The most evil villian of all times? (fiction)

[Global Nexus]

Palpatine definitely ranks up there -- that guy's not just sadistic and cruel, he's manipulative, intelligent, and cunning. But I'd say my vote would go to...Giygas/Giegue/Gyiiyg. I doubt maybe of you know about him, but he's the central villain of the Mother RPG [EarthBound outside of Japan] series.

Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, was an alien of incredible psychic power. His method of attack is so powerful that the human mind is literally incapable of grasping it. He's, by the end of Mother 2/EarthBound, the very embodiment of evil itself and such power has completely destroyed his mind and physical body. His form is a reddish mist and he is incapable of any real thought -- he spends the entire final battle muttering and roaring, unleashing wave after wave of his psychic fury.

Oh, and his plan? Nothing short of annihilation of the entire universe. Pretty darn evil, if you ask me.

 

[Plexus]

Wasn't Tolkien a Christian?

Yes, he was. He even converted C.S. Lewis to Chrsitianity, one of the greatest Christian apologists of the 20th century.

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Obligatory Nintendo Fanboy answer: Gannondorf.

My top two (from Brian Jacques redwall series)

Tzarmina
Cluny the Scourge.

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Ugh. Double post, ignore. I hate internet lag.

 

[Perfection]

That actually made me laugh out loud.

You may laugh now! But if they came to real life, well...

...let's just say it would put a whole new meaning to the term "grapes of wrath"

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, although evil is also a matter of opinnion, i would propose the old merchant Waserstrum, from the novel "The Golem" by Gustave Meyrink. Waserstrum is an entirely destroyed inside person, who also looks very ugly (genetic deformity) and has become a kind of insect that dwells in the narrow streets of the old jewish getto of Prague. He definately is a hideous father figure, which is why he can be seen as something very evil.

 

[blindside]

Keyser Soze.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

Palpatine is a good example for a powerhungry villain, I wouldn´t rate his sadism level high in terms of villains, though. From all the books I know I would either rate Quinn Dexter or Banneth from the Night´s Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton higher than Palpatine in terms of evilness (both are twisted and sadistic, Quinn want to let every human possess by insane ghosts and be their master, Banneth is a gang leader with emphasis on sadism and satanic rituals).

 

[Grisu]

I didn't know Baron Harkonnen was a child molester. I haven't read the books, but I have seen Dune 2000 and Children of Dune, together about 12 hours of the Dune story. But I thought the story was lame.

yuck, the movies were crap, IMHO. they don't nearly do justice to the books. I'm not sure, if anything about Baron Harkonne being a pedophile is in the original book, or if it's just in the Prelude to Dune trilogy.

and I disagree with Pyrite here, Shaddam and Feyd-Rautha were both not nearly as evil as the Baron. Shaddam was just a normal powermonger, whatever he did was to increase his own power, not just out of a lust to do evil.

Overall, I'd go with Melkor/Morgoth, after all Souron is just his follower....


Anyway, I'm surprised nobody nominated Satan yet

 

[Kyriakos]

Perhaps it would have been more interesting to ask who was the most evil real person. Some serial killers might rank high for example. Some schoolteachers even higher im afraid

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Perhaps it would have been more interesting to ask who was the most evil real person. Some serial killers might rank high for example. Some schoolteachers even higher im afraid

Oh god, don't make me bring up some of my high school teachers...

*shudder*

 

[wit>trope]

Anyway, I'm surprised nobody nominated Satan yet

If the question had been "literature" instead of "fiction" then I would have nominated Satan from the Bible. But even with the restriction on it being "fiction" you could still nominate Satan as conceived in a fictional, non-biblical story --- like in the movie Constantine (which I haven't seen), etc.

I like villains that are not that villanous like the villain in Batman Begins who is not black and white evil but more like misguided.

I dont' know who would be the most evil villain. Maybe someone from the X-men world or maybe the Borg.

 

[nonconformist]

Hans Gruber!

 

[Che Guava]

I had forgotten about Baron Harkonnen. Evil indeed....

Still I gotta go with the devil you don't know: Big Brother!

 

[ferenginar]

Cruella De Vil and the Baron Vladamir Harkonnen

 

[Shaihulud]

The devil, he even has evil in his name.

 

[JohnRM]

I have to agree with Emperor Palpatine.

 

[Kyriakos]

If the question had been "literature" instead of "fiction" then I would have nominated Satan from the Bible. But even with the restriction on it being "fiction" you could still nominate Satan as conceived in a fictional, non-biblical story

oh so ironic: you are stepping up to preserve the status of satan as a real entity, and are forced to do so due to your christianity

 

[WickedSmurf]

Emperor Palpatine... Sauron and all the other gimps got nothing on a dude who destroys planets to make people talk.

 

[Lord_Sidious]

Palpatine: In the first time I saw him at Empire Strikes Back, it seemed to me, a mestyrious and dark man, but not to evil. But in the Return of the Jedi I saw the true darkness and evilness of Paplatine. When I first saw Vader I thought that could not exist a heart darker than that, but when I saw Palpatine...
In the Phantom Menace he adquires a double life: Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious. As Palpatine, it seemed to me a nice men and intelligent too. But a little manipulator too. As Darth Sidious I saw a sadic (especially in the tone that he says: "Wipe them out. All of them"), dark man but intelligent too. I suspicied soon that the 2 were the same.
In The Attack of The Clones: Chancellor Palpatine is the leader of the Republic. Darth Sidious is the de facto leader of the Separatists. So he's "puppeting" the war for it own use. As Palpatine he looks an older more intelligent, but somehow "darker" man. Especially in the Final sequence when he is observing the Clone Army with the Imperial March, it seems more evil.
As Darth Sidious, it mantains the personality of the preivous episode.
In the Revenge of the Sith we can see Palpatine's ultimate evilness:
As Palpatine he mantains the personality of the preivous film except that he became more sadic. In the beggining when he says to Anakin to Kill Dooku.
And he's presure to Anakin to the Dark Side. When Mace Windu went to see him in his office to arrest here, we saw the full powered and evil Palpatine. He killed 3 jedi in no time and dueled fiercly with Windu. When Anakin arrived he faked and seemed very weak because of the lightning. As he faked Anakin thought really that he was weakead and cut of Windu's arms and Palpatine killed him. In the rest of the film we see all the man's carchteristics. Evil, sadic, cunning, intelligent, manipulator, cold, calculist, powerfull, influent, corrupt, hypocrit, mercieless, and many other things.He's the personification of the true and pure evil.
He even ressurects 8 years after the Return of the Jedi (books i've read) as a young clone, and manages to convert Luke to the Dark Side, but Luke is redeemed. This shows no intention in dying. Like he says "All those who have power are afraid to loose it".
And his look is really a dark one although it's simple robes. A Dark rope with the cap (how do you say the thing on the head, it's cap isn't it?).
And many Star Wars villians can be on the top of villians:
Darth Vader-Sadic, serial-killer and cold-hearted
Darth Maul-Powerfull and sadic
Dooku-Intelligent, sofistichated and powerfull (he resembles Dracula).

Other series villians good too:

Dr. Doom,
Green Goblin
Red Skull,
amongst others