10 Movie Villains Who Won AFTER They Died

9. Méndez - Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

Batman Begins Ra S Al Ghul Liam Neeson
Twentieth Century Fox

Apes were meant to be the only intelligent creatures on Earth. However, it was revealed in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) that numerous mutant humans had survived the holocaust that made Earth what it was.

Imbued with extreme psychic powers that gave them influence over others, the Mutants were an advanced race led by Méndez (Paul Richards) living in the irradiated ruins of New York City. Unfortunately, the Mutants also worshipped an Alpha and Omega nuclear missile, which was often the sole witness to their deformed "innermost selves". The missile could incinerate the world and the Mutants had no qualms about using it if it would also destroy their enemy: the apes.

The Mutants were subdued when General Ursus (James Gregory) and Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) stormed their city, but Méndez loyally primed the bomb before being killed by the gorillas. George Taylor (Charlton Heston) pleaded with Zaius to stop Ursus from accidentally triggering the device, but Zaius ignored him.

Taylor was critically wounded in a hail of gunfire and Ursus was killed by Taylor's colleague, John Brent (James Franciscus) before he too was killed. Zaius rebuffed Taylor's pleas for help by deriding man's tendency to destroy everything; appalled by Zaius's idiocy, Taylor detonated the bomb.

A dispassionate voice then informs the audience that: "In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead". In other words, Taylor achieved Méndez's sick plan of destroying Earth simply to vanquish the apes.

Contributor

I started writing for WhatCulture in July 2020. I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I have contributed to several short story competitions and I have occasionally been fortunate enough to have my work published. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I also started reviewing films on my Facebook page. Numerous friends and contacts suggested that I should start my own website for reviewing films, but I wanted something a bit more diverse - and so here I am! My interests focus on film and television mainly, but I also occasionally produce articles that venture into other areas as well. In particular, I am a fan of the under appreciated sequel (of which there are many), but I also like the classics and the mainstream too.