10 Movie Heroes Who Didn’t Know They Were The Villains
4. Wikus Van De Merwe - District 9
Good character growth comes from watching a figure on the screen come out from the other side a changed person; in District 9's case that definition is both figurative and literal.
When we first meet our protagonist, he is arrogant, elevated by nepotism and participates in the xenophobic behaviors of the other MNU operatives. We as an audience are informed of the sinister affairs of MNU beforehand, but it only becomes apparent to Wikus who he truly worked for when he experienced it first hand.
Whether it was being forced to blast away alien prisoners under duress, or watch Christopher Johnson learn his own people had been horrifically experimented on; the moment Wikus realized the people he worked for weren't so clean sinks in emotionally for all audiences.
What drives this revelation home even more is that even after teaming up with Christopher, Wikus motivations are selfish enough to the point where he assaults Christopher in an attempt to flee Earth in a spaceship.
He redeems himself in a hilariously explosive and dramatic way. But had he not injured his arm earlier that week, we can't help but think he would still be his bureaucratic self, working with the villains.