Great Villain Showdown: 3rd Round [Results Posted]

[reveal]

I, Melkor, demand justification from people who vote Smith over Lecter! I thought he would win!

I think this is the first time we agree on something. Not on the whole satisfaction thing, but Lecter winning over Smith.

 

[Dark Jezter]

I, Melkor, demand justification from people who vote Smith over Lecter! I thought he would win!

I wouldn't mind knowing just why people think that Sauron is a great villian, because other than being attached to LotR, I can't think of anything he did in the novels or movies that was particularly memorable. He has no dialogue, no scenes where he executes a henchman for failing at something, he never even actually appears other than as a big red eye in the sky.

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

I wouldn't mind knowing just why people think that Sauron is a great villian, because other than being attached to LotR, I can't think of anything he did in the novels or movies that was particularly memorable. He has no dialogue, no scenes where he executes a henchman for failing at something, he never even actually appears other than as a big red eye in the sky.

Well , he is like Satan, the omnipresent evil that is everywhere, corrupts everything- Orcs, the very air, wise wizards and rulers. He is The Ring, he is Mordor, he is evil incarnated!

And I have soft spot for my followers. And I have his dialogue in my signature.

 

[Hor Kai Lan]

1. Agent Smith
2. Great Cthulhu
3. Professor James Moriarty
4. The Joker
5. Galactus
6.
7. Emperor Palpatine
8. Wile E. Coyote
9. Lord Voldemort
10. Mr. Burns
11. Sauron
12. Megatron
13. Thoth-Amon
14.
15. Dracula
16. Hal 9000

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

I wouldn't mind knowing just why people think that Sauron is a great villian, because other than being attached to LotR, I can't think of anything he did in the novels or movies that was particularly memorable. He has no dialogue, no scenes where he executes a henchman for failing at something, he never even actually appears other than as a big red eye in the sky.

Like Melkor said, he was the Ring.

The Ring has a presence in the story. The Ring has Weight. The Ring is the Soul of all Darkness sitting inches away from the hero's skin.

And the Ring was Sauron. Therefore, Sauron is SCARY.

I also agree with Melkor that we need some sort of justification for the ubervillain status Agent Smith seems to be enjoying in many people's minds. Of the 32 entities on the list, he's the only one I'm surprised made it to this stage. I don't understand how he's worthy of carrying Iago's boots, and Iago got eliminated 2 rounds ago.

 

[The Serge]

I also agree with Melkor that we need some sort of justification for the ubervillain status Agent Smith seems to be enjoying in many people's minds. Of the 32 entities on the list, he's the only one I'm surprised made it to this stage. I don't understand how he's worthy of carrying Iago's boots, and Iago got eliminated 2 rounds ago.

I wonder how many of these votes are based upon exposure... How many people are familiar with Iago and his actions in Othello? Or, how many people saw, much less read, Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, or Hannibal and recognized how sinister Lecter is. Perhaps some people just like Smith (although I liked him in the first Matrix, he was no where as impressive in either sequel. I don't think he challenges anyone with his villainy. Perhaps that's why so many are voting for him).

In the end, I don't recall if Gomez offered any rules or suggestions for voting. When I vote, it's based upon the impact the villain has had on my writing and gaming. For others, it may be a deeper or more shallow rationale.

 

[Szatany]

Lector has a nice lead at the moment. Not overwhelming but he is winning.

Lecter , its Lecter guys.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

3rd Round

1. Agent Smith (The Matrix)
2. Darth Vader
3. Professor James Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes)
4. Cigarette Smoking Man (X-Files)
5. Graf Orlock (Nosferatu)
6. Jack Torrence (The Shining)
7. John Doe (Se7en)
8. Wile E. Coyote
9. Lord Voldemort
10. Mr. Burns
11. Randall Flagg (The Stand)
12. Megatron
13. Pinhead (Hellraiser)
14. The Master (Dr. Who)
15. Lex Luthor
16. Hal 9000

 

[reveal]

I wonder how many of these votes are based upon exposure... How many people are familiar with Iago and his actions in Othello? Or, how many people saw, much less read, Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, or Hannibal and recognized how sinister Lecter is. Perhaps some people just like Smith (although I liked him in the first Matrix, he was no where as impressive in either sequel. I don't think he challenges anyone with his villainy. Perhaps that's why so many are voting for him).

In the end, I don't recall if Gomez offered any rules or suggestions for voting. When I vote, it's based upon the impact the villain has had on my writing and gaming. For others, it may be a deeper or more shallow rationale.

Gomez: I've already voted. Please don't think this is another vote.

I agree. Even though I liked some villains better than others, I still voted for who I thought was the better, more evil, villain. Here's what I chose and why.

1. Agent Smith (The Matrix) vs Hannibal Lector - Smith is a cool villain but Lecter is pure evil. He's smart and doesn't have Smith's resources to do his bad duty. Lecter manipulated everyone. From his fans (Red Dragon) to the agent trying to interview him (Silence of the Lambs). Smith simply used force of numbers to get what he wanted.

2. Great Cthulhu vs Darth Vader - I love Vader. Personally, I think he's a lot cooler the Cthulu. But Vader was not always evil. He was a good kid who was brainwashed into becoming a Sith. When the chips were down, he ended up choosing good over evil. Cthulu is pure, unadulterated evil. If his son were being killed by the Emperor, Cthulu would have just eaten them both and been done with it.

3. Professor James Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes) vs Docter Octopus - Moriarty only appeared in 2 Sherlock Holmes stories, yet we remember him as one of the greatest villains of all time. Why? Because Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective of all time, respected him. Moriarty was always one step ahead and Holmes. He used his wits and planning to pull off his crimes. Octopus, while one of my favorites as a Spidey fan for the last 20+ years, just isn't in the same league.

4. The Joker vs Cigarette Smoking Man (X-Files) - The Joker is psychotic. He will do anything, to anyone, at any time to make his plans come to fruition. But he's also smart. He can push Batman's buttons to make him do something Batman normally would never do. He's killed Robin and caused Batman to kill him. CSM was a bad-ass, but just not as evil.

5. Galactus vs Graf Orlock (Nosferatu) - Power. Pure unadulterated power. Yes, Graf Orlock was scary. But Galactus can eat planets and does. Power wins over scariness in this one.

6. Napoleon the Pig (Animal Farm) vs Jack Torrence (The Shining) - Jack was nuts. That's really it. A great bad guy but simply crazy. Napoleon, on the other hand, manipulated everyone from the beginning. In the end, he gets what he wants and everyone else gets crapped on. That's a great villain.

7. John Doe (Se7en) vs Emperor Palpatine - Doe was, again, nuts. He was smart enough to get away with what he did but, in the end, he was just a crazy guy who liked to kill people. Palpatine was brilliant. He manipulated everyone. He started a war by using the system. He took over an entire federation of planets simply by playing politics. He got everything he wanted and only ever lifted a finger to fight once, and even then it was only because he was being attacked.

8. Wile E. Coyote vs Mr. Edward Hyde - Not even close on this one. Coyote is not a villain. He's not evil; he's hungry.

9. Lord Voldemort vs Strahd Von Zarovich (Ravenloft) - This one was really tough. I chose Zarovich only because he's more established than Zarovich. If this was done 15 years from now and people still remember Voldemort as a great bad guy, then I'd probably vote for him.

10. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (James Bond) vs Mr. Burns - I am a huge Simpsons fan. But the only reason Mr. Burns gets away with things is because of the incompetence of others. Blofeld gets away with his plans in spite of the tenacity of James Bond and British Intelligence.

11. Sauron (Lord of the Rings) vs Randall Flagg (The Stand) - Both of these two are pure evil. Sauron was the ring. Randall Flagg was the bad guy in a lot of King novels. I chose Flagg simply because he tried so many times and killed so many people manipulatively unlike Sauron who mainly killed people by having orcs attack en masse.

12. Dr. Fu Manchu vs Megatron - I admit, I chose Megatron in this case because he's a Transformer and I never liked Fu Manchu.

13. Pinhead (Hellraiser) vs Thoth-Amon (Conan Stories) - Pinhead is from Hell. He is the leader of the Cenobites. He kills without conscience. He's a much better villain simply because he doesn't care who he kills or how, he just does it.

14. The Master (Dr. Who) vs Khan Noonian Singh (Star Trek) - KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

15. Lex Luthor vs Dracula - Not even close here. Dracula is pure, unadulterated evil. He doesn't care about anyone but himself and will use anything/anybody to get what he wants. Lex does the same, true, but he just doesn't do it on the same level and, sometimes, will work with the good guys to get what he wants. Dracula would never demean himself like that.

16. Gollum vs Hal 9000 - Golem was a conflicted being. A split personality does not a villain make. Hal couldn't be anything but evil. There was no pleading with him; no trying to play to his humanity. He was cold and calculating with no emotion to get in his way. That's just scary evil.

 

[MonsterMash]

3rd Round

1. Agent Smith (The Matrix)
2. Great Cthulhu
3. Professor James Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes)
4. The Joker
5. Graf Orlock (Nosferatu)
6. Napoleon the Pig (Animal Farm)
7. Emperor Palpatine
8. Wile E. Coyote
9. Lord Voldemort
10. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (James Bond)
11. Sauron (Lord of the Rings)
12. Dr. Fu Manchu
13. Thoth-Amon (Conan Stories)
14. The Master (Dr. Who)
15. Dracula
16. Hal 9000

Ones I found tough were 2 and 3