Toxic male characters are as much of a staple of Hollywood as happy endings. Toxic on-screen men range from leading men to supporting characters, from the hero to the bad boyfriend. They're everywhere, and because of the abundance of toxic male characters it can be hard for any one of them to stand out. And yet, there are some that are just too awful to ignore. The 19 most toxic male characters in movie history prove that not all toxic male characters are created equal.
For a male character to be toxic, he must possess a few characteristics. Toxic people are those people in your life that bring you down. Some toxic people infect you with hate or negativity, others belittle you and manipulate you into feeling less than. For the purposes of this list, toxic male characters are those in (mostly) Hollywood films that are controlling, mean, and sometimes abusive, but not evil. Yes, Darth Vader is a toxic person, almost literally, but that's too easy. Toxic people aren't necessarily toxic on purpose, they're not villains in an intergalactic war. That said, here are the 19 most toxic male characters in the history of film.
1. Stanley — A Streetcar Named Desire
Stanley is a drunk, abusive husband. Classic toxic male character.
2. Jim — Edward Scissorhands
Kim's not-so-bright boyfriend is possessive and doesn't really trust his own girlfriend's judgment. Boy bye.
3. Benjamin Braddock — The Graduate
Benjamin convinces a girl he barely knows to abandon her new husband at the church and run away with him, despite him having no plans and no money. All because he thinks he's in love.
4. Charles Foster Kane — Citizen Kane
Charles Foster Kane is a possessive, ego-maniac who just wants to live a long life with his millions. He burns every bridge he makes.
5. Anakin Skywalker — Star Wars: Episode III
OK, I know I said Darth Vader wasn't a toxic person, but Anakin Skywalker definitely was. As he turns evil, he wants to drag everyone else down with him, including his baby mama, Padmé.
6. Walter Keane — Big Eyes
Walter Keane convinces his wife that she should let him take credit for her work — toxic to the max.
7. Edward Cullen — The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Edward Cullen is pretty toxic throughout the Twilight Saga, but in Eclipse, he's just the worst. Any man who forbids his girlfriend from seeing her best friend is toxic and should be kicked to the curb. Sorry, Bella!
8. Danny Ocean — Ocean's Eleven
Danny Ocean gets out of prison, and the first thing he does is conspire to rob the man dating his ex wife — a woman, by the way, that he walked out on when he went to prison. I mean, I know it's George Clooney, but, there's only so much sexy man can get away with.
9. Michael Dorsey — Tootsie
Tootsie is great for many reasons, but let's face facts: Michael Dorsey is a white man who pretends to be a woman to get acting jobs and uses confidential information to hit on a woman he likes.
10. J.D. — Heathers
Heathers is a heightened reality, but J.D. is a homicidal maniac no matter what reality he's in.
11. Mark Loring — Juno
When a middle aged man about to become a father hits on the pregnant teenager carrying his child, it's a problem.
12. Mark Zuckerberg — The Social Network
A toxic person has trouble maintaining relationships. In The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg essentially cuts himself off from every single one of his friends. Toxic level: It's complicated.
13. Biff — Back to the Future
Biff is a baby version of Donald Trump (though, unlike ours, he's blissfully fictional) — 'nough said.
14. Harry — Love Actually
What makes Harry so toxic isn't necessarily that he cheats on his wife, it's that he does it without even seeming to care that much about the person he cheats with.
15. Quincy — Love & Basketball
It's not entirely fair to label Quincy a toxic male character because he's essentially a teenager for a majority of the film, but Quincy expects Monica to drop everything for him, including her own college basketball career. Not cool, dude.
16. Sebastian — Cruel Intentions
Sebastian evolves over the course of Cruel Intentions, but for the majority of the movie, he's a classic toxic male character.
17. Gregory — Gaslight
Gregory from Gaslight is the classic toxic male character who set the stage for many toxic men to come. Long story short: he tricks his wife into thinking she's going insane so that he can steal from her.
18. The Beast — Beauty and the Beast
The Beast is a kidnapper. That is all.
19. Guy Woodhouse — Rosemary's Baby
Guy Woodhouse literally rents out his wife's womb to the devil in exchange for an acting career. WTF, dude?
I wouldn't want to meet any of these toxic men in real life. Good thing they just exist on screen.
Images: Walt Disney Studios; Giphy (15); vivienvalentino/tumblr; posthawk/tumblr; lukesdane/tumblr; thewriter-anachronism/tumblr
