Sab Than is the secondary antagonist of Disney's live-action film adaptation of the book with the same name John Carter.
He is the ruthless and sadistic ruler of the Zodanga who seeks to conquer the planet Barsoom. After causing Barsoom to become a dying planet through his conquests, he would engage in a thousand year war against the only city remaining to resist him, Helium. One day, three Therns, one being their leader Matai Shang, come in to eradicate the army he was fighting and manipulate him into their cause, promising to help him achieve power and control over Barsoom and giving him the Ninth Ray, which Sab Than would use to brutal measures to conquer the planet per their instructions.
He was portrayed by Dominic West.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He had been leading his city Zodanga to devour and drain life of energy on Barsoom to the point of where it becomes a dying planet.
- When Helium remained the only city that resisted, Sab Than would wage a war against it that would last for a thousand years, actively trying to conquer it and slay their armies.
- When Matai Shang, along with two Therns, came in to eradicate an army he was battling via disintegration with the Ninth Ray and gave him the weapon, Sab Than at first tries to kill them by making an attempt to blast them with it to no avail as he gets knocked to the floor by Matai, showing his ungratefulness, before allying with them when they convince him they serve the goddess and she has selected him to bear the weapon with intentions to help him rule Barsoom.
- Using the Ninth Ray, Sab Than would proceed to decimate the Eastern Border and turn it into a wasteland, burning through its defenses and massacring its folk, even killing some of its best fleets, troops, and last remaining squadron with a sadistic smile on his face.
- After offering his terms to the king of Helium to marry his daughter, Dejah Thoris, the princess of Helium in exchange for stopping his senseless slaughter, when she refuses and tries to fly away on an airship, as he pursues her, he nearly uses the Ninth Ray weapon to try to kill her before being advised by Matai not to do so albeit for pragmatic reasons as marrying her is vital to rule Barsoom and to instead cripple the ship, Sab Than deciding to do this instead.
- When a human teleported from Earth, John Carter, intervenes and rescues Dejah, Sab Than has his soldiers fight them both before directly taking on John Carter and nearly killing him while sadistically taunting him only for the Tharks to intervene and save him.
- After Dejah eventually reluctantly accepts his offer for marriage under the guise of uniting both Zodanga and Helium, during the marriage, per Matai's instructions, Sab Than has his army be placed at Helium's walls to be prepared to massacre the entire city once the marriage is complete and he has official rule over Barsoom, breaking the deal he made with the king.
- When Carter arrives just in time to alert Helium of Zodanga being at their walls and Matai signals him, Sab Than initiates the attempted massacre on Helium and tries to escape with Dejah as a hostage, only for her to escape his grip albeit at the cost of almost falling to her death if not for Carter's rescue.
- He battles and attempts to kill Carter, sadistically taunting him on Helium's impending doom before the Tharks come in to aid the battle and being overpowered by him.
- Though his death at Matai's hands is brutal as he gets his head crushed by the Ninth Ray, he deserves it for all the atrocities and massacres he had committed.
