# Who are the best villians in movie history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131 "2008-12-07T14:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/21 "2008-12-07T19:10:21Z")
Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. She is just enough like an old boss of mine to really, really get goosebumps of pure hatred for her. For that matter, the pointy haired boss from Dilbert. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/22 "2008-12-07T19:19:38Z")
_ **Scorpius** _ from **Farscape** was pretty menacing. ---
**Author:** ![Broadswordcallingdannyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@Broadswordcallingdannyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broadswordcallingdannyboy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/23 "2008-12-07T22:02:16Z")
I’ve always loved Sessue Hayakawa’s perfomance as Colonel Saito in **The Bridge on the River Kwai**. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/24 "2008-12-07T22:12:42Z")
The shark (Bruce) in\* Jaws\*. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/25 "2008-12-07T22:16:28Z")
No mention of Emperor Palpatine yet? Come on, the dude ruled a thousand planets and shot friggin lightning from his hands. He has to be on that list. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/26 "2008-12-07T22:54:20Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. She is just enough like an old boss of mine to really, really get goosebumps of pure hatred for her. > > For that matter, the pointy haired boss from Dilbert. With due respect, we are discussing movie villians. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/27 "2008-12-07T23:11:09Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > _ **Scorpius** _ from **Farscape** was pretty menacing. Ultimately it turns out that he’s not a villian, does what seems to be on the surface a Heel Face Turn, but his motivations (from the start) are, from a certain perspective, rather honorable. Note his reaction at the end of the Peacekeeper Wars is most certainly not to rub his hands in glee at the wondrous tool which has been delivered to him. His biggest sin is that to him the ends justify the means. Likewise Magua from _The Last of the Mohicans_ (film) could be seen from his viewpoint as that of a hero exacting revenge, a plot used sympathetically in many a movie. Again note that he performs a noble act towards the end of that film. If he is a villian the Bride in the Kill Bill movies is morally equivalent (at least in terms of body count). ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/28 "2008-12-07T23:16:27Z")
Michael Meyers from “Halloween!” ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/29 "2008-12-07T23:21:16Z")
Would someone like to explain how this list hasn’t managed to include Ernst Stavro Blofeld yet? Or Dr. Evil, for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![meanyred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@meanyred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanyred)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/30 "2008-12-07T23:25:29Z")
Rhoda, “The Bad Seed” Television commercials advised parents not to allow kids to watch it because it would make us killers, but the neighbor kid parents went out that night so everyone watched it there. No homicides as yet, 40+ years. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/31 "2008-12-07T23:32:03Z")
Pazuzu/Regan in The Exorcist The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz ---
**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:** [December 7, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/32 "2008-12-07T23:44:05Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > No mention of Emperor Palpatine yet? > > Come on, the dude ruled a thousand planets and shot friggin lightning from his hands. He has to be on that list. And what kind of dental plan did he have? :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [December 7, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/33 "2008-12-07T23:52:49Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Likewise Magua from _The Last of the Mohicans_ (film) Again note that he performs a noble act towards the end of that film. Say what? Hannibal Lector and Kahn have been submitted, so I will nominate Canino from the big sleep. He made the little guy drink poison, but he didn’t give up the girl. Bogart escapes and gets a .38 Positive Police Special from his car. When I saw [The Big Sleep](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038355/) in a theater, the audience applauded when Bogart shot him four times in the gut. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/34 "2008-12-07T23:58:13Z")
Nazis. Any Nazis, but especially the Nazi major who got his face and body melted in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Now that was an e-vil Nazi. Also, Jack Nicholson’s Joker was a much better than Heath Ledger’s. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/35 "2008-12-08T00:08:31Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Nazis. Any Nazis, but especially the Nazi major who got his face and body melted in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Now that was an e-vil Nazi. I hate Illinois Nazis. Judge Doom (from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”) ---
**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:** [December 8, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/36 "2008-12-08T00:12:43Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Also, Jack Nicholson’s Joker was a much better than Heath Ledger’s. Yeah…but they were different, just as Bela Lugosi’s Dracula was different than _Nosferatu._ ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/37 "2008-12-08T00:28:23Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Also, Jack Nicholson’s Joker was a much better than Heath Ledger’s. Well no. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/38 "2008-12-08T00:32:43Z")
Godzilla. in the first movie, of course. Massacres a whole city. Heavy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/39 "2008-12-08T00:35:06Z")
OOOOH! Just thought of: Doctor Strangelove. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/40 "2008-12-08T00:36:34Z")
Dennis Hopper’s _Paris Trout._ Trout was beyond evil: he was evil made ideal. Risen to a higher, purer form of existence than everyday man, he was as inescapable as we was gratuitous, as inevitable as he was cruel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131.md?page=3)