32 Impeccably Executed Hero-To-Villain Transformations From TV And Movies
A while back, we asked the BuzzFeed Community what hero-to-villain story they thought was done well. Here are some of the best responses!
🚨🚨SPOILERS AHEAD!🚨🚨
1.Angel from Angel
2.Varian from Tangled: The Series
3.Nancy from Weeds
Showtime
"My favorite show is Weeds, but Nancy Botwin goes from this woman trying her best to stay afloat, to a mother who puts her own love of danger before her children. She makes so many bad decisions that impact her kids in a negative way."
4.Felix Gaeta from Battlestar Galactica
Sci-Fi
"An underrated one: Felix Gaeta from BSG. He’s a loyal, brilliant officer who always does his best. But after the cylons nearly wipe out humanity, kill or nearly kill everyone he loves in the fleet, and one of them shoots his fracking leg off, he has to watch as his superiors ally with the enemy and refuse to explain why. The Mutiny plot made perfect sense, because you understand exactly why he hit his breaking point."
5.Trish from Jessica Jones
6.Wesley from Angel
7.Harvey Dent from the Dark Knight trilogy
Warner Bros. Pictures
"Gotta be Harvey Dent to Two Face. He pretty much sets the standard for a fallen hero. The whole 'live long enough to see yourself become the villain' bit is his line!"
"He had a brilliant mind and kind soul that was darkened by the evil of the world."
8.Will Graham from Hannbial
NBC
"He went from being a 'good guy' and working for the FBI's Behavioral Unit that caught serial killers and murderers to literally working with Hannibal and KILLING PEOPLE HIMSELF. It was a glorious spiral into madness if I've ever seen one."
9.Vanya Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy
10.Angela Moss from Mr. Robot
USA Network
"Though I hated how she treated Elliot, I feel like her turn as a villain was really interesting. It really showed how her plotline contrasted to Elliot's and how much her desires ended up being her downfall."
11.Carrie White from Carrie
12.Light Yagami from Death Note
Nippon TV
"He started the show as someone who wanted to make the world a better place, and it was pretty heartbreaking to see him become mad with this god-like power. He became everything he stood against and hurt so many people along the way...yet you still couldn’t fully hate him because you remembered the person he was before."
13.Olivia Crain from The Haunting of Hill House
Netflix
"She became so protective of her kids, and Poppy used this against her, causing Olivia to kill Abigail and attempt to do the same to the twins. It’s so tragic, especially when we see her willingly step off the staircase after she realizes what she’s done."
14.Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
15.Lex Luthor from Smallville
The WB
"Over the seasons, he went from an eager to please nice guy and friend of Clark's to the silver-tongued nemesis of the friendly neighborhood Kryptonian. It was a challenge Michael Rosenbaum more than lived up to."
"I mean, you knew he was going to be a villain at the start. But to see how he developed into the notorious villain and Superman’s archenemy over time was amazing. Props to Michael Rosenbaum for his acting skills."
16.Alice from The Magicians
SyFy
"She goes from shy, traumatized school girl, to murderous magical creature, to kind of terrible human being, and the whole time she is the BEST!"
17.Morgana from Merlin
18.Ally from American Horror Story: Cult
FX
"Seeing the season end with her basically taking Kai’s place but from the opposite political direction was CHILLING."
19.Saul/Jimmy from Better Call Saul
AMC
"I remember when they announced Better Call Saul and I said, 'There’s no way I want to watch that slime ball,' and yet, the show made me genuinely care about him. His arc from down-on-his-luck Jimmy to completely criminal Saul is unmatched."
20.Walter White from Breaking Bad
21.Kuvira from The Legend of Korra
Nickelodeon
"We first meet her in Season 3 when Korra and the group travel to see Suyin and her family so Korra can better train as an Earthbender. And you can see throughout the season the disconnect that Kuvira started having with Suyin and the other Earth Kingdom leaders. Kuvira does make some good points as a leader, but seeing her take on this evil dictator style of leading in Season 4 really shows how absolute power can ruin someone. I thought the writers did a really good job showing how someone you know and trust can easily exploit that trust for their own self-gain."
22.Emma from Once Upon a Time
23.Anakin from the Star Wars prequels
24.Barbara from Gotham
Fox
"I’m sorry, but her transformation into a villain was *chef's kiss* and I absolutely LOVED her for every minute that she was evil after she turned."
25.Kate Barlow from Holes
Buena Vista Pictures
"Ooooh, I gotta say when Miss Katherine from Holes turned into Kissin’ Kate Barlow after the townspeople killed sweet 'I can fix that' Sam. I hated that he died, and I wanted her to burn it all down after that, so I kinda loved her villain arc."
26.Dan from Gossip Girl
27.Galleria from The Cheetah Girls
Disney Channel
"She was so eager to make it big and sign a record deal that she treated her friends and family and everyone around her for that matter as trash. Even poor Toto had to suffer because of her self-centered ways."
28.Magneto from the X-Men films
20th Century Fox
"Even though he was only really the good guy for a handful of X-Men films, First Class and Days of Future Past did a really good job pushing Erik toward evil."
29.Buddy/Syndrome from The Incredibles
30.Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
31.Michael from The Godfather
Paramount Pictures
"Michael Corleone went from World War II hero who didn't want to be part of the family business to becoming The Godfather."
32.And finally, Selina Meyer from Veep
HBO
"At the start of the show, she seems like a hilariously power-hungry but incapable politician, but as the seasons go by, she does more and more horrible things in order to fight and cheat her way to the top. After the series finale, I sat there with my jaw open, realizing that what I thought was just a political comedy was actually the origin story of a lifelike supervillain."
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.