10 Movie Heroes That Saved The Villain's Life

Imagine going back in time just to save the man who wanted you dead.

Black Panther Civil War
Marvel Studios

There are countless aspects that go into making a movie, but arguably one of the biggest and most important is having a strong protagonist. If an audience doesn’t have someone to root for, and someone to genuinely connect to throughout the events of the story, then why should they care?

These protagonists, or heroes, can come in all different shapes, sizes, forms, and any other differentiating terms you can think of. They are all built differently, and what one hero may do could be the furthest thing from another’s mind.

Something that you wouldn’t and couldn’t expect every movie hero to do would be to save the life of the person they are fighting. In a lot of situations it’s kill or be killed, with potentially even worse consequences in play, and so these conflicts are often final. Even if the fight ends without the villain’s death, it’s unlikely most heroes would go to the trouble of saving their adversary's life if the opportunity presented itself.

There are some heroes however, that in spite of their fight and the battle they were facing, saved the lives of the very people out to kill them. Some out of nobility, some out of principle, and yes, sometimes even accidentally.

10. Bruce Wayne Saved Ra's al Ghul - Batman Begins

Black Panther Civil War
Warner Bros.

With every new iteration of Batman, there is always intrigue around how the character’s infamous no-killing rule will be handled. Christian Bale’s Batman stuck to it very closely (though found a loophole at the end of his first movie) while Ben Affleck’s version threw it out of the window completely.

The former may have neglected to save Ra’s al Ghul during the conclusion of Batman Begins, but this wasn’t the first time he fought the character. It was Ra’s al Ghul, under the guise of Ducard, who trained Bruce Wayne before their key ideological differences pushed them apart.

The villain was of the mind that to be a true vigilante, and to exact justice, Bruce needed to be able to kill. Bruce disagreed, and even took things one step further. As his former mentor slid down the icy mountain toward certain death, Bruce went to great lengths and pain to save his life.

Whether this was to prove a point, or because he genuinely didn’t want to see the man he knew as Ducard dead is certainly up for debate, but even so he put his own life at great risk to save the villain who risked it to begin with.

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This standard nerd combines the looks of Shaggy with the brains of Scooby, has an unhealthy obsession with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is a firm believer that Alter Bridge are the greatest band in the world.