Cinema would be nothing without its villains. Not every story has one, of course, but from ordinary antagonists to world-conquering super villains, there’s usually someone to root against, and it’s often these characters that entertain us most, or most effectively drive a story forward. And almost always, these characters lose.

Generally, this is what moviegoers want. We want to see compelling antagonists who are ultimately defeated by more relatable or morally admirable heroes. But that doesn’t change the fact that there have been a lot of movie villains over the years who seemed to have about 99.9 percent chances of triumphing in their respective conflicts. Here are seven such villains who never had any business losing, but graciously did so for narrative convenience.

(Naturally, some spoilers follow for the relevant films)

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