The other day, I read a blog post from a friend of mine about villains and how they don't seem to be really evil anymore.  To an extent, I agree with him, but I honestly don't know if it is necassary.  To try and figure out what I like in a villain I decided to examine three of my favorites (ended up being four) to try and figure it out.  I wasn't too successful because I had a hard time defining exactly what about each villain I liked. 

Honorable Mention: Darth Vader; Star Wars 

Most of my fondness for Vader comes from his inherent coolness.  I mean, a force wielding cyborg; what's not cool about that?  Okay, well, the declining lightsaber skills of the Sith and the Jedi were kind of disappointing, but well, Vader was around long before we saw how cool jedi used to be.  Another thing going for Vader is the sense of unstoppable badass you get coming from him.  This is a guy who doesn't lose...not permanetly at any rate, he'll suffer some setbacks, but will come through triumphant in the end.

3rd Place: The Operative; Serenity 

"What I do is evil.  I have no delusions about it, but it must be done."                       -The Operative

That quote pretty much sums up what I like about the Operative.  He does what it takes.  He believes he's working for the good of mankind, but he's doing the dirty work, the evil that has to be done to 'build a better world.'  Add in that he seems honestly concerned with the lives of the Alliance soldiers under his command and it turns him into the sort of villain you don't see often. 

2nd Place: Sephiroth; Final Fantasy VII

Like Vader a lot of his points come from an inherent coolness and an unstoppable badass persona.  His killing of Aeris gets him points as well. 

1st Place: Jubal Early; Objects in Space, Firefly

There is a lot to like about Jubal as a villain.  He's an interesting character who sees the world in his own way.  He also knows exactly how to eliminate or manipulate every crew member he comes across.  And he knows which to take out, and which ones he can manipulate.  I wish he had been in more than a single episode.

Posted by: Arson55 at 08:55 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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