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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | They tell me your son screamed like a girl when they nailed him to the cross. And your wife moaned like a whore when they ravaged her... again... and again... and again. | „ |
| ~ Commodus taunting Maximus over the deaths of the latter's wife and son. |
Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus, also known as Emperor Commodus, is the main antagonist of the 2000 historic action film Gladiator.
He is the only son of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. However, Commodus is also the black sheep of his family as he is a cruel, ruthless, arrogant, spoiled and egotistical psychopath who lusts after his own sister and thinks of himself as a god and Maximus Decimus Meridius's arch-enemy.
He was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.
What Makes Him Pathetic?[]
- He brutally kills his father Marcus Aurelius after he refused to transfer power to him.
- He ordered the brutal murder of Maximus' wife and son after he refused to obey him, and before that to rape his wife, about which he sadistically mocked Maximus.
- He is a narcissist who craved power only for his own pleasure, and not for the sake of the people or loved ones.
- Most of the time he behaves very infantile, because he sees his rule as a game.
- He held various tournaments in the colosseum, in which he forced slaves to brutally kill each other, and watched this with sadism.
- He repeatedly tried to kill Maximus at the Colosseum, even in frankly dirty and dishonest ways, and even executed his allies, because he was afraid to personally face him one-on-one.
- Although he constantly whined that he allegedly loved his sister Lucilla, as it turned out, his love for her was only perverted, since he further threatened her to sleep with him and give birth to his child, otherwise he would kill her son.
- He severely wounded Maximus before their duel at the Colosseum, so that he could not adequately confront him.
- Being disarmed during the battle with Maximus, he was afraid to pick up his sword, which lay literally a meter away from him, and began to cowardly ask the guards to give him a sword. However, even they turned their backs on him.
- Eventually, Maximus kills him in the arena, and absolutely no one feels sympathy for him.
What Makes Him a Pinhead?[]
- By his own admission, he lacks the virtues of wisdom, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Despite his awareness of his faults, he makes no effort to work on them and be a better person.
- His father Marcus Aurelius was not going to transfer power to him because he considered him an incapable and ignoble person, only confirming these facts.
- He proved himself to be a very incompetent ruler, as the gladiatorial tournaments he organized eventually destroyed Rome's economy in the long run, making him responsible for the eventual degradation and fall of the empire. Even the Roman Parliament was outraged by his ineptitude and opposed his actions. It should also be noted that his rule relies on fear and power granted to him for free, not intellect.
- His idea of killing Maximus right in the arena is rather illogical, since he, as the ruler, had many other simpler ways to end him, but he did not do it only because of his vanity and envy, because he wanted to become famous in front of the crowd more than Maximus.
- He went out to fight Maximus, hoping to kill him in front of the audience, but he greatly underestimated him, although he knew perfectly well that he was a very experienced fighter.
- Even Maximus did not take him seriously when Commodus challenged him but only laughed at him and said that he (Commodus) was afraid of everything in life.
- He is not even an impressive fighter and was easily defeated even by a half-dead and unarmed Maximus.
Trivia[]
- Incidentally, Commodus was the inspiration for another PP, Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones.
External links[]
- Commodus on the Villains Wiki