"We're looking for a couple of good villians..."

I posted a topic like this long ago, but my first post derailed and it never really got anywhere.

I suspect that some people, myself included, generally enjoy villianous characters more than their corresponding heroes. For me at least, it's in part because villians tend to be more bombastic and real than the goody-two-shoes who oppose them. That's why I really find the characters of Doctor Robotnik and Dr. Neo Cortex to be appealing.

Of course, you may like the villians who are more cold and calculating, or perhaps even anti-villians, those whose hearts are in the right place but whose actions will do more harm than good.

Simply put, what qualities do you like in your villians? Or if that's too broad of a question, who's your favorite villian and why? Feel free to mention villians from all artistic mediums, or heck, even real life.

This post demands the All Natural Villain Enhancement Program

But, regardless. It's no secret that I'm a Henry Hatsworth fan and as such, Weasleby ranks highly on my personal list of awesome villains. Why? Because he's posh, insane and could best be described as a British Robotnik.

Although, another classic villain for me would have to be the Joker. I appear to be attracted to insanity, but regardless, I simply adore the Heath Ledger Joker and the Joker as presented in Batman: The Animated Series, he was nothing short of brilliant.

oh, and real life villains? Well... There's an interesting case I looked at for Psychology, the 'Phantom Anesthetist'. In Matton, Illinois, there were a series of reports of a mysterious man pumping a numbing gas through citizens windows and rumors spread. Long story short, this was all confirmed as fake and the mass rumors and reports of gasser sightings were reported as hysteria and nerves, so, the gasser was never a real villain, but interesting none the less. Amusing as well, some people panic over the smallest things.

Villains that I find most interesting generally fall into three broad categories.

1. Ruthless and clever archvillain
2. Hopelessly incompetent yet lovable villain
3. Ultimately sympathetic or tragic villain

Which one of the three I prefer generally depends on the context of their appearance. Some of my favorite villains include:

Cad Bane
"As long as I get paid, it makes no difference to me"

From Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the bounty hunter bears a distinct resemblance to western gunslingers except with much more savvy and is definitely material for a type 1 archvillian. He's never lost to the Jedi... the one to blame for his failed mission was his employer, Darth Sidious, while Bane manages to trick Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi and get out clean. He hasn't reappeared since, giving his villainy plenty of time to ferment into distilled awesomeness.

Sheriff of Nottingham (BBC's Robin Hood)
"Ahh, how appropriate. A fight so important that it should come down to the few that matter"

Somewhere between type 1 and type 2, the Sheriff will be the fool in one episode and the leering nemesis in the next. Like a type 2 villain, he is evil just because he enjoys being a villain, but like a type 1 villain he's often a step ahead of the heroes and when the series comes to a finish he's the only villain left with any manner of credibility. (Sir Guy has become an antihero, Prince John is a whiny brat, and the new Sheriff is a different kind of character altogether) Besides, the only thing more cheesy and ridiculous than the storyline of BBC's Robin Hood is the way the Sheriff is portrayed and that makes him awesome by default.

Sarah Kerrigan (AKA The Queen of the Blades)
"You see, at this point... I'm pretty much the Queen Bitch of the Universe. And not all of your little soldiers or space ships will stand in my way again."

She's an unstoppable fiend but her fall is tragic enough to make her villainy even more grievous for anyone that played the Terran Campaign before Blizzard began to promote the expansion. She's both a type 1 and a type 3 villain, and she excels as both. You'll want to trust her out of sympathy when you shouldn't, and you will not be able to trust her when you must.

Add to my list Cruella de Vil of the Disney animated and live-action adaptations of The Hundred and One Dalmatians. She's slick, sophisticated and stylish to a ridiculous degree, which the tone of her theme song in the animated movie captures aptly. But the vast extent of her villainy is revealed when events begin to spiral out of her control, causing her to transform into the insane alpha-bitch from Hell ("Poison them! Drown them! Bash them on the head!"). And all over a fur coat! This type of interesting dualism is another quality I like in villains.

De Vil's bumbling henchmen, Jasper and Horace, are great foils to their boss on many accounts. Most personally insightful is that their wickness seems to have a limit, whereas De Vil's doesn't.

In the real world, villains are just people with a particular misguided goal.
I like villains that know they are 'evil' and try to classify evil as not a misguided means to a goal, but the goal itself.
Megavolt comes to mind, as does most of the Earthworm Jim cast. Especially when they want to do something that doesn't make any sense ("Destroy the Universe!").

SSNTails said:

In the real world, villains are just people with a particular misguided goal.

Click to expand...

Like Sylar from Heroes, right?

My favorite video game villains:

Dr Neo Cortex - Crash Bandicoot Series

Although he is a evil character which one side of him is serious, he also has that personality where he can be stupid and can also be hilarious from time to time. I also like that hover thing he rides on in the original Crash games.

Dr Robotnik - Sonic The Hedgehog Series

Like Cortex, Robotnik can be pretty evil, cold & calculating but to a more further extent. He can also be even stupid, childish and can also have that humorous attitude in him as well. The way he runs also cracks me up as shown in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

Tabuu - SSBB

Pure Evil, and wants to destroy the Smash Bros crew and claim the world for himself to conquer. He's very strong as shown in the SSE cutscene with Ganondorf trying to save Master Hand and puts up a big fight during the final boss.

Tails - Sonic Adventure 2 Battle *Dark Story Only*

I think it fits more under the enemy section, but you know; though I have one perfectly good reason as to why I chose this one. He leaves his innocence behind and becomes a real badass, especially in the 2nd fight where Eggman plunges Sonic into space = You've pissed him off big time and he'll do anything to destroy you. This is what made me like Tails a lot in this game, he's not his kid like self, but relies on himself this time round.