The Villain Thread

[Silvanus]

I tend to love reading/watching antagonists. At the top of the list--

Penguin & Two-Face (DC Comics)

HAL 9000 (Space Odyssey series)

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Dune series; wasn't even that big a fan of Frank Herbert's writing style, but I loved Baron Harkonnen).

Shylock (The Merchant of Venice. Many wouldn't really consider him a "villain" as such; he's far more sympathetic. I'm including him because he fits the "antagonist" definition enough-- a great deal of the plot is spent thwarting him).

Lord Roose Bolton (Song of Ice and Fire)

Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter)

Hannibal Lecter (Thomas Harris)

Aaaaand Annie Wilkes (Stephen King)

Brilliant, fantastic villains. Bolton and Umbridge have been brought up before, I see.

 

[Ieyke]

For me there are two categories of good villains.
1)The Villain that I'm afraid of. He's intimidating, skillful and always has a plan. That's the kind of guy that I would be scared to meet in a fight.
2)The Villain that I see myself following. He fights for a believable cause, know how to talk and convince people without screaming, yelling or going for unnecessary theatrics.
And there's only one villain who fits both categories.
<img src=http://static2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121107105525/avatar/images/0/00/Amon_and_his_Equalists.png>
Holy shit was Amon an amazing villain. He's scary, he's skillful, he always has a plan, he wipes the floor with Korra and her friends and, honestly, if I was just a regular guy in Avatar Universe I could see myself following him. And he's also voiced by Steve Blum.

Amon IS fantastic.
My main problem is that mid-first season I came up with a theory of the plot that was WAAAAAAAAAAAY better than what actually happened.
My version of Amon is just better.
He's still awesome, but now I have a hard time being as jazzed about it. :/

 

[deathbydeath]

Every major bad guy from Worm [parahumans.wordpress.com] would make this list, even the minor villains and a bunch of the good guys deserve a spot on here. Shame there aren't any official images to post though, seeing as the whole damn thing is text. The Slaughterhouse Nine in particular deserve heaps of praise because they're all really well characterized (at least the eight members that attack Brockton Bay). My favorite is Mannequin, hands down (he's the guy on the top-left).

Spoiler: Some pretty wizard fanart

While this member of the S9 never lived in the timeline of the story, Nice Guy is the most terrifying and fascinating (aside from maybe Gray Boy, but GB's power is fucking broken). For the unenlightened: Nice Guy's superpower is that nobody can perceive him as a threat or as hostile, even while he's standing in front of you and running a knife through your throat. Not going to lie here, that is hands down the most fridge horror I've ever seen in a bad guy.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

Spoiler: Like his namesake, he has many ways to sting...

THE MIGHTY MONARCH!!!

[small]"Butterflies... don't... sting."[/small]

I feel sick to my stomach that I forgot the Monarch in the OP.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Snip

Well, consider me convinced. Throwing in another vote for Doom.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

I've always been impressed with the wonderful "villain" from Farscape.

I give you . . . Scorpius

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

For me, Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Spoiler

While he may not be inherently evil, he's a neutral force, but his methods of reaching his goals are incredibly sleazy. In his eyes, though, it's only the natural thing to do. Apart from causing naive young girls pain and suffering, He's a villain that solely works on logic. He never lies, he's willing to give information if you ask, and he doesn't know what it means to "scheme". However, he will find ways to work around these flaws, whether it's leaving out valuable information, or stretching the truth and giving vague answers to manipulate people to perform in ways that work in his favor. While he doesn't look down on humanity, he doesn't comprehend human rationality. You get the idea that you can't stop or reason with him. Kill him, and another will just take its place. Peak his curiosity, and he'll see it through to the end that those ideas become a reality. You have no idea what he's thinking, and while he's technically working for a good cause, it's his actions and the lengths he goes to that makes him a great, effective villain.

 

[Ieyke]

You know what's a fairly great "villain"?
The Krampus.

 

[TheRiddler]

Batman obviously has the ultimate cast of villains. Alex Ross art of awesome:

[spoiler/]

[http://s962.photobucket.com/user/akhilgodbole/media/XKCD/Top-15-Batman-Villains-Title1-e1339004909813_zps08c6d184.jpg.html][/spoiler]

Personal faves are the Joker (especially BTAS):

[spoiler/]

[http://s962.photobucket.com/user/akhilgodbole/media/XKCD/images_zps24384f39.jpg.html][/spoiler]

And my own namesake:

[spoiler/]

[http://s962.photobucket.com/user/akhilgodbole/media/RiddlerDancingBrightGreen_zpsa76ebe50.jpg.html][/spoiler]

Also, spoilers for Watchmen (Also, how has he not shown up yet? I'm disappointed.):
[spoiler/]

[http://s962.photobucket.com/user/akhilgodbole/media/XKCD/davegibbons-watchmen-35_zpsa40f9f99.jpg.html]
LOOK ON MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR[/spoiler]

Oh, speaking of which, also Walter White.
[spoiler/]

[http://s962.photobucket.com/user/akhilgodbole/media/XKCD/breaking_bad_blue_by_j3concepts-d4gl5yt_zps90422079.jpg.html][/spoiler]

 

[BlueKenja]

Don't think he's been mentioned yet, which is a shame.

Spoiler

 

[Blow_Pop]

Off the top of my head

Frank Fontaine/Atlas from Bioshock. Admittably it is mostly his voice.

Andrew Ryan from Bioshock though his voice annoys the hell out of me.

Maleficient from sleeping beauty. Because dragon so fuck you. (Ok not really but still)

Chernabog from the night on bald mountain scene in fantasia. (Disney considers him a villian so it counts damn it)


And that's all I can think of that are actual villian-y kinds of villians and not walking the fine line between good and evil.

 

[Kitsune Hunter]

Meruem from Hunter x Hunter, one of the most well written and complex villains I've ever seen in anime

Spoiler

Also special mention goes out to Kirei Kotomine from Fate/Zero and Crocodile from One Piece

 

[geK0]

Too hard to choose so Ill split it into categories

Disney(yes it gets it's own category)
Maleficent(Sleeping Beauty)

TV
Davros (Dr. Who)


Film
Saruman (Lord of The Rings)

Comics
Magneto (Xmen/Marvel universe)
Video Games(too hard to pick just one so Ill pick three)
Arthas (Warcraft)
Ganondorf (Zelda)
Glados (Portal)


I'd offer a thorough justification for each of these but, alas, my lethargy is taking the best of me.


Edit:
(dis)Honorable mention to this guy for giving me terrible nightmares as a child

Spoiler

Damn you Chernabog for traumatizing me in my tender years!