Which villain had the most understandable reasons for becoming what he became?

 I like complex villains, that is to say those who we understand why they went to the dark side. Of course, they don't have an excuse but they have understandable motivations for doing what they do. And when we put ourselves in their shoes, we can even have empathy for them.

Silva in Skyfall

Since Daniel Craig played James Bond on screen, 007 has faced several dangerous enemies like Le Chiffre and Dominic Greene who did evil just for the money.

But in Skyfall, Bond must fight against a much more complex adversary: ​​the charismatic Raoul Silva , who does not seek to enrich himself or dominate the world but just to satisfy his revenge against M after she delivered him to the Chinese authorities for illegally spying on them, in exchange for the release of other agents.

After being betrayed by his own hierarchy and suffering torture that disfigured him as seen above, we can understand why he became slightly resentful.

Roy Batty in Blade Runner

He is surely one of the least "evil" villains since his intentions are completely legitimate, at least initially. Indeed, he is a replicant. He and his peers are genetically created humans who serve as our slaves and who have a life expectancy limited to only 4 years to prevent them from becoming humanized.

We can therefore understand that Roy is a little angry, especially when we refuse to grant him a longer life and he sees his friends being shot down. His famous monologue in the rain at the end of the film is so moving that it even makes Roy seem more human than "normal" humans.

PS: even if it is older and therefore less rich in special effects, I liked the 1982 film much better than the 2017 film which is sorely lacking in storyline compared to the first. I even almost fell asleep when I saw it in the cinema with my friends when it came out.

Harvey Dent / Two-Face in The Dark Knight

At the start of the film, Harvey Dent is an honest prosecutor, determined to eradicate corruption and the mafia from Gotham with the help of Batman and Commissioner Gordon.

Then he experienced a descent into hell after the death of Rachel and the burns which disfigured him. He then becomes easy prey for the Joker who convinces him to kill everyone he considers to be involved in the death of his loved one. He then becomes Two-Face , an unscrupulous killer. This shows that, here too, revenge can make us commit terrible acts.

Magua in The Last of the Mohicans

Another case of revenge. Here, Magua saw his village burned and his family massacred by the English, before being reduced to slavery by another tribe who also fought for them. He then develops a fierce hatred of the “Grey Hair” and decides to take revenge with very deadly violence.

Even if his suffering does not excuse all his actions, far from it, we can nevertheless have empathy for him. After all, if our entire family were murdered, revenge might also push us to do actions that are at least very morally questionable.

Koba in Planet of the Apes

Torture can leave terrible psychological effects on humans… and even on apes, as we see in Planet of the Apes . Before being freed by Caesar, Koba spent years of captivity in a laboratory where he underwent enormous tests and torture that left him disfigured and traumatized for life.

He then begins to hate humans and decides to take revenge on them by starting a war against the entire human species, even if it means trying to kill Caesar to achieve this.

Even if Koba went too far, we can still understand his hatred, and these films also have the merit of showing the mistreatment inflicted on laboratory animals.