Favorite Movie Villains

Alfred Hitchcock once said that the more successful the villain is, the more successful is the movie (or something like that) and while a movie doesn't necessarily require a villain in order to be a great, its true that the presence of a great villain can take an already good movie to new heights. With that in mind, here are some of my favorite cinematic bad guys (and girls) presented in no particular order. I hope you enjoy this list and that it will make you curious to check out the movies these evil-doers hail from, unless you haven't already.
Oh, yes, there will be some spoilers here. Although to be fair, some of these movies are so old that the spoilers are pretty much public knowledge and the movies presented here are good enough that knowing some plot-points really shouldn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie in question.


Frank (Once Upon A Time in the West)

My favorite Sergio Leone villain and my favorite villain in a Spaghetti-Western. It was a true stroke of genius on Leone's part to cast Henry Fonda, an actor mostly know for playing morally upright heroes, as the arch-villain of this movie. I can only imagine the surprise of the audience at the time when they witnessed Frank and his henchmen murdering an entire family in cold blood (including shooting a kid in the back) only for the camera to reveal that the man behind this mayhem is none other than Juror #8 himself. Has there ever been a better example of casting against type?

Lady Kaede (Ran)

I've written about her before. Akira Kurosawa's Ran may have been based on King Lear, but Kaede, the wife of Taro, eldest son of Lord Hidetora, leader of clan Ichimonji, doesn't really have a counterpart among Lear's rogues-gallery. After Hidetora relinquishes power to his three sons, Kaede wastes no time convincing Taro to claim sole leadership of the clan plunging the region into civil war. So, she's a Lady MacBeth character, then? Not really, because unlike the Thane of Cawdor's wife, Kaede is motivated not by power (or what she believes is best for her husband), but by a thirst for vengeance: Her family having been killed during Hidetora's conquests, Kaede seeks the complete annihilation of clan Ichimonji. The fact that this would also mean the deaths of hundreds of innocent lives is not something that bothers her very much. Manipulative, cold-hearted and bloodthirsty, Lady Kaede is one of cinema's great villains.

Harry Lime (The Third Man)

Sometimes, a villain can dominate the plot of a movie without appearing that much in it. Case in point; Harry Lime in The Third Man. Lime doesn't get many scenes, but every scene he's in is memorable, from his entrance to his dialogue with former childhood friend Holly Martins aboard the Ferris-wheel, they all count among some of the finest moments in cinema. Personality-wise, Lime is a trickster-character. He's so affable and fascinating that its quite easy to forget that underneath the charm, Lime is utter scum; A racketeer who cares for no-one but himself and the profits he can make. The radio-drama, The Lives of Harry Lime, softened the character somewhat, making him into more of an anti-hero, but its as the villain of The Third Man that Lime will always be remembered.

Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity)

Well, what can one say? Pretty much the archetypical film-noir femme fatale.

Dr. Mabuse (Dr. Mabuse the Gambler and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse)

I admit that I have a soft spot for the criminal mastermind type of villain and in that category, you can't do much better than Dr. Mabuse. Mabuse wants world-domination (it comes with the job), but unlike most villains of his type, watching him you can't help but feel a bit worried that he might actually achieve it.  In the second movie, Mabuse has spent ten years in a mental hospital following his breakdown at the end of the first, but that doesn't stop the good doctor from sowing more chaos. Yeah, this guy is pretty much my favorite cinematic super-villain.

Hans Beckert (M)

Right below Mabuse, we have another villain from a Fritz Lang movie; Hans Beckert, the first, but certainly not last villain-protagonist to appear on this list. Hans is not the most formidable villain, in fact, he's pretty pathetic. However, he makes up for this being a genuinely interesting character, one that evokes both disgust and pity at the same time. One of the best examples of a tragic monster in film.

Lope de Aguirre (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

Klaus Kinski was an actor who was pretty much born to play villains and I had a hard time choosing between his role as the eponymous character in Aguirre and that of Tigrero/Loco in The Great Silence. As you can see, the former won out in the end. Aguirre is a terrifying character,whose thirst for gold and power causes him to slip further and further into insanity. At the end of the movie, he keeps ranting about the dynasty he's going to form (by marrying his own daughter nonethless). Unfortunately for Aguirre, the only ones who can still hear him are the monkeys.

Louis Cypher (Angel Heart)

The Devil as played by Robert De Niro. Never has the simple act of eating a boiled egg come across as more sinister.

Antonio Salieri (Amadeus)

By all accounts, the real-life Salieri was not that bad a guy, he thought several young singers and compositors (one of his more famous pupils was Ludwig van Beethoven) and all but his wealthiest students received their education for free. The Salieri seen in Amadeus on the other hand, is a petty and murderous schemer, motivated chiefly by envy. However, what makes Salieri such a great villain is his complexity; while he despises Mozart, he clearly recognizes the latter's brilliance and acknowledges his genius. Which of course only furthers Salieri's resentment and underlying self-loathing, knowing that he's doomed to forever live in the shadow of his younger, more talented rival. Odd as it may seem, there were times in watching the movie when I felt for the guy.

Colonel Hans Landa (Inglorious Basterds)

Quentin Tarantino's filmography contains its fair share of memorable villains. My personal favorite is Hans Landa, the Nazi-villain of Inglorious Basterds. Easily the best character in the movie, Landa is quirky and affable, while also being ruthlessly effective at carrying out his task of hunting down escaped Jews. What's interesting about Landa is that he doesn't care about the Third Reich or Hitler, having no problem in selling them out when opportunity presents itself. This begs the question: What's more horrible? To fully believe in a system or ideology that commits numerous atrocities, including genocide, or to use said system to sate your own greed and opportunism?

Harry Powell (The Night of the Hunter)

Or "Preacher Harry Powell" as he insists upon calling himself (wonder if that's where the makers of Pirates of the Caribbean got the idea of Jack referring to himself as "Captain Jack Sparrow" from?). The handsome (Robert Mitchum, natch) but incredibly sinister Powell hunts his two step-children (after disposing of their mother) in the hopes of getting the money that the kids' biological father, Harry's cellmate, hid inside his daughter's doll. The Night of the Hunter is a movie that at times has a strange, dreamlike quality to it. However, this self-proclaimed preacher doesn't waste time turning the dream into a nightmare.

Michael Corleone (The Godfather Trilogy)

What's there to say about Michael Corleone? When we first meet him, he's the white sheep of the Corleone family; a war-hero who wants nothing to do with the family business. Unfortunately for Michael, events conspires against him and he's eventually forced to become the next Don, gradually transforming into a ruthless villain. Has there ever been a better portrayal of a man's fall from grace in cinema?

Ryonosuke Tsukue (Sword of Doom)

Out of the evil leads on this list, Ryonosuke is arguably the most evil (though Aguirre comes close). A master-swordsman, Ryonosuke travels the Japanese countryside, using his talents with the blade to indulge in various villainous deeds, mostly for his own amusement. Cruel, violent and ultimately self-destructive, this is one man for whom the term Bushido, simply doesn't exist.

So, there you have it: These were some of my favorite movie-villains. I hope that I succeeded in making you interested in checking out some of the movies these horrible, yet fascinating men and women appear in. Below are a list of honorable mentions; villains that I like, but I didn't write about in detail, because I felt the list was long enough already:

Roy Batty (Blade Runner) - Only not on the list because I'm not sure if he's a villain, as opposed to being "merely" an antagonist.
Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
Anton Chigurh (No Country For Old Men)
Capitan Vidal (Pan's Labyrinth)
Archibald Cunningham (Rob Roy)
Noah Cross (Chinatown)
Pretty much everyone except Alais (The Lion in Winter)
Claudandus (Felidae)
Dudley Smith (L.A. Confidential) - Better in the books, but still a good villain.
Col. Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)
Oh, and the following Disney-villains: Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Prof. Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective) and Judge Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
And many more.

Farewell, Sir Terry

As you no doubt already know, Sir Terry "Pterry" Pratchett passed away recently and like so many others I find myself saddened by the loss of a great storytellers. Sir Terry's work was, and is, a huge influence on me, with his Discworld books, he created a rich fantasy-world filled with unique and memorable characters and although it has been awhile since I last read anything by him, works such as Small Gods, Night Watch, Hogfather and others ensures his place among my favorite creators of fiction.

Sir Pterry, for the many hours of joy you've brought me over the years, I thank you.

Digger

As an avid comic-reader, one of the things I love the most about the internet is the sheer amount of comics available on it, that one can read for free. Granted, there's a lot of crap out there, but also several gems: Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Sidell, Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton, The Desert Peach by Donna Barr (which wasn't originally a webcomic, but since its creator has put it online, I've decided to include it here), among others. That said, if I had to choose my favorite webcomic, I'd have to go with Digger by Ursula Vernon, and since I recently re-read the whole thing, I figured it would be a good subject for my latest review.

So, what's Digger about? Well, its about our titular heroine, Digger-of-Unnecessarily-Convoluted- Tunnels of Clan Quartzclaw, or Digger for short; a wombat, who one day finds herself stranded in a far-away valley, populated by a variety of creatures. Digger only wants to find a way back home, but of course, she soon find herself mixed up in the local problems. Problems which are far older and greater than she could imagine...

The first thing about Digger that deserves mentioning is the world-building: The setting created by Ursula Vernon is a rich and varied one filled with all manners of creatures. The various factions that inhabit the world of Digger are well-fleshed out, from  the guardians of the temple of Ganesha, to the matriarchal hyena-tribe; their culture, beliefs and mythology are all revealed to the reader as the plot of the comic grows deeper.

On the character-side, Digger's down-to-earth personality, her sarcasm and her sense of compassion and responsibility makes her a very likable heroine whom its easy to root for. She's surrounded by a strong cast of supporting characters, each one memorable in their own way. I feel that out of all characters, Ed deserves a special mention though. Ed is a male hyena who Digger encounters early in the comic and while according to Vernon herself, he was originally only intended to be a monster that tried to eat Digger, but he ended up being the most fleshed-out (and also universally beloved) member of the entire cast.

On the artistic side of things, Digger is drawn in very appealing black-and-white art. The comic that most came to mind when I was reading Digger was Bone by Jeff Smith (speaking of which, I really should pick up that omnibus which collects all of Bone in a single volume one of these days). However, Vernon varies her art-style from time to time. For example; one character's back-story is drawn in a style similar to cave-paintings and so on.

Digger can be found here and I strongly advise anyone with a working internet connection to read it; its a great story  populated with a vast array of memorable characters, plus it dispenses valuable advise. For example:

Words to live by. Until next time, dear reader.

District 14, Season 1

Every once in a while, I come across a work of fiction that I can't help but gush about in a shamefully fan-boyish fashion, while at the same time I also can't help but feel a bit jealous of its creator(s), simply because its exactly the kind of work I wish I had come up with myself.
The french comic District 14 (or Cité 14 in original) written by Pierre Gabus, drawn by Romuald Reutimann and published in English by Humanoids, is exactly the kind of work I'm talking about.

Dear reader, welcome to District 14; a city-state populated not just by regular human beings, but also by anthropomorphic animals, aliens and even the occasional superhero. Our introduction to this bustling community comes through a newly arrived immigrant, an elephant, who has been forced to leave his homeland due to certain circumstances. Given the new name, Michael Elizondo (due to a linguistic misunderstanding), our pachyderm friend soon finds a job as an assistant and bodyguard to the investigative reporter, Hector  McKeagh. As the duo chases after the next big scoop, they soon find themselves caught up in a mystery, one which will net them a bunch of powerful and ruthless enemies.

Gabus and Reutimann have created a very detailed, living world, populated by a rich and varied cast of characters. Gabus' writing does an excellent job at making each character seem as if he or she has their own elaborate back-story waiting to be uncovered. The plot is also well-told and grows more intricate, with many twists and turns, as it evolves. As for Reutimann's art, I can't think of much to say about it (you may notice that I don't talk a lot about the artwork when I review comics for some reason; mostly because I prefer to let the panels I post speak for themselves), except that I found it very enjoyable to look at and that it fit the story perfectly.

I should point out that by the end of the first volume/season a lot of questions regarding the plot remain unanswered. Without spoiling to much, I can however say that we get to learn why Michael had to leave his homeland, his real name and why he needs to drink that disgusting tea he's always brewing. A lot of the other plot-points will hopefully be answered in season 2, which I'm looking forward to read.

In case it hadn't been clear by now, I absolutely loved District 14 and urge everyone with an interest in quality comics to give it a try.

My Favorite Villainesses

Ever since childhood I've always been a huge fan of the villains in fiction; whether it's the morally ambiguous villains that one can understand and sometimes even sympathize with, or the truly diabolical fiends. As such it should come as no surprise that villains will be a recurring topic on this blog. For my first villain-related post I've decided to write about some of my favorite female villains: It's been said that the female of the species is deadlier than the male, and these bad girls do their best to prove that saying right.

(Please note that while I've tried to keep spoilers to a minimum, sometimes they're unavoidable. Thread carefully).

Maleficent

Let's start with someone obvious. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty is pretty much the ultimate villain in the Disney Animated Canon. Her design and her voice (provided by Eleanor Audrey who also voiced Lady Tremaine in Cinderella) both ooze with stylish wickedness and to top it off, she can turn into a dragon, something which always gives you points in my books. Disney has provided us it several great female villains over the years, but Maleficent is a cut above the rest. Truly, she lives up to her self-proclaimed title as Mistress of All Evil.

Azula

Another obvious choice: Princess Azula of the Fire-Nation was the most tenacious and formidable villain on Avatar: The Last Air-Bender. Cunning, powerful and smug; I loved to hate Azula and later, as more of what made her thick was revealed, I came to pity her as well. Firelord Ozai may have been the big bad of the series, but his daughter was by far its best bad.

Milady de Winter

One thing I've noticed in fiction is that when we have a female villain working for, or with, a male colleague, she tends to be the less evil of the two. Not so with Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers; Cardinal Richelieu's mysterious and seductive spy/assassin who is by far the most evil character in the novel, completely outdoing her Magnificent Bastard of a boss in terms of sheer wickedness. Of course, the musketeers themselves aren't exactly saints, but Milady goes that extra mile. Her finest moment? Locked up she manages to not only seduce her jailer into freeing her, but also convinces him to carry out her assassination-mission, leaving the poor sap to be hauled off to the gallows. Damn.

Vermouth

Not just my favorite female character in Detective Conan, but quite possibly my favorite villain in the series as well. Vermouth aka Sharon Vineyard is a character that can best be described as an enigma wrapped up in multiple questions: She's a member of the Black Organization, yet she seems to enjoy a great deal of autonomy, she knows the true identities of Conan and Haibara, but for some reason she hasn't told her boss or fellow members and of course, there's the fact that she apparently hasn't aged a bit in twenty years. All in all, the many mysteries surrounding her helps make Vermouth into one of the most intriguing characters in the Detective Conan franchise.

Lydia Gwilt

One of the more obscure characters on this list, Lydia is the main villainess of the 19th century novel Armadale by Wilkie Collins and easily the best character in it. Collins wrote some of my favorite female characters of his era and Lydia is no exception; an adventuress and murderess with a stormy past whose machinations are at the core of the novel. The epistolary-format of Armadale also means that we, the readers, get a lot of insight into what goes on in Lydia's head, via her letters and exceprts from her diary. A wonderful character from one of my favorite authors.

Evelyn Crow

The villainess of The Rainbow Orchid, like Princess Azula, Evelyn is not the big bad of this great adventure comic, but she serves as the primary enemy of the heroes. Evelyn, with her Louise Brooks-haircut and ruthless personality was definitely my favorite character in The Rainbow Orchid. Tasked by shady tycoon Urkaz Grope to prevent hero Julius Chancer and his friends from recovering the eponymous flower, Evelyn goes about her mission with a commitment and efficiency that I couldn't help but find admirable. If Garen Ewing ever makes a sequel to The Rainbow Orchid, I hope we get to see her again.

Lady Kaede

The villainess of Ran, the movie itself may be Akira Kurosawa's take on King Lear with the genders reversed, but Kaede owes more to Tamora or Lady MacBeth than she does to Edmund. Kaede is a woman driven entirely by vengeance; when she was a child her entire clan was killed by the warlord Hidetora and now she seeks revenge. Understandable and yet, the lengths Kaede is willing to go in order to achieve her vengeance unquestionably makes her a villain, at least in my eyes. She also gets one of my favorite death-scenes in all of cinema.

Phyllis Dietrichson

Not much to write about Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity, except that she's pretty much the film-noir femme fatale. Oh, and the movie itself great, if you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend you check it out.

Rosemary Applefield

I've talked about Ashita no Nadja before so I'd recommend you follow the link if you want to know my opinion about this unjustly obscure shojo anime. I'll say this though, Rosemary was without a doubt my favorite character in it. When she appeared, the plot kicked into high-gear, she was the real mastermind behind Herman Preminger's schemes and was so fabulous that although I hated the things she did, I could never hate Rosemary herself. I wasn't even mad when she got away scot-free at the end, and since I normally hate that sort of thing, it should tell you what an awesome character Rosemary is.

Mrs. Iselin

The villain of The Manchurian Candidate played by Angela Lansbury. Mrs. Iselin is a woman who desires power over any cost, no matter what she has to do get it, even brainwashing her own son into becoming an assassin and partaking in a Communist plot to take over America. Of course, once the take-over is succesful, Mrs. Iselin has no intention to share the power with anyone. Who would've thought that Mrs. Potts could be so evil?

Snoop

Along with Chris Partlow, Felicia Pearson a.k.a. Snoop is Marlo Stanfield's top-lieutenant in his bid to take control of the Baltimore drug-trade. Do not get fooled by her small stature and cute looks, this woman is an extremely efficient and brutal killer. Probably my favorite female character in The Wire.

Livia Drusilla

Most of these ladies are, thankfully, the product of fertile imagination. However, here's one villainess who actually existed in real-life, though whether she was as bad as her portrayal in I, Claudius make her out to be is highly unlikely. Not it matters though, because the Livia written by Robert Graves and later portrayed by Sian Philips in the 70's mini-series is an awesome villain, being brilliant, ruthless and funny. The last one may come as a surprise, but Livia's one-liners are a great source for really black humor in both the book and the show.

Mags Bennett

The matriarch of the Bennett clan in Justified and the big bad of the show's second season. Mags was a terrific character and Margo Martindale did a great job portraying her. Whether she was poisoning a competitor with some of her special 'apple pie', getting the denizens of Bennett county riled up against Black Pike or simply smashing on of her son's hands with a hammer for being an idiot, Mags was always riveting to watch.

Ravel Puzzlewell

The Night Hag who made The Nameless One immortal, Ravel doesn't get much screen-time in Planescape: Torment, being only present for a single conversation and a boss-battle, but she definitely makes the most of the time she gets. The conversation with Ravel is one of the game's high-points and reveals a ton about her character and her relationship with The Nameless One, among other things. Creepy, obsessive and tragic among other things, Ravel was an engrossing and fascinating character in a game filled with them.

SHODAN

The AI that becomes self-aware and turns evil has been a staple of the Sci-Fi genre for a long, long time. One of the best of these rogue AI is SHODAN of System Shock 1 & 2 fame, who is one of the scariest and most formidable villains in video-game history. One of the things that make SHODAN so great is her omni-precense; throughout the game, she's constantly taunting you,daring you to challenge her bid for Godhood. Good luck, you'll need it. After all, what could you possibly do against a powerful, immortal machine?

Balalaika

Black Lagoon is one of those series in which basically the entire cast  consists of villains. However, if I were to pick one character that towers above the rest, it would be Balalaika. Balalaika is the head of Hotel Moscow, the biggest and most powerful gang in Roanapur, the fictional city in which Black Lagoon takes place. Hotel Moscow consists entirely of Balalaika's old squad from her days as a soldier in the Afghan War and she runs it with military efficiency. Although she rarely acts an antagonist to the Black Lagoon crew, there's no denying that Balalaika is an extremely frightening woman, whose path you'd best not cross if you value your life.

Demona

If Maleficent is the ultimate female villain in the Disney Animated Canon, than Demona holds that title when it comes to Disney's animated TV-shows. Frankly, there's not much I can say about this genocidal gargoyle that other people (like GregX) haven't said already. Suffice to say that Demona is one of the most fully-realized and complex characters ever seen in a cartoon and let's leave it at that.

                                        Kreia

Another villain written by Chris Avellone. However, unlike Ravel, Kreia is present in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II from beginning to the end, making her a much more detailed character. Throughout the game we learn about a lot about Kreia, so that by the end it feels like KOTOR II is her story, just as much (if not more) as the main character's. Kreia is one of the most well-written and complex characters I've seen, not just in the Star Wars franchise, but in videogames in general. Personally, I found her to be much more subtle and complex in her villainy than Palpatine and Vader.

 

Ren Gyokuen

Magi is one of the best shonen manga in recent memory and one major reason for that are the characters, which are all very well-handled, including the major villains. When we first meet Gyokuen she seems like the perfect picture of a kind and loving mother. However, nothing could be farther from the truth (naturally, since she's here). Gyokuen is a cruel and deceitful women, willing to kill anyone who stands in the way of her goals, including her husband and children. She's also the leader of Al-Thamen, the evil organization that's behind the most of the bad shit in Magi's universe. Aside from being a great love-to-hate villain, Gyokuen also gets major points for being a rare example of a female big bad in a shonen series, something we don't see often.

So, there you have it. Other evil women worthy of mentioning are: The aforementioned Lady MacBeth and Tamora from MacBeth and Titus Andronicus respectjvely. Cirin from Cerebus, Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke, Gretel from The Milkweed Triptych, Dunya Musta'sim from Magi, Eve Harrington from All About Eve and several others.