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Thursday, April 25, 2013

V is for Villain

Every hero needs a nemesis, and these villains . . . well, they're pretty terrifying. Depicting a the darkest side of human nature, these characters are the most evil, the most terrifying, the most, well, villainous in all of film and literature. 

V is for Villain 

The Joker (The Dark Knight) – I think we can all agree, both Marvel and DC fans alike, that Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight was arguably the most incredible performance as a comic book supervillain ever filmed.  A sociopathic killer teetering on the edge of insanity, he manages to stay just sane enough to be absolutely terrifying. And of course to drive the heroes of Gotham to exile or madness themselves. 

Iago (Othello) – Iago is first and foremost a schemer, a manipulator of the highest order. He exploits, deceives and entices, never directly acting out, hiding his true poisonous nature behind a charismatic veil. He's one of the most sinister characters of classic literature because of his ability to mislead others, never suspecting his dark motives. In my personal opinion, he is the most evil of all Shakespearean characters. 

Professor Umbridge (Harry Potter series) – I'm sure when most people think about the villains of the Harry Potter series, the first logical choice that comes to mind is Lord Voldemort. However, I think there's someone much more sinister than the snake-faced Dark Lord . . . Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge. Pens that use human blood for ink, Inquisitorial Squad, and worst of all, lurid pink cardigans and kitten paraphernalia  She is simply evil, right down to her core. But I think it's important to note that Umbridge marks one of the few truly malevolent characters in the series  that is not a Death Eater. She proves that there is not simply a line between good people and Voldemort's followers; rather there are shades of grey that we cannot ignore. 

Mrs. Danvers (Rebecca) – With the ghostly presence of Rebecca lurking around, it's the very real presence of Mrs. Danvers that threatens the (otherwise unnamed) current Mrs. de Winter. The Manderley housekeeper who remains devoted to Rebecca long after her death, Mrs. Danvers does everything in her power to make Mrs. de Winter's life miserable, from convincing her to wear a costume she knows will upset Maxim de Winter to attempting to influence her to jump from a window several stories up. And may I say that personally, she's one of the creepiest villains I've ever come across. 

Hans Gruber (Die Hard) – I simply cannot complete this list of my favorite villains without the addition of one of the all-time greatest action hero nemeses – Hans Gruber. The criminal mastermind behind the Nakatomi Plaza building take-over, he's clearly a villain of incredible skill and intelligence. Too bad for him John McClane is an even more extraordinary action hero. 

And there you have it, my Top 5 favorite Villains. What are some of your favorites?
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This post is part of the Blogging A through Z Challenge 2013. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is character types and tropes. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you’d like to check in on the other participants, simply click here.

13 comments:

  1. oh the joker...on of the kings of villains. I so loved jack nicholson as that character in the movies...

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    1. I loved him in the original Batman movie. But then, I love Nicholson in pretty much any role. Particularly The Shining...

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  2. The villian is a great subject. What story would be complete without one?
    Francene.
    A - Z Challenge
    http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.co.uk/

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  3. Aha, do I spy a Shakespearian villain there? Iago is a great villain. I like Loki from 'Thor'. He's an amazing villain too.

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  4. And wasn't I cheering when the house went up in flames with Mrs. Danvers inside. Does that make me a bad person too?

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  5. Actually, Ledger's performance was no better than Nicholson's, whom he modeled his performance after. The only edge that Ledger got was a much better director that allowed him to do more than ole Jack was allowed to do. Ledger couldn't even do the laugh; if you notice, you will never see him do it onscreen in the movie. Mark Hamill was brought in to provide the laugh. His performance is overrated, sadly, because of his death.

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    1. I disagree. I thought his performance was incredible before his death. And I thought he brought a sense if menace to the role that I hadn't seen before. Part if that is due to the overall darkness of the film I'm sure (whereas the original felt much more campy), but I don't agree that it was overrated. Nicholson was incredible as the Joker (as he is in nearly every role), but I overall prefer the darkness of The Dark Knight and Ledgers psychotic performance.

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    2. To say Ledger's Joker was based on Nicholson's is surely misstating things. It has far more in common with Tom Waits. But it's a great performance by any standard and outside of any association.

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  6. A very nice list of villains. I particularly love seeing Hans Gruber included here.

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  7. I thought Ledger did a great job.
    As a whole, the Borg are scary villains.

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  8. So glad you included Iago. He was evil!

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  9. Captain Ahab. Surely a memorable villain?

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  10. great blog! You must spend a lot of time on this!

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