# Supervillains



## BookStop (Jul 18, 2008)

Superbad: Top Movie Supervillains - Photo Gallery on Yahoo! Movies

I agree with only a couple of these.

The Wicked Witch of the West
Kahn
Darth Vader - obviously
Magneto


Maybe:

Terminator - both 1 & 2
Zorg from Fifth Element is a great villain, but is he super?


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## Perpetual Man (Jul 18, 2008)

Well I'd drop Magneto. Although he does bad deeds is he actually a villain? 
And the Terminators are not inherantly evil, just following programing

But Dracula perhaps?

The Kurgan from Highlander

and then my minds gone blank


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## TK-421 (Jul 18, 2008)

Yes, Magneto is definetly a villain but Pheonix (aka Jean Grey) is the one that I would not qualify as a villain. The means do not justify the end.

THE JOKER!!!!!!

Travis Bickle (played Oh so well by Bobby DeNiro) in Taxi Driver
Sauron 
Lord Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes) from Harry Potter
Venom from Spiderman
Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins) in Silence of the Lambs
Agent Smith (played by Hugo Weaving) from The Matrix
Colonel Nathan Jessup (played by Jack Nicholson) in A Few Good Men
Nurse Ratched (played so well by Louise Fletcher) in One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest
Predator
The Sheriff of Nottingham in all Robin Hood movies
Archibald Cunningham (played by Tim Roth) in Rob Roy
The Headless Horseman (played by Christopher Walken) in Sleepy Hollow
Mr. Blonde (played by Michael Madsen) in Reservoir Dogs
Elle Driver (played very well by Darryl Hannah) in Kill Bill
Micheal Myers from the Holloween movies
Annie Wilkes (played by Kathy Bates) in Misery
Dr. Christian Szell (played bby Lawrence Olivier) in Marathon Man - the scarriest dentist I ever seen
The Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact
Dr. Octopus (played by Alfred Molina) in Spiderman 2
Lex Luther (Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey)in the Superman movies
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
Hans Gruber (played by Alan Rickman) in Die Hard
Jack Torrance (played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson) in The Shinning
Joan Crawford (played by Faye Dunaway) in Mommy Dearest
Dr. Evil (played by Mike Myers) in Austin Powers
Rene Belloq, Toht and Colonel Dietrich from Raiders of the Lost Ark


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## Perpetual Man (Jul 18, 2008)

TK-421 said:


> Yes, Magneto is definetly a villain but Pheonix (aka Jean Grey) is the one that I would not qualify as a villain. The means do not justify the end.
> 
> THE JOKER!!!!!!
> 
> ...


 
Ah these are all definately villians, but how many are *super* villains?

I was being  slightly on the fence with Magneto because my interpretation of him is coloured by the comics as well as the movie, and Magneto is a much more tragic character. But that's just me - he's a supervillain... I relent.


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## TK-421 (Jul 18, 2008)

Super or not, they are villains nonetheless. 

Personally, I would not want to meet or deal with any of them.

It becomes a matter of opinion how "super" they are depending on the impact a particular movie had on you.


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## Perpetual Man (Jul 18, 2008)

TK-421 said:


> Super or not, they are villains nonetheless.
> 
> Personally, I would not want to meet or deal with any of them.
> 
> It becomes a matter of opinion how "super" they are depending on the impact a particular movie had on you.


 
That is a very good point - meeting Hannibal Lector in a dark alley is way down on my list of priorities!!!


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## nixie (Jul 18, 2008)

Cruella De'Vil should be there


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## HoopyFrood (Jul 18, 2008)

Aren't Super villains those that are more stereotypical, generally without shades of grey and just out to get world domination or be evil for no discernible purpose? At least that's what I'd probably think of first when hearing "Super Villain". I guess we don't have them so much now because people, both writers and readers/viewers prefer more characterisation and motivation behind the figures in books and films.

And after that small rant, I guess I would consider figures like the Zod dude from Superman, Megatron, Agent Smith, and _possibly_ Lord Voldemort as such.


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## Perpetual Man (Jul 18, 2008)

Oooh what about the Daleks?


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## Connavar (Jul 18, 2008)

HoopyFrood said:


> Aren't Super villains those that are more stereotypical, generally without shades of grey and just out to get world domination or be evil for no discernible purpose? At least that's what I'd probably think of first when hearing "Super Villain". I guess we don't have them so much now because people, both writers and readers/viewers prefer more characterisation and motivation behind the figures in books and films.
> 
> And after that small rant, I guess I would consider figures like the Zod dude from Superman, Megatron, Agent Smith, and _possibly_ Lord Voldemort as such.




I think you have a shallow view on supervillains.   Comics readers and comics movie fans know a good story must have a supervillain thats not too generic.


Villains like Magneto who are willing to kill people to "save" the world isnt the cliche ones without a shade of gray that only want to dominate the world.


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## clovis-man (Jul 19, 2008)

Do all "supervillains" need to have super powers? I would argue not. Some of the nastiest are frightening because they are really bad in spite of their humanity. One of the best baddies in filmdom, IMHO, is Robert Mitchum as the preacher in *Night of the Hunter*.


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## HoopyFrood (Jul 19, 2008)

My apologies. I was trying to find a way of discerning between a 'normal' villain, if you will, and a 'super villain' and I see that my first post was somewhat sweeping. But I think it still applies that super villains' aims, and themselves, are often much bigger and more exaggerated than, again, 'normal' villains, seeing as they are 'super'. Or is it some other element that makes them so?


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## Connavar (Jul 19, 2008)

HoopyFrood said:


> My apologies. I was trying to find a way of discerning between a 'normal' villain, if you will, and a 'super villain' and I see that my first post was somewhat sweeping. But I think it still applies that super villains' aims, and themselves, are often much bigger and more exaggerated than, again, 'normal' villains, seeing as they are 'super'. Or is it some other element that makes them so?



Ah i thought we were talking about Supervillains which i know more about as comics reader.


"Normal" villains are way more cliche since you see many more movies where the villains isnt a super but just some killer,serial killer like Hannibal  Lecter.


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## TK-421 (Jul 19, 2008)

I would argue that Hannibal Lecter was not just "some" serial killer. He was evil personified and scared the living hell out of alot of people. He ate his victims to boot.

To me, a character like Nurse Ratched or Annie Wilkes were much more of a villain and had much more of an impact than some character like Zorg. To me, it comes down to who is more believable and who is more real. Kahn (while I liked him) and Zorg pale in comparison to the fact that we know there are truly evil people out there like Nurse Ratched or Annie Wilkes.

So, one man's "normal" is another man's "super". To me, they are simply villains and no need to artificially quantify them.


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## clovis-man (Jul 19, 2008)

How about Dr. Horrible:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/46670-joss-whedons-latest-project.html

Sorry. Couldn't resist.


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## Connavar (Jul 19, 2008)

TK-421 said:


> I would argue that Hannibal Lecter was not just "some" serial killer. He was evil personified and scared the living hell out of alot of people. He ate his victims to boot.
> 
> To me, a character like Nurse Ratched or Annie Wilkes were much more of a villain and had much more of an impact than some character like Zorg. To me, it comes down to who is more believable and who is more real. Kahn (while I liked him) and Zorg pale in comparison to the fact that we know there are truly evil people out there like Nurse Ratched or Annie Wilkes.
> 
> So, one man's "normal" is another man's "super". To me, they are simply villains and no need to artificially quantify them.



Hannibal Lecter is one of my alltime favorits villains.   I meant he isnt  supervillain only because he isnt in superhero fiction story.


I dont think super means what you are saying in this meaning.  Supervillain is only the villain in superhero fiction.  Comics,movies etc   He is not more special than other villains.   They arent all superpowered,aliens anyway.


There are as many lame supervillains as there are Lecter kind, interesting,pure evil kind.   Joker is the Lecter of supervillains.  Sickest guy in comics world.  Minus the eating he would be Hannibal.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Jul 19, 2008)

Well far be it from me to get involved in serious discussion like this but....


Let's not forget that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Let's look at the destruction these so called super hero's are responsible for. 

Batman is a notorious super villain it this respect having(in the movies) an almost cavalier regard for safety, human rights or property. His driving alone would be sufficient for several decades in prison. 

Superman is even worse have no regard at all for the consequences of his actions Earthquake's, time reversal, water towers nothing it seems can curb his selfish need for personal advancement. 

Spider-man a real villain. If he had allowed that train to crash it may have caused a few deaths instead a path of destruction crossing half the city is created and at the end the stupid smucks on the train have the nerve to be grateful. They should look behind them and see how many of their loved ones have perished in the wake of his interference

No, if you ask me the true villains are the super hero's, without them a simple bank robbery would be just that maybe a hole in a wall with no injury and no loss of life. Then along comes the super hero and it all kicks of like a small war.

Magneto is not a villain. He makes his point quite plainly we are the retro's in the next phase of evolution, it's time for the new species to rule the planet, we've had our time and look what we did with it. Move over.

The joker is by his nature a friendly happy chappie. Spreading joy and laughter wherever he goes until some black caped heckler jealous of the jokers lines comes on the scene to spoil the show.

Lock them (superhero's) all up throw away the key ship in the kryptonite and blast them to hell that's what I say.


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## TK-421 (Jul 20, 2008)

You seem to forget that even these superheroes have one thing in common that makes them imperfect: they are human!

But I know you are but playing devil's advocate, unless you're an anarchist.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Jul 20, 2008)

Whoa there TK. Just cos they're human and therefore imperfect doesn't give them the right to wreak havoc every time they step out of the house

Though of course few carry the standard group of genes that would enable them to be counted on the human side of evolution. 

It's the very opposite of anarchistic to want to be able to go about my business with the expectation that some big lug isn't going to decimate my town, my life or my family. 

And I can assure you there's no devil worship going on here.


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## TK-421 (Jul 21, 2008)

Whoa there TEIN. Sounds like Hancock would be your kind of anti-superhero.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Jul 21, 2008)

A fine fellow. Dry humoured and could deliver a Witty line like no other. It was sad he committed suicide, he still had lots to give. In the early years when he and Sid James were together the family enjoyed many a belly laugh watching his show. He certainly didn't go shoving things in unpleasant places or throwing fish about the beach. No his was a gentler performance based on humour.


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## Vladd67 (Jul 28, 2008)

TK-421 said:


> You seem to forget that even these superheroes have one thing in common that makes them imperfect: they are human!
> 
> But I know you are but playing devil's advocate, unless you're an anarchist.


Superman wasn't human
How about Azrael as a Super Villian? I know he stood in as Batman but Az-Bats wasn't really what you would call a hero.


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