It takes a truly great actor to make a character borderline detestable, causing us to grimace and bare our teeth in anger whenever they stroll across the screen.
More than mere villains, these characters have a way of resonating with us in a deeper, more fundamentally emotional way, triggering an immediate response that can range from annoyance and disgust to intense hatred down to our very core.
From scheming fairy tale princes to money-grubbing businessmen, from corrupt prison wardens to tyrannical hospital nurses, here are some of the most loathsome, hated, most unsympathetically awful characters we’ve seen in our favorite films to date.
20th Century Fox
Arrogance and a desire for war are seldom a winning combination. Unsurprisingly, then, The Princess Bride’s Prince Humperdinck more than lives up to his uniquely unsympathetic reputation. Initially appearing as the stereotypically handsome prince striving to reclaim his lost love, Humperdinck is soon revealed to be a cruel, cowardly, pig-headed opportunist struggling to launch a war with a rival kingdom. Hiding beneath his royal title and striving to claim Buttercup as his own (if only for the purpose of murdering her), few characters are able to get under viewers’ skin as deftly as Chris Sarandon’s duplicitous Humperdinck.
20th Century Fox
Xenomorphs aren’t the only inhuman monsters within the larger Alien universe. In point of fact, there’s creatures far more nefarious and conniving than these infamous extraterrestrials, as happens to be the case with Carter Burke in 1986’s Aliens. Though initially introduced as a calm and level-headed representative of Weyland-Yutani, Burke’s true nature as a lying, cheating, cold-hearted businessman is revealed halfway through Aliens’ second act. Sacrificing countless human lives for the chance at securing a live Xenomorph specimen for study, the only thing Burke seems to care about is the number of zeroes on the end of his pay check – no matter how many people he has to kill for the sake of his grand prize.
Columbia Pictures
Stephen King has dreamed up plenty of odious individuals over the decades, but few come close to matching the sheer wickedness of The Shawshank Redemption’s Warden Samuel Norton. Initially introduced as a Bible-thumping authoritarian, it isn’t long before Norton’s shady financial dealings eventually come to light. Using the hapless Andy as an unwilling accomplice in his money laundering scheme, Norton’s hypocrisy and completely immoral approach to law and order is enough to leave viewers sick to their stomachs. As dangerous as he is callous, he’s somehow the worst person to step foot in Shawshank Prison, far outmatching the greed, cruelty, and past crimes of the inmates within his care.
Warner Bros.
A Stephen King character every bit as awful as the aforementioned Warden Norton, Percy somehow rises above The Shawshank Redemption’s principle antagonist simply because he enjoys antagonizing the inmates and fellow guards on his prison cell block. A spoiled, whiny, cowardly bully who uses his familial connections as a way to avoid responsibility for his actions, Percy’s casual cruelty and sadistic view of prison life make him one of the most unsympathetic villains ever created by the King of Horror. From harassing death row inmates to purposely sabotaging a prisoner’s execution, Percy is the morally bankrupt authority figure each of us pray we never have to answer to in real life.
United Artists
In contrast to someone like Percy Wetmore, it’s not explicitly stated whether Nurse Ratched’s actions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are born out of her underlying sadism or because she truly believes she’s doing her duty as a psychiatric hospital administrator. In spite of insisting that she has nothing but the best intentions for the patients on her ward, however, Ratched’s condescending approach to her responsibilities comes across as more callous and vindictive than it does expressly benevolent. Taking pride in her role as the domineering personification of authority, Ratched uses her power to regularly target her patients’ prevalent insecurities and fragmented mental state, worsening their conditions instead of actually helping to treat them.
Warner Bros.
It speaks volumes that most Harry Potter fans tend to view Dolores Umbridge as a far more grating antagonist than the series’ overarching villain, Lord Voldemort. A prudish administrator within the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge arrives at Hogwarts as a Ministry-sanctioned bureaucrat seeking to usurp control of the school away from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. In spite of her bubbly exterior and outwardly peppy tone of voice, Umbridge is anything but a normal or well-meaning individual, routinely using her authority to degrade teachers, punish students, and wipe away any rumors of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s whispered return.
20th Century Fox
It’s hard to sympathize with any abusive partner, especially one as unwaveringly abhorrent as Titanic’s Cal Hockley. Brilliantly brought to life by Billy Zane, there exists almost no redeeming qualities about Cal’s character whatsoever, from his elitist view of wealth and class to his irrationally violent anger towards his intended fiancée, Rose. Using his vast fortune as an excuse to get everything he wants out of life, it only becomes increasingly clear why Rose is so determined to escape from Cal as Titanic rolls along. To him, love isn’t about romantic connection or closely held feelings for another person. It’s about possessing another person and forcing them to submit to your will, treating them more like a new car or an expensive household accessory than an actual human being.
More than mere villains, these characters have a way of resonating with us in a deeper, more fundamentally emotional way, triggering an immediate response that can range from annoyance and disgust to intense hatred down to our very core.
From scheming fairy tale princes to money-grubbing businessmen, from corrupt prison wardens to tyrannical hospital nurses, here are some of the most loathsome, hated, most unsympathetically awful characters we’ve seen in our favorite films to date.
Prince Humperdinck (The Princess Bride)
20th Century Fox
Arrogance and a desire for war are seldom a winning combination. Unsurprisingly, then, The Princess Bride’s Prince Humperdinck more than lives up to his uniquely unsympathetic reputation. Initially appearing as the stereotypically handsome prince striving to reclaim his lost love, Humperdinck is soon revealed to be a cruel, cowardly, pig-headed opportunist struggling to launch a war with a rival kingdom. Hiding beneath his royal title and striving to claim Buttercup as his own (if only for the purpose of murdering her), few characters are able to get under viewers’ skin as deftly as Chris Sarandon’s duplicitous Humperdinck.
Burke (Aliens)
20th Century Fox
Xenomorphs aren’t the only inhuman monsters within the larger Alien universe. In point of fact, there’s creatures far more nefarious and conniving than these infamous extraterrestrials, as happens to be the case with Carter Burke in 1986’s Aliens. Though initially introduced as a calm and level-headed representative of Weyland-Yutani, Burke’s true nature as a lying, cheating, cold-hearted businessman is revealed halfway through Aliens’ second act. Sacrificing countless human lives for the chance at securing a live Xenomorph specimen for study, the only thing Burke seems to care about is the number of zeroes on the end of his pay check – no matter how many people he has to kill for the sake of his grand prize.
Warden Norton (The Shawshank Redemption)
Columbia Pictures
Stephen King has dreamed up plenty of odious individuals over the decades, but few come close to matching the sheer wickedness of The Shawshank Redemption’s Warden Samuel Norton. Initially introduced as a Bible-thumping authoritarian, it isn’t long before Norton’s shady financial dealings eventually come to light. Using the hapless Andy as an unwilling accomplice in his money laundering scheme, Norton’s hypocrisy and completely immoral approach to law and order is enough to leave viewers sick to their stomachs. As dangerous as he is callous, he’s somehow the worst person to step foot in Shawshank Prison, far outmatching the greed, cruelty, and past crimes of the inmates within his care.
Percy Wetmore (The Green Mile)
Warner Bros.
A Stephen King character every bit as awful as the aforementioned Warden Norton, Percy somehow rises above The Shawshank Redemption’s principle antagonist simply because he enjoys antagonizing the inmates and fellow guards on his prison cell block. A spoiled, whiny, cowardly bully who uses his familial connections as a way to avoid responsibility for his actions, Percy’s casual cruelty and sadistic view of prison life make him one of the most unsympathetic villains ever created by the King of Horror. From harassing death row inmates to purposely sabotaging a prisoner’s execution, Percy is the morally bankrupt authority figure each of us pray we never have to answer to in real life.
Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
United Artists
In contrast to someone like Percy Wetmore, it’s not explicitly stated whether Nurse Ratched’s actions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are born out of her underlying sadism or because she truly believes she’s doing her duty as a psychiatric hospital administrator. In spite of insisting that she has nothing but the best intentions for the patients on her ward, however, Ratched’s condescending approach to her responsibilities comes across as more callous and vindictive than it does expressly benevolent. Taking pride in her role as the domineering personification of authority, Ratched uses her power to regularly target her patients’ prevalent insecurities and fragmented mental state, worsening their conditions instead of actually helping to treat them.
Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter)
Warner Bros.
It speaks volumes that most Harry Potter fans tend to view Dolores Umbridge as a far more grating antagonist than the series’ overarching villain, Lord Voldemort. A prudish administrator within the Ministry of Magic, Umbridge arrives at Hogwarts as a Ministry-sanctioned bureaucrat seeking to usurp control of the school away from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. In spite of her bubbly exterior and outwardly peppy tone of voice, Umbridge is anything but a normal or well-meaning individual, routinely using her authority to degrade teachers, punish students, and wipe away any rumors of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s whispered return.
Cal (Titanic)
20th Century Fox
It’s hard to sympathize with any abusive partner, especially one as unwaveringly abhorrent as Titanic’s Cal Hockley. Brilliantly brought to life by Billy Zane, there exists almost no redeeming qualities about Cal’s character whatsoever, from his elitist view of wealth and class to his irrationally violent anger towards his intended fiancée, Rose. Using his vast fortune as an excuse to get everything he wants out of life, it only becomes increasingly clear why Rose is so determined to escape from Cal as Titanic rolls along. To him, love isn’t about romantic connection or closely held feelings for another person. It’s about possessing another person and forcing them to submit to your will, treating them more like a new car or an expensive household accessory than an actual human being.