Rhiteek ChatterjeeHow to create the perfect antagonist? Just use a terrorist who can destroy the world and kill mercilessly. Over the years, Hollywood has continually been producing movies with heinous terrorists. Be it terrorist with superhuman powers or genius intellect, they all terrify. For this list, I have taken in account the character’s motives, deeds, weaknesses and impact on the film. So, here is the list of most evil movie terrorists.
12. Abduwali Muse (Captain Phillips)
Starting off the list is the real deal. Essayed by Barkhad Abdi, the terrorist is a pirate. .The real life terrorist is the sole survivor of four pirates who hijack the MV Maersk Alabama in April of 2009 and then held Captain Richard Phillips hostage for ransom. He kills shoots and just terrifies all.
11. Khan (Star Trek Into Darkness)
The Augmented human once controlled more than a quarter of the Earth during the “Eugenics Wars”. His terrorism roots from the classic “want to rule the world”. He has genius level intellect, and can manipulate people to work for him. Portrayed by two actors, Benedict Cumberbatch’s version is truly menacing. He even is willing to ally with the enemy for the “big picture” – the terrorism.
10. Castor Troy (Face/Off)
Enacted by both John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, Castor Troy is plain berserk. Although through the course of the film he is primarily feuding with Sean Archer, Try is initially introduced as a terrorist. He shoves people off planes, kills children, and plants a bomb anywhere and everywhere possible.
9. Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Hans Gruber innately amalgamates robbery with terrorism. The German architect of terror and the leader of the terrorists intend to execute a heist in a Los Angeles skyscraper under the disguise of a terrorist attack with hostages, including Bruce Willis’ McClane’s wife Holly to keep the police at bay. What makes him so much menacing is his haunting patience and calmness. He is the personification of Satan.
8. Raoul Silva (Skyfall)
A creation of MI6, he is a cyber-terrorist. Unlike others on this list, Javier Bardem’s Silva has a personal tiff. His terrorism’s fury is built upon a strong foundation of a homicidal grudge. He wants M, the head of MI6 dead and proves to be quite brilliant at that. As cyber-terrorism suggests, he forms his terroristic vices through a laptop. While many other Bond terrorist also deserve to be on this list, he trumps all as the maniacal fanatic nearly destroyed the world most powerful spy organisation.
7. Egor Korshunov (Air Force One)
A terrorist in an American political action-thriller, Egor Korshunov is a Russian Radek loyalist who is the mastermind and leader in the hijacking of Air Force One. He has to be America’s greatest foe. Portrayed by the veteran Gary Oldman, Egor has no qualms in killing people and even killing off the “greatest country” in the world’s President.
6. Howard Payne (Speed)
The complete nutcase. Howard Payne is a retired Atlanta bomb squad officer who is now on the verge of making their lives hell. He is an expert in creating bombs uses his talent to terrorize civilians. Essayed by Dennis Hopper, his exploits are well showcased at the start when he holds a group of people hostage in an elevator. His only motive is to earn through ransoms, and is definitely very dexterous in doing so. Payne continues to terrify us by planting a bus with explosives in order to demand $3.7 million. When he fails to do so, he again uses his talent and takes in Bullock’s Annie Porter as captive as a revenge from Reeves’ Officer Jack Traven.
5. Salim Abu Aziz (True Lies)
The leader of a Palestinian terrorist group known as the Crimson Jihad, Salim Abu Aziz plans to traffic nuclear war heads into the United States. Driven by pure hatred, James Cameroon helped create United States’ perfect terrorist. He aims at destroying the world and completely intimidates the country. He hijakes a Miami skyscraper with a helicopter and has kidnapped Harry Tasker’s daughter Dana, and threatens to detonate the remaining bomb. He is haunting.
4. Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
The man who broke Batman. The creation of Ra’s al Ghul, Bane is horrific “liberator of pain”. What makes this humongous terrorist is his unbelievable resilience for pain. The bald beast drives his disturbing ideology is his desperation to continue Ra’s al Ghul’s legacy by destroying Gotham. Bane claims that his revolution’s enemies are the rich and the corrupt, who he states are oppressing “the people”. Bane carries his army on the strong foundation of an agile mind and a robust physical strength. Nolan’s Bane was intricately designed to be a super-terrorist and contend with the Dark Knight.
3. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
Tyler Durden is unlike any of the other terrorists. The alter ego of “The Narrator”, Durden is an illusion. Durden can create explosives by utilizing his knowledge of soap. Brought to life by Brad Pitt, he is the leader of an underground organisation that aims in “freeing” people by vandalising the cities corporate offices and cars. Things to a serious overdrove when Durden initiates “Project Mayhem” where they would essentially blow up the corporate offices to rid the world of materialism. What is most disturbing is that all this roots the narrator’s and Durden’s initial creativity of organising a club where men can fight and exult out their anger – therefore forming the “Fight Club”.
2. Magneto (X-Men Franchise)
While some terrorists want to rule the world, some want to demand a ransom, Magneto intends to incinerate humanity. A Holocaust survivor, he is driven by abhorrence and hate. The most terrifying of the lot, he is essentially indestructible. IGN’s “Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time” nearly destroyed all of humanity with the Cerebro.
1. The Joker (The Dark Knight)
The terrorist who cannot be bullied. The second feature from Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, the Joker has no propaganda as such. The purple suited maniac believes is incinerating the world, and cannot be negotiated with. He proved to be the masterful contender of Batman, who could not beat him. The Joker is an expert in guns and ammunitions and has a genius level intellect in utilising toxins as weapons. He hijacked two evacuating ferries with explosives; with one containing civilians and the other prisoners, threatening to blow them up by midnight, until one ferry blows up the other. The Joker can terrorize masses even if he or his crew is not present physically at the situation – He is simply the face of terror.
Read More: Best Terrorism Movies
