11 Surprise Movie Villain Reveals Everyone Loved

2. Anakin Skywalker - The Empire Strikes Back

Memento Ending
Lucasfilm

It was made abundantly clear in 1977's Star Wars - or A New Hope, for those younger sorts - that Darth Vader was the villain of the movie. Likewise, Vader's destructive path through Hoth, Cloud City, and beyond in The Empire Strikes Back continued to establish this Sith's spot as a no-good rogue who will stop at nothing to achieve his aim.

The shocking reveal of The Empire Strikes Back, of course, is not that Vader is a villain, but more that Vader is really the father of Luke Skywalker.

That moment itself was a monumental shocker, yet it's the anguished, emotional reaction of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker that hammers home this as one of the greatest moments in movie history. In complete denial that this could even be possible, the newly-one-handed Luke screams in horror at this revelation before opting to take a tumble rather than face up to this game-changing reality.

Seeing it explained how the choke-happy bastard who'd been stalking Skywalker throughout the galaxy was really his father, who was on a mission to get Luke to join him, is one of the most iconic scenes in film - even if all would be well by the end of Return of the Jedi, with Anakin Skywalker redeeming himself to help off The Emperor and save the day.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.