# Who, or what, is your favorite villain?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 2, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435 "2023-07-02T03:56:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/1 "2023-07-02T03:56:52Z")
Wide open question. Any medium. Any definition of villain.
Just a random thought when a neutrino traversed my frontal lobe while I was perusing the Cafe. I’ll be back later after I consider my own answer.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/2 "2023-07-02T04:02:20Z")
I’m rather fond of Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/3 "2023-07-02T04:10:50Z")
At one time it was Killer Kowalski. The Iron Sheik was up there too.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/4 "2023-07-02T04:34:07Z")
Boris Badenov.
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### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/5 "2023-07-02T04:40:05Z")
Vincent Price in anything. Any villain role, that is, though I enjoy his “straight” roles too. Dear Og, that man was suave.
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### Author:  [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/6 "2023-07-02T04:40:37Z")
Oh damn. I had forgotten about professional wrestling. Iron Sheik is definitely a contender.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/7 "2023-07-02T05:36:18Z")
Burgess Meredith’s Penguin is def. my Dad’s favorite villain of all time.
For myself, I have to say Dr. Doofenshmirtz.
~Max
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/8 "2023-07-02T06:01:43Z")
Wile E Coyote is pretty evil:
> **[Wile E Coyote & The Road Runner Best Compilation ever / Lo mejor del...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqHk8cH2dnk%2F)**
>
> Hi fellas!, unfortunately my channel was not accepted for monetization, so I will continue posting videos but any donation or support will be appreciated📍 P...
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/9 "2023-07-02T06:20:21Z")
He’s no villain. You’re probably one of those people who think Daniel-san was the Karate Kid.
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### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/10 "2023-07-02T06:26:03Z")
Melkor, first of the Valar, Master of the Fates of Arda.
Or, if we’re allowed to count antiheros as villains, Elric of Melnibone.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/11 "2023-07-02T07:08:51Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> I’m rather fond of Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.
How is he a villain? What villainous things does he do?
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/12 "2023-07-02T07:49:33Z")
I’ll have to think about this one for a while, but in the meantime let me throw in a nomination for Ogie Ogilthorpe.
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/13 "2023-07-02T08:23:34Z")
GLaDOS!
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### Author:  [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/14 "2023-07-02T09:02:44Z")
Darth Revan from _Knights of the Old Republic_. He was mostly a mythical background figure for the first half of the game, a Voldemort-esque shadowy terror spoken of in hushed tones.
And continued to be in the second half of the game, at least in my first play through. Being evil was the most fun I’d ever had in a RPG. Force choke!
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/15 "2023-07-02T09:21:55Z")
Ted Faro.
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### Author:  [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/16 "2023-07-02T09:29:09Z")
No villain ever made me feel such blind fury as Mrs. Umbridge from the Harry Potter series.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/17 "2023-07-02T09:36:42Z")
He throws mimes into his scorpion pit, for one thing. He’s a trained assassin who took over a whole city and intimidated the guild leaders into doing things his way. He even manages to push the wizards around. He offers people choices and lets them suffer the consequences if they choose poorly. (Looking at him again, he may be the hero.)
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/18 "2023-07-02T10:18:56Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> He throws mimes into his scorpion pit, for one thing.
There’s nothing to say they actually died from it.
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> He’s a trained assassin who took over a whole city and intimidated the guild leaders into doing things his way.
The Assassin’s academy is the local version of Harvard, so that doesn’t say anything about his character, and as for taking control of the city - that’s just how things work in Ankh-Morpork. It’s not like he overthrew a functioning democracy. He seized power just like every Patrician before him.
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> He even manages to push the wizards around.
Good for him - they deserve some pushing around.
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#):
>
> He offers people choices and lets them suffer the consequences if they choose poorly
He only does that to criminals. To the best of our knowledge, he doesn’t hurt innocents, inasmuch as there are any innocents in Ankh-Morpork.
On teh other hand, the city was immensely prosperous under his rule. He reformed the police, reformed the postal service, reformed the currency, nurtured the creation of a free press, and in general dragged the city kicking and screaming into the Century of the Fruitbat. The one war the city was forced into during his reign, he managed to end almost before it began. He respects people who deserve his respect (basically, Sam Vimes) and listens to their opinion.
How on the Disc is he a villain?
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/19 "2023-07-02T11:44:18Z")
Red Grant in _ **From Russia with Love** _.
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### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2023, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-or-what-is-your-favorite-villain/986435/20 "2023-07-02T11:52:48Z")
Phillip Vandamm in _North by Northwest_, portrayed by James Mason. The writing and the performance are both, just, exquisite. “This matter is best disposed of from a great height, over water.”
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