True...but having all that 'background' on Neri still would not come even close to him being the 'most evil' in the trilogy.

I too pondered the idea of Michael but it's not him either. He did not 'deprive his children of their mother'...as we clearly see she was allowed to have visits with them after the split. He may have 'cast' Kay out of their home...but only after she announced her intention to leave him and take the children with her...therefore depriving them of their father. And once she admitted to the abortion, even after he made it clear he would do everything in his power to prevent her from taking the children from him...I'm not sure what one would expect him to do other than exactly what he did. He may or may not have kept the children 'under his thumb', but they also had the benifit of a nanny and their Aunt Connie helping to raise them. We find out in GFIII he allowed their mother to over see their education.

Michael killed two men because among other things, he knew one of them would make a second attempt on his father's life and most likely succeed. The other was there for 'protection' and 'invulnerability' and therefore had to be killed as well. No other choice.

Michael Corleone ordered the murders of his brothers and brother-in-law because they both betrayed the Family, intentionally conspiring with a known enemy/rival...one causing Sonny's death and one nearly causing Michael's. Funny how when condeming him for these orders, we rarely consider THEIR actions.

Michael indeed became coldhearted and evil, there's no doubt of that. But the "..most evil character in the film.." ??? I think not. Nearly everything he did, he believed he was doing to protect his
'Family'.

Back to the topic...the most evil character in the films (excluding GFIII which I've never seen in its entirety)...was Hyman Roth.

Apple