Top 10 Villains Created By The Hero

“Spider-Man: Far From Home” (2019)

Without Tony Stark, Quentin Beck would have never become the disgruntled ex-Stark Industries employee he ultimately became. After being fired for his unstable nature, the holographic-illusions specialist recruited other former employees to help him build the Elementals and attempted to become an Avenger that’d be up to Stark’s level: Mysterio. Without Peter Parker unwittingly passing along the powerful AI-enhanced glasses to him, Beck would never have gained access to all of Stark Industries databases and all those drones to continue his plan. As such, this supervillain actually came about thanks to 2 Marvel superheroes, and he proved to be quite the mentor-turned-foe for the web-slinger.

“Megamind” (2010)



Megamind’s origin is perhaps the most subversive of the classic hero versus villain dynamic. In this film, the villain is portrayed as more or less an innocent victim of the bullying hero and is driven to malevolence because of his oppression. Because of Metro Man’s hogging of the spotlight and adulation, Megamind realizes the only way for him to achieve recognition is to define himself as Metro Man’s nemesis. The film makes it clear from their childhoods that Metro Man’s attention-seeking behavior and conceited nature drove Megamind to his villainous path, which not only elicits sympathy for Megamind, but also contempt for his heroic arch-enemy.

“Kick-Ass 2” (2013)



The son of mob boss Frank D’Amico, Chris D’Amico begins his super-villain career as the false superhero Red Mist to earn Kick-Ass’ trust and then hand him over to his father. Although Kick-Ass doesn’t turn out to be the threat Chris initially thought him to be, he does end up killing Frank and leaves Chris fatherless. Thirsty for vengeance, Chris creates the persona of The Motherfucker and sets out to kill Kick-Ass. Despite being a comic book fan, Chris immerses himself in the role of a supervillain and defines himself in direct opposition to Kick-Ass, another case of a villain’s existence hinging upon the presence of the hero.

“Aquaman” (2018)

His real name is David Kane and his father was Jesse Kane. As part of a team of pirates hired by Atlantis’ King Orm Marius to commandeer a nuclear sub, David and Jesse soon find themselves face-to-face with the King’s half-brother, Arthur Curry. The subsequent fight results in Jesse being trapped in a sinking submarine with Aquaman refusing to save his life. All of which David blames Aquaman for, and vows revenge. He gets help from Orm in the former of a special battle suit, takes on the supervillain name of Black Manta and once again, comes face-to-face with the titular Aquaman - and this time, it’s a battle to his apparent death.

“The Incredibles” (2004)



Fanboys can be an obsessive lot, so when the ultimate Mr. Incredible fanboy is rejected by his hero, his fragile sanity snaps. Once Mr. Incredible’s wannabe sidekick IncrediBoy gets kicked to the curb by his idol, Buddy renounces his devotion to super-heroics and goes into business for himself. Becoming wealthy by inventing weapons to sell to foreign countries, Buddy becomes the supervillain Syndrome and begins murdering former superheroes itching to become crime-fighters again. Unlike most heroes on this list, Mr. Incredible concedes his treatment of Buddy was cruel in a subtle admission of the role he played in creating his nemesis.

“Captain America: Civil War” (2016)

Like any good father would do, Helmut Zemo tried to ensure that his family would be protected during times of war. However, Ultron’s attack on Sokovia and the Avengers’ ultimate defeat of the Tony Stark-created AI program resulted in the utmost damage of the European country, as well as plenty of casualties. This included Zemo’s wife and son, who had been taking refuge at his father’s home. The colonel-turned-terrorist subsequently embarked on a self-imposed mission to turn the Avengers against each other. By framing the Winter Soldier, he attempted to put Captain America and Iron Man at odds with one another and break up the team. However, as we know from the later films, Zemo’s success is short-lived.

“Thor” (2011)



Want to make your kid hate you? Raise him as your own while favoring his brother and never let him know he’s adopted. That’s the huge mistake that Odin makes, which sets Thor’s brother Loki down the dark path to villainy. Abandoned at birth by his real father Laufey, Loki was adopted by Odin and his wife Frigga who hoped the infant frost giant would grow up to be a bridge between warring Asgard and Jotunheim. Upon learning the truth about his parentage in adulthood, Loki hatches a plan to have Thor banished and take his place on his father’s throne. Loki may be the God of Mischief, but this one was totally on Odin.

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017)

Much like his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker in “Revenge of the Sith,” Kylo Ren is seduced to the Dark Side of the Force. Unfortunately, this never would have happened if his uncle Luke Skywalker hadn’t tried to train him as a Jedi in the first place. Luke takes things even further however, believing his failure means that the Jedi shouldn’t continue and declines to join the Resistance. But perhaps what’s most striking about Kylo’s turn is Luke’s realization that Ren was being corrupted by First Order's Supreme Leader Snoke, which leads to his briefly considering killing Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son. Luke is prevented from following through when his nephew betrays him and trashes the Jedi Temple - and as such, Kylo goes on to become the Supreme Leader of the First Order.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)



Tony Stark’s snubbing and humiliation of Aldrich Killian was the catalyst for the villain setting out to destroy Stark in “Iron Man 3.” But he just can’t compare to this A.I.-baddie from “The Avengers”’ sequel: in a departure from his comic book origins involving the original Ant-Man, the MCU version of Ultron is the brainchild of Tony Stark. Designed to be a global protection program using the Mind Stone from Loki’s scepter, Ultron developed a twisted mind of his own and became a genocidal killing machine. Possessing a variation on Iron Man’s personality, Ultron takes his creator’s arrogance to a god-like level of hubris and serves as a dark reflection of his creator’s noble intentions. A manifestation of Stark’s worst attributes, Ultron is the monster to Tony’s Victor Frankenstein.







Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:





The Indominus Rex

“Jurassic World” (2015)



The Rainmaker

“Looper” (2012)




Ghost

“Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018)



Wicked Witch of the West

“Oz the Great and Powerful” (2013)



Agent Smith

“The Matrix Reloaded” (2003)

“The Dark Knight” (2008)

While you can’t talk about “The Dark Knight”’s villains without mentioning the Joker, who has outright admitted that Batman “completes” him, when it comes to baddies that wouldn’t exist without the Caped Crusader, then this is it. In the second installment of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, Harvey Dent is a district attorney nicknamed the White Knight, who becomes disfigured following one of the Joker’s plots. After being convinced that the death of his girlfriend is Batman’s fault, he becomes a vigilante in his own right. While he seeks revenge against the Dark Knight anyone else he thinks is involved with Rachel’s timely demise, we witness an ensuing character transformation and a killing spree determined by the flip of a coin that make up quite the journey from good guy to bad.