10 Heart-Breaking Film Moments When The Hero Became The Villain

2. Douglas Quaid - Total Recall

The big twist comes pretty early in one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest and battiest movies, Total Recall: upon attempting to have memories of being a spy implanted into his brain, construction worker Douglas Quaid discovers that he's actually former corporate espionage agent Carl Hauser and must get his ass to Mars in order to meet and help the colony of mutated humans who are being oppressed by the tyrannical Cohaagen. His entire life is turned upside down, in fact, in the first twenty minutes, as everyone from his wife to his co-workers become antagonists and try to kill Quaid. Once he gets to Mars and makes contact with the mutants, though, Quaid experiences another revelation: Hauser actually had his mind wiped so that Douglas could be manipulated into tracking down the resistance's hideout, making him responsible for its destruction and the deaths of many colonists. Quaid is offered his old personality back, along with a sex slave, but opts to free the mutant's from Cohaagen's oppressive regime by killing him and making Mars' atmosphere breathable. All ends well, though Quaid can't be 100% certain that all of this is real and not just an implanted memory...