Villain fan club! [Archive] - Literature Network Forums

Bakiryu

09-12-2007, 05:24 PM

So, does anyone ever find his/her self loving a book villain?

I drive people insane with fangirlism :blush: Specially with Lex Luthor who's.......AWESOME!!! Or Orichimaru. Or Voldi. or Kira :D

Who's your favorite villain and why? You can post more than one! And no heroes please.

Alexei

09-12-2007, 05:50 PM

So, does anyone ever find his/her self loving a book villain?

I drive people inside with fangirlism :blush: Specially with Lex Luthor who's.......AWESOME!!! Or Orichimaru. Or Voldi. or Kira :D

Who's your favorite villain and why? You can post more than one! And no heroes please.

Yes, it's quite normal for me. Sometimes the villains are more complex than the other characters (I think it is usually in the worse novels ;) ) or there are just more fascinating I am not sure.

I am not sure I agree about Kira, personally I prefer L, but out of the comparison with L, I like Kira too ;)

Telegram Sam

09-12-2007, 06:15 PM

Pinky from Brighton Rock is one of my favorite characters ever.

PeterL

09-12-2007, 06:23 PM

Rudi Von Sternberg is excellent. I sometimes think of having bumper stickers printed saying: "What would Rudi von Sternberh Think?"

Bakiryu

09-12-2007, 06:25 PM

I am not sure I agree about Kira, personally I prefer L, but out of the comparison with L, I like Kira too ;)

I love them both, but L acts more like me. :D

Alexei

09-12-2007, 08:00 PM

I love them both, but L acts more like me. :D

That's cool. I just think that Kira's movements are amazing, but to be able to predict them is just ... wow!!!

mtpspur

09-12-2007, 08:12 PM

A certain affection for Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu (though HE doesn't see himself as a villain)

and in comic book land--the one and only Doctor Doom (from Fantastic Four comics primarily though he pops up everywhere sooner or later especially if a title needs a sales increase. Doom doesn't see himself as a villain either.

Bakiryu

09-12-2007, 08:18 PM

and in comic book land--the one and only Doctor Doom (from Fantastic Four comics primarily though he pops up everywhere sooner or later especially if a title needs a sales increase. Doom doesn't see himself as a villain either.

Who doesn't love dr.Doom? He's awesome! I like him more than mr.fantastic, (he's kind of annoying.)

LadyWentworth

09-13-2007, 12:19 AM

Lex Luthor who's.......AWESOME!!!

Oh, I agree! I am quite partial to The Riddler, too, though. I tend to go after DC villains more than Marvel.

As for a book, there is this novel by Louisa May Alcott called A Long Fatal Love Chase. Basically, the story is about this woman who is stalked by an ex (I thought the storyline seemed quite interesting, as LMA had written it). His name is Philip Tempest. He makes the entire story for me. He is cunning, clever, sneaky and creepy. I actually found myself pulling for him! I love him! He has to be one of the most entertaining characters to come out of literature.

Bakiryu

09-13-2007, 08:53 PM

Um, haven't read it but I love how the name sounds. Now that's going to be stuck in my death all day: phillip tempest! I'll see if i can find the book.

SnowQueen189

09-13-2007, 09:13 PM

hmm...i'd have to say that the villian i love is draco from harry potter :blush: ...but i love ron more :brow: ...

Bakiryu

09-13-2007, 09:16 PM

Cuteness! I love Ron more than Harry *Bakiryu gets killed by HP fanclub* and Bellatrix Lextrange too, even if she did kill Sirius :bawling: and of course, Voldy.

Taliesin

09-14-2007, 04:08 AM

Hannibal Lector
Cersei Lannister from "A Song of Ice and Fire". Incest, manipulation, cruelty, beauty. However, she is not so intelligent as, say Tyrion, who plays the game better than she, so she is a bit pathetic. Varys and Littlefinger are doubtless the coolest, although I would name neither of them villains per se. They are just... wonderfully pragmatic. Euron Crows Eye is impressive too, and has definitely villanous qualities, as does Melisandre, the red priestess.
Oh, and Linear Guild from the Order of the Stick. And Miko Miyazaki who, in my opinion, is psychologically a very interesting antagonist. A fallen self-righteous paladin with a holier-than-thou mentality, believing all her deeds she does in the name of justice (or so she believes) are fair and just although some are just vile.
Nurse Ratched.
Grey Dog from Kivirähks "Butterfly" A negative personification of death, death that takes away all that is beautiful and fragile and hates the theater about which the novel talks about since it mocks death, people die on stage and yet when the curtains fall, they come out and bow, Napoleon is dead for over a century and yet he walks on the stage, there are things like love, happiness, bravery and honour on the stage but where are those in life? Oh, the theater lies, and that is why the grey dog hates it.
Lilith Weatherwax from "Witches Abroad" Sacrificing people to stories.
We could go on with this list for ever.

Alexei

09-14-2007, 04:32 AM

Cuteness! I love Ron more than Harry *Bakiryu gets killed by HP fanclub* and Bellatrix Lextrange too, even if she did kill Sirius :bawling: and of course, Voldy.

Yes, I like Bellatrix too and everybody says that it is awful, because she have killed Sirius, but what could I do, she is determined, strong personality etc, seems like a character i would like in any book.

manolia

09-14-2007, 09:05 AM

My favourite book villains: Count Dracula and Saruman :D

Pensive

09-14-2007, 04:29 PM

Madam Defarge - A Tale of Two Cities
Saruman - Lord of the Rings
Saulat - Dastak Nah Do

Alexei

09-14-2007, 04:32 PM

My favourite book villains: Count Dracula and Saruman :D

:thumbs_up Agreed!

Bakiryu

09-14-2007, 06:28 PM

I've never liked Saruman, I don't know why. On the movie on or the book, I did tend to cry for Gollum but I don't think i really liked him either.

Lote-Tree

09-14-2007, 06:45 PM

It is hard to like down and out Evil character!!!

It is those that have a thread of "goodness" still that makes them intriguing and interesting...

Bakiryu

09-14-2007, 06:49 PM

It is hard to like down and out Evil character!!!

It is those that have a thread of "goodness" still that makes them intriguing and interesting...

It doesn't get much eviler than Orochimaru :idea:

Lote-Tree

09-14-2007, 06:50 PM

It doesn't get much eviler than Orochimaru :idea:

Then it will be hard to like this character.

Hyacinth42

09-14-2007, 08:42 PM

The main problem I have with villains is that they are all stupid and violate the "Evil Overlord Rules" (http://www.evilrulers.com/eviloverlord.htm and/or http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)... It makes me want to smack them... So, any "liking" I might have had for them vanishes... *sigh*...

Yes, I like Bellatrix too and everybody says that it is awful, because she have killed Sirius, but what could I do, she is determined, strong personality etc, seems like a character i would like in any book.

Well, I am one of those mentally ill people that didn't like Sirius and cheered when he died... But, I dislike her because she's insane ;) My favorite character was Snape (although he wasn't technically a villain)

The first time I read Dragonlance, Raistlin was my favorite character (I thought he was cool and powerful and in a crappy position)... Then I tried to re-read it a year or two ago, and realized he was a whiney jerk... It kind of ruined the book.

I admit that you have to feel sorry for Sauron. Here he is, an uber powerful demi-god thing (I think he was a demi-god) and this little insignificant halfling kills him...

PeterL

09-15-2007, 01:49 PM

Alexei

09-15-2007, 05:46 PM

Well, I am one of those mentally ill people that didn't like Sirius and cheered when he died... But, I dislike her because she's insane ;) My favorite character was Snape (although he wasn't technically a villain)

Yes, it's a bit bothering, but I think otherwise she would be too intriguing or too unreal (depends of what the madness would be changed with). I like Snape too and I think that somewhere in the first books he could be considered as one.

Bakiryu

09-15-2007, 07:44 PM

Pensive

09-16-2007, 10:09 AM

Oh and I loved reading about Gollum too!

SleepyWitch

09-16-2007, 10:35 AM

Gustav Gründgens as Mephisto in Faust.
it's been ages since I watched it, though. I don't remember what it was I liked about him :blush:

http://picture.yatego.com/images/428b84fecc19b0.4/3829114397.jpg
http://www.abebooks.de/images/MediaRoom/faustL.jpg
http://www.sub.uni-hamburg.de/onTEAM/grafik/theatersammlung_ausschnitt.jpg

LadyWentworth

09-16-2007, 02:20 PM

Madam Defarge - A Tale of Two Cities

I thought about her, too.

I was actaully going to mention another Dickens character, though, that I LOVE. It is from his unfinished story, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It is Drood's Uncle Jasper. He was just brilliant!! Of course, as the story was never finished, we will never know what the outcome of his character would've been (maybe he wouldn't have been the evil one after all - though I highly doubt it!). He was so sneaky. I like those sorts of guys!

Yeah, and doesn't the name of Philip Tempest (from a character I mentioned earlier) just stick in your head?!??!!

Bakiryu

09-20-2007, 07:06 PM

He scares me for some reason. :lol:

LadyWentworth

09-21-2007, 01:01 AM

He scares me for some reason. :lol:

Well, if you read the book, he will linger in your mind a little longer. After all, he psychologically messes with the leading lady, and I think that is why the thought of his character seems to stick in the mind for awhile.

I think villains who go after their "prey" in the psychological sense make the best villains of all. They are the most clever.

I made my mother read this book and I'd ask her how she was liking it. Whenever I'd do that, all she'd ever say was "Tempest, Tempest, Tempest", and leave it at that. She did mention, though, that at the time while she was reading the book, he would pass through her mind during the day. He seems to have that sort of affect on people!

higley

09-22-2007, 02:35 PM

I do remember, when I read Michael Chabon's Summerland, really loving the villain of the book--Coyote. What a personable bad guy. :D

SnowQueen189

09-25-2007, 02:03 PM

umm...maybe it's just me, but i LOVE the phantom from phantom of the opera and jud from oklahoma...except jud when he's drunk... :(

amalia1985

09-25-2007, 02:19 PM

Alexei

09-25-2007, 03:07 PM

LadyWentworth

09-25-2007, 10:19 PM

I love Lord Henry from Oscar Wilde's "The picture of Dorian Gray", although I wouldn't clearly classify him as a villain. I had the honour to watch Robert Powell's performance, as well, and I was...simply, moved to tears by the power of his acting.

Definitely!!

I don't know that I really consider the Phantom (Erik) to be that much of a villain. I guess he is, in a way, but I think he is supposed to be more of a misunderstood man. Then those circumstances in life led him to behave the way that he had towards the people around him. I think it is that more than being a villain for the sake of being a villain. That is my opinon, at least. :)

amalia1985

09-26-2007, 10:19 AM

Definitely!!

I don't know that I really consider the Phantom (Erik) to be that much of a villain. I guess he is, in a way, but I think he is supposed to be more of a misunderstood man. Then those circumstances in life led him to behave the way that he had towards the people around him. I think it is that more than being a villain for the sake of being a villain. That is my opinon, at least. :)

I totally agree with you. I think that in The Phantom of the Opera, somebody had to be the "bad guy" to say it plainly, and Eric was there. Personally, I always sympathised with him,seeing him as victim of prejudice.

friargirl

09-26-2007, 07:48 PM

Definitely Hannibal Lector...oh, and Darth Vader

Bakiryu

12-24-2007, 12:38 AM

Definitely Hannibal Lector...

oh, he's so awesome in the new movie! :blush:

*Classic*Charm*

12-24-2007, 02:16 AM

I love Hannibal Lecter, but I don't see him as a villain.

Bakiryu

12-24-2007, 02:38 AM

I love Hannibal Lecter, but I don't see him as a villain.

yeah, I guess the eating of human organs doesn't really count, really :p

Oniw17

12-24-2007, 02:50 AM

It depends on what you define as a villian. In most good fiction, there's not a clear distinction between a hero(or an anti-hero) and a villian. Anyway, I like Entreri from a few a Salvatore's novels; Aoshi from the Kenshin manga and anime; Dr.Doom from Marvel Comics; Riku from the Kingdom Hearts games; Odin from the Bard series; Apollo from Greek mythology(in some of the stories like with Eros or Orion); Kira from Deathnote; Sephiroth from FFVII; from batman, Hugo Strange, Ra's al Ghul, and Shiva; Blade from the Spiderman comics; Guts from Berserk; the main villian from Green Arrow comics; Selene from the Last of the Amazons; Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho;Dr. Hannibal Lecter; the Saw villian; and quite a few others.

LadyW

12-24-2007, 04:00 AM

I have got to admit, I did find Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) in Bridget Jones rather dashing... even though he was a total arsehole and basically goes against everything I stand for. Damn that blasted wet shirt!

Nightshade

12-24-2007, 04:32 AM

The first time I read Dragonlance, Raistlin was my favorite character (I thought he was cool and powerful and in a crappy position)... Then I tried to re-read it a year or two ago, and realized he was a whiney jerk... It kind of ruined the book.

Oh yes... Ive just started these and he is good , althou he did annoy me a bit.
But my all time favourite villlian of all is split between Iago, ( no not the bird :p although he was nifty too) or Memphestophilies in faustus...

Oh who can foirget captain hook?
or well Ive lost it now I had someone else I was going to say:shrug:

:D But the scariest of all was the child catcher in Chitty bang bang even if it wasnt a book

chasestalling

12-24-2007, 08:06 AM

humbert humbert

the suave european having his way with naive miss america:flare:

addenda:
only a poet has the audacity to turn a taboo on its head and thereby expose our hypocrisy. that old men lust after young girls is as certain as night turns into day and vice versa. we like to think this isn't so going so far as to make draconian laws which can't possibly be applied to any purpose but to keep on the payroll people with an ax to grind or worse a religious fanatic bent on changing the world in his image. so i urge everyone in the strongest possible terms to avoid self righteous indignation for paranoia and hysteria does not become a gentleman, much less a lady.

aabbcc

12-25-2007, 12:26 PM

Mefisto. :D

Dori

12-25-2007, 08:45 PM

I liked Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Taliesin

12-26-2007, 05:02 AM

Macbeth

Dorian Gray

12-26-2007, 06:03 AM

I love villains. :D Sheriff of Nottingham, Hannibal, Dracula.

I love film villains even more I think. I'm always rooting for the bad guy when I watch a film. The good guys are always so boring. Yawn!

Bakiryu

12-26-2007, 05:00 PM

Sylar.

'nuff said.

who doesn't love Sylar? he's awesome.

PeterL

12-26-2007, 05:07 PM

I love villains. :D Sheriff of Nottingham, Hannibal, Dracula.

Hannibal!!! Since when was Hannibal a villain? Or do you mean Hannibal Lector?

hellsapoppin

12-26-2007, 05:23 PM

pegasus332

12-26-2007, 05:35 PM

MILADY DE WINTER!

My favorite villain of all time! I find her skills amazing, she manipulates everyone and everything to get what she wants. Simply amazing, an enchantress, seducer, spy, assassin, diplomat, and agent!

Bakiryu

12-26-2007, 05:43 PM

Favorite villains: the Daleks from the Dr Who series ---

http://www.jeffbots.com/daleks2.jpg

Terry Nation was inspired to create these cyborgs (humanoid brains, robotoid bodies) from salt and pepper shakers. The are the only villains in literature who attempted to conquer the universe through evolution in addition to revolutionary means.

*hiss*

the daleks? seriously? I rather prefered the angels from the new series.

MILADY DE WINTER!

My favorite villain of all time! I find her skills amazing, she manipulates everyone and everything to get what she wants. Simply amazing, an enchantress, seducer, spy, assassin, diplomat, and agent!

Yeah she was awesome (my mum is named after her)
I was so outraged when she died! :flare:

Pandora Eve

12-26-2007, 06:07 PM

I perfer Milady's son Mordaunt from Twenty Years After. He was truly a villain who was a hero in his point of view. I also always fall for the trickster.

hellsapoppin

12-26-2007, 10:52 PM

`` *hiss* ``

Yup. I love the bad guys.

When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, NY my favorite pro wrestler was ''Killer'' Kowalski. Do a Google search and you will see why he was called the meanest grappler of all time.

:)

Ruth?

12-30-2007, 05:54 PM

[QUOTE=Taliesin;444360]Hannibal Lector

Lilith Weatherwax from "Witches Abroad" Sacrificing people to stories.
QUOTE]

I love that that is her outlook :blush:

Shea

12-30-2007, 08:53 PM

I looked at my bookshelf, and realized that most of my favorite books don't really have a villian per se. Most of my favorites have heros who face oppositions of life. I guess I never thought about having a favorite villain before.

ennison

01-07-2016, 03:39 PM

Long John Silver was a cold-blooded murderer but most readers are glad he got away. I was, even though such a reaction undermines any idea I might have of being on the side of the "good". When I was reading the Bible as a youngster I could never feel that Saul was not more sinned against than sinning. David was such a goody-goody twerp who showed his true nasty colours as time went on. Judas too. If he was predestined to be a betrayer how can one not feel sympathy for his role. Milton seems to have been fascinated by Satan to the extent that he imbued him with a nobleness. Now what about the transgressive Ripley. Isn't he a villain that Highsmith wants us to be ambiguous about? It is often the case that authors manipulate the readers sympathies. Stevenson does that. Sometimes we are sympathetic to the villain despite the writer's intentions. Someone once wrote to Koestler that after reading Darkness at Noon he had become a more ardent communist.

YesNo

01-08-2016, 07:54 AM

Saul seems more like the victim to me as well. The winner usually gets to decide whose side God was on.

I also recall in Halpern's "David's Secret Demons" that Solomon might not have been David's son.

I like characters to be a mixture of both bad and good. Thinking back on the TV series "Breaking Bad", it occurs to me that Walter White put away more drug dealers than his brother-in-law. And as far as wicked goes, it is hard to beat his good wife, Skylar.

Ecurb

01-08-2016, 11:11 AM

I'll nominate Brian De Bois Gilbert, and, from the wonderful world of cinema, Darth Vader (mainly because of the breathing and the theme music).

ennison

01-09-2016, 01:55 AM

Thanks for that nod in the direction of Mr Halpern, Yes/No. His work sounds fascinating.

YesNo

01-09-2016, 09:57 AM

I don't know much about the books of Samuel or Kings, ennison. Let me know if you see something wrong with his arguments.

If Halpern is right, Bathsheba is not who I imagined her to be from stories I heard as a child. Previously I thought she was a beauty who could turn David's head and make him do stupid things, but otherwise she was inconsequential. Now I see her as the primary director of the show. The risks she took at the time paid off. If I recall correctly, Halpern claimed many of the stories in Samuel and Kings could be read as politically motivated misinformation to justify David and then Solomon's right to rule.