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“ | Tighten: You can run, Megamind, but you can't hide! Mayor: We're saved. We're saved! What's your name, new hero? Tighten: It's Tighten. Mayor: Thank you, thank you! Tighten has freed us! Tighten: Oh, I wouldn't say "freed". More like... "under new management". |
„ |
~ Tighten before taking over Metro City as well as his most famous quote. |
“ | You're so naïve, Roxie. You see the good in everybody, even when it's not there. You're living a fantasy. There is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and there is no Queen of England. This is the real world, and you need to wake up! | „ |
~ Tighten's second most famous quote where he denies to Roxanne that he has any good in himself, before Megamind challenges him. |
“ | This town isn't big enough for two supervillains! | „ |
~ Tighten responding to Minion’s challenge. |
Hal Stewart, better known by his supervillain name Tighten (alternatively spelled Titan), is the main antagonist of DreamWorks' 21st full-length animated feature film Megamind, the first installment of the franchise of the same name.
He is the former nerdy cameraman of Roxanne Ritchi, who had an unrequited crush on her. However, Hal later becomes a vengeful, traitorous, and destructive supervillain as he is hit by the power serum of his arch-nemesis Megamind in hopes of turning him into Metro City's newest superhero.
He was voiced by Jonah Hill, who also played Donnie Azoff in The Wolf of Wall Street, himself in This Is the End, Andy Hamilton in The Simpsons and one of The Regulators in Django Unchained. He is voiced by Subaru Kimura in the Japanese version (who also voiced Pesci in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind).
Biography[]
Becoming a Superhero[]
“ | Well sir, his name is Hal Stewart. He’s twenty eight years old, no criminal record, actually no records at all. Apparently this man hasn’t accomplished anything. | „ |
~ Minion regarding Hal's clean records which doesn't guarantee that he's a good person. |
He is introduced as Roxanne Ritchi's nerdy cameraman, Hal Stewart. He has an obsessive crush on her, but his attempts at flirting with Roxanne only make her very uncomfortable. Hal always tries to ask Roxanne on a date, only to be rejected by her at every opportunity. In one such attempt, Hal tries to invite Roxanne to a "party" at his house (where it would just be the two of them) and lists the things he has arranged, including a bouncy castle and a wedding photographer, which makes Roxanne uncomfortable. She politely turns him down; Hal then throws a tantrum by hitting the news van and slamming his hand, breaking his finger in the process.
Shortly afterward, while Roxanne is snooping around the headquarters of the film's protagonist, the supervillain known as Megamind, Hal accidentally gets hit by Megamind's power serum, which gives him all the powers of the seemingly deceased superhero Metro Man, though this takes effect later on.
As it turns out, Megamind is planning on creating a new superhero to face after feeling isolated from his victory against Metro Man, so he tracks Hal to his apartment building and manipulates him by taking on the guise of his "Space Dad". Megamind attempts to train Hal into a hero, but unknown to Megamind, Hal is not as noble or smart compared to Metro Man. Hal also displays psychopathic behavior during training, such as melting a wax Megamind figure with a sadistic grin, much to Megamind's shock. However, Megamind believes that Hal is ready, and gives him a red-and-white suit and the name "Titan", which Hal misinterprets as being spelled "Tighten".
Descent Into Evil[]
“ | But why would he pick Hal? Hal is the worst possible person you could pick. | „ |
~ Roxanne questions Metro Man's alleged decision to choose Hal as his successor for being too unpleasant to be worthy, unaware that it was Megamind's idea and foreshadows the latter's power abuse as a supervillain. |
However, unknown to Megamind, it turns out that Hal only wanted to take the superhero gig to "get the girl" by winning Roxanne's heart, assuming she'll accept him now that he is the new "hero". The first thing he does is kidnap Roxanne under the pretense of "rescuing" her and dropping her several times only to catch her again. Hal then reveals his identity to Roxanne, but he gets rejected for his recklessness, causing him to fly away in anger. Roxanne then continues dating Bernard (who is Megamind in disguise), much to Hal's disappointment and anger. Hal later is seen on the verge of sadness when he sees Roxanne and "Bernard" on a date together.
Believing that being a hero means getting the girl for himself rather than fighting for the greater good, Hal decides he is better off being a villain. He starts his criminal life and goes on an unseen crime spree stealing money, ATM machines, and other objects like a bike for fun. After leaving Megamind waiting for several hours, the villain finds Tighten in his home. He reveals his true intentions of why he took the gig and offers a partnership with Megamind, with him as the muscular brawn and Megamind as the "brain with glasses". Horrified and outraged that his 'hero' turned out to be a selfish person, Megamind angrily refuses and finally admits his true plan for Tighten to fight him and become the new hero; he even confesses that he's both Space-Dad and Bernard in disguise and that he's the one who gave Tighten the powers in the first place so that he can be like Metro Man.
Realizing this, Tighten gets angry and battles Megamind, who is delighted by this in hopes of facing justice once again. Megamind is quickly defeated and awaits to go to jail again, but Tighten refuses to change his mind of being a villain and he wants to kill Megamind rather than have him arrested. Horrified, Megamind attempts to recapture Tighten by trapping him under a copper failsafe sphere, after learning that copper is Metro Man's weakness, but this fails, forcing Megamind to escape.
With Megamind on the run, the townspeople initially congratulate Tighten for freeing them from Megamind, but Tighten responds that he is taking over as the new villain and starts by violently flicking the Mayor off with his finger, much to everyone's shock. Without hesitation, Tighten terrorizes Metro City by burning the name "Tightenville" into the ground in colossal letters, causing more damage to the city than Megamind has ever done. As such, the citizens panic and attempt to evacuate the city to avoid facing Tighten's wrath. Around the same time, Megamind and Roxanne found out that Metro Man is still alive, having faked his weakness of copper and his death to retire from being a superhero and focus on a career in music, as he felt tired of battling Megamind and that he never had a choice of what he wants to be in life.
Feeling remorseful for his actions, Megamind turns himself back to prison, and Roxanne, feeling guilty for hurting Tighten's feelings, attempts to take action by appealing to Tighten's supposed conscience. Unfortunately, Tighten denies that he has any good in him, and acts purely out of spite from being rejected by her. Tighten then kidnaps Roxanne and straps her to the radio tower where she rejected him, threatening to kill her if Megamind doesn't arrive to fight him in one hour.
Final Battle and Defeat[]
Seeing this on TV, Megamind decides to take responsibility for his actions and arrives in his usual flamboyant style. He enacts a plan to free Roxanne and try to stop Tighten. Tighten crushes him with the radio tower, but he turns out to be Megamind's right-hand man Minion in disguise. Tighten nearly kills Roxanne by shoving a bus at her, but Metro Man suddenly appears, slicing the bus into two with his heat vision, saving Roxanne. Tighten is frightened into fleeing by Metro Man's orders, but realizes that it's the real Megamind in disguise after the hero tells him to leave 'Metrocity'.
Tighten fights Megamind again and nearly kills him, but ultimately fails. Upon remembering where he left his Defuser Gun the night Roxanne dumped him after his Bernard disguise faltered away, Megamind takes the weapon, but Tighten throws him up into the sky before turning his rage towards Roxanne, hoping to finish her off. However, Megamind appears in front of Tighten after temporarily dehydrating himself to land himself in the water fountain where Roxanne is standing. After re-hydrating instantly, Megamind taunts Tighten and extracts his superpowers, leaving him collapsed on the ground.
Hal is subsequently imprisoned at Megamind's old cell for his crimes, presumably with a life sentence. However, Hal doesn't seem to mind as he is seen dancing to Michael Jackson's "Bad" after Megamind becomes Metro City's newest protector, unrepentant and proud for his evilness as ever.
Appearance[]
Hal is a short and overweight young man with short ginger hair and brown eyes. He usually wears a light vest and a black t-shirt with emoticons on it.
After gaining Metro Man's powers, Hal also gains his height and body shape, his hair is long and curly, and his face and eyes are the same. He also wears a red and white suit with flames on it and is capable of stretching.
After obtaining Metroman and Megamind's DNAs, Hal not only regains his body shape and his suit but his skin also turns blue.
Personality[]
“ | I can't believe you… all your gifts, all your powers, and you squandered them for your own personal gain! | „ |
~ Megamind berating Tighten for abandoning his destiny for his own selfish gain. |
As his former self Hal, he tends to be somewhat civil and sophisticated towards Roxanne, having a crush on her and would try to woo her, though she feels uncomfortable by his attempts. One example being were he invites her over to his place for a party where it's just going to be the two of them with a wedding photographer and a bouncy castle there. He also tends to be quite childish, immature (as when he throws a tantrum after accidentally slamming his hand on his news van), lazy, nadir and incompatible (as he criticized Roxanne’s sentimental news script on Metro Man, unknowing that she had in fact written the script herself).
After being equipped with Metro Man's powers, Hal (going by the name Tighten) became more determined to use his powers to win Roxanne's heart much like how Metro Man stuck with being a hero in order to gain adoration, but his recklessness caused Roxanne to reject him, much to Hal's distress and anger and leading him down into a dark path, where he starts abusing his powers for nefarious and diabolical purposes, something that even Megamind is disgusted to learn about. After learning that Megamind was the one who gave him the powers and was dating Roxanne at that time, Tighten became hell-bent on destroying Megamind for "stealing his girlfriend" and later causes havoc on Metro City with his powers, much to his pleasure and everyone's dismay and horror (including Megamind).
As such, Tighten is more evil than Megamind ever was. While Megamind acted as a villain to get attention and balance out of his former rival Metro Man, Tighten acted purely out of spite, caused so much destruction for his amusement and has shown no signs of sympathy or remorse for it. He also has proven to be in denial; retorting to Roxanne that he didn't have any good in himself and blaming Megamind for making a fool out of him (though Megamind rightfully points out that Tighten is making a fool out of himself by squandering his powers for his gain).
Tighten also proved to be quite cowardly and overwrought, as when Metro Man (who was Megamind in disguise) arrived to confront him for his rampage, Tighten panicked and tried to fly away, though he later learnt the truth and fought Megamind for it.
One of his most notable traits is his complete lack of intelligence, as he fell for all of Megamind's lies, still believed Megamind's lie about his "Space Step-Mom" (which in fact was Minion in disguise), even after Megamind admitted his deceit (which may actually be his sole redeeming quality and a suggestion that he has standards against cheating) and later told Roxanne that fictional characters weren't real by using the Queen of England as an "example", apparently unaware of this fact. However, there are moments where Tighten does have intelligence as he was able to deduce Megamind was disguised as Metro Man after he had mispronounced Metro City as "Metrocity".
Tighten Himself is shown to be Very Short Tempered, Sadistic, Irate, Violent, Vengeful, Rude, Destructive, And Wrathful when Megamind Fooled Him Into Thinking He Was His Space Dad.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Megamind's Serum (formerly): After being accidentally infused with Metro Man's DNA, Hal gained Metro Man's powers and abilities, making him significantly more powerful than an average person. It was later taken away by Megamind in their final battle.
- Near-Invulnerability: Tighten is highly resistant to pain and can survive huge explosions. He can also withstand the weight of a skyscraper as he lifts it over his head without any part of his body breaking, and is extremely resistant to his own strength. When he flies and lands suddenly, when he sends Megamind several meters into the sky or when he uses all his strength to lift a gigantic building, rip the door off a car and smash through a reinforced copper wall, Tighten doesn't get hurt.
- Superhuman Strength: After gaining Metro Man's powers, Hal gains significant strength. He can pick up and throw objects with extreme force. His strength is so vast that he is able to lift a Skyscraper and throw it against Megamind with precision.
- Superhuman Stamina: Hal is able to keep up with a long fight against Megamind without being slightly or not at all tired or out of breath, as well as a day of mass destruction in the city, all while remaining perfectly athletic.
- Superhuman Endurance: After receiving Metro Man's powers, Hal also inherited the latter's Endurance, having spent an entire week wreaking havoc all over the city.
- Superhuman Senses: After being enhanced with Megamind's super-serum, Tighten's senses have been significantly developed to enable him to detect anything at great distances, while retaining astounding sensitivity.
- Superhuman Hearing: Although not all of Hal's senses (as Tighten) were shown, he does have super-hearing, able to hear Roxanne Ritchie from miles away while flying.
- Telescopic Vision: Like Metro Man, Hal gains supervision after obtaining his powers. He is able to see his targets clearly from afar.
- Accelerated Perception: Titan’s perception has a superhuman perception, especially when it flies and explodes a sound boom, he is able to perceuve the world around him. However, he was completely disoriented when Metro Man (Megamind in disguise) appeared and he began to make mistakes, while losing his head, he stopped and fled when Metro Man grabbed him by his shirt.
- Flight/Levitation: He has the ability to fly and levitate from the ground. Although he was somehow unable to fully maneuver it firsthand, he got used to it afterward. As Tighten, he has incredible speed, he can easily catch on Megamind as the latter attempts to flee from him. Under the influence of the fear of being stopped by Metro Man, he even manages to break the Sound Barrier and cause a Sonic Boom.
- Aerial Adaptation: Tighten is able to survive and adapt to extremely high or low air pressure (not becoming disoriented or deprived of normal breathing capacity), and high wind friction, which is accompanied by innate immunity to vertigo and/or fear of heights.
- Acceleration Immunity: Tighten is immune to the various effects of rapid acceleration, including air resistance, inability to breathe, dynamic shock resulting from contact with objects at high speed, breaking the sound barrier, etc...
- Heat Vision: Powerful cherry red laser beams generated by Tighten's absorption of ambient heat are powerful enough to vaporize any material.
- X-Ray Vision: Given that Tighten has all the powers of Metro Man, he also has an X-Ray Vision, although it remains less powerful and accurate than Metro Man’s, it would not be surprising that it is limited to seeing through lead.
Skills[]
- Intimidation: At first, Hal wasn't very intimidating at all, but once transformed into Tighten, everyone dreaded him, because unlike Megamind, who did the "crime" to "have fun" with Metro Man and everything was just a big act, Hal acted with fury and never tried to do anything good, destroying everything in his path out of sheer fury.
Other Media[]
Video Game[]
Tighten appears again in the Megamind video game, where he escapes from prison and becomes the leader of the supervillain organization known as the Doom Syndicate. The Doom Syndicate helps Tighten steal both Metro Man and Megamind's DNA to become Blue Tighten with Metroman's brawn and Megamind's brain. Megamind defeats all the members of the Doom Syndicate and Blue Tighten, returning them to prison. During the game, Tighten is revealed to be dating the supervillainess Hot Flash.
Quotes[]
“ | Hal: Wow! Okay, the stuff they make you read on air, that’s un-freaking-believable! It’s crazy. Roxanne Ritchie: I wrote that piece myself, Hal. Hal: What I was trying to say was, I can’t believe that in our modern society, they let, like actual art get onto the news. Roxanne Ritchie: Nice save, Hal. Hal: Why don’t we... like, let’s just get a coffee or something. Roxanne Ritchie: (scoffs) Come on, it’s time to get into the metro man day spirit! Hal: Well, if I were Metro Man, Megamind wouldn’t be kidnapping you all the time, that’s the first thing. Roxanne Ritchie: (chuckles) That’s sweet, Hal. Hal: And I’d be watching you, like... like a dingo watches a human baby. Roxanne Ritchie: Mmm. Hal: Okay, that sounded... okay, that sounded a little weird. Roxanne Ritchie: A little bit, yeah. Hal: You’re making a face, and that’s making me feel weird. (Roxanne is kidnapped by minion as Hal continues to speak) Point is, I would watch you like something watching something intently with love. Not love, we’re not in love. I’m not saying I love you. Okay, I love you, whatever. (chuckles) But I’m not saying, like, I’m in love with you, I’m saying... (notices Roxanne is gone) Roxxane? Roxaroo? |
„ |
~ Hal trying to woo Roxanne after the latter's reporting news dedicated for Metro Man. |
“ | What’s wrong with me?! “Rented a bouncy house?” Chicks don’t like bouncy houses, they like clowns! (hits his van only to scream in pain from his own actions)Ow! Aaah! Stupid van! You broke my finger! | „ |
~ Hal throws tantrum over Roxanne's rejection. |
“ | Tighten: No freakin' way! "Space Dad": I wasn't finished! Tighten: Wahoo! I'm gonna be a hero! I'm gonna be a hero! |
„ |
~ Hal after hearing that he's been "blessed" with superpowers. |
“ | Tighten: This isn't right... You're supposed to be with me. Roxanne: I'm trying to warn you, Hal. Tighten: It's TIGHTEN! IT'S TIGHTEN, NOT HAL! |
„ |
~ Hal's villainous breakdown after being rejected by Roxanne from becoming "the girl of his dreams". |
“ | Megamind: Where did you get all this stuff? Tighten: [whispers] It doesn't belong to me. Megamind: You stole it! Tighten: Pretty cool, right? Megamind: No, no, no, no! You're a hero! Tighten: Being a hero is for losers! It's work, work, work, 24/7, and for what? I only took the gig to get the girl, and it turns out Roxanne doesn't want anything to do with me. Megamind: Roxanne Ritchi? Tighten: Yeah, Roxanne Ritchi! I saw her having dinner and making googly eyes at some intellectual dweeb! Megamind: Oh. Tighten: Who needs all that noise? That's why I think we... should team up. Megamind: You— Wait... what? Tighten: With my power and your big-headedness, we could rule the city! Megamind: You want to team up?! Tighten: Yeah, I even drew up some new costume designs, see?! Megamind: Costume designs? Tighten: You be the brains so you get... a little brain with glasses on your costume or something. And since I'm the cool one, I'll have, like, two tanks swordfighting and... Megamind: (recoils in disgust) Ugh! I can't believe you. All your gifts, all your powers and you... you squander them for your own personal gain! Tighten: Yes! Megamind: No! I'm the villain! You're the good guy! I do something bad and you come and get me! That's why I created you! Tighten: Yeah, right. You're nuts! Space-Dad told me... Megamind: Look, I'm your Space-Dad! [turns into Space-Dad] You should be more like Metro Man! [Tighten screams as Megamind changes back.] Tighten: You tricked me? Megamind: Oh, you don't like that, huh? Well, there's more. [turns into Bernard] I'm also the intellectual dweeb dating Roxanne... Tighten: No! Megamind: ...and we were smooching up a storm! Mwah, mwah, mwah! Tighten: When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna— Megamind: Yes! Yes, I know! Bring me to justice. Oh god, how I've missed this. |
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~ Tighten revealing his descent into villainy, before his and Megamind's first battle. |
“ | Come out, you little freak! I wanna see what that big brain looks like on the pavement. | „ |
~ Tighten trying to find Megamind during their first battle. |
“ | Tighten: This one's for stealing my girlfriend! This one's for Space-Dad making a fool outta me! And Megamind, this one's for Space-Step-Mom! You lied to her! Megamind: Well done! I thought that battle went really, really well! I mean, I have a few notes... Tighten: Notes? Megamind: But they can wait. You can take me to jail now. Tighten: Oh, no, no, no, no. I was thinking more like the morgue. You're DEAD! Megamind: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! This isn't how you play the game! Tighten: Game over! |
„ |
~ Tighten after defeating Megamind and revealing he would kill him rather than send him to jail. |
“ | You... should STOP comparing me to Metro Man! | „ |
~ Tighten driving Megamind to flee away after escaping his copper trap. |
“ | Tighten: Let me guess. After seeing how awesome I am, you've finally come to your senses? Well, I'm over you. Roxanne: I've come to stop you, Hal. Tighten: You? Oh, wow. Okay, what're you gonna do, report me to death? Roxanne: I was gonna to try reasoning with you. You and I, we worked together for a long time. I know you. Tighten: You don't know me. You never took the time to know me. This is the first time we've hung out socially, and it's when I'm about to destroy the city! Roxanne: I wanna talk to the real Hal. I wanna talk to the guy who loved being a cameraman and eating dip and being a nerd and being not as scary as the Tighten Hal. Tighten: Too late! |
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~ Tighten confronting Roxanne during her attempt to reason with him. |
“ | Tighten: Megamind! You and I have some unfinished business. I'll be waiting at Metro Tower. Oh, and just so you don't get cold feet... [turns the camera towards Roxanne tied to the top of Metro Tower] C'mon, Roxie, call for your hero to come rescue you. Roxanne: Megamind... I don't even know if you're listening, but if you are, you can't give up. The Megamind I knew would never have run from a fight, even when he knew he had absolutely no chance of winning! It was your best quality. You need to be that guy, right now! The city needs you... I need you. Tighten: You have one hour. Don't... keep me waiting. |
„ |
~ Tighten threatening Megamind to meet him at Metro Tower, or he will kill Roxanne. |
“ | Hey, Metro losers! This, is Metro Tower! They say it's supposed to be a symbol of our city's strength, but for me, it's a reminder of the day this woman ferociously ripped out my heart! And I hate reminders! | „ |
~ Tighten about to level Metro Tower. |
“ | "Megamind": You dare challenge Megamind?! Tighten: This town isn't big enough for two supervillains! "Megamind": Oh, you're a villain alright. Just not a super one! Tighten: Yeah! What's the difference? "Megamind": Presentation! |
„ |
~ Minion (posing as Megamind) preparing to save Roxanne from Tighten. |
“ | Tighten: Well, that was easy! Looks like there's only one loose end now! "Metro Man": Please, let's have a little respect for our public transportation! Roxanne: You came back! "Metro Man": You were right, Roxanne. I never should've left. Tighten: Whoa... I... I thought you were dead! "Metro Man": My death was... greatly exaggerated. So, you're the punk I've heard about. Tighten: Ah! |
„ |
~ Tighten attempting to kill Roxanne by slamming down a bus on her, only for Megamind (posing as Metro Man) to foil it and save the day. |
“ | "Metro Man": Going somewhere [Tighten screams] Besides jail? [Tighten screams again and tries to fly away, but is grabbed by the collar by "Metro Man"] Tighten: No! Not in the face, man! Please! "Metro Man": If you know what's good for you, Tighten, you'll stay out of Metrocity! Tighten: You got it! "Metro Man": For good! |
„ |
~ Tighten being frightened and duped by Megamind (under his Metro Man form) to leave Metro City. |
“ | Tighten: Pretty sneaky, sis. But there's only one person I know who calls this town "Metrocity". Megamind: Oops. Tighten: You! [Megamind punches Tighten but does nothing to affect him] Bet you think it's really funny, huh? Let's all laugh at the really cool guy, huh? You're not gonna be laughing for long! |
„ |
~ Tighten attempting to finish off Megamind after realizing that he was duped. |
“ | Tighten: This is the last time you make a fool out of me! Megamind: I made you a hero. You did the "fool" thing all by yourself! Tighten: You're so pathetic. No matter what side you're on, you're always the loser! Megamind: There's a benefit to losing: you get to learn from your mistakes. |
„ |
~ Tighten taunting Megamind, after Megamind rightfully insults Tighten he’s only making himself a fool when Megamind made him a hero, and counter taunts his words. |
“ | Tighten: Say bye-bye, Roxie! Megamind: Ollo. [shoves the defuser gun into Tighten's nose to remove the powers] Tighten: WHOA! [falls down defeated] Megamind: The thing about bad guys: they always LOSE! Tighten: Uhhhhh... |
„ |
~ Tighten attempting to kill Roxanne right before he is stripped of his powers by Megamind and defeated as Megamind taunts Tighten that bad guys always lose. |
“ | I'm bad! I'm bad! That's right! Yeah! | „ |
~ Hal's final words when he is dancing to Michael Jackson's "Bad" in Megamind's old prison cell. |
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.
- Tighten shares similarities with Homelander from The Boys Comic Book Series.
- Both Homelander & Tighten gained their powers from Serums.
- Both Homelander & Tighten were created to be the ideal hero of their respective cities with both completely lacking the true morale virtues of putting the needs of others before their own.
- Both are Big Fish in a Small Pond, neither having any proper skill or training due to being so much powerful than everyone else and rely mostly on intimidation and brute strength.
- Both overexert their laser vision.
- 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. Though it is implied that Megamind intended it to be spelled "Titan", 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.
- In certain perspective however, the confusion is meant to show how much Hal perverted everything Megamind taught to him by becoming such destructive supervillain instead of Metro Man's successor. When Megamind gave Hal his superhero alias, it was meant to be spelt "Titan" — a reference to the pre-Olympian pantheon of gods thus a fitting name for a superpowered being who would continue what Metro Man started. Being a selfish and immature brat who desperately wanted to be anyone but his original nerdy self to put it mildly, Hal failed to, or rather too indifferent to notice both the reference AND homophone hence mispelled it as "Tighten". Even the latter name is more fitting in how he oppressed inhabitants of Metro City far worse than Megamind would've been.
- There are several moments in the movie that foreshadow that Hal isn't remotely heroic as Megamind assumed him to be:
- In his first spoken words from the movie, 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 "into" 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 wouldn't 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 later actions as Tighten heavily indicate that he favors vigilante extremism and thus would prefer to have Megamind killed so he would stop being a problem.
- When Hal tries to woo Roxanne with "I'll be watching you like a dingo watches a human baby!", an oddly creepy metaphor. This is the first major hint that he's a stalker.
- In the crowd at the press conference after Metro Man's supposed death, Hal can be 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.
- 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.
- 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, which demonstrates his own jealousy towards any other man having affiliations with her, even if they aren't really 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, possibly due to he and the neighbor 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. 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".
- 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 violent and dark side that is willing to ignore the "Thou Shalt Not Kill" superhero standard.
- One of the things Hal/Tighten does with his X-Ray Vision is to spy on Roxanne, thus hinting he only cares about using his powers for his personal gain more than to make 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 Roxanne never tried to get to know 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.
- Hal, as Tighten, serves as a dark counterpart to Megamind in different ways:
- 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.
- Additionally, Megamind has also been shown that he can accept romantic rejection, something that Hal could not (even in the slightest way), and both of those instances are related to Roxanne, as well.
- 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.
- 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.
- He can also be considered as a foil to Metro Man, as both men have superpowers and are supposed to be seen as heroes, but both later decided to abandon superheroism for personal reasons (Metro Man's is from the stress 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). 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 crueler than Megamind ever was, as a result. Had not Metro Man handled his reconsideration about being a superhero more properly, he could end up like Tighten.
- Tighten committed each of the seven 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.
- 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 obese before he became a supervillain, as there were empty pizza boxes lying around his apartment. He also told Roxanne that he brought a gallon of chip dip to their "private party".
- Greed: He steals money and expensive possessions, such as a flatscreen TV.
External Links[]
- Tighten on the Near Pure Evil Wiki
- Tighten on the DreamWorks Wiki
- Tighten on the Megamind Wiki
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Villains | ||
Protagonists Doom Syndicate Video Game Continuity Other |