The face of eeeevil

[nicoleC]

Consider this research for future FW chapters (or just me thinking I've been neglecting my forum lately.... >_>)

I wanna know who your favourite (and least favourite) villains are! (and why, without going too far into spoiler-land) Books, movies, games, comics, whatever!

my faves:

Kefka (FFVI): because he's a crazy evil clown who does a couple of things during the game that I couldn't believe an SNES villain could get away with and made me really really want to bring him down (back when you didn't know if a game was 20 hours or 50 hours long)
King Bohan (Heavenly Sword): because he's like Kefka, only more extreme and he has the best lines ever XD
Ganon (in Wind Waker): He's pretty cool in all his games... and I really loved Twilight Princess, but his speech before the last battle in Wind Waker blew me away for some strange reason. I really loved the ending of that game, and the fact they actually gave Ganon a motivation for doing what he was doing.

I also have a soft spot for Azula from Avatar and a lot of Disney villains too XD

no love for:

Voldemort: because his whole schtick is "I'm a snakey evil overlord guy!!!" and I always mentally translate his name to "flight of death" XD Plus I love snakes and it pisses me off when they're made out to be "evil". Seriously...the only thing they ever did was not have legs! D:
Sephiroth: I never really got him (or the game XD) and I didn't feel really involved in the story, so yeah... Feffiroff! :B

Your turn! D:
_________________

[icekatze]

hi hi

Oooh, this is a tough one. I actually had to give this one an awful lot of thought before I came up with my answer... and honestly, I don't feel like this list is very accurate. I'm really just scratching the surface and going largely off of what titles are my favorite, when I'm certain that there are villains that exceed the averaged strength of the film/book/game as a whole.

The Good/Bad:

Isaac Jenner (Demonology 101): There were so many in depth and well thought out villains in this comic that it was really hard to pick the one that was my favorite. I think Isaac won out because of his recklessness and his motivations. Even though he was heavily bound by ancient laws, he found ways to manipulate them into his favor while, often times on seemingly juvenile whims. As the story progresses, he as well as the reader get a better understanding of what is eating at him as a person and a better handle on his eventual goals.

Kefka (FFVI) or Kuja (FFIX): They really just captured lightning in a bottle with Kefka. He had a subtle kind of madness that ballooned as the game progressed to a full fledged "I'm going to destroy the world," kind of insanity. Kuja on the other hand, not nearly as many people liked as a villain, though the main complaint I ever here is that he was too effeminate, whatever. They drew some surprisingly deep philosophical concepts into his character that weren't readily apparent from the start. Existentialism, Ethical Egoism and the transition from Radical Relativism to Critical Thinking. Still, they both played the megalomaniac part well, it's just a shame FFIX wasn't more popular in my opinion.

Zombies and Similar Mindless Dead: So sue me, they're not really villains in a classic sense but I like em. Trust is the foundation of human society and relationships. It allows people to work together, specialize, learn from the creativity or mistakes of others and find strength in numbers. The zombie scenario twists this concept back on itself at a primal level, drawing fear out of the concept that anyone at any time could turn on you for no apparent reason. However, sadly, there have been a lot of really poorly conceived zombie movies in recent history where they are portrayed as little more then inexplicable B-quality monsters. P.S. A corollary is the evil secret society, which presents a scenario where society which people rely on is no longer working in their interests. P.P.S. Coming in a close second would be threats that cannot be seen, which are also quite scary on a primal level, such as the ghosts from spirits within, or the "alien" from the self titled movie who is always hiding in the shadows.

Honorable Mentions:

The Babysitter (Calvin and Hobbes): A friend of mine recommended this one. Rather then focus on good vs evil, they focus on freedom vs authority and there is a refreshingly lighthearted but deep presentation of how both sides can go too far.

Kaaaaahn! (Star Trek II): Call me a nerd if you want, but this character was brilliant and well developed. You could tell from the beginning that he was ruthless and that he had a plan, but also you could see his weaknesses, like his mad thirst for vengeance and arrogance.

Sauron (Lord of the Rings): The ultimate evil that wasn't. It's very hard to pull off an ultimate evil in literature, and this is perhaps one of the best portrayals I've seen. It wasn't even that he was all powerful in reality, but that he gave the appearance of all powerfulness. Coupled with the human desire for power, it produced a remarkably poignant if not allegorical mirror of the kind of corruption that plagues the world even today. Fear, hopelessness and apathy caused his enemies to defeat themselves in most cases.

Doc Hopper (The Muppet Movie): Ok, I'm biased since it's my favorite movie, but he really is a good villain in his own right. He's given the chance to choose between right and wrong, and even given what we learn about his motivation, he eventually chooses to do the wrong thing. Gotta love a villain that sticks to his guns.

Queen Zeal (Chrono Trigger): Though not quite as central as Kefka or Kuja, she played her namesake exceptionally well. I also realize that I am once again biased by my preference for the title as a whole, but that may or may not be surprising.

Arthur Burns (The Proposition), Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men), Simon Gruber (Die Hard 3): These three are sort of in the same boat of the criminal villain. Arthur Burns is an excellent example of the remorseless criminal. He's evil and petty, but still human. Anton Chigurh is one scary guy...I realize that this may be simply because the movie is recent in my mind, but he is an example of a truly psychopathic villain. Simon Gruber is the first villain that came to mind when I though of the tricky thief archetype. A great example of an intellectual villain, who plays his victims against themselves and keeps them running in circles.

The Ugly:

Ubiquitous, Highly advanced but Inexplicably Stupid Alien Invaders (half of all summer sci-fi movies) : Just blow up the stupid blue green planet already, seriously. Actually, this one applies to any villain that is supposedly smart but at any point in the movie/book/game I end up saying "no you idiot, do this instead." If that happens, they fail in a most epic way. Only rarely have I seen Alien Invaders portrayed fairly, without making stupid mistakes. Normal super villains make silly mistakes almost as frequently it seems.

[SadAdam]

I actually favor bad guys to the good guys usually so almost all bad guys are good with me.

Any bad guy that is long, skinny, and gangly looking. (Scar and Jafar from the disney movies)

Ones that are very smooth, cool, and calm. (Hades from the disney movie, Snape *although he technically isn't a bad guy* from Harry Potter *i hate harry potter in general though*

And then the just plain evil bad guys like Sweeney Todd, Frollo, and Maleficent.

Those should all be recognizable.

Bad guys I don't like are Star Wolf and his gang (I actually really love Star Wolf's character, I just don't see him as a very good bad guy.), Queen of Hearts, Sauron (because he is such a plain evil boring evil? haha and the Balrog is ten times cooler.)
_________________
When I chose to 'grow up' I stopped LIVING and started SURVIVING.

[PJupiter]

[Haydon]

Ohh this can be tough because as I get older my memory keeps slipping....now what were we talking about?

Oh yea bad guys.

Great bad Guys

Kaiser Sosa from The Usual Suspects - This one rocked if you did not see the moive. Basically a bad guy all the bad guys feared and was just a rumor like the boogie man but actually existed and manipulated people into doing what he needed.

Anita Blake - Ok ok I know if you read her book series you are saying "Hey what a minute she is a heroine!!" Well yea she is but I list her here because she is the scary bad guy to. One that used to believe one thing and has slowly evolved into what she stood against. She still fights evil but she also does things with no remorse when she has to kill and her moral compass is completly shattered.

Genosha from the X-Men comics - This one is a bad guy because it represents all the evil that racist can bear on a people. Very like in history with Hilter in Germany.

King Xerxes from 300 - This is a representation of the bad guy who has the power and might and jsut crushes all those in front of him to bring them to heel. Believing he is a god and his will should be followed.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head. Most are just the same but with names changed but all bad guys have the same type of stories.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Professor Moriarty! I can't believe I didn't think of him sooner, Sherlock Holmes great nemesis and criminal mastermind.

The blue hand men from Firefly were pretty creepy too, but they never got enough playtime to become actual villains. They had lots of potential, but it was sadly never carried though.

[Ectorius]

In Firefly, Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda/etc was the best villain ever. Seductive, manipulative, evil and just a little bit crazy.

Darth Vader is the classic bad guy... but he's still cool. (Episodes 4-6 please... those other ones never happened)

The Joker is the best incarnation of pure, chaotic evil. Ignore the Nicholson version and the abomination that is in 'THE Batman' cartoons version- Batman TAS and the comics (The Killing Joke is a good one to read) are the best examples. It also looks like Ledger will be doing a nice crazy good job at him tho.


Aku from Samurai Jack.

Monarch from Venture Bros. -Though he sets himself up as being evil more then actually being evil.

There's a great good/evil duality in Yubaba/Zeniba in Spirited Away.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Darth Vader is pretty much the dictionary definition of villain, I mean seriously, his picture is on the wikipedia article for villain.

Aku was great, and I think Genndy Tartakovsky and Craig McCracken have made a lot of particularly villainous characters. It's like they tried to make characters that were archetypal of villainy. They don't even really need an explanation for why they do what they do, it's pretty much a given.

[Shrike]

One that comes to mind is Caliban from the novels Ilium and Olympos, by Dan Simmons. He's an insane frog-lizard-fish-man who eats human flesh, plays with lizards by poking their eyes out, and speaks in long convoluted sentences that only barely make sense. Plus, he's based on the same character from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Caliban's just fun to read.
_________________
Shine on, you crazy diamonds!
Rule #37: There is no overkill. There is only "open fire" and "time to reload."

[nicoleC]

Woo those are some good answers I'm really going to have to watch Khaaaaaan!!!!! some time, I've only ever seen clips from that movie... XD (but it's so much to scream)

I love Frollo and Hades, I think Disney usually does a great job making charismatic baddies that really get the point across (I just remembered how much I love the baddies from Rescuers Down Under! The hunter who's name I can't remember and his lizard Johanna XD)

Ooh, I think I'd have to add almost every character in Last Unicorn. Mommy Fortuna, King Haggard and the Red Bull... (great source of childhood trauma there). I liked them because they all have reasons for being the way they are, but it doesn't make them any less twisted/obsessed/scary.

And Saffron, Aku, the Alien and customers/clients = definitely evil! XD

As for Darth Vader, I suppose I should have added him to my lists, but I was thinking mostly about characters that don't end up redeemed in the end... but that doesn't make him any less awesome a villain, come to think of it!

...and Shrike, Caliban sounds really scary XD
_________________

[electricpanda]

Hermione is totally the real villain o Harry Potter.

Um, but I kinda liked Dr. Evil from Austin Powers...

[Tea]

Azula is definatly one of my favourite villians.

And Lanfear and Semiharge from Wheel of Time.

Personally I like the villians that really are villians, not bumbling idiots who can't come up with a decent evil plan. Which is why I prefer Shego to Dr Drakken.
_________________
I am not a box with a propellor!

[Emily Brady]

technically Dexter is a bad guy... and I lurve him.

SMART villains are the best- I love the ones that actually give the goodies a run for their money.
_________________
"...well, I'd rather see a resolution without any dead bishies or unwanted magical sex changes, but that's just me." ~Brendan

[Tea]

Yeah, they're so much better than the "Oh lookit me, I'm evil, I litter and curse" bad guys.

Richard! How could I forget Richard! Anyone else read lfg?

He's definatly one of the best villians, evil and so very funny. Example
_________________
I am not a box with a propellor!

[Kaen]