2. Professor Moriarty - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The Legend: Described as the Napolean of crime, Moriarty was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a way to kill off Sherlock Holmes. He is the undisputed crime lord of all Europe. He protected criminals across the continent for a share of the profits and made many of his planned ventures appear to be random acts. When Holmes discovers Moriarty is behind these crimes, he is unable to detain him. Instead, he has to run to safety, knowing Moriarty and his criminal empire will seek retribution. This ruthless genius was set to be the antagonist in the sequel to Sherlock Holmes.
The Failure: Moriarty does pretty good until he is undone by the most elementary thing. In their first meeting, Holmes steals Moriarty diary and replaces it with a duplicate. Moriarty made the brilliant decision to write all his evil plans down in this diary, albeit in code, which Holmes cracks. Not to mention, for much of the movie Moriarty is traveling around with a fake version of his own personal diary. For someone that is supposed to be a meticulous planner, he doesnt even notice a change in something that he thumbs through daily.