10 Movie Villains Whose Conscience Got The Better Of Them

2. Ebenezer Scrooge - A Christmas Carol (Various)

Two of the greatest examples of bad guys finding their conscience occur in movies about Christmas, somewhat unsurprisingly. The analogues between the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge are fairly obvious: Charles Dickens deserves credit for penning A Christmas Carol in the first place, while Dr. Suess applied it to modern materialism and the consumerism of the Christmas season. Scrooge's transformation is more significant because of the journey he goes on, and his conscience is certainly something that has to be hunted down and wrestled with. The entire story hinges on Scrooge's status as hero or villain, teetering back and forth until finally tipping to one side, and were it not for another iconic villain, his transformation from self-appointed antagonist to gleeful humanist good guy would be the most famous in cinematic history. Because of this, Scrooge has become one of the most popular film characters in history: first appearing on-screen in a five-minute silent film portrayed by an unknown actor, Scrooge has since been played by the likes of Orson Welles, Basil Rathbone, Albert Finney, George C. Scott, Michael Caine, Patrick Stewart and countless others.