general media Who are some of the greatest villans in media

[Jeric 46,850]

Randall Flagg from Stephen King's The Stand was the first one to jump out at me

 

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

Kefka from Final Fantasy VI.  Unscrupulous, power-hungry, merciless, dressed flamboyantly - like a psychotic clown lol.  And dat laugh!  Also had a really amazing theme song and final boss theme called "Dancing Mad," if I'm not mistaken.  Best FF villain EVAR.

 

Death, from the Castlevania game series.  Sometimes he's a real pain in the butt to defeat in-game, and he is - as always - a faithful servant to his master Dracula.  He deprives Alucard (and you, the player) of your fancy starting equipment at the start of Symphony of the Night.  Yes I'll take that and that and that, thankyouverymuch.  And I'm sure by now everyone's seen this sweet sweet art of him by, I presume, Ayami Kojima:

 

I mean...  His ribcage is filled with MAGGOTS!  Awesome. xD

 

 

Doctor Otto Octavius.  Doctor Octopus.  Doc Ock.  Highly intelligent.  Cool name(s).  Cool nickname(s).  I don't read / haven't read the Spider-Man comics, but I read somewhere that - once the additional limbs were attached - his brain had to "evolve" to better accommodate them.  And this may have somehow contributed to his subsequent life of crime / Spidey-antagonism.  Alfred Molina's portrayal of him made the second Toby Spider-Man film my favorite.  Also, he originally looked kind of like a pudgy Elton John.

 

I think Vegeta was actually the best villain in DBZ; I just loved the first season so hard.  And then some very spoiler-ish things happened... 

He did some things on Namek that were self-serving and villainy...  But he also did / said some things that didn't utterly reek of villain.  He ended up a "good" guy.  But then he was a selfish d**k again.  Buruma + Vegeta = Trunks.  So okay he's a father.  Then he pulled that Majin Vegeta crap out of jealousy for Son Goku.

  Vegeta...  Was a complicated guy lol.  Son Goku is my fave DBZ hero, and I consider Vegeta one of his best rivals

- and friends, ultimately

.

Edited June 29, 2014 by PegaMister

[Prince Doopliss 2,351]

Most of these people might know show I won't say who they are or what they are from, unless there is a side of information.

 

 

 

Though I haven't completely played FF6, but what I've heard/seen I actually like. Though some might say he is just a Joker clone, I don't look at him as one.

 

 

 

Noah-Soul Eater

 

Though I have feel behind on Soul Eater or seen what happen with the wrath version, I like the greed version of this guy.

 

 

Come on, this guy use robots to try take over the world and well he was kind of the original in game industry that wasn't an alien of some kind.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Patchouli Knowledge

[Justin_Case001 4,881]

Lot of good ones mentioned already.  But I have to say my favorite villain of all time is Magneto.

 

He is so fascinating on so many levels.  The perfect example of the Lawful Evil alignment.  He's so interesting because he truly believes he's a good guy.  And in so many ways, his points of view are valid.  You can completely understand where he's coming from, and that's why he's a fun villain to like.  You can relate to him.  There's no hero/villain relationship more interesting than Charles and Erik.  Best friends that had such similar goals, but with a different opinion on how to reach it.  And even though they are enemies, there is still honor and mutual respect.  One of my favorite Magneto lines was in X3 when he says "Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know.  My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live."  Didn't really care for the movie on the whole, but I love that line.  Still enemies, but Magneto never lost respect and admiration for Xavier.  He never wanted Xavier to die.  He always truly wished that Xavier would have joined him.  Such a fascinating relationship, and such a fascinating villain.

[Shift 4,272]

GLaDOS. If you don't know why you are not my friend anymore.

[Castle Bleck 19,333]

 

Began as a Generic Doomsday Villain in the first Super Mario Bros., and is now a Vegeta-like rival to Mario.

[Discordian 6,015]

There are few villains that truly impress me. The only villains that I really like in most cases are ones that I would love to fight under myself given the right circumstances and/or incentive.

 

Trigun Badlands Rumble - Gasback

 

 

This guy is just so charismatic with the way he does things. His one goal in life is to complete heist after heist and he puts all riches he gets from a heist into the next one. A man who follows his dreams and they just happen to fall on the wrong side of the law.

 

Planescape: Torment - The Transcendent One

 

 

I can't really say much about this guy without being super spoilery so I'll just say he's awesome and leave it at that.

 

Sword Art Online - Akihiko Kayaba

 

 

This man...all he ever wanted to do was create a world of his own. A world he dreamt of since he was a child. While many believe what he did was evil I can't say the same. It's not so black and white as that. The people trapped in Ainkrad wouldn't have created a living and breathing world so completely if it was just a game to them. I honestly can't fault him for what he did in the slightest. A lot of people felt like they were living more inside SAO than in the real world so he did something right.

 

---

 

Then there's a character in Wild Arms 2 who ends up being the next-to-final boss but I can't say who it is because that's also spoilery. Not that anyone here will ever play that game.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

I won't repeat some of the obvious ones already mentioned like Darth Vader and the Joker, but there is a few I want to bring particular attention to:

 

1. Grand Admiral Thrawn - I'm rereading the first book of the Thrawn trilogy and I am getting a much better look into the mind of this awesome villain. He is not a force user like Vader or Palpatine, but he makes up for it with his calm, cold, and calculating demeanor. This guy will will out think the greatest out there, and was the only one Palpatine would allow to diagree with him on fleet strategies and the like. In the game "Tie Fighter," serving under him shows just how menacing he was, and seeing him out plan Grand Admiral Zaarin as a thing of beauty. Plus, those eyes. THOSE RED EYES!!!! I love Vader, but Thrawn is my favorite villain from Star Wars. Period.

 

 

2. The Galactic Empire - Sure, we mention individuals, but what was one thing that made the original Star Wars movies so great? For me, the Empire in general was such an awesome and intimidating presence. Considering the size of the resources, the fleet, the threat, and the fear posed, it's no wonder the Empire was successful in what it was doing (rebellion aside). Star Destroyers, Death Stars, TIE Fighters, OH MY! Palpatine, Vader, and Thrawn, OH MY!

 

 

3. The Dominion - Yeah, when people think of Star Trek villains, the most immediate answers usually include Kahn, Borg, or Romulans. I would say that the Dominion were the best villains in Trek. In a similar vein to the Empire, the Dominion wreaked absolute havoc on the Alpha Quadrant races. There was a legitimate chance that the Federation and Klingons would've been defeated and subjugated. The Founders were serious. The deaths from the Dominion War were astronomical. The Cardassians were relegated to a minor power while the Klingons would have some serious rebuilding to do.

 

 

4. The Shadows - One of the best parts of the often forgotten sci-fi show Babylon 5 was the mysterious race known only to the younger races as The Shadows. I mean, the buildup during the first few seasons gave us a dark and creepy feeling; especially with he subtle hints being left in old religious texts & the like. Then, when we saw them, it was like combing a spider with your worst nightmare. Truly a sight to behold.

 

 

 

5. The Horned King - In my opinion he is Disney's scariest and darkest villain. I can't really say too much; only that when people mentioned his name, there was an obvious shadow & fear that followed. He didn't have the personality of other Disney villains, but he was a threat.

 

 

6. King Sombra - I have already mentioned the reasons why a few times, so I'll just leave this.

 

Edited June 30, 2014 by PathfinderCS

[GreyScholar 1,584]

The Joker from Arkham Asylum, at least of the modern Jokers (Not a fan of Dark Knight Joker).

 

Discord (Pre-S3)

 

Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty

 

Scar from Disney's Lion King

 

There is more, but those three are the first to come to mind at the moment.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

Began as a Generic Doomsday Villain in the first Super Mario Bros., and is now a Vegeta-like rival to Mario.

I like how Bowser can kidnap the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom forty times...  And then everyone still has get-togethers to race karts or play sports.  An interesting relationship they all have lol.

[Banul 3,831]

The Illusive Man from the Mass Effect series. This guy just radiates awesome. He's also voiced by Martin Sheen, which is great. I always liked villains of the mastermind variety. He's also got a kick ass base orbiting a star

 

 

The Illusive Man from the Mass Effect series. This guy just radiates awesome. He's also voiced by Martin Sheen, which is great. I always liked villains of the mastermind variety. He's also got a kick ass base orbiting a star

 

 

[Irish Mist 119]

Allow me to be really hipster for a sec, but you can't forget my main man, Black Mask. (either incarnation) Where do I begin with this guy. He's got class, a really interesting design, he took control of Gothan and turned Penguin and Two-face on eachother, he's done some other big things (which I'm not going to spoil), he's actually gotten under my skin better than the joker, and to top it all off, he has some of the wittiest and funniest banter with Deathstroke I've heard in some time. What can I say, I just love this guy. 

And seeing as Glados has already been mentioned, guess I'll bring up the real queen of AI terrors. Shodan from System Shock 1 & 2. This megalomaniac AI who thinks she's a god and created a new form of life. Uses you throughout the entire second game, while talking down to you no less. Always one of my favorites. 

[GreyScholar 1,584]

Neron from the DC universe:

An interesting note is that the Joker sold his soul to Neron for a box of fine Cuban cigars

[Teen Buscemi 135]

1. Sinestro

2. Music Meister

3. Ra's Al Ghul

[WsConanRoyal 63]

Are books considered media? If so, then you have to consider the "Napoleon of Crime" himself, Professor James Moriarty. In my opinion, there is NO greater villain ANYWHERE in tv, movies, books, video games, etc combined. Here's my basic choices for different forms of media I guess.

Television: The Master (Doctor Who)
Movies: The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Books: Professor James Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes)
Video Games: William Carver (Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 2)

[Zekromic 1,054]

Tiago Rodriguez (007 Skyfall)

He may have left a bad first impression, but he barely wasted time to be a great character, and a very dangerous and competent adversary. A resentful ex-MI6 agent, he spent years planning his revenge against Judi Dench's M. He's one of the least two dimensional villains, well trained, intelligent, master strategist and manipulator, and once his main plan fails, he's still well determined to carry out his goal. My favorite Bond villain of all

[Darker 1,351]

The Joker.

 

No matter the portrayal, he beats any other villain, and there are few that can be compared to him.

 

[Caleb Rosengard 889]

1. Frollo-Hunchback of Notre Dame

I love this guy! (Not in a weird way)

He's just so diabolical and has the second best villain song.

 

THIS guy, he is by far the best villain I have ever seem.

And he is the best because he's so close to reality it shocks me

I mean, he's a clergy! He BELIEVES he is good, he's God on Earth, he quotes the bible while nearly killing Quasimodo.

He HAS FREAKING SEXUAL DESIRES and blame God for being so weak

He twists the holy writings to fit his personal desires.

HE IS INCREDIBLE GREAT AS A CHARACTER.

Not someone I'd like to meet on the streets though

[Khaoios 1,970]

The greatest villain in media is.............Darth Vader