10 Deeply Depressing Origin Stories Of Horror Villains

10. Hannibal Lecter

What makes a man like Doctor Lecter? For years, Hannibal the cannibal was a mystery, with little known other than what we learned during his appearances in Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. We knew the what, but not the why. Once Thomas Harris' trilogy came to an end - and with it, the movies too - audiences were left clamoring for more. And so, Hannibal Rising.

Published in 2006, the book and its subsequent adaptation tell the story of Hannibal, and how he became the man-muncher we know and love today. What makes a man like Doctor Lecter?

Intense childhood trauma will do it; namely a young Hannibal and his baby sister, trapped during World War II with a squad of ruthless deserters. With food running scarce, the soldiers turn on the children for nourishment, starting with Lecter's baby sister. They're not a selfish bunch though, sharing a few morsels of baby Mischa with her traumatised brother...

Some may argue that knowing this spoils some of Doctor Lecter's mystique, making him as base and banal as the rest. And, while young Hannibal's bloody vengeance upon the soldiers almost redeems the story, it's a definite case of less being more.