Villains you actually like

[IronBrig4]

Which villains do you like? We all have our favorite villains. Some of them are so cultured, eloquent, and charming that you just can't dislike them. Similarly, others just have an aura of innocence that somehow mitigates their typically evil acts.

One of my favorite villains has got to be Hans Landa. He's fluent in at least four languages, has an appreciation for high culture, smokes a comically oversized pipe, and even pours his prisoners wine before interrogating them. Yeah I know, he's the Jew hunter and everything... but he's somebody you can have a lot of fun hanging out with. He'd probably fit in with my book club; we could definitely have a good time discussing Robert Louis Stevenson's books over strudel.

 

[Shegokigo]

A shorter list would be the ones I don't like....

 

[phil]

I can't think of any specific villain that I'd want to hang out with or anything, but I can think of at least one who, as a villain I enjoyed.

The father character in Night of the Living Dead comes to mind. I like him because he has a valid point, and actually turns out to be right in the end, but it's just unfortunate that he's a dick about it the whole time.

Basically any villain who has a differing point of view, and isn't just evil for the sake of being evil I can generally get behind.

 

[Math242]

the Joker. he cracks me up.
Bram stoker's Dracula has got to be my fav vilain of all time.

 

[@Li3n]

Hmm... tough question... :sneaky:

the Joker. he cracks me up.
Bram stoker's Dracula has got to be my fav vilain of all time.

Look who likes unibrowns and palm hair...

@IronBrig4

That guy should totally play the Red Skull in the Cap film...

 

[IronBrig4]

Yeah, he'd make a good Red Skull.

Another affable bad guy would have to be Hans Gruber from Die Hard. In fact, any villain played by Alan Rickman is pretty cool. I mean c'mon, the Sheriff of Nottingham actually made attempted rape seem funny.

 

[Iaculus]

Colonel Miles Quaritch gets some points. Dude was hardcore.

Seconding Hans Landa, and adding Ladd Russo from Baccano, the Green Goblin from The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Jail Scaglietti from Nanoha StrikerS simply because they seem to be having so much fun all the time.

On a more sympathetic note, Roy Batty from Blade Runner and Redcloak from Order of the Stick.

 

[ElJuski]

The Spitter from L4D2

awe

yes

 

[fade]

Stan The Man Lee says everyone likes the villains more because the heroes are boring.

 

[Dave]

The motives of bad guys are generally more complex than those who are perceived as good. This is one reason why The Watchmen was so ground-breaking.

I tend to like villains who truly believe that they are doing something positive for the world or have totally mixed up priorities. Like Loki and Bartleby from Dogma. Loki truly thought he was doing the Lord's work when in fact he was a murderer. Bartleby thought that he was on the side of right and rationalized his actions that way.

Interesting villains make for better stories.

 

[chakz]

Colonel Miles Quaritch gets some points. Dude was hardcore.

Seconding Hans Landa, and adding Ladd Russo from Baccano, the Green Goblin from The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Jail Scaglietti from Nanoha StrikerS simply because they seem to be having so much fun all the time.

On a more sympathetic note, Roy Batty from Blade Runner and Redcloak from Order of the Stick.

Seconding Ladd ruso, and adding Lex luthor. He's had a lot of different reasons for hating superman over the years but I think my favorite is the idea that he expects superman to be as evil, manipulative, and opportunistic as lex himself is and every time super man isn't it drives him a little bit more over the edge.

 

[phil]

Colonel Miles Quaritch gets some points. Dude was hardcore.

Seconding Hans Landa, and adding Ladd Russo from Baccano, the Green Goblin from The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Jail Scaglietti from Nanoha StrikerS simply because they seem to be having so much fun all the time.

On a more sympathetic note, Roy Batty from Blade Runner and Redcloak from Order of the Stick.

Seconding Ladd ruso, and adding Lex luthor. He's had a lot of different reasons for hating superman over the years but I think my favorite is the idea that he expects superman to be as evil, manipulative, and opportunistic as lex himself is and every time super man isn't it drives him a little bit more over the edge.[/QUOTE]


In a similar vein, I like what made Sinestro a villain to start with. I mean, he just wanted to keep peace and order in his sector of the galaxy, at least that was at the heart of what he did. Sure it turned out to be something of a dictatorship but he had good intentions. I don't like so much how now he's like the new god of fear or something and just wants to kill as many green lanterns as he can, but at first he was a good villain.


Magneto is close to being a great villain to me, if he toned it down a bit. Like if he wanted to wage war on the humans to show mutant superiority or if he was just quick to kill those who oppressed him I could understand his motivations better. Being a mutant hitler though is taking it too far into "evil for the sake of evil" in my opinion.

 

[GasBandit]

I always had a soft spot for Sid 6.7. Yes, I know Virtuosity was not a very good movie. But I still like Sid 6.7. I thought his techno-symphony of mortal terror was pretty badass.



"Just because I'm carrying around the joy of killing your family inside of me, doesn't mean we can't be friends."

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

Daniel Plainview, from There Will Be Blood, is straight up fascinating. I love that you never quite know what he's going to do.

Anton Chighurh, from No Country For Old Men, is also very interesting. He is a very powerful force-of-nature type villain that reminded me of The Terminator (another favorite villain of all time).

 

[ElJuski]

I'd argue that Chigurh is a force of nature, but rather trying desperately to be one. But he never truly succeeds completely.

That's neither here nor there though. He's a great baddie.

 

[fade]

I thought Chigurh was the weak point in that movie. He's neither here nor there. Like you said, he tries to be this slasher-esque bad boy, but then there's these hints of a soul. While I bet that sounded clever on the drawing table, it ends up making me like him less.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Freddy Kruger, like when he starts eviscerating those innocent kids and stuff...

I've never really identified with evil.

 

[ElJuski]

I thought Chigurh was the weak point in that movie. He's neither here nor there. Like you said, he tries to be this slasher-esque bad boy, but then there's these hints of a soul. While I bet that sounded clever on the drawing table, it ends up making me like him less.

I don't think he has a soul; I think the movie ultimately shows him as a mortal. No man can be a force of nature, and nature commands all men, whatever their philosophies may be.

 

[fade]

I think I must disagree. I thought he showed some hint of regret at killing the wife, and some begrudging respect for Moss. He truly seems to be taken aback every time someone tells him he doesn't have to do this. Almost like he regrets what he feels is required of him. There's something odd about the interaction with the kid and the shirt that haven't been able to interpret to my satisfaction yet, either. He's got this idea that humanity is a machine, and he's doesn't know how to deal when the machine goes off-program. Maybe "soul" isn't the right word, but he certainly diverges from the force of nature.

 

[Just Me]

Long John Silver, especially the one from Disney's Treasure Planet.

And Barbossa in the first PotC movie (only this one, other two where a different thing). Geoffrey Rush brought so much depth to him I couldn't help bit sympathise with him...

 

[General Specific]

The Operative from Serenity. He's got that Jedi cool. It's the future, everyone has high tech guns and he carries around a sword. Can't get much more badass than that. Plus, he has no illusions about himself. He knows that what he does is, as he says himself, monstrous.


And, forgetting all the prequel backstory nonsense and just using the Old Trilogy standpoint, Vader because he's fucking Vader.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Captain Cold.

He just seems like a cool guy (no pun intended...seriously) to sit back and have a beer with.

That was tough to come up with, since most of my favourite villains would just kill me without thinking twice. Or make me their slave, like Darkseid.

---------- Post added at 04:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------

The motives of bad guys are generally more complex than those who are perceived as good. This is one reason why The Watchmen was so ground-breaking.

I tend to like villains who truly believe that they are doing something positive for the world or have totally mixed up priorities. Like Loki and Bartleby from Dogma. Loki truly thought he was doing the Lord's work when in fact he was a murderer. Bartleby thought that he was on the side of right and rationalized his actions that way.

Interesting villains make for better stories.

I've always loved Mick Foley's quote about playing a bad guy: (paraphrasing) "The best villains are the onest that believe that they are right."

 

[GasBandit]

Captain Cold.

He just seems like a cool guy (no pun intended...seriously) to sit back and have a beer with.

That was tough to come up with, since most of my favourite villains would just kill me without thinking twice. Or make me their slave, like Darkseid.[COLOR=\"Silver\"]

---------- Post added at 04:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------

[/COLOR]

The motives of bad guys are generally more complex than those who are perceived as good. This is one reason why The Watchmen was so ground-breaking.

I tend to like villains who truly believe that they are doing something positive for the world or have totally mixed up priorities. Like Loki and Bartleby from Dogma. Loki truly thought he was doing the Lord's work when in fact he was a murderer. Bartleby thought that he was on the side of right and rationalized his actions that way.

Interesting villains make for better stories.

I've always loved Mick Foley's quote about playing a bad guy: (paraphrasing) "The best villains are the onest that believe that they are right."

See, and here I like the "Card Carrying Bad Guys." The guys who often will do something bad because... they know they're a bad guy, and that's what they're supposed to do, and they like it. The perfect embodiment of this is the Joker. Because he is both literally and figuratively a "card carrying" villain. The Joker doesn't have an angle, he doesn't think he's right, he "just wants to watch the world burn."

 

[chakz]

The mention of POTC reminds me- I really liked Davy Jones. I liked his design, character, character, the way he spoke everything really. He was just a neat villain.
'

Also, put me in with Nickguy on captain cold. I think someone once described him as "Clint Eastwood with a freeze ray". It seems like he has his own code of honor, especially in dealing with the flash and I can respect that. While we are still talking DC another favorite is

Spoiler

the atom's wife from identity crisis.

(Identity crisis) I'm not sure whether or not that needs the tags but wth.

Since someone pulled out starwars. Boba fett. Because he's Boba fett.

 

[Cajungal]

I like Shego.

 

[Rob King]

Put up another stroke for Roy Batty.

I don't know if they qualify as villains, but the Principality of Zeon in Mobile Suit Gundam is my favorite enemy of all time. The Zabi family is downright gross, but Zeon as a whole ... all they wanted was independence from the Earth Federation, and when the Earth Federation introduced trade embargoes, the population got a bit unwieldy. Then, the Zabis, one family of nutjobs assassinates the president (evil), establishes themselves as a monarchy (questionable), and then launches what was initially conceived of as a war against the unjust exclusion of Side 3 from the international scene.

So the Zabis as a family are downright evil, and almost boring because of it. But they are realistic, at least. And the nation that surrounds them: Zeon, is so fascinating and, when you have a good hard look at it, have a pretty solid reason for fighting in the first place.

Actually ... after having considered that, I think I just found my favorite villain. Char Aznable. Especially considering his rivalry with Amuro Ray.

 

[Shegokigo]

I like Shego.

I knew it! *begins hopping toward Cajun in a very oddly familiar manner*

 

[@Li3n]

Put up another stroke for Roy Batty.

I don't know if they qualify as villains, but the Principality of Zeon in Mobile Suit Gundam is my favorite enemy of all time. The Zabi family is downright gross, but Zeon as a whole ... all they wanted was independence from the Earth Federation, and when the Earth Federation introduced trade embargoes, the population got a bit unwieldy. Then, the Zabis, one family of nutjobs assassinates the president (evil), establishes themselves as a monarchy (questionable), and then launches what was initially conceived of as a war against the unjust exclusion of Side 3 from the international scene.

So the Zabis as a family are downright evil, and almost boring because of it. But they are realistic, at least. And the nation that surrounds them: Zeon, is so fascinating and, when you have a good hard look at it, have a pretty solid reason for fighting in the first place.

Actually except Gihren none of them where really full on evil, his dad and sister where power hungry, but Garma just wanted enough respect to marry who he wanted (i loved how you find that out the episode right after he get's killed) and Dozle seemed to just be loyal to his family...

Actually ... after having considered that, I think I just found my favorite villain. Char Aznable. Especially considering his rivalry with Amuro Ray.

Dammit, i wanted to post Char....


Guess i'll go for the next best thing:

View attachment 396

Even if she went all weird there at the end, hopefully that's just the sub...

Also, Treize from Wing was great, they really should have done more with him there at the end.

 

[Rob King]

Actually except Gihren none of them where really full on evil, his dad and sister where power hungry, but Garma just wanted enough respect to marry who he wanted (i loved how you find that out the episode right after he get's killed) and Dozle seemed to just be loyal to his family...

I had considered posting that Garma was a bit of an exception, but it sort of slipped my mind.

And Haman Khan never really interested me that much, but honestly I only know her from Zeta Gundam, so maybe she was more interesting in other adaptations.

 

[Gusto]

Bang.

 

[@Li3n]

As i recall she was barely there in Zeta... and i understand why you'd skip ZZ, which went a bit too to the other extreme after how annoyingly depressing Zeta was. She basically did what Paptimus Sirocco did with the Titans, played them etc., but without needing mental powers... frankly i think ZZ would have been better the Zeta had they made the funny stuff a bit less, well, cartoonish...

Marshmello's craziness worked way better at the end when they gave in and made it more serious, though other parts suffered (Haman's end speech made no sense to me ... i think the person who did the subing was just as confused).

BTW, last night i found out Gundam Unicorn ep 1 is out because of this thread... i'll be watching it today.


Oh, and i always got the impression that she was just pissed off at Char for leaving her and took over Neo-Zeon just to piss him off.

I had considered posting that Garma was a bit of an exception, but it sort of slipped my mind.

Dozle stayed behind on what was an obvious suicidal mission to protect his family and retreating troops when he could have just ordered someone else to do it... i hear that fans think he and Garma have the same mother because of that and other spin off stuff.

 

[fade]

I know it's trite, and I don't care. But I've always loved the Joker. I love the wild abandon and the glee--which is why I was somewhat disappointed with Nolan and Ledger's Joker. They morphed him into a more boring 90s movie sociopath.

 

[ElJuski]

I think I must disagree. I thought he showed some hint of regret at killing the wife, and some begrudging respect for Moss. He truly seems to be taken aback every time someone tells him he doesn't have to do this. Almost like he regrets what he feels is required of him. There's something odd about the interaction with the kid and the shirt that haven't been able to interpret to my satisfaction yet, either. He's got this idea that humanity is a machine, and he's doesn't know how to deal when the machine goes off-program. Maybe "soul" isn't the right word, but he certainly diverges from the force of nature.

If you're saying he shows himself as less than a force of nature, I think we're on the same page, though you've further illuminated some more points to me. The major thing I was thinking of was how, after all his badassery, motherfucker can still has to pick out buckshot from his thigh...and the motherfucker can sure as hell get hit by a car. I think its in moments like those that, no matter how much you pretend to be above it all, human is as human does. Pretending you're some arbiter of fate doesn't let you rise above the laws of the universe.

 

[@Li3n]

I know it's trite, and I don't care. But I've always loved the Joker. I love the wild abandon and the glee--which is why I was somewhat disappointed with Nolan and Ledger's Joker. They morphed him into a more boring 90s movie sociopath.

To be fair to them i don't think movie audiences are ready for anything more...

But yeah, Joker isn't about seeing the world burn, it's about setting the world on fire in a way that would be funny if you could ignore the dead people...

 

[ElJuski]

I know I wasn't ready for more! Thank you Nolans!