# Who Are Your Favorite Movie Villains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608 "2007-12-19T19:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/1 "2007-12-19T19:27:56Z")
Here are some of mine: Alonzo Harris - Training Day Lumburg - Office Space Brick Top - Snatch Mister - The Color Purple Begbie - Trainspotting Hans Gruber - Die Hard ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/2 "2007-12-19T19:40:59Z")
Sokourah the Magician – **Seventh Voyage of Sinbad** – Torin Thatcher ``` Wonderful performance, very menacing ``` Auric Goldfinger – **Goldfinger** – Gert Frobe ``` The best Bond villain -- he takes childish delight in showy presentations, even when he's going to kill the presentee. ``` “The Jackal” – **Day of The Jackal** – Edward Fox ``` Tough, smart, no-nonsense methodical killer ``` ---
**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:** [December 19, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/3 "2007-12-19T19:45:37Z")
Nurse Ratched - _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_ Begby - _Trainspotting_ “Reverend” Harry Powell - _Night of the Hunter_ Snow Queen - _the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe_ Count Graf Orlock - _Nosferatu_ (1920s version - creepiest vampire ever) Count Graf Orlock - _Nosferatu_ (much under-rated 70s version - a close second) and of course… KHAN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/4 "2007-12-19T19:46:12Z")
Off the top of my head: Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch in _The Wizard of Oz_ Billy Zane (can’t remember his character’s name) in _Titanic_ ETA: Zane was freaky in _Dead Calm_, too Darth Vader in the _Star Wars_ series Jeremy Irons was delicious as Scar in _The Lion King_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/5 "2007-12-19T19:46:24Z")
Nobody is badder than Darth Vader. 2 movies of true evil. (There were never more than 2. Ever.) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/6 "2007-12-19T19:48:42Z")
Alan Rickman! Especially as the Sheriff of Nottingham. ---
**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 19, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/7 "2007-12-19T19:58:02Z")
My little-known choice: Dawg Brown - \*\* Cutthroat Island\*\*, played by Frank Langella. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/8 "2007-12-19T20:02:48Z")
Max Shreck in \*\*Batman Returns \*\* (well…any Chris Walken) Maleficent in **Sleeping Beauty** ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/9 "2007-12-19T20:03:49Z")
[QUOTE=Superfluous Parentheses] Alan Rickman! Especially as the Sheriff of Nottingham. [/QUOTE] Oooo yes… most definitely! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/10 "2007-12-19T20:15:51Z")
The Great Tyrant in [Barbarella.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BarbarellaPoster.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/11 "2007-12-19T20:20:39Z")
Hans Gruber is by far the best villain. ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/12 "2007-12-19T20:28:01Z")
The iceberg in Titanic. That cold hearted killer took that dork DiCaprio down and let me go home. That block rocks! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/13 "2007-12-19T20:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Hans Gruber is by far the best villain. [/QUOTE] Simon came a close second, though. I’ve always wanted to see a movie spun off of Die Hard that centered around the Gruber brothers working together. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/14 "2007-12-19T20:41:53Z")
Thulsa Doom, **Conan the Barbarian** , James Earl Jones. He calls a pretty girl to willingly & knowingly leap to her death, just to impress a thief before having him executed. _Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they learn why they fear the night._ ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/15 "2007-12-19T20:46:02Z")
Hannibal Lechter **The Silence of the Lambs**. A terrifying man even when he’s _not doing anything_. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/16 "2007-12-19T21:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] Hannibal Lechter **The Silence of the Lambs**. A terrifying man even when he’s _not doing anything_. [/QUOTE] I’ll echo this one and follow up with Alan Rickman or Gary Oldman in any villain role they’ve ever done. 😃 Leon The Professional, The Fifth Element, Robin Hood, Quigley Down Under, and Die Hard all come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/17 "2007-12-19T21:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Hannibal Lechter The Silence of the Lambs. > > A terrifying man even when he’s not doing anything. Oooh – good one. But I’ll also nominate Cox’ interpretation (before Hopkins’) in **Manhunter**. The way he could manipulate people from inside his cage was wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/18 "2007-12-19T21:18:46Z")
Emperor Palpatine Hans Gruber, of course Humperdink from _Princess Bride_ Kaizer Soze from _The Usual Suspects_ Goldfinger (James Bond: Do you expect me to talk? Goldfinger: No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!) King Ming and his snake Klytus from _Flash Gordon_ Norman Bates Damon Killian (Richard Dawson, the evil game show host in _The Running Man_) Darwin and Mynerva Mayflower (Richard Grant and Sandra Bernhardt in _Hudson Hawk_) Dean Wormer in _Animalhouse_ Longshanks in _Braveheart_ (Prima Nocte. If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out) ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/19 "2007-12-19T21:52:50Z")
Tim Roth in _Rob Roy_ - All he had to do was walk on camera and smirk and I wanted to beat the shit out of him. Ciarán Hinds in the BBC miniseries of _Ivanhoe_ - The performances in this version of the story were excellent all around, but Sir Brian duBois Gilbert packed more acting into every second of screen time than everyone else combined. Siân Phillips, John Hurt, and Patrick Stewart in _I, Claudius_ - To name a few. Thirteen hours of debauchery that only the Old Testament could possibly match. Declaimed by the finest cast that upper-class England could conjure. Eli Wallach in _The Magnificent Seven_ - I lived on the Mexican border for 20 years, and only recently learned that the leader of the banditos was a Jewish guy from New York. :smack: Yul Brynner in _The Ten Commandments_ - So let it be written. So let it be done. I’m completely straight and that smoldering look makes me quiver. Ann Baxter in _All About Eve_ - Never did evil – well, ruthless ambition, anyway – inhabit such a lovely face. Victor McLaglen in _The Quiet Man_ - Not a hissable villain, I’ll admit. But I’ve never seen the small town bully played better. Jean Hagen in _Singin’ In The Rain_ - “Wha’d’ya think I am? Dumb or somethin’?” Lena Lamont served as a perfect example when I set out to teach my daughter that “beautiful” is all well and good, but is not the end beat all of personal qualities. John Malkovich and Glenn Close in _Dangerous Liaisons_ - And you wonder why these people all head their heads chopped off by angry mobs? Bruno Ganz in _Der Untergang (Downfall)_ - This one tops them all. Having watched Og-knows how many WWII documentaries on the Hitler Channel, I couldn’t believe how convincing this guy was. Terrifyingly authentic. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608/20 "2007-12-19T21:55:25Z")
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men. There’s a new villain in town. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-your-favorite-movie-villains/430608.md?page=2)