Noble Demon/Film

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Noble Demons in Film include:

Wade: Kid, I wouldn't last five minutes leading an outfit like that if I wasn't as rotten as hell.

  • Marion Bishop, in Assault on Precinct 13. The show starts with him brutally killing an undercover policeman in a church. He later fights alongside cops who have him under arrest in the interest of "self-preservation". But at the end of the show, he walks away from the downed Good Guy, Sgt. Joe Roenick, despite the Good Guy now being his Sworn Rival.
  • Pinhead and the Cenobites from the Hellraiser franchise, as they were originally depicted as targeting only those who solved the Lament Configuration, along with those who had solved it and tried to elude them. Even so, solving the box in itself isn't sufficient cause for retrieval, as there has to be some sense of desire behind the act for the Cenobites to take an interest (which was why Tiffany from Hellbound was spared). They are also not averse to occasionally bargaining with their targets, with mixed results.
  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has Senator Paine, complete with a Heel Face Turn.
    • Well, that's arguably more of a Deal with the Devil than Noble Demon, as the "demon", in this case, is Jim Taylor, who bought Sen. Paine.
  • Quentin Tarantino's films usually have at least one character of this nature in them, seeing as they usually require us to empathize with and support vicious, murderous criminals. Examples include:
    • Seth Gecko in From Dusk till Dawn is a ruthless, violent professional criminal who nevertheless has an inner core of decency and, in fact, comes across as downright heroic compared to his psychotic rapist-murderer brother, Richie (who he vocally expresses disgust against).
    • Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs, who coolly and emotionlessly kills police officers and is willing to kill innocent civilians if it will help him, but expresses disgust at the psychopathic excesses of Mr. Blonde and treats the terminally wounded Mr. Orange with almost paternal care.
    • Jules in Pulp Fiction is a ruthless hitman who experienced a spiritual awakening as a result of a miraculous avoidance of death.
  • General Miura from Ip Man, who is brutal and vicious out of a sense of patriotism, as a contrast with the sadism of Smug Snake Colonel Sato, and is, in his own albeit Combat-Pragmatic way, an honorable, traditional Japanese Warrior.
  • Harry from In Bruges is a violent crime boss, but with principles and a clear moral code. He is a caring father and does not tolerate anyone who harms a child, even by accident.
    • Although Ray and Ken could both also be seen as examples. Nobody in the film ever comes across as clearly evil.
  • Neil McCauley from Heat may be a professional criminal, but he has a sense of decency that clearly outstrips all other criminals and even many cops. He doesn't want to kill the security personnel he robs from and is angered when his accomplices do so. And he holds much more anger and malice toward other criminals who engage in duplicitous and inhumane behavior against him and his friends than against the police. He cares for those close to him as much as any hero, and it's impossible to not sympathize with him most of the time when he's shooting someone, as they usually deserve it.
  • Bill "The Butcher" Cutting from Gangs of New York. He's a ruthless murderous gang leader and a 19th century equivalent of a mafia boss, but he cares for the children and elderly who live in the five points in old New York. He despises lying and deception in all its forms and even has a man killed for betraying the film's protagonist who planned to murder Bill: meaning, he killed a man for saving his life because he regarded any form of betrayal to be worse.
    • Even before that point, when referring to Amsterdam's father, he says, "I killed the last honorable man 15 years ago." Keep in mind that Bill is a nativist who would like nothing more than to see all Irish-Catholics thrown out of America.
  • Ben Affleck's Villain Protagonist in The Town is a pretty good example. Despite being a career criminal and ruthlessly efficient bank robber, he is personally a very nice and sensitive guy, is disgusted by his colleagues beating people or taking hostages, and cares a lot about his community to the point of donating his stolen money to local charities. It's not hard to see how a woman could fall for him even after finding out that he was involved in robbing her bank and taking her hostage, leaving her with PTSD.
  • Megamind is a perfect example of this, with more than enough affable evil thrown in for good measure. When he manages to "kill" his arch-nemesis in the first fifteen minutes of the film, he is honestly shocked and really quite horrified at first. After a brief villainous spree, he regrets his actions even more and works to make it right.
  • Matsu in the Female Prisoner Scorpion series is a multiple murderess, desperate Combat Pragmatist, serial prison escapist, and veteran manipulator of those around her. However, she only kills those who wrong her; she can't bring herself to kill Yuki's brain-injured brother when Yuki begs her to, and while some prisoners hate her, she looks out for those who help her, help others, or hold no malice. Really, she's forced by circumstances into becoming a demon and retains her basic nobility. In a way, this is played literally - there's a visual theme of Yuurei symbolism implying a supernatural driving force behind Matsu.
  • In Rango, Rattlesnake Jake is considered one in the end and tips his hat to the main character, even calling him a Worthy Opponent.
  • Riddick.
  • Jef Costello in Le Samourai. Even if he is a hitman, he has a clear set of morals.
  • The Yautja of the Predator franchise are a race full of these, though it largely depends on whether the individual chooses to hunt humans or not. If they don't, they're simply Egomaniac Hunters at worst. There are a select few individuals who aren't noble, however.
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