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Betrayal never pays, and these cinematic backstabbers learned that lesson the hard way! Join us as we explore the most satisfying downfalls of movie traitors who thought they could get away with their schemes. Our countdown includes characters who stabbed friends, family, and allies in the back - only to meet their well-deserved fates!
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00:00What could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great arena?
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 movie backstabbers who paid the deserved ultimate price, or faced epic karmas. Beware of spoilers.
00:17And here's my little secret. I killed Falsa.
00:25Number 10. Jim Phelps. Mission Impossible.
00:28At first, Jim Phelps enters Mission Impossible as the trusted, battle-tested leader of the MIF.
00:34We photograph Golitsyn stealing the knock list, follow him to his buyer, apprehend both of them.
00:40Guiding Ethan Hunt through a dangerous world of espionage, he seems untouchable, but that meant her mask hides something darker.
00:47Phelps isn't just a handler, he's the traitor codenamed Job, who wipes out his own team in Prague and fakes his death.
00:53He even tries to convince Ethan that CIA director Kittredge is the mole, but Ethan already knows the truth.
00:59It was Kittredge.
01:02Kittredge.
01:03Kittredge, Ethan.
01:11Kittredge is the mole.
01:12Alongside his wife, Phelps plans to cash in on the CIA's NOC list.
01:19When Ethan finally exposes him aboard a speeding TGV, Phelps scrambles a helicopter, shoots his last ally, and thinks he's getting away.
01:27One explosive trick later, the chopper explodes, taking him down.
01:30Red Knight!
01:33Green Knight!
01:42Yeah, traitor, gotcha.
01:45Number 9, Alec Trevelyan, Goldeneye.
01:47In the Bond tradition, disloyalty never goes unpunished, and Alec Trevelyan learns that the hard way.
01:53James?
01:54For England.
01:57For England, Alec.
01:58Once MI6's 006, and James Bond's trusted partner, Trevelyan faked his death after a mission in Arkhangelsk.
02:05Years later, he resurfaces scarred, vengeful, and leading the Yanis crime syndicate.
02:10Fueled by revenge for his parents' tragic past, he steals the Goldeneye satellite, planning to unleash an EMP over London, and crash the economy.
02:18Closing time, James.
02:20Last call.
02:21Bond, the friend he betrayed, survives 006's traps from exploding trains to rigged helicopters.
02:27Their final showdown atop the satellite dish ends in poetic justice.
02:31Trevelyan falls, crushed under the very weapon he sought to wield.
02:34Does his vengeance justify his betrayal?
02:36We can't really say.
02:38But does he deserve his ending?
02:39Damn straight.
02:40For England, James?
02:42No.
02:45For me.
02:46Number 8.
02:47Elsa Schneider.
02:48Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
02:50Steven Spielberg's The Last Crusade unmasks Elsa Schneider as the perfect illusion of trust.
02:55I knew it was you.
02:58You have your father's eyes.
03:02And my mother's ears.
03:04But the rest belongs to you.
03:06Looks like the best parts have already been spoken for.
03:09She's a smart archaeologist and Indiana Jones' ally, helping him decode clues in Venice, and even pulling him into a romance.
03:16But behind the charm is a calculated traitor.
03:18Elsa is a Nazi collaborator, playing both Indy and his father, to steal the Grail Diary and hand the advantage to Walter Donovan.
03:26I didn't trust him.
03:28Why did you?
03:29Because he didn't take my advice.
03:38Donovan.
03:40Didn't I warn you not to trust anybody, Dr. Jones?
03:44She later betrays Donovan, and in the final temple, her true loyalty is exposed.
03:49Ignoring every warning, she grabs the Holy Grail for herself, and triggers chaos.
03:53The ground splits open, and Indy still tries to save her.
03:56And honestly, who knows why.
03:58But Elsa reaches for the Grail instead, slips, and disappears into the abyss.
04:02I can't hold you.
04:04I've reached.
04:05I've reached.
04:07Give me your hand.
04:08Give me your other hand.
04:10Consequences delivered.
04:11Number 7.
04:12Captain Dudley Smith, L.A. Confidential.
04:15Anyone who wears the badge should be honorable and respectable.
04:18But Captain Dudley Smith?
04:20Not even close.
04:21Would you be willing to plant corroborative evidence on a suspect you knew to be guilty in order to ensure an indictment?
04:27Dudley, we've been over this.
04:28Yes or no, Edmund?
04:30No.
04:30Would you be willing to beat a confession out of a suspect you knew to be guilty?
04:34No.
04:35On paper, he's a high-ranking LAPD captain and mentor.
04:38Beneath that, Smith hid a web of corruption, betrayal, and murder.
04:43He masterminded the Night Owl Massacre, rent blackmail rings with pornographer Pierce Patchett, and reporter Sid Hudgens.
04:49He even orchestrated a takeover of Mickey Cohen's criminal empire, and killed anyone who threatened his power, including Jack Ben Sands.
04:56Have you a valediction, boyo?
05:05Rollo.
05:08Tell my scene.
05:09By the time Ed Exley and Bud White corner him at the abandoned Victory Motel, Smith's control is collapsing.
05:15He tries to bargain for an escape.
05:17Exley refuses, and fatally shoots him.
05:20The LAPD spins it as heroism to save face.
05:23But let's be real, Smith got what was coming.
05:25A hero.
05:27How do you know what you were talking about?
05:29You couldn't have hurt us.
05:33And?
05:34In this situation, you'll need more than one.
05:38Number six, Alexander Pierce, Captain America, The Winter Soldier.
05:43Trust is everything in an organization designed to protect the world, but Alexander Pierce was there to betray it.
05:49I'm, uh, here to ask a favor.
05:53I want you to call for a vote.
05:55Project Insight has to be delayed.
05:58Nick, it's not a favor, that's a subcommittee or a long one.
06:01As a top S.H.I.E.L.D. official, and Fury's longtime colleague, he appeared to be the model of integrity and order.
06:08Underneath, Pierce was Hydra from the start.
06:10He cooked up Project Insight, a plan to preemptively eliminate anyone deemed a threat before they even acted.
06:17Hydra created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security.
06:26He frames Captain America, unleashes the brainwashed Winter Soldier, and turns the agency against itself.
06:32When Steve Rogers exposes Hydra, and Fury shows up alive, Pierce tries to escape.
06:38In the end, Fury shoots him twice in the chest, ending the man who tried to assassinate him.
06:42Justice served, Pierce finally gets what he deserves.
06:45That was the time I would have taken a bullet for you.
06:47You already did.
06:49Number five, Cypher, The Matrix.
06:52Greed has a funny way of making reality unbearable, and Cypher simply couldn't live with the truth.
06:56I know what you're thinking, because right now I'm thinking the same thing.
07:01Actually, I've been thinking it ever since I got here.
07:06Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill?
07:09Freed from The Matrix, he rejects the cold, brutal world for the comfort of illusion.
07:14Would you choose survival over stake, wealth, and blissful ignorance?
07:18Cypher wouldn't.
07:19So he cuts a deal with Agent Smith to be reinserted, and forget everything.
07:24I don't want to remember nothing.
07:26Nothing.
07:27You understand?
07:28He sells out Morpheus, his crew, and humanity itself.
07:32He doesn't even hesitate to murder his crewmates, unplugging them one by one while mocking their cause.
07:37But here's the thing about betrayal, it never ends well.
07:40Just as Cypher prepares to finish the job, Tank survives, and fires back.
07:44Burned by the same weapon he used, Cypher never gets his illusion.
07:48You're hurt.
07:49I'll be alright.
07:51Guess ignorance wasn't bliss after all.
07:53Number 4.
07:54Carter Burke.
07:55Aliens.
07:55It's almost as if every traitor has a way of disguising their mischief by selling charm, and Carter Burke is no different.
08:01I work for the company, but don't let that fool you, I'm really an okay guy.
08:06From the start, he plays the smooth-talking corporate suit, leading Ripley and the Marines to LV-426 under the guise of a rescue.
08:14In truth, Burke is the architect of chaos, guiding colonists into xenomorph-infested hell, while plotting to smuggle embryos back for profit.
08:22You sent them out there, and you didn't even warn them.
08:25Why didn't you warn them, Burke?
08:26Okay, look.
08:27He even plans to weaponize the creatures using Ripley or Little Nude as hosts.
08:31When Ripley finally sees through him, he runs, leaving everyone to die.
08:36The best part?
08:36The very creatures he tried to control drag him off-screen and deliver a fate only someone this slimy could deserve.
08:42Cosmic karma never looked so perfect.
08:49Number 3.
08:50Saruman, the Lord of the Rings.
08:52As the chief of the Five Istari, Saruman the White should have been Middle-earth's greatest protector, but he chose betrayal instead.
09:00The hour is later than you think.
09:03Sauron's forces are already moving.
09:05He sided with the Dark Lord Sauron, locked up Gandalf atop Orthanc, and twisted King Theoden with Wormtongue.
09:12He then unleashed his Uruk-hai armies and Helm's Deep, crushing armies to prove his power.
09:16Yet even that wasn't enough.
09:18His lust for the One Ring drove him to plot against Sauron, hoping to seize it for himself.
09:23A new power is rising.
09:26Its victory is at hand.
09:28When the Ents flood Isengard and his armies fall, his treachery catches up, and he refuses redemption.
09:38Wormtongue strikes, and Saruman falls, impaled and drowned in the ruins of his own machinery.
09:43Influence of the Ring or not, that was a well-deserved punishment for Saruman's betrayal.
09:47Send word to all our allies, and to every corner of Middle-earth that still stands free.
09:52The enemy moves against us.
09:53We need to know where he will strike.
09:55Number 2.
09:56Scar, the Lion King.
09:58Who can ever forget Scar's familial betrayal in this Disney masterpiece?
10:01As the younger brother of King Mufasa, Scar sees with jealousy over Simba's birth, and plots the ultimate treachery.
10:08Don't turn your back on me, Scar.
10:10Oh no, Mufasa.
10:11Perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me.
10:15Is that a challenge?
10:17Temper, temper.
10:19I wouldn't dream of challenging you.
10:22With the help of a few hyenas, he lures young Simba into a gorge, triggers a will-to-be stampede,
10:27effectively murdering the king, while Simba watches in horror.
10:31Scar then twists Simba's guilt, orders the cub killed, and crowns himself king.
10:35Yet out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era,
10:42in which Lion and Hyena come together in a great and glorious future.
10:49He lets the hyenas run rampant as the Pride Lands rot, but the treacherous always meet their reckoning.
10:56When adult Simba returns, he overpowers Scar, who begs for mercy and blames the very hyenas he used.
11:02It's the hyenas who are the real enemy.
11:06It was their fault.
11:07It was their idea.
11:08The same hyenas swarm and tear him apart.
11:11Justice has rarely been so savage, and so perfect.
11:13Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:17Benny Gabor, the mummy.
11:19He was devoured alive by beetles.
11:27Carl Bruner, ghost.
11:29He's impaled by large shards of glass.
11:36Obadiah Stane, Iron Man.
11:38He plunges into the reactor and meets an explosive end.
11:43Benny, total recall.
11:47Quaid drills a hole into his chest.
11:53Harry Ellis, diehard.
11:55Gruber shoots him in the head.
11:56Jesus Christ, Ellis.
11:57These people are gonna kill you.
11:58Tell them you don't know me.
12:01John, how can you say that after all these years, huh?
12:04John.
12:07John.
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12:24Number 1.
12:25Commodus.
12:26Gladiator.
12:27Emperor Marcus Aurelius' greatest betrayal didn't come from an enemy.
12:30It came from his son, Commodus.
12:32Are you ready to do your duty for Rome?
12:39Yes, father.
12:41You will not be emperor.
12:47Which wise, though, older man is to take my place?
12:49My powers will pass to Maximus.
12:52When the emperor confides that he intends to name his loyal general Maximus as successor,
12:57Commodus responds in the ugliest way possible.
13:00He suffocates his father in an embrace and ultimately seizes the crown.
13:04From there, everything rots fast.
13:06He orders Maximus' execution, has his family slaughtered,
13:10and rules Rome through fear and blood-soaked spectacle.
13:13Your emperor is pleased to give you the barbarian horde.
13:22Obsessed with power, Commodus drains the empire while proclaiming himself a god amongst men.
13:27But the Colosseum gives him what he deserves.
13:29Even after cheating and secretly stabbing Maximus before their final duel, it wasn't enough.
13:34Maximus kills him anyway, and the crowd completely ignores Commodus' corpse.
13:38There was a dream that was Rome.
13:41It shall be realized.
13:43These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius.
13:47The most Roman verdict of all.
13:49Which of these movie traders deserve their karma even more?
13:51Let us know in the comments.
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