Very good question. I have seen many people underappreciate Bahubali movie, reason being it just presents a black and white kind of characters and over the top action. As it clouds our vision with superficiality, and that makes us not question, why Bhalladeva or Bahubali is so-and-so in the character.

Let me try to explain their characters why they are so and so.

Teaching/Education doesn’t make people good or bad, it just teaches human communication based on their skills to establish their lives and build their own social circles.

You can observe people around you, there are so many people whose education, qualifications can speak volumes, or sometimes some have nothing to show and still taking great positions while happily doing criminal activities, and ganging up people with false information to support with deceptive tactics to cover up their mistakes.

What truly sets great people apart are their actions. It’s the “Actions” which defines human behavior is good or bad.

The Deception of human Actions makes people lack the Moral Consciousness to Introspect people and their Behavior, Character changes. This deception becomes their only means of survival, and turn them to an extreme evil person.

Each and every country’s politicians survive on DECEPTION. It’s sad, but if you observe closely, that’s the hard core fact around the world. Politics in itself is not needed for humanity. And for politicians to survive, deception is their bread and butter. They give false education/teachings to keep people in their own known false social circles of one or other identities, while their actions speaks the other way around.

Bhallaladev was constantly taught by his father,Bijjaladeva the core of DECEPTION and always surrounded by same social circle who taught him lessons of deception and politics.

Great leaders don’t play politics, deception on their people, but Ballaladev was taught, and his mindset is just filled with deception, surrounded by same social circles who taught him politics of power and that drives his ego and jealousy towards his own brother.

That’s the core reason of his twisted mind, just like his father’s twisted hand makes him feel he is weak and that’s why he wasn’t given the throne. But Katappa gives once an introspection, “It’s HIS MIND which is paralyzed/twisted which makes him not suitable to be the KING, so is his Son Bhalla”

Kattappa constantly tries to bring Introspection to both kings and even Rajmatha/Queen herself, but no one introspects their actions or observes actions, as their politics intoxicate their minds so much not able to see and read the actions of kings. Katappa says the same when he brings the sword drenched in Bahubali’s blood, “That you couldn’t read your own son’s actions”.

Katappa is the Introspection for whole administration who balances the Moral consciousness. And Rajamatha/Queens reflect the “Moral Consciousness”. If you see the Rajamatha looses her moral consciousness and orders to kill her own son who was righteous in his actions, while Devasena becomes the new moral consciousness of the kingdom leading the right path after her son kills Bhalladeva..

For instance, when Bahubali gets stabbed by Katappa, just before that he asks Bahubali not to untie him and begs him to leave the place.

Because Bahubali isn’t brought up in the DECEPTIVE NATURE and playing POLITICS on people’s minds. He was always looked at people from innocent, humble, humility nature towards his own people. So he trusts Kattappa and everyone and including his brother Bhalla too.

That’s why audience were shocked to see this ending in first chapter and didn’t know who, why he did it. Reason is, people are educated to learn to communicate, they are taught to be in their own bubble of knowledge, false sense of social circles of politics, and the information of delusional world they live in, they stop learning to be mature, wise enough to read the actions of the people around them. That’s what destroys countries.

So Bhalladeva’s whole life was surrounded, lived on Deception and Politics being played on identities. He tries to achieve everything in his life, even to get the throne, to get the woman, and even to win war he tries deception and politics. That’s why even when he gets power he can’t be a great King and that made him different from Bahubali.