Biggest Cliché’s in Movie History: Villains Who Fall to Their Deaths

n

nOne of the biggest cliché’s innfilms is the one where the villain falls to his death. This plot device is usednin order to rid the hero of any responsibility for the villains’ death. In thisnway, the hero remains a hero, he doesn’t become a murderer. This is why so manynDisney’s villains fall to their deaths, the hero must remain pure, with nonblood on his hands, because, you know, a ‘good guy’ doesn’t kill anyone, notneven bad guys. Still, in some cases heroes are so bad ass that they don’t care;nthey just push, shoot or shove the villain so he or she falls to theirndeaths.  Two things always happen justnbefore the villain falls to his or her death. The villain will always donsomething really evil like trying to kill the hero, because in this way, thenvillain will deserve his death. After his evil deed, the villain will trip ornlose his footing and then gravity does the rest. In most cases, the hero (beingngood till the very end) will always try and save the villain before they fall, becausenyou know, he’s the good guy. Most movies that end this way climax on a mountainntop, on top of a building, a castle, or on top of a bridge, point is, theynalways end on a high structure so the villain can have a good trip down. Andnyet another thing that characterizes this cliché is that the fall itself willnalways looks like a cheesy special effect, especially in older movies. So herenI offer you a list of some of the movies that end this way, remember, thisnarticle shows how the movie ends, so it be filled with spoilers. You’ve beennwarned!

n

n

nFilm:  Darkman (1990)

n

nVillain: Louis Strack Jr.

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nHis greed got a hold of him, which is a common factor in these types of deaths.nIn his lust for power, Louis Strack Jr. was the kind of guy willing to donanything to get his buildings built in order to have his empire. But onenbuilding was getting in his way, Payton Westlake’s laboratory. So in truenvillain fashion, Strack sent a bunch of thugs to blow up Westlake’s laboratory,nwith him and his assitant in it. Unfortunately for Strack, Westlake didn’t die,nhe only became the impervious to pain hero known as Darkman. Darkman and Stracknend up fighting on top of one of Strack’s buildings, which just so happened tonstill be under construction. Strack of course ends up falling to his death,nimpaling himself on metal bars that stuck out of the ground.  

n

nVillainous quote:  “You truly are one ugly son of a bitch! Whatndo you think Julie? Who’s the real monster here? I destroy to build somethingnbetter! Whereas you? You’re a man who destroys for revenge! Look! Look aboutnyou! It’s all mine! Because I built it! I built it all!”

n

n

nFilm:  Robocop (1987)

n

nVillain: Dick Jones

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nAgain, it’s all about greed and getting buildings built. Dick Jones is the mannbehind ED-209, a surveillance robot meant to patrol the streets of Detroit asnit gets rebuilt and turned into the futuristic ‘Delta City’. While presentingnED-209 to his superiors for approval, ED-209 starts to glitch and accidentallynkills a member of the board! So of course ED-209 gets rejected. Fortunately, anothernsurveillance robot was in the woks and ready to go and so, Bob Morton’s Robocopngets chosen by OCP to protect the city of Detroit. Dick Jones’ villainous side isnignited by envy and so he does his best to make it look like Robocop is anfailure so that his ED-209 robot gets chosen again; all so he could move up thencorporate ladder.  In the end, Robocopncatches Jones on a corporate meeting, shows the board the evidence thatndemonstrates what a villain he, shoots Dick and sends him many stories down tona bloody, splattery, off screen death.  

n

nVillainous quote:  “I had to kill Bob Morton because he made anmistake, now it’s time to erase that mistake.”

n

n

nFilm:  Batman (1989)

n

nVillain: The Joker

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nThe Joker lives for revenge. You see, once upon a time, Batman turned him intona freak with a skin problem and a permanent smile on his face, so now he wantsnto do the same to everyone in Gotham City by mixing oxic chemicals into everynday household products, so a combination of any given products (say lipsticknand deodorant) could end up killing anyone who uses them. The twist is that thenvictims end up with a Joker style smile on their faces. But this is just one ofnmany ways in which The Joker wants to mess with Gothamites. He’s ultimate plannis to kill everyone in the streets by offering “free money” to anyone who showsnup to his parade! When every needy, greedy Gothamite shows up, he releases andeadly Toxic into the air! The Joker and Bats ends up fighting each other onntop of a Gothic church. At one moment, while both Bats and Joker are fightingnon a particularly dangerous ledge, The Joker attempts to escape on a helicopternwhen Batman shoots a grappling hook that grabs the Joker by the leg andnultimately makes The Joker fall to his death on the cobblestone streets ofnGotham City.   

n

nVillainous quote:  “I now do what other people only dream; Inmake art until someone dies. See? I’m the world’s first fully functioningnhomicidal artist!”

n

n

nFilm:  The Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kingn(2003)

n

nVillain: Gollum/Smeagol

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nGollum was willing to do anything to reacquire the ring of power that allowsnanyone who wears it to become invisible, amongst other things. He helps thenhobbits on their journey to destroy the evil ring, but his real purpose is to trynand reacquire the ring at the last minute, just as it is about to be destroyed.nGollum ends up struggling with Frodo for the ring, only to end up falling off ancliff and into a lake of molten lava. Weird part is he dies happy, with a smilenon his face, because he finally got what he wanted, his “precious” ring ofnpower.  

n

nVillainous quote:  “Naughty little fly, why does it cry? Caughtnin a web, soon to be…eaten!”

n

n

nFilm: Dredd (2012)

n 

nVillain: Ma-Ma

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nShe’s a ruthless drug lord selling a drug called ‘Slo-Mo’ to the masses. Thendrug makes you experience life at a fraction of its normal speed. To the user,nthe drug slows everything down and makes it look as if you’re watching life innslow motion. When the Judges come for her, she locks down the entire building innwhich she resides. The Judges must make their way up to her, in the highestnlevels of the building. Of course Dredd finds her and sends her falling down tonher death. Weird part about her death is that she takes a drag of Slow Monbefore going down, so she experiences her death in Slow Mo, all the way down!nThankfully, the splattery death does not happen off-screen and we get to see hernface as it smashes the ground. And in slow mo as well!

n

nVillainous quote: “If I hear ofnanyone helping the Judges, I will kill them and the next generation of theirnfamilies. As for the Judges, sit tight or run. It makes no difference. You’renmine”

n

n

nFilm:  Stat Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

n

nVillain: Kruge

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nAll Kruge the Klingon cares about is uncovering the secrets of Genesis, thenexperimental terraforming device that could turn a planet that was onceninhabitable, into one with breathable air. Problem is he thinks it’s a weaponnthat the federation wants to use against The Klingons, when in fact it’s annexperiment. In the climactic battle of Kruge vs. Capt. Kirk, the two fight itnof in the midst of a planet that is self destroying. At one point, Kruge endsnof hanging from a cliff, at which point Captain Kirk takes the opportunity tonkick Kruge’s face with his boot a few times until seconds later Kruge is on hisnway down to a fiery pit of molten lava. As you can see from this list, the pitnof molten lava is a reoccurring element in this particular cliché.  

n  

nVillainous quote: “I hope pain isnsomething you enjoy” 

n

n

nFilm:  Mortal Kombat (1995)

n

nVillain: Shang Tsung

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nWell, for one he’s just like Dracula, first he invites, then he wants to killnyou. You see, Shang Tsung runs this tournament which invites fighters from allnsorts of worlds and dimensions. Sadly, Shang Tsung’s ultimate goal is to sucknup everybody’s souls, so of course he deserves to die! In the climactic battle,nit’s Liu Kang who ends up sending Shang Tsung falling on a pit filled withndeadly spikes! A stage fatality no less!

n

nVillainous quote:  “You’re soul is mine!”

n

n

nFilm:  Red Sonja (1985)

n

nVillain: Queen Gedren

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nQueen Gedren is the a-typical villain who wants to destroy the whole world sonshe can take over it. In order to do so she steals this magical talisman thatncan bring total destruction upon the earth, nevermind that everyone is afraidnof it and that it is said that no one can truly control it, again, lust fornpower blinds the villain. Thankfully Red Sonja and Conan (ahem, I meann‘Kalidor’) get to Queen Gedren’s castle just in time to stop her. Sonja and Gedrennduke it out with swords and magic, of course Sonja wins the day and hurls QueennGedren to a fiery pit, because for some reason, all villains have a bottomless pitnright next to their thrones in movies that end with this cliché.  

n

nVillainous quote:  “It’ll be buried when I have no further usenfor it and that time will come with the end of time itself!”

n

n

nFilm:  Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menacen(1999)

n

nVillain: Darth Maul

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nWell, basically he’s Emperor Palpatines right hand man, and Emperor Palpatinenis the ultimate evil in the universe. It’s no surprise that both Palpatine andnDarth Maul end up having almost identical deaths. But now that I think aboutnit, Darth Mauls death is way more terrible! He gets sliced in half by Obi-WannKenobi’s light saber and then gets thrown into an endless pit!  

n

nVillainous quote:  “At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi;nat last we will have our revenge!”

n

n

nFilm:  Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedin(1983)

n

nVillain: Emperor Palpatine

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nBasically he took over the entire universe by masquerading himself as a goodnpolitician who cares for his people (don’t they always?) when in reality whatnhe wanted was to hold the universe under his tyrannical rule. In order tonachieve this, he built a planet destroying monstrosity called the Death Star; anflying mechanical planet with capabilities to blow up any other planet that doesn’tnsurrender to his rule. But since the good guys always win in the Star Wars moviesnit’s the Emperor’s own right hand man, Darth Vader who ends up betraying himnand hurling him down a  pit (again, rightnnext to the throne) which apparently has something deadly at the end of itnbecause it ends up making the emperor explode in blue flames! I guess all thatnpent up evil power had to go somewhere!   

n

nVillainous quote:  “The hate is swelling in you now. Take yournJedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. With each passingnmoment you make yourself more my servant!”

n

n

nFilm:  A View to a Kill (1985)

n

nVillain: Max Zorin

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nMax Zorin is a mad man. It is said that he is actually the result ofnexperiments conducted by crazy Nazi scientist called Doctor Mortner.  Aside from that, he also likes to fix horsenraces by injecting horses with adrenaline, via these nifty adrenaline injectingndevices. But never mind all that, what he really deserved to die for wasnattempting to blow up San Francisco’s Silicon Valley, the epicenter of computernchip construction during the 80’s, so that he could hold a monopoly overncomputer chip sales. In his attempt to escape, he ends up fighting with bond onntop of the San Francisco Bridge where at one point he loses his footing (don’tnthey always) and ends up slipping away to his death down below. A grippingnscene that always gives me vertigo every time I see it, I’d truly hate to be innthat mans shoes!

n

nVillainous quote:  “Intuitive improvisation is the secret tongenius.”

n

n

nFilm:  Die Hard (1988)

n

nVillain: Hans Gruber

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nHe took an entire building hostage and was willing to kill everyone in it overna mere 640 million in bonds, wait a minute, that’s a whole lot of freakingnmoney! So anyways, one thing leads to another until we arrive at a standoffnbetween Gruber and officer McLane. So McLane being the crafty police officer henis uses a gun he’d taped to his back to shoot Gruber,  who first smashes through a glass window andnthen falls to his death many stories done. Cool part of this scene is we get tonsee Gruber’s face of utter terror as he falls and in slow motion no less!   

n

nVillainous quote:  “When you steal 600 dollars, you can justndisappear. When you steal 600 million, they will find you, unless they thinknyou are already dead”

n

n

nFilm:  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

n

nVillain: Mola Ram

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nIn the world of Temple of Doom, there are these five magical stones called the ‘ShankaranStones’. Since both the good guys and the bad guys want these stones, I haveninferred that they can be good for both good or evil, depending on who holdsnthem. But Mola Ram –the cult leader of the evil Thugee cult- obviously wantsnthem for evil and he only possesses three of these stones! In order to find thenremaining two stones, Mola Ram kidnaps all the children from a nearby village sonthey can work on his mines as slaves, searching for the stones. But Mola Ram’snevil doesn’t stop there! He also sacrifices slaves to his god ‘Kali’! Before henburns the sacrificial slave in a vortex of molten lava in the name of Kali, henrips out the slaves heart while said slave is still alive! And he laughsnmaniacally as he holds the slaves still beating heart in his hand! Indy catchesnup with him and both of them fight on top of this ultra high bridge! In andesperate move, Indy cuts the bridge’s ropes with a sword, which sends all ofnMola Rams warriors falling to their deaths! Indy and Mola Ram hold on to what’snleft of the dangling bridge and continue their fight for the Shankara Stones! Atnone point, the stones fall out of Indy’s satchel and Mola Ram tries to catch them,nbut forgets to hold on for dear life! So Mola Ram’s lust for power ends upnkilling him. He ends up falling to his death and bumping his head a few timesnon the rocky mountain surface on his way down! To make sure he is gone forngood, when his body hits the river, a group of alligators end up feasting onnhis body!   

n  

nVillainous quote:  “You don’t believe me Doctor Jones? You willnDoctor Jones! You will become a true believer! ”

n

n

nFilm:  Masters of the Universe (1987)

n

nVillain: Skeletor

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nBy using the worm hole creating artifact known as‘The Cosmic Key’,nSkeletor infiltrates Castle Greyskull with his army and subdues the peacefulnSorceress in order to take over Eternia. Truth is that aside from politicalnaspirations, Skeletor’s ultimate goal by breaching Castle Greyskull is tonbecome ‘Master of the Universe’, what this means is he’ll get god like powersnand a kick ass golden costume. Skeletor not only traps Sorceress, he also getsna hold of He-Mans sword of power! On top of all of this, Skeletor actuallynmanages to become Master of the Universe! At one point, while Skeletor isndistracted babbling about his new powers, He-Man manages to reacquire his swordnof power and the two end up battling in a spectacular fashion, He-Man with hisnsword of power and Skeletor with his Golden God Staff! At one point, He-Manndestroys Skeletors staff (which for some reason means Skeletor stops beingnMaster of the Universe and reverts back to his old self) and falls to his deathndown this endless pit that is right next to the throne room, of course! Thoughntechnically, Skeletor doesn’t die. He pops up out of the water in an afterncredits sequence and says “I’ll be back!” He never did, so maybe he did dienafter all! 

n

nVillainous quote: “I ache tonsmash you out of existence; to drive your cursed face from my memoriesnforever!”

n

n

nFilm:  Beauty and the Beast (1991)

n

nVillain: Gaston

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nFor being so freaking shallow and self centered. He wants to make Belle hisnwife, but the guy tells everybody before telling her. He plans the weddingnbefore even telling Belle? Okay, you might chalk it up to being ultranconfident, but on the other hand the guy isn’t taking Belle’s feelings innconsideration. Does he even care if she loves him or finds him even remotelynattractive? Nope. On top of this, he makes fun of Beast; he figures no womannwould ever fall in love with a beast when they could easily fall in love withnhim. He’s the kind of guy who thinks that he is so good looking that the worldnrevolves around him and in a Disney movie, that’s a big no, no. Just look atnwhat happened with the evil sisters in Sleeping Beauty! There are some thingsnyou just can’t do in a Disney movie, and making fun of ugly/poor people is onenof them. If you do, you’re liable to end up falling to your death like so manynDisney villains. But Gaston is one of the ones that stood out for me, his deathnso dramatic amidst the lightning and the thunder and the whole thing goes down onntop of Beasts gothic style castle. At one point, when Beast gets distracted andnturns to look at Belle; Gaston takes the opportunity to stab him in the back! Nownif we follow the laws of Disney, when a Villain does something that outrightnevil, it means seconds later he will more than likely die falling to his death.nCase in point, Gaston, who loses his balance because of stabbing Beast. 

n  

nVillainous quote:  “Where you in love with her Beast? Did younhonestly think she’d want you, when she had someone like me?”

n

n

nFilm:  Judge Dredd (1995)

n

nVillain: Rico

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nHe wants to take over Mega City 1 by killing off all of the Judges. In order tondo this he resurrects a failed genetic experiment called ‘The Janus Project’,nan experiment in which the government attempted to create the perfect judge bynmaking clones with DNA from the best judges in the city. The experiment failed,nbut now Rico uses the cloning part of it to create an army of clones (with hisnown DNA) that will help him take over Mega City 1. Of course, Dredd capturesnhim and they both duke it out on top of the statue of liberty, where Dredd usesna flare gun to throw Rico over the ledge. 

n

nVillainous quote: “You want fear?nI’m the fear! You want chaos? I’m the chaos! You want a new beginning? I am the new beginning! ” 

n

n

nFilm:  The Crow (1994)

n

nVillain: Top Dollar

n

nWhy this Villain Deserved to Die:nHe burns buildings on Halloween night just for the hell of it; in fact, hencalls it ‘Devils Night’, his “new favorite holiday”. Basically, Top Dollarnloves chaos, destruction and total anarchy which is why he sends all of hisngoons to burn down as many buildings as they can. But one night in particular,nTop Dollar’s goons break into Eric Draven’s apartment, they proceed to rape hisngirl and throw him down the window of his loft! Draven dies and so does hisngirlfriend (after many torturous hours in the hospital) so of course, Dravenncomes back for revenge. Eric Draven is essentially a glorified zombie, a zombienout for cold hard revenge! After killing off all of Top Dollars goons, Dravennends up fighting against Top Dollar on the roof of a gothic church in thenmiddle of a rain storm, another milestone in movies that end this way. The gothicnchurch, the thunder, the lightning, the rain. Anyhow, Top Dollar ends upnfalling to his death, impaled on one of the ornamental Gargoyles of the church.n

n

nVillainous quote:  “Greed is for amateurs. Disorder, chaos,nanarchy: now that’s fun!”

n

n