| “ | Oh, I wouldn't say freed. More like, under new management! | „ |
| ~ Tighten's most famous quote before taking over Metro City. |
| “ | This town isn't big enough for two supervillains! | „ |
| ~ Tighten challenging Megamind. |
Hal Stewart, or also better known by his supervillain name Tighten, is the main antagonist of DreamWorks' 21st full-length animated feature film Megamind. He is the former nerdy and shy cameraman of Roxanne Ritchie who later became a vengeful, traitorous, and destructive supervillain as he was hit by the serum of Megamind. He is also Megamind's ultimate arch-nemesis.
He was voiced by Jonah Hill, who later played Donnie Azoff in The Wolf of Wall Street and himself in This Is the End.
Personality
As his former self Hal, he tends to be somewhat civil and sophisticated towards Roxanne, having a secret crush on her and would try to woo her, though she feels uncomfortable by his attempts. He also tends to be quite childish, immature (as when he throws a tantrum after accidentally slamming his hand on his news van), lazy, and incompatible (as he criticized Roxanne’s news script, unknowing that she had in fact write the script).
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, but his recklessness caused Roxanne to reject him, much to Hal's distress and leading him down into a dark path, where he starts using his powers for nefarious and diabolical purposes. 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 eviler 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 on 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 revealed when Metro Man (who is Megamind in disguise) arrives to confront him for his rampage, Tighten panics and tries to flee away, though he later learns the truth and fights Megamind for it.
Biography
He was introduced as simply being Roxanne Ritchie's nerdy cameraman named Hal. He has a crush on her, but his attempts at flirting with Roxanne only makes her very uncomfortable. While Roxanne is snooping around the headquarters of the film's protagonist, the supervillain known as Megamind, Hal accidentally gets hit by Megamind's serum, which gave him the powers of the seemingly deceased superhero Metro Man.
Megamind was 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 just as Metro Man. However, Megamind believes that Hal is ready, and gives him a red-and-white suit and the name "Titan", which Hal misinterprets as "Tighten".
However, it turns out that Hal only wanted to take the superhero gig to "get the girl" by winning Roxanne's heart. The first thing he does is kidnap Roxanne under the pretense of 'rescuing' her, dropping her several times only to catch her again. Hal then reveals his identity to Roxanne but 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.
Believing that being a hero means to get the girl for himself rather than fighting for the greater good, Hal decides he is better off being a villain and goes on an unseen crime spree. After leaving Megamind waiting for several hours, Tighten meets the villain 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 refuses and instead goads Tighten into a fight by revealing 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.
As planned, Tighten battles Megamind, but with much more rage and anger then Metro Man ever did. Megamind is quickly defeated and awaits to go to jail again, but this doesn't change Tighten's decision to become a villain as the battle had instead increased his anger, and that he wants to kill Megamind rather than having him arrested. Horrified, Megamind intends to recapture Tighten by trapping him on a copper failsafe sphere, after learning that copper is Metro Man's weakness, but this fails, forcing Megamind to escape. Megamind eventually finds out that Metro Man is alive, having faked his weakness of copper and his death to retire being a superhero and focus on a career in music, as he felt tired battling Megamind and that he never had a choice of what he wants to be in life.
With Megamind on the run, the town's people 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 attempt to evacuate the city to avoid getting into Tighten's wrath.
Feeling remorseful for letting this happen, Megamind turns himself back to prison, and Roxanne, feeling guilty for hurting Tighten's feelings, attempts to take action by appealing to Tighten's 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.
Seeing this on TV, Megamind decides to take responsibility for his actions and arrives in his usual flamboyant style. He enacts a plan into freeing Roxanne and trying 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, but Metro Man suddenly appears, splitting the bus into two, 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 into the water fountain where Roxanne is standing. After re-hydrating instantly, Megamind uses the defuser gun to remove all of the unearned powers from Tighten, rendering him powerless and reverting him to Hal for good. Having reveled in his real victory, Megamind saves Minion by throwing him into the water fountain, since he knows that fish need water to survive.
At the end after Hal's defeat, Megamind gets his Brainbots to repair all the damage he and Hal have done to Metro City, and he is praised as the new hero by everyone (including a disguised Metro Man). As for Hal, he is imprisoned in Megamind's old cell, serving a life sentence as punishment for his crimes against Metro City. He is seen Dancing in Megamind's old cell at the end of the movie back to his old self.
Videogame Appearance
He appears again in the video game. 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
| “ | No freakin' way! I'm gonna be a hero! I'M GONNA BE A HERO!!! | „ |
| ~ Hal after hearing that he's been 'blessed' with superpowers. |
| “ | It's TITAN! IT'S TITAN, NOT HAL!!! | „ |
| ~ Hal's breakdown after being rejected by Roxanne from becoming "the girl of his dreams". |
| “ | 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 Ritchie?) Yeah, Roxanne Ritchie! I saw her having dinner and making googly eyes at some intellectual dweeb! (Megamind: Ooh.) Who needs all that noise? That's why I think WE... should team up. (Megamind: You- Wait... what?) With my power and your big-headedness, we could rule the city! | „ |
| ~ Tighten revealing his decent into villainy. |
| “ | (Megamind: Look, I'm your space dad (changes to space dad) you should be more like metro man) AAAH!!! (Megamind changes back) You tricked me?! (Megamind: Oh, you don't like that huh? Well there's more. (switches to Bernard) I'm also the intellectual dweeb dating Roxanne.) No! (Megamind: And we, were smooching up a storm!) | „ |
| ~ Tighten after learning that Megamind has been posing as his 'Space-Dad' and 'Bernard'. |
| “ | When I get my hands you I'm gonna-(Megamind: Yes! Yes! I know. Bring me to justice. Oh god how I've missed this.) | „ |
| ~ Tighten and Megamind starting their first battle. |
| “ | 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!! | „ |
| ~ Tighten defeating Megamind in their first battle. |
| “ | (Megamind: Well done! I thought that battle went really, really well! I mean, I have a few notes...) Notes? (Megamind: But they can wait. You can take me to jail now.) 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!) Game over! | „ |
| ~ Tighten revealing his new intent to kill Megamind rather than sending him to jail. |
| “ | You.... should STOP comparing me to Metro Man!! | „ |
| ~ Tighten driving Megamind to flee away after escaping his copper trap. |
| “ | You can run, Megamind, but you can't hide!! (Mayor: We're saved. We're saved! What's your name, new hero?) It's Tighten. (Mayor: Thank you! Thank you, Tighten has freed us!!) Oh, I wouldn't say 'free'. More like... under new management. | „ |
| ~ Tighten revealing his true nature to citizens of Metro City by flicking off the Mayor. |
| “ | 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.) 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.) 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 camera man and eating dip and being a nerd and being not as scary as the Tighten Hal.) TOO LATE! | „ |
| ~ Tighten confronting Roxanne during her attempt to reason with him. |
| “ | 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!) 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!! (Roxanne: HAL! Please don't do this! I know there's still good in you, Hal.) You're so naive, 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 real world, and you need to WAKE UP! | „ |
| ~ Tighten about to level Metro Tower and denying to Roxanne that he has any good in himself. |
| “ | (Megamind: You dare challenge Megamind?) This town isn't big enough for two supervillains! (Megamind: Oh, you're a villain alright. Just not a super one!) Yeah! What's the difference?! (Megamind: PRESENTATION!!) | „ |
| ~ Megamind preparing to save Roxanne from Tighten. |
| “ | Pretty sneaky, sis. But there's only one person I know who calls this town 'Metrocity'. (Megamind: Oops.)...... YOU! 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 being duped by him (under his Metro Man disguise) into leaving Metro City. |
| “ | 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!!) 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. |
| “ | Say 'bye-bye', Roxie! | „ |
| ~ Tighten attempting to kill Roxanne right before he is stripped of his powers by Megamind. |
| “ | I'm bad! I'm bad! That's right! YEAH! | „ |
| ~ Hal dancing to Michael Jackson's "Bad" in Megamind's old prison cell. |
Gallery
Images
Videos
Trivia
- His real name "Hal Stewart" is an amalgamation of the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan, and John Stewart.
- 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. The film's subtitles also switch from "Titan" and "Tighten" halfway through.
- Tightan shares some similarities with Syndrome from Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles as both were dorky geeks who got rejected which made them angry but then gained super abilities of some kind which resulted in them seeking revenge.
- Bradley Whitford and Simon Pegg were both considered for the role of Tighten before Jonah Hill was cast.
- There are several easy to miss hints that foreshadow that Hal isn't remotely heroic as Megamind assumed he was:
- 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 creepy yandere.
- 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 and punches the news van in frustration, thus foreshadowing Hal's extremely violent tendencies in the near future.
- 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. 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".
- In the training sequence, he gleefully disembowels the Megamind mannequin and melts its face with his heat vision. While played for laughs at the time, it shows he has a 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.
External links
Template:DreamWorks Villains