 (1940) with a full head of red hair; he became bald only after artist Leo Nowak mistakenly drew him that way in Superman #10 (1941).

Holmes's 'Napoleon of crime' phrase was lifted from a Scotland Yard description of which real criminal?

Adam Worth, the American master thief who stole Gainsborough's Duchess of Devonshire in 1876, was dubbed 'the Napoleon of the criminal world' by Scotland Yard's Robert Anderson, a phrase Doyle gave Moriarty.

Count Dracula claims descent from which historical conqueror?

In Stoker's novel the Count tells Jonathan Harker that 'the blood of Attila' runs in his Szekely veins, claiming descent from Attila the Hun.

Captain Hook's dying words in J. M. Barrie's play are the motto of which school?

'Floreat Etona' fits a villain implied to have gone from Eton to Balliol; in the novel his last words are simply 'bad form'.

By stage tradition begun in 1904, Captain Hook is played by the same actor as which other character?

Gerald du Maurier, already playing George Darling, talked Barrie into letting him double the role.

Which actor has played Palpatine in every Star Wars film in which the character physically appears?

Ian McDiarmid has played Palpatine from Return of the Jedi (1983) through the prequels to The Rise of Skywalker (2019); the 1980 Empire hologram, voiced by Clive Revill, was replaced with McDiarmid in 2004.

Hans Gruber in Die Hard aims to steal $640 million in what form?

Gruber's crew is after $640 million in negotiable bearer bonds locked in the Nakatomi vault; Die Hard (1988) was Alan Rickman's first film role.

In Die Hard, what name does Hans Gruber give when he poses as a hostage?

Caught without his gun, Gruber poses as escaped hostage 'Bill Clay', a name he reads off the Nakatomi office directory; McClane sees through it and hands him an unloaded pistol.

Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie found the name Keyser Söze in a dictionary of which language?

'Söze' came from a Turkish dictionary: the idiom 'söze boğmak', roughly 'to drown in words', suits narrator 'Verbal' Kint; 'Keyser' was borrowed from McQuarrie's former boss Keyser Sume.

Which actor played the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and returned in No Way Home?

Willem Dafoe played Norman Osborn in Spider-Man (2002) and reprised him in No Way Home (2021); the Green Goblin debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 in 1964 with pumpkin bombs and a goblin glider.

Erik Killmonger's Wakandan birth name is what?

Born N'Jadaka, he took the name Erik Killmonger in exile; he debuted in Jungle Action #6 (1973), created by Don McGregor and Rich Buckler, and Michael B. Jordan played him in Black Panther (2018).

The Alien creature in Ridley Scott's 1979 film was designed by which artist?

H. R. Giger based the Alien on his 1976 lithograph Necronom IV and shared the film's visual-effects Oscar; Nigerian art student Bolaji Badejo wore the suit.

Which Hogwarts house was Dolores Umbridge sorted into?

Rowling's Pottermore biography places Umbridge in Slytherin and describes her as a disliked, ambitious student who joined the Ministry straight after leaving Hogwarts; Imelda Staunton played her in the films.

Count Olaf claims to be related to the Baudelaire orphans how?

In The Bad Beginning, Mr. Poe explains that Olaf is either the Baudelaires' third cousin four times removed or their fourth cousin three times removed; Jim Carrey (2004) and Neil Patrick Harris (Netflix) played him.

Which AFI-listed villain is a mechanical prop nicknamed 'Bruce' by its film crew?

The shark in Jaws (1975) was a mechanical prop the crew nicknamed 'Bruce' after Spielberg's lawyer Bruce Ramer; it ranked 18th on the AFI's 2003 villains list.

Which AFI-ranked villain from Bambi never speaks or appears on screen?

The unseen hunter who shot Bambi's mother placed 20th, one spot behind Captain Bligh.

Which character appears on both the AFI heroes list and the AFI villains list?

Arnold Schwarzenegger's killer machine from 1984 is the villain; the reprogrammed T-800 from Terminator 2 is the hero.

Scar in The Lion King is loosely based on which Shakespearean antagonist?

Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, is the model; animator Andreas Deja based Scar's look on Jeremy Irons, drawing on his Claus von Bülow performance in Reversal of Fortune.

Eleanor Audley, the original voice of Maleficent, had earlier voiced which other Disney villainess?

Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's stepmother, came first in 1950; Maleficent, the self-styled 'Mistress of All Evil', was animated by Marc Davis for 1959's Sleeping Beauty.

Why does Disney's sea witch Ursula have only six tentacles rather than an octopus's eight?

Six tentacles were cheaper and simpler to animate than eight, so the studio cut two to save money; her look also drew on the drag queen Divine, and Pat Carroll's voice mixed Shakespearean actress with used-car salesman.

Which actress was fired from voicing Ursula after clashing with Howard Ashman over 'Poor Unfortunate Souls'?

Elaine Stritch was cast as Ursula but dropped after she and lyricist Howard Ashman clashed over how to sing 'Poor Unfortunate Souls'; Pat Carroll replaced her.

Which two actors portray Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021)?

Jonathan Groff and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II share the role, the latter doubling as Morpheus; Hugo Weaving played Smith in the original trilogy.

Besides a Shakespearean king, Scar's villainy was inspired by which real dictator?

Scar's 'Be Prepared' number has the hyenas goose-stepping past him on a high ledge, deliberately echoing Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi rally film Triumph of the Will and tying Scar to Adolf Hitler.