# 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:** 4
**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, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/61 "2012-01-14T21:52:39Z")
How the heck did we get this far into the thread without mentioning Dolores Umbridge? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/62 "2012-01-14T22:20:10Z")
Bette Davis as _Madame Sin_. ---
**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, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/63 "2012-01-14T22:48:08Z")
Eve, from the Parasite Eve game. > [@Ranchoth](#): > > [Shego](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu6ECS8VtHg), from Disney’s _Kim Possible_. So delightfully [snarky](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcUigdvKDc)! …and she files her fingernails while wearing gloves. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/64 "2012-01-14T22:59:59Z")
Veda Pierce in the _Mildred Pierce_ book and film(s). Veda is like a snake - “pretty to look at, but not to take home.” ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/65 "2012-01-15T00:31:15Z")
Amanda Donohoe as Lady Sylvia Marsh in _Lair of the White Worm_. Not much of a movie, to be honest. But watching that as a 14-year-old was one of the formative experiences of my life. ---
**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 15, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/66 "2012-01-15T00:38:38Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > Amanda Donohoe as Lady Sylvia Marsh in _Lair of the White Worm_. Ooh, good one. > [@](#): > > Not much of a movie, to be honest. But watching that as a 14-year-old was one of the formative experiences of my life. I was about that age, too, and it made quite an impact. ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/67 "2012-01-15T00:59:10Z")
[Servalan](http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=servalan&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pSMST4bfAsXsOfywtIgD&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=475) from Blake’s 7. [Princess Ardala](http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=princess+ardala&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1024&bih=475&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=byQST8zUA5GdOuCS2aUD&sqi=2&ved=0CCMQsAQ) in Buck Rogers. (SFW if your employers don’t frown on jewelled space bikinis.) ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/68 "2012-01-15T02:52:28Z")
> [@amijane](#): > > [Servalan](http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=servalan&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pSMST4bfAsXsOfywtIgD&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=475) from Blake’s 7. I came in to post Servalan! Devious, ruthless, and totally _stylish_, IIRC the character was originally intended to dress in army-type fatigues etc, but Jacqueline Pearce successfully lobbied to have her always in full evening dress or similar. And finally of course, at the end of the final episode (enormous spoiler ahead) She wins. Blake and all the other rebels all die, after walking into a trap she set. They really do. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/69 "2012-01-15T03:26:47Z")
Mom, from Futurama. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/70 "2012-01-15T03:30:03Z")
Poison ivy. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/71 "2012-01-15T05:19:57Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Dunno if she’s been mentioned: Rhoda from The Bad Seed. > [@pohjonen](#): > > Veda Pierce in the _Mildred Pierce_ book and film(s). Veda is like a snake - “pretty to look at, but not to take home.” I’m adding these to my list and know there’s at least one other I’m having trouble recalling. Since I was a wee tyke when I first saw her, and since her beauty was her most dominant characteristic, I probably never really thought about Delilah as played by Hedy Lamarr in [Samson and Delilah (1949)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041838/) as being a villain. With hindsight, though, I think she qualifies for consideration. Some of the roles mentioned so far are not so much “villains” as well-drawn impressively negative characters. The Matty character in [Body Heat (1981)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082089/) and Livia in [The Sopranos (TV Series 1999–2007)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141842/) are two prime examples. And perhaps for more personal reasons, I can’t elevate the ones in animated productions to the same level as Agent Stahl. They’re good and scary and malevolent, but they’re too gimmicky to impress me with their innate evil. My main memory barrier to the real contenders for Ultimate Female Villain status is that the TV shows I watch regularly don’t have “villains” as much as strong female characters, and there’s a big difference for me in those types. And perhaps the greatest measure of how villainous a character can be is the amount of pure joy that is brought about by that villainess’s demise such as the way Agent Stahl’s brain splattered on that windshield made me feel. More often than not, the bad gal just goes away or dies more or less peacefully and the catharsis is lacking. It’s rare to see a female’s final moments generate as much reward as Gene Simmons’s did in [Wanted Dead Or Alive - head explosion.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIzCUhafhSQ&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/72 "2012-01-15T05:36:43Z")
Diana Riggs played Mrs. Danvers the house keeper at Manderley House in _Rebecca_ ---
**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:** [January 15, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/73 "2012-01-15T06:17:39Z")
Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in “Fatal Attraction.” Thetis (Maggie Smith) in “Clash of the Titans.” Catwoman (Julie Newmar or Eartha Kitt or Michelle Pfeffer) from various “Batman” media. Lucy Van Pelt from “Peanuts.” Veruka Salt from “Willie Wonka.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/74 "2012-01-15T07:54:48Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Elanore Iselin from _The Manchurian Candidate_ Of all the excellent choices in this thread, she is the one I most want to strangle. She’s evil in _so many_ ways. Of course, I’m sure your referring Angela Lansbury in the original film, not the tepid remake of a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/75 "2012-01-15T08:05:17Z")
Hexadecimal from REBOOT ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/76 "2012-01-15T13:50:51Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > …and she files her fingernails while wearing gloves. Knowing her, she might just be sharpening her gauntlets. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/77 "2012-01-15T14:34:47Z")
Anna May Wong in “Thief of Baghdad” Jeanine in “This is Spinal Tap” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/78 "2012-01-15T14:35:55Z")
The best villains are the ones who delude themselves into thinking they’re the good guys. For this reason I nominate _Deep Space Nine_’s Kai Winn. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/79 "2012-01-15T15:09:30Z")
Commander Cavillo from The Vor Game. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455/80 "2012-01-15T15:14:06Z")
Lila from season 2 of Dexter. I can’t see Jaime Murray in anything else without supposing that she’s evil to the core. Gaia on Rome. After she killed Pullo’s wife and unborn child, I was ferociously happy to see him strangle her to death, even though she was already dying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-female-villains/609455.md?page=5)