The Ultimate Villain Tournament is a bracket style competition that pits movie villain against movie villain. Norman Bates from Psycho vs. Max Cady from Cape Fear. Which baddie would be able to pull off his/her villainous scheme? Take a look at our character breakdowns and tell us who you think is the bigger threat.
There’s something incredibly unnerving about a man brazen enough to walk into a high school and make sexual advances towards the young daughter of the man you are trying to destroy. And that’s before he plays with her retainer. Max Cady wants to take down his former lawyer for not defending him properly after Cady brutally rapes someone, and then promptly after being released from jail rapes a colleague of that lawyer. He won’t just use violence though, he will use cunning to try to ruin your career and destroy your family. In short, Cady is not one to get mixed up with.
Strengths: has no fear, remorse, or any other general emotion unless getting off on something terrible he’s doing, spent 14 years in jail studying law so that he can hatch a devious plan using his own form of criminal justice, seemingly impervious to pain
Weaknesses: he’s so focused on destruction that he’s willing to put himself in danger to achieve his goals
For the most part Norman isn’t a criminal mastermind; he’s just a mild-mannered motel manager with a penchant for taxidermy and peeping on his female guests in their rooms. However, there is the small matter that he’s insane and lives with the corpse of his long-deceased mother, whose personality he occasionally takes on and murders any potential threats to her son. In terms of schemes, Norman generally sticks to the small scale of hiding evidence and disposing of corpses – he isn’t really out for personal gain, he just wants things to stay the same.
Strengths: He’s schizophrenic, and everyone knows two minds are better than one! He’s also handy with a knife and is cool under pressure, as long as it results in the protection of his mother.
Weaknesses: He’s unambitious, and his relationship with his mother will prevent him from accomplishing anything truly great. Also, he’s a terrible conversationalist and lacks anything resembling people skills.
