10 Movie Heroes Who Fought Their Own Mentors

Heroes in movies are often faced with seemingly impossible challenges, but one of the most difficult is when the hero must fight back against a corrupt mentor. Every hero has an origin story. Whether they were bitten by a spider, or suffered great tragedy at an early age, something sparks an innate desire and compulsion to become a hero. Along the path to becoming a great hero, they often find someone who fills the role of a mentor, guiding them on their journey and helping them to make the right choices.

However, when the person who helps to mold and shape the hero into a tool for good, or a highly trained specimen, reveals their true character and turns out to be a villain, it’s a serious betrayal. While heroes are meant to stand up for what is right, it becomes a challenge when the evil they must fight against is the person who trained them, often becoming family. There are plenty of hero stories containing this plot point, and it generally helps to heighten the tension and create drama that further cements the heroes’ strength of will and moral character.

10 Bruce Wayne AKA Batman

Ra’s Al Ghul

After young Bruce Wayne loses his parents in Batman Begins, he travels the world to learn how to defend himself and protect others. On his journey, he finds a powerful mentor in Ra’s al Ghul, who helps sharpen Wayne into a weapon that will go on to become Batman. But when Wayne meets R’as again in Gotham, it’s as enemies, with Ra’s seeking to destroy Gotham and its citizens. The twist may have been expected for comic fans, but nonetheless, the reveal of Wayne’s mentor as the villain was heart-wrenching for the boy who had already lost so much.

9 David Dunn

Elijah Price AKA Mr. Glass

While Elijah Price may not have possessed great strength or invulnerability in Unbreakable, he was the expert on superheroes who helped David Dunn accept his powers. However, later in the same film, Dunn comes to learn that Price coordinated the very accident that unlocked his powers, and several more that resulted in countless deaths over the years. Dunn was understandably disturbed by this dark truth, and years later, in Glass, the two went head-to-head once again to finally conclude the story of heroes and villains that Price was so desperate to create.

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8 Tony Stark AKA Iron Man

Obadiah Stane

In Iron Man, Tony Stark is full of himself and reckless. Having lost his parents in a car accident as a young man, Tony found a father figure in his father’s friend, Obadiah Stane. Stane became Stark’s business partner and helped influence his decisions in the company, but he secretly turned on him and offered the billionaire to a terrorist organization, hoping to take his place as head of the company. However, this high-pressure situation was exactly what Stark needed to snap out of his comfortable and laidback life, take responsibility, and strive to help others with his genius.

7 Shang-Chi

Xu Wenwu

Shang-Chi was born the son of a violent warlord. Shang-Chi lost his mother at the age of seven and simultaneously lost the loving and kind father whom he had known up to that point when he reverted to his criminal activities and brutal ways. Shang-Chi trained for years to become a skilled assassin, but at 14, he ran away from home to make a new life. Years later, he returned home and learned about his mother’s heritage in the Ta Lo village. His father, still haunted by his wife’s death, then challenged his son and the village of Ta Lo.

6 Anakin Skywalker AKA Darth Vader

Sheev Palpatine AKA Darth Sidious

In Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker showed great potential to wield the Force as a boy and was trained as a Jedi despite his age. However, as he grew, he was led astray by a kindly politician who treated him well and made him feel special. Sheev Palpatine convinced Anakin of the outdated ways of the Jedi and eventually lured him to the Dark Side. However, many years later, when Anakin had embraced a new identity as the infamous Darth Vader, he redeemed himself when he learned of his children’s survival, turning against his master and saving his true family.

5 Wesley

Mr. Sloan

Wanted is an incredible mind-bending movie about an ancient organization of assassins with special abilities, who follow prophecies from a mystical Loom as it predicts the names of targets to be killed. When young Wesley is recruited to join the organization, he learns how to wield his unique powers and becomes an asset to the team. However, when the head of the organization, Mr. Sloan is revealed to have been manufacturing new targets for profit after his name appeared in the Loom, Wesley turns against him and the others to finish what his father had started.

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4 Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel

Yon Rogg

Captain Marvel may have received mixed reviews upon release, but the dynamic between Carol Danvers and her mentor, Yon Rogg, is a highlight of the film. The two appear to have a close relationship, pushing each other to improve, but when Yon Rogg is revealed to be the person who killed her previous mentor, Mar-Vell, Danvers turns on her false friend. The reveal was predictable early in the film, even to non-comic fans, but the battle that ensued was impressive and showcased the strength and power of Carol Danvers as she stepped up to become her true self, Captain Marvel.

3 Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord

Yondu

In the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, the relationship between Peter Quill and his surrogate father/boss is turbulent. Yondu is a hot-headed ravager, with few fatherly instincts, and threatened to eat Quill as a child when he didn’t behave. Growing up, Quill did not have anything like a normal childhood, and it made sense when he ran away to try and escape. Unlike the other examples in this list, Yondu went from being an uncaring and cruel mentor whom Quill fought against, to a loving father figure who laid down his life for Quill.

2 Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man

Otto Octavius AKA Doc Ock

In the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, Peter Parker’s interest in science and technology is especially prominent. In Spider-Man 2, when Peter finds a mentor and friend in the renowned scientist, Otto Octavius. Peter gets close to Otto and his wife, helping them in their research and experiments, but when Otto becomes consumed by his work and an accident causes him to lose his wife, he begins to endanger others and the entire city with his lust for knowledge and power. Peter is the only person who is strong enough and smart enough to fight his mentor and stop the threat.

1 Yelena Belova

Dreykov

The adopted sister to Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova suffered greatly as a child assassin trained in the Red Room. When Natasha escaped, Yelena was left to fend for herself, and along with the other girls, she had a deep resentment towards the man in charge of the program, General Dreykov. The Red Room was a closely guarded security program, and the girls who were involved in the program were being controlled against their will. However, when Natasha returns and teams up with Yelena, Yelena is able to get revenge on Dreykov and send him to a fiery demise.