Movie villains aren’t often known for their intelligence. Whether they’re disclosing the details of their convoluted plots via a lengthy (and premature) celebratory monologue, underestimating the hero by outsourcing the act of murdering them to nameless goons, or simply making really impractical choices regarding the location of their secret hideout, villains almost always make some questionable decisions.
However, there are a select few movie villains who go above and beyond when it comes to stupidity. By their very nature, they clash with our beloved protagonists – an act which is, in and of itself, a little stupid, because heroes almost always have plot armor. In these clashes, decisions are made, plans are hatched and enacted and inevitably foiled, almost always ending in the death or incarceration of the villain in question.
While some of the villains on this list did have flashes of intelligence, they were all decidedly dumb during their respective movies. Whether they were guilty of one (or all) of the crimes against logic and sound judgement listed above, or are simply really, really stupid over the course of their film’s story, the villains on this list are some of the dumbest of all time.
7. Green Goblin – Spider-Man (2002)
You may have heard, but Norman Osborn is fairly intelligent, and is actually something of a scientist himself. However, despite his performance enhancing formula giving him enhanced strength and his gadgets allowing him to fly around New York causing mayhem, he really wasn’t all that smart.
Other than his Green Goblin formula turning him decidedly insane, Osborn also made more than a few stupid mistakes. The one that’s most recently been brought to light was his interrogation over the identity of Spider-Man’s photographer when Peter’s name was printed quite plainly under the article in question, but he’s actually even stupider than that.
When Osborn first begins losing control and committing murder as the Green Goblin, he makes no attempt whatsoever to conceal his identity. In fact, all of the many people he murders during Spider-Man are known associates of Norman Osborn – most of which he had clear motive to kill. On top of that, he commits the crimes wearing the suit he designed through Oscorp, the company that shares his name, making his chances of operating undetected as the Green Goblin slim to none.
He might be a brilliant scientist, but Norman Osborn sure is a pretty dumb criminal.