10 Movie Villains Who Caused Their Own Defeats

9. Mary Lou Barebone (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them)

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Warner Bros.

The Defeat: A sub-villain in the original Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Mary Lou Barebone may not have been a powerful magic user - or even a powerful figure by any metric - but she was as vile and despicable as they come, so it was great to watch when she got her come-uppance.

The person responsible for that come-uppance was her adopted son Credence Barebone, whose Obscurus killed her. She was flung into the air, smacked against the rafters of her chapel, and dropped back down to the floor, dead.

How She Caused It: Mary Lou's defining trait is that she hates magic, and despises anybody who associates themselves with it. If her adopted kids - including Credence - started to show an interest in wizardry, she would beat them, as a reminder to abide by her rules and her beliefs.

All those years of neglect and abuse at Mary Lou's hands caused Credence's magical energy to repress itself, creating a dark force inside him called an Obscurus. With plenty of time to sit and brew, Credence's Obscurus became incredibly powerful, before bursting out of him and killing Mary-Lou.

So every single time she beat Credence, insulted him, and generally treated him like dirt, his Obscurus grew more and more dangerous. Ironically, Mary Lou's hatred nurtured and fed the dark magical force that would one day kill her, and arrogantly, she didn't realise that mistreating someone will eventually cause them to turn on you.

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WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.