# Evil characters you can't take seriously because they're such losers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002 "2005-02-02T16:57:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/1 "2005-02-02T16:57:16Z")
My nomination: Skeletor from the orgininal Filmation He-Man. He was _supposed_ to be some ultra-cosmic menace, but he looked more like a thug with delusions of grandeur. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/2 "2005-02-02T16:59:45Z")
Mum-Ra from _Thundercats_. And Snarf too. Don’t try telling me he wasn’t evil, either. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/3 "2005-02-02T17:12:16Z")
Cobra Commander Witchie-Poo Richard M. Nixon ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/4 "2005-02-02T17:31:01Z")
The Penguin in **Batman Returns**. I like the movie overall, but the ineffectiveness of the main villain was pretty sad. Not even one of his nefarious plans succeeds for more than about 20 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/5 "2005-02-02T17:40:35Z")
Cobra Commander in the cartoons was a whiny loser, but at least he was persistent. And nobody could have provided his voice more perfectly than the late Chris Latta (also known as the voice of Starscream from Transformers). Just thinking about his gravelly, high-pitched “Cobra, RETREAT!” makes me smile. However, in the original Marvel Comics series by Larry Hama, Cobra Commander was an evil, smart, and ruthless bastard and a worthy adversary for the Joes. My vote would be for Shredder from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. For a ninja master, he got beaten up and embarrassed a lot, he had those blades on his gauntlets but never “shredded” anyone or anything, he had ineffectual idiots working for him who constantly screwed up his plans, and he was micromanaged by a talking brain in the stomach of a giant robot. Sometimes I just felt bad for the guy! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/6 "2005-02-02T18:51:31Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > The Penguin in **Batman Returns**. I like the movie overall, but the ineffectiveness of the main villain was pretty sad. Not even one of his nefarious plans succeeds for more than about 20 seconds. Agreed (and I generally liked the movie too even though it was a murky mess). My problem was I never found Danny De Vito’s Penguin truly threatening. He just seemed like a gross annoying pest. Now, if they had cast someone like Bob Hoskins in the role, the character would’ve been a lot more menacing. Also, while we’re on the subject, I don’t think the Penguin was really the main villain in the movie. That would’ve been Christopher Walken’s Max Shreck. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/7 "2005-02-02T18:59:56Z")
The “evil” zombie Michael Jackson in _ **Thriller.** _ What’s he weigh, a buck-o-nine? Talk about an easy joke missed in _ **Shaun of the Dead** _… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/8 "2005-02-02T19:53:54Z")
Jonathan Pryce as the “evil” media mogul in one of those post-_Goldeneye_ Brosnan/Bond films (which all have interchangable titles). Sure, he was responsible for doing some bad stuff, but I could never take him seriously just because his motive was…ratings? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/9 "2005-02-02T20:22:02Z")
[The Kangaroo](http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/kangaroooliver.htm) from Spider-Man. How seriously can you take a supervillain whose main power is hopping around? ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/10 "2005-02-02T21:11:41Z")
The “strongest” vampire in Underworld. Crappy movie, but as soon as he started getting a little more flesh on him I noticed he looked familiar. I couldn’t place it until he did this silly weanie shoulder wiggle while explaining his evil plots to his adopted daughter at the end. Immediately I recognized him as the washed up pop star from Love Actually. Couldn’t take him the least bit seriously after that (like I had before). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/11 "2005-02-02T21:59:14Z")
[Drew Drakken](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DDr.%2BDrakken%26fr%3DFP-tab-img-t%26toggle%3D1%26ei%3DUTF-8&h=240&w=320&imgcurl=ruggaphile.tripod.com%2FDrakken.jpg&imgurl=ruggaphile.tripod.com%2FDrakken.jpg&size=29.2kB&name=Drakken.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fruggaphile.tripod.com%2FDrakken.html&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fruggaphile.tripod.com%2FDrakken.html&p=Dr.+Drakken&type=jpeg&no=2&tt=18) ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/12 "2005-02-02T22:34:42Z")
Drakken cracks me up. But Shego whomps. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/13 "2005-02-02T22:50:36Z")
Well, the obvious answer (for me) is the Trio from Buffy season 6. But at least they were funny. Well, up until Warren shoots Buffy and kills Tara. But Jonathan and Andrew continued to be funny. The scene in the jail just cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/14 "2005-02-02T22:55:09Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > My vote would be for Shredder from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. For a ninja master, he got beaten up and embarrassed a lot, he had those blades on his gauntlets but never “shredded” anyone or anything, he had ineffectual idiots working for him who constantly screwed up his plans, and he was micromanaged by a talking brain in the stomach of a giant robot. Sometimes I just felt bad for the guy! Again, though, he was a better villain in the original comic book series. As far as I can recall, he had nothing to do with the brain-aliens-in-robots; that was another plotline altogether (which I personally didn’t care for). And he kicked the Turtles’ asses until they started using ranged attacks in the “final” battle. ---
**Author:** ![sweetfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@sweetfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweetfreak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/15 "2005-02-02T23:02:24Z")
Darth Vader after seeing Attack of the Clones. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/16 "2005-02-02T23:09:14Z")
I am always moved to laughter rather than shivers when I see the Laurence Olivier version of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Shakespeare was a bit over-the-top with his portrayal of Richard to begin with, but Olivier took the character of Richard to bizarre comic extremes. I love Olivier. I love Shakespeare. But this movie is a parody of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/17 "2005-02-02T23:22:49Z")
Turner D Century[.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5060265#post5060265) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/18 "2005-02-02T23:40:59Z")
> [@LindyHopper](#): > > Well, the obvious answer (for me) is the Trio from Buffy season 6. But at least they were funny. Well, up until > > Warren shoots Buffy and kills Tara. > > But Jonathan and Andrew continued to be funny. The scene in the jail just cracks me up. Yeah, but they were played for obvious laughs (I \*\*\*LOVE \*\*\*Andrew) whereas the OP seems to be looking for characters that weren’t intentionally loserish. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/19 "2005-02-02T23:47:37Z")
Dr. Smith from _Lost in Space_ (the TV series). Very enteraining character, but his evil schemes _never_ come off. His job in the first episode was to sabotage the Jupiter II, and he bungled that and got trapped on board. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002/20 "2005-02-02T23:56:23Z")
Hannibal Lecter in the remake of “Red Dragon.” He went from being the walking embodiment of absolutely cold malevolant evil in “Silence of the Lambs” to being an over-the-top cartoon parody in the ‘final’ movie. Hopkins wasn’t even phoning it in - he emailed it in. On top of that, despite the movie taking place many years _before_ the events in “Silence”, he looks to be about 14 years older then he did in “Silence.” I guess being trapped in a skanky subterranean jail cell and tortured by a sadistic quack doctor/jailer does wonders for a guy’s complexion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-characters-you-cant-take-seriously-because-theyre-such-losers/288002.md?page=2)