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| “ | If you gonna be the best, You have to take out the best. | „ |
| ~ Ryan´s Philosophy and One of his most memorable lines in the movie. |
| “ | And now for the bad news. It's gotta end with you looking like a bitch in front of everybody. | „ |
| ~ Ryan threatening Jake before the fight. |
Ryan McCarthy (also known as Ryan "The Terror") is the main antagonist of the 2008 romantic sports action MMA drama film Never Back Down. He is a vicious, merciless and young fighter with terrific mixed martial arts skills.
He was portrayed by Cam Gigandet, who also played James in Twilight that was released on the same year (2008).
Biography[]
Ryan first used his girlfriend Baja Miller to get newcomer Jake Tyler (who has a reputation for being a quick tempered brawler after an internet video of him starting a fight circulates around opposing football players at his new school) to go to a party where he is unwillingly pulled into a fight with Ryan originally, but Jake does not wish to fight until Ryan taunts him about his father who died while driving drunk with Jake in the car. Due to this, Jake gets mad and starts fighting Ryan, Unsurprisingly, He is quickly defeated in the fight and humiliated in front of everyone because his combat skills were not as good enough as Ryan's.
Jake starts training in MMA soon after Baja then confronts Ryan about the fight with Jake and how he mock his father´s death, Then, She proceeds to end their relationship because of Ryan not showing any sign of remorse for the beating and humiliation he gave to Jake. After this, Ryan begins to create a scene in school, where he confronts Baja for leaving him, but Jake manages to step in to defend Baja, but Ryan simply insulted him once again, Leaving Jake with restrained anger.
After Jake gets into a brawl with a group of 3 annoyingly rude men driving a Hummer, while Max (Jake's new best friend) films the fight. This video went viral and circulates around the school raising Jake's social status but agitating Ryan in the process. Ryan then confronts Jake and challenges him to compete in “The Beatdown”, an underground fighting tournament which Ryan is the reigning champion.
Upon hearing about Jake’s decision to not compete in the Beatdown, Ryan then invites Max to hang out at his house; there he begins to spar with Max before brutally beating him and leaving him at Jake's door. Jake and Baja take Max to the hospital and Jake decides to fight, not for revenge, but to stop someone like Ryan from hurting anyone else.
After a mix-up where Jake and Ryan almost fight in the first round, they both proceed to make their way through each fight. After learning that Ryan was disqualified in his semifinal match, Jake forfeits, seeing no reason to continue. While he and Baja attempt to leave, Ryan confronts him outside, calling him a coward for running away, but Jake stands firm, declaring he has self-respect, unlike Ryan who is desperate for approval from his piers. Insulted and humiliated, Ryan charged at Jake and the two finally fight outside in the parking lot, where they are soon surrounded by the crowd of spectators. Jake is still limited by his injured ribs, but is able to put up a decent fight against Ryan, until Ryan gains the upper hand, applying a chokehold Jake. However Jake escapes and, with the entire crowd watching, knocks out Ryan using one of the first combinations that was taught to him.
After defeating him, Jake earns the respect of everyone, including Ryan and seem to remain on mutual terms with one another.
Personality[]
Ryan at first comes across as easy going, polite, and boisterous, with a love and respect for MMA. When Ryan first introduces himself to Jake he seems as though he is easy to be friends with. Once his true intentions are revealed however, Ryan revealed himself to be a violent, megalomaniacal, arrogant, sadist. In a fight, he is shown to be cocky and savage, toying with his opponents while brutally beating them. Ryan's personality is shown to be a result of his father's controlling and authoritative upbringing as he forced Ryan into MMA since he was a toddler and is hinted to have abused him to shape him into the merciless fighter he is. Because of this, Ryan seems to project his resentment towards his father onto his opponents, using MMA as an outlet for his anger. Convinced that his self-worth was tied to being the best fighter, Ryan basked in the love and attention of his peers, and was desperate to keep his infamy and fans by targeting potential threats to his position as top dog, hence his desire to fight Jake who was growing in popularity.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As many have pointed out, Never Back Down is an MMA variation of the Karate Kid, with Ryan based off of Johnny Lawerence.
- There is a deleted/alternate ending where Ryan gets back up after getting knocked down by Jake and tries to continue the fight, but Jake helps Ryan see that he doesn’t need the approval of people as they ultimately don’t care about either of them. Ryan screams at the crowd to “F*ck off!” before walking away. The scene was cut because the crew felt it was unnecessary.
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 Villains
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Never Back Down The Beatdown No Surrender Revolt | ||