10 Movie Villains Who Would Have Won By Doing NOTHING

As much as dissecting the particulars of Battlefield Earth's insane screenplay might seem like a fruitless endeavour, the movie's antagonist Terl (John Travolta) basically hands a victory to the humans on a silver platter.

Terl is a high-ranking member of the alien race known as the Psychlos who have ruled Earth for 1000 years, using humans as slaves to mine the planet's resources.

Human protagonist Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper) ends up captured by Terl who, believing him to be useful, selects Jonnie to lead a mining operation on Earth.

Terl not only allows Jonnie to swot-up on centuries of human history in an instant by throwing him into a Psychlo learning machine, but directs him to Denver's public library where he becomes inspired by the Declaration of Independence.

In more material terms, Terl gives Jonnie a shuttle and orders him to find gold, leading Jonnie to eventually discover an underground base, which he uses to plot a successful uprising against the Psychlos.

By film's end, the Psychlos have been conquered and Terl is imprisoned on Earth. All Terl had to do to maintain the status quo was literally anything but give Jonnie bafflingly special treatment.

Making him a regular slave like everyone else would've done the trick.