The problem with excluding Satan from consideration is that it also removes Satan-analogues from various works as well, such as Morgoth. Who is certainly a strong contender, as can be proven by reading The Children of Hurin.
And while I’m not quite convinced that Darth Vader was the most evil, he was certainly one of the best-presented villains. That was the biggest failing of The Phantom Menace, that it didn’t have a villain. Maul growled menacingly, but Vader telekinetically choked minions on a whim.
Oh, and I don’t think she’s the worst by a long shot, but for the sake of introducing a new name to the debate, I think Azula, from Avatar: The Last Airbender deserves a mention.
“Mayor Quimby supports revolving-door prisons. Mayor Quimby even released Sideshow Bob, a man twice convicted of attempted murder. Can you trust a man like Mayor Quimby? Vote Sideshow Bob for Mayor.”
AFAICT, the only thing the Old Republic couldn’t handle was – the Emperor. Aside from the one guy who could “cloud” Jedi future-sight to stop knights from nipping problems in the bud, who else could stir up trouble for the Galactic Senate?
If we rule out the fantasy bad guys and limit ourselves to realistic characters (my idea, not the OP’s), I think there are two from The Wire that deserve to be considered for their chilling sociopathology: gang leader Marlo Standfield and the female hitter Snoop.
I’ll go with Heathcliff (from Wuthering Heights, not the comic pages). Spent most of his life deliberately and methodically destroying everyone he possibly could, including his own child, because he was in a life-long snit over being rejected and insulted by a spoiled teenage girl. Sure, he didn’t destroy planets, but he did manage to mentally torture and/or kill everyone within his shpere of influence - something not even Palapatine did.
Let me third Voldemort (spoiler free for people only following the movies). Even Nagini, the only creature that he even seemed he cared about, only mattered inasmuch as it kept him alive and powerful. If it weren’t so special, he’d either have used it as a weapon or wouldn’t have cared about it at all; just like his followers.
Palpatine was pretty bad. Starting a galaxy wide war and killing off the Jedi is pretty nasty. Killing his old master in his sleep to keep from being replaced is pretty awful. But the worst part is, the bastard had Ewoks killed and stuffed for the Imperial museum. In the Expanded Universe, Palpatine is pretty Hitler-esque.
Thing is, thwarting Voldemort was basically an extra-curricular activity for a couple of immature school children. He may have wanted to be really evil, but he wasn’t terribly successful at it. Makes it kinda hard to take him seriously.
So, the only thing the Galactic Senate couldn’t handle was … one man with a small group of well-placed confederates? I’m sorry, but it seems you’ve just illustrated the Republic’s weakness perfectly. It seems to have had absolutely no capacity to monitor its own internal affairs with any regularity. The equivalent of a GAO would have nipped Palpatine in the bud - but the Republic lacked the institutional wherewithal to create or effectively administer such an agency.
The Old Republic was corrupt, and weak, and richly deserved everything that happened to it. Given the choice, I’d choose the Empire over the Old Republic any day.
Star Wars has been bugging me actually. If you watch episodes 1-3 in a vacuum, there would be a lot of people out there who thought the empire was a necessary evil UNTIL the scene where all the jedi babies were being sliced. What kind of breakdown does a person undergo where he goes from caring for his wife and unborn child to serial killer? then when padme dies anyway, how can he keep on supporting the emperor?
ok, fine. i buy the fact that the emperor needs to off the jedi (just a religious cult really. not exactly a moral compass if you follow their beliefs) to be successful in establishing order. what kind of ridiculous, hippy dippy, slippery slope logic is it that a man who wants to have a strong central government would end up being a fascist dictator who blows up planets just to hunt down a terrorists? All within a 20 year span!?
it just seems episodes 1-3 is a completely different story than 4-6. 7-9 could very well be a musical trilogy.
I nominate Rotti Largo of Repo! The Genetic Opera because his evil is so subtle and far-reaching that it’s only after the movie that the full scope of his complex and diabolical plot hit me.
Open SPOILERS…
When Marni leaves him for Nathan, Rotti’s revenge isn’t simply killing her… no, he could’ve killed her and Nathan both, and Shilo, but that’s simply not good enough. No, Rotti Largo’s thirst for revenge won’t be quenched with a few buckets of blood, like most villains. He has Marni killed, then makes Nathan believe he is responsible for his wife’s death. He hangs Nathan’s ‘guilt’ over him like a noose for 17 years. He makes Nathan sell away his soul to him and uses Nathan as his personal assassin for 17 years. He enslaves Mag with the fine print on her contract and makes her his personal songbird for the same 17 years, a truly petty thing considering that Mag’s only crime was to be Marni’s best friend.
Not satisfied with that, Rotti then hatches a scheme to take Shilo from her father and make her turn against Nathan, using Nathan’s darkest secret – that Nathan has been poisoning Shilo – against him. Rotti had the power to intercede at any time and stop Nathan, but he did not. He waited and bided his time until Shilo was a beautiful and naive teenager he could manipulate, and while he was at it replace his own three degenerate children with a worthier heir.
And after all that – his plan almost succeeds! Rotti does kill Mag and mortally wound Nathan, in the process destroying Shilo’s innocence and turning her world upside down. He takes the truth of Marni’s death with him to his grave – no one knows that Rotti killed Marni! Nathan goes to his death believing that he was responsible! The only hitch is that Shilo refuses to turn on her father and become a murderer like Rotti wanted her to. So Rotti is such a Magnificent Bastard that his evil schemes partially succeed, and he dies without ever having faced justice for his crimes.
That is evil, my friends. That is so much better than your standard ‘kill em all’ plot, this is a tragedy 17 years in the making, an opera with a cast of real people, all orchestrated by Rotti Largo. Bravi, Rotti. Bravi.
Evil isn’t really evil unless it can be defeated by plucky youngsters!
But I admit I’m a little disappointed that Harry’s specialness (other than being a talented wizard) is mostly a fluke. I’d have to go back and read things again, but ISTR the explanation not making a whole lot of sense. Voldemort gets points taken off for simply adding to some kids’ college apps, but the killing and destruction for little apparent purpose is still pretty bad.
“You killed her in your rage,” works for me. After Palpatine tells Anakin that only he knows how to save Padme, its pretty much too late. By then Anakin’s already a slave to his emotions (Sand People in ep2 and killing Dooku rather than arresting him). After offing Mace Windu, I think he already knew he was evil and things are just a matter of following orders. When he sees Obi-Wan and Padme on Mustafar and the whole spiel there, he gets pissed and beats his wife. Once he finds out she’s dead (and thinks he’s the one who did it), Palpatine is all he has left, and after all, he was trying to help. Palpatine deserves some gratitude for trying to help save Padme and putting Vader back together.
As for Palpatine, he was already pretty evil. Even when he’s trying to do something ostensibly good, like bring peace and stability to the galaxy, the evil taints everything. Two wrongs don’t make a right, don’t do evil that good may come, etc.
I’m not kidding. In terms of pure, self-aware evil he can’t really be beat. Nothing and nobody in the world exists for any other reason than to serve his goals or to entertain him by dying in an amusing fashion. Plus, when he puts his mind to it he can deliver a terrific villain’s monologue.
