Villains you hate

[Hunter Hyena]

Time to prepare my flame shield

The Joker from The Dark Knight

He came across as a rather bland idea of crazy, that just rubbed me as being too tame and never interested me. Lick lips, looks above someone you talk to slightly, comb hair. Done?

I think the reason it gets viewed as a great performance is due to Brandon Lee syndrome with The Crow. Actor dies and everyone assumes the last role was pure greatness (though I did find Lee better in his role than Ledger was in his).

I still think Ledger's version of the Joker is alright, but he PALES in comparison with Hamill's take on the Joker.

Hamill truly is the best Joker one can ever get.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

In World of Warcraft, Garrosh Freaking Hellscream. I hate him for all of the wrong reasons. He isn't intelligent, manipulative or pragmatic like Doomhammer or Gul'dan. He's an incompetent, hypocritical manchild with a truckload of daddy issues and Kevlar A-grade plot armor. His signature weapons? Pull out giant monsters out of thin air and survive explosives because the plot demands it. What's worse is that the characters acknowledge him as a military genius, which leads to a horrible case of Informed Ability.

And now he is bringing an army from the past to get his revenge on the world. Yep. Personally, I wish he would just be killed unceremoniously in the opening cinematic. He's long overstayed his welcome in the lore spotlight.

 

[Avaholic03]

Daniel Vogel from the last season of Dexter. Ending the show with such a horribly written character as the main villain makes me sick to my stomach.

Spoiler

And having this little ***** with mommy issues be the one to kill Debra Motherfucking Morgan was downright insulting to the character. If she had to die, she at least deserved a good character as her murderer.

Well in retrospect, pretty much all the bad guys in Dexter were underwhelming in the end. They all suffered from some easily-exploitable flaw, and none of them ended up being as threatening as they started out seeming to be. Ironically the best "villian" in Dexter was Doakes, but they fucked up and killed him off way too early in the series just when he and Dexter's relationship was getting interesting.

 

[Ieyke]

I know he seems to have a bit of a cult following, but I'm sorry, no. Just no.

To be fair though, superhero comics and their adaptations have produced far more "villains" that fit the bill for this thread than I can count, particularly if you go back a few years.

Mr. Freeze is an AMAZING villain. That movie version is completely ridiculous dumb and silly, sure, but that just means you're looking at the wrong version of him. That whole movie is that same level of campy-stupid. What did you expect?

Go watch the Mr. Freeze episodes of Batman:The Animated Series. Epic stuff.
Mr. Freeze is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most tragic villains of all, and that originally comes from Batman TAS. Before the cartoon reinvented him he was just a random throwaway villain.

DC Animated Universe episodes (in chronological story order):
Heart Of Ice (Batman TAS)
Deep Freeze (Batman TAS)
Batman & Mr. Freeze:SubZero (movie)
Cold Comfort (The New Batman Adventures)
Meltdown (Batman Beyond)

The Arkham City version is great too, though he only plays a very brief part.

 

[Therumancer]

In the sense of "villains failing as villains", I can think of a whole slew of them from the Marvel/DC movies. Although I kind of fancy some of his dialogue, Bane from The Dark Knight Rises underwhelmed me. The voice felt like it was dubbed on and in a bad way, felt like they should've cast someone other than Hardy (taller, stronger, whatever, it's not like you need a great actor in the role). Not to mention the final fight was anticlimactic.

Loki is a textbook case of Much Ado About Nothing. He fails to live up to the title of Trickster God. He gets his ass handed by everyone - even Coulson, for crying out loud. It took him 3 movies to achieve anything and I might argue he's not a villain anymore. The character just rides the fanboy wave on autopilot.

Now, without further ado, Moriarty from Sherlock! HOLY SHIT DO I HATE THAT GUY! Now, don't get me wrong, I see why people love him and I definitely see an appeal, but I just CANNOT take him seriously! All I see is a kid who tries to show off and wants to be scaaaaary. "Oh hai Sherloooock, how you doing handsome? I WILL KILL YOU AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!! Ok bai I have to go kiss ya". I just want to slap his back and send him back to his room.

I was so disappointed when Moriarty showed up for the first time. He's kind of grown on me though. They could've gone for a classier portrayal like Jared Harris in the RDJ movies, which was as appropriate as it was forgettable. At least BBC's Moriarty has a distinct characterization going on. He has this goofy diva thing going on, it's eerily magnetic.
I liked Sherlock's season 3 Magnusson, shame he's only in one episode.

Well, I think the last Nolan "Batman" movie was decent as an overall performance, but it also showed the problems with his style of doing Batman since it's difficult to tell a decent super hero story, when your trying to basically make things as far from super-hero fare while still technically qualifying as possible. Bane was done well given the limitations, but frankly they were simply incapable of capturing the essence of that character or what made it great within the rules of Nolan's movies. Something which I might add means that Bat-fans can still look forward to seeing Bane done "right" in a movie at some point even after so many other villains were nailed.

See, with Bane the entire point of the character is that he was supposed to be crazy smart, he's not capable of beating Batman straight out, even with super 'roids in the comics. Bane knows this. When Bane famously beat Batman he did it by coming across the whole "Bruce Wayne is Batman" secret but unlike every other villain to figure that out (at least temporarily) he didn't use it immediately or come straight at him. Instead he waiting until Batman was sick (everyone gets the flu) then he staged a huge Arkham breakout, then he waited until Batman pretty much fought a dozen or so members of his rogues gallery before they could get dug in while he was sick, and then waited for him in Wayne Manor. In comparison the second fight with Bane when Batman finally gets his mojo back (recovers from his shattered spine, trains with Lady Shiva, etc...) was anti-climactic, it was supposed to be, half the point was that Bane was never all that. Heck Bane pretty much ran away from Azbat shortly thereafter, Batman Vs. Azbat being a much bigger deal in terms of that whole storyline.

The closest Nolan could do really was the whole "killer instinct" thing, and to make Bane's mask a weakness he'd have to target, but couldn't really generate the same kind of drama that made Bane's introduction such an utterly awesome storyline. Nolan's movies just aren't that deep at the end of the day.... but yeah, the second fight with Bane being somewhat anticlimactic is half the point of Bane, which is why they needed to have a second gimmick running.


In short I agree with you there, and on Loki. The whole problem with super-hero movies is that they really can't give the villains the time they deserve to shine. Especially seeing as right now they are primarily selling the heroes. Overall Loki never really got much of an opportunity to sell his credentials, unlike in the comics where he has in the past defeated powerful heroes with childlike ease (even Thor) which makes it pretty dramatic when the final battles take place, since there is always a doubt whether or not even multiple A-listers can beat a well prepared Loki (and like with Doctor Doom, thinking you beat Loki doesn't mean you actually did, it might have been part of a plan). With Bane, half the fun of him was following Bane as he set up his plan, wincing as you saw how badly he had Batman's number, and doing things like breaking both of Killer Croc's arms in a sewer brawl to show he was pretty tough when on his 'roids to boot.

As time goes on, this is something we're going to need to see comic movies work on. I've oftentimes wondered if perhaps we might very well get to see some kind of "heist" movie at some point where some equivalent of "The Masters Of Evil" or "Legion Of Doom" forms with villains kicking the crap out of the heroes and the finale being them completing their scheme as a sort of "violent Oceans 11 in Spandex" finale, and creating a sense of jeopardy for the next big hero movie. Honestly that's the only way I can think to solve these problems, since your dealing with a genere carried as much by the colorful bad guys as by the heroes, a lot of the villains wind up having their own fan bases as well and even get shots doing crime books or acting occasionally as anti-heroes. Indeed one of the reasons why I hated "Iron Man 3" is that it ruined one of the more successful, colorful, and recurring super villains in Marvel... I mean cripes, The Mandarin is one of those guys you expect to give heroes a serious pounding, beat them occasionally, and even when they win they tend to really know they were in a fight.

 

[Wunderhund]

Alec Trevelyan from GoldenEye. It's impossible to take seriously, which probably only bothers me so much because I used to praise the shit out of the movie when I was twelve or so.

 

[Ieyke]

Harley Quinn is the epitome of this, to me. She has the lightheartedness of the Joker, but with none of the gravitas or originality.

I really like Paul Dini, but not his most famous creation.

You missed the point of Harley Quinn. She's hardly a villain at all.

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, M.D. was an Arkham psychiatrist assigned to tend to Joker.
She imagined that she saw good in him and could redeem him.
Joker immediately preyed on that weakness and made her fall in love with him while constantly toying with her mind.
Eventually she essentially became a prisoner of deranged love, with Stockholm Syndrome towards the Joker.
She's basically lost all sight of reason and devoted herself to the Joker in the hopes of earning his love, which he never returns.
She's a pathetic love-starved creature, and on one occasion where Batman briefly treats her well and shows interest in her...her insanity wavers and she gets sort of confused - having a minor existential crisis when someone gives her attention beyond just using her.
Essentially, she's just another one of the Joker's victims.

 

[TheAmazingTGIF]

I HATED Unbreakable, M. Night Shayamilan's "superhero" movie. The villain is a bit of spoiler so...

Spoiler

Freaking Samuel L. Jackson being a terrorist trying to find his arch enemy because he has brittle bones? What the hell kind of evil, villainous motivation is that shit? It is stupid and boring and oh so useless.

And for popular villains I'll just leave you with the title: The Phantom Menace. (not counting the Original Trilogy, just the new ones and their insane convoluted, flow chart requiring, mess of a plot)

 

[Ieyke]

Unalaq from Season 2 of The Legend of Korra. One of the best things about season 1 was Amon - a calculating, menacing and intimidating bad guy with a dark history. Then in season 2 we get Unalaq, someone with the most intense little brother jealousy ever.

Korra should have been able to mop the floor with this guy, yea he had spirit powers, but they don't help in a fight in the physical world. He was just your average water bender, a very skilled one true, but Korra is supposed to be a master of fire, water and earth.

Plus he was so boring. Your basic "I want to rule the world and I will use any means necessary to do so!". Snore. Varrik was a much more interesting character in season 2, hopefully he shows up again. In a series known for good villains (Azula, Ozai, Amon) Unalaq was very disappointing.

And Unalaq was a much more boring rehashing or Tarrlok.
I really can't figure out why in the world they thought that was a good idea for the main villain.
And he wasn't even craftily "maybe evil" like Varrick.
His villainy was telegraphed MILES ahead of the point where he reveals himself to be the villain, and it just make Korra come off as oblivious for not seeing it coming.

 

[Ieyke]

Time to prepare my flame shield

The Joker from The Dark Knight

He came across as a rather bland idea of crazy, that just rubbed me as being too tame and never interested me. Lick lips, looks above someone you talk to slightly, comb hair. Done?

I think the reason it gets viewed as a great performance is due to Brandon Lee syndrome with The Crow. Actor dies and everyone assumes the last role was pure greatness (though I did find Lee better in his role than Ledger was in his).

I still think Ledger's version of the Joker is alright, but he PALES in comparison with Hamill's take on the Joker.

Hamill truly is the best Joker one can ever get.

Hamill IS the Joker, just as Kevin Conroy IS the Batman.
There's just no arguing around that.
The best possible scenario for DC movies would to make them in the animated styles of the Arkham Origins trailers, and have Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and the rest of the Arkham/DCAU actors reprise their roles.
At a couple hours long with a Hollywood budget....HOLY SHIT would that be awesome.

 

[ccggenius12]

Who else? Joffrey Lannister from Game of throne! (Do I win?)

Ok other than him, I guess the other villain that I hate would be Spandam from One Piece. He was such a pathetic weaklings and yet he had cause so much grief and suffering to Robin and Franky!

I'm not sure that characters that were designed to be incompetent count. S panda was quite clearly incompetent from the get-go, and I don't think that Oda ever tried to pass him off as anything but what you'd get if Helmeppo grew up without Morgan being taken down a peg.
What I think is being looked for is characters that, through poor direction/writing/etc. fail in the role the author intended for them. Someone like the Superman Returns portrayal of Lex Luthor. Dude steals alien terraforming tech, and his first thought is "I'll make a killing in the real-estate market. And since this plot must also kill superman, let's make the new land out of Kryptonite. Because everyone wants to live on a barren, radioactive wasteland."

 

[Ieyke]

Every Superman movie is about real estate for some reason.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Sephiroth. I don't get why everyone loves this guy; there's nothing going on upstairs for him. Even before he loses his sanity (see Crisis Core) his personality never moves past anything beyond tired indifference. After that, he just becomes this mustache twirling character who shows up long enough to say "Nyeh! Now I shall do something mean to Cloud! Good day to you people!" Maybe it is because I literally did not give a damn about Aerith, but it seems fans feel more for him other than just because he killed her.

It's always a big deal when he shows up, too. In any of the games or that movie everyone is just soooooo bewildered at seeing him again. As if it's not a normal thing. Plus him turning evil over night was a huge leap in logic.

 

[Eamar]

snip

I have already said that I am specifically talking about the Arnie version because that is the version I have seen. Hence why I posted a picture of him and not the animated series version.

 

[Silvanus]

You missed the point of Harley Quinn. She's hardly a villain at all. She was an Arkham psychiatrist assigned to tend to Joker. She imagined that she saw good in him and could redeem him. Joker immediately preyed on that weakness and made her fall in love with him while constantly toying with her mind. Eventually she essentially became a prisoner of deranged love, with Stockholm Syndrome towards the Joker. She's basicaly lost all sight of reason and devoted herself to the Joker in the hopes of earning his love, which he never returns. She's a pathetic love-starved creature, and on one occasion where Batman briefly treats her well and shows interest in her...her insanity wavers and she gets sort of confused - having a minor existential crisis when someone gives her attention beyond just using her.
Essentially, she's just another one of the Joker's victims.

Oh, I know her story. I think you're defining "villain" too narrowly-- many of them are sympathetic, or victims in other ways. Many of the best ones are! In the "best villains" thread I included HAL 9000, who's subject to his own programming and (according to the second book) may have been suffering from a kind of artificial psychological disorder.

They're antagonists because they try to do terrible things and the protagonists must stop them.

 

[Ieyke]

I have already said that I am specifically talking about the Arnie version because that is the version I have seen. Hence why I posted a picture of him and not the animated series version.

Ah.
Well, as said, you should really (REALLY) go watch Batman The Animated Series. Not only is it the source of the highly respected version of Mr. Freeze, it (and the rest of the DC Animated Universe) is also the best, most stable, well thought out and put together version of the DC Universe. Better than the comics even. And they are outright among the best cartoons of all time.
The DCAU absolutely set the bar for superhero cartoons, much the same way as the Marvel Cinematic Universe set the bar for movies.

Oh, I know her story. I think you're defining "villain" too narrowly-- many of them are sympathetic, or victims in other ways. Many of the best ones are! In the "best villains" thread I included HAL 9000, who's subject to his own programming and (according to the second book) may have been suffering from a kind of artificial psychological disorder.

They're antagonists because they try to do terrible things and the protagonists must stop them.

Then saying she lacks gravitas or originality of the Joker really doesn't hold up. Those only work if you only consider her surface appearance as just a less serious distaff counterpart of the Joker. She's really not. Her situation is pretty unique and fucked up.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm not sure if this counts since it's not an individual but a group, but The Authority in "Rage". Seriously, they spend half the game hyping up how incredibly bad-ass they are and how you don't ever want to mess with them, and then you finally fight them and they're no tougher than half the Wasteland gangs you fight. Additionally, they tell you constantly about how you're supposed to hate them and how evil they are, but they never show you anything bad that they do.

Also, concur with the earlier post about the Governor from 'Walking Dead'. He just went so off the rails that it felt ridiculous. This seemingly intelligent guy, who has the strength, charisma, and leadership to band together dozens of people and build a thriving community in this Zombie hellscape, just decides he's going to kill anyone he runs across for no reason other than "I'm paranoid". He really could have been a great villain, but it seemed like the show had no idea what to do with him.

 

[Silvanus]

Then saying she lacks gravitas or originality of the Joker really doesn't hold up. Those only work if you only consider her surface appearance as just a less serious distaff counterpart of the Joker. She's really not. Her situation is pretty unique and fucked up.

Her situation, yes-- that's why I genuinely like Paul Dini's "Mad Love".

But her modus operandi? That's just ersatz Joker. That's why I dislike her in the countless stories that have come after "Mad Love", the majority of which haven't dealt with her origin at all-- only with her M.O. and her theme.

 

[Ieyke]

Villains that suck:
The Primarch Lorgar (Horus Heresy)
He's a foolish, petulant, weak-willed brat, in the body of a demi-god.
He's whiny and annoying, and is manipulated constantly. And he's even physically one of the weakest, if not the outright weakest of his 20 brothers.
There's just literally nothing he contributes as a character aside from to annoy the reader at how worthless he is.

Unalaq (Legend Of Korra)
He was a much more boring rehashing or Tarrlok.
I really can't figure out why in the world they thought that was a good idea for the main villain.
And he wasn't even craftily "maybe evil" like Varrick.
His villainy was telegraphed MILES ahead of the point where he reveals himself to be the villain, and it just make Korra come off as oblivious for not seeing it coming.

Hades (anything but Greek mythology, basically)
It's not that Hades is a bad villain, per se, it's that he's just NOT a villain. Any portrayal of Greek mythology that treats Hades as a stand-in for the Devil is idiotically misusing Hades, because apparently they weren't clever enough to come up with their own villain or choose one of the bazillion existing Greek myths that WAS evil.
Seriously, I want to punch a writer in the throat every single time I see Hades used as a villain.

Venom (Spider-Man 3)
Man...how can you screw up Venom THAT badly.
They turned him from the hulking super-agile badass monster who absolutely torments Spider-Man into a whiny little "evil Spider-Man" that gets defeated in a couple minutes. And the costume design was stupid. And the Alien Costume apparently also turned Peter into a dancing emo dipshit...

It's surprisingly hard to think of bad villains that aren't just throwaway characters...

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Hrm, I'mma have to go with the Didact.

"I'm going to kill humanity because i'm a ten thousand year old racist and don't care in the slightest how the universe has changed and will not for one moment learn anything about what's going on 'cause i've got deus ex machina and can immediately pilot my own prison, put it inside another giant ship, and have a super mega-death ship, as well as space magic because what the hell, jedi were cool.

Good thing these stupid beasts, you know, the intelligent grunts, elites, hunters, jackals, etc, will blindly follow what I say even though I treat them like crap and actively call them beasts. I mean, I just make no sense in this universe but here I am, with all my space magic."