Vilos Cohaagen (original)

Near Pure Evil
Full Name	Vilos Cohaagen
Alias	Cohaagen
Origin	Total Recall (1990)
Allies	Carl Hauser Richter Benny
Powers / Skills	Political power Vast wealth and resourcesFirearms use
Goals	Keep Mars under his control Restore Carl Hauser into Doug Quaid's body Kill all mutants Kill Doug Quaid (all failed)
Moral Event Horizon	Cutting off the oxygen supply to the mutants Ruling Mars with an iron fist
Kill Count	Countless
Crimes	Attempted Genocide Abuse of Authority Mass Murder Terrorism
Type of Villain	Genocidal Tyrant

Vilos Cohaagen is the main antagonist of the 1990 sci-fi action film, Total Recall. He is the tyrannical dictator of Mars, who controls the planet's air supply.

He was portrayed by Ronny Cox.

His Evil Ranking

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?

• Forced the early settlers to work themselves to death providing poorly-made glass domes and taking away their money for himself while having their remains buried beneath the mines to establish a new colony under his own dictatorship.
• Made the citizens pay for their oxygen supply through high prices.
• Caused several of his citizens (including children) to develop grotesque mutations and becoming mutants themselves (due to the radiation of the toxic Martian atmosphere seeping through the cheap domes and the lack of filters to clean out the radiation).
• Labeled the mutants as terrorists to cover up his own corruption when they formed a resistance against his dictatorship; even declaring martial law on the entire colony to maintain control.
• Ordered the cover-up of the discovery of an ancient alien reactor that can create a new breathable atmosphere for Mars, as he fears that activating it would cost him his monopoly of selling air and his control.
• Arranged for Carl Hauser to have an alternate personality, Doug Quaid, implanted into his brain so that he could befriend the mutants and serve as a sleeper agent.
• Verbally abused his right-hand man Richter for trying to kill Quaid, all while refusing to explain why Quaid has to live and even after Richter loses his wife Lori (who was killed by Quaid). He even shows no concerns about the loss of many of his men (including Harry, Helm, and Dr. Edgemar) who were killed by Quaid and the rebels.
• Hired a mutant traitor named Benny to pretend to be Quaid's friend, even having both Benny and Richter to murder the mutant leaders Kuato and George after the resistance is wiped out.
• Cutted off the oxygen supply to the mutants' colony so that he can them to slowly suffocate to death, all to use as an example against the other cities of the colony to oblige to his high prices of oxygen.
• While he helped Quaid multiple times during his journey, this was pragmatic villainy as Quaid needed to survive in order to get to the resistance.
• Upon capturing Quaid and Melina after wiping out the resistance, he ordered Hauser's memory to be reimplanted into Quaid and for Melina to be programmed as Hauser's mistress.
• Has a fish tank full of pet goldfish in his office that he takes care by personally feeding them every day. But when Quaid refuses to have Carl Hauser implanted back in his head and instead escapes with Melina, Cohaagen kicked the fish tank out of rage, shattering it and leaving the poor goldfish to die of asphyxiation.
• Ordered Richter, Benny, and the rest of his men to kill Quaid and Melina; even showing no care for them when they end up being killed by Quaid and Melina.
• Tried to prevent Quaid from starting the reactor by attempting to shoot him down. Even when being shot down by an angry Melina, he spitefully activated a bomb in an attempt to destroy the reactor, not caring that he, Quaid and Melina would die in the explosion as long as he would deny Quaid and Melina any chance of victory over him.
• His gruesome and horrific death where he slowly suffocates on Mars' toxic atmosphere is well-deserved for all his heinous actions, right before Quaid activates the reactor and renders the atmosphere breathable for everyone else.

What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?

• He genuinely cared about Hauser when it's revealed that the latter volunteered for the mission and that he's in fact one of Cohaagen's best friends. This is never subverted either, as he's upset when Quaid refuses to return back as Hauser, given to Cohaagen's reluctant order to kill Quaid when the latter escapes. Even during his final standoff against Quaid, Cohaagen admitted that he didn't want to end this way between each other as he only wanted Hauser back.

Trivia

• While Cohaagen genuinely cared about Hauser in the film, this trait is absent in the comic book adaptation, which would make him pure evil.