There is nothing quite like a shocking villain reveal in a movie. If done correctly, it can pull the rug out from underneath the viewers and in some cases make them question an entire film. A villain reveal could lead some to go back and watch a film again, looking for clues about the villain that they probably missed the first time.
The icing on the cake for a great villain reveal is when the said villain is pretending to be a hero. This trope goes across many genres including: superhero, horror and even animated films. Some of the best villains hide in the shadows in order to succeed in their evil plans.
10 Spider-Man Fans Knew Mysterio Could Not Be A Hero
Spider-Man: Far From Home
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker crosses paths with Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio, who comes from an alternate universe to help battle the Elementals. It is later revealed that Beck is actually an ex-Stark Industries employee who is looking to use Tony Stark's technology to continue his illusions.
When it was first announced that Mysterio would be part of the film, it was marketed as Jake Gyllenhaal playing a heroic version of the character rather than a villain. But most hardcore Spider-Man fans knew something was not right, and Marvel tied Beck's backstory perfectly to the MCU to make the reveal shocking.
9 Elsa Schneider Seduced Indy And His Father
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade finds Indy tasked with finding the Holy Grail. He picks up the trail that his father left after he went missing. Indy meets Dr. Elsa Schneider, a colleague of his father's, and eventually finds his father. Unfortunately, Elsa was working with the Nazis to find the Grail.
Schneider's reveal as a villain took the Indiana Jones formula and turned it on its head. Elsa was initially seen as Indy's heroine sidekick, as fans had seen in the previous two installments, but she ended up being one of the villains. The fact that she was able to get both of the Jones' trust, and seduce them, makes for one of the more humorous moments of the film.
8 Hans Betrays Anna To Take Over The Throne
Frozen
Frozen was a smash-hit for Disney when it released in 2013. The film follows princess Anna as she sets out on a quest to find her sister Queen Elsa along with her traveling companions. One of them is Hans, prince of the Southern Wales, whom Anna falls in love with.
Later on, Anna needs a true love's kiss in order to save her. Just when you think Hans will kiss her, he does not and reveals that he is the evil mastermind behind seizing the throne of Arendelle by eliminating her and her sister. The film takes the trope of true love and turns it into an impressive twist that many did not see coming.
7 Phantasm Is One Of Batman's Most Personal Villains
Batman: Mask Of Phantasm
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is considered one of the best, if not the best, Batman films of all-time. Batman investigates a mysterious vigilante the Phantasm, who is murdering Gotham City crime bosses. At the same time, Bruce Wayne reconnects with his ex-fiancé Andrea Beaumont.
Andrea is revealed to be the Phantasm, who is murdering crime bosses to avenge her father, who was killed by the mafia. The reveal is a tough one for Batman and viewers, as Bruce had almost given up the idea to fight crime in order to marry Andrea, but now she had turned herself into one of Batman's most personal, formidable foes.
6 Amy Dunne Is Cunning And Smart
Gone Girl
Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as Nick and Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne, a couple that are going through some problems in their marriage. After Amy goes missing, Nick becomes prime suspect number one and is vilified in the community and media. When it appears that he did kill her, the film flips the script.
It turns out that Amy faked her own death, hoping to frame Nick for it. Amy is a lot more cunning than she appeared to be, as this goes along with the novel of the same name due to Amy being an unreliable narrator. In the end, Amy gets the last laugh and still wins despite returning to Nick, even making him afraid of her.
5 Norman Bates Is Split Between Two People
Psycho
Psycho is one of the best horror movies ever made. Directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, it follows a woman and a private investigator who investigate the sudden disappearance of the woman's sister at the Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates and his mother, who is never seen.
The audience is led to believe that the mother is doing the killings, but it is revealed that the mother is dead and Norman is the killer. Norman was seen trying to protect his mother, but he was really acting in his split-personality in which he would dress up like his mother. To this day it is still one of the best plot twists in all of film.
4 Anna Ivers's Condition Quickly Turns Her From Hero To Villain
The Uninvited
The Uninvited is a remake of the South Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters. After Anna leaves a mental hospital, she must deal with her mean stepmother Rachel, and with the help of her sister Alex, try to prove that Rachel killed their mother. At the end, the twist is that Alex is dead and Anna has been imagining her.
Anna realizes that she in fact killed her sister and mother, which adds to the tragedy of her character. It also invites viewers to go back and watch the film again knowing that she was responsible. For example, some would notice that nobody speaks to Alex nor responds to her, since she is dead and not there.
3 Aaron/Roy Faked Everything
Primal Fear
Primal Fear follows Chicago attorney Martin Vail, who takes on the case of an altar boy Aaron who is accused of murdering a Catholic archbishop. Vail finds that Aaron has dissociative personality disorder, where a violent persona Roy comes out. Vail is able to get him off by plea of insanity.
In the film's final minutes, Aaron reveals that he faked having a personality disorder. He revels in the fact that he killed two people and duped Vail, leaving Vail shaken. Edward Norton's creepy, intense performance as Aaron was widely praised, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for it.
2 Palpatine Orchestrated The Downfall Of Anakin Skywalker
Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith
In the Star Wars prequels, Chancellor Palpatine was one of the most prominent members of the Senate. What everyone did not know was that he was secretly a Sith Lord. Palpatine used his position of power to accelerate Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace and eventual turn to the Dark Side as Darth Vader.
Palpatine remains one of Star Wars' best villains. He was able to build a galactic empire and become the most powerful person in the galaxy. His ability to evade the Jedi, simply by keeping close to them, is something that haunts Jedi like Obi-Wan and Yoda. In a twist of fate, he was defeated by Vader when he tried to kill his son, Luke Skywalker.
1 Leonard Shelby Is An Unreliable Narrator
Memento
Memento was director Christopher Nolan's first big hit that put him on the map. The film is about Leonard Shelby, a man with short-term memory loss who investigates his wife's murder to find out who is responsible. The story is told in nonlinear format, which leaves the viewers just as confused as Leonard is.
It turns out that Leonard was the one who killed his wife and that he has been an unreliable narrator for the audience. This makes the audience question how much faith they should have in their lead character, as it was never confirmed that he was a good guy just because the film was about him.