Top 10 Disturbing Backstories Behind Your Favorite Movie Characters
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Top 10 Disturbing Backstories Behind Your Favorite Movie Characters
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Great characters, shocking backstories! Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Disturbing Backstories Behind Your Favorite Movie Characters. For this list, we’ll be going over the characters from film whose personal histories include tragic, unsettling, and bizarre subject matter, whether in the film itself or in source material. We’ll be excluding animated characters, such as Quasimodo from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” as those may warrant a list of their own. Also, obviously... potential spoilers ahead.
#10: Tallahassee
“Zombieland” (2009) Nicknamed for his original intended destination, Tallahassee is one of the most entertaining characters in this zombie apocalypse comedy. With his only apparent passions in life being killing zombies and finding a Twinkie, Tallahassee is tremendously funny. Yet he isn’t without his tender moments, as he recalls his puppy Buck, who was killed by zombies, with fondness and love whenever he speaks of him. Yet, it’s only later in the film that some of the characters and the audience realize that Buck was Tallahassee’s son, not his puppy, and that his jovial attitude masks the pain he feels at the loss of his child.
#9: Red
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The film “Us” follows several families who encounter murderous doppelgangers of themselves while on vacation. The leader of the doubles is Red – the counterpart of Adelaide. The doppelgangers call themselves “Tethered,” as their actions are linked to their original counterparts, and they hope that by killing the originals, they can be free. While it appears that Adelaide is able to overcome Red and rescue her son, a flashback reveals that Red is actually the original Adelaide, whom her Tethered imprisoned underground after taking her place; forcing her to live like a Tethered despite not being one of them.
#8: Neville Longbottom
“Harry Potter” franchise (2001-11) Neville Longbottom is one of the more prominent side characters in the “Harry Potter” series. As a boy, Neville is nervous and forgetful, and something of the class sad sack. But as he gets older, he develops into a competent wizard and a brave young man. Yet, he also has a tragic past. Like many people of his generation, Neville lost his parents to Voldemort and his followers. However, unlike most, Neville’s are still alive. Unfortunately, they were tortured into insanity, and they no longer recognize themselves or their own son. While the films make mention of this, the tragedy of Neville and his parents is detailed further in the books the movies are based on.
#7: Al Powell
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“Die Hard” (1988) While John McClane is fighting a one man battle against terrorists at Nakatomi Plaza, he keeps in contact with Sergeant Al Powell, the first police officer on the scene. Powell is a stand-up guy, and keeps McClane apprised of the situation on the ground over the radio, while also providing excellent moral support. Despite his affable demeanor and experience in the field, Powell reveals that he volunteered for a desk job after a heartbreaking incident – he shot and killed a child after mistaking their toy ray gun for a real weapon. That is a super dark backstory for a supporting character.
#6: Alfred Pennyworth
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“The Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-12) The most loyal of butlers, Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce Wayne’s confidant and a surrogate father figure. Although Alfred’s backstory isn’t gone into in-detail in the films, he does indicate a past in the army, recounting a story to Bruce about a bandit only interested in “watching the world burn.” Alfred’s actor, Michael Caine, has stated that in the backstory he envisioned for the character, Alfred was a former British special forces member who was wounded and met Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father, who offered him a job as a butler. While this in itself isn’t particularly disturbing, the fact that Alfred lost the man who gave him a new purpose and direction in life is still sad.
#5: Rorschach
“Watchmen” (2009) One of the most prominent vigilantes in the dystopian alternate timeline “Watchmen” is set in, Rorschach is a ruthless fighter, a skilled detective, and an uncompromising antihero. However, beneath his mask and in his past, Walter Kovacs has had a traumatic life. Rorschach’s mother was an abusive prostitute and his home life led him to take out his anger on others. However, even that pales in comparison to the case that pushed him from a vigilante into a killer. After looking into the kidnapping of a young girl, Rorschach discovers that the kidnapper butchered the girl and fed her to his dogs; leading the vigilante to snap and butcher the murderer himself.
#4: Gollum
“The Lord of the Rings” (2001-03) & “The Hobbit” franchises (2012-14) The one-time bearer of the “precious” One Ring, Gollum is a twisted and murderous creature who pursues the object with single…or possible double-minded vengeance. Even so, Gollum manages to be of great help to Frodo on his quest to destroy the Ring, even if it’s unwittingly. Subject to Frodo's pity, Gollum used to be a hobbit like him, named Smeagol. However, when his cousin finds the Ring, Smeagol killed him and was cast out for the deed. He then retreats into caves under the mountains, where he spends centuries in the dark, being twisted by his own madness to the point where he forgets his own name. Riddles with Bilbo must’ve been a nice break in routine!
#3: Freddy Krueger
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise (1984-2010) The perpetual antagonist of the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, Freddy Krueger is the terrifying dream demon who haunts the dreams of the teenagers of Springwood and kills them in frequently creative ways. Freddy’s origins are as gruesome as, and responsible for, his appearance. A serial killer in life, Freddy was burned alive by the townspeople after he got off on a technicality. As grisly as that is, it pales in comparison to his conception. Let’s just say that the label “son of a hundred maniacs” is kind of literal.
#2: Imperator Furiosa
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) A badass, one-armed general in the dictator Immortan Joe’s army, Furiosa rebels against her leader and frees his wives; fleeing with them in a dangerous chase across the desert. Her goal is to return to “the Green Place,” once her former home. However, what the film doesn’t make explicit is that Furiosa was abducted from her home by Immortan Joe and was intended to be one of his wives. Due to being barren, Joe discarded her. Her experience in their position no doubt influenced Furiosa’s decision to liberate Joe’s wives in the first place.
#1: Magneto
“X-Men” franchise (2000-) Magneto, born Erik Lehnsherr, is a powerful mutant who can control magnetic forces, allowing him to move metal with his mind. A charismatic leader, Magneto leads a brotherhood of his fellow mutants with the goal of establishing supremacy over humanity. Given his attitudes, it can often be surprising to remember that as a boy, Erik endured a Nazi concentration camp. Separated from his parents, he was experimented on repeatedly to explore his abilities. Worst of all, in order to provoke a stronger response, his mother was murdered right in front of him. With that kind of early trauma, it’s no wonder Magneto developed into the damaged man he later becomes.
