Best. Villain. Ever.

POSTED BY: MikeyMo
UPDATED: Monday, December 16, 2024 19:59
VIEWED: 36160
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MIKEYMO

Monday, August 1, 2005 2:35 PM

I love villains. They get to have so much fun.

I just finished watching Farscape Season 4, and that coupled with the ongoing best-Buffy-season discussion raised a question...

Who is your favorite villain in an series? Or, failing that, give me a top 3 list?

My personal list is 2-deep. These guys are the creme-de-la-creme.

1) Scorpius (Farscape) - Just incredible. Scary-looking, but eloquent and intelligent. One of the things I like best about Scorpy is that he has the Wolfram&Hart thing going for him -- when a villain is trying to KILL the hero, and he (of course) keeps failing, he looks like an incompetant boob. But when his objective requires the hero to stay alive, and he even occasionally helps out to keep it that way.. That's cool. Mad props for Scorpy.

2) The Mayor. Difficult to knock down to the two spot, because as Chrisisall put it, he's a 'hoot'. Ward Cleaver, but EVIL. And happily so, which I think marks the difference between regular evil and villainy. Panache. The Mayor's got it in spades.

3) Lilah. Hard to include her on the list, because I don't really think of her that way. Usually I think of her in the sweaty "leave the glasses on" kinda way. OK, I'm getting sidetracked. But seriously, that's my kind of woman. Mmm..

I'll be in my bunk.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

CHRISISALL

Monday, August 1, 2005 3:06 PM

My favourite villians are complicated and confusing.
The Mayor is great, as is Faith. Scorpius was all Freddy-like, and deviously playfull. Belloque in Raiders, Niska, geez, I could go on and on with great ones...

So my favourites are:
Vader. He gave up ruling a galaxy and even his life for a boy - his son. Damn, that's big.
Donald Lydecker from Dark Angel. A very complicated one, is he bad?- yeah real bad, wait, not so bad- hey! Who's side is he on? huh?
Hans Gruber from Die Hard. Not that he's so very complicated, but look who played him. Yippie Kai Yea, mother*#%&er!!!

I'm sure there's someone I'm missing...

Bad to the bone Chrisisall

STILLSHINY

Monday, August 1, 2005 3:21 PM

Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P

SICKDUDE

Monday, August 1, 2005 4:52 PM

Yay, I like lists!

Best vilains ever would be: Dilandu (from Escaflowne), Gosterro (from SPT Layzner), Scorpius, and Darth Vader. The japanese actor for Dilandu would also get credit for the best 'maniacal laugh'.

Stillshiny, have to diagree- sorry! I thought the original Bedazzled was so much better than the remake, and Peter Cooke was better in the role. However, I will grant that Hurley is less harsh on the eyes.

"Don't say 'ka' until you've tried it." Daniel Jackson

LETSBEBADGUYS

Monday, August 1, 2005 5:21 PM

Vader without a doubt.
Big bad guy with epic plot arc. (well maybe forget the epic because of the writing but...)

Mal: "We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

STILLSHINY

Monday, August 1, 2005 6:14 PM

Mr. (AGENT) Smith
Blue Hands
Senator Palpatine
The T-1000
The Replicators
The original Alien
Ash - ALIEN
Lindsey
The ISLAND - LOST
Spike - His first appearance on Angel
Evil Wesley - on 3rd Season Angel
Verbal Kent

Dracula - Dracula 2000

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P

DTUCK

Monday, August 1, 2005 6:16 PM

Joel Bissonnette as Arnaud De Fehrn (from The Invisible Man), the villain you loved to hate. I mean really, really hate. Just... grrr. Evil. Kill 'im if you could, but them you'd never hear any of the strange, funny things he has to say anymore.

Speaking of villains you love to hate... Ethan Rayne. "Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore, mate. When you went to the loo I slipped a small pellet of poison in your drink. You'll be dead in an hour. [long, deadly silence] Just kidding!"

MOOSHOO72

Monday, August 1, 2005 6:47 PM

1. Angelus (Buffy season 2) - He killed Willow's fish! How evil is that?!?
2. Arvin Sloane (Alias) - Is he bad? Is he good? The world may never know..
3. The First (Evil) (Buffy season 7) - Come on, Evil is its actual name! This is the daddy of all villains, incorporeal and undying. Points off for not actually being able to hurt anyone due to the incorporealness..)

But.. Let's not forget the best BDH villains.. Caleb (Cappy in Buffy), Jasmine (Gina in Angel), Hamilton (Adam in Angel), Knox (Tracey in Angel), and to an extent, Heidi (Jewel in Wonderfalls)

Am I forgetting anyone?

My other ship is a Mid-Bulk Transport Standard Radion Accelerator Core Class Code 03-K64 Firefly.

STARRBABY

Monday, August 1, 2005 7:16 PM

Okay, I'm a big wierdo, but I LOVED Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid.

I adore villians. They are always my favorite in stories.

CALLMESERENITY

Monday, August 1, 2005 8:27 PM

Funny, Starrbaby, because I was just thinking of Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent!

Serenity, First Officer of Destiny

FREMDFIRMA

Monday, August 1, 2005 8:57 PM

(1) - Darth Vader.
Regardless of the crapping-on that lucas has delivered to the series and his fans, Vader was almost legendary in his nastiness and even now the very name invokes fear and dread - for a bad guy to have that strong a grasp on society at large takes some doing.

(2) - The One Ring & The Nazgul. (Will of Sauron)
Not so much a direct "villan" in and of itself, as an extension of the will of Sauron these evoked a fear far beyond their scope, downright creepifyin, you ask me.

(3) - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight (from: The Tick)
Always loved this guy, incoherent rambling and explosives go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

"One of these days, :hissssss::... MILKSHAKE.... BOOM!"

-F

TDTMF

Monday, August 1, 2005 9:04 PM

hans gruber - die hard
sloan - alias
kahn & q - star trek
our mrs reynolds - firefly

td

mal to jayne: well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle

FOSTER

Monday, August 1, 2005 9:12 PM

I have to say that the one who always pops into my head first is Maleficent. It may be because of my youth when I saw it but that lady is pure evil.

I have a tendency to like characters that are very very grey however. The ones that you are never sure just who they belong to or what their motives are. They are the ones that I just love.

"I like it when they wear the black hats. It makes deciding who to shot a lot easier." Elizabeth Silver

CHRISISALL

Monday, August 1, 2005 9:36 PM

I listed three above, but I forgot three others:
Donald Moffit from Airwolf, a TRUELY nasty bastard.
Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian, totally corruptive (and look who played him!).
Agent Smith from (the first) Matrix, I can smell his stink.

But still, best villain ever goes to Vader, without a doubt.

Vader laughs at Hannible Lechter Chrisisall

BADGERSHAT

Monday, August 1, 2005 10:07 PM

Not to cast any dishonor upon the villains mentioned, because I think many of them are excellent...

But I gotta go with The Borg. ST:TNG, right around the era of Locutus.

Totally bad ass, totally relentless, totally creepy, totally effective.

Got a little bored with them as time went on, and in some of the other series, but when they first hit... damn, those were some nasty f!!kers...

Also, cheesey or not, i've always loved the original Cylons.

--Jefé The Hat

***************************
--Don't bother trying to predict, figure out, second guess, criticize, or suggest anything that comes from the mind of Joss Whedon, for you shall usually be wrong, and shall find out the Truth and Purpose in due time.
(This is the Truth of Whedoning)

"I like smackin 'em"--Jayne

THESOMNAMBULIST

Monday, August 1, 2005 10:22 PM

Best villains hmmmm.

•Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) From The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover

•The Devil (John Glover) From Brimstone

•Jubal Early (Richard Brooks) From Firefly

Just off the top of my head those are the immediate ones that spring to mind, so I guess that's fitting....

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

MELEAUX

Monday, August 1, 2005 10:29 PM

Max Zorin (Christofer Walken) in A Veiw to a Kill
He just oozes creepiness. Kinda like Jubal Early- my second choice.

She understands, she doesn't comprehend

THEREAVER

Monday, August 1, 2005 11:14 PM

Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. A villain and a philosopher.

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

LUCYFERSAM

Monday, August 1, 2005 11:51 PM

I've got to agree with the vote for Maleficint, absolute classic villian. I'm also a fan of Snow White from Gaiman's Snow Glass Apples on the same note. Others I'm fond of are both Morden and Kartaja from Babylon 5. The Witch King of Angmar is also pretty high up there.

Lucyfersam

MANWITHPEZ

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 12:47 AM

All right...Lists and Bad Guys!!!

1) Judge Claude Frollo from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The most frightening villains to me have always been the ones that think they're right. Frollo carried that in spades. Couple it with quasireligious fervor, and...ewwww...

2) Andre Linoge from Stephen King's Storm of the Century. I'll credit this more to acting than to writing. Since I know we have an army of Joss lovers here, then I'll tell you that I see more than a few traces of Angelus in Linoge, who liked to ude the truth against his victims.

3) T-1000 from Terminator 2. I'll give it to Robert Patrick...he's a hell of an actor. And, though I've seen him in several things since (and he was almost always great in them)...But, admit that every time you see him, you always think of him in this role...I knew it.

Since I'm limited to three here, I won't go any further, but, as anyone who knows me here on this site knows I can rattle off lists until the cows come home...And the cows really should get their own damn homes, I think...Friggin' freeloadin' cows!!!

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

ALTA

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 12:56 AM

So many to choose from, but my top pick is Al Pachino as Satan in Devils Advocate.

*****************************
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 12:57 AM

How can you ignore Vader?

Luke Chrisisall

MANWITHPEZ

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 1:18 AM

I'm not ignoring Vader. He's just not in my top three...Then again, with only three, I have a hard time choosing...

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

THATWEIRDGIRL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 1:22 AM

Great lists so far.

I have to add Hal, Wicked Witch of the West, and for the creepy factor I'm gonna go with Kane from Poltergeist II.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 1:51 AM

The Terminator from the “The Terminator” (the original one, the one that was actually good)

Darth Vader from Star Wars et al

Colonel Donald Lydecker from “Dark Angel.”

Grianne Ohmsford from “Ilse Witch” et al

Jaime Lanister from “A Game of Thrones” et al

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

JEREELHUNTER

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 4:18 AM

Vader. Hands down. Come now, no matter who you chose to list, Vader came to mind... probably first. Are all of the star wars movies top notch? No. Was Vader the best villian of all time? Heck yes.

As for others, I'm torn, but I think I'll go witht he T-1000 from T-2, the early borg, (when they were just cold hearted and efficient, before they became retarded) and the Shadows from Babylon 5.

CHOLLETT

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 5:27 AM

Can i take a wild stab and say that The Operative might make an appearance on some lists come Sept?

I havent seen the movie yet, but still.

"I dont murder children"
"I do."

(shudders)

Anywhoo, i cant pick a top 3 since there are too many good ones, but here are some notable faves...

Vader (of course)
Niska (remember, the torture?)
The Mayor (Miniature. Golf.)
Spike (pre-chip, since he wasnt really a villian after)
Ganon/Ganondorf (what, i cant take from games?)
Chuck DeNomolos (just because i like Bill and Ted)

I'm babbling like a moonbrain.

DROCCULARI

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 6:06 AM

1. Aku from Samurai Jack. He plunged the Earth into hundreds of years of darkness, he had those scary flaming eyes, and he so much enjoyed his evilness!

2. Number Two from the Prisoner. Since there was a different Number Two for each episode, I liked that it was the position, not necessarily the person who was in it, that was evil.

3. Lindsey from Angel. Especially with the Evil Hand.

MILT

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 7:38 AM

I have to go with Angelus

LETSBEBADGUYS

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 10:25 AM

I forgot, Jubile Early... really well written.

"We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die." Mal, Serenity

STILLSHINY

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 2:26 PM

Oh my freaking cow I can't believe I forgot to list one of my all time favorites, especially for Angel fans------Holtz. He was purely evil. Right up to his last bleeding breath.

Now not hijacking just stirring up thought.

Who is more evil The Emperor or Vader? Yes Vader is the big bad that we all know, and But there would have been no Vader without his "Master"

Vader was the in your face obvious evil. Strong & destructive.

Palpatine was subtle & twisted. It is deciet & betrayal not strength that makes him purely evil.

I can't remember who it is but somewhere in the angel series someone makes a comment about being "pure" it may have even been hamilton. I'm not sure, but That to me is evil to be PURE.

Ok here's another challenge....who in the Angel series made the statement about being Pure Evil. something like "You know what your problem is..you're tainted, you still care, you're not pure" Gorrammit it's something like that. Ok there's the challenge.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P --I'm thinkin we'll rise again

WEICHI

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 3:22 PM

Here is my list.

Number 3 - Keyser Soze from "Usual Suspects"

Number 2 - Robert Mitchum's Preacher from "The Night of the Hunter"

Number 1 - Lionel Barrymore's Mr.Potter in "Its a Wonderful Life" Here is a guy who would rather make a dime than save a soul. Not only does he keep the money Uncle Billy loses, he lets George grovel, ignores his noble claiming of responsability, suggests evil motives for the loss and, to top it off, calls the cops on him. And he never repents, never shows any sign of goodness. All to run a crummy little town.

At least Vader if eviling for a whole galaxy - and he isn't even good at it, he goes all noble at the end, or the middle, you know, in episode three, I mean VI.

See how I'm not punching him, I think I've grown!

MIKEYMO

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 3:30 PM

That little speech was from the meathead field-ops head from 5x01, Conviction. "I believe in evil." The look of (for lack of a better word) conviction on the guy's face makes me giggle.

And I feel bad about leaving Vader off my original list, especially since I kind of trailed off at Number 3. It's just hard for me to separate the original trilogy from the horrid prequels. I mean, you're obviously right about Vader being the universe's biggest badass. But his neutering in the prequels just makes it hard for me to include him. Instead of badass, now I see... a petulant brat. Not quite as scary.

The Emporer, however, I like a lot more since seeing the prequels. He was just owning everyone, which was just hilarious. It was fun seeing him run circles around the entire Jedi council -- I guess that's what you get when your 'savior' is a weak-minded pansy.

Oof. Sorry for the vitriol, but I find myself becoming more and more disgusted with the prequels as time goes on. Didn't mean to go so far off track.

More awesome villains:
Ben Stiller in Dodgeball.
Habib Marwan (ImhoTerror for you TWoP folks) in 24 Season 4.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

STILLSHINY

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 3:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeyMo:
That little speech was from the meathead field-ops head from 5x01, Conviction. "I believe in evil." The look of (for lack of a better word) conviction on the guy's face makes me giggle.

That's the one

HAUSER -"I'm pure. I believe in evil. You and your friends, you're conflicted. You're confused. We're not. That is why you are gonna lose, because we possess the most powerful thing in the world... conviction.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P --- I'm thinking we'll rise again.

THEGREYJEDI

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 5:19 PM

Darth Vader
Malificent (Sleeping Beauty)
Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
Kefka (Fina Fantasy VI)
Edward the Longshanks (Braveheart)
Boris the Blade aka "the sneaky f@#king Russian" (Snatch)

--------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Engineer - USS SereniTREE
http://tomeofgrey.blogspot.com
Real Fans Wait - 09/30/05

OPTIMUS1998

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 6:14 PM

my top 3:
1.)VADER- sheer intimidation factor
2.)Palpatine - almost PURE evil. the amount of planning and forthought needed....
3.)Scorpius - similar methodical evilness as palpatine, but has that nify S&M vibe going( like the first 2 rolled into one!)......

and now for something a little different -

Quote:
jereelhunter:

the early borg, (when they were just cold hearted and efficient, before they became retarded)

IMO, too many humans in the mix. dumbed 'em down. kinda like our society.....

Quote:
tdtmf:
kahn & q - star trek

I never really considered Q to be a Villan per se, just a omnipitent teenager....

Quote:
fremdfirma:
- The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight (from: The Tick)
Always loved this guy, incoherent rambling and explosives go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

"One of these days, :hissssss::... MILKSHAKE.... BOOM!"

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO REMEMBERS HIM!!!!

...May have been the losing side, Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

THEREAVER

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 6:36 PM

Disregarding the 'NOOOOO', Vader is probably the coolest villain of all time. Also, I'm going to put forward Number 1 from The Prisoner. Just for the hell of it. Also HAL-9000 was really cool when he went homicidal. Although I never figured out why he did. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

MIKEYMO

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 6:58 PM

Quote:
Also HAL-9000 was really cool when he went homicidal. Although I never figured out why he did. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

Just buggy, probably. Gorram Windows...

Although I've posted the link before, I thought I'd do it again -- http://www.tomatonation.com/sith.shtml
Here's an exerpt:

Quote:
This is why I loved Darth Vader as a kid: he is one hundred percent tragic-opera yippee-ky-ay-motherfucker stone-cold spaghetti-Western-black-hat who's-your-daddy this-is-how-we-do-it-on-the-Death-Star-bitch we-who-are-about-to-die-salute-you capital-B bad-ass. That dude is not trying to hear anything about Indian burns or the silent treatment, and the only thing he's long-dividing is your ass with his foot.

So, we begin with the age-old story: Girl meets villain; girl falls in love; villain is revealed as a whiny bitch with confusingly written motivations, portrayed by a wooden and miscast actor in a series of movies whose timelines don't work; girl dumps villain, citing irreconcilable midichlorians, and takes up with villain's icky and wrinkly but far more campily satisfying boss.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

THEREAVER

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 7:02 PM

Unless HAL went computer senile. Like Holly in Red Dwarf. And in Dwarf the guy's name was Dave. The whole Holly thing was practically stolen from 2001.

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

BLUEBOMBER

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 7:47 PM

In a series:
3) Callisto from "Xena: Warrior Princess." Before the series took its utterly ridiculous turn, this chick was just as bad-ass as Xena; plus that maniacal giggle of hers was just....damn scary.
2) The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill was perfect for this voice. Chilling and hilarious all at once.
1) Q from "Star Trek." Malicious and manipulative for no reason. And funny as hell.

In a movie:
3) Scar from "The Lion King." Probably the most jealous and sinister character ever in an animated film.
2) Elle Driver from "Kill Bill." That b*tch is crazy!
1) The Joker from the original "Batman" movie. The Joker is my favorite villain of all time. And Jack Nicholson is just brilliant.

Honorable mentions: Darth Vader (Sorry, I was just never that into SW, but his costume is wicked!), Arvin Sloan, HAL, Sephiroth (FF7), and Bowser Koopa.

"Mwah ha ha ha...mine is an evil laugh. Now die."

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 9:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheReaver:
Also HAL-9000 was really cool when he went homicidal. Although I never figured out why he did. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

It's explained in the movie 2010, rent it at a video store near you. Or far, far away from you. Whatever works.

'Splainin' Chrisisall

THATWEIRDGIRL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 9:05 PM

you could read the books

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

THEREAVER

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 9:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by TheReaver:
Also HAL-9000 was really cool when he went homicidal. Although I never figured out why he did. Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

It's explained in the movie 2010, rent it at a video store near you. Or far, far away from you. Whatever works.

'Splainin' Chrisisall

I plan to eventually but I heard it's rubbish. I also plan on reading the books sometime but I already have several books on the go with more to arrive soon.

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

THATWEIRDGIRL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 9:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheReaver:

I plan to eventually but I heard it's rubbish. I also plan on reading the books sometime but I already have several books on the go with more to arrive soon.

May I suggest that you don't read the full series? The movie and first book were written at the same time (but had different things in them). The second book was written based on the movie. If you read the book but didn't see the movie you were suddenly very confused. The series gets pretty odd the more you read. Of course, you might like them. I could just be odd. eh. Enjoy learning all about HAL.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 10:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TheReaver:
I plan to eventually but I heard it's rubbish.

It's certainly not the classic that 2001 is, but it's not that bad. It could be compared to Beneth the Planet of the Apes as a sequal; worth a look.

Hello, Dave Chrisisall

LETSBEBADGUYS

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 9:48 AM

I forgot The Borg (Star Trek). The perfect Bad Guys.

Haven't written them down as a list yet.

3) Jubile Early (Firefly)
2) The Borg (Star Trek: The Next Generation/Deep Space 9/Voyager/First Contact/Enterprise [not directly mentioned])
1) Vader/Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars III-VI)

Honarable Mentions:

Palpatine/Sidious(Star Wars I-VI)
Voldemort/Tom Riddle (Harry Potter 1-6)
Docter Octopus (Spider-Man 2)
Maul (Star Wars I)
Count Dooku/Tayrranus (Star Wars II/III)
Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation/Deep Space 9/Voyager)
Niska (Firefly)
The Tripods (The War Of The Worlds)
The Hood (Thunderbirds)
Saruman (Lord Of The Rings)
Lex Luther (Superman)
Sauron (Lord Of The Rings)
Yo-Saf Bridge (Firefly)
Blowfelt (James Bond/007)
Klingons (Star Trek Origninal Series, Enterprise [they're bad guys in those one])

"We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die." Mal, Serenity part 1

POG

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 9:58 AM

My vote for best villain ever gores to this creme egg coutesy of Serenity squared initiation challenges...

Pog

We may experience some slight turbulence and then explode...

DIEGO

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 12:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Stillshiny:
Palpatine was subtle & twisted. It is deciet & betrayal not strength that makes him purely evil.

I'm in total accord there. The Emperor is much cooler than Vader (especially the pre-Vader whiny Anakin)! I don't know why but I just love Palpatine. Perhaps it's the cackling and the spinny chair?

However, I do concede that pureness of evil doesn't always make the best villain. Sometimes more complex motivations are better. A good villain really ought to think that they are the hero. That's why another of my favorites is Magneto from the X-Men. He has his own agenda and motivations.

GREG

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 1:21 PM

I haven't seen the villain from the movie Unbreakable mentioned yet. I won't give the name, since it would spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet, but that one was fantastic.

As for Jaime Lannister, I have trouble even thinking of him as a villain. He seems like an ordinary guy on one of the wrong sides of a war. There is the fact that he threw a seven-year-old out a window, but his reasons are too easy to understand to really view him as a malevolent character.

Ah, well, I look forward to November 8. Can't wait to see what happens next. I suspect Jaime Lannister and Sandor Clegane will do a fair bit of good before all's said and done.

MIKEYMO

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 1:27 PM

Word, Greg. I've been waiting for Feast For Crows for 2 years or so... I really enjoyed how they made Kingslayer and the Hound people you could sympathize with. I'd say, if anyone is a real VILLAIN, it'd be Cersei. What. A. Bitch.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

EMMA

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 1:42 PM

I can't even think about the best villains because people have called Jaime Lannister and Holtz villains -NOOOOOOOOO

Holtz is never a villain, merely misguided. He was always trying to do the best, Angel was a vampire guys! Grrrrrr (I love Angel but he was never anything other than a bastard whether human, vampire or vampire with soul!)

As for Jaime Lannister, ok so he tried to kill a 7 year old boy and he did some really mean things in his youth but in the last book he became a good guy. I reckon he is gonna fall for Brienne and get himself into all sorts of trouble.

All this talk has reminded me of two awesome villains: Diana from V and Servalan from Blakes 7. Now they were bad guys!

extremely dimensionally transcendental

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 2:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Emma:
I can't even think about the best villains because people have called Jaime Lannister and Holtz villains -NOOOOOOOOO

Holtz is never a villain, merely misguided. He was always trying to do the best, Angel was a vampire guys! Grrrrrr (I love Angel but he was never anything other than a bastard whether human, vampire or vampire with soul!)

Sorry, I gotta disagree. Holtz wanted to kill the Vampire. He wanted justice, but he lost sight of his quest for justice and sought vengence. Vengence can never be satisfied and can never lead anywhere good. His blinding thirst for vengence took away his humanity & made him nothing more than another monster. His death is all about one thing hurting Angel more & everyone around him.

A very real thread of many of the Angel story arcs is all about redemption. Holtz never finds it. He dies in his vengence, and the only blood on his hands is his own. He was misguided till he knew the truth, Then he made a decision, at that point he became a villain.

Just giving my point of view.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P --- I'm thinking we'll rise again.

EMMA

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 2:46 PM

gorram it, that is such a reasoned argument it is hard to disagree with...but...(there is always a but)...

I suppose it is about your definition of evil. You see in my book somebody can only truly be evil if they have all their mental faculties and deliberately set out to hurt those who do not deserve it. I find it very hard to think of genuinely evil people (real or fictional), I try to see the good in everyone. (This is sometimes dangerous and is often best left unsaid.)

You see, Holtz was not only a bit cuckoo but Angel really did deserve it, when all said and done. Nearly everyone can be redeemed but only a few are given the chance.

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

DIETCOKE

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 3:50 PM

Holtz was evil in a very calculating way. He wanted to ensure that Angel felt the same pain that was inflicted on him. Because he could not forgive and move on, he became Angelus(sp?) It's all about the pain....

Angelus was pretty evil when he went bad and said all those awful things to Buffy after they had sex. That was every teenage girl's worst nightmare.

Okay, I digress. Top three:

1. Cruella Divil (she killed Dalmation puppies for Pete sake!)
2. Hannible Lecter
3. And from the Whedonverse, I'd have to say, Angelus, because he truely enjoyed inflicting pain.

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 3:54 PM

Emma,

I like the way you think. It is all about definition. How interesting to note that more often than not villians are created from victims. I have enjoyed this exchange. This is what I love about FFF.net. It's not about "who's right & who's wrong" but rather what we think and why. Again, you have my respect & appreciation.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P --- I'm thinking we'll rise again.

MIKEYMO

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 4:33 PM

Ack! SHAME on me! SHAMESHAMESHAME on me for forgetting Hannibal Lector, and props to dietcoke for putting his name out there. He is the very essence of villainy.

I also tend to separate mere bad guys from VILLAINS. A villain, at least in my book, needs charisma and a lot of it. He needs to be someone who, although you know he's evil and all, you can't help but root for just a little bit. So Dr. Lector has just jumped to the top of my list -- OK, just under Scorpius. 'Cause I love me some Scorpy.

The sidebar as to whether Holtz is truly evil is very interesting. It's almost entirely a matter of timing, from my perspective: In Holtz's time, he couldn't be considered anything other than a soldier on the side of good. Motivated by something less than pure, to be sure, but there was no question as to what side he was on. But stick him and his lust for vengence 200 years into the future, and now he's "bad". I enjoy the fact that Holtz had a perfectly legitamite point of view, in which his actions were perfectly justified (well, up until the end of S3).

I guess I'd say that Holtz turned EVIL when he saw that he was losing Connor to Angel and pulled the old fake-out with Justine. That's pretty hard to justify. But I'll always remember something Connor said in Season 4:

"My fath -- Holtz was a good man. He just wanted to see you get the punishment you deserved."

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

Edited to add: ALAN!

MAUGWAI

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 5:46 PM

A lot of the villains mentioned are scary, but you could still reason with them in some way or another.

The Alien, on the other hand, will eat you. If you try to fight back, it will bleed acid on you and then eat you. That scares the pants off me.

Pennywise the Clownwill rip your arm off and eat your soul. And also, clowns are evil in a general sense. So one that freely embraces his evil is just that much worse.

Okay, so Aku isn't really that scary, but he is hilarious. And he would be scary if you lived in crazy future Samurai Jack land.

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

EMMA

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 6:28 PM

Quote:
Again, you have my respect & appreciation.

Aww, shucks

You are definitely right about the villain as victim, all the best (and the worst) are!

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

THEREAVER

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 7:27 PM

What about The Thing from The Thing?

-----------------------
I'll rape you to death.
I'll eat your flesh.
I'll sew your skin into my clothes.
If you're very very lucky, I'll do it in that order - TheReaver

DIETCOKE

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 9:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by maugwai:
A lot of the villains mentioned are scary, but you could still reason with them in some way or another.

The Alien, on the other hand, will eat you. If you try to fight back, it will bleed acid on you and then eat you. That scares the pants off me.

Pennywise the Clownwill rip your arm off and eat your soul. And also, clowns are evil in a general sense. So one that freely embraces his evil is just that much worse.

Okay, so Aku isn't really that scary, but he is hilarious. And he would be scary if you lived in crazy future Samurai Jack land.

"Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy."

What's even more scary is that impregnants you and grows inside you and then pops out of your chest. First time I saw that in the movie theater I got up right then and walked out. Tooooooo scary.

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 10:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dietcoke:
Quote:
Originally posted by maugwai:
A lot of the villains mentioned are scary, but you could still reason with them in some way or another.

The Alien, on the other hand, will eat you. If you try to fight back, it will bleed acid on you and then eat you. That scares the pants off me.

What's even more scary is that impregnants you and grows inside you and then pops out of your chest. First time I saw that in the movie theater I got up right then and walked out. Tooooooo scary.

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

Wife (FixedByFaith) & I watched it this past week under a unique set of circumstances.

I had never wanted to see these. But I was listening to an "old" interview with Joss, on my mp3 player in my car, with my wife. The interview was from right when Buffy The Series was released, and a big focus of the interview was Joss's work with the Alien series. One of the questions was what did Joss think of the first Alien movie. His response, "I found God". That was enough to spark my interest in it. I figured if Joss held it in such high regard it was worth checking out.

Progress two weeks. It comes time for my 8 yr anniversery. We go to Blockbuster and want to pick a movie. We walk around & find nothing interesting, my wife says, "Let get Alien, cuz I want you to see Aliens." Yes, folks for our anniversery we watched the first two Alien movies.

Now being commentary junkies that we are we are watching all these special features, in one they are talking about the design of the "Alien" creature. The physical look was based on a series of art from this artist whose name I cannot recall right now. Anyway, during the commentary it came out that the artist was quite the opium user. He also admitted that he was quite frightened by his own work.

Wow, did I ramble.

Another thought on villians, What makes a great Villain? Is it Scary or Evil?

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

StillShiny's Firefly Fan Shop R.I.P --- I'm thinking we'll rise again.

DIETCOKE

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 10:46 PM

So did you find it as scary as I did? I was a teenager at the time, and a girl, and I made the mistake of seeing it alone..... You get the picture.

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

DIETCOKE

Wednesday, August 3, 2005 10:50 PM

>>>>Another thought on villians, What makes a great Villain? Is it Scary or Evil?<<<

That's a good question. Cruella Divil is evil (making fur coats out of puppies.) The alien in "Alien" is scary.

What I like in my villians is a little comedy. That just makes them wicked fun!

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

DANFAN

Thursday, August 4, 2005 1:16 AM

I am assuming that villain, in this context, pertains to human (or something human-like) villainy, not a monster or animal placing humans in peril. For me, the answer to this question differs depending on the type of villain you are considering... I think there's different types.

For funny, I have to go with The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight. You have a love a villain with a split personality... both of them evil! And he never talks with himself during the show... he recaps previous conversations with himself when no one is around to listen! What a hoot!

For utterly unlikable, repulsive, true evil, I have to go with Frank Booth from David Lynch's movie "Blue Velvet." Watching this guy is like eating dinner from a full toilet. I don't EVEN want to know what Dennis Hopper was channelling when he played this character.

For just plain "creeps me out," I have to go with a real dark horse, because her character hasn't been all that villainous in the series. Or even consistently villainous throughout the miniseries. But in the first episode of the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries, when Number 6 leaned over and choked the life out of an infant in its crib... in what she believed was a gesture of mercy! That just sent a chill all the way to my bones. When a villain shows that kind of alienness... that's creepy. You just don't know what to expect. Then they went and made her kind of ineffective and oddly charming in the series... they squandered that villainous moment.

DIETCOKE

Thursday, August 4, 2005 1:23 AM

Blue Velvet. I'll have to check that out. I always thought it was a porn movie. Or is it?

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, August 4, 2005 3:10 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dietcoke:
>>>>Another thought on villians, What makes a great Villain? Is it Scary or Evil?<<<

That depends on the type of villain, I think. There are basically two broad types of villains, sympathetic and unsympathetic.

When we think of villains, I think we usually think of the unsympathetic ones. These are the “Hitler-esque” and monstrous type of villains, and they run the gambit from mindless killing machines like the creatures in Aliens or the Terminator to resourceful, sinister and manipulative types like Darth Vader or Lex Luther. Most villains, particularly in genre tv, are the unsympathetic type; the sadists, the maniacs, the pure evil or unbridled killers.

But the one’s I really like are the sympathetic or “good” villains. And a good example is Laime Lanister from “A Song of Ice and Fire,” which I’m delighted to see several people have read. And the several people, who mentioned Ser Lanister, only had positive things to say about him. This is a guy who tried to murder a seven year old child by callously pushing him out of a window so that he could continue to have sex with his sister; he’s psychopathic; he loves to kill people. Yet he’s such a great guy! He’s got a good humored fearless, swashbuckling personality.

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

THATWEIRDGIRL

Thursday, August 4, 2005 3:15 AM

A great villain is evil. Anything or anyone can be scary, but true evil is terrifying.

I'm sticking with my three...even though someone said they needed to be human, I'm gonna keep hal on my list.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, August 4, 2005 3:25 AM

I don’t know why a villain needs to be human. It’s all in the context of the story, really. Technically a villain doesn’t even have to be specific or sentient. A villain can be abstracted, like in a “Farwell to Arms,” the villain is war. It just depends on how deep you want the discussion to go, or how abstract you want to get.

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

DIETCOKE

Thursday, August 4, 2005 3:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by thatweirdgirl:
A great villain is evil. Anything or anyone can be scary, but true evil is terrifying.

I'm sticking with my three...even though someone said they needed to be human, I'm gonna keep hal on my list.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
"...turn right at the corner then skip two blocks...no, SKIP, the hopping-like thing kids do...Why? Why not?"

This a fun thread. What is evil? What is Scary? Let the games contintue!

NY/NJ Browncoats: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly_nyc

EMMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 6:31 AM

I agree with the distinction between sympathetic and unsympathetic. Although, the distinctions in my book don't necessarily equate to likeable.

Evil can only be unsympathetic but that makes for (generally) poor viewing/reading and there is very rarely a truly evil character in anything. Life would be dull if (some of us at least) didn't want the bad guys to win occasionally. The number of times I wanted Buffy to be killed is beyond count, although I am not so sure whether that is because I like the villains or don't like Buffy!

Just as an aside Geiger is the artist behind the aliens and he was very sick - there is a famous painting whereby he painted babies bottoms being penetrated by sexual organs (male obviously). The man was very sick but strangely interesting and a very beautiful artist until you actually work out what much of it is.

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

FREMDFIRMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 1:37 PM

Well, if you wanna throw in likeable bad guys you just wanna root for ?

Mel Gibson, wanting his $70,000 back.
(forgot the title ? payback ?)

Cap't Jack Sparrow!

Tank Girl!

All technically, "bad guys" but you really wanted them to win, didn't you ?

-F

EMMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 1:58 PM

oooh, that complicates matters... JAck Sparrow a bad guy.... see, this makes life much harder...I will need to think on this one, maybe other people can think for me as my brain hurts.

The Blob! That was a villain, but a real one not a nice or sympathetic one.

The alien queen in Aliens is a sympathetic villain.

Boromir, where does he fit?

Can I also be a bit controversial and say God/Allah/Yahweh is a bit of a villain? This is on the assumption that he/she/it is a character and no offense is intended but he is a bit villainish. One of those complicated Angel/Spike types.

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

STILLSHINY

Thursday, August 4, 2005 2:46 PM

I think the difference I was striving for in the Evil or Scary distinction would be that Evil is about moral decision.

For example, our favorite ALIEN. No real moral compass. Simply kills & eats because it is a creature. Scary as the dickens you betcha, but I'm not moved to call it Evil. Replicators, scary, but not evil. It's the choice, to go against the moral compass that makes one truly Evil.

When one doesn't know any better, can it truly be considered evil?

Once again, sadly left open to interpretation. However, in the case of humainty, there is a moral compass, which would make humans who go against that moral compass evil.

In the case of many of the creatures, the question of moral compass to violate is left wide open.

movie

Select to view spoiler:

This will be an interesting thread to revisit in regards to the Reavers. But I don't want it to get spoilerish.

Wow I can hear the worm can opening now. Please do not open this to a "religious" discussion. This is not a right & wrong, or right & left thread. We're just talking "characters"

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

Stillshiny's Shop - I'm thinkin we rose again

http://www.cafepress.com/stillshiny

STILLSHINY

Thursday, August 4, 2005 4:22 PM

Not trying to hijack the thread sorry. I seem to recall this one being a list of the Best Villain's Ever.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

Stillshiny's Shop - I'm thinkin we rose again
http://www.cafepress.com/stillshiny

MIKEYMO

Thursday, August 4, 2005 5:03 PM

I don't think you can really include Jack Sparrow or other "anti-hero" types as villains. Otherwise, you might need to include our BDHs.
I think that intellectually, you CAN'T want the villain to win, but either emotionally or maybe just that little devil that sits on your shoulder is thinking, "Yeah, man! Eat that dude's brain!"

Finn - Lex Luthor! How did I not remember! I absolutely loved Lex. Never really liked Superman that much, Lex was just great. I always wanted to see a comic from his point of view: he is this really smart guy who keeps on getting foiled by some alien superman. So I guess there's at least one person that thinks Lex is sympathetic. Or maybe I'm just a bad man.

StillShiny - I just adored that post. And I completely agree, that a villain needs to make the decision to be evil, even if (especially if!) the evil is justified in his mind. Scorpius comes to mind here, since his actions were all directed toward the purpose of defeating the Scarrans, which he deemed important enough to justify anything he did to John or the others. The Aliens, although more intelligent than they're usually given credit for, ARE usually just interested in eating and replicating (aren't we all ). It's pretty hard to see a biological drive as being evil (and here, I refuse to make any sort of religion cracks).

See, we're still kinda on-topic!
Serenity spoilers follow

Select to view spoiler:

Which is why I consider the Operative to be an excellent villain, but I don't really count the Reavers. The Operative's little speech about how he knows he is a monster but that he's trying to create a better world, one that wouldn't have a place for someone like him... Good stuff. The Reavers are kind of hard to pin down intellectually, but we know from the movie that they didn't really have a decision in their Reaverness. Even that poor bastard in Bushwacked didn't have a chance.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, August 4, 2005 7:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Well, if you wanna throw in likeable bad guys you just wanna root for ?

Mel Gibson, wanting his $70,000 back.
(forgot the title ? payback ?)

Cap't Jack Sparrow!

Tank Girl!

All technically, "bad guys" but you really wanted them to win, didn't you ?

Yes, they were bad guys, but they weren’t villains in the literary since. Just as villains can be ‘likeable,’ so heroes can be ‘bad.’ Porter in “Payback,” or my favorite: Smith from “Last Man Standing,” were bad guys in ever concept of the term, yet they weren’t villains, and in fact were the Heroes. It’s all in the context of the story.

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, August 4, 2005 7:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MikeyMo:
Finn - Lex Luthor! How did I not remember! I absolutely loved Lex. Never really liked Superman that much, Lex was just great. I always wanted to see a comic from his point of view: he is this really smart guy who keeps on getting foiled by some alien superman. So I guess there's at least one person that thinks Lex is sympathetic. Or maybe I'm just a bad man.

Well, I guess there will always be a certain degree of subjectivity in defining a sympathetic/unsympathetic villain. The degree to which that determination can be made is not independent of the reader. If a particular reader finds the specific examples used to define an unsympathetic villain (wanton cruelty, for instance) to be positive traits then it is likely that reader may find sympathy for many widely held unsympathetic villains. In that particular case, finding sympathy for a truly evil villain might actually make you a bad guy, or at least suggest you might be a little scary.

But I’m of the mind that villains (and heroes) cannot be separated from the specific text. So depending on what text you read, Lex Luther may indeed be a sympathetic villain. The new Superman show on TV, which I don’t watch very much, but I think that it depicts Lex Luther in a very sympathetic light, which may be quite different from the way in which he is depicted classically in some of the comic books.

Many people have told me that Darth Vader is a sympathetic villain, and while Lucas may have been attempting to describe him that way, I don’t see it.

-------------
Qui desiderat pacem praeparet bellum.

FREMDFIRMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 7:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Finn mac Cumhal:
It’s all in the context of the story.

DING DING DING!

We haaaave a winnner!

I was hopin someone would pick that concept up.

-F

EMMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 8:34 PM

What it really seems to come down to is that we all have different ideas of villain/evil/bad/anti-hero and so on. When the context of the story is added to the mix it becomes all the more confusing.

Personally, I can never work out why the Alliance are so bad (I haven't seen the BDM) and keep trying to ignore this nagging doubt I have that the BDH are the villains.

I had the same in Star Trek, I always thought the Federation were the bad guys but then again I like the Psi-Corps (Babylon 5) so I must be pretty twisted.

This thread has done nought but confuse my poor little brain! I like it

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

EMMA

Thursday, August 4, 2005 8:51 PM

PS I am feeling very guilty for being controversial earlier, I consider myself spanked and hang-head in shame

extremely dimensionally transcendental
Temporarily amended to read...ALAN

FOURTHTROIKA

Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:03 AM

So many to choose from. Vader seems to be the hands down favorite. But there's only one that ever pops into the top of my head when someone says "favorite villain."

The Penguin.

Why? At first because he's so striking visually. A chubby little guy with a big nose dressed to the nines and carrying an umbrella. And he's smart and sophisticated. But most of all, because of his background: he was tormented a lot as a kid and he had everything that he ever cared about taken away from him. He became so bitter and despondant that he turned to a life of crime. I can relate. There but for the grace of God go I. If a villain makes you think that, then they've got to be good.

HAVRAHA

Saturday, August 20, 2005 3:44 AM

BLAAAHhh. Vader was OKAY, but he wasn't scary. I don't know, maybe I had nerves of steel when I was 5 years old, but the only thing Vader made me do, was drape a blanket over my shoulders and try to have a deep voice. Scary? No. Menacing? Only to his inferiors. The only really good BAD GUY qualites was his ability to kill without remorse and his intelligence. The killing without remorse seemed more humorous than scary.

Whatever effect the combination of his two qualities had, has only be reinvented in exemplified and multiplied through Scorpius in Farscape, which quadruples all of Vader's villiany qualities with the intelligence of an evil Mr. Spock, and more cunning than them both. Tack onto the end that Scorpius actually thinks he's doing something good with his evilness, and you have a three-dimensionality to his characer not evident in Vader, only consumed with serving his master and the dark evil of the force.

Scorpius wins best villian ever, hands down. Vader was improved a bit in his ruthlessness in Episode 3, but Lucas' sheer inability to explain his way of thinking at the end of the movie, coupled with Hayden's inability to deliver the lines without sounding like an adolescent child, ruined whatever lasting improvements on the character the movie was making.

MIKEYMO

Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:22 PM

Quote:
Scorpius wins best villian ever, hands down.

I absolutely agree, with this statement and the rest of your post. Except the part where you weren't scared of Vader as a kid. The bit where he chokes the guy at the Empire meeting ("I find your lack of faith disturbing") freaked the hell out of me. But now, post-prequels, all I see is a cool suit over a whining pansy.

My top 3 list (revised and definitive):

) Scorpius

) Dr. Hannibal Lector

) Lex Luthor

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

R1Z

Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:58 PM

You people wouldn't know a villain if (s)he sat on your laps.

1.)Snidely Whiplash, nemesis of Dudley Do-Right. You can't get eviller than tying Little Nell to the train tracks.

2.)Boris Badenoff with honorable mention to Natasha Fatale and Fearless Leader

Honorable mention to Cruella DeVille for the whole puppy thing.

And no, DIETCOKE, Blue Velvet is not a porno flick. Go rent it. You'll see.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks. --Robt. Heinlein

REAVERINA1985RIVIERA

Friday, August 26, 2005 8:36 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Stillshiny:
Quote:
Originally posted by dietcoke:
Quote:
Originally posted by maugwai:

Now being commentary junkies that we are we are watching all these special features, in one they are talking about the design of the "Alien" creature. The physical look was based on a series of art from this artist whose name I cannot recall right now. Anyway, during the commentary it came out that the artist was quite the opium user. He also admitted that he was quite frightened by his own work.

His name is H.R. Geiger, and his work is VERY bizzare. But also cool (scary-cool)

---------------------------------------------
The real-life box droppin', man-ape gone wrong thing, now without the pesky falling boxes

SIDAR

Friday, August 26, 2005 8:49 AM

Favourite villians? Simple. Auric Goldfinger. Willing to kill MILLIONS just to become richer. He didn't care about anyone execept himself, and that's one of the requirements in my mind for a good villian.

Another one is from a book series. Andrew Warneke, from the book Honor Among Enemies, by David Weber. I mean, NUKING a CITY just to show that you MIGHT do it again, simply to show you have a BARGAINING CHIP?!?

And finally, Niska. I mean, seriously. You don't believe me? What about that scene when he chops Mal's ear off as a 'rebate'? That's SERIOUS VILLIAN STUFF there, people!

YT

Saturday, August 27, 2005 10:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sidar:
Auric Goldfinger. Willing to kill MILLIONS just to become richer.

Is that in the book? In the movie he (ordered) painted a girl to death, crushed a guy in a car, perhaps killed several other minor characters I don't remember, gassed the soldiers outside @Fort Knox, shot the soldiers inside, and left a small but dirty nuclear bomb to explode & be contained within the confines of Fort Knox. It wasn't even supposed to destroy the gold, let alone the fort, merely contaminate it. I remember hundreds, not millions. But I still support your nomination of him as a great villain.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . .

OURMRREYNOLDS

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 4:16 AM

Top Dollar in The Crow. By far. Without a doubt. I also have a soft spot for Skank the speed freak.
I'll Explain my love for Top$. He had no agenda. No plan or cause. He burned the city once a year for the fun of it! Art for art's sake. Becoming a kingpin was a side-effect. He would have shattered the world just to see if it made a pretty noise. And let's not forget his respons to the death of his henchmen "By all means, let's have a moment of silence for poor ol' Tin-Tin" ***SNORT*** Pure evil by temperment, not design.
Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!

ZEEK

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 5:54 PM

The Return of the Jedi emperor hands down. He was so very evil. He not only would kill everyone in the Rebel alliance he even wanted to turn Luke evil. He'd even kill his right hand man in the process. And the way he just reveled in the evil deeds he did. He loved the horror on Luke's face when he heard about all his friends being in utter peril. He enjoyed cultivating the hate and fear in Luke. All his lines were perfect too. His Return of the Jedi performance is almost all quoatable lines of evily goodness.

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 6:13 PM

Thought I'd see what folks thought on this one........John Locke from LOST. One of the greatest characters ever.

"We had ties that could not be broken, except by the passing of time. Like a rock. A broken time rock. And you're very special to me, my broken time rock people." - Nathan Fillion

Stillshiny's Shop - I'm thinkin we rose again
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Listen to "The Signal" www.serenityfirefly.com

TRALALAH

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 6:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
(3) - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight (from: The Tick)
Always loved this guy, incoherent rambling and explosives go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

-F

Hooray for the tick!

I think Scorpius was a great villain because he wasn't "evil". He was a fanatic. He had his reasons and felt completely justified in his actions. That they were morally questionable makes the character all the more interesting.
The best villains are the ones that have depth to them. Spike before his soul, Angel without his.

But for pure evil, just for evil's sake I've got to give it Sauron

A swhat?

OURMRREYNOLDS

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:12 PM

A semantic point: to me a villian is sentient. They have the ability to think and out-think an opponent. Agent Smith, Vader, Palpatine, Pazuzu... villians. The Blob, Godzilla, zombies, etc. are MONSTERS. Was the tornado in TWISTER a "villian"? The T-rex in Jurassic Park? Not to me. Monsters and animals fall into the "forces of nature" catagory. Having not seen the BDM, just the DVDs I would be tempted to put reavers in this catagory because they operate solely on instinct, as an animal would. It's a subtle difference, but to me important. Also by the same token, a villian opposes the protagonist in a story, more or less all the way through. By that standpoint, Cap'n Sparrow, Mel Gibson in PAYBACK, Michael Douglas in FALLING DOWN... these are anti-heroes, immoral protagonists, or unsympathetic protagonists. Then again, I am probably over-analyzing the whole issue. But I would love to hear other sides of the debate.

I am planning on growing a big black moustache. I'm a traditionalist.

MIKEYMO

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Stillshiny:
Thought I'd see what folks thought on this one........John Locke from LOST. One of the greatest characters ever.

Locke a VILLAIN? Blasphemy!

Truly, he rocks. He is by far the best character on LOST, and certainly my favorite current television character. But I certainly wouldn't call him the villain of the piece - in fact, I think Jack's kind of an ass who needs to realize he doesn't have complete sovereignty over his fellow LOSTaways. Still, assuming Locke does go evil, I'd certainly place him on my list.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: If Locke goes nuts and starts hunting the other islanders down one by one, I'll still be rooting for him.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

RETRO

Wednesday, September 7, 2005 2:20 AM

The Operative is my current favorite villian.

Select to view spoiler:

"What I do is Evil. I have no illusions about that. But it must be done." Also the fact that he has the cojones to call Mal to apologize for Haven.

Also, Jubal Early is high on the list. Does that seem right to you?

Angelus was awesome, but only because of the Buffy/Angel factor. Also the Mayor, for previously stated reasons.

Ghaleon, from Lunar 1, is one of my all time favorites, with his combination of style, evil, and humor.

"Just because I choose to wander, it doesn't mean that I am lost..."

RETRO

Wednesday, September 7, 2005 2:24 AM

Also, (Because I just thought of him,) I'm playing Resident Evil 4, right now, and I swear the village chief, in his Plagas form, is going to give me nightmares tonight.

"Just because I choose to wander, it doesn't mean that I am lost..."

FOREVERSHINY

Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lucyfersam:
I've got to agree with the vote for Maleficint, absolute classic villian. I'm also a fan of Snow White from Gaiman's Snow Glass Apples on the same note. Others I'm fond of are both Morden and Kartaja from Babylon 5. The Witch King of Angmar is also pretty high up there.

Lucyfersam

I totally agree with you on Morden and Kartaja. Man, Morden creeps me out! *shudder* And the Witch King's soo freaky! Oh, and Jubal Early. And for all the Stargate fans, I love Apophis as a bad guy. He's shiny.

~ForeverShiny~

~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey to all the FF obsessed people!

No, Cap'n, I think it's shiny!

GIANTEVILHEAD

Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:11 PM

The Master from Fallout
The Transcendent One from Planescape: Torment
Kane from Command and Conquer
T-1000
The Terminator

"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam

JAYTEE

Saturday, November 12, 2005 11:29 PM

Lord Marshall in The Chronicles of Riddick. He's so evil he's already half dead.

Jaytee

THANATUS

Sunday, November 13, 2005 4:14 AM

Hard to rank, but two of my favorites (in no particular order are:

Archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) "The Prophecy" The bit with him perched up on the ledge in the bedroom...nightmares. 'nuff said.

Satan (Rosalinda Celentano) "The Passion of the Christ" She's Satan for Pete's sake! Can ya get more evil? Plus the androgenous almost serpentine portrayal was...creepifyin'.

[BTW..."Satan" is actually quite hot, no? Proof...]
Satan

Rosalinda

TOMTBA2004

Sunday, November 13, 2005 7:50 AM

Hands down. SEPHIROTH..

"lets go to work"

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