Commodus is One of the Most Sadistic Villains in Film History
I have seen my fair share of villains in plenty of movies throughout the years. Many of them have stayed with me when it comes to their incredible personalities, and there are some that honestly scare the hell out of me.
Then there are those that make me so uncomfortable to think about.
One villain that bothered the hell out of me was Commodus, from the first Gladiator film.
Even though it was obvious that he was going to be the villain of the film, I didn't know how it was going to happen. Once his motivations were revealed, he instantly became so terrifying to me. What's even more crazy, is that perhaps this change within his character could have been prevented.
Commodus was the son of the Emperor of Rome, but his title was going to be passed onto another man named Maximus, because he viewed him as the 'true man' for the ruler of Rome. Commodus got pissed off hearing this news, and he decided to act upon his reign of tyranny upon everyone who stood in his way.
The first person was his father, that had given him the ultimate betrayal.
He killed his father first, and had Maximus banished from his sight, and he was forced to become a slave for Rome, that was now being ruled by Commodus with an iron fist. Commodus became a monster, using his title as Emperor to enact his own image of what he wants for Rome.
Instead of seeking peace like his father wanted, he decided to make Rome ten times worse. He began to kidnap men to use for the Gladiator games, forcing them to battle to the death for his own entertainment. This rule led to the people of Rome becoming similar to him, wanting violence instead of peace.
And if you think this is already evil enough, he had an unhealthy obsession with his sister.
This aspect of the film creeped me out so bad.
Commodus was deeply in love with his own sister, and Lucilla knew that. She knew how to avoid his affection, but it took a turn for the worse once she tried to go against him. Luckily, Lucilla was spared from his wrath when he was later killed by Maximus, stopping this monster for good.
I think that Commodus enjoyed having power over others. He didn't care about the consequences of his actions, as long as he was always the one that others would fear. I do think that Commodus was still going to turn against his father at some point, because it was strongly implied that his father knew of his son's dark side. I think that Lucilla knew that too, but like her father, they both ignored this side of Commodus.
I think they never expected him to one day snap, but once Maximus was named the ruler of Rome, his dark side was revealed. It was also so terrifying that he actually showed some kind of emotion of the harm he was going to put both his father and sister through.
He was going to miss his father after he killed him, and even though his sister betrayed him, he spared her, because his sick love for her was what stopped him from ending her life.
Commodus is such a memorable villain. He is one of those characters that has stuck with me for a long time, because these kinds of monstrous Emperors like this really did exist. It pisses me off that Commodus ruined everything for Rome, and his reign of terror ended up continuing for years to come, showing the aftermath in the sequel of Gladiator 2.
I know that a lot of people did rip on the sequel, but to me, the sequel did work in its own way. His presence was felt throughout the film, and knowing that he is at fault for this kind of chaos and death, kind of means that he did win in the end after the death of Maximus.
I would definitely consider Commodus to be one of the worst villains in movie history.
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