Top 10 Villain Back Stories That Give Us Chills

“Maleficent” (2014)

Disney’s animated “Sleeping Beauty” features what is easily one of the most iconic villains in Maleficent, the witch who puts the sleeping curse on Princess Aurora. Reframing the fairy tale from the antagonist’s point of view, this origin story gives a shockingly powerful reason for her hatred for the girl. Maleficent is a misunderstood fairy. Once in love with a young and ambitious Stefan, he betrays her in order to become king. Stefan even drugs her and cuts off her wings to attain his goal. Despite its fantasy trappings, it’s an incredibly tragic scene that holds a lot of disturbing subtext. Jolie’s performance in the scene is simply shattering.

“Harry Potter” franchise (2001-11)


Severus Snape’s arc is a wild ride, with most of its sharpest turns in the last three installments of the series. He reveals himself to be on the side of Lord Volemort, only for the truth to be far more complicated… and heartbreaking. With his dying breaths, he transfers his memories of Harry’s deceased mother, Lily. Much of his hatred for Harry stems from his hatred for his father, James, who tormented him and yet won Lily, whom Snape deeply loved. He carried that love and the regrets associated with it all these years, and knowing this, a lot of his actions suddenly make so much sense. His last words, about Harry having his mother’s eyes, still have fans weeping all these years later.

“Godzilla” franchise(1954-)

Exploding onto the scene in a 1954 Japanese film, the menacing kaiju creature is known for stomping through cities and sinking ships. But Godzilla’s story is steeped in a painful history. The scientists fighting to stop it realize that the creature has been powered by ongoing H-bomb testing. Given the horrors of the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the atomic-breathed creature becomes a metaphor for the Pandora’s box opened by these devastating weapons. While many of the modern American versions of the story have downplayed its original, and possibly controversial, origins, the true circumstances of Godzilla’s creation have a profound impact.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007)

Based on a musical that was in turn based on a penny dreadful about a murderous barber and the woman who makes meat pies of his victims, Johnny Depp stars as the vengeful Sweeney Todd. Some of his backstory is even a mystery to him until Mrs. Lovett fills in the blanks. Her solo, “Poor Thing,” reveals what happened after the treacherous Judge Turpin sent Todd away on trumped up charges. His wife, Lucy, was preyed upon by the judge in his absence, and he took Todd’s daughter as his own. Todd devotes the rest of his days to getting his revenge, and honestly, it’s hard to blame him.

“Black Panther” (2018)

Marvel’s epic superhero film introduced millions to Wakanda. The incredibly advanced nation in the middle of Africa maintains its power and unity by shutting itself away from the world. Erik “Killmonger” Stevens’ father was a Wankandan agent but eventually used the country’s prized technology to help oppressed people outside Wakanda. Eric’s father is murdered as a result causing Killmonger to live a rough childhood thereafter, alienated from his homeland. This isolation from everything his father knew, coupled with his death, makes him cold and vengeful, and the movie makes us watch that happen. It gives the ideological tensions of the entire movie equal weight.

“Carrie” (1976)

You might argue that some characters on this list aren’t villains but are pushed to villainy by extreme circumstances. Carrie White is one such example. While her merciless rain of fire and revenge on her senior prom is absolutely cold-blooded, much of the movie follows her as she endures pitiless tormenting from everyone in her life. This treatment has clearly been going on her entire life, and the fateful prom is just the culmination. If it were just her classmates, it would be one thing, but even her own mother gets in on the action. By the end, she’s so twisted up that even the people who showed her kindness look like enemies to her.

“Joker” (2019)

Todd Phillips’ gonzo reinterpretation of the classic Batman villain is not your typical superhero movie. It’s more a character study of one man’s descent into madness after years of social isolation and mistreatment. Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for playing Arthur Fleck, the aspiring stand-up comedian with a neurological disorder brought about by abuse. Circumstances go from bad to worse for him, leading him to murder and terrorism and inspiring a city-wide descent into chaos and lawlessness. It’s a far cry from the cartoonish villainy of Jack Nicholson’s Joker, and goes even further than the parental cruelty suffered by Heath Ledger’s version of the character. “Joker’s” vision for the iconic villain is far more savage, and far more terrifyingly realistic.

“X-Men” franchise (2000-)

Professor X believes mutants should assimilate into larger society. Magneto is convinced that mutants are a superior race who must violently assert their power. Magneto’s viewpoint takes on a new and profoundly uncomfortable dimension when we know Magneto’s early life in Nazi-occupied Poland. Originally known as Erik Lehnsherr, he lived through the Holocaust. His family, however, did not, with his mother being killed right in front of him. This experience has clearly had a profound effect on his view of morality. Full of rage and vengeance, he has no patience for mutants who seem convinced that people and mutants can live in harmony. When you’ve seen the hate he has seen firsthand, it’s not hard to figure out why.

“Wicked - Part 1” (2024)

“The Wizard of Oz” isn’t too interested in humanizing the Wicked Witch. She isn’t even given a name before she’s melted in the original. It would take decades for Elphaba to get that name, let alone a story of her own. Adapted from the Broadway musical, “Wicked” tells the story of Elphaba and Glinda the Good Witch’s relationship before Dorothy. Elphaba is an outcast from the start, for both her green skin and her social awkwardness. While Glinda eventually takes a liking to her, their friendship was torn apart by politics and romantic rivalry. Elphaba is cast as a villain but in fact frequently holds the moral high ground. Set to incredible, shiver-inducing music, the entire is enough to give us goosebumps for days.

“Frankenstein” (1931)

For years, Frankenstein’s Monster has been thought of as a lumbering ghoul terrorizing rural villages, but that’s not even half the story. Since Boris Karloff donned the makeup in the most well-known version of Mary Shelley’s sci-fi horror classic, his expressive eyes have made us second guess our fear of the character. Think about it. Imagine waking up as a collection of body parts by a father who doesn’t want you, and everyone who sees you runs from your hideousness. He’s essentially a newborn babe in the body of a grown man, but with no one to teach him how to behave or to control himself. It’s a torturous existence made even more torturous by his creator, Dr. Frankenstein’s callous abandonment.

Which of these backstories got to you? Tell us in the comments.