Coolest, most vile, and stupidest villians of all time.

[Terath Ninir]

I've asked this question on Nutkinland/Damnation Army before, but I figure some interesting answers can be found here, too.

Who is the coolest villian you've ever seen in a movie/on TV? The villian you want to be when you grow up? For me, it's a tie. First is Darth Vader from the original Star Wars movies. You could tell he was a serious bad guy when he first stepped on stage. He was seriously menacing and seriously cool. He clinched it when he strangled the various upstart generals.

Coming in just as strong is Hans Grueber from Die Hard. Cool, suave, sophisticated, and with a brilliant plan that would have worked if it wasn't for those darn kids! Er, Bruce Willis. I've probably watched this movie more times than any other movie, and it's all for Alan Rictman's performance.

Who is the most vile villian you've ever seen in a movie/on TV? The villian you want to personally shoot in the head for being so utterly horrid and evil. For me, it's the Fairy Godmother from Shreck 2. I have a 2 year old son, so I've seen the movie a lot. I hate her more each and every time I watch it. Horrid woman. Honourable mention goes to Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Sure, he's worse, but I've seen Shreck 2 more.

Who is the stupidest villian you've ever seen in a movie/on TV? Played by an actor you want to slap upside the head for doing such a horrid job. My winner is Darth Maul from Star Wars I. Gah! Okay, so that one is really Lucas' fault: you don't give major villian roles to the stunt coordinator. He wasn't an actor. But he was just *pathetic*. Gargamel from the Smurfs was more evil. Dishonorable mention goes to Jeremy Irons. You know why.

So how 'bout y'all? Who are your cool, vile, and stupid villians of all time?

 

[devilish]

I had posed the vile villain question here.

And I agree on Darth Maul -- such potential!

 

[The Serge]

Coolest villain: Darth Vader at first, with Hannibal Lecter a close second. Vader had everything, from a cool physical appearance to his voice to his breathing to a great background. Also, there's not a single villain with a theme as memorable or as appropriate as Vader's; "The Imperial March" is a fantastic representation of the character.

Hannibal Lecter, whether from the novels or from the film adaptations, is another great villain with an interesting background; he also has this near supernatural aspect to his nature (the sixth finger elements in the books harken to that, although it's not captured at all in the movies).

Keyser Soze was another great villain. The villain in the shadows that manipulated dozens of people around the world just so he could get in and kill the one man who could ID betray him just before disappearing into obscurity.

Vilest Villain: The Joker. Of all villains in comics, I don't think there's a single villain as reprehensible as The Joker. Everything's a meaningless joke to him and he gets off by harming and killing people. From his torture of Barbara and James Gordon to the murders of Robin II (Jason Todd) and Sarah Gordon to the multitudes of other calamities he's brought upon the world, The Joker does all of this with a smile on his face and often kills his victims with the very same smile. And, like a ghoul, he seems immortal, often returning when least expected after is was clear that he fell or blew up to his well deserved end. Sick.

Another vile villain is the guy from Seven played with relish by Kevin Spacey. All in the name of "righteousness," that nameless creep murdered seven people in some of the most gruesome ways. Clearly brilliant, he had none of Lecter's charm in his mania, making him all the more repellent.

The Emperor. This sick bastard. Aside from ruling the galaxy, all this disgusting jerk wants is to bring ruin to the lives and souls of the pure. His pursuit of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker is nothing short of satanic and perverse. And as soon as one became a liability or as soon as he saw something better, so long to the old, hello the new. I hated The Emperor.

In many ways, the vilest villains tend to be the best... Frankly, The Joker has a place with the coolest and vilest, so I think he's the all around best villain in popular culture.

Stupidest Villain... Wow... That's a tough one. I can't think of one off the top of my head.

 

[Klaus]

I have to agree with The Serge there.

Coolest: Darth Vader

Vilest: Joker, John Doe (Se7en)

Stupidest: Scrappy Doo in the first Scooby Doo movie... I mean, really...

 

[Terath Ninir]

Serge: hard to argue with your choices. I always forget Keyser Soze. Don't know why; that's one of my all-time favourite movies.

 

[Brakkart]

Coolest Villain: Dracula (Christopher Lee or Gary Oldman, I don't rate Lugosi or Roxburgh)

Vilest Villain: King Edward the Longshanks [Braveheart] (Not only does he kill his sons lover, lust after his daughter in law, and have his archers open fire on his own troops. But from history this is the bastard who conquered Wales, my homeland, 900 years ago. It remains a subject state of the english crown to this day)

Stupidest Villain: President Scroob [Spaceballs]

 

[Desdichado]

Wow, as soon as I pick someone, I'm sure someone better will come to mind. Still, here goes:

Coolest: I'll give a nod also to Darth Vader, but in the interest of adding something more to the thread, I'll shout out to The Lady from the Black Company books. Like Darth, she seemd pure evil until you got to know her, but knowing that she had still a spark of decency only made her more interesting.

Vilest: I'm drawing a bit of a blank here. I think the Joker is a good choice, especially when you factor in stuff like his Dark Knight Returns performance as interpreted by Frank Miller. The villain from Saw was pretty perverse too. Sad thing is, I can think of real life historical figures that blow them both away for vileness.

Stupidest: Gargamel! Hah! I think a villain that is supposed to be cool and vile but is really just stupid (usually due to author incompetency) blows away anyone who's supposed to be silly to begin with. What's his name from The Sword of Truth comes to mind; whatever the BBEG in that book was named. Of course, since that book's up there as a strong contender for "st00pidest book evar" it's not a surprise that the main antagonist is up there for the "st00pidest villain evar" prize as well.

 

[Pants]

What's his name from The Sword of Truth comes to mind; whatever the BBEG in that book was named. Of course, since that book's up there as a strong contender for "st00pidest book evar" it's not a surprise that the main antagonist is up there for the "st00pidest villain evar" prize as well.

Jagang or Darken Rahl... Why do I remember this? It's been burned into my poor, poor brain...

Coolest: Darth Vader, Agent Smith
Vilest: Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar (from Neverwhere), the Crippled God (from the Malazan Series), John Doe (from Seven), Walder Frey (from aSoIaF)
Stupidest: Too many too name. All the Forsaken (from WoT), all of David Edding's villains

 

[Qlippoth]

Coolest: Magneto (X-Men 2). Scenery-chewing goodness from Ian McKellen;
Most vile: Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs). Police-officer-skinningness from Anthony Hopkins; &
Stupidest: Lots of rivals for this one, but Newt Gunray of the Star Wars prequel nonsense takes the cake. Costume from the 70's, accent from the 30's. George Lucas, I'm looking at you...

 

[Dark Jezter]

Coolest: Darth Vader from Star Wars. Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian.

Most Vile: John Doe from Se7en.

Stupidest: Ernst Blofeld from the old 007 movies. This man repeatedly put James Bond in easily-escapable, slow-moving death traps after capturing him. If Blofeld knew how to just shoot Bond in the head, he would have taken over the world at least 3 or 4 times.