Michael Corleone

Michael Corleone is the greatest tragic villain in cinema because he does not start as a villain at all. In the opening of The Godfather, he is a war hero, a college graduate, and the one Corleone son who was supposed to escape the family business. By the end of Part II, he has murdered his enemies, betrayed his allies, and ordered the killing of his own brother. The transformation from idealistic outsider to cold-blooded don is the most devastating character arc in American cinema.

Al Pacino plays Michael's descent with surgical precision. The eyes are the key — in the early scenes, they are warm, open, expressive. By the end of Part II, they are dead. Empty. Michael has achieved total power and total isolation simultaneously. The final shot of Part II — Michael sitting alone, his face a mask — is one of cinema's most haunting images. He has won everything and lost everything, and the victory and the loss are the same thing.

Michael Corleone is the villain as cautionary tale. He represents the corrupting influence of power, the way that one compromise leads to another until the original self is unrecognizable. Every scene where Michael justifies his actions — to Kay, to Tom, to himself — is a lesson in how intelligent people rationalize their way into moral catastrophe.