What kind of villain do you prefer?

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-03-19 10:38am

Stofsk wrote:The complex, emotionless villain. All the best ones were like that: Darth Vader, Al Bester, Gul Dukat (before he was possessed by devils), Morden, Maul, Palpatine etc. However the qualfier of "emotionless" isn't quite true you know, all of the above had their passions.

Seconded. Insane lacks credibility and just becomes a farse way too easy.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2004-03-19 11:46am

Crown wrote:Seconded. Insane lacks credibility and just becomes a farse way too easy.

Insane Evil villains are good for a laugh, though.

"I have poisoned the world's supply of tartar sauce! Pretty soon all you shrimp lovers will go insane with grief! Now you must pay me... 1 MILLION dollars! Muahahaha!"

You mispelled farce, by the way. *the grammar ninja offloads his attack with cunning and stealth, and disappears into the shadows silently*

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-03-19 12:24pm

not really sure i'd be able to pick a favorite type of villain. i always liked the cunning devious bastard, though. DC has a few excellent examples of insane villains. Two-Face, just for starters. completely bonkers but in a way that made sense and gave the good guys a run for their money.

The suave and cool villains are great in other situations, like Mr. Morden from babylon 5 or Magneto from the X Movies or Ultimate X-Men.

Over the top villains are great, but they shouldn't be done too often. the best examples i can think of are General Zod, Galactus, General Bison, (the street fighter movie sucked, but Raoul Julia did an excellent job) and the Green Goblin, just for starters.

there's simply too many good examples to really pick a favorite.

starfury · Post by **starfury** » 2004-03-19 12:53pm

The complex emotionless villain is by far the best. The depth of character, believability, and understandability they bring to stories adds depth and meaning, when done properly. The "MWAHAHA" James Bond villains have their perks, but honestly there's nothing that can compete with complex characters in an understandable situation

Not to mention, they often to be really cool, the one everybody wants to be. the real stars of the said shows at time, like Darth vadar, Xantos, or in D%D terms( lawful evil). read. Blue dragons.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-03-19 12:56pm

Hans Grubber is my all-time favorite.

aphexmonster · Post by **aphexmonster** » 2004-03-19 02:29pm

Slartibartfast wrote:Hans Grubber is my all-time favorite.

whom?

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2004-03-19 03:08pm

I think insane evil is a concept that is totally misunderstood that very few film makers or comic artists tend to get right, most of the time insane villiany seems to be presented as inept villiany. Gollum is an example of an insane villian done well, Carnage from the spiderman series is another example.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-03-19 03:10pm

Spyder wrote:I think insane evil is a concept that is totally misunderstood that very few film makers or comic artists tend to get right, most of the time insane villiany seems to be presented as inept villiany. Gollum is an example of an insane villian done well, Carnage from the spiderman series is another example.

another excellent example is Dukat, from DS9.

Demiurge · Post by **Demiurge** » 2004-03-19 03:12pm

I like villains that believe they are doing good, but whose methods conflict with the hero's morals. I can't think of any examples at the moment.

The Aliens · Post by **The Aliens** » 2004-03-19 03:13pm

Complex emotionless. When you think, if someone is trying to wipe out the world population of kittens, for example, they really would have to clamp down on emotions. Complex because- well, if I'm going to care about this dude one way or another, I want to know why he's killing kittens.

And don't say masturbation, you sick fucks.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-03-19 03:15pm

Demiurge wrote:I like villains that believe they are doing good, but whose methods conflict with the hero's morals. I can't think of any examples at the moment.

Two-Face (depending on incarnation he was obsessed with bringing criminals to justice, although he didn't care for due process), Ra's Al Ghul, Sinestro (he was obsessed with bringing order and felt it was good), Mr. Morden and Bester are just a few off the top of my head.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-03-19 03:18pm

aphexmonster wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:Hans Grubber is my all-time favorite.
whom?

Um, the bad guy from Die Hard. Played by wossname.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-03-19 04:07pm

Crom wrote:I think it's unfair to compare [Sauron] to Cobra Commander and Destro, at least in terms of competence...

Hey, Cobra Commander and Destro constructed an Earth-spanning terrorist organization with vast human and capital resources, including a space program. That's impressive.
If it weren't for those meddling kids...er, I mean Flint and the Joes, they'd have achieved world domination four times over. As it is, they've got a pretty good grip on a good-sized chunk of the world. I mean, you don't get millions of loyal followers (including ninja!) for nothing.

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2004-03-19 04:49pm

I really liked Cassanova Frankenstein from The Mystery Men. Funny as he was a very minor character in the comics.....

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2004-03-19 06:36pm

Pure Evil/Complex (Palpatine) is my favorite, which isn't on there. The closest is Pure Evil/Insane, so I voted for that.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2004-03-19 11:26pm

Depends on what the villian's in. If it's a video game or a movie, I want a complete psycho, over-the-top, pure evil, willing to screw up the entire world for personal power (Kefka) type. If it's a book, I'll take any kind of antagonist that's done well.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2004-03-19 11:36pm

Slartibartfast wrote:
aphexmonster wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:Hans Grubber is my all-time favorite.
whom?
Um, the bad guy from Die Hard. Played by wossname.

Alan Rickman the same guy who was in Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen And Sigourney Weaver.

Demiurge · Post by **Demiurge** » 2004-03-19 11:39pm

Damaramu wrote:I really liked Cassanova Frankenstein from The Mystery Men. Funny as he was a very minor character in the comics.....

....

I didn't even know there were comics.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-03-20 01:20am

Montcalm wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:
aphexmonster wrote: whom?
Um, the bad guy from Die Hard. Played by wossname.
Alan Rickman the same guy who was in Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen And Sigourney Weaver.

Also the bad guy in Robin Hood with Kevin Costner. Sheriff of this place or that.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2004-03-20 06:59am

Robert Treder wrote:
Hey, Cobra Commander and Destro constructed an Earth-spanning terrorist organization with vast human and capital resources, including a space program. That's impressive.
If it weren't for those meddling kids...er, I mean Flint and the Joes, they'd have achieved world domination four times over. As it is, they've got a pretty good grip on a good-sized chunk of the world. I mean, you don't get millions of loyal followers (including ninja!) for nothing.

Here here!

And not to mention the amount of damage and loss they've sustained because of the GI Joes and they still keep coming back. Some of their exploits have resulted in billions of dollars in property damage and some rather serious geographical reconfiguration resulting from the detonation of several mountain bases.

Cobra Commander is highly under-rated.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-03-20 07:52am

Spyder wrote:Cobra Commander is highly under-rated.

Especially since he achieves all of this while constantly battling discrimination in the workplace due to his hideous snake face. He's so emotionally scarred that he's reduced to wearing a mask even in the presence of his closest confidants. And yet he perseveres, a paragon of courage in the face of insensitive intolerance. He's an inspiration to us all.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-03-20 07:57am

I prefer the complex, emotionless villain like Darth Vader since they have an interesting backstory.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-03-20 07:58am

Robert Treder wrote:
Spyder wrote:Cobra Commander is highly under-rated.
Especially since he achieves all of this while constantly battling discrimination in the workplace due to his hideous snake face. He's so emotionally scarred that he's reduced to wearing a mask even in the presence of his closest confidants. And yet he perseveres, a paragon of courage in the face of insensitive intolerance. He's an inspiration to us all.

The Cobras are very well organized and equipped for a terroist organization. They have heavy ground armour, gunships and even fighter jets. Cobra commander deserves a lot of credit for this.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-03-20 08:02am

Slartibartfast wrote:
aphexmonster wrote:
Slartibartfast wrote:Hans Grubber is my all-time favorite.
whom?
Um, the bad guy from Die Hard. Played by wossname.

Both Hans and Simon Gruber were excellent villains. I think i prefer the black and white idea of a villain though, an agent of complete darkness, dedicated to evil's conquest of the universe.

I like villains that believe they are doing good, but whose methods conflict with the hero's morals. I can't think of any examples at the moment.

Londo Mollari?

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2004-03-20 09:11am

The less emotional villains are more believeable, but the crazy ones are far more entertaining.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

What kind of villain do you prefer?

Which villain do you prefer?