10 Dumbest Decisions In Action Movie History
8. Not Letting Ephialtes The Hunchback Fight - 300
King Leonidas I of of Sparta was, by all accounts, a brilliant tactician and military leader. Leonidas in 300 was the same, although he did have to contend with factors that the real thing didn't have to worry about, due to Frank Miller and Zack Synder taking a few... liberties, shall we say, with history.
However, Leonidas could have used some basic and fundamental human resource training.
At one point, a hunchbacked Spartan named Ephialtes - who was a real non-hunchbacked citizen who betrayed the real Greeks at the real Thermopylae - asks Leonidas to join the Spartan phalanx as his father before him. Due to his physical limitations, Leonidas denies Ephialtes and suggests he provide aid to the other Spartans if he wishes to help.
Humiliated, Ephialtes presents himself to Xerxes, promising to deliver the secret to defeating Leonidas if he receives a Persian military commission, and lets Xerxes know of a hidden path that will allow his army to surround the Spartans.
It would have been far easier if Leonidas had just plugged Ephialtes in somewhere at the back with the other 1,000 or so Greeks allied with the Spartans, letting him take part in the battle and honour his dad's legacy.
Leonidas gets the last word, however, as he wishes Ephialtes eternal life, deprived of a heroic Spartan death.