# The most evil fictional character in history is... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231 "2009-12-06T21:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/121 "2009-12-08T23:26:12Z")
Johan Liebert, from the anime _Monster_. Spoiler-tagged for those interested in catching the series, because honestly, the less you know about it before watching it, the better. As a child, he was placed in a corrupt orphanage in Germany during the Cold War. The place certainly messed him up in the head, but he managed to start a war within it by spreading rumors and making the other children paranoid. He indirectly caused hundreds of children to violently kill each other and their caretakers, and he _sat back and watched._ By all means, this is not the extent of his insanity. Later in the series, it gets to the point where even the toughest of characters are almost paralyzed with fear at the mere mention of his name. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/122 "2009-12-10T05:27:42Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > That little game she played with the costume? Yeah, I’d forgotten about that. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/123 "2009-12-10T15:52:25Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > I think we \*should \*only count human characters. Guys like Satan and satan-analogues like Morgoth are _supposed_ to be the most evil thing ever. They have no choice to be evil, it’s their nature. The way I figure, one cannot be evil without the capacity for doing good. It’s knowing the difference between good and evil and deliberately doing evil that matters. Without a frame of reference, morality has no real meaning. > > That being said, I’m not sure if I can answer the OP. I could nominate my favorite villain (s) but I can’t really decide if any of them are the most evil of all. Yeah, I thought about starting this thread once, but got bogged down in how to measure evil. I was inspired by Mrs. Lovett of Sweeney Todd, who (aside from making meat pies out of long pig) watched the destruction of the Todd family from the sidelines with never a thought for anything but how it could be turned to her advantage. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/124 "2009-12-10T21:46:20Z")
I’m going with Aaron from **Titus Andronicus**. Straight from the horse’s mouth, as he was about to be hanged from a tree: > [@](#): > > LUCIUS > > ``` > Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds? > > ``` > > AARON > > ``` > Ay, that I had not done a thousand more. > Even now I curse the day--and yet, I think, > Few come within the compass of my curse,-- > Wherein I did not some notorious ill, > As kill a man, or else devise his death, > Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it, > Accuse some innocent and forswear myself, > Set deadly enmity between two friends, > Make poor men's cattle break their necks; > Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night, > And bid the owners quench them with their tears. > Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves, > And set them upright at their dear friends' doors, > Even when their sorrows almost were forgot; > And on their skins, as on the bark of trees, > Have with my knife carved in Roman letters, > 'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.' > Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things > As willingly as one would kill a fly, > And nothing grieves me heartily indeed > But that I cannot do ten thousand more. > > ``` For being such a godawful bastard, Aaron was spared the noose; rather than grant him such a quick, simple death, he is later buried neck-deep in the ground and allowed to starve. Upon hearing this punishment, he replies, “If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/125 "2009-12-11T04:34:16Z")
What about “It” from Stephen King’s _It_? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/126 "2009-12-11T05:37:33Z")
Szell (Laurence Olivier) in “Marathon Man.” ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/127 "2009-12-11T06:05:50Z")
I saw “It” when I was 6 and was so traumatized i didn’t use the bathroom at all for 3 days. I didn’t poop for 5. I don’t think i bathed for more than a week. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/128 "2009-12-11T06:10:24Z")
> [@SandyHook](#): > > Eric Cartman. > I mean he’s got it all; no empathy, total racism, greedy beyond belief, a manipulater of epic proportions, utterly ruthless, and incredibly competent at everything he does. And all this at only age 10. Give the kid a break, he’s gonna be something as an adult. Oh wow yes! And if you doubt this see the episode “Scott Tenorman must die” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/129 "2009-12-11T06:41:17Z")
Roseanne Conner ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/130 "2009-12-11T06:43:51Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I’ve always felt Sauron was more evil than Melkor, because Sauron served evil, whereas Melkor wanted what he felt was his rightful kingship, and he had a reasonable case (not that I agree) for being the rightful king. Saruman comes off more evil than Melkor. Morgoth set about deliberately stealing, marring, or destroying everything made by anyone else, just because it wasn’t his. This included leveling mountains, or turning plains into canyons, or filling in canyons just because he wanted to and because someone not him made them. He warped and marred people and other living things, destroying or hording people as much as inanimate objects such as the Silmarils. He would have destroyed the Silmarils if he weren’t so obsessed with them. He was so bent on wrecking everything made by anyone else that he lost all hope of being able to make anything himself, ever again. And it all started because he was pissed that he couldn’t form anything that wasn’t fundamentally made by Iluvatar himself. That’s pretty freaking evil. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/131 "2009-12-11T07:10:26Z")
Actual Hitler was already un-nice, but fictional Hitler ? Fuggedaboudit. Assuming all fictions to be equally valid, the guy was an evil magician, a Chtulhian medium/priest, a millenia old lich, was in cahoots with an evil alien race bent on galaxy-wide genocide, was busy making zeerust super soldiers and 19[del]20[/del]40s style death rays, and was a cannibal to boot. All that’s of course on top of killing all the Jews (and a clown). His paintings sucked, too. On the positive side, his Xbox Live account was banned and he got reincarnated as a bonsaï tree. On the negative side, he got cloned multiple times, his brain is still alive in a jar somewhere, and his severed, jackbooted feet are villains in their own rights. (And if you caught all those references, kudos ya big geek.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/132 "2009-12-11T15:41:05Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > …(And if you caught all those references, kudos ya big geek.) Break 'em out for us, would ya? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/133 "2009-12-11T16:00:28Z")
Uriah Heep. I’ve seen more actual evil performed by those of his ilk than all other forms of evil combined. If you want real, true life evil, him. Or maybe his Mother, who purposfully trained him that way. . . ---
**Author:** ![MovingTarget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@MovingTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovingTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/134 "2009-12-11T18:20:45Z")
How has nobody mentioned Sylar from Heros? That guy is just one big bucket of crazy/evil. I think the bad guy (can’t remember his name) out of No country for old men comes in the running too. That guy was just…_shudder_…yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/135 "2009-12-11T18:24:34Z")
A lot of the ludicrously over the top Big Bads from _Criminal Minds_ should be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/136 "2009-12-12T00:54:45Z")
Who was the villian from Titus Andronicus? He didn’t have any pretense of evil for a pragmatic reason, he just loved being evil. When you’re last words are about your only regret is not pulling ENOUGH shit . . . well that’s pretty screwed with a capital F. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/137 "2009-12-12T01:12:52Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Joffrey Baratheon - A Song of Ice and Fire > > This little bastard stated torturing animals then moved to launching people from catapults. He was only twelve. Oh God, yes. The scene where he had Sansa whipped just turned my stomach. I was so happy when that little bastard bought it. I nominate Kai Winn from Deep Space Nine, speaking of evil characters played by Louise Fletcher. (Guess she just has an evil face.) The thing about her is that she wasn’t some crazy, over-the-top, bloodthirsty fiend. You can look around and see plenty of political and religious figures just like her. The false piety. fear-mongering, hypocrisy, and for-the-greater-good attitude are frighteningly familiar. Not to mention her complete lack of self-awareness. Despite the fact that her actions showed that she would stop at nothing to gain power, she believed to the end that she was acting for the good of her planet and her religion. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/138 "2009-12-12T03:10:26Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Morgoth set about deliberately stealing, marring, or destroying everything made by anyone else, just because it wasn’t his. This included leveling mountains, or turning plains into canyons, or filling in canyons just because he wanted to and because someone not him made them. He warped and marred people and other living things, destroying or hording people as much as inanimate objects such as the Silmarils. He would have destroyed the Silmarils if he weren’t so obsessed with them. He was so bent on wrecking everything made by anyone else that he lost all hope of being able to make anything himself, ever again. > > And it all started because he was pissed that he couldn’t form anything that wasn’t fundamentally made by Iluvatar himself. > > That’s pretty freaking evil. You’ve pretty much described a bratty toddler. Bratty toddler’s are not evil, they are immature. Melkor comes off as immature that he is not always the center of attention. But on a bigger scale. Sauron, on the other hand is bent on dominating and subjecting the wills of all living things to his own. And he does it on a Morgothian scale and is very nearly successful. Plus he also wants to bring back Morgoth, or at least worship him. Part of it is that Tolkien humanizes Morgoth in the Silmarillion by giving him so many lines of dialogue and makes him a tragic figure of immaturity. Sauron, by contrast, is even in the Silmarillion a figure of mystery. Few lines of dialogue (if any) and flitting in form between werewolf, vampire, (sometimes cat see Teveldio) and Annatar. Always someone to project evil onto. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/139 "2009-12-12T03:32:03Z")
but wasn’t the road to evil sauron built on good intentions? he only craves power because he originally wanted to establish order? he’s basically a mythical hitler minus the genocide. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231/140 "2009-12-12T07:14:40Z")
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the original, not any of adaptations that made him a clown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-evil-fictional-character-in-history-is/520231.md?page=8)