100 GREATEST MOVIE VILLAINS

Pt. 8  36-40

PONTIUS PILATE

Who's he?: In the first century AD, Pilate here was the Prefect of Judea during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. Somewhere in AD 33, Pilate had to question some guy named Jesus, accused of treason and sedition. Unable to make his mind up about it, he let the people decide who, between Jesus and a thief named Barrabas, should be nailed to the cross.
How bad is he?: According to Scriptures, Pilate allowed the Son of God to die a horrible death. I know, I know, everything went according to God's plan and Jesus had to take the fall but, come on, that's harsh. Oddly enough, the Gospels portrayed him in a not wholly negative light. Mostly, he's just a Roman official who had to make a difficult decision under difficult circumstances (Judea was a hotbed of revolutionary activities back then). In real life, Pilate was severly criticised by his Roman masters, who accused him of fueling sedition and revolution with his tyrannical treatment of the Jews. He was recalled to Rome by his boss, Tiberius, but was lucky enough to avoid prosecution when Tiberius died shortly before Pilate arrived.
What happened?: Hum, let's see...Oh Yes! Jesus was crucified.
Appareances: Come on! He's in every film and TV series about Jesus. His last appearance was in Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ (2004)

NERO

Who's he?: Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, he took the name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus when adopted by the emperor Claudius. Upon his adoptive father's death in AD 54, Nero succeeded him as the fifth Roman emperor.
How bad is he?: Give a 17 years-old kid absolute mastery of the world and see what happens. Nero competely upstaged his uncle Caligula in the "mad emperor" department. However, Nero understood a few things or two about power: if you don't want to be blamed for something bad, blame it on somebody else. So, in AD 64 when Rome was ablaze with fire, Nero shifted the blame from himself to this gang of misfits known as Christians. The lions of the arena were well fed from now on. Oh, and he killed his adoptive brother, his adoptive sister/wife, he caused his second wife to die of a miscarriage and he killed his mother.
What happened?: In AD 68 several of his generals rebelled against him. Believing they were simply having a bad day, he did nothing. And then the Senate declared him a public enemy. He committed suicide shortly afterwards.
Appearances: Many, but Quo Vadis (1951) is the definitive portrayal.

OTIS TOOLE

Who's he?: He's the partner in crime of Henry. A team of serial killers operating somewhere in Illinois. He also sells drugs on the side.
How bad is he?: He's a serial killer, for a start. See, we could muster a shred of sympathy for his pard' Henry due to his unhappy childhood but Otis is a complete and utter degenerate through and through. There is just no depth Otis won't sink to, voluntarily and of his own free will. He's a total, unredeemable monster.
What happened?: Things were going good for Otis and Henry, until Otis' sister came to live with them (she was running away from an abusive relationship). Still, the two of them maintained some semblance of normalcy. Until Otis tried to rape his sister. Henry had issues with that and quickly killed Otis for this latest transgression. Good riddance!
Appearance: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

GRAND MOFF TARKIN

Who's he?: Tarkin was the commander of the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's new superweapon.
How bad is he?: OK, first of all he was Darth Vader's boss and could bitch slap him like the best of 'em. Who's badass now, eh? Secondly, to demonstrate the ultimate power of his newfangled space station he destroyed the planet Alderaan on a whim, after promising not to do so if Princess Leia spilled the beans about her Rebel friends. If he did that on a spur-of-the-moment decision, imagine what he could do if he really set his mind to it.
What happened?: Arrogance, that's what. When the Rebel fleet launched an attack against the Death Star, Tarkin refused to evacuate even though there was clear and present danger. Then, a pilot named Luke Skywalker came along and things went boom!
Appearance: Star Wars (1977)

DIABOLIK

Who's he?: Diabolik is an international criminal mastermind who's off around the world with his bodacious partner Eva Kant pulling several kinds of mayhem for money and pleasure.
How bad is he?: Diabolik is one though cookie. He always seems to be one step away from the law, all the while stealing and murdering anything and anyone in sight. Although his heist are always meticulously planned ahead, he is not above some petty acts of revenge. Like when he blew up the Italian stock exchange, just because he could.
What happened?: His latest scheme went South and he was encased in irradiated gold, so the whole world could finally breathe. However, it must be said that Diabolik has returned from scrapes worse than this.
Appearance: Danger Diabolik (1968)