Your Top Bad Guy Options

[Cardboard Box]

• Albus Brian Wulfric Percival Dumbledore
• Petunia and Vernon Dursley

Not my idea of villains.

Can I ask, why dumbledore?

Well, let's see. This man has huge amounts of power: he controls the International Confederation of Wizardry; he's top dog in the Wizengamot; and the headmaster of what appears to be the only wizarding school in Britain - at least one that examines for OWLs and NEWTs.

Yet, as a headmaster, he's bloody hopeless with staff selection. Snape's got bullying issues. Binns is a broken record. DADA professors are, in sequence, possessed, frauds, persecuted, impostors, government toadies, and God only knows what else. Decorated war hero be damned: if I were Minister of Magic I'd forcibly retire the old fart.

And then consider how he treated - or rather, didn't - the Boy-Who-Lived. Just dumps the babe on the doorstep and la-de-das off, thinking all will be fine. No checks, nothing. Almost as though he didn't care a jot about the boy's welfare, as long as he came to Hoggies hungry for belonging and approval...

Moreover he seems to have three mental blind spots: his own infallibility; an idiot faith in the inherent goodness of others (especially with regards to 'road to Damascus'-style conversions.) Many other fanfic writers have attacked his Utilitarian obsession with the 'Greater Good'... which seems to involve subjecting Harry to abuse, either because it suits his purposes, or because he's too damn stupid to contemplate that possibility, or because he's been agreed with for too damn long to let observed facts get in his way.

All this makes me think of this geriatric Gandalf as an idiot villain.

[Kazaera]

My favourite villain is actually from a fanfic (Aizen Keitarou from Meifu's Gate - it's a Bleach fic.) I mean, you see quite a few villains who do the psychological manipulation thing, trying to confuse the hero or talk them into thinking their actions are justified and they shouldn't be fighting/the hero should join them - but this is the first one I have ever seen that managed to sway me as the reader. He was so good at twisting the truth to his advantage that for the longest time I just couldn't figure out whether I was rooting for him or not even while he went and did horrible things to the protagonists. And later on I'd be shouting "NO!" at the screen anytime another character spoke to him, because engaging in conversation with him was usually the equivalent of laying down their weapons and surrending right then - he was just. That. Good. At the manipulation thing. I've never seen the like.

Other than that I'm having trouble coming up with anyone off the top of my head - I tend to dislike both "I'm evil just. Because. I'm evil, damnit!" and "I'm evil because I'm crazy!" type villains and they are sadly common. Give me believable motivations, please. Hmmm...

One villain who's coming to mind is Jon Irenicus from Baldur's Gate II, who scared me out of my wits when I was playing that.

[Zalphon]

My favorite villain is... *drum roll* Richard Moreau/Grey/The Master of Fallout I

[Arcry]

Favorite villain you ask? Well now, that is quite the question as I have a great number of favorites! If I were, however, to pit them against each other to see who would win.... I'd guess that would be Ganondorf. After a battle against my top ten, Ganondorf would win, I think.

[SubRosa]

I suppose there are three for me.

#1 - Londo Mollori from Babylon 5, specifically seasons 2-4. What I love about him is that he is not your typical sociopathic bad guy. He's not insane, or the living embodiment of evil, or any of that. Instead he is actually a very sympathetic figure. In the first season we come to know him in a positive light. He is a screw-up, a loser, a washed up diplomat in a backwater post. At one point he describes himself as "the odd man out", and it sums him up to a tee.

But as the first season ends, the Big Bad makes him a deal, an opportunity not only for his own personal power, but also to return his now weak and decrepit nation to its once great status as a powerful empire. He takes it. He knows what he is doing is wrong, he feels guilty for the millions who die because of him. But he just cannot stop himself. This is his chance, and he is going to take it, no matter what it costs his soul.

I also like that Londo is not a super-powered tough guy. He is a thinker. When he puts his mind to it, he is simply a genius. Ironically he is at his best when it comes to murdering his allies. No one manipulates people like he does, and he does it with such style that you cheer for him. It also helps that his allies are much further along the true evil scale then he is. And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place, is a wonderful example of this. Not to mention what he does to Morden and the Shadows.


#2 - Scorpius from Farscape. Wayne Pygram (who also had a minor appearance as Governor Tarkin at the end of Revenge of the Sith) plays the stock evil overlord to perfection. I think what ticks for him are his motivations. He is a half-breed Sebecean/Scarran, the two biggest, evilest races in the galaxy. Also the most physically incompatible. The Sebeceans are very similar to humans, but have a serious problem with heat, which can kill them. The Scarrans on the other hand, are made for extreme heat. So the hotter he gets, the more raw power Scorpius gets from his Scarran side. And the more he comes to death thanks to his Sebecean half. Because of this he has to wear a special cooling suit, and even worse, cooling rods inserted into his skull, which have to be replaced on a regular basis.

He came about from a genetic engineering experiment by the Scarrans, and spent his early life as a Scarran lab rat. Until he eventually killed his keeper and escaped. He joined the Peacekeepers - a Sebacean mercenary empire - to get his revenge on the Scarrans. His interest in the protagonists is the wormhole technology that John Crichton has. The Sebaceans are vulnerable, and the Scarrans on the verge of finding out and launching an all out war to annihilate them. Scorpius needs the wormhole tech to turn the tide. He will do anything to get it, even putting a clone of himself inside John's brain.

He is tons of fun, because while being very powerful and ruthless, he has some serious weaknesses as well, along with some good motivations.


#3 - Darth Vader. Pretty much a cardboard supervillain. But he is the first bad guy I ever saw who was cooler than the heros. He wins for me simply on that coolness factor. James Earl Jones' voice is of course a big part of it. But his lines are just priceless. "Apology accepted, Captain Needa." is still one of my all time favorites. Along with "I find your lack of faith disturbing." I think he killed more Imperial soldiers than the Rebellion ever did! Which I liked, because it showed the real face of the dark side: unbridled destruction.

[stargelman]

SubRosa: what you wrote about Londo Mollari, it makes me want to watch B5 all over again, front to back. And you're spot-on with your description of his character. Let me just add that I think another very telling episode where his character is concerned is the one where he nearly dies of guilt, The very long night of Londo Mollari I believe it is called.

[Tellie]

Lord Vader. The guy has it all: Awesome suit check, cool weapon check, intimidating voice check, half mechanical body check, has people who are despicable and terrifying in their own right shaking in their boots check, cool powers check, and a complete disregard for all of his underlings check.

All in all it is very difficult to beat Darth Vader in an evil overlord contest with how Ralph Fiennes manages to sell the role, just awesome

This post has been edited by Tellie: Oct 15 2011, 11:46 PM

[McBadgere]

Ahh...Subrrrossa, my goood and deearr frriend...*Points to self*...Meee, a baad guyy?...

I miss Mollari sooo much...Bless him...

My fave villain is Cardinal Richlieu from The Musketeers...True twirly moustache bad guy...Beaten at every turn but still comes out with a smile on his face...

[King Of Beasts]

Lord Harkon from the Dawnguard add on for skyrim, Thee Joker from batman, and Loki from Thor

This post has been edited by King Of Beasts: Dec 30 2012, 06:53 AM