8 Movie Villains Created Out Of Spite

3. Biff Tannen (Back To The Future)

Harvey Weinstein Gothmog orc Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
Universal Pictures

Actor Thomas Wilson was so effective as high-school thug Biff Tannen in 1984's Back To The Future, that you'd be forgiven for thinking he did a fair bit of bullying during his own school days. And if you do think that, you aren't a million miles away from the truth.

Wilson did draw on personal bullying experiences in order to craft his iconic villainous turn, but sadly, these were experiences where he was on the receiving end of the misery.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wilson explained that he was constantly shoved around by bullies during his childhood, and as a result, he knew how they operated. So, clearly harbouring a lot of bitterness towards these bullies, he decided to channel that bitterness into his performance as Biff, creating one of the most famous bad guy turns of all time.

Another Back To The Future example that's relevant to our list is Wilson's role as a Trump-esque version of Biff in the second movie, which, yes, was genuinely based on the former president. And presumably, the filmmakers were aiming for a malicious potshot, rather than an affectionate homage.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.