14 Villains Who Messed Up Their Own Plans By Monologuing

Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) is known for his long, dramatic monologues. When he finds out the Orb contains an Infinity Stone, he decides to betray Thanos (Josh Brolin) and use the gem himself to destroy Xandar. He puts the Infinity Stone in his hammer and sets off on his mission. The newly formed Guardians attempt to stop him, leading to a fight on Xandar.

Ronan emerges from the debris completely fine with his hammer still intact. Instead of touching the tool to the ground that very second and destroying Xandar, he pauses for - wouldn't you know it? - another monologue. He walks slowly, as if he's in no hurry to accomplish this all-important mission and takes a moment to mock the Guardians. He laughs at their failure and talks of his destiny to destroy Xandar. He even announces that he's here to provide salvation and that the people should prepare themselves, as if they couldn't already sense that something bad was happening. He raises his hammer to wreak havoc on the planet, but he still doesn't act.

Although his monologue ends, his stupidity doesn't. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) starts singing at him and the big, bad, scary guy actually stops to listen. He engages with Quill for so long that he gives Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper) and Drax (Dave Bautista) a chance to take out his hammer. The Guardians prevail and the people of Xandar live to see another day, all because of Ronan's monologue.

At the end of Zootopia, Mayor Bellwether (Jenny Slate) reveals herself to be the villain who has been turning animals feral. She intercepts Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) as they’re on their way to take evidence of her wrongdoing to the police. Judy quickly realizes that something fishy is going on, and she and Nick run from the little sheep. 

As Bellwether searches for Nick and Judy, she outlines her plan to turn prey against predators and make sure the weaker animals are in charge from now on. She also taunts Judy for leaving the safety of her carrot farm, all the while talking about the genius of her scheme and the impact Judy's demise will make. 

At the end of the scene, Judy reveals that Nick recorded Bellwether's confession. They use her own words to take her down, teaching everyone that you shouldn't gloat about your plans until you've removed every obstacle in your path.

The issue of villain monologuing is spoofed multiple times throughout The Incredibles. When Syndrome (Jason Lee) reveals himself to be the villain, he even catches himself taking this disastrous path. He starts discussing his evil plan instead of watching Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), allowing the superhero to hurl a log at him. The villain, however, catches himself and stops Mr. Incredible just in time, even throwing out the line, "You got me monologuing!"

Despite Syndrome's awareness of the dangers of monologuing, it's still his undoing. Although the superheroes are successful in thwarting the villain’s plans, Syndrome manages to escape their wrath. Hungry for revenge, he goes to their house and nabs baby Jack-Jack. Jack-Jack manages to escape by showing his powers for the very first time. 

Despite getting beaten up by a baby, Syndrome doesn't take the opportunity to get away. He tells the Incredibles that the fight isn't over and that he'll get the baby eventually. He continues to laugh and taunt the superheroes, giving Mr. Incredible just enough time to throw a car at his plane. The car makes an impact and Syndrome's cape is caught in the turbine engine, leading to his demise.

As the games grow more intense, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is forced out of hiding to get medicine that will save her partner, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). As she exposes herself to the open ground surrounding the Cornucopia, she's ambushed by the District 2 tribute, Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman). At first, Katniss and Clove fight with reckless abandon, obviously trying to slay each other in earnest. However, when Clove pins Katniss to the ground with a knife to her throat, she turns to the always-fatal monologue. 

Clove taunts Katniss about her decision to save Peeta, referring to her partner as "lover boy" and saying how sad it is that she couldn't save her friend. She then reminds Katniss that she couldn't help Rue either and gloats over the little girl's demise. All the while, Clove has a knife to Katniss' throat. Had she not stopped to mock her opponent, she could have ended her and moved on in seconds. 

While Clove flaunts her victories to the helpless Katniss, she gives the District 11 tribute, Thresh (Dayo Okeniyi), just enough time to pull her off Katniss and slam her against the Cornucopia. After hearing that Clove slew Rue, Thresh ends the District 2 opponent and leaves Katniss alive because she helped the little girl. In another twist of fate, Thresh would've never known who ended Rue or who saved her if not for Clove's need to monologue.

When James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) fights against former 00 agent Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean), Trevelyan makes the mistake of gloating instead of just shooting his opponent. After a particularly intense fist fight, Trevelyan finally has Bond cornered.

Trevelyan gets ahold of the piece and points it directly at Bond, who seemingly has no chance of escape. Instead of just taking his chance, however, Trevelyan chooses that moment to tell Bond that he was always the better agent. His nice, long pause paired with his need to compliment himself gives Bond the chance to escape through a trap door. Another fight ensues that ultimately leads to Trevelyan's demise. 

Although Count Rugen (Christopher Guest) initially runs away from Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), he eventually catches the swordfighter by surprise and manages to throw a knife that lands right in Inigo's stomach. Instead of taking the opportunity to end Inigo when he's hurt and struggling to recover, Rugen decides to gloat. 

He mocks Inigo for spending his life chasing Rugen down and basically just acts like the entitled brat he is. He refers to Inigo's father without any reverence and shows zero regrets for his past actions. The scene cuts away for a moment, but when it returns, Rugen is standing in the same place just watching Inigo suffer. Perhaps he thought his victory was in the bag and he sadistically wanted to watch the demise. Even if that was the case, his pause is his undoing. 

Inigo eventually pulls out the knife and fights his way back to his feet. At this point, Rugen realizes the fight might not be won already. He finally takes a step to finish Inigo off, but it's too little too late. The swordfighter parries Rugen's thrusts and gradually regains his strength until he's able to face Rugen once again. For all his big talk, Rugen can't get the upper hand against his hurt opponent, and Inigo eventually slays him. If only Rugen hadn't spent his time gloating and actually exploited the small moment that he had the upper hand.