Pretty much anytime movie-goers watch an action/adventure movie, there is often a huge climax at the end involving an epic showdown between the hero and the villain. It typically ends with the defeat of the villain, of course, but the villain is able to inflict quite a bit of damage to the hero, making it a struggle for victory.
But sometimes, these villains go down without the heroes breaking a sweat. This is either because they have an exploitable weakness, or because of their own clumsiness. Either way, something about the downfall of these weak villains felt slightly underwhelming or downright ridiculous.
10The Black Beast of Argh – ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ (1975)
The Black Beast of Argh appears towards the end ofMonty Python and the Holy Grailafter King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table reach the Cave of Caerbannog, which is one of the many trials they must overcome to find the Holy Grail. Aside from having a killer rabbit guarding its entrance, the cave also has an enormous many-eyed monster roaming the darkness. It’s only a matter of time before the Knights of Camelot come face-to-face with it.
The budget of the film wouldn’t allow a live-action monster, so the lads at Monty Python’s Flying Circus had to settle for an animated sequence instead. This proves to be lucky for the Knights, as after only a few seconds of running away, the animator behind the Beast suffers a fatal heart attack and the Beast just ceases to exist.
9Two-Face – ‘Batman Forever’ (1995)
Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) has an affinity for all things binary, and is fond of flipping coins. So, when Batman (Val Kilmer) confronts the villain, he knows exactly what he must do. InBatman Forever, Batman doesn’t really fight Two-Face much. What he does instead is perhaps violating the whole “no killing” rule that Batman abides by.
What Batman decides to do is toss a handful of coins as he and Two-Face are standing on the edge of a long drop. Theill-fated villain Two-Face, having tossed his iconic coin, lunges for the others trying to determine which one is his, but stumbles and falls to his death below.
8Professor Quirrell – ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001)
Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart) is a soft-spoken, stuttering Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher with a very dark secret inHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. On the back of his head, beneath the head covering he always wears is the face of Lord Voldemort (Richard Bremmer). Voldemort has attached himself to Quirrell like a parasite so that he can search for the Philosopher’s Stone and raise himself from the dead.
Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is only 11 at this point in the story, so his options are limited as to what he can do to stop this threat from killing him. Turns out, he doesn’t even need to use magic or weapons. All he really has to do as the Boy Who Lived is touch Quirrell’s face(s), which causes both Quirrell and Voldemort to crumble into dust.
7Russ Cargill – ‘The Simpsons Movie’ (2007)
Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks) is the villainous head of the EPA that appears inThe Simpsons Movie. He makes a few recurring appearances as he plans to blow up Springfield due to its high pollution rates. It’s a bit of a strange method, but the reason for it is sound.
At the end of the movie, once the day is saved, he decides to take matters into his own hands and kill Homer (Dan Castellaneta) himself. At this precise moment, a rock falls onto his head and he crumples like a soda can. On the cliff above him is baby Maggie (Nancy Cartwright), who pushed the rock. So in the end, the big bad of the film is brought down by a baby. His end proves to be just asabrupt and hilarious as the movie’s endingin and of itself.
6Agent Jones – ‘The Matrix’ (1999)
InThe Matrix, Agent Jones (Robert Taylor) is temporarily killed when he confronts Neo (Keanu Reeves) on a rooftop. Neo sends a shower of bullets his way, but it turns out Jones has the superhuman ability to dodge the bullets. Neo does too, but he doesn’t pull it off quite as well, as he still gets shot in the leg. Neo then has no other choice but to call his partner, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) for help.
Trinity arrives behind Jones and loudly announces her presence by saying “dodge this.” She then shoots Jones point-blank, killing him. Sure, a bullet at that range could kill anyone, but Jones made no efforts whatsoever to save himself, even after Trinity announced what she was going to do.
5Aliens – ‘Signs’ (2002)
The aliens inSignsreally aren’t the brightest, as, despite their primary weakness being water, they inexplicably decide to invade Earth, a planet that consists of roughly 75% water. Audiences soon witness the consequences of that bizarre decision in this supposedlyscary sci-fi movie.
Forget bombs and bullets – all the humans have to do in this movie to survive is wait until it rains and the aliens will be gone for good. Perhaps humans really are the most intelligent life form in the universe.
4The Wicked Witch of the West – ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) fromThe Wizard of Ozis your stereotypical evil witch with all the fixings: green skin, wart, black pointy hat, flying broomstick, you name it. She also has the ability to teleport and throw fireballs. It seems like she’d be pretty tough to fight given she’s magical and is surrounded by an army of flying monkeys and all.
But it turns out her one Achilles' heel is water. Yes, water. As in the essence of life. This is discovered by accident as the Witch lights the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) on fire, and Dorothy (Judy Garland) has the natural reaction to throw water over him to put him out. Some of the water gets on the Witch, who promptly melts into a puddle on the floor. You’d think someone with water as a weakness would know better than to be throwing fire everywhere. Especially given that the instant reaction to fire is usually to throw water on it.
3Smaug the Terrible – ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ (2014)
Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a huge, scaly, fire-breathing dragon that serves as the overarching antagonist ofThe Hobbittrilogy. For most of the series he isn’t doing much apart from chilling out in his mountainous piles of gold, but near the end of the second installment, he is forced to fight at last. He manages to escape and destroy the town of Esgaroth nearby, where he meets his eventual end.
A skilled archer named Bard (Luke Evans) finds a mythical black arrow which is said to be the only thing that can pierce Smaug’s scaly flesh. The legend proves to be true as Bard looses the arrow and pierces Smaug’s chest, bringing the dragon crashing down into the lake below. Smaug dies right at the beginning of the third movie, before the title card is even shown. One single arrow for one ofthe biggest threats Middle-Earth has ever seen. Granted, it went the same way in the book, too.
2Aliens – ‘War of the Worlds’ (2005)
War of the Worldsis directed bySteven Spielbergand features another alien invasion. And once again, the aliens in this movie have picked entirely the wrong planet to invade. The extraterrestrial beings wreak untold devastation on Planet Earth in this flick. But their one exploitable weakness is honestly kind of pathetic.
They are killed by bacteria. You know, those microscopic life forms that are quite literally everywhere, and cover every single surface in sight at any given time? It’s amazing how something so large and threatening can be brought low by something so small you may’t even see it with the naked eye.
1Boba Fett – ‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
Thanks toThe Book of Boba Fett, fans ofStar Warsnow officially know that Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) survived this encounter. But it’s a real wonder how he was taken down in the first place. Fett is the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy, and has skillfully apprehended multiple people. In fact, he is the only one in the saga to successfully capture Han Solo (Harrison Ford).
So it’s pretty strange to see that he goes down because of a jetpack malfunction. All Han has to do is nick Fett’s jetpack with a spear, at which point the jetpack sends Fett careening into a Sarlacc pit. And that’s that.
NEXT:The Best Movie Villains Who Were Having Much More Fun Than the Heroes
