USA Today honors Vader.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-06-27 04:50pm

I was reading USA Today over breakfast today, and noticed that they declared our very own Darth Vader as the best (ie most evil) movie villian ever. Sorry Kahn.

If anyone cares, the rankings were as follows:
Darth Vader
Norman Bates
Bruce (ie the shark from Jaws)
Hannibal Lecter
Nurse Ratched
Hal 9000
Jack Torrance
Alex Forrest
The hillbillies from Deliverance
Freddy Krueger

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-06-27 04:54pm

Darth Vader beat Hannibal Lecter? That's no mean feat.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2004-06-27 05:08pm

Cool, it's a pity the Emperor didn't make the list though, I've always seen him as more evil the Vader.

BTW I don't think that you could describe HAL or the shark as evil, the former was a computer following it's programming and the later was an anima.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-06-27 05:21pm

HAL wasn't evil, what happened was the result of two conflicting orders.

Haze Gray · Post by **Haze Gray** » 2004-06-27 05:23pm

The hillbillies from Deliverance, on the other hand ... *shudder*

"I can make a chicken smile ..."

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-06-27 05:29pm

Wait a second. Nurse Ratched? From "One Bird Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? How was she a movie villain? She was unpleasant, yeah, and was pretty rotten, but not what I'd call villainous.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-06-27 05:32pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:HAL wasn't evil, what happened was the result of two conflicting orders.

No, he wasn't evil, just insane. That doesn't change the fact that he was definitely the villian of 2001.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-06-27 06:17pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Wait a second. Nurse Ratched? From "One Bird Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? How was she a movie villain? She was unpleasant, yeah, and was pretty rotten, but not what I'd call villainous.

She's the villain of the movie. She doesn't have to be out for World Domination to be considered villainous, indeed, the qualities you already pointed out - unpleasantness and rottenness - can be attributed to villains.

Don't forget - she was a total bitch, and IIRC seemed to enjoy controlling the ward and was harsh to the people in it. It's been awhile since I last saw it though.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-06-27 06:23pm

Still, number five on the top ten is rather odd.

Regarding the Emperor being more evil than Vader, I'm going to guess that this poll is focused primarily on screen presence. Therefore it makes perfect sense that Darth Vader is number one, because he has one of the strongest screen presences as a cinema villian.

Hannibal Lecter is rather overrated, in my opinion. He's more creepy than anything else, and should have been lower down on the list. About the most geekiest villian there is, actually, because of his reliance of theatrics.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-06-27 06:30pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:HAL wasn't evil, what happened was the result of two conflicting orders.

You don't have to be evil to be a villain.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-06-27 06:57pm

The term "best" villain can mean many things. But Darth Vader was the best movie villain on numerous fronts, perhaps even more so because of his change of heart at the end. That, and his ruthless style in earlier films, gives him the top spot.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-06-27 07:12pm

Stormbringer wrote:No, he wasn't evil, just insane. That doesn't change the fact that he was definitely the villian of 2001.

An antagonist and a villian are different things. For instance, Watto in Phantom Menace wasn't really a villain, but he certainly was an antagonist, as he was a contrary force to the main characters.

Stofsk wrote:She's the villain of the movie. She doesn't have to be out for World Domination to be considered villainous, indeed, the qualities you already pointed out - unpleasantness and rottenness - can be attributed to villains.

Don't forget - she was a total bitch, and IIRC seemed to enjoy controlling the ward and was harsh to the people in it. It's been awhile since I last saw it though.

She was a bitch, rotten, unpleasant, et cetera (which was completely accurate -- that's how asylums were run during that time period), but she wasn't particularly villainous.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-06-27 07:14pm

Pretty cool.

Though the Shark from Jaws is Bruce?

Cool name.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-06-27 07:20pm

Ghost Rider wrote:Pretty cool.

Though the Shark from Jaws is Bruce?

Cool name.

That's what the paper said, though it didn't elaborate on where it came from.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-06-27 07:20pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:She was a bitch, rotten, unpleasant, et cetera (which was completely accurate -- that's how asylums were run during that time period), but she wasn't particularly villainous.

Maybe the fact that she wasn't a cartoony villain is why she landed there. She's the type of villain you can run into in your ever day life. Maybe she's your boss.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2004-06-27 07:24pm

Vader probably told the editor to make him first or he would have force choked him!

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-06-27 07:52pm

Soontir C'boath wrote:Vader probably told the editor to make him first or he would have force choked him!

There's nothing wrong with being evil to win a most evil contest.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-06-27 07:58pm

Well, was this specifically a "best" or "most evil" poll? Because the terms frankly aren't mutually analogous.

Jalinth · Post by **Jalinth** » 2004-06-27 08:45pm

Soontir C'boath wrote:Vader probably told the editor to make him first or he would have force choked him!

Probably afraid James Earl Jones will use the "voice" on him - he needs to be nominated as the voice behind the fear and terror. Amazing actor

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-06-27 09:05pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:Pretty cool.

Though the Shark from Jaws is Bruce?

Cool name.
That's what the paper said, though it didn't elaborate on where it came from.

Apparently it was a nickname the shark prop picked up on the set.

jenat-lai · Post by **jenat-lai** » 2004-06-27 10:41pm

and homaged to in Finding Nemo

Enola Straight · Post by **Enola Straight** » 2004-06-29 11:33am

We need an evil team.

Hannibal Lecter AND Nurse Ratched...together.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-06-29 02:20pm

Enola Straight wrote:We need an evil team.

Hannibal Lecter AND Nurse Ratched...together.

How about Nurse Ratched and Alex Forrest together in an evil lesbian porno? There're people here who would go for that. You know who you are.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-06-30 02:17am

Norman Bates being second after Darth Vader is a bit too much. He is overrated. Darth Vader owns 11 mile long battleship and strikes terror throughout the galaxy and all Norman has is a motel.

hvb · Post by **hvb** » 2004-06-30 06:50am

evilcat4000:

the OP says:

Wicked Pilot wrote:... the best (ie most evil) movie villian ever.

So they should be rated on the quality of their evil, not the quantity.

Of course Vader would stand to win the quantity (most evil, not best evil) hands down as well, unless you include Tarkin in the survey.

Now what is the population of Alderaan again? ... What Alderaan?

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USA Today honors Vader.

USA Today honors Vader.

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