13 Horrible Movie Characters Who Never Got Their Comeuppance

X-Men The Last Stand Ian McKellen One of the most universal narrative devices in practically every medium is that the bad guy gets what€™s coming to him. He€™ll usually die horribly, end up in prison, or (if it€™s a children€™s film or a cheesy rom-com) end up looking like an idiot and/or covered in something disgusting. But every now and then, some characters manage to pull a fast one and knee karma in the love spuds. Despite being horrible people, they escape retribution and live to wreak havoc another day. These are some of those characters...

10. Peter Pettigrew €“ Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Harry Potter Peter PettigrewWho Is He?: A follower of Voldemort who betrayed Harry€™s parents to him, causing their deaths. Why Is He So Horrible?: As well as betraying Harry€™s parents, he kills twelve Muggles with a single curse that he also uses to fake his own death and frame Harry's godfather Sirius Black for thirteen murders, landing Black in Azkaban for twelve years until he escapes, which makes him a fugitive until his death two years later. After spending twelve years in hiding posing as Ron Weasley's pet rat, Pettigrew escapes and restores Voldemort to his body a year later, making the Death Eaters a viable fighting force again and jump-starting the Second Wizarding War. What Happens To Him?: The reason Peter Pettigrew is so low on this list is that, in the book, he dies. He holds back from killing Harry because he owes him a life debt, and the silver hand given to him by Voldemort as a replacement for the one he sacrificed when resurrecting him strangles him to death for it. But in the film, it€™s a different story; because Peter strangling himself would have been too graphic for a PG-13 rating, his fate was altered, and, as with the novel, he never appears after the battle of Malfoy Manor. In the book it€™s because he was dead, but in the film, Dobby knocks him out, Ron steals his wand, and we never see or hear of him again. He presumably gets his just desserts after the war ends but as far as what we see on-screen goes, the sniveling little traitor gets away with everything.
Contributor
Contributor

JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.