10 Horror Movie Characters Who Died Breaking Their Own Rules
6. Francis Dolarhyde - Red Dragon
It speaks volumes regarding the unsettling nature of Francis Dolarhyde's character that he is the primary antagonist of a film featuring infamous cannibal psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter.
Dolarhyde terrorizes the cast of 2002's Red Dragon as his murderous alter-ego, the Tooth Fairy - so named for Dolarhyde's propensity to bite into his victims after killing them. Ralph Fiennes' chilling serial killer carries out his heinous mandate on the instruction of an insidious alternate personality - referred to by the Tooth Fairy as the Great Red Dragon - inspired by a painting by William Blake.
Dolarhyde follows the rules of the malevolent Red Dragon to the letter, until he meets a blind woman named Reba who he falls in love with. His alternate personality insists that Francis kill her, but he is unable to do so, breaking the rules that dictate his twisted mandate and setting off a chain of events that result in his death at the hands of Molly Graham in the climactic sequence of the film.
It is also worth noting, that based on his murders of the entirety of both the Jacobi and the Leeds families, the modus operandi of Fiennes' painting-eating killer was to merciless and methodically carry out his kills, leaving absolutely no survivors. Abandoning his usual ruthless rules of engagement to hold Will Graham's son hostage in an emotionally charged standoff ultimately costs Dolarhyde his life.