10 More Horror Movie Villains With Absolutely No Motive

Horror movie villains come in all shapes and sizes, from the all-out, scenery-chewing evil of Terrifier's Art the Clown, to the tempered, if often misguided moral leanings of Saw's John Kramer. And while a horror movie without some tangible menace isn't really possible, one without motive very much is.

Yes, while we're totting up the deaths and bathing in the glory of some horrendously creative violent thrills, we often forget to ask why the villain is, you know, impaling someone against a wall or shaving off their face and wearing it like a prize. Billy Loomis wants vengeance for his misspent youth in Scream, Rose the Hat wants to preserve her family in Doctor Sleep and Pennywise needs fear to keep himself peachy for another 27 years in It. Sure, they're all killing children, but at least we know why.

You may be surprised at how many horror baddies leave their reasons at the door and forget why they went rogue in the first place. Indeed, some ne'er-do-wells seem to be in it just for the kill count - but even this we don't know for sure.

Have no fear though, as it's time to interrogate the missing whys behind the whats and shine a big ol' searchlight on these 10 villains' utter lack of a reason for getting up in the morning.

While Nope may not be Jordan Peele's strongest film, it does have some major classic horror movie vibes to sink your teeth into, with a deliciously mysterious antagonist from outer space.

The creature, a saucer-shaped UFO nicknamed Jean Jacket, menaces folks in the canyons of the Southern Californian desert, preying on people and their horses and vomiting up their clothes, trinkets and other undigestible parts all across the local area.

Acting in an effort to protect themselves and their farm, - while avenging the untimely death of their father (Keith David) - horse-wrangling siblings OJ and Em Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) study Jean Jacket's movements, habits and eating schedule in order to work out what makes the extra-terrestrial monster tick.

While the pair manage to find a way to bring Jean Jacket down, tricking it into revealing and exposing itself before destroying it for good with an exploding helium balloon, they don't manage to convene with it in any meaningful way. Sure, we know it's a predator stalking this territory for sustenance, but we never find out why it chose this patch of California to settle over, where it comes from, or what it wants.