The foes that movie heroes face determine their overall quality. What, after all, would Batman be if the Joker were not his mortal enemy? On second thought, he would still be Batman, the best sleuth of all time! Anyway, there are many different types of villains in Robo Cop’s futuristic Detroit.
Robo Cop’s city is never short of evil men, from corporate criminals like Dick Jones and the Old Man to psychotic gang bosses like Boddicker and cult leaders like Cain. The master of satire Paul Verhoeven made sure his antagonists were pure evil and came from all socioeconomic classes. The top ten RoboCop villains from the films and television episodes will be discussed in this video. Shall we get started?
Clarence Boddicker
In Detroit, Clarence’s ascent to power as a crime lord was largely a result of corrupt politicians and police officers who were not averse to working for a vicious cop killer who had murdered at least 32 officers. Boddicker’s confidence grew to the point where he went on the rampage around Detroit, robbing the banks and assassinating everyone who dared to oppose him.
Boddicker, however, lacked any sense of bravery. Yes, he committed a number of horrific atrocities that took great bravery and guts, yet his ferocity frequently retreated when he was about to be defeated or cornered. In these situations, he displayed his cowardice and frequently did whatever to save himself, including betraying his own coworkers. It was interesting to note that this unusual man snorted alcohol, which was a first in movie history. RoboCop and other films by the master satirist Paul Verhoeven will always be recognised for the distinctive characters he developed in them.
Clarence Boddicker is one of the sickest and most cunning villains in the Robo Cop franchise, and also someone without whom Alex Murphy would never have become Robo Cop. As for his allegiance and motives, he works for Dick Jones, the senior President of the evil megacorporation called Omni Consumer Products. Boddicker, our homicidal gang lord, basically serves as Dick Jones’s personal hitman.
This nefarious criminal is essentially a sadistic psycho whose list of crimes is longer than several other villains in this video. From grand auto theft and armed robbery to mass murders and outraging a woman’s modesty, Boddicker has done just about everything. However, his most crucial act of crime was gunning down Officer Murphy, who would later become the Robo Cop.
Richard ‘Dick’ Jones
Dick Jones was only the second in command of OCP, and served right under the CEO, also called the Old Man. As the senior president of OCP, Dick had the luxury of profiting heavily from any major deal that OCP made. All he had to do was save his spot from his competitors in the firm, like the arrogant yet inventive upstart named Bob Morton, whose brainchild was the RoboCop program.
Clearly, Dick Jones acted as a textbook example of his nickname, and hired Clarence Boddicker to finish off both Morton and Robo Cop. Although Clarence managed to end Morton’s life, Robo Cop proved more than a match for him. The cyborg learned of Dick’s involvement after brutally interrogating Boddicker, and went to confront him. However, the evil executive used one of his assault machines called ED 209, and injured Robo Cop, but Dick was foolish enough to confess his crimes. In the end, Robo Cop showed damning evidence of Dick’s crimes to the Old Man, who fired Dick Jones and had him killed by Robo Cop.
Dick was as corrupt an executive as any, and was almost paranoid about losing his position as senior president of the mega corporation. Naturally, he often went to extreme lengths to save his throne, including the murder of his colleagues and servants of the law. Dick maintained an outlook that matched his position, and was always well-dressed, and spoke like a showman, but when it came to revealing his dark side, he did not shy away. Furthermore, he lacks empathy, even for the people he works with.
Not only does he ensure Morton’s death, but when ED 209 kills another, Dick writes it off as a mere glitch in the robot’s functioning. Additionally, Dick Jones was someone who loved to gloat over the pain he inflicted on those he disliked. All in all, Dick Jones was nothing more than a greedy businessman, who could go to extreme lengths for money, reputation, and position. However, all of it ended badly for him because he was ultimately shot down by Robo cop and fell down several stories to his death.
Cain
After the deaths of Clarence Boddicker and Dick Jones, a new organization rose from Detroit’s underbelly to take over Detroit’s crime and criminals. It was called the Nuke Cult and was led by ex-military personnel named Cain. However, Cain was eventually court-martialled and sent to prison, where he spent three years before managing to escape. He then created an extremely addictive narcotic substance called Nuke, and that was his ticket to success in the criminal world.
RoboCop encounters Cain in a Nuke lab, but he manages to escape with his henchwoman named Andy and a young associate called Hob. Later, Robo Cop finds Cain once again, but this time Cain proves to be a dangerously unpredictable foe, as he manages to disassemble Robo Cop. However, the cyborg cop was more than determined to bring Cain down, and the two met again, this time in a game of chicken.
Cain was escaping in an armoured truck with millions of dollars and huge stocks of Nuke, while Robo Cop was on a motorbike. Cain’s overconfidence got the better of him, and Robo Cop fatally injured Cain. Later, at the hospital, an unethical psychologist named Dr. Juliette Faxx visits Cain and euthanizes him. In reality, she was going to use Cain’s brain in her project called Robo Cop 2, which was nothing but a nefarious new version of Robo Cop himself.
Cain was the textbook example of a cult leader. Not only was he charismatic and well-versed in influencing his followers, he also ensured that all of them used his drug. So basically, he was professing and promising his followers a utopian land, but in reality, he was just making new and loyal customers for his drug. But Cain was largely ruthless psychopath who had no qualms for violence. In one of the scenes, he shoots one of his own workers in cold blood.
Later, when he realises that one of his followers had sold him out, Cain dissects the man while forcing Angie and Hob to watch the entire sequence of events. Much like a cult leader, Cain’s mind is plagued with extreme notions of fanaticism, and he almost believes that his drug gives him a certain power that’s divine and pure… and this madness got the better of him. I mean, he could have easily escaped with all the money, but instead, he engaged RoboCop in a game of chicken, and ultimately lost his life. But then again, he didn’t truly die because he survived as RoboCop 2.
ED 209
Voiced by Jon Davison, the ED 209, or Enforcement Droid: Series 209, was more or less a wonderful piece of work that Paul Verhoeven created for the 1987 film. It may not be as popular as other pieces of tech, such as the P-5000 power loader from the alien universe, but it was still a force to reckon with. Essentially a supporting villain, the droid was designed to serve as a peacekeeping machine, but the fully automated droid turned out to be anything but a servant of peace.
Close to the first third of the 1987 film, ED 209 was called in for a little demo, but the machine went haywire and killed an Omni Consumer Products employee. This turned out to be a huge embarrassment for Dick Jones, who saw ED 209 as his path to immense wealth. Later, Dick Jones summoned the droid once again to slay Robo Cop, and Robo Cop found it more than difficult to save himself from the droid’s high-end firepower.
As far as its arsenal is concerned, the droid comes with a set of three autocannons that are calibrated to the precision of centimetres. Two of these are located on its right side, while the last one is present on its left platform. Furthermore, it has a rocket launcher that can fire three rockets at a time and an auto shotgun. While the ED 209 is immune to 7.62 and 9mm bullets, its autocannon fire ammunition is strong enough to even penetrate titanium-chrome armours, like that of Robo Cop’s.
Additionally, the droid comes with combat programming that enables it to survive and succeed in close-range fights and use a range of melee attacks. The only drawbacks of ED 209 are probably its slow processing of orders and information, and a highly faulty logic circuit, which makes it a threat to everyone present around it.
Raymond Sellars
Much like Dick Jones in the original Robo Cop film, Raymond Sellars is the man in the 2014 remake, who plays the active part in the creation of Robo Cop, the cyborg law enforcer. In the film, he serves as the corrupt CEO of Omni Corp. Raymond is largely a merciless and cruel corporate man, who looks beyond nothing but his personal gain and glory. Essentially, he is the archenemy of Alex Murphy in the film, and it was Sellars’s doing that Alex Murphy nearly got killed, in the first place. If that had not happened, Murphy would never have taken the pedestal of Robo Cop.
Having said that, Raymond does not share any personal hatred or malice with Alex Murphy. However, after Raymond supervises Murphy’s transformation into the crime-fighting cyborg, Raymond starts seeing Murphy as more of a product than a human being. Much like Dick Jones, Raymond Sellars also gets shot by Robo Cop, after Sellars makes that one threat to Murphy that he should not have.
So, Sellars was a sophisticated and highly intelligent man who had a deep understanding of technology and business management. He had vast wealth and resources at his disposal, which he often used to maintain control over Omni Corp. He used his leadership skills and tactics to get the better of people often. As mentioned earlier, Sellars was not an evil man from the get go, but once he started experimenting on Murphy to make him more and more efficient, he started losing his morality and honour, eventually becoming a villain. Played by the legendary Michael Keaton, the character of Sellars became more sinister because of Keaton’s acting skills, especially his dialogue delivery.
Bob Morton
So, Bob Morton was the guy who actually supervised the Robo Cop program in the first movie. His character was supposed to be dark and extremely villainous. But after Miguel Ferrer was cast, director Paul Verhoeven toned down the evilness of Morton’s character, because he thought that the audience would like him. Nevertheless, there was not much to like about Mr. Morton, because he was the one who placed the prime candidates or subjects for the Robo Cop project in high-risk zones, ensuring that they’d die and he would be able to use their remains to build a cyborg cop finally. His plan eventually succeeded, and Alex Murphy’s death ensured the beginning of Morton’s next move.
Bob often displayed a seriously sadistic and apathetic side, for instance, he displayed frustration when his surgical team saved Murphy’s left arm, claiming that human qualities were not a concern for him. Later, he would personally test Robo Cop’s several aspects, such as his titanium chrome arm, marksmanship, recording functions, etc. After months of work behind his brain child, Robo Cop was finally deemed fit to be put on the field, but his success became his enemy. As Bob was promoted to the position of Vice President, Dick Jones felt threatened by him and hired Boddicker to kill Bob. In the end, Boddicker does kill Bob using a grenade, which explodes a few inches away from him.
Essentially, Bob Morton was an evil guy who was arrogant and amoral, and yet, his intelligence and inventive ideas gave him success in the megacorporation. It was particularly delightful to see him die on screen, but then again, one could not help but wish for a simpler death for Bob Morton.
Rick Mattox
Rick Mattox was a great military tactician and drone operator who served overseas with droids. But he was far from an honourable man, because he felt not a shred of remorse or sympathy when it came to killing people, irrespective of them being innocent or guilty. He believes that making a bio-mechanical cyborg was like going back in time and technology, because machines were the future and the most efficient at killing.
When Detective Alex Murphy is to take his final tests, Rick raises the difficulty to unimaginable levels, such as pitting Murphy against fifty-four of his droids. Later, Raymond Sellars calls in Mattox to keep an eye on the cyborg, and even asks him to shut Robo Cop down if it ever came to that. However, Mattox is taken down by Murphy’s partner, Jack Lewis.
Mattox was little less than a psychopath who enjoyed killing and was better with machines than humans. Probably this was the reason why he could remain calm under extreme pressure and tight situations. Be that as it may, Mattox was a skilled fighter and aced at killing people in combat. His loyalties lay with the men who were paying him, and he did whatever was in his power to ensure his company’s interest. But then again, he died a terrorist who dealt in weapons, undertook illegal operations and conspired to kill a hero.
Old Man
Only known as the Old Man, the guy wanted to transform the city of Detroit into a shining, modern, corpocratic new city called Delta City. However, before he could build such a city, he had to ensure that crime was eliminated and order was restored. The Detroit police department was turning out to be less than efficient in bringing this order, so Old Man asked his junior, Dick Jones, to come up with a solution. Dick came to Old Man with ED 209, a powerful but dumb droid, which did not really process orders and information.
Naturally, the idea of using ED 209 on the field was scrapped off when Bob Morton came up with the Robo Cop program, with Alex Murphy transformed into a cyborg cop. Later, Old Man fired Dick Jones for the murder of Morton, and had Dick killed by Robo Cop. However, a year later, Old Man realised that Robo Cop had become increasingly humane and was questioning orders. So, Old Man needed a cyborg that was more complacent and asked fewer questions. He ordered psychologist Dr. Juliette Faxx to come up with another model of Robo Cop that would be stronger and more obedient.
And she did come up with Robo Cain, which was formed by using the brain of the dead leader of the Nuke Cult. However, much like Cain, Robo Cain was addicted to Nuke. At a media presentation, Robo Cain saw a canister of red Nuke and became hostile, which led to a fierce battle between him and Robo Cop, resulting in several casualties. In the end, Old Man decided to put the blame on Dr. Juliette Faxx, and he once again evaded taking responsibility for the bloodshed that an unstable beast caused that his corporation had created.
Hob
Hob was merely a preteen, a rather small boy, with a cherubic face, but he was nothing like he looked. He had a chilling personality and the demeanour of a veteran criminal. Naturally, he held near-absolute authority over Cain’s gang and was respected by criminals much older and stronger than him. Hob’s cold-blooded, ruthless, and cruelly unsettling character ensured that none exploited his weakness and when he attacked, he did so with an intention to kill.
When Cain abducts Robo Cop, Hob displays his cold side as he gets excited about dismembering Robo Cop, going so far as to be curious if Robo Cop had a brain. While most of Cain’s gang are always high on Nuke, Hob does not abuse the substance and remains a formal, level-headed, and pragmatic superior to his elder subordinates. And, while the others practically worship Cain, Hob sees what he really is, a cult leader high on Nuke and desperate for money.
When Cain is taken away, Hob takes over Cain’s empire and strives to get his business legalised. He goes to the mayor with an offer to pay the city’s debts to OCP, but a debt-free Detroit would mean that Old Man would not be able to take over the city. So, he sends Robo Cain to stop the deal from taking place. Robo Cain fatally injures Hob, and the child later dies in Robo Cop’s company.
It was probably in his final moments that the child in Hob came out for the first time… he was scared and helpless, and probably wished that he had a better childhood. Did you know that the actor who played Hob, Gabriel Damon, later gave up his acting career in favour of becoming a real estate agent?
Bone Machine
Much like Alex Murphy, Bone Machine or Albert Bixler used to be a cop, who served in the same precinct as Alex and Cable. But while serving at the Metro South Precinct, he was offered a job by Omni Consumer Products in their Security Concepts wing. As a part of the organisation, he was included in a group of people called The Trust, whose primary function was overthrowing the current government.
Later, after receiving machinery and weapons from Sara Cable, he turns into Bone Machine. Robo Cop finds out Bone Machine’s allegiance and identity after enhancing a video clip in which he could see the OCP logo. In the climactic battle with Bone Machine, he kills John Cable, something that infuriates Robo Cop. Robo Cop shoots Bone Machine’s face mask, which leaves the villain disoriented.
Robo Cop pins him down, only to realise that he was once a cop named Albert Bixler, but that does not stop Robo Cop from stabbing Bone Machine until he dies. As far as his weapons go, the villain had a bulletproof armour and a laser helmet. Furthermore, he had quadra guns, which were basically guns with dual cylinders that were mounted with highly dangerous canons. These could fire several things, including tear gas canisters and machine gun bullets. To make things worse, they could even double as rocket launchers, but then again, none of it could save Bone Machine from Robo Cop’s wrath.