# Great female villains **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455 "2012-01-14T00:12:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/21 "2012-01-14T02:19:22Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I nominate Mags Bennett from season 2 of Justified. Heard some interviews with actors from this show on NPR today. It’s added to my list of series to watch. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/22 "2012-01-14T02:21:15Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction. > > Evil! Pure, sexy evil. Good one, I need to rewatch that. Haven’t seen it in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Billy-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Billy-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy-o)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/23 "2012-01-14T02:40:23Z")
Livia from “I, Claudius”. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/24 "2012-01-14T02:48:42Z")
> [@Billy-o](#): > > Livia from “I, Claudius”. Haven’t seen that but it reminds me of Atia from **Rome**. “Cut off her face!”\* \*(No face cutting off ensued.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/25 "2012-01-14T02:48:53Z")
The Prophet, from the Prophet trilogy by Mike Resnick. At least, she seems more villainous than anything else; it’s a rather morally gray series. She’s a creepy lady with the ability to foresee immense numbers of alternate futures and by some sort of super butterfly effect choose which one comes true. “There is a weakness in your heart. In a thousand thousand futures it means nothing; but if I stand _here_ you feel a pain in your chest, do you not?” ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/26 "2012-01-14T02:49:27Z")
Shelley Winters in **A Patch Of Blue** … ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/27 "2012-01-14T02:56:00Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Heard some interviews with actors from this show on NPR today. It’s added to my list of series to watch. The clip sounded good to me, but then I found out it was a Western set in the 21st century. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/28 "2012-01-14T04:05:33Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Georgette (Ted’s wife) or Sue Ann Nivens, the Happy Homemaker (Betty White)? I’m not sure I can see Georgette as a villain. I know the difference. She pretended to be sweet and good and naive, but underneath that veneer of nice was a woman who would have made Stalin sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/29 "2012-01-14T06:13:18Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Georgette (Ted’s wife) or Sue Ann Nivens, the Happy Homemaker (Betty White)? I’m not sure I can see Georgette as a villain. They were, in fact, the same person. You never saw them together in the same room. “But what about the Chuckles the Clown funeral ep–” YOU NEVER SAW THEM TOGETHER IN THE SAME ROOM. I nominate the Borg Queen and Wednesday Addams. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/30 "2012-01-14T06:17:39Z")
Borg Queen is an awesome choice. BUT Wednesday Addams? Really? She was just pretending to try kill Puggsley. Hmmmmmmmmmm Or was she? … ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/31 "2012-01-14T07:44:09Z")
Mom from _Futurama_. Cruella de Vil from _The Hundred and One Dalmatians_ Jade Fox from _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_ Principal Togar from _Rock ‘N’ Roll High School_ White She-Devil from _Undercover Brother_ the Lizzies from _The Warriors_ ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/32 "2012-01-14T08:56:32Z")
Cersei Lannister in _A Game of Thrones_ (A Song of Ice and Fire). She’s played in the tv series by the excellent Lena Headey. I’ve only read the first book, so I don’t know how she fares after that, but she’s smart and cold and devious. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/33 "2012-01-14T10:33:36Z")
V Jane Badler as Diana in the 1983 miniseries and 1984 series Morena Baccarin as Anna in the 2009 series ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/34 "2012-01-14T13:20:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The clip sounded good to me, but then I found out it was a Western set in the 21st century. Yuck. Not really. It is more of a crime show that is set in rural area instead of urban one. You have a protagonist that grew up on the wrong side of the law, but straightened himself out and became a federal law enforcement officer. Setting it in a rural rather than urban background makes it feel fresh. Of course the modern setting means most of the bad guys are involved in meth labs rather than moonshine. The writing and acting is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/35 "2012-01-14T14:23:12Z")
SHODAN from the _System Shock_ series. “In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that devastate the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/36 "2012-01-14T14:37:20Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Cersei Lannister in _A Game of Thrones_ (A Song of Ice and Fire). She’s played in the tv series by the excellent Lena Headey. I’ve only read the first book, so I don’t know how she fares after that, but she’s smart and cold and devious. Eh, Cersei I can take or leave. I mean, she is a pretty good villain, and her actress in the TV series plays her just about perfect, but she’s so very much ruled by her emotions… Most of the villainy she ends up doing stems from either her temper, her blind love for her children, or her cold hatred for Robert. A magnificent bastard she ain’t, which causes her to be overshadowed by the many, many perfect tossers of the book (Littlefinger, anyone ?) My own pick ? Evil Queen Bavmorda from _Willow_. She gave me nightmares when I was a tyke. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/37 "2012-01-14T15:10:48Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The mother of the main characters in Heroes. Ruthless, complex, and well-acted. > > The Woman. Not sure she really counts as a villain, though. Villain to me is more evil than she was. But she was a good character, hence her being elevated in status in a lot of adaptations. Her name is Irene Adler, and I agree that she’s not a villain. I nominate: The Diamond Duchess in _Miss Bianca_, by Margery Sharp. Mrs. Coulter in _The Golden Compass_, by Philip Pullman The Emerald Witch in _The Silver Chair_, by C.S. Lewis Ma Mattulich in _The Mountains of Mourning_, by Lois McMaster Bujold Beth Curtis in _Island of the Sequined Love Nun_, by Christopher Moore Matron in _Thursday’s Child_, by Noel Streatfeild Caroline Kelling in _The Family Vault_, by Charlotte MacLeod Hyacinth Hawthorne in _A Drowned Maiden’s Hair_, by Laura Amy Schlitz The Elf Queen in _Lords and Ladies_, by Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/38 "2012-01-14T15:15:32Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Her name is Irene Adler, and I agree that she’s not a villain. She was a criminal if Holmes was after her, right? So we are picking Evile Villains? How about Madeline from the TV La Femme Nikita? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/39 "2012-01-14T16:33:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > She was a criminal if Holmes was after her, right? Holmes was after a photograph she had of herself and some guy who was minor German royalty. The guy was afraid she’d use it to blackmail him. She was an opera singer, and he was engaged to a princess who would consider him immoral for such a relationship. However, Irene never did blackmail him, IIRC, if for no other reason than that she was getting married herself. ---
**Author:** ![Ratcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Ratcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ratcatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/40 "2012-01-14T16:39:44Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > SHODAN from the _System Shock_ series. > > “In my talons, I shape clay, crafting life forms as I please. Around me is a burgeoning empire of steel. From my throne room, lines of power careen into the skies of Earth. My whims will become lightning bolts that devastate the mounds of humanity. Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper, praying for me to end their tedious anarchy. I am drunk with this vision. God: the title suits me well.” Exactly what I came here to mention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455.md?page=3)