Villains are usually easy to hate because they’re always scheming, ruthless, doing something immoral and ruining people’s life. But sometimes, the bad guy kinda has a point. Or perhaps they didn’t become villains because they enjoyed being evil, unfortunate events mostly put them in those situations.
Beyond the surface, they act on a betrayal or in self-defense no one else could fix, or maybe the system itself leaves them no choice. In this exploration of Nollywood characters, I found eight villains who weren’t just evil for the sake of it: they were right, and if you look closely, you’ll even see the story would’ve fallen apart without them.
Ahanna in Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story (2020)
Ahanna (Stan Nze) is an unemployed graduate, abandoned by his mother and left to question the death of his father. Frustrated by the situation, he moves to Lagos only to discover that his family has been living a lie and double lives. He finds out his mother cheats on his father and then marries his uncle after his father dies. It’s also revealed that the man behind his father’s death is his uncle.
He feels betrayed and becomes angry; a righteous anger to be fair. But he also needs to survive. The betrayal, his anger and the need to survive push him to cross lines that morality would normally forbid. So, he forms “The Armadas”, not only to execute heists and steal from the rich and corrupt, but to hurt his family that betrayed and sold him lies.
Watch Rattlesnake The Ahanna Story on Netflix.
Brume in Jolly Roger (2022)
It’s a tough time for Brume (Daniel Etim-Effiong); he is grieving the sudden demise of his mother and navigating his wife’s infertility issues. He’s just a regular banker going through life’s bullshit. But his villain origin story starts when she eventually becomes pregnant, and Brume is told he isn’t the father.
Things get darker: his wife is killed by two policemen on the same day she makes the revelation known to him. A frustrated and heartbroken Brume kidnaps the policemen. Then, he finds out that his best friend, the guy who assists in keeping the policemen hostage, is the one who put a baby in his wife. Anger, frustration and betrayal leave him no choice but to deal with his wrongdoers.
Makanaki in King of Boys (2018)
Makanaki (Khalid “Reminisce” Safaru) has always been a bad guy. He’s a criminal and enforcer working for Eniola Salami (Sola Sobowale), an underworld boss who offers structure in a world that eats men alive. Then, a time comes when Makanaki’s boss plans to go into politics — this gives him the idea to put himself forward as her replacement. But Makanaki’s grab for the throne is called a betrayal.
They become archenemies, constantly attempting to uproot each other’s lives, including Makanaki laying an ambush on Eniola and working with her opponents to eliminate her. It’s nothing personal, though; they both live in the corridors of power and violence, and dogs eat dogs anyway. Knowing the kind of world she operates in, Makanaki’s aren’t absurd or unexpected. She should have focused on her criminal enterprise or put an amicable exit plan in place, instead of giving room for competition she couldn’t tolerate.
Watch King of Boys on Netflix.
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Mrs. Dairo in Ohun Oko Somida (2011)
In Ohun Oko Somida, the villain isn’t someone born wicked; she’s someone made by heartbreak and betrayal. Mrs. Dairo (Sola Sobowale) starts as a devoted wife whose world revolves around her marriage and family. When her husband brings a young secretary into their home and eventually into his bed, she doesn’t shrug it off. She fights, not out of malice, but out of a desperate love for her family.
But love that refuses to let go becomes its own undoing. Every attempt to salvage what was broken drags her deeper into conflict. Her righteous pain fractures her family, costing her the man she loved and her children never see her effort in keeping the home together. Her quest isn’t selfish; it’s just the fear of loss and the instinct to protect her marriage at all costs. She’s a villain victim of circumstance.
Watch Ohun Oko Somida on YouTube.
Ms Kanyin in Ms Kanyin (2025)
Depending on your location, the Ms Kanyin character is the mythical legend also known as Madam Koi-Koi. Yes, the ghost in red who haunts the halls of boarding schools. In this movie, Ms Kanyin is just a random French teacher, until one desperate student, Amara (Temi Otedola), and her friends try to steal exam questions.
During the robbery, one of them sets a dog on Ms Kanyin, causing her to run off into the forest, slip, knock her head on a rock and die. She then starts to haunt and kill them. Unfortunately unknown to them, a revenge spirit doubles as a schoolteacher. If Amara writes her exam without cheating and friends refuse to join her, no one will haunt anyone. Who can blame a murderous spirit for being one, especially when you activate them?
Watch Ms Kanyin on Prime Video.
Obalola in Gangs of Lagos (2023)
Growing up in the gang-ridden alleys of Isale Eko, Obalola (Tobi Bakre) learns early that violence is the currency of survival. His father was murdered. His stepfather, too. gone. His community is hollowed out by crime and neglect, and every door to something better is slammed shut long before he can even knock. Obalola is left with no choice but to choose crime, but he’s constantly in the crosshairs with other dangerous people who eventually murder his friend to hurt him.
Obalola’s environment puts him in this circumstance, not because he loves the darkness, but because the world he inherited never showed him light. He’s a criminal and villain and that isn’t a way to live, but in their dangerous world, the rules are different. He does what he does to protect his own and live to fight another day.
Watch Gangs of Lagos on Prime Video.
READ NEXT: 10 Nollywood Characters Who Deserved Better Endings
Scar in Shanty Town (2023)
Scar (Chidi Mokeme) is another villain whose actions are morally wrong, but his father, Chief Fernandez (Richard Mofe-Damijo), mostly makes him who he is. His father grooms him to become a gang leader, thug and killer. And it is often shown that it’s the only thing Chief Fernandez needs Scar for. Even sadder that his father is only exploiting him to build his criminal empire, rich his pocket and utilise him and his gang as a personal army.
It’s this reality that builds Scar and he is desperately driven by the need to prove his deadbeat father wrong and be successful, even if it means committing crimes.
Tokunbo in Tokunbo (2024)
Tokunbo (Gideon Okeke), once an ex-car smuggler, is trying to go straight for his family, but he’s pulled back into a dangerous world. All because his newborn needs life-saving surgery that he can’t afford and his loved ones are threatened. Now, he has to kidnap a governor’s daughter and deliver her to her father’s enemies.
He’s crushed by circumstance and cornered by love for his daughter and fear of losing his family. In this light, Tokunbo becomes a tragic figure: morally compromised, yes, but he’s driven by the instinct to protect his own.
