Father Hughes

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Pure Evil
Full Name	John Hughes
Alias	None
Origin	Peaky Blinders
Allies	The Economic League Patrick Jarvis
Powers / Skills	Resources of the Economic League Negotiating skills
Goals	Force the British government to break off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
Moral Event Horizon	Sexually abusing Michael Gray Planning to abuse more children at the Grace Shelby Foundation
Kill Count	Eight (indirectly)
Worst Crimes	Terrorism Mass murder Rape Pedophilia Attempted infanticide
Type of Villain	Sadistic cult leader

Father John Hughes is one of the main antagonists of the BBC crime series Peaky Blinders, serving as the main antagonist of Season 3.

He is an Irish priest and an agent of the Economic League, a British far-right organization which supports anti-communist forces in the Soviet Union. He is also the archenemy of Michael gray.

He was portrayed by Paddy Considine, who also played The Outsider in its disguise as Claude Bolton in the TV adaptation of The Outsider.

What Makes Him Pure Evil?

• He oversees the Economic League's plot to strongarm Tommy Shelby's Peaky Blinders gang into stealing several tanks and supplying them to Tsarist conspirators to launch a right-wing coup in the Soviet Union. However, he secretly betrays the plot to the Soviets, as his true plan is to provoke the Soviets into committing an act of aggression on British soil in order to force the government to break off diplomatic relations.
• When he finds out that Tommy has been visiting his communist-sympathizing sister Ada, he has him arrested as a show of force and threatens to kill both Ada and Tommy's infant son Charles if Tommy visits her again, leaving a postcard reading "R.I.P. Charles Shelby" in Charles' crib to show he can get to him at any time.
• When Tommy discovers his betrayal of the plot and tries to shoot him, he has him beaten until his skull cracks before forcing him into attending a meeting with the Russians rather than going to hospital, extorting him into making a humiliating apology where he recites the Act of Contrition with Hughes' name in place of God's in order to drag out his suffering for longer for his own gratification.
• He is revealed to be a child molester who sexually abused Michael Gray when he was in care and forces Tommy into guaranteeing him unlimited access to an orphanage run by the Grace Shelby Foundation with the intention of abusing the children.
• After Tommy foils his plan by warning the Soviets, he abducts Charles and plans to kill him unless Tommy carries out a terrorist attack himself and frames the Soviets and gives the Economic League all the proceeds from a planned robbery of the Russians.
• Despite being killed, he succeeds in forcing the Shelbys to blow up a train, resulting in six deaths and forcing Tommy to sell out several members of his family in order to stop the Economic League.

External Links

• Father Hughes on the Villains Wiki