# Truly evil characters in film and literature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988 "2011-02-28T22:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/101 "2011-03-04T19:17:25Z")
I have always considered Uriah Heep from Dickens’ _David Copperfield_ to be evil incarnate, masked with false humility, slithering like a snake of unethical cowardice, striking to expose your weakness and then to blackmail you with the consequences thereof. A very real villain like those we have all known of. Such a person is more likely to tangibly affect us than would those who would exemplify more rarefied aspects of evil (i.e. Serial-Killer, Stalker-Rapist, Asshole-Boss). That, fellow Dopers, is very evil. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/102 "2011-03-04T19:24:23Z")
Josef Mengele, a real character, but portrayed fictionally in The Boys From Brazil. The film version was the only time I remember seeing Gregory Peck play an absolute sadistic villain. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/103 "2011-03-04T22:05:25Z")
Would you count John Doe (Kevin Spacey) from [Se7en](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/)? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/104 "2011-03-04T22:07:12Z")
From the movie Dangeous Liasons: Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) Vicomte Sebastien de Valmont (John Malkovich) I love the movie, and I love hating those 2 characters. French aristocrats screwing with other peoples lives just because they are bored. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/105 "2011-03-04T23:48:25Z")
I’ve only seen a film version, but Alec from Tess of the d’Urbervilles is evil. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/106 "2011-03-05T00:21:32Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Would you count John Doe (Kevin Spacey) from [Se7en](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/)? Yes, but his evil was the product of a severe disappointment with humanity that warped into extreme misanthropy. (That’s the view I got from the movie but I could be wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![emu2swan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@emu2swan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emu2swan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/107 "2011-03-05T16:11:12Z")
Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) in the movie The Green Mile. Thinking about him right now makes me want to stomp him. No matter what other roles I see him, to me, he’ll always be Percy Wetmore. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/108 "2011-03-05T17:14:01Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I dunno, I think a lot of sex abuse victims would decline the opportunity to be killed and eaten. Verger, now unable to physically molest kids, screws with their emotions (i.e. the little boy he tries to entice to poison his kitty but the little boy drinks the poison himself)- and I was comparing him to the revised Hannibal character in HANNIBAL who now only kills & eats assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/109 "2011-03-05T18:10:23Z")
I’ve tried to read all the posts, but I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Nurse Ratched from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” yet. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/110 "2011-03-05T19:41:19Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Verger, now unable to physically molest kids, screws with their emotions (i.e. the little boy he tries to entice to poison his kitty but the little boy drinks the poison himself)- and I was comparing him to the revised Hannibal character in HANNIBAL who now only kills & eats assholes. Haven’t seen the movie, but now I understand why it was panned. Dr. Lecter gets a job with Oscar Mayer? ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/111 "2011-03-06T02:17:16Z")
Yahweh ---
**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:** [March 6, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/112 "2011-03-06T02:42:18Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Nathan\_E.Zephyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dc4da7/32.png) [@Nathan\_E.Zephyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nathan_E.Zephyr)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/113 "2011-03-06T03:04:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Verbal Kint** > They find his wife and kids in the house and decide to wait for Soze. He comes home to find his wife raped and children screaming. The Hungarians knew he was tough and not to be trifled with. So they let him know they meant business [by slicing the neck on his son]. They tell him they want his territory, all his business. Soze looks over the faces of his family; then he shows these men of will what will really was [he shoots 2 or the 3 Hungarians, then one of his daughters, his wife and his other daughter]. He tells [the last Hungarian] he rather see his family dead then live another day after this. He lets the last Hungarian go, waits until his wife and kids are in the ground and then he goes after the rest of the mob. He kills their kids, he kills their wives, their parents and their parents friends. He burns down the houses they live in, and the stores they work in, he kills people that owe them money. And like that…he’s gone. I disagree about this scene being the epitome of evil – the Hungarions drew first blood, and Keyzer Soze reacted with vengeance. A truly evil person would have laughed and turned his back while his wife and children got raped. On the other hand, Cullen Crisp’s mother from _Kindergarten Cop_ was a truly evil person, teaming up with her drug dealer son to kidnap and/or kill a six year old child. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/114 "2011-03-06T03:37:21Z")
> [@Nathan\_E.Zephyr](#): > > I disagree about this scene being the epitome of evil – the Hungarions drew first blood, and Keyzer Soze reacted with vengeance. A truly evil person would have laughed and turned his back while his wife and children got raped. To an extent, I agree. But the part where Soze kills his wife and kids (albeit to “spare” them, in some twisted sense) isn’t about vengeance. It’s a cold-blooded individual that can execute his wife and children. Especially after his wife has just been raped. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/115 "2011-03-06T04:33:36Z")
> [@emu2swan](#): > > Percy Wetmore (Doug Hutchison) in the movie The Green Mile. Thinking about him right now makes me want to stomp him. No matter what other roles I see him, to me, he’ll always be Percy Wetmore. Percy Wetmore do a little dance… ---
**Author:** ![cuberdon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@cuberdon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuberdon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/116 "2011-03-06T17:52:44Z")
And no one has mentioned any characters from Iain M. Banks? His novels seethe with horrible characters. Off the top of my head: Look to Windward: the E-Dust assassin The Algebraist: Archimandrite Luseferous Consider Phlebas: Fwi-Song the prophet Surface Detail: Joiler Veppers and Virtual Hell’s Lucifer The Player of Games: anonymous Azadian apices, also the decrypted video scene as Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory: both children ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/117 "2011-03-06T19:23:41Z")
Can’t believe no one has yet mentioned Messers Croup and Vandemere from _Neverwhere_. And a second vote for Aarfy from _Catch-22_. All the more horrifying as he is initially presented as a merely annoying minor character; then he rapes and kills the maid Michaela, and cannot see that he’s done anything wrong, _since she’s just a whore._ That the MPs show up and arrest Yossarian for being AWOL merely adds to the bleak despair of the whole chapter. Milo might count, but I’ve always read him as merely a bitter satire on “profit-is-all” corporations. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/118 "2011-03-06T22:04:17Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > To an extent, I agree. But the part where Soze kills his wife and kids (albeit to “spare” them, in some twisted sense) isn’t about vengeance. It’s a cold-blooded individual that can execute his wife and children. Especially after his wife has just been raped. Soze didn’t stop at killing the people who threatened him and his family. He killed the entire gang, their relatives, indirect business associates - total scorched earth. “Verbal Kint” controls all information to Agent Kujan other than corpses. Either Soze really did kill his own family, and every other person involved in the incident, or he wants Kujan to believe that Soze is that cold blooded, and bloody-minded. The Soze thing is getting played out. I recognize some other names in this thread that are quite evil. Soze is still down there, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Pandoranoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce73a5/32.png) [@Pandoranoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandoranoid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/119 "2011-03-07T02:13:40Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Chad, the Aaron Eckhart character from _In the Company of Men_. . Good pick. Reminded me of Christian Bale’s character in ‘American Psycho’, wherein he was both literally (serial killer) and metaphorically (the epitome of vainglorious yuppie assholery) evil. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988/120 "2011-03-07T02:57:14Z")
Mephistophilis in Marlowe’s [_Doctor Faustus._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_%28play%29) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truly-evil-characters-in-film-and-literature/572988.md?page=7)