Villains

[Chimera]

The best villains IMO are the ones who have clear motivation.

How about a lone wolf serial killer who, in order to escape capture, uses black magic to put his spirit inside the body of a toy. When a little kid gets said toy for his birthday, the serial killer has the kid do his bidding in order to send his spirit into the kid's body?

 

[Paa Langfart]

[twylyght]

I prefer villains with no motivation for what they do. That gives the hero no leverage over them. It's pure chaos

 

I would expect that you might like these cats then:

 

 

This little gem came out of NOWHERE for me... I was expecting some hackish flick with little to offer, but came away shaken a few times.

 

 

Then of course.... who could forget Mr. Giger's contribution to many a nightmare?

 

Putting a bit of a spin to the evil of the senseless and coupled with institutional evil gave us a yarn that yielded all sorts of memorable villains

 

 

 

[twylyght]

The best villains IMO are the ones who have clear motivation.

How about a lone wolf serial killer who, in order to escape capture, uses black magic to put his spirit inside the body of a toy. When a little kid gets said toy for his birthday, the serial killer has the kid do his bidding in order to send his spirit into the kid's body?

 

 

The villain with seemingly no motivation can be done, but it is REALLY hard to do well for myself.  Like you, I like my bad guys to have serious depth... with that, I give you a couple of MANY that were a credit to turning the villain-concept on its head:

 

 

The way that Magneto's character was realized by Bryan Singer was perfect in my mind.  Given his history, I completely understand why he came to be who he was.  Moreover, in the original film, I would likely be conflicted as to whose side I would be on.  I thought his plan to make the leaders of the enemy, enemies themselves as an elegant and effective solution not only to bring a halt to the coming war, but perhaps even a lasting peace.  Not to be outdone, one of the more revolutionary heroes in turn called out Magneto on his hypocrisy at the moment of his revolution.  The continued development of Erik throughout the series has done quite well when compared with the vast majority of one-trick ponies that have littered Hollywood's history.

 

 

Tom Hiddleston's realization of one of the absolute most iconic villains in western literature has shown to be poetic and tragic where it needs to be, impish as only he can deliver, and as layered as any character to provide a depth that is still being plumbed in Marvel's universe.  Like Moriarty, Loki has undergone many iterations that have been done quite well.  It is nice to see a blockbuster get it right in its own way.

 

 

Same actor, same director, many of the same players around him, and two villains that are quite similar.  But the formula is so damn good, and Luke Goss delivers a modern day sympathetic Frankenstein's monster like no other that I've seen in recent memory.  In many ways, these characters throw their villainy about in an act of passive suicide.  Until they get the release they recklessly seek, they set upon a war-path that a herd of bulls in a city of china shops couldn't match.  All of it to seemingly bring a noble end to their cursed existences.

 

I have plenty more in the category of complex villains.  In the meantime, keep 'em coming.  You guys have brought some great ones to the table.

[PandaPancake]

Tom Hiddleston's Loki is on a level by himself. Is he a true villain or an angry hero?

[twylyght]

Frank for the greatness that was Leone's casting of Henry Fonda as a sociopathic bad guy.

 

Given the note below your name, I couldn't resist one more for tonight.  Perhaps my favorite villain:

 

 

An amazingly rich story, rooted in ridiculous levels of allegory and motivation, this particular villain happened to be played by one of my favorite actors.  Goon, Tortured and perhaps Lost Soul, Institutional Evil, Teacher, Manipulator, Ruthless and Calculated, Sociopath of several varieties, ultimately relate-able and Avant-Gard in execution.... yet none of these.  Under Whedon's direction and surrounded by as capable a cast as any, Chiwetel gave life to a villain I have not seen before nor since.  If you don't get it, then I can't explain it to you.

[twylyght]

Tom Hiddleston's Loki is on a level by himself. Is he a true villain or an angry hero?

 

Given that he is bent to his own ambition at the expense of others, I'd say he is a villain.  Then again, I'm sure most dictators throughout history rationalized themselves to be the good guys.  The general thought normally comes 'round to "If everyone else just came to my way of seeing things, then everything would be so much better!"

[Goondal]

I would expect that you might like these cats then:

I have always loved that movie

[Goondal]

Does the villain have to be human, because otherwise I would nominate the Xenomorph and Jaws.

For people I always liked Commodus and Edward the Longshanks

[twylyght]

No rules. Only villains

[jackson113]

1.Red skull

2.Boss Hog

3.Rick Flair

4.zombies

5.my father in law

[BountyHunter]

Keyser Soze was mentioned.  But this guy (Anton Chigurh) also came to mind.

 

 

 

[twylyght]

 

Among the more elegantly crafted motivations for a villains, Syndrome did everything to give us an entertaining driver for a superbly crafted flick.

 

 

And in that vein we come to Mother Gothel.  As villains go, one-dimensional, but excellently executed.  Conjuring images of mommy dearest... in some cases, we can relate to Rapunzel's plight for being continually pelted with passive aggressive guilt trips.  Gothel's eventual demise at the hands of her own narcissism was a well-crafted bow for her character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

craft

[SCMunnerlyn1]

Harley Quinn

The Riddler

Maleficent

Wicked Witch of the West.