8 Surprising Movie Villain Turns You Never Saw Coming

7. Ash - Alien

Alien Ash Head
Fox

Although having the android turn out to be the villain is a franchise trope now, the first Alien movie's twist that robotic helper Ash was actually in cahoots with Weyland-Yutani to bring back an extra-terrestrial life form was originally a huge surprise.

Though always a little off, it was made clear over and over again that the crew of the Nostromo were essentially in control of Ash, something which turns out to not be the case when he embarks on a murderous rampage once his true mission is revealed.

Not only was it something that hit audiences at the time - and even those watching it fresh today - from left-field, but the betrayal was felt throughout subsequent films, inspiring main character Ripley's paranoid distrust of any and all corporate androids going forward.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.