When villains lose their cool (spoilers)

[Johnny Novgorod]

I love it when a villain is cool and collected through the whole movie... and then loses his composure near the end and goes absolutely berserk on the hero. My first memory of this would be Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. He's voiced by Vincent Price no less, whose honeyed voice goes perfectly with a guy who is full of himself:

Spoiler

But then at the very end, once Basil has outsmarted all of his ploys...

Spoiler

The same thing happens with the villain in Atlantis, who starts off as a genial leader...

Spoiler

... and then goes literally axe crazy in the end.

Spoiler

Nice war face, Rourke.

This is a favorite trope of Disney, I think. It shows you both sides of "evil" in a single character - the manipulative, scheming, deceitfully charming side of evil and the physical brutality of evil, which shows up as a desperate last resort. By unveiling a character's true form and pulling away the pretense, it also allows for some pretty cool characterizations. Not very deep ones, necessarily, but it does round up character.

And now I'm trying to think of videogame examples but most of them are literal transformations. The One Winged Angel deal. Either bad guys are coolly composed to the end or raving lunatics from the start. You never see both sides surface in a character. Can you comment on videogame bad guys "losing it" big time?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Zant from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, except there it ruins the character.

Throughout the whole game he carries himself with cool confidence, and then near the end just goes batshit crazy for no reason. Well, the only reason being that he needs to pave the way for Gannon. It's like the game's way of saying 'Sorry Zant, but Gannon is the main baddy in every one of these damn games. So I'm afraid we're demoting you to wacky sub-villain.'

Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a good one though.

 

[Elfgore]

Joker at the end of Arkham City is my all time favorite break down of a villain. The Joker throughout the entire game, even though he is slowly dying (I don't think this needs to be spoilered, we learned about it in the trailer) he still never dropped the Joker persona. Laughing like a mental patient and acting like one. Then the final battle comes along.

End game spoilers for Batman: Arkham City Below.

Spoiler

Batman cures himself of the virus Joker has and in an attempt to steal it from him, the Joker stabs Batman. Causing the cure to fall and shatter onto the ground. The Joker then freaks out and tries to lick the cure of the floor and for once in his life, he shows true hatred towards Batman. Saying "Are you happy now?" without any hint of his usual joking ways. You realize that he is truly scared of dying.

I haven't read the comics of Batman, so my image of Joker is just based off the games.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Always a big fan of Ratigan's breakdown, but there are many other good Disney options:

Spoiler: Are you ready?

 

[teqrevisited]

Always loved that film.

Would Kuja from Final Fantasy 9 count?

He always carries himself with an air of sophistication, quoting lines from Lord Avon's play and sauntering around improvising poetry, but when he finds out

Spoiler

that he is the same as the Black Mages that he's been using as tools for war, and that he was created with a similarly limited lifespan, he goes batshit insane, kicks his lord and mentor off of a cliff and destroys his planet of origin.

Not necessarily my favourite villain, but a villain who is afraid of nonexistence has to count for something.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Zant from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, except there it ruins the character.

Throughout the whole game he carries himself with cool confidence, and then near the end just goes batshit crazy for no reason. Well, the only reason being that he needs to pave the way for Gannon. It's like the game's way of saying 'Sorry Zant, but Gannon is the main baddy in every one of these damn games. So I'm afraid we're demoting you to wacky sub-villain.'

Came here to say that, I totally agree. He went from being an imposing figure to a raving lunatic, kinda ruins the fight against him. I think the best way it could have gone down would have been if he got crazier as the fight went on.

 

['Record Stops.']

Oh this is a good thread.

To quote from my most recent memory...Harume Nui, from Kill La Kill.

This is her when she's in her usual mood. She fakes the Hyper Kawaii Desu mode so badly, it's not at all surprising she's a raging sociopath with the most repulsive and miserable character in the show next to the main villain Ragyo.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/355/5/b/kill_la_kill___nui_harime_render_by_lraskie-d6yqm3u.png

And this is her when she gets her eye ripped off.

http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/a/image/1387/93/1387938637437.jpg

It is more satisfying than anything I can name seeing her get hurt, scared, or upset. Because she's so incredibly fake and psychotic, when bad things happen to her it's a satisfying spectacle as we see just how Fucking insane she is. That and we see that when she's pushed against a wall, all of her strength and insanity are just smoke and mirrors, and in reality she's a repulsive abomination who has a complete lack of awareness for her own miserable existence until she's forced to acknowledge it.

Trigger have a surprisingly competent ability to make the Antagonists so incredibly monstrous and detestable but also give them some degree of likability so that at least ONE person might enjoy them.

The realization that she's a freak and everyone wants her dead at first pleases her, but when she gets hurt or her plans come crashing down makes her that much more ugly as a character.

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

Pretty much any of the witness breakdowns in Phoenix Wright, really (although some of them aren't necessarily villains). It's so satisfying watching them lose their composure while the Pursuit music kicks in

 

[debtcollector]

Zant from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, except there it ruins the character.

Throughout the whole game he carries himself with cool confidence, and then near the end just goes batshit crazy for no reason. Well, the only reason being that he needs to pave the way for Gannon. It's like the game's way of saying 'Sorry Zant, but Gannon is the main baddy in every one of these damn games. So I'm afraid we're demoting you to wacky sub-villain.'

See, I thought that too. But the more I think about it, I rather appreciate it. Honestly, in Zant's "grimdark mode", he does nothing that really makes him different from Ganon: oh, you're tall and imposing, oh you make dark pronouncements before teleporting away, oh you kinda even wear the same getup. I mean, his breakdown does come out of nowhere, but I think it made for a far more memorable fight. If you consider that you're effectively fighting some deluded manchild who stumbled upon ultimate power (as opposed to the whole "power-hungry guy manipulated into being the big bad's pupp--yawn") the whole thing takes on a completely different tone.

OT: I was actually here to say Zant. But, since that thunder's been stolen...

Spoiler: How about this guy?

Starts the movie like this:

Ends the movie like this:

Spoiler: start at 1:30 for maximum crazy

Of course, that first picture was probably a veneer over a bubbling mass of insane rage, but what're ya gonna do.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

OT: I was actually here to say Zant. But, since that thunder's been stolen...

Spoiler: How about this guy?

Starts the movie like this:

Ends the movie like this:

Spoiler: start at 1:30 for maximum crazy

Of course, that first picture was probably a veneer over a bubbling mass of insane rage, but what're ya gonna do.

There's also Silva's "true face", which tones down the sassy class considerably.

Spoiler

 

[momijirabbit]

I guess Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2 applies here, the entirety of the game he is an asshole in a stylish and cool way.
However once you defeat the final boss, his last attempt to kill you.

Spoiler: Borderlands 2 ending inside

He just loses it and starts yelling, calling you crazy and other stuff.

 

[BanicRhys]

This still hurts to watch.


Although, Mikami's sudoku attempt is still hilarious.

 

[Fox12]

Hands down, the best example I can think of is Avatar.

It helps that Azula always appeared cool and collected, it was her defining trait. Then, in the end, you begin to realize how off kilter her psyche really is. You see lack of self esteem, her guilt, and her desire to be loved by her mother. All these things existed before, but the audience didn't realize it until the end. After several betrayals, you begin to see the cracks in her persona, until everything comes crashing down around her, and she's writhing around on the floor like something filthy, disgusting, and pathetic.

It also turns the whole series into a family tragedy. Zuko wasn't the only character struggling to earn a parents approval. The psychological impact of his fathers actions tore everyone apart. It was a surprisingly mature theme for a childrens show, and it was a side plot that far exceeded the main plot.

 

[Raggedstar]

Hands down, the best example I can think of is Avatar.

This, and totally ninja'd. Azula is the best case I can think of, and BOY did she lose her cool. A few episodes before she was in total control, seemingly getting everything she wanted, and then WHAM, it all comes crashing down. The mirror scene was very well done and one of my favourite bits in the entire series.

OT: Other than that, I'll agree with Ratigan (Great Mouse Detective) and Light Yagami (Death Note). Light especially didn't take things all that well, geeze, that ending was painful. I guess Scar from The Lion King to some degree is like that too (as he was already reveling in how he won, and would've most likely come out on top if he kept his mouth shut and let Simba drop), but he didn't really "lose his cool". He was a sucker for the dramatics, created a lie in an attempt to defend himself, and then died for it. Can't think of anyone notable from games I've played though.

 

[Saltyk]

Well, I can think of one. In DBZ, during the Namek Arc, Vegeta steals all of Frieza's Dragon Balls, kills Zarbon and takes another from Krillen, and then returns to where he had hid his last one. Only to find that it was gone.

That all leads to this scene (Best done in the Ocean Dub, in my opinion).

Up until this point, Vegeta had never gotten too angry, at least not during the Namek Arc. And it was the first time he had ever done anything like this where he just seemed to lose control in a blind rage.

Hands down, the best example I can think of is Avatar.

It helps that Azula always appeared cool and collected, it was her defining trait. Then, in the end, you begin to realize how off kilter her psyche really is. You see lack of self esteem, her guilt, and her desire to be loved by her mother. All these things existed before, but the audience didn't realize it until the end. After several betrayals, you begin to see the cracks in her persona, until everything comes crashing down around her, and she's writhing around on the floor like something filthy, disgusting, and pathetic.

It also turns the whole series into a family tragedy. Zuko wasn't the only character struggling to earn a parents approval. The psychological impact of his fathers actions tore everyone apart. It was a surprisingly mature theme for a childrens show, and it was a side plot that far exceeded the main plot.

I wasn't even thinking of that one when I came into this thread. And damn is that a good one. I actually can say that is one of the saddest moments in the series, too. When you hear that scream of frustration and rage just melt into tears of anguish.

I can honestly say that Avatar never made me cry, though, there were moments that it freaking tried. And that was actually one of them. I actually felt a little bad for her at that moment. I consider Azula one of the best villains in any media. Easily a contender for best female villain. I even enjoy her as a character. That's how good a villain she is.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

Well, I can think of one. In DBZ, during the Namek Arc, Vegeta steals all of Frieza's Dragon Balls, kills Zarbon and takes another from Krillen, and then returns to where he had hid his last one. Only to find that it was gone.

That all leads to this scene (Best done in the Ocean Dub, in my opinion).

Up until this point, Vegeta had never gotten too angry, at least not during the Namek Arc. And it was the first time he had ever done anything like this where he just seemed to lose control in a blind rage.

I think the best breakdown for dragon ball comes from frezia before goku blast him.


I also love how the abridged series does frieza breakdown too.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think the best breakdown for dragon ball comes from frezia before goku blast him.


I also love how the abridged series does frieza breakdown too.

The thing with DBZ is that everybody breaks down once in a while. It's not that impressive when it happens. You know that expression of shock and disbelief everybody pulls whenever the bad guy brushes off a super mega attack.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Aizen from Bleach come to my mind (I'm not suprised if anyone haven't seen it given that arc just dragged on for too long).

(Last 5 minutes)
I think it was deserving given to how much he trolled everyone so it was fitting he got trolled back.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

I think the best breakdown for dragon ball comes from frezia before goku blast him.


I also love how the abridged series does frieza breakdown too.

The thing with DBZ is that everybody breaks down once in a while. It's not that impressive when it happens. You know that expression of shock and disbelief everybody pulls whenever the bad guy brushes off a super mega attack.

what you're taking about aren't really breakdown, there Oh Crap moment but i can see your point.