the dreaded Black Knight
 

No good action book or movie is without a real nasty villian.


So whi is your favorite all time villian?

Vullkan,

Iago, from Verdi's Othello. That guy was a serious bad ass.

She's in the last house on the left.

I just gotta ask, not being an opera buff, why Verdi's Iago rather than Shakespeare's? Just curious.

Today, I'm putting in a sentimental vote for a guy called Sethos. And if anyone picks up that reference....contact me for your 2 points ;).

GingerV,

In today's society Shakespeare ‘s Iago would be called a psychopath - not the devil incarnate. In the first scene, he claims to be angry with Othello for having passed him over for the position of lieutenant (I.1). At the end of Act I, scene 3, Iago says he thinks Othello may have slept with his wife, Emilia: "It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office". The irony of this statement is that in the next line he says that he does not know it for a fact, but because he suspects it, he will act as if for certain. Iago mentions this suspicion again at the end of Act II, scene 1, explaining that he lusts after Desdemona because he wants to get even with Othello "wife for wife" (II.i.286). While none of these claims seems to adequately explain Iago's deep hatred of Othello, Shakespeare ‘s Iago has many "reasons" why he is wicked.

Now, contrast this (admittedly brief) analysis of a complex villain with Verdi’s (yes, I know the librettist was Boito, but Verdi is always referenced) Iago:

I believe in a cruel God who created me in His image, and whom I name in my wrath.
From the baseness of a germ or an atom, basely I was born.
I am wicked because I am a man;
And I feel the primeval slime in me.
Yes! This is my creed!
I believe with a firm heart, just as the young widow in church believes,
That the evil I think, the evil that comes from me,
Is wrought by my destiny.
I believe the honest man is a mocking actor, both in his face and in his heart,
That everything in him is a lie
His tears, kiss, gaze,
Sacrifice, and honor.
And I believe that man is the plaything of unjust fate from the germ of the cradle to the worm of the grave.
After so much derision comes Death.
And then? And then? Death is Nothingness
And heaven an old wives' tale.

Shakespeare ‘s Iago is a more subtle and complex villain, but Verdi’s is "evil among us".

I know this will sound silly, but the only Sethos I know of was a Middle Kingdom Pharaoh. I didn't know that he was a bad guy.

The Black Knight always triumphs! :D


I love Monty Python :)

And I thought RandyGal typed long posts! Nice work, jseal! :)

I agree Belial, The Black Night rocks! I've got a statue thingi of him in my bedroom that's about 30cm tall, it's so cool!

I have three favourite villains:
1. Sauron.
Also called The Nameless One, The Enemy, The Eye, The Power, The Dark Lord, The Lord of Mordor, The Shadow, The Ring-Maker, the Ring-Master. The Lord of the Rings.
A terror unimaginable.

2. Darth Vader.
Aka Annakin Skywalker. He had presence, he had menace, he instilled fear and was without mercy. At least, until the end! Er, middle!

3. Kurgan.
Immortal, he was Highlander Conner Macleod's arch enemy in the quest for The Prize. As a youngster, he would throw children into pits of wild, starving dogs and watch them being eaten. A hedonist with no concern for other people at all, he uttered the famous villainy line: "I have something to say! It's better to burn in hell, than to fade away!"
There can be only one.


There are plenty of other notable mentions, too - Arnie as the first Terminator, and even the second Terminator was a pretty cool villain! Dr. Evil, for being so funny you almost forget he's trying to take over the world. And who can forget the Fat Abbott and Prince John, who made Robin Hood's life such an adventure?

The world is full of villains, that's what makes it all so exciting!
CasperTG

Professor Moriarty, for the Holmes fans,

but truly, Uncle Hannibal.

Simple... Boba Fett

One of the most popular characters from the Original Star Wars Trilogy, and he had only a handful of lines.

Do not forget Khan from Star Trek as he was a "super" human creation. Or the Overlord from the Lensmen series

Gentlfolk,

Interesting, is it not, that these bad folk are all very interesting?

Often time the villian is a wellrounded, more developed character than the hero. Those are usually the ones I fall in love with.

Darth Vader would be mine.

But in the heart of all villians there is the hope that they canbe redeemned

i think darth vader is good when all the star wars films are put together you will be able to se why he is who he is and how only
family could redeem him maby the real villian will be shown as his
master who turned the man into the darth