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10 Movie Characters Who Deserved a Much Worse Ending

These characters survived their movies. Unfortunately for the rest of us

Image by ShiftDrive at Envato Elements

Some movie characters are villains. Some are complicated antiheroes. And some spent two hours being so awful that survival felt frankly undeserved.

At least in my humble opinion.

I’ve long enjoyed a good villain for their ability to test the boundaries and try to get away with the stuff that, in real life, would have seen them rotting in lock-up.

But every so often, there is a film character that I’ll despise with such a strong amount of conviction that I genuinely have to check if I’ve remembered to take my happy pills that morning!

These are the characters who should have met the age-old cinematic fate of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when something exploded. They needed a falling piano, a suspiciously loose balcony railing, or a game of Russian Roulette where all the barrels were loaded.

Please don’t misunderstand; I’m no monster. I appreciate the art and the performance. But sometimes a character is so smug, selfish, cruel, annoying, or ethically bankrupt that the only satisfying ending is watching karma finally clock in for work.

And when that time never comes….. I have things to say!

Here’s a list of the movie characters who, according to me, absolutely should have met with the grim reaper!

10. Cal Hockley — Played by Billy Zane in Titanic

Rich. Jealous. Violent. Possessive. Cal had all the warmth of a tax audit.

Not only did he abuse Rose, chase her through a sinking ship with a gun, and treat people like possessions, but he somehow still managed to be less useful than the actual iceberg.

Asshole.

And let’s never forget: this man used a random child as a lifeboat accessory. And don’t think I don’t take issue with the little girl who was compliant in his deceit. She should have screamed “Let me go, I don’t know you!” but then again, had she done that, she may have ended up as fish food.

So, the poor third-class child gets a free pass.

However, Cal? No chance.

While you might think he gets his comeuppance in the moment when he realises his stupidity in forgetting that he put the Heart of the Ocean into the jacket, he also pissed me off, in the most royal of ways, in being so unbelievably careless with said necklace.

“I put the diamond in the coat. I put the coat on her!” — Said by the dumbest of fucks, Cal.

The bottom line is that Cal survived while hundreds didn’t. Quite frankly, James Cameron owes us an explanation.

Dishonourable mentions from Titanic:

• Old lady Rose — Utterly despicable for chucking a 56‑carat blue diamond, worth around half a billion dollars, into the ocean. Without a spare fuck to give, she basically flung the GDP of a small country into the abyss, all over a holiday fling with a man she knew for four days.
• Young Rose — Because we all know there was room for two on that door.
• Ruth DeWitt Bukater — For being the kind of mother who’d pimp out her daughter’s future rather than downgrade to coach.

9. Percy Wetmore — The Green Mile

Cinema has taught us that there is nothing more dangerous than a small, cruel man with authority.

Percy wasn’t just unpleasant. He was sadistic. A pimple on the ass of the Small-Man-Syndrome Movement.

He abused prisoners and delighted in their suffering. He weaponised his position, and, in what remains one of cinema’s greatest unforgivable acts, he stomped on Mr Jingles.

You don’t come back from stomping on a mouse named Mr Jingles.

Suck it Percy! Image by Film Grab

An asshole of the greatest proportions.

Dishonourable mentions from The Green Mile:

• William “Wild Bill” Wharton — Filthy, racist, pedophile who cannot shut the fuck up for a second while on the Mile.
• Burt Hammersmith — The attorney who defended John (played by Gary Sinise) — clearly didn’t delve too deeply into John Coffey’s back story or do any diligent investigating. Had he been somewhat decent at his job, John Coffey wouldn’t have been sent to death row. Oh, and, he shot his dog.

8. Agatha Trunchbull — Played by Pam Ferris in Matilda

There are a lot of questionable souls in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book, Matilda.

However, by far the worst of the worst was Agatha Trunchbull. The principal of Crunchem Hall, which under her tenure was a human rights violation with a bell.

This beastly-bitch treated children the way most people treat mosquitoes.

The woman hurled kids by their pigtails, locked them in torture cupboards, terrorised an entire school, and somehow turned primary education into a maximum-security prison.

A face not even a mother could love. Image by TriStar Pictures

Miss Hannigan from Annie has always been a favourite of mine, but not even she was this sociopathic.

There are so many notable offences that this tyrant committed that she almost deserves her own list. But here are just a few of the worst:

• She abused Miss Honey when she was made her primary carer after Magnus passed away.
• She murdered Magnus and made it look like a suicide.
• She forced Bruce Bogtrotter to eat an entire chocolate cake during a school assembly after accusing him of stealing her ginormous cake in the school kitchen.
• She ate like a pig, shoving rare and delectable chocolates into her gob like a kitchen incinerator.

Filth of a human of the highest order.

Dishonourable mentions from Matilda:

• Harry Wormwood — Matilda’s used-car salesman father, a sheister who abuses his daughter, banning her from reading, and happily abandoned her when he planned to move to Guam to escape the FBI.
• Michael Wormwood — Matilda’s spiteful ignoramus of a brother. He is loathsome in general but gets a special mention for encouraging the bullying of his sister.

7. Hilly Holbrook — Played by Bryce Dallas Howard in The Help

I love this film. I loved the novel. But I hated this sneaky, narcissistic, racist mean-girl of a character.

If you’ve not seen the film, Hilly was the image of racism wrapped in pearls, uppity church-lady manners, and a baked-casserole energy.

Hilly weaponised gossip, social standing, and fake politeness with terrifying efficiency. She managed to be simultaneously passive-aggressive and actively monstrous.

Eat my Shit! Gif by https://gph.is/g/Z29XXrb

So hateful was this Queen of Mean, she was known in her town for systematically bullying and ostracising anyone who challenged her views, particularly when it came to her revolting racism, and she used her social power to enforce segregation and fear.

As if terrorising her neighbours wasn’t enough, she committed her ageing mother to a nursing home simply for laughing at her during a pie scene, which I won’t spoil but remains one of cinema’s most satisfying acts of revenge for a reason!

But most disgustingly, she created the “Home Health Sanitation Initiative” to force Black maids to use separate, outdoor toilets because she believed they carried “different diseases.”

Hilly Holbrook was not kind. Not smart. Not important.

Dishonourable mentions from The Help:

• Elizabeth Leefolt — For verbally and physically abusing her daughter, Mae, whom she believes is unattractive and overweight. She didn’t even explain to her child that her beloved Aibileen was leaving her.
• Leroy Jackson — the now ex-husband of the big-hearted Minny Jackson. That piece of shit Leroy was a drunk domestic abuser who spent all of Minny’s hard-earned money on himself.

6. Harry — Played by Alan Rickman in Love Actually

I know some people who love Love Actually. I also know some people who violently detest it.

There are even some people who find the character of Harry charming because he’s played by Alan Rickman.

I reject this entirely.

Alan Rickman might be brilliant, but Harry is a tool.

He emotionally cheats on his wife, who, despite his lacklustre personality, appears to still genuinely love him. Then, he must have suffered some traumatic brain injury in a deleted scene, because he becomes infatuated with his praying-mantis look-alike secretary, Mia.

The fuck you will. Gif by http://gph.is/2oQ938C

If this betrayal of rational thinking isn’t enough, he then goes and buys expensive jewellery for his horny co-worker, lies repeatedly, and leaves poor Karen opening a Joni Mitchell CD while Emma Thompson quietly destroys all of our hearts.

Harry did not deserve to get away with his crimes against Emma Thompson. The woman is a national treasure.

A philandering prick who deserved the Bobbit.

Dishonourable mentions from Love Actually:

• Karl — Also works in the same office as Harry. There must be some bad shit in that water cooler because Karl is a turd. Why? Because he is well aware that Laura Linney’s character lusts after him, he throws her a bone, and in the midst of getting it on, when she has to take a phone call that leaves her visibly upset, he just gets dressed and leaves. He doesn’t comfort her; he doesn’t ask if everything is ok. He just leaves. Asshole.
• Annie, Prime Minister Hugh Grant’s Chief of Staff — This woman clearly has no mirror at home. She body-shames the pure and beautiful Natalie, calling her “chubby,” and having a “sizeable arse and huge thighs” And if that’s not bad enough, she suggests " redistributing " poor Natalie for being nothing but a nice human being whom the PM can’t help but get the feels for.

5. Kate and Peter McCallister — Home Alone and Home Alone 2

Well, far be it from me to accuse others of being bad parents, but I must make an exception in the case of these two.

Assholes. Image by By MoviePics1001

Forget your kid once? Fine. Parenting is hard.

Forget the same child twice? Honestly, Child Protective Services should have been waiting at the airport.

Kevin was left at home, not due to the miscalculations of the van head count, but because he dared to walk into his parents’ room while they were packing to complain about his creepy uncle Frank.

Instead of listening, Kate kicks him out of his room, and then, when she hears Kevin arguing with his insufferable brother Buzz over the pizza, she sends him to the third floor as a punishment for disturbing her peace!

After oversleeping, a fair mistake but also not, because no one oversleeps in a house full of children, and when knowing they are departing for Paris in the morning, they chaotically race to the airport.

What makes Kate and Peter such assholes is that it’s not until they are comfortably sitting in first class, away from all their responsibilities which have been ticketed for coach, that Kate can’t shake the feeling that she has forgotten something behind.

Something?? How about your child, you first-class witch?!!!!

The only reason Kevin survived is that he possessed the survival instincts of a Navy SEAL and the sociopathic creativity of a Bond villain.

Dishonourable mentions from Home Alone:

• Buzz — Kevin’s asshole older brother who torments him for sport. Buzz is a born asshole and looks like he has a constant case of putrid breath, but what I will never be ok with is that he had a pet tarantula! That alone gives him a place on this list.
• Fuller — Son of Uncle Frank McCallister — The smallest of the family, Fuller is a most evil spawn. A notorious bed-wetter, who actively consumes more soda so that the odds are higher that he will indeed pee on poor Kevin, whom he is supposed to share the roll-out bed with on the night before departing to Paris. Even when warned about drinking too much liquid, the little pisser knowingly looks at Kevin and smiles! He smiles!!! Asshole.

Little piss-ant. Gif by http://gph.is/1L4qzg1

4. Philip Stuckey — Played by Jason Alexander in Pretty Woman

Edward Lewis may have had issues, but his lawyer, Philip Stuckey, was pure slime.

He was way too overly concerned with Edwards’ growing attachment to Vivian because falling in love might soften the ruthless nature of Ed’s potential corporate acquisitions.

Slimeball. Image by By predator0384

When he discovers that Vivian is a sex worker, we see his misogynistic, piece of shit side to his personality, and in believing that Vivian is an object rather than a human being, he attempts to rape her, and punches her in the face when she tries to fight him off.

He was entitled, predatory, arrogant, and apparently incapable of hearing the word “no.”

Every scene featuring Philip made you want to shower afterwards. And what’s worse is that he ruined me by seeing him as anything other than Philip Stuckey for the rest of time.

Dishonourable mentions from Pretty Woman:

• Those bitches who worked at Cerrutti — You remember these wenches. They refused to wait on Vivian because they judged her clothing in the high-end boutique and made her feel less than for even entering their shitty store.
• Edward Lewis — Ok, Edward may have redeemed himself at the end of the film, but let us not ever forget that he was perfectly happy to pay Vivian to spend the night with him, as part of a transactional arrangement. But what he wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about was anyone knowing it. Hence, the coat draped over her shoulders as she crossed the lobby of his fancy hotel. He was also delighted to pay for a week’s worth of her company, provided she agreed to undergo a complete aesthetic rebrand first. In my book, that makes him a controlling asshole who didn’t fall in love with Vivian as she was. He fell in love with the version of Vivian he thought he could create. Phew. I had a lot to say about that.

3. Stephen — Played by Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained

Samuel L. Jackson deserved awards simply for making Stephen this infuriating.

In case you don’t know Stephen, he was Calvin Candie’s loyal head house slave, and he wasn’t just the villain of the plantation; oh no, he was the guy running the loyalty program.

Image by Film Grab

While everyone else was trapped in a brutal system, Stephen had somehow convinced himself he was management. He spent his days policing, humiliating, and betraying other slaves, all while sucking up to Candie with the enthusiasm of an employee desperately chasing a promotion that didn’t exist.

What makes him so infuriating is that he was smart enough to know better. Every ounce of intelligence, cunning, and influence he had was used to make life worse for everyone around him. By the end, even Candie was dead, and Stephen was still committed to being the plantation’s most dedicated middle manager.

Stephen wasn’t just loyal to an evil system. He actively protected it, enforced it, and seemed genuinely invested in making life worse for everyone around him.

I’m not the only one to have spent the entire film waiting for karma to arrive, and thankfully, it eventually does, but I feel his demise should have been far more painful.

Dishonourable mentions from Django Unchained:

• Calvin Candie, Obviously. This asshole plantation owner treated human suffering as entertainment and somehow managed to be smug, childish, racist, and sadistic all at once. Every scene he’s in made me want to throw something at the screen.
• Billy Crash — This illiterate hillbilly was the Mandingo fighting trainer for Candyland’s slaves; remember those forced fights that only existed for Candie’s enjoyment. This prick wasn’t just doing a job; he relished the intimidation, humiliation, and pain.
• Ace Speck — Otherwise known as ‘Big Daddy Bennet’, another hateful plantation owner (seriously, all plantation owners need to die painful and torturous deaths). He was openly racist, and revelled in the abuse, torture and serial raping of the women he believed he owned as property. A vile Colonel Sanders impersonator.

2 . Nate Cooper — Played by Adrian Grenier in The Devil Wears Prada

At first glance, Nate looks like the supportive boyfriend. I’ll admit I was fooled.

He’s funny, charming, and apparently very concerned that Andy is losing herself in the fashion industry. But the more you watch The Devil Wears Prada, the more he starts to resemble that friend who claims to support your success right up until you actually become successful.

Every time Andy’s career starts taking off, Nate finds a new reason to be annoyed about it. He mocks her work, ridicules the industry she’s working in, complains when her schedule becomes demanding, and somehow manages to make her promotion feel like a personal attack on him.

The Woman is holding a cupcake! Look at her FFS! Image by By lindsaylohanslastfan

The irony is that Nate is a chef, a profession not exactly famous for its predictable hours and work-life balance. Yet when Andy is expected to make sacrifices for her career, suddenly that’s a problem.

The man spends most of the movie guilt-tripping Andy for working hard, mocking her ambition, and acting personally victimised by her success.

Your girlfriend is trying to build a career, Nate. Have a toasted cheese sandwich and be supportive.

Dishonourable mentions from The Devil Wears Prada:

• Emily Charlton — Emily is hilarious, but let’s not pretend she’d be enjoyable to work with. She spends most of the movie belittling Andy, gatekeeping information, and treating basic workplace courtesy as a sign of weakness. She’s essentially the office mean girl with a designer handbag. Yes, she becomes human in the end, but I’m not the forgiving type.
• Christian Thompson — The charming journalist who swoops in whenever Andy’s relationship is struggling. What I can’t stand about Christian is all his smoke and mirrors. He has all the energy of a man who believes every woman he meets is one flirtatious conversation away from falling into his arms. And seriously, no journalist can afford a suite in a hotel in Paris. Especially during fashion week.

1. Grandpa Joe — Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

If you have been reading my dribble over the years, then you know I will die on this hill.

I have always had a visceral abhorrence for this scam artist in pyjamas.

This crusty old fuck, Grandpa Joe, spent years bedridden while his family was living in extreme poverty. His own daughter, Charlie’s mother, worked herself to exhaustion scrubbing the shit stains out of other people’s clothing, while Charlie delivered newspapers in the snow wearing what appeared to be tissue paper disguised as shoes.

But the second a Golden Ticket appears?

The old bloke launches himself out of bed, performs an Olympic-standard jig, and sings I’ve Got a Golden Ticket like he’s been secretly training for Broadway.

[embed]Goddamned Sheister. Gif by Tenor

Scientifically speaking, if he’d genuinely been bedridden for years, his muscles should have atrophied. Which leads me to only one conclusion: Grandpa Joe was getting up when nobody was watching.

Midnight snacks. Secret strolls. Probably popping out for tobacco.

One whiff of Wonka and that fucker was tap dancing.

Read in far more details in my complete character assassination here:

[embed]Grandpa Joe: The Real Villain of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Other Screen Scoundrels A deep dive into the most hated villains of the screen, starting with Grandpa Joe and a lineup of others that make our…medium.com

Dishonourable mentions from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

• Mr Salt — Veruca’s high-cholesterol-ridden father, who employed an army of workers to unwrap thousands of chocolate bars because his daughter wanted a golden ticket. If there were an Olympic event for creating entitled children, he’d be standing on the podium.
• Willy Wonka — Played by Gene Wilder, and no one else! (Another hill I shall die on). He invites children into a factory packed with life-threatening hazards, watches them ignore warnings with the enthusiasm of someone observing a nature documentary, and delivers sarcastic one-liners as they’re carted away. He’s basically running a workplace safety nightmare wrapped in purple velvet, and let’s not forget that he ethnically cleansed Loompa Land so that he could have his own army of Oompa Loompas to work as slave labour.

This list could have been exponentially longer, but far be it from me to be petty because I have somehow demonstrated remarkable restraint and limited myself to only a handful of fictional people whose untimely demise would have improved both the plot and my blood pressure.

There is but one more character who unequivocally deserves to be on this list. And given my commitment to journalistic integrity, I shall leave you with one final honourable mention: the man who points Kevin in the direction of the lobby in Home Alone 2.

[embed]History suggests Kevin would have been safer asking directions from the Wet Bandits. Gif by Tenor

In hindsight, Kevin probably should have asked literally anyone else for directions. Nobody could have predicted that this brief cameo would end up being the least controversial performance of that man’s career. Yet here we are.

Now, tell me, in your own list, who would you add to this list?

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