# Your Favorite Villain



## Spider

Who's your favorite antagonist/villain and why? Not only from books, but also movies. Honestly, I can't decide, but I do like Loki from the movie Thor. Even though he betrayed his friends, I can still sympathize with him.


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## MFreako

I'm thinking the Joker from The Dark Knight.

He's a total psycho; doesn't care about anything, doesn't have an agenda. It's just chaos wherever he goes, and to me, that's really fun.


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## Pythagoras

Darth Vader.


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## Svrtnsse

Hannibal Lecter

...from The Silence of the Lambs. Didn't watch the other one.


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## kayd_mon

Darth Vader, of course. 

Honorable mentions are The Joker (from The Killing Joke), The Sherrif of Nottingham (Alan Rickman from Prince of Thieves), and Magus (from the game Chrono Trigger).


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## Aidan of the tavern

Oooh, loads of them.  Saruman (both book and film), Joker (Mark Hamill's), Dutch Van der Linde, maybe that puppet from Gardens of the Moon, its a long list.


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## Jessquoi

Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender and The White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia (books and movie). Female villains can be most interesting!


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## A. E. Lowan

Mine has to be Nakago, from Fushigu Yuugi.  Sexy, charismatic, and utterly ruthless, he is complex, intelligent, and a bit tragic.  I find him endlessly fascinating!


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## teacup

I agree with Jessquoi with Azula from Avatar.
Also Pride, Wrath, and Father from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (so many good villains in that. Too many, it was hard to choose even my top 3.)
Vicious from Cowboy Bebop. 
Kuja from FF9.

I have too many favorites don't I? This was the trimmed list.


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## Garren Jacobsen

Amon from the Legend of Korra. I loved how awesomely manipulative he was.


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## Ireth

Not necessarily my favorite, but Jim Moriarty, especially from BBC's _Sherlock_, is definitely up there on the list. He's cold, cunning, ruthless, and a match for Holmes himself as far as intelligence goes -- no easy feat! And he's just so stinking casual about everything, even cold blooded murder.


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## teacup

I have to add another.
The Master from David Tennant's era of Doctor Who. He was just so brilliant.


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## Feo Takahari

El Patron from _The House of the Scorpion_.



> During Cinco de Mayo the ranchero had a celebration. I and my five brothers went to watch. Mama brought my little sisters . . . The mayor of our village--dressed in a fine black-and-silver suit--rode on a white horse and threw money to the crowd. How we scrambled for the coins! How we rolled in the dirt like pigs! But we needed the money . . . One year, during that feast, my little sisters caught typhoid. They died in the same hour. They were so small, they couldn't look over the windowsill--no, not even if they stood on tiptoe. During the following years, each of my five brothers died; two drowned, one had a burst appendix, and we had no money for the doctor. The last two brothers were beaten to death by the police. There were eight of us, and only I lived to grow up. Don't you think I'm owed those lives?


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## Kikuchiyo

Mordred, the bastard son of King Arthur. 

Blind Guardian - Mordred's Song (with lyrics) - YouTube


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## Jabrosky

Frollo from Disney's _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_. I like how his evilness stems from his religious and social views rather than mere greed or power-lust as is usually the case with Disney villains. Plus "Hellfire" is an awesome song.


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## phillipsauthor

To continue the Victor Hugo theme above, Javert from Les Miserables is my all-time favorite villain. As opposed to the too-oft used "just plain evil" characters that are more or less interchangeable, Javert is almost good. His problem is an obsession with a good thing (law and justice) to the exclusion of another good thing (grace and mercy). This makes him a far more believable and dangerous character than, say, Darth Vader. It's very easy for us to say, "Oh, I'd never be like Sauron or Emperor Palpatine;" it's much harder to honestly say, "I'd never be Javert." 

For me, it has really made me think about what I believe and why. In addition, it made Javert's downfall at the end of the book incredibly riveting - because it's so easy to put yourself in his mindset.


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## wordwalker

Another atypical Disney villain, Gaston from _Beauty and the Beast_. For a lot of kids in the audience, that might be the _first_ time they ever saw a comic-relief "of course you want to marry me" clown turn into something not so silly, or a villain come out of someone who might have been at home on their own street.


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## The Unseemly

MFreako said:


> I'm thinking the Joker from The Dark Knight.
> 
> He's a total psycho; doesn't care about anything, doesn't have an agenda. It's just chaos wherever he goes, and to me, that's really fun.



You, my good Sir MFreako, have made my day. I mean, why so serious?


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## Feo Takahari

wordwalker said:


> Another atypical Disney villain, Gaston from _Beauty and the Beast_. For a lot of kids in the audience, that might be the _first_ time they ever saw a comic-relief "of course you want to marry me" clown turn into something not so silly, or a villain come out of someone who might have been at home on their own street.



I've heard it argued that Gaston is Disney's best villain, because you see how he _becomes_ a Disney villain. At the beginning, he's arguably closer to the kind of antiheroes that populate Grimm's Fairy Tales. It's only when he faces rejection that he sinks into a more bestial state (ironically paralleling the Beast's redemption.)

Just amongst Disney's baddies, Frollo's the other popular choice. I've also heard mention of Mother Gothel (who really hits home if you've experienced abuse), Facilier (who has three separate motivations, one of which is only hinted at), and even Chernabog (because you just can't top someone who's practically the Devil.)


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## Ireth

Another Disney villain who deserves mention is Ursula. Sure, she has the stereotypical motivation to dominate the undersea world, but the way she gets Ariel to surrender her voice is just evil awesome. There's no tricks, no lies -- she flat-out tells Ariel what she intends to do, and what Ariel can expect, and the girl goes running (metaphorically) right at the bait. (Of course, it could be said that Ariel was a stupid teenager, so _naturally_ she did that, but still.)

Also, come to think of it, Hades is pretty cool too. He's hilariously voiced and acted, and comes off like a used car salesman or something of the sort a lot of the time. Sure, he's a (literal) hothead out for murder, but he does have a redeeming quality or two that even the hero can't match. For one thing, when he makes a bargain, he _keeps_ it. Unlike Hercules, who punches Hades in the face and walks away once he has what he wants.


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## Matthew Bishop

Might be a little cocky here, but I will have to choose a villain from my own novels, King Seagraul. He begins in the early series as a revolutionary and a visionary, a living ideal of "change the system" and dies as a tyrant and war criminal corrupted by his own system. He bares the flaws of the kind of man whose ideas become violently radicalized, who becomes so obsessed with power that the base of his character is forever changed. I think a villain who transitions from heroism into villainy is always the strongest.

===
MatthewRBishop.com
_The history of our world is yet to be written_


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## druidofwinter

I don't really think of Javert from Les Miserables as a villain, but he is a great antagonist. 

Favorite villain? Maybe Gollum. 
http://i.qkme.me/3ri3g7.jpg


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## shwabadi

I think it'll have to be Tolkien's Sauron or Morgoth.
Just the idea of some dark lord, basically the embodiment of evil, makes me think they'd be the ultimate villain.


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## WooHooMan

King Haggard from the Last Unicorn is my favorite fantasy literature villain.  There are so many dark lords, evil gods, powerful sorcerers, psychotic killers and sinister masterminds in fantasy that it's really interesting to see a villain whose terribleness comes from how completely pathetic he is.  He's actually pretty tragic, even kind of sympathetic.


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## Asterisk

Gollum is the only one that stands out for me. At the moment.


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## Azza

Definitely Inquisitor Glokta from Joe Abercrombie's 'First Law' trilogy!


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## Scales

Blue from Ginga Densetsu Weed, because he said he wished he met a nicer dog before he died.


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## Bruce McKnight

I am a huge fan of Darth Maul - total [email protected]@$s!

(Too bad the movie as a whole was a turdfest)

The best part about his character was how he was slowly revealed throughout the movie. First scene with him, you just get a glimpse. Later, he's fighting with a light saber, but just for a second, then the jedi flee. He only gets a few teaser scenes. Then, at the very end, he draws his hood back and you see the tattoos and horns. Cool. Then he whips out his light-saber... double-sided! Sweet! Then he goes off on crazy, acrobatic, double-jedi attack that makes every other light-saber fight so far seem like toddler waving a pacifier. Then he gets sliced in half and thrown down a reactor shaft! Done in by hubris! Greek tragedy! Awesome!

I know there's more to his story, but as far as that movie was concerned, he was slowly built up to an amazing climax then swiftly ended. I thought it was fantastic.

Of course, the clowns in marketing had to waste the brilliance of the character introduction by starting every commercial by showing him, hood down, engaging his double-light saber, but that shouldn't take away from his general awesomeness.


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## Mindfire

They brought Darth Maul back in the Clone Wars cartoon. I hear his arc in that show is pretty good.


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## WooHooMan

The interesting thing about Darth Maul is that he isn't badass but it's accepted that he is badass.  It's pretty bizarre.  Darth Maul's character amounts to a cool design and some awesome fight choreography but, as Bruce McKnight pointed out, there was a gradual reveal of what little information we get about his character and that made it seem like there was more to him than a cool design and awesome fight.  
He's a good example of a "less is more" villain.  Him and Boba Fett.


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## OGone

From Wiki: 


> Cletus Kasady is a psychopath and a homicidal sadist. Kasady is a deeply disturbed individual with a dark past: as a child, he killed his grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs, tried to murder his mother by tossing a television into her bathtub, and tortured and killed his mother's dog. After the latter, his mother then tried to kill Cletus, and was apparently beaten to the brink of death by Kasady's father, who received no defense from Kasady during his trial. As an orphan, Kasady was sent to the St. Estes Home for Boys, where his antisocial behavior made him the target of abuse from both the other orphans and the staff. Kasady gained revenge by murdering the disciplinarian administrator, pushing a girl (who laughed at him for asking her to date him) in front of a moving bus, and burning down the orphanage. It was during his brutal years at St. Estes that Kasady acquired his philosophy that life was essentially meaningless and futile, that "laws are only words", and came to see the spreading of chaos through random, unpatterned bloodshed as "the ultimate freedom."



Pretty evil guy bonded with an even more evil alien. Carnage is the ultimate "do bad things just 'cause" villain. Joker eat your heart out.


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## Mindfire

OGone said:


> From Wiki:
> 
> 
> Pretty evil guy bonded with an even more evil alien. Carnage is the ultimate "do bad things just 'cause" villain. Joker eat your heart out.



Carnage was partially inspired by the Joker, apparently. And on the evilness scale, I'd say Joker scores slightly higher.


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## Mindfire

OGone said:


> From Wiki:
> 
> 
> Pretty evil guy bonded with an even more evil alien. Carnage is the ultimate "do bad things just 'cause" villain. Joker eat your heart out.



Carnage was partially inspired by the Joker, apparently. And on the evilness scale, I'd say Joker scores slightly higher. Apparently the two of them met each other and worked together for a little while in a Marvel/DC crossover.


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## Feo Takahari

It takes a special brand of '90s to decide that Venom's brain-eating vigilante shtick isn't extreme enough. (This was the same decade that tried to replace Scarecrow with a guy who terrifies people before eating their hearts.) Still, the man does have appeal in a sense, and it's no surprise he's still being written about while other '90s characters have vanished into the mists of time.


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## Kn'Trac

I've always have a weakness for Count Stradh von Zarovich or Firran Zal'Honan (Azalin) from the Ravenloft series of novels. Their lives are so tragic, that you can't help but feel a kind of sympathy for them, even though they are ruthless monsters and would kill with little more than a second thought.


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## teacup

I have to add Jareth to this.


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## Eagle

teacup said:


> I have to add Jareth to this.



<3

I love Garoth Ursuul from Brent Week's 'Shadow's Edge'. He has to be one of the most evil, sadistic, and horrific characters I've ever come across in fiction, but manages to be hilariously funny at the same time. The slight parody of 'Empire Strikes Back' is golden.


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## Jackarandajam

McLeach- Rescuers Down Under. 

favorite villain of all time, hands down. Voiced by the great George C. Scott.

"NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!!!!"


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## Mythopoet

Baron Harkonnen from Dune has always been one of my favorites. One of his lines that I love to quote: "Have you any idea how displeased I'd be?"

I love Muska from Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky as well. Partly because he's Miyazaki's only real villain, partly because Mark Hamill does some fantastic voice acting for him (a really first class maniacal laugh) and partly because of his line: "A superior being such as myself has only one option: Burn them!"

Once upon a time I would have said Darth Vader, but the prequels ruined him for me.


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## Jackarandajam

In Star Wars, my favorite villain would have to be one of the few that wasn't ruined by the movies... The sinister Aurra Sing. 
A Jedi killing assassin, she looks as bad ass as she is. 

You see her one time in episode one, overlooking the pod races.


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## Guy

Kurgan from the first Highlander movie. It's so weird knowing he's the voice of Mr. Krabs.

Smaug. I normally despise arrogance, but from the first time I saw the Hobbit cartoon as a kid to this very moment I thought Smaug was just so damn cool.

Hans Gruber in the first Die Hard. Of course, Alan Rickman always plays a good villain.

And, of course, Agent Smith. I especially sympathize with him on those days when I'm particularly disgusted with humanity. And I've been told several times I look like him. Or I did when I still had hair.


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## Jackarandajam

Guy said:


> Kurgan from the first Highlander movie. It's so weird knowing he's the voice of Mr. Krabs.
> 
> Smaug. I normally despise arrogance, but from the first time I saw the Hobbit cartoon as a kid to this very moment I thought Smaug was just so damn cool.
> 
> Hans Gruber in the first Die Hard. Of course, Alan Rickman always plays a good villain.
> 
> And, of course, Agent Smith. I especially sympathize with him on those days when I'm particularly disgusted with humanity. And I've been told several times I look like him. Or I did when I still had hair.



SMAUG!! Favorite cartoon Smaug quote-*mocking* "you don't know 'bout that... I will SHOW you!!"

The style for that movie, and the last unicorn, was based on the art of the great Arthur Rackham.
Who also happened to have illustrated... Me.


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## Darkfantasy

Darth Vader!!! But I am also a huge fan of Hannibal Lecture. He's so intriguing, and intelligent. He's this monster but he has principles "he only eats the rude!" I loved the movie and the book. The book is more detailed.


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## Quillstine

If I had to go with the last bad guy who really scared me...then it would be the Raptors out of Jurassic Park! I was young when I saw the movie, for nights afterward I would lie awake tormented. Certain I was going to get mauled to death by dinosaur.

Khan is up there...so vengeful! The reavers out of firefly were might spooky too!

But my all time favorite bad guy was Count Olaf....Lemony Snicket always made my day


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## musycpyrate

My favorite villain might not really be a villain, but he can be. It is definitely The Hound from A Song of Ice and Fire.


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## Shaggy-Donahugh

I would have to say slenderman.
Now before I'm stoned to death (technically he's a monster, a thing not a person), I have a defense to make. I don't know how many of you have heard of this, but I recently read something on tumblr about how humanity evolved from pursuit predator's (basically we just follow you until you are too tired to run away). Now a lot of movie monsters are like that, but Slenderman pulls it of beautifully. You never really see him move, just when you think you've gotten away, you turn around and he's just a little bit closer. It's like being the animal being hunted by a human, and this is terrifying. He makes for the ultimate villian, which is a representation of ourselves.


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## Stare At Shadows

Hmm, that's a tough one. If someone were to hold a flintlock to my head I'd probably say Lord Foul from _The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_. I understand Foul's motivations at least, and even sympathise with them somewhat. In many ways he's a more compelling character than Covenant, who generally makes me want to slap him upside the head and scream 'What were you thinking?!'


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## AnneL

President Snow from The Hunger Games (books and movies both), because he's so realistic it's scary. Also, Donald Sutherland is so much fun to watch in the movies.


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## Ginger Bee

This looks like a bit of a zombie thread that keeps going, but I'm going to reply anyway.

I love Loki from the Avengers movies.  He is a villain that manages to be in turns utterly evil, charming, and vulnerable.  He has intelligence and wit, an endearing smile, and a completely foul mind.  His chaotic nature is entirely satisfying.  

I've also always thought the standout character from the Kevin Coster version of Robin Hood was the Sheriff of Nottingham.  He was also a more complex villain, which appeals to me.  I don't want to simply hate a unilateral character.  I want to enjoy a villain, and still enjoy seeing him/her crash and burn.


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## Ireth

Ginger Bee said:


> I've also always thought the standout character from the Kevin Coster version of Robin Hood was the Sheriff of Nottingham.  He was also a more complex villain, which appeals to me.  I don't want to simply hate a unilateral character.  I want to enjoy a villain, and still enjoy seeing him/her crash and burn.



Helps that he's played by Alan Rickman, too.  That man is an amazing actor, especially with villains.


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## Ginger Bee

Ireth said:


> Helps that he's played by Alan Rickman, too.  That man is an amazing actor, especially with villains.



I agree.  He has dimension and pathos, even when he's doing awful things.    I dig that in a villain!


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## buyjupiter

Inquisitor Glokta from the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Although it's hard to say if he's really a villain by the end. He's definitely a sympathetic character by the end of the trilogy.

Otherwise, it'd have to be Lord Voltmeter from _Heroics for Beginners_. He's your classically inept villain, which leads to hilarious results.


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## Feo Takahari

I'd like to change my earlier vote, if that's possible.

I say sometimes that I don't like how casually evil is often used in fiction. That's because I think evil is something different, something, for lack of a better word, _special_. So for my favorite villain, I choose someone who represents evil at its pure core, and furthermore, who represents evil on a _personal_ level. Someone who would never dream of ruling the world, or even robbing a bank, because the destruction of a single life is more than enough for him.



> Why can't you understand? I love you so much . . . I want you. That's what love is--wanting. Love is stopping at nothing until you get what you want. For instance, I got the katana tsuba I wanted. It's the same with you and Sandra. Both of you are mine . . . Soon you'll understand what love really means. You will accept my love. You'll become drunk on excitement, and then you'll comprehend what my love is. You'll thank me for it. You'll give me everything of your own volition.



Greg Lowland of _A Cruel God Reigns_, you are my favorite villain, and may you burn in hell forever.


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## TrustMeImRudy

The Prince of Chi'in from the Bridge of Birds novels is up there. Venom from Spider-Man comics too. And oohhhhh....the Silence from Doctor Who. Not the motivation, we technically still don't know what the motivation really is yet. Just what they are and how they are used...its brilliant.


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## JRFLynn

The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, Christine sucks  

Anime wise, it would be Griffith from Berserk, you would never guess he'd become the villain...but that just shows that the bad guy can be the least person you'd ever expect, and that ambition can rot just about anyone's soul.


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## teacup

> Anime wise, it would be Griffith from Berserk, you would never guess  he'd become the villain...but that just shows that the bad guy can be  the least person you'd ever expect, and that ambition can rot just about  anyone's soul.



The anime was "meh" to me throughout, but I watched it anyway, and when it hit the point where Guts left, it became fantastic. I loved Griffith's fall and how he became what he was by the end. (I've not seen anything by the anime, though, so I don't know what he goes on to do, villain wise.)


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## JRFLynn

Hey Teacup, you should read the manga, which goes far beyond the anime...If you thought Guts was a badass before, he totally destroys after Griffith's fall; more monster action, better support characters, magic, and cursed armor...What I like most about the story is that Gutz begins as a sort of anti-hero, where Griffith is that noble Arthurian hero type character that everyone has burned in their brains. Their roles switch, however by the end where Guts is still his old bloodthirsty self but he's on a mission for revenge. I'd say Berserk has probably influenced some of my own characters, just because the protagonists are so freaking awesome hehe.

Trying not to get off topic here, Griffith is mysterious and unreadable up until the very end...you just expect him to do what an Arthurian archetype would do, so I think that was purposefully done to lull the audience into falling into that trap. By the time the truth comes out, it blows your mind. Love it


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## teacup

> Hey Teacup, you should read the manga, which goes far beyond the anime


I probably, would, if I had the time. But I hear the manga isn't even finished yet, and could still go on for years. I'd hate to get up to date with it then have to wait for more


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## Ophiucha

I would be amazed if _Berserk_ ever finishes, to be honest.

My favourite villain would probably be Professor Moriarty from the _Sherlock Holmes_ books. I love a good criminal mastermind, and having him go against the detective mastermind made him all the more brilliant. I love that he's got a job as a professor, as well. Something to be said for villains with a 'secret identity', too. He's had about a thousand reinterpretations that have either fuelled my love for him further or turned me off the adaptation entirely. Of the most recent three adaptations, I thought BBC has the worst Moriarty and the RDJ films had the best. _Elementary_'s was quite... different, but I thought it worked well.

I also really like Kim Newman's _Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'ubervilles_, which is 'written' by Sebastian Moran in the same way the original Sherlock books were written by Watson. Great, funny adaptation of the stories.


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## Hainted

Ozymandias from Watchmen(Graphic Novel or movie) because he does terrible things to try and make the world a better place. The line "I did it 20 minutes ago." is still haunting, and something most writers over 20 years later still can't bring themselves to do.

Runner up is Magneto. They spend years painting him as a terrorist. A lunatic who kills because of a deranged belief that humans will round up mutants, put them in camps, and exterminate them just because they are different. Then they reveal the Auschwitz tattoo, and how he's the only survivor out of his family, and you're forced to think about how right he is.

Honorable Mention is Mr. Freeze. A man forced to break the law to save the woman he loves. My favorite story involved him breaking out of Arkham and building a freeze cannon just to make it snow. Not to cripple the city, not to rob a bank, but because it's his wedding anniversary, and it snowed on his wedding day as he and Nora left the church. When he tells Batman as he surrenders: "I can't cure her, but I CAN make it snow." I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.


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## Nagash

JRFLynn said:


> The Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, Christine sucks
> 
> Anime wise, it would be Griffith from Berserk, you would never guess he'd become the villain...but that just shows that the bad guy can be the least person you'd ever expect, and that ambition can rot just about anyone's soul.



Both great villains. The character of Griffith is stunning, even superb in the horror he casted as the egg of the king awoke. The phantom of the opera would definitely be in my top 5... Such beauty in desperate love. (_"sing one again with me..."_)

Beisdes, my nÂ°1 villain, would definitely be... Arthas Menethil (Warcraft, World of Warcraft)







The son of King Terenas, and a promising paladin, Arthas Menethil was meant to be a great and wise king of Lordaeron, for he loved his people, and had a kind heart. When some scourge threat awoke in Lordaeron, he stood with few others to investigate and put an end to this problem. He witnessed however, how the growing evil was mighty, and assisted powerless to the corruption of many of his citizens he had to slay himself, despite the tears, despite the cries... His heart grew dark with anger as he faced the one who had thrown Stratholme in the abyss, and he swore he would hunt him to the ends of the world.

Thus, Arthas went to Northrend with his army, intending to hunt down Mal'Ganis. Eventually, he succeeded, but the spirit of the lich king Ner'Zhul had been eating away his sanity, and when he came back to his kingdom, the Arthas everyone and known and loved, was long gone. Driven by the spirit of the lich, he slew his own father, the King, and slaughtered his people, devouring their souls, and raising them again in undead. He brought darkness to the world, as his scourge grew stronger. Having brought darkness to the world, he went back to Northrend, where he became one with the lich king, forsakening every remaining bits of his humanity.

After years of tyranny through fear, through pain and tears, he was finally brought down, all the spirits he had stole unleashed. In his final hour, he saw the spirit of his long gone father, clutching him into his arms, as he sobbed facing death.

"No king can rule forever my son..."

"He can only see darkness... before me."

Tragic, heartbreaking...

Fantastic.


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## yonig

Glokta,from Joe Abercrombie's books


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## TWErvin2

Lord Foul (the Despiser), also known as the Gray Slayer, Corruption, Fang Thane, and Satan's Heart Soul Crusher, from Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant novels.

Why? He was powerful, cruel, manipulating and quite sinister, and a worthy/dreaded foe for the defenders of the Land.


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## knight1298

Megatron from transformers Prime because he's capable to see reality


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