10 Despicable Movie Villains From The Last Decade We All Loved To Hate

4. Edwin Epps €“ 12 Years A Slave (2013)

''A man does how he pleases with his property.''

Played By: Michael Fassbender The Villain: Epps is a plantation owner in antebellum era Louisiana whose slaves work his cotton fields under his ruthless supervision. If they harvest less than 200lbs of cotton a day they are beaten. Epps is prone to misquoting scripture to suit his own ends and repeatedly raping his most prized slave Patsey. As the personification of someone whose Christian values are used to justify slavery in this darkest period of American history, Fassbender brings this contemptible villain to life in all his ginger glory. Most Despicable Moment: Epps becomes enraged when he finds Patsey missing from his plantation. Upon her return he strips her and ties her to a post. He then forces Solomon Northrup, protagonist in Steve McQueen's award winning film, to whip her, all over a small bar of soap. When Solomon refuses to whip her harder, Epps takes over and we, the audience, are forced to see what happens when 'meat and blood flow equally' in one of the hardest hitting scenes in a film crammed to the brim with them. We can rejoice when Solomon is finally freed but the joy is short lived when we consider the many thousands who weren't so lucky.