 ✓
| ||
|
This Antagonist was Headlined on November, 2025. | ||
|
Hal Stewart, later known as Tighten, is the main antagonist of the film Megamind. He was Roxanne Ritchi's assistant and secretly harbored a crush on her, and was later given super-powers by Megamind, who trained him to be Metro City's new protector after Metro Man seemingly died. However, after Roxanne rejected him he decided to become evil.
He is voiced by Jonah Hill.
History[]
Hal first appears during a camera shooting with Roxanne. He then tells her that if he were a superhero, Megamind, Metro City's supervillain, would never succeed in kidnapping her. Moments later, Megamind's henchman Minion kidnaps Roxanne, much to Hal's horror.
Shortly afterwards, Megamind apparently kills Metro Man and takes over the city. However, Hal was not distressed over Metro Man's apparent demise. At some point, Megamind became bored at having nobody to fight after he defeated Metro Man, so he created a serum with Metro Man's DNA to give somebody else Metro Man's superpowers so he could protect Metro City. However, at some point, Roxanne confronted Megamind, and in the ensuing struggle, the gun containing the serum was shot through a pipe and struck Hal, which gave him Metro Man's superpowers.
Megamind and Minion donned new disguises and informed Hal that they were his Space Dad and Space Step-mom. The two then trained Hal to use his super powers so he could one day battle Megamind, and gave him to alias of Titan, though Hal mispronounced it Tighten. However, Hal started to show psychotic behavior, such as melting a wax Megamind figure with sadistic glee. Also, Hal mainly agreed to become a super-hero so Roxanne would date him.
One night, Hal revealed himself to Roxanne, and deliberately endangered her life so he could "save" her. However, to his anguish, Roxanne refused to date him. Shortly afterwards, he witnessed Roxanne dating Megamind disguised as Bernard. At this, Tighten decided to denounce his superhero status and instead opted to be a supervillain, stealing money, ATM machines and other expensive things for fun. At the same time, Megamind was discovered to be Bernard by Roxanne, leading her to reject him. A dejected Megamind then vowed to battle Tighten, and appeared in a giant robot suit, challenging him to battle. However, Tighten didn't appear.
Furious, Megamind confronted Hal at his apartment, where Tighten revealed he wished to team up with Megamind to rule the city. A horrified Megamind then revealed that he had deceived Hal and was really his Space Dad, and then revealed he had been dating Roxanne under the guise of Bernard. An enraged Hal then attacked Megamind, leading to a battle throughout the city. Eventually, Tighten gained the upper hand and destroyed Megamind's robot suit. However, in his rage, he tried to murder Megamind, but only succeeded in driving him off. Initially, the city rejoiced that Tighten had "saved" then from Megamind, but he then revealed his intentions of controlling Metro City, and went on a rampage.
Megamind and Roxanne then ventured on to find Tighten's weakness, and in the process discovered Metro Man, who had faked his death so he could be a musician. Metro Man refused to return to fight Tighten, and a distressed Megamind turned himself over to jail, leaving Roxanne to confront Tighten. However, Tighten took Roxanne hostage and ordered Megamind to come and fight him. Megamind, upon seeing Roxanne in danger, complied and he and Minion went off to battle him.
Minion disguised himself as Megamind and attempted to save Roxanne, but his armor was pierced by a building thrown by Tighten. Tighten then proceeded to try and kill Roxanne, but the real Megamind appeared in disguise as Metro Man. Horrified, Tighten attempted to flee, and "Metro Man" ordered Tighten to leave the city. However, Tighten noticed that "Metro Man" Had pronounced Metro City as "Metrocity", which only Megamind did, and returned to attack Megamind.
During the fight, Megamind gained the gun needed to depower Tighten, but he was violently tossed into the air. With Megamind temporarily dealt with, Tighten turned his attention to Roxanne and tried to incinerate her with his heat vision. However, Megamind landed in front of him and successfully depowered Tighten, returning him to his original state. Hal was then imprisoned in jail.
Trivia[]
- Much like Metro Man, Tighten is a parody of Superman.
- Moreover, his real name, "Hal Stewart", is an amalgamation of the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart
- Despite most promotional material portraying Tighten wearing a mask, he only wears the mask in one scene of the film.
- Megamind and How To Train Your Dragon, both with Jonah Hill in the cast, were released in 2010.
- Megamind drains his powers by sticking his diffuser gun up Tighten's left nostril where the Superhero Serum was injected in the first place. This is most likely to symbolize how stuck up his nose Tighten is.
- The "proper" spelling of Hal's "superhero" identity is the subject of much debate. Megamind intends it to be spelled "Titan", but Hal himself spells it as "Tighten", as do official printed media such as the "Art of" book, the character poster, the film novelization and the closing credits, implying that Hal has trouble spelling words. The film's subtitles also switch from "Titan" and "Tighten" halfway through, although this could just be a joke referencing Hal's spelling error.
- From a certain perspective, the name confusion also conveys how Hal perverts Megamind's teachings by becoming a supervillain instead of Metro Man's successor. Megamind intends Hal to be Titan, a superpowered being who would continue what Metro Man started, but Hal perverts the concept into Tighten the supervillain. Just as how Tighten the supervillain perverts the idea of Titan the superhero, so does the name.
- Megamind's spelling of "Titan" invokes the pre-Olympian pantheon of gods. However, the Titans are often depicted as beings of petty and selfish cruelty, which also fits Hal. Hal is a selfish and immature brat who desperately wants to be anyone but his original nerdy self, so he either fails to or is too indifferent to notice both the reference and homophone, hence why he spells it "Tighten".
- The name, "Tighten", also fits Hal because he oppresses the inhabitants of Metro City far worse than Megamind did, and is so possessive of Roxanne he refuses to let go of the idea that she isn't into him.
- There are several moments in the film that foreshadow the fact that Hal is not remotely heroic as Megamind assumes him to be:
- After Roxanne gave a speech (which she wrote herself) in front of the camera about Metro Man, Hal himself bluntly insulted it only because he may have thought that she is romantically interested in the superhero (which she confirms that she really isn't), showing that he desperately wants Roxanne all to himself.
- As Roxanne tries to get him on celebrating Metro Man, Hal offhandedly remarks that if he were Metro Man, Megamind would not be kidnapping her all the time. While at first this could be dismissed as Hal thinking that Metro Man should take better means to prevent Megamind from breaking out of prison, his actions later on as Tighten heavily indicate that he favors vigilante extremism and thus would prefer to have Megamind killed so he would stop being a problem.
- In a particularly unsettling moment, Hal attempts to woo Roxanne with "I'll be watching you like a dingo watches a human baby!". This is the first major hint that he's a stalker.
- The phrase could also be a reference to Lindy Chamberlain, an Australian woman who had her baby stolen and murdered by a dingo while camping and was subsequently falsely accused of filicide. As well as being a generally weird thing to say, it's also insensitive if the reference is intentional.
- In the crowd at the press conference after Metro Man's supposed death, Hal is seen wearing a t-shirt with "Game Over" written on it. While it could be seen as a simple gag, it also subtly foreshadows his indifference toward Metro Man's heroism, that Megamind's game with Metro Man is at an end, and when Hal gets his powers, he won't be playing any games.
- When Hal tries to get Roxanne to go to his "off the hook party", he lists the things he's arranged, including a bouncy house and a wedding photographer. When Roxanne turns it down, Hal tries to take it maturely, but as soon as he's out of her view, he throws a childish tantrum, declaring that girls don't like bouncy houses but "clowns" (notably: superheroes, foreshadowing his careless views of superheroes' place in society) and punches the news van in frustration, thus foreshadowing Hal's extremely violent tendencies in the near future.
- Even worse, when we first see Megamind and Minion into his house, it turns out that Hal lives in a small apartment that the bouncy house couldn't even fit in, let alone hiring a wedding photographer.
- When Roxanne introduced "Bernard" (who is actually Megamind in disguise) to Hal as her "partner", Hal himself then responded to "Bernard" by saying that he's her "partner" in a rather aggressive tone, proving how initially possessive he is to her.
- Additionally, when he saw Roxanne hugging "Bernard", Hal then responded to that moment quite negatively by saying that it was "weird for everybody" because she "accidentally" hugged "Bernard" instead of himself. This demonstrates his own jealousy towards any other man having affiliations with her, even if they are not truly romantic in nature.
- When Hal is surprised at seeing Megamind and Minion in his home and suspecting a robbery, he tries to deflect them into robbing his neighbor instead for having more valuable things than him, which is true, could possibly due to he and the neighbour not getting along well, (which doesn't justify it anyway), showing that he not only cares for himself, but is also is willing to put others in danger to save his own skin. Then, after Minion knocks Hal out with the forget-me stick, Minion states that Hal "doesn't look like the hero type to me". Also, looking closely reveals a small book Hal was reading titled "Best Comic Book Villains Ever".
- Furthermore, if one looks closely, there's a poster of Roxanne next to the door in front of Hal's bed with a paper patched into it that reads "good night, Hal" with a heart, hinting at his unhealthy obsession towards Roxanne.
- After acquiring super powers, the first thing he does is destroy some cars, even dancing while wearing one despite its two passengers still being there.
- One part of his training is reminiscent of Donkey Kong, where he plays the role of Mario. In the game's canon, Donkey Kong's actions are actually to get revenge on Mario torturing him in the game's far less popular prequel, Donkey Kong Circus.
- On top of that, Mario becomes the bad guy again in Donkey Kong Jr., where he kidnaps Donkey Kong. This foreshadows that while Hal is supposedly being the hero, he will become the villain shortly after.
- In the training sequence, he gleefully dismembers the Megamind mannequin and melts its face with his heat vision, making the real Megamind (who was disguised as Hal's Space Dad) horrified. While played for laughs at the time, it furthermore shows Hal's unstable mind and dark side that is willing to ignore the "Thou Shalt Not Kill" superhero standard.
- If one paid close attention to the shot where Megamind (disguised as Space Dad) is horrified, one can see a score board on the right side, with Hal scoring two on good (left) and three on evil (right), foreshadowing his later turn as a supervillain.
- One of the things that Hal/Tighten does with his X-Ray Vision is to spy on Roxanne, hinting that he only cares about using his powers for his personal gain more than being responsible and doing heroic deeds.
- During her date with "Bernard", Roxanne calls Hal "the worst possible person you could pick" to give Metro Man's powers to. Seeing as she worked with him everyday, this suggests, despite Hal claiming that Roxanne never attempted to be close to him, she knew Hal well enough to know he was far from superhero material.
- This one is probably more on the nose, but when Minion was describing Hal to Megamind via a computer, he stated that Hal had no criminal records or any records in general, that is until Hal used his powers for selfish/unlawful reasons. In addition, the fact that Hal had no criminal records doesn't automatically make him a good person, especially considering his obsession towards Roxanne.
- In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death on September 8th, 2022, many netizens post stills of Tighten's famous quote: "There is no Queen of England".
- Despite the promotional image showing Tighten wearing a mask, he only wears it in one scene of the film, which is where he first reveals himself to Roxanne.
- Despite seeing Megamind as Bernard and Metro Man, Tighten never meets or interacts with the real Bernard and Metro Man.
- Hal, as Tighten, serves as a dark counterpart to Megamind and Metro Man in different ways:
- To Megamind: Megamind developed himself as a villain due to his tragic past since youth, but eventually became a hero at the end thanks to Roxanne. Hal, on the other hand, was supposed to be the new hero for Metro City (as expected by Megamind), but later became a villain in his own choice, not just from his disinterest in heroism in general, but also because of his petty reaction towards Roxanne rejecting his romantic offers or even taking the time to get to know each other.
- Additionally, Megamind has displayed that he can accept romantic rejection from Roxanne, which contrasts with Hal's inability to do so.
- Megamind's sense of villainy apparently felt more incompetent (as evidenced by the point when he has finally beaten Metro Man, where he would eventually feel bored about it) when compared to Hal's, whose villainous streak is actually much more threatening and menacing than the former's.
- Even as a self-developed supervillain, Megamind still knows when to have moral standards, as opposed to Hal, whose sense of morality is evidently little-to-none. This is best displayed during the moment before their first fight against each other, where Megamind was disappointed by Hal's criminal act of thievery, as the latter was supposed to be a superhero. Therefore, Tighten serves as an example of what Megamind would've become if he hadn't redeemed himself and become a hero.
- To Metro Man: Both men have superpowers, and are supposed to be seen as heroes. However, they both later decided to abandon super heroism for personal reasons (Metro Man's is from the stress and pressure that it comes from being publicly seen as a superhero; Hal's is for realizing that Roxanne doesn't really want to be with him at all). But while Metro Man's act of faking his death was, to put it mildly, morally questionable, he at least chose to abandon his earlier profession more peacefully. Tighten, on the other hand, decided to become a supervillain for a much pettier reason, and had proven himself to be even crueller and unstable than Megamind ever was as a result. If Metro Man hadn't handled his reconsideration about being a superhero more properly, he would've ended up like Tighten as well.
- To Megamind: Megamind developed himself as a villain due to his tragic past since youth, but eventually became a hero at the end thanks to Roxanne. Hal, on the other hand, was supposed to be the new hero for Metro City (as expected by Megamind), but later became a villain in his own choice, not just from his disinterest in heroism in general, but also because of his petty reaction towards Roxanne rejecting his romantic offers or even taking the time to get to know each other.
- Tighten committed all of the 7 Deadly Sins during the film:
- Lust: He was obsessed with Roxanne, until she rejected him.
- Envy: He is jealous of Metro Man and Bernard (aka Megamind) because he thinks Roxanne might be interested in them.
- Wrath: He destroys everything in sight, and tries to murder Megamind and Roxanne out of jealousy, as he was unstable.
- Pride: He constantly calls himself cool and awesome, and renames Metro City "Tightenville".
- Sloth: One of his reasons for choosing not to be a hero is because it's a lot of work. His apartment is also full of trash, implying that he's too lazy to clean up after himself.
- Gluttony: He was slightly obese before he became a supervillain, though it could be because he had problems with metabolism.
- Greed: He steals money and expensive possessions, such as a flatscreen TV, arcade machine and bike.
External Links[]
- Tighten at the Villains Wiki
- Tighten at the Near Pure Evil Wiki
- Tighten at the Entertainingly Detestable Wiki
- Tighten at the DreamWorks Wiki
- Tighten at the Megamind Wiki
- Tighten at the Pathetic Pinhead Wiki
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television Live-Action Television Video Games See Also | ||
 Villains
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television Live-Action Television See Also | ||
 Villains
| ||
|
Animated Features Live-Action Films Animated Television Video Games Shorts See Also | ||
 Villains
| ||
|
Protagonists Doom Syndicate Video Game Continuity Other | ||
| The Headlined Antagonists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2016
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2019
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2024
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2025
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2026
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||