Why Tighten Is A Perfect Twist Villain

Today we're continuing our look at twist villains by going in depth about Tighten from Megamind. In my opinion this is probably the best DreamWorks film of all time, and the characters definitely measure up.

[shame]

Oh, and I forgot to mention one more thing under the “hints” category. Hal says in the beginning of the film that if he was Metro Man, Megamind wouldn’t kidnap Roxanne ever again. And he ends up being right, because once he becomes Metro Man Hal ends up being the one doing the kidnapping instead

[speedracer]

Tighten is a good villain, because he highlights how an underdog with superpowers could realistically go wrong with them. It would be tempting to use superpowers for one’s own gain, which is a flaw that someone with powers can overcome or give in to. Hal cared about having powers for the sake of getting what he wanted, rather than helping others.

[nicknamed]

One of my favorite hints about Hals true nature is when Megamind comes to give Him his powers. He breaks down his door and Hal, assuming that he is getting robbed, asks Megamind to steal from his neighbor instead of him, as she had better stuff than he did.

It was a pretty funny scene at first glance, but looking back, it shows that Hal was always a selfish and cowardly person that lacked the true qualities of a hero.

[S.h-comma.to.the.top-Dynasty]

What I love about Hal is when he becomes a villain he doesn’t stop being Hal. Its not like a green goblin situation where his evil side took over. He’s the same guy he always was, but with more opportunity to be evil.

[someguyonyoutube]

At least Tighten taught us 3 very valuable life lessons:
-There is no Easter Bunny.
-There is no Tooth Fairy.
-There is no Queen of England.

[Inspectre]

My favorite hint that Tighten was evil was the first time Megamind broke into his house and he immediately says "Are you robbing me? Because if so the old lady next door has way better stuff than me." (Might've got a few words wrong, that was from memory). His complete willingness to throw someone under the bus should have been a big hint to Megamind that Hal was not the right person to give powers.

[tommyl.dayandtherunaways]

Tighten was a terrifying villain, it’s not only that he went crazy and tried to kill Roxanne, it’s that he seemingly has no motive other than “destroy / conquer everything”. He didn’t really *need* to destroy Metro City to accomplish his goal, he just did it because he could, and because it was probably fun for him. This guy is an absolute sociopath, and we should all be very thankful that he no longer has his powers.

[wambutu]

I love the details in this movie. Like when Roxie is captured by Megamind she is completely calm and nonchalant. But when she first encounters Titan/Hal she terrified and barely capable of keeping it together.
That lets the audience know the real threat without words. Show, don't say.

[shadowking]

Unlike the Disney twist villains, Hal/Tighten's pre- and post-villainy reveal doesn't alter his personality or give the audience whiplash from the sudden change. When Hal becomes Tighten, he doesn't become a different person; the super powers just make what traits we saw from him previously even worse. Both are childish, petulant, cowardly (to a certain extent as Tighten), entitled, dimwitted, selfish and creepy. The "Disney Twist" takes a pre-established character who was in two or three scenes and seems nice and reveals them as the antagonist, usually accompanied with them becoming either spiteful or cartoonishly malicious. The twist in Megamind comes from the fact that the audience doesn't expect Hal to let the power go to his head and thus become the big bad, yet at the same time, it makes perfect sense considering who he's been set up to be. Disney's twists are always treated as a whodunit, while in Megamind, it's more of a WHENdunit. One is a cheap twist made for a momentary shock, the other a surprising and well-done plot development based on natural character progression and storytelling. Both Megamind and Tighten are underdogs, an alien that was bullied for being different and a pathetic, morally-weak dork respectfully. However, one learns from his mistakes and goes on to use his gifts for the betterment of others while the other lets the power corrupt him, creating a great foil pairing.

[beauciferous]

Megamind saying "okay take me to jail" and then Hal/Tighten responding with "I was thinking more like the morgue" is SO good

[ndpartycrasher]

What i love about Hal as a villain is that he doesn't play games. Most Disney twist villains and villains in general like to beat around the bush and give monologues and whatnot, but Hal gets straight to the point and it makes him scarier.

[Tr-aylor]

Fun fact: in the scene where Roxanne rejects going to Hal's party after Metro Man's death, he returns to the truck and says "What's wrong with me!" But in an alternate scene he says "What's wrong with HER!" I think the dialogue change was a good option on the filmmakers part, for one that would have outed him as being a potential villain way too fast in the movie, and the line "What's wrong with me!"ads a layer of insecurity to Hal, sure he always felt that he was entitled to Roxanne's love regardless of if he had super powers or not, but he doesn't completely blame her for not liking him romantically either, the only thing keeping them apart in his mind is his lack of special powers which is obviously why he's so ecstatic when he's injected with Metro man's DNA. I think this is especially nice because in most movies with underdog characters, theyre perfectly fine people but society just doesn't treat them well, and this causes them to question if they're as good as they truly are, but in Hal's case he was never good. And I also think the truck scene is a subtle clue to what kind of partner he is, when he's rejected as his regular self he beats himself up over because he thinks it's just his lack of powers that's keeping Roxanne from liking him, but when she rejects him after he gets Powers he starts attacking her, because he thinks that there's no reason she should not like him now that he's a superhero. Had he somehow trapped her into a relationship with him then he probably would be abusive, if not physically, then definitely verbally, that's especially true when he gets mad after she hangs out with Bernard, showing that he doesn't think she should like any other men but him. People like this have existed for a long time now but it isn't until just recently in history where we finally realized that not all underdogs deserve to be on top, some are at the bottom for a reason.

[lukemills]

That Hal is evil isn't a twist. That Hal is *relevant* is the twist.

[Dookieman]

Not only is he a great twist villian, he’s also a person who slowly becomes a monster but he had it in him the whole time. I remember gradually becoming more disturbed by him as a kid. Seeing him descend into his own entitlement and pettiness, and only when he threw a tantrum at Roxane after putting her in danger, did the twist hit me, he’s the big bad. And it kept going to the point he decided “if I can’t have her, no one can”

[ArcherGhost]

I'd also like to mention that Hal sees fighting in a completely different way. Megamind and Metroman's fighting wasn't bloodthirsty or overly destructive because Megamind and Metroman saw it as a competitive rivalry, in the same way two kids would view a game of Tag.

But Hal doesn't, he sees it as a goal, a mission almost, he wants Megamind *dead* and he shows that in his wreckless, he destroys the city and even when he does have Roxanne in his clutches, he treats her like a toy, adding onto his selfish nature.

[TheWaffleEdits]

Another thing I learned from other reviewers is how Roxanne’s dress showed how she changed throughout the movie
Her dress is red at first, the polar opposite of blue, which is obviously Megamind’s color. In the middle, she’s wearing purple, a blend of red and blue. In the end, she’s wearing blue, showing how she now knows and understands Megamind and loves him for who he is, not who he’s made out to be

[gregjayonnaise]

The funny thing about Hal is that, even as a regular dude, you notice that he never actually demonstrates any truly positive qualities. He’s pushy towards Roxanne and her boundaries, rude to other people and snarks behind their backs, and generally holds an unpleasant attitude. There’s rarely a moment where Hal acts kindly with no strings attached.

What ultimately makes him below the audience’s suspicion is his appearance and his weakness. He’s too much of a coward and a weakling to actually get away with hurting others, and he looks so geeky and unassuming that you naturally assume he won’t be super dangerous. He’s every harmless Hollywood nerd stereotype, and the movie uses the audiences preconceived notions about the archetype to trick them.

[sarafontanini]

What makes Tighten really work is not just the whole "he's a goofy side character with a crush on the main heroine so you don't realise he's the villain" but also the fact that he doesn't sem like main villain material. He's stupid, he's silly, he has no plans or goals beyond his crush. He just doesn't seem like main villain material.

But that's why he IS. He's so stupid and selfish that he cannot better himself, he has no goals so he just uses his powers for his own simple enjoyment.

He's NOT a supervillain, he's JUST a villain.

[Kaito]

8:00 Oh my, a detail I never noticed before : while Hal is ranting about how confused he's that she still doesn't want him despite his powers, Roxanne almost falls backwards and has to hold unto him BY HERSELF to avoid dropping ! He didn't even seems to notice she's literaly clinging for dear life, showing even more how selfish he truly is !

[purplehaze]

Honestly, if a ‘nice guy’ like Hal was given this level of power in real life, I don’t think anyone could doubt they’d do similarly abhorrent things.