Yeah, I know, I just wanted to use the inconceivable line…
Now I’ll add a serious suggestion, that I don’t think has been mentioned before - John Rainbird, from Steven King’s Firestarter (either the novel or George C. Scott’s portrayal in the 1984 film. Less said about the remake the better).
My favorite villain is Dr. Evil, largely because of his “the details of my life are quite inconsequential” monologue.
mine is Dr Fu Manchu who at least has a reasonable motive for cruelty along with honor added
Sheriff “Dad” Longworth in One-Eyed Jacks, played by Karl Malden, who was one hell of an actor. Deputy Lon Dedrick (Slim Pickens) was a nasty piece of work, too.
Two of the henchmen in The Client were pretty scary. One is Paul Gronke (Kim Coates), who chases Mark Sway (Brad Renfro as the kid) through the hospital, and I’m not sure about the name of the other one, who tries to befriend him. Also in that film, Barry “The Blade” Muldano (the mob boss’ nephew, played by Anthony LaPaglia) is entertainingly over-the-top, with his garish suits and cruel treatment of a frightened middle-aged secretary.
Carl Fogerty in A History of Violence. Ed Harris knocked it out of the park there. Reminded me of a Komodo dragon, for some reason.
Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) in The Shawshank Redemption. Condescending, sanctimonious, petty, spiteful… What’s not to dislike?
Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
Eve Harrington.
Ingratiating herself to “her idol”, just to eventually steal Margo’s role.
Pretty sure this is the first accurately-portrayed sociopath in cinema history (outside of vampires and the like).
Only being brought to heel by Addison DeWitt…because HE was an even bigger sociopath.
I’m a big fan of intelligent, manipulative villains. Amy in Gone Girl comes to mind, Daphne in the American Royals series, Nina in Pretty Things.
I do a lot more reading than watching, but my boyfriend did talk me into watching The Boys, and Homelander is hands down my favorite character. There’s this complexity to him: the other characters are either good guys trying to do the right thing, or bad guys that are just kind of wimpy and weak. But he’s this villain that’s trying so hard to do what’s best for him, fuck everyone else, but every once in a while his emotions pop up and he has to take care of them. It’s an intriguing dynamic that I find fun to watch.
I can’t choose between Misters Morden and Bester from Babylon 5.
While both are interesting, Morden is the more visually impressive villain (often due to very careful sound and lighting cues), but Bester is best IMHO. With Morden, you always wonder how much of the villainy is internal, and how much is just Shadow Puppetry. Bester is part of the group that largely wrested control of the psi from their normal masters and intends, much like Magneto, to put psi on top of the new order.
And he’s good at manipulating people even without his powers.
He got me to hold the door for him at LACon III.
“Anatomically impossible, Mr. Garibaldi, but you’re welcome to try … anytime … anywhere.”
– Psi Cop Bester in Babylon 5:“Mind War”
Walter Koenig was good enough as Bester to get me wondering what Bester was doing as a younger man on Star Trek, not the other was around. And I grew up with Star Trek, but later converted to Babylon 5,
The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) on the 1960s Batman TV series. I thought that guy was just so cool.
A reminder that in the original Peter Pan story, Tinkerbell tried to get the Lost Boys to murder Wendy out of jealousy.
JMS even has a whole episode portraying Bester from a more sympathetic point of view, in that he’s defending psi people from persecution by non-psi people (with some historical justification), not unlike Magneto. And not unlike Magneto, he takes the view that a strong offense is the best defense. Koenig really sold him.
Morden, OTOH, is just a servant of the Devil. He’s not important in himself; he’s just the intermediary for much more malign powers.
It is allowed to like both. I checked.
Bester was a better villain in his own right, but Morden was better at bringing out the character of those he interacted with. Bester never got waved at. Like this.
Jerry Lacy as Reverend Trask on Dark Shadows.
Drusilla, from Buffy: who, upon showing up, always made me ask, okay, what’s going to happen next? Whichever character-driven plot was playing out will now take a weird turn, and I’m 100% interested!
She’s a joy to watch — which, yes, is an effect that’s helped along by her being Juliet Landau, but (a) even putting her good looks in general aside, she’s got the eyes to sell the hell out of a very specific persona, and (b) it’s her effect on the story that’s, uh, mesmerizing.
One of my all time favorite fictional characters is Eric Cartman from South Park.
He has had some villainous moments but I am not sure he would rank as a pure villain because he has not always been the main antagonist on the show.
So how would YOU describe Cartman? A villain? A hero? An anti-hero? Something else?
How about a self centered jackass?
Didn’t Cartman once have a couple killed and then trick their child into eating their corpses?