The Fast & Furious franchise has had its fair share of villains, some memorable, some not. Trying to take down Dominic “Dom” Toretto and his family is never an easy task but there are two villains who have impressed the most while at it. These are Fast Five villain Hernan Reyes (Jaoquim De Almeida) and The Fate Of The Furious villain Cipher (Charlize Theron).
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Fast Five is thought of as the turning point at which the franchise stopped being just a ‘racing drama.’ Joaquim De Almeida had portrayed crime bosses in a number of films before his role as Reyes, hence his amazing performance wasn’t such a surprise. Reyes had the crown of the franchise’s best villain for a while, until Theron’s tech-savvy Cipher showed up. But who really is better?
Reyes: A More Sensible Motivation
Hernan’s Reyes’s goal was simple. The DEA had seized three of his cars and was transferring them using a train. One of them had a computer chip that contained the addresses of all the locations where he hid his money at. He thus hired Dom and his team to get the chip. When things didn’t go as planned, he decided to make them pay. Quite straightforward.
Unlike the rest of the villains, Cipher was more than a tough baddie but her motivations appeared overblown. She risked her operations by making Dom work for her yet she could have easily relied on her more competent and loyal henchmen. She also stole nuclear codes in order to cause World War III. But how exactly she would benefit from the war was never spelt out clearly
Cipher: She Got Dom To Turn His Back On ‘Family’
Dom’s team aka “Family” means everything to Dom but for a brief moment, he didn’t care about them, thanks to Cipher. No other antagonist has ever managed to get into Dom’s head the way she did. While Dom was on a honeymoon with Letty in Cuba, Cipher tracked him down and blackmailed him after kidnapping his son and ex-wife.
In other films in the franchise, Dom had always been in control of things, even when he had no backup. But against Cipher, he appeared hopeless and doomed for failure. If it wasn’t for outside intervention from the enemy-turned-ally Deckard Shaw, Dom could have remained Cipher’s slave for a lot longer.
Reyes: Best Quotes
Unlike the protagonists, Fast & Furious villains have never been smart talkers. That’s until Reyes came into the picture. His one-liners and general speeches have remained unmatched so far. He memorably gave a speech on how violence against the common people was useless. He referred to how the Spanish used violence while trying to colonize Brazil and failed.
He compared himself to the Portuguese who came bearing gifts and succeeded. Reyes then explained how he also gave the people electricity and water so that they could depend on him. And when one of his henchmen told him that his money was so safe that even God couldn’t reach it, he replied with “God is not my worry.”
Cipher: The Only Villain To Avoid Getting Killed Or Arrested
Cipher was the only antagonist in the franchise who failed in their mission but still avoided getting killed or arrested. This might change in the future but the fact that she has been conducting criminal operations for years with no consequences makes her better than other villains.
Only five other villains have survived the events of the films they appeared in, but unlike Cipher, they were arrested. These include: Carter Verone, Takashi, Arturo Braga, and Deckard Shaw.
Reyes: Brutality
In action movies, villains tend to be judged a lot by their kills. A villain who doesn’t kill comes off as weak. This was the undoing of Cipher and all the villains that came before Reyes. In fact, before Fast Five, the only other villain that killed someone was Johnny Tran.
Reyes, on the other hand, showed how violent he can be by beating by beating one of his subordinates to death with a paperweight. He also had Dom and Brian tortured before they finally escaped. Reyes’ was directly involved in the death of five law enforcement officers too who were blown up by his men.
Cipher: The Mastermind
Even though she first appeared in The Fate Of The Furious, it was revealed that most of the other villains that came before Cipher had been under her control. This made her similar to Blofeld in the James Bond franchise. Being able to wield so much power over other baddies make her a better villain.
She hired Owen Shaw to steal military grade weapons to enable her create advanced weapons. She also hired Mose Jakanda. And given that Owen Shaw was the boss of Arturo Braga, this makes Cipher his boss too.
Reyes: Absolute Power
Part of what makes a good villain is having power. As Reyes explained in his iconic speech, he had power over the people of Rio because he was like a Robin Hood figure to them. He used the proceeds of crime to give them their basic needs. He also had the police in his pocket and was even able to store his giant vault inside a police station.
While Cipher had a number of baddies working for her, she never really had total control over anything. For example, she couldn’t turn Deckard Shaw and Dom into her full time puppets. Her missions failed too and so did those of other villains in the franchise.
Cipher: Skills And Abilities
Cipher was capable of doing a variety of things. She was a tech genius with a vast amount of knowledge that rivalled that of God’s Eye creator, Ramsey. She also erased all information about her past and for a long, the authorities and fellow criminals thought she was an organization rather than a person. She was able to access the electronic mainframes of multiple vehicles all at once.
Cipher also had unmatched spy abilities as seen from how she was able to manipulate Dom. Her fighting skills were also seen when she raided Mr. Nobody’s secret base named “Nowhere” and incapacitated everyone in the facility. Other antagonists in the franchise have mostly been one dimensional. They are either good fighters, good racers or ruthless criminal masterminds.
Reyes: Memorable Death
Action movie villains are often remembered by how they die. A dull death makes all their dirty work pointless. While Reyes didn’t manage to get away scot free like Cipher, he at least died trying to get back what he treasured.
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When Dom’s team stole the vault from the police station, Reyes chose to pursue them together with his henchman and the corrupt police offices. This was a break from his usual character, since he always delegated such duties instead of putting himself in danger. His decision to pursue proved to be a mistake as the giant vault knocked his car over. As he got out his car, he asked Hobbs to spare him but Hobbs pumped bullets into his body.
Cipher: Better Toys
Better toys, ranging from weapons to cars are needed to defeat Dom and his family. Plenty of baddies have brought out everything they had in the franchise but they couldn’t match what “the family” had to offer.
Cipher, on the other hand, was on a whole other level. She had an untraceable plane that she used to keep Dom’s son and conduct her operations. She was also able to commandeer a submarine and hunt Dom’s team using missiles. Her possession of the Nightshade and God’s Eye made her undefeatable for a while too.
