Top 10 Best Villains

Without Goliath, David is just some punk throwing rocks.

-- Sam Kamin, played by Billy Crystal, in My Giant

I enjoy watching movies, reading books, and playing video games. One of the most fun thing from any of those medium is the villain. Hey, just like the My Giant quote above, the villain is a very fundamental part of the epic. That's why I have a personal list of top 10 best Villains. So let's get started!

SPOILER WARNING!! I put the name of the movie/book/game first, if I put (!!) after it, I recommend those of you who haven't watch/read/played it thoroughly and don't want to be spoiled to skip that entry!

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10. Hot Fuzz (!!)

The Villain: The whole Neighbourhood Watch Alliance

Media: Real Action Movie

Crime: Serial murder, conspiracies 

I just wrote my homage to Hot Fuzz. One last reason why I enjoy that movie so much: the villains are so good! 

You see, unlike any other villains in this list, they are inherently funny. Their motivation is funny, even for other people who doesn't like black humor! Let me put it this way: who else become serial murderer because of "Village of the year" contest? Yup, they killed a mime artist because they considered him irritating, blew up a millionaire inside his house because that house didn't match the rustic aesthetic of their village, stabbed a talented horticulturist because they didn't want other village to get her, etc. Every single obstruction the "Village of the year award" would be answered with murder. Tell me, since when "Village of the Year" contest become so serious? 
They could be even better if: they fight more methodically in the final battle, with heavier guns. They can keep their shotgun, and "shitload of cutlery" but their handguns, paper cutter, and vegetables should be replaced with assault rifle, submachine gun, or even rocket launcher!

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9. Full Metal Alchemist (!!)

The Villain: Zolf J. Kimbley

Media: Anime, Manga

Crime: Terrorism, all kind of war crimes, kidnapping

Note: there are many ways to write his name in Latin alphabet, I arbitrarily choose the coolest one.

Kimbley is a villain with class. He dressed in full formal white suit and trousers, even when he hunted the protagonist inside a coal mine. Similar with the Joker, he consider this world as a "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition" world, but unlike the Joker, he is more a curious and cheerful audience than a genius puppetmaster.

That's it. That's his motivation. He help the Homunculus and their creator in their war against humans because he want to see how the conflict goes on. Oh yeah, he also loved to hear the scream and the anguish of dying people.

But that doesn't mean he is just a psycho with sick mind. Like the joker, he is arguably a psycho because he is far above the curve. For example, when Riza Hawkeye, a female-sniper in the army, and Roy Mustang, an alchemist in the army, complained that they can't understand why they are killing instead of protecting, and start bitching that they can't take it anymore, killing innocent is wrong, yadda, yadda, Kimbley shut them up with this speech:

"In my views, you are the one that I can't understand.

To seek for justice in a special place like a battlefield is what's strange. Is it heretical to kill with alchemy? Is it better to kill with a gun? Or is it that you were prepared to kill one or two, but can't bear killing thousands? When you wore this (pointing to the uniform) of your own will, weren't you already prepared? 

If you don't like it, you shouldn't have worn it in the first place. You move forward onto this path on your own, why are you playing the victim now? If you're going to take pity on yourself, don't kill people in the first place. Don't avert your eyes from death. Look forward. Look at the people you're killing in the face. And don't forget them. Don't forget. Don't forget. They won't forget you either."

This speech is so great because it is a good "smack on your face" to "tormented soldier" cliche. It really showed that a soldier is a killer, a murderer, so anyone who volunteer for that kind of job is either a psycho like Kimbley, OR immature OR misinformed. Oh, despite everyone disgust to this small speech, everyone realize he is correct. Even Riza Hawkeye still remember and practice that last part of his speech. She stare the eyes of her victim whenever she can, to make sure she remember them.

That speech alone is enough to land Kimbley a place in this top 10 list. But he has more! You see, like the Joker again, he enjoyed his job so much. For example, during in his last battle, you could really see ecstasy from his eyes. When he hunts the protagonist, it is clear that he really enjoyed the hunt, etc. It is very fun to read or watch him because of this joy.

And finally, he is never a hypocrite. He admits that he is a psycho by everyone's else standard. He also gives outmost respect to everyone who do their duty, who stand for their belief until the very end. Because of this standard, he goes down with class. In the final battle, when one of the homunculus hypocritically contradict himself, Kimbley was disgusted, and decided to help the hero. Oh yeah, he helped from INSIDE the homunculus, since he was already consumed by that Homunculus. At that time he was surrounded by a hurricane of thousands of tormented souls, crying & screaming. He said those crying and screaming is a lullaby to his ears. What a classy-psycho-badass-villain!
He could be even better if: They show us more fighting scene showing him against ANY character!


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From this blog

8. Inherit the Wind

The Villain: Matthew Harrison Brady

Media: Real Action Movie

Crime: Policing a thought crime

Unlike other psychos and monsters in this list, Brady is totally based on a real person named William Jennings Bryan, a presidential candidate, and religious politician from late 19th and early 20th centuries. The story of "Inherit the Wind" itself is loosely based on the Scope Monkey Trial. 

About the character ... you actually KNOW that you interacts with people like Brady routinely. Hell, you see him in one of your uncles or even brother! His crime is not as spectacular as other villains here. He never physically hurt a single soul in the movie, he even comfort this poor young girl who was tormented between her father and her boyfriend! The main protagonist even admit that they once fought on the same side for civil right! So what makes him a villain?

Simple, because he supports the policing of a thought crime. You see, he is a prime example how a noble intention doesn't always translate into goodness. He is the leading prosecutor in the prosecution of a teacher whose crime is teaching evolution. He passionately persecute the right to think, the right to learn scientifically analyze the world. He also passionately defend the right to brainwash people with myth masquerading as science known as "creationism."

Another reason why I put him in this list because his characters not only resembles the people we know, but also many POLITICIANS and CLERGIES we know. No need to mention name, see the movie for yourself, you will see how good Frederic March performance, how he captured the mannerism, body-language, and the passions of those politicians and clergies.

He could be even better if: They followed the real trial more closely, especially in the portrayal of its ending. The movie ending is too dramatic for me.

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7. Leon the Professional (Spoiler in the video)

The Villain: Norman Stansfield

Media: Real Action Movie

Crime: Mass murder, racketeering, child abuse, drug trafficking, corruption

Meet the corrupt-drug addict DEA Agent, Norman Stansfield, played by Gary Oldman. What did he do so he deserved the #7 position in this list? Well, he definitely stole drugs from his own agency, asking some low-criminal to hide those drugs, and when he found that criminal stole from him, he slaughtered all of the criminal's family. By the way, he compared that blood bath with Beethoven's works. How is that for starter?

Gary Oldman really gave his best when he portrayed this psycho. See the youtube video to see how Stansfield is so evil yet so ... fascinating.

And he also gave many memorable lines. Some of his lines:
"Check out Brahms. He's good too." (After explaining Beethoven to his victim, before he shot him down.)

"Do you like life sweetheart? That's good because I take no pleasure in taking life if it's from a person who doesn't care about it." (To young Natalie Portman.)

Ah, insanity is rarely so enjoyable ... that easily secures Stansfield in the #7 position.
He could be better if: it will be super-awesome if Gary Oldman play this character, not Jim Gordon, in the Nolan's Batman Trilogy! No Batman required, Joker and Stansfield kill everyone else before shooting each other on top of a burning hospital is more than enough.


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6. The Usual Suspects

The Villain: Keyser Soze

Media: Real action movie

Crime: Mass murder (including his own wife and children), extortion, smuggling, etc.

What do you do if your rival mobs sneak into your house, rape your wife, kill one of your flesh & blood, and now try to blackmail you by pointing their guns to your wife's and your remaining children's head?

Keyser Soze answer that question by shooting his own family before he slaughtered his rivals. Not only those who take his family hostage, but the entire organizations, all of their family, relatives, associates, even people who owe them money.

Oh yeah, most gangsters used his name to scared their children, and most people not even know he exist. That means he is really moving in shadows, invisible to everyone, including to the audience.

That is pretty scary. Not enjoyable, but scary. That easily makes him #6 best villain.
He could be better if: nobody managed to recognize him. The audience should got the confirmation about his identity from a flashback.


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5. Monster

The Villain: Johan Liebert

Media: Anime, Manga

Crime: Serial killing, brainwashing

Once upon a time in East Germany, there was an institution, dedicated to create monsters out of children by indoctrinating and brainwashing them. Johan Liebert is a boy who made everyone in that institution trembled with fear since the first day he entered the institution.

Like Soze, you don't enjoy his character. You fear him. Maybe you even hate him. You will see how a genious psychopath with no conscience can persuade anyone he meet to kill themselves, or to commit an unspeakable evil. You will rooted for dr. Temna, the protagonist, in his hunt.

For those of you who never read the manga or watch the anime, please do so. See how Johan terrorize everyone, including you, the reader. 

He could be better if: ... I give up, I don't know how to improve this character. He is too scary.


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4. 20th Century Boys

The Villain: Tomodachi/Friend

Media: Anime, Manga, Real action movie

Crime: Mass murder, global scale deception, brainwashing, practically taking over the world

This one is from Naoki Urasawa again. This character is basically is a twisted boy with unhappy childhood. He blamed some of his friends for this unhappy phase in his life. He unleashed all of his frustration, anger, and hatred by ... deceiving the whole world to hate all of those childhood friends while practically making him king of the world.

Oh yeah, his deception involved all kinds of those friends' fantasies during their childhood, like ... a giant robot attacking the city. And the craziest part is, IT WORKS! Not only he deceived the world, we as the reader will also BELIEVE the plausibility of those scenarios! A villain that could make a childish plan sounds plausible and scary? He really deserved the #4 position in this list.
He could be better if: ... seriously, I really give up. My mind is not as twisted as Urasawa's, so I don't have any idea what kind of improvement could be made for this batshit insane megalomaniac.


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3. Babylon 5 (!!)

The Villains: The Shadows & The Vorlons

Media: Real action TV

Crime: Genocide, mass murder, brainwashing, inciting countless wars across galaxy

YES, I watch Star Trek and Star Wars, but NO, neither of them worthed to be called "best science fiction saga." So does their villains. Let's see ... my first reaction when I saw Darth Vader is "What? Another masked villain with creepy sound? Zzzz ..." 

My first reaction when I saw the Borg in Star Trek is "What? Slow moving zombies with can opener as their hands? Seriously?"

That's why Babylon 5 kick their ass thoroughly. It has superior stories, superior characters, superior music, and finally ... superior villains.

Compare the Empire and the Borg Collective with the Shadows. For starters: "The Shadows" is not their real name. Their real name is approximately 10 thousand letters long, practically unspeakable by a human tongue. Take that Voldemort!! 

By the way, when humans ancestors were running from dinosaurs, the Shadows already blew up planets. Yup, they are that old and that powerful. They already destroy countless planets and races, causing wars everywhere they went. All of that were intended to teach the younger races to grow up. Yes, those are LESSONS, they actually intend to make the younger race better and stronger! Looks like they really impersonate the Abrahamic God ... 

But wait, they are not the only ultra-old and ultra-powerful race in Babylon 5! You also have the Vorlons! Unlike the Shadows, the Vorlons looks very quite, very meditative. While the Shadows created chaos, the Vorlons respected order. Everyone look for them. Everyone expects guidance, wisdom, and of course ... military aid from them. Unfortunately, most of the time, they don't like to show themselves to other races, not even inside their suit. And when they showed up, they rarely talk. When they talk, they ALWAYS spouts enigmatic one liner like 

Vorlon Ambassador Kosh:They are alone. They are a dying race. We should let them pass.
Capt. Sinclair: Who? The Narn or the Centauri?
Kosh: Yes.

Or like this:
Sinclair: We've confiscated the fake encounter suit. It's a pretty close match to your own, at least from the outside.
Kosh: Why?
Sinclair: Deuce wanted to make people think he had the Vorlons working for him. He figured it would add to his image and intimidate people.
Kosh: Why?
Sinclair: Well, after all, no one knows exactly what you look like. That makes some people a little nervous.
Kosh: Good.

Or even stranger:
"The avalanches already started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote."
(When a couple asking support from the Vorlons to protect their culture of letting their children die instead of receiving an operation.)

Other than those enigmatic one liners, have I mentioned to you that the Vorlons employed JACK THE RIPPER to test whether someone is prepared to lead? No, I am not kidding, they really employed him!

Of course my reaction to these Vorlons is "What the hell?" Captain Sheridan in season 3 said: 
"For three years now, you've been pulling everyone's strings, getting us to do all the work, and you haven't done a thing but stand there and look cryptic!"

That is an understatement of the year ...

Turns out that the reason why the Vorlons didn't want to help directly because they are actually competing against the Shadows, COMPETING, not waging a direct war against them. You see, they want to know, which path will be chosen by the younger races, the path or chaos or the path of order? They want to show the Shadows that Order is the superior way. 

When finally looks like more and more younger races embraces Chaos, the Vorlon finally had enough, and move their fleet to purify the galaxy from any Shadow's influence, blowing up every planet touched by the Shadows. At that time I was really scared. Even the scene when the humans discovered that the Vorlons mobilized their battle fleet, I already tremble. That was before they explained that the Vorlons wiped out some planets from the map. 

These 2 villains are so good since they actually show how Chaos and Order are not good or bad per se. I am sick to see how people actually think "Chaos" is automatically bad while "Order" is automatically good. Nope. You see, both Somalia and North Korea are not a nice country to stay. Both order and chaos can be brutally evil.
They could be better if: They really show us the scenes when their planet killers blew up planets. It would be better too if they put the climax of the Shadow War in the end of a season, but that decision was made because of uncertainty of the next season, so the writer is not to blame.

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2. Xenogears (!!)

The Villain: Deus

Media: Video game

Crime: Genocide, mass torture

Sony Playstation is the console that makes RPG a mainstream game. Starting from Final Fantasy VII, suddenly everyone played RPG. From all RPG, I am sure Xenogears is the best of the best, even until today.

YES, I play Final Fantasy VII, but NO, I never consider Sephiroth a great villain! He is only an emo boy with mother-complex who wins a genetic lottery, in other words: A TYPICAL FINAL FANTASY VILLAIN!! Compare that with the final boss of Xenogears. Although it didn't show up until late in the game, it always creep in the back of your mind from the beginning. 

Many people complained that the 2nd disc of the Xenogears game sucks. Not me. I agree it will be far better if they use the same story-telling with the first disc, but it still works. I still feel the "Existential horror" radiated by that game in the 2nd disc. I felt fear. I felt terror. These epic feelings never came from a ghost, or a demon, instead it came from the realization that we are facing our creator. You know, the horror that Ridley Scott's Prometheus try to convey. 

Yup, this happened because Deus is the actual creator of humankind in Xenogears' history. Yes, in Xenogears you really fighting against GOD, the creator of humankind. Heck, Deus is Latin word for "God." The fact that he tortured most humans at that time by turning them into vampire-zombie-monsters also help.

So, once I faced and defeated him in the final battle, it is like someone said to me "Congrats, you just defeat GOD himself!"  It is an epic end to an almost-perfect game.
It could be better if: Deus creates aerial battleships in thousands! Then we have a massive aerial battles, involving gears, and flying fortress across the horizons! Seriously, Xenogears is a story about GOD SLAYING, a spectacular final battle without doubt will amplify the atmosphere of the final battle!

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1. The Dark Knight

The Villain: The Joker

Media: Real action movie

Crime: Serial & mass murder, kidnapping, extortion, terrorism

Yes, I am sure this one is the least controversial choice, the easiest one to guess.

Honestly, even after watching Tim Burton's Batman, and Paul Dini's Batman: The Animated Series, I never put the Joker on my "Top 10 Batman villains" list, let alone this list. I think the Joker was too over the top, too cartoony, too campy, etc. Seriously? A killer clown? That totally change when I heard Christopher Nolan made "The Dark Knight." I don't thing this character need a long explanation about his awesomeness. I will just put my experience with this character.

The first scene in The Dark Knight already gave me some creep. Then, came the "magic trick" scene. My jaw instantly took a free-fall to the floor when he shouted "TA DAAA!!"

So, maybe you see the pattern. Villains #10 - #7 are ENJOYABLE villains. They performed black humor at its best, at least for me. Villains #6 - #2 are pure terror, pure horror. I FEAR them, not enjoy them.  In the end, contrary to Joker's "chaos" ideology, I am in the opinion that he is the most balance villains, inciting absolute fear and absolute joy to me AT THE SAME TIME! That make him the best villain of all time.
It could be better if: Heath Ledger gave a perfect performance, in a perfect story, no way I could make it better.

P.S.: I really want to put Kefka Palazzo from Final Fantasy VI together with him, since I feel that their character is rather similar. The only problem is, I never play Final Fantasy VI so all my opinions on Kefka are based on hearsay.


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