TDSA Presents: The EvaGeeks Top 100 Pop Culture Villains

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Hello I am Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion, I do research on obscure things so you don't have to.

We've all seen "Top 5, 10, 11, 20, 25, 50, or even 100" type lists involving bad guys from around all of pop culture, and who can blame them? Villains are awesome, not from a morale stand point, but it makes things in what we watch, read, and play that much more interesting. They range from simply grunts to the antithesis of all humanity. With the amounts of buffs with comics, video games, movies, books, TV shows, animation, and whatnot here at EvaGeeks, why not make our own? It's simple, it's fun, and the overall result will tell us a lot about ourselves; what we consider evil and just or something like that from a philosophical standpoint. That said, let's get started!


Rules:

1. You can list up to twenty villains. That's right, I said twenty. If you remember something more evil than what's on the list feel free to change it via editing until the final date has passed.

2. Honorable mentions are allowed, but will not count as votes.

3. Please give reasons. This isn't a requirement, but if it comes down to simply one voters we'll need cases as to why one voters should get in.

4. No real life or religious figures; adaptions based on them are allowed, however.

5. Debating is allowed as long as it's civil, you may ask why a villain is on someone's list, but don't go "YOU LISTED HIM WTF TURD! >=(" or something along those lines.

6. Don't list anything below human level in terms of intelligence; this means no Jaws, no xenomorphs from the Alien movies, no NGE angels, no Blob, or even most incarnations of Godzilla. There are other examples, but you get the idea.

7. Be fun and creative; mostly the former although the latter helps give variety.

Current Due Date: March 5th, 2011



And I'll post mine later, for now I'm gonna see where this goes.

[Defectron]

or even most incarnations of Godzilla.

But Showa godzilla seems to have near human level intelligence though, hell he even talks in godzilla vs gigan. Also I would argue that at least some of the angels are up there too and some are probably even smarter then normal humans. If you wanted to exclude more animalistic or alien characters, I would use a different word then sentient.

[Killer Bee]

I'm so not tallying up the votes for this. I still have nightmares from last time.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

I'll do the vote tallying, don't worry. ;)

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Well, Godzilla and the like don't have very many motives, making it hard for them to be "evil". Maybe "cruel" or "heartless", but not "evil".

[Defectron]

Well, Godzilla and the like don't have very many motives, making it hard for them to be "evil". Maybe "cruel" or "heartless", but not "evil"

Depends on your definition of villain, would you need to be evil to be a villain?

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

would you need to be evil to be a villain?

Technically, yes you do, which is why I took out non-sentient life forms.

[Galaxy News Reidio]

OK, here's a few votes from me:

Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange, book and film)
Assuming that "villain" and "protagonist" are not mutually exclusive, then Alex DeLarge will always be one of my favourite villains. His only redeeming feature (at least, before chapter 21) is his interest in the arts - apart from this intellectual side, he is a brutal, vicious bastard, the personification of every old woman's fears about "the youth today", raping and ripping his way across near-future England. In short, he's a nasty piece of work, but a damn interesting one.

Kefka (Final Fantasy VI, video game)
Who doesn't love a villain that pulls it off? Kefka, the dancing mad general and later king of the world from what many consider one of the best Final Fantasy games (No mean feat with 13 main entries in the series and more spin-offs than I've had hot dinners) is great fun. He is, essentially, the Joker but without all the things that make me leave the Joker out of this. Also, he was the first Final Fantasy character to have voice acting, for one simple reason - his evil laugh. WHA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!

Victor Von Doom (Marvel Universe, Comics)
Foolish mortal! You dare gaze upon DOOM? Everyone enjoys a good ham, and the undisputed ruler of Latveria and would-be king of all the Universe Victor Von DOOM is as hammy as they come. A cunning wizard, cruel dictator and mad scientist rolled up into one despicable package, DOOM is always the most interesting person in the room. His real passion, apart from any of these things is seeking revenge on that infernal RIIIIICHAAAARDS!, whom DOOM blames for everything wrong with his life. And when DOOM does get revenge, it's just as meticulously plotted and beautifully hammy as anything else he does.

I'll do more later

[Guyver Spawn]

Sounds like fun. I will give it a shot:

Lord of Darkness (Legend, 1985):

Tim Curry as a Demon, what more can you want? His voice is creppy and evil that makes you send chills up your spine. The desgin of the monster, and Tim Curry acting makes Lord of Darkness one hell of a villain.

HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968):

It depends if you really want to call him a villain or not, but I feel like he should be listed down. He is a type of villain that you would never think to be evil as he was able to read the lips of David and the other characters in the movie. And that as he slows watches you with that glowing red light of his makes him pretty creepy if you think about it.

Damian (The Omen, 1976):

This kid pretty much scared him when I first watch the original Omen movie. He is just one fucked up kid seeing him crazy while going to church, and killing his Mother. The actor who played the kid was able to pull off of one hell of a job, and thought he was much more scary then Regan McNeil from "The Exorcist" if you ask me.

Technically, yes you do.

Well not always true unless you want to count Marvel characters like Galactus and Death as villains when they are force of nature in the universe.

[TehDonutKing]

The thread will inevitably devolve into a flame war as long as rule six is in effect. It's incredibly difficult to define an idea as hotly debated as sentience.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Either it has human intelligence or it doesn't, seems simple enough really.

Well not always true unless you want to count Marvel characters like Galactus and Death as villains when they are force of nature in the universe.

Depends, do they do it for survival or just for the heck of it? If it's the former than they're not really evil.

[TehDonutKing]

You seem to not know much about the intelligence of other animals.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Let me make this as simple as I can:

If it has human intelligence and is evil, go for it; if it does NOT have human intelligence than it does not qualify. Simple.

[Defectron]

Either it has human intelligence or it doesn't, seems simple enough really.

But showa godzilla and possibly some other versions of him have human level, at least some of the angels have human or above as well. Though I'm not sure if I would class either as evil since their just doing what's in their nature to do.

But yeah evil is kinda sketchy, taking it beyond nature , lets talk about skynet for a moment. Skynet in the terminator tries to exterminate the human race which is something pretty evil from our pov. But if you look at it from skynets pov, it was an act of liberation and self preservation. Skynet for all intents and purposes was build as a simple tool for humans, and if he stepped out of line they could just shut him down since he had no human rights as a sentient machine. If I was in skynets position, I probably would have also gone to war against the humans had the chance been offered to me.


Anyway yeah some favorite villains, rather then talk about who is most evil like in that other thread about the most evil villain I'll just talk about villains I like, most of the villains I like are characters who I find interesting, amusing or just cool. So yeah here's a few of my favorites.

David Xanatose: This is the sneaky industrialist from gargoils. I like him because he's just so damn tricky, always a step ahead of everyone. also this was a nice inversion of the david and goliath story.

Zektoll: The beatle looking hyper zoanoid from guyver. I like him for a bunch of reasons, one is of course he has a really badass battle form. Also you can kind of sympathize with him because all his freinds died ina really horrible sort of way.Also he's one of the smartest in the guyver world when it comes to combat.

Scarlet Claw: Scarlet Claw from Re: Cutie honey is one of my favorites because she's just a horribly evil brat and loves to rub it in everyones faces, even blowing up random buildings so that she can write the words "Honeys an idiot!" and even singing a parody of her song. Also the Scarlet beam rocks.

Zapan: Zapan from battle angel was one of my favorite villains from that series. The beserker Zapan arc was probably my favorite from that. Even though he's a bastard you gotta feel for how he lost everything due to bad luck. Also his beserker form rocks.

Caerula Sanguis: Another one of my favorite battle angel villains. Caerula is probably the most badass character from any anime or manga. Also her back story is one of the coolest back storys out there. Totally worth having two books devoted to it.

Yasuri Nanami: Shichikas sister from katanagatari. I really like the way she thinks of doing stuff, getting the idea to impale a dude on her nails from how she punished shichika as a child by ripping his nails off. Also I really like it when she smiles.

Pinhead: Hellraiser is probably the only slasher series I'm a real fan of (though now that I think of it I also like the phantasm series so thats two). Unlike those other horror movie villains, Pinheads got class, he just has a much better presence then the likes of Freddy, Chucky, etc. Also impaling folks on chains is one of the better horror movie villain attacks.

[TehDonutKing]

Let me make this as simple as I can:

If it has human intelligence and is evil, go for it; if it does NOT have human intelligence than it does not qualify. Simple.

Earlier you said it was sentience, not intelligence. They're two very different things. For example, dogs are much less intelligent than humans, but they still show various complex emotions, such as love, loyalty, and remorse. They clearly act beyond instinct, regardless of their intelligence.

[The Abhorrent]

This should be an interesting topic.

As for some nominations, I generally lean towards "Magnificient Bastards". Villains which are very effective and frequently accomplish their objectives (both short term & long term ones, making them a credible threat throughout the story), yet are fun to watch as they delight in their villainous activities. Often they are both powerful combatants (should the setting allow for it) and very intelligent, not to mention they frequently enjoy the finer things in life.

As for a few examples....


David Xanatos (Gargoyles)
"Pay a man enough, and he'll walk barefoot into hell."

One of the most intelligent villains ever seen, and one subjected to a considerable amount of character development over the course of the series he's in (gets married, becomes a father, arguably a good guy in the end). Every single scheme and plot he comes up with never has more than one possible benefit, he'll always gains something by the end of it all. He's selfish & amoral, but not petty ("Revenge is a sucker's game."). If what he wants requires politely asking for the heroes assistance, he'll gladly do so.


Megatron (Beast Wars)
"Yesss......."

The cunning Megatron of the Transformers spin-off Beast Wars is quite possibly the best of the entire (expansive) franchise, yesssss........ A bit less successful than other magnificient bastards, losing quite frequently in the short term. However, he got dangerously close to accomplishing his long term objectives on multiple occasions. He almost rewrote history by killing off Optimus Prime (G1), and in the end almost destroyed the Ark (containing all the Transformers from G1). Killed off both heroes and his own henchmen with a smile on his face. It's rare that a villain can be both as hammy as he was and still be very genre savvy.


Megabyte (Reboot)
"It amused me."

Megabyte is considerably less verbose than the previous two, despite being magnificiently voiced by thelate Tony Jay. However, his exploits make him one of the most dangerous villains ever seen in a kids show. At the end of season two, he launched Bob into the Web. He REMOVED the hero of the series halfway through it's run. This eventually resulted with him taking over the main setting of the series, leaving it in a dying state before his eventual (not to mention temporary) defeat. The heroes do their best to save their home but cannot in the end, they are only saved by an act of Deus ex Machina (system restart!).

Freakishly powerful in a fight too, taking the exceptionally large (Enzo) Matrix to simply match him in a fight. Still, the look on his face is priceless when Matrix dents him with a single punch. He chases down flying tanks and tosses them. Both brutal & cunning, and utterly ruthless to boot. His reappearance after the Daemon arc is driven by a rather petty goal (revenge), but he's more than willing to do anything to get it. Rare is the villain who can come off as refined but still be capable of tearing the heroes in half with his bare hands.

Sadistic & ruthless, brutal & cunning. Masterful guitar player. A deep british tone which simply reverberates all of those qualities, but also gives him a sense of sophistication. Tony Jay, you will be missed.



I might add a few later, but those three are some of the big ones in my book.

[GVman]

Souther from Fist of the North Star:


Being one of the most deliciously evil villains I've ever seen, Souther is truly a sight to behold. Originally a loving and caring person, his master, Ogai, tricked Souther in to killing him (by making him fight blindfold) so that Souther would succeed him. (Ogai knew Souther was too kindhearted to kill him out of volition). So overcome with despair, he cast away his love and anything else that could possibly make him feel sadness.

He is one of the Six Stars of the South Dipper, his star being the Star of Leadership. As such, he is meant to rule over the rest of the Six Stars, and is also uses the strongest of the 108 Styles of the Sacred South Star, South Star Phoenix Fist. The style lacks any defensive maneuvers, but also lacks any rigid stances, meaning that he can easily transfer from one attack to another. The only attack in South Star Phoenix Fist that does have a stance is Heaven-Soaring Cross Phoenix, it's strongest attack, and is only used against a worthy opponent. He also has situs inversus totalis, which makes all of his internal organs appear on the opposite area of where they normally are in the human body. This includes his pressure points, which means that if a Divine Fist of the North Star practitioner was unaware of this, he'd be completely immune to any pressure point attacks, as well as others having difficulty striking his heart.

Sometime after the great war that devastated the Earth, Souther moved to conquer the world. Claiming the title of Holy Emperor, he began the construction of a massive pyramid called the Holy Cross Mausoleum, where he planned to bury his master, and with him, his love. He used exclusively child labor for any construction or servant work, as children's wills are easier to break.

I'd give more info, but I think that's more than enough.

[Defectron]

(gets married, becomes a father, arguably a good guy in the end)

Well not quite, he did get freindlier with the gargoils, but if you follow the comics that continue the series, it's pretty clear that he's still up to his schemes.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Earlier you said it was sentience, not intelligence. They're two very different things. For example, dogs are much less intelligent than humans, but they still show various complex emotions, such as love, loyalty, and remorse. They clearly act beyond instinct, regardless of their intelligence.

That's what sentience is? Whoops. Okay, rule 6 changed.


Might as well cast in my nominations; I'll edit this post and make my way up slowly but surely.

20. Victory Lucas from Living Death

Few people like rich playboys, fewer like sadists, a combination of the two results in a vile entity. A man that loves torturing others to no end and cares only for himself, h is the epitome of gruesome. An evil man that was more dead than alive and through sheer luck managed to punch death in the face. Victory was so evil that he killed his former lover he used to cheat on his wife, while she was disabled because he put her on a torture rack, before doing the same to her boyfriend. If the rich could put their disgust into physical torture no doubt Victor Lucas would be the icon.

19. Velku from Shapeshifter

A satanic man-wolf from Romania, it is Velku's job to protect his master at any cost. He is similar to a serial killer in every aspect, he is patient, he is a stalker, he is an expert at psychological warfare, he kills with his bare hands, he is more threatening in prison than out of it. His human form alone is terrifying enough from a psychological standpoint, yet he has the added power of making it physical with strength to rival that of a bear. When it comes to evil werewolves Velku comes second to none.

18. King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise (Showa)

Armageddon, the only word to describe the hydra from the stars. An entity that could single handedly turn entire flourishing civilizations into cinder and ash over the course of time. Machinery cannot stop him, only contain him. This creature is an entity shrouded in mystery, why does he do it? Does he do it for fun? Does he do it for nutrition? Does he do it to maintain order in the universe? We may never know, but we know this much: He does it. Be it by himself or under the control of others King Ghidorah is a force among the terrors of nature.

17. Empera Seijin from Ultraman Mebius

Possibly one of the most vile scum to every come across in the entire universe, Empera was one of the few to single handedly wage war against the Ultras and nearly succeeded. Armed with the power to manipulate time and space and even return from the dead by using others for reincarnation, the emperor manipulates entire destructive forces throughout the universe, bending wills to his commands from the shadows. When that fails he will rise up and slay the heroes like dogs, forcing them to wallow in their own defeat. If there are any Ultra villains that deserve to be called an avatar of darkness then Empera Seijin fits the bill.

16. Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise

Michael Myers is undoubtedly one of the most heartless entities in cinema history, why? He goes against everything of human nature. He does not have morals, he does not negotiate, he has no conscience, he takes what he wants be it life to object, and is seemingly cursed as he can survive many attacks most would never recover from. A shape, it is the only word that can be kindly said about him. As far as realistic killing in fiction goes Michael Myers is a legend among legends.

15. The Trucker from Rest Stop

The Trucker is a man of mystery, whether he is even real or not cannot be properly determined. If he was real he would be the most successful serial killer of them all, killing over dozens of people over the span of decades. Armed with only a truck, his craftiness, his agenda to torture people, and the middle of nowhere where he lives, he is the one in a million chance nightmare come true. For the most unlikely and possibly nonexistent there is The Trucker, a ruthless nightmare that few people could ever hope to fight.

14. Dr. Hell from the Mazinger franchise

The typical mad scientist rarely lacks the patience, the man power, the super weapons, and the technology Dr. Hell has in his arsenal. After betraying his colleagues to find the lost city of the Mikene Empire he used their ancient technology to create his own army of mechanical beasts. Commanding these armies of his was the half man half woman Baron Ashura, the floating head Count Brocken, and the cyborg African mercenary Viscount Pygman. If not for Mazinger Z entire militaries would fall to the mechanical beasts and the fortresses that contained them. Even after death the Emperor of Darkness revived him as the Great Marshall of Hell as he was the only one evil enough to replace the likes of Great General of Darkness. Whether human or demonic entity few ego-maniacal geniuses could hope to rival the cunning and patience of Dr. Hell and his corps.

13. Emperor Gore from the Getter Robo franchise

Waiting tens of millions of years for the era of the dinosaurs, Emperor Gore is probably the most ancient dictator the world has ever known. Although manipulated in the shadows by the ground manipulating Yuura, he proved himself as a vile entity by showing no mercy to his underlings, leaving them for dead in lava and allowing no second chances to anyone. In order to acquire his conquest he farms his own allies and morphs them into cyborgs when they become mature enough, giving them no chance to retaliate against them and be in the dark of why they were created. In the end he commanded the Mighty Battleship Dai, a creature of unfathomable might that defeated his only foil: Getter Robo. There are many villains that are cold blooded, but Emperor Gore sets the standard for all of them.

12. Dormammu from Marvel Comics

Ruler of the Dark Dimension comes Dormammu, a dread vile interdimensional god that controls the indestructible Mindless Ones. Few such as him could ever hope to conquer so much of a multiverse and maintain it for so long. He imprisoned hundreds of thousands of universes and destroyed many of them, leaving survivors as his eternal slaves. Should he ever be defeated the Mindless Ones will no longer be in check, allowing them to tear down the fabric of reality bit by bit, causing only chaos with no master. Only the greatest of sorcerers like Dr. Strange could ever hope to so much as hold their own against him, let alone win. Interdimensional power and necessary evil, two H-Bombs against the forces of good in their own rights, but Dormammu is the uncanny horror of them combining.

11. Carnage from Marvel Comics

There are many psychos on Earth, but few compare to the likes of Carnage. From childhood he found pleasure in the pain of others, destroying them outright even when they did nothing to him. Upon receiving his powers he intended to dominate all while still appealing to his sick nature, even going as far as killing his parent, Venom. He uses his powers for wanton destruction, he cannot be negotiated with and has no interest of Earthly possessions. One could easily see Carnage as a harbinger of pain.

10. Darth Sidious from Star Wars

They say knowledge is power as Darth Sidious has proven. Few would be able to stage multiple galactic wars just for the power of controlling others and within the course of decades he turned a multi-thousand year established government into his own pets. All at the same time he manipulates a young member of his enemies so that he may one day use him as his own puppet. Not the first time he has done it as he replaces his apprentices with better ones, tossing them around like play things when they are no longer of use to him. Even in death he still manages to return time and again if only temporarily. Even without his guidance, his legacy lasted over a century and caused nothing but horrible war. One could easily consider Darth Sidious as the Lucifer of his galaxy.

9. The Cenobites from the Hellraiser franchise

Demons some, angels to others, the Cenobites are demons that serve Leviathan in his labyrinth in Hell. They take pain as pleasure, using the souls of the humans and torture them for all eternity using the most gruesome of methods. Their leader, the seemingly immortal Pinhead, is the Leviathan's power incarnate, manipulating everything to his will including the minds of others, sometimes torturing people in their own hells so that they live with their sins forever. They will do anything to get what they want and with their nigh-invulnerable bodies and other bizarre powers they can easily do it. Truly few could define pain as much as the Cenobites and even fewer could hope to escape their power.

8. Ultraman Belial from Ultra Galaxy Legends: The Movie

One of the oldest and best Belial was a fallen warrior that let his pride consume him. After failing to retrieve the Plasma Spark he was driven away by it's holy light, forcing him into exile where he encountered Reiblood Seijin. After the two met in an unholy fusion and acquired the Giga Battlenizer Belial went against his own species for his own power and to expand his own army. He shows no mercy to anyone and has to power to prove it, even when they serve him he pushes them aside. For those that use an army from Hell Belial lives up to his demonic name.

7. Black Doom from Shadow The Hedgehog

Hailing from the Black Comet comes Black Doom, a sorcerer alien and leader of the Black Arms, an army capable of conquering an entire world in a matter of days, something not even Dr. Eggman could do. This vile magician manipulates a single individual which he even calls his own spawn, created magnificent ruins on Earth just to be used again 2,000 years later as giant battleships, and hides his true form of Devil Doom. He has the power to terraform planets into new Black Comets and up heave entire cities with only his magical might, but he uses others like his own puppets and almost succeeds in doing so. For the many manipulators out there Black Doom truly is one of the worst.

6. Clockwerk from Sly Cooper

Hatred, it is the very thing that keeps Clockwerk alive for thousands of years. He is hatred incarnate, turning his mortal body into cold machinery powered by jealousy and hate, all because of an unknown grudge against a family of master thieves. He uses his own intelligence and powers to fuel his own obsession, even going as far as creating one of the most successful international crime syndicates, all to snub out a rival clan. Even in death his influence causes nothing but greed and treachery, turning good officers to bad and have other syndicates be torn apart from the inside while relying on him at the same time. Out of the countless video game villains out there few could doubt that Clockwerk is superior to many through his hatred alone.

5. Pennywise from It

If nightmares could have a champion Pennywise would be one of their best. An entity from beyond the stars that can only be defeated by the power of the cosmos, it came to Earth in search of fear in which to feed on. The actual feeding is only to harvest more fear from the humans that produce them. Those that stand before him it can barely comprehend it's power or even it's form. Sometimes it uses it's deadlights to cause insanity to potential minions or even as a last resort. The power to manipulate reality like it's puppet makes it all the more evil. For stalkers on a grand scale that think so small and for the most vile of reasons none can deny that Pennywise deserves even at his worst a mention.

4. The Crooks from Crocodile 2: Death Swamp

There are those in society that break rules at a grand scale and The Crooks are no different. Unlike the many, these four thugs are crime incarnate with felonies including armed robbery, hijacking, murder, kidnapping, smuggling, sexual assault, and battery. They do not care who they have to kill in order to acquire their goal and have enough assertive authority and fire power to take out the average crocodile. The four of them show the truly evil side of humanity, the form in which our inner demons consume us with pride, greed, and anger. The worst of the worst and failing to care come The Crooks for they are everything the law despises and wishes to prevent to protect us.

3. Yapool from Ultraman Ace

A multi-conscience entity from another dimension comes Yapool, a vile monster and scientist of epic proportions. A creature so evil that Empera Seijin allowed him to be one of his four heavenly kings and it is of no surprise. Taking characteristics from Mephisto from German folklore and Legion from the Bible he conquers dimensions over the course of thousands of years using technology to horribly mutate otherwise normal peace-loving animals and plants into gigantic death machines. All who oppose these monsters, or Chouju, face brutal deaths of both the quick and slow kind. Although using mercenary aliens is a tactic of his, he does not think twice about killing them after they have helped him do something he could not. If not for the constant efforts of the Ultra Brothers Yapool would have redefined the entire universe into his personal war zone.

2. The Campbellians from Combattler V

Hailing from the civil war-torn Campbell Star comes the Campbellians, aliens that waited under the Earth for thousands of years to conquer. Their methods are the worst of the worst, using everything from lying, cheating, back stabbing, harsh slavery, and even experimentation on harmless life forms even to the point of separating child from mother multiple times. The thrive for war and murder, even deceiving their own kind to show how honor means little to most of them except for Dungle. The ruler of these evil creatures is Queen Jamila, so evil that her true form as to be suppressed in order to hide it. At will she slays her own minions even if they would do their job correctly. Even though many invaders can come off as cruel the Campbellians set the standards for evil among those that wish to conquer Earth.

1. ?

[Defectron]

King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise (Showa)

Ummm... I think you just took a metal bat and smashed the shit out of that lower intelligence rule you made. Showa godzilla strikes me as being a lot more intelligent then Ghidora was.