What media villains would translate well to D&D?

[Nuclear Platypus]

Megatron, the Beast Wars version, is good for a villain who is slightly higher level than the PCs, and progresses at about the same rate as they do. He is cunning, educated, can be charming and talkative, and can be just downright evil. He works best when he is not so much more powerful than the PCs that he could dominated them in a fight. He needs plans and webs, and should always seem like he knows more than others and has several Aces in his pocket.

Oh I like this answer. Yeeessss. Must have a rubber ducky for those bathtime soaks (several times in the series). He's got slight delusions too as he often talks with his t-rex (and later dragon) head.

Dinobot originally started off as a Predacon but joined the Maximals simply because "my enemy's enemy..." tho ended up picking up some of their traits, becoming an honorable villain / antihero as shown in the "Code of Hero" episode.

Also from Beast Wars was Rampage, the near unstoppable killing machine. Why'd he kill? For the sheer pleasure of it. In fact, he might've ate a few (or more) of his victims, especially after terrifying them to make them 'tastier'. But he's more of a Michael Myers (Halloween not Wayne's World) so a little 1 dimensional. However at the end, maybe he felt remorse or just wanted release. Then again he could've just been plain ol' psychotic.

Starscream (RIP Chris Latta) was always a favorite backstabbing schemer til the Minicon series version of him made him more like Dinobot from Beast Wars (also a good villain / antih hero). Sure he was the second in command of the Decepticons but he'd be just as willing to stab his own boss in the back as he would Optimus Prime. Heck, he even conspired with 'the devil' to gain power (dealt with Unicron to regain his body).

The Skeleton King from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! also had contigency plans for virtually anything. If those didn't work, he had a few loyal lackies willing to salvage his remains. So what if he loses a few pawns to manuever himself into a better position later on. Plus Mark Hamill sounds better as a villain.

I'm really tempted to go with a few of the villains from the Power Rangers shows. Each series had some sort of 'honorable villain'. Again nowhere near the character development of the title characters or even the arch villain.

David Xanatos from Gargoyles sounds suspiciously like Jonathan Frakes tho several other regulars sound like ST:tNG cast members. I suppose someone will inform me that Demona is Marina Sirtis or whatever. He's got it all: money, power, magic, robotic gargoyles, supertechnology but just when you think he'll only be a bad guy, he'll help out Goliath and the others out of the 'kindness of his heart', only to plot against them a few episodes down the line. Demona has a hatred for humanity for destroying her clan even tho she's doubly cursed - turning human in the daytime and being married to MacBeth. She even hates her former love and those who associate with Goliath, even her own daughter. Either Xanatos or Demona would make good dragon personalities.

 

[sniffles]

David Xanatos from Gargoyles sounds suspiciously like Jonathan Frakes tho several other regulars sound like ST:tNG cast members.

Xanatos was voiced by Jonathan Frakes.

My villain picks:
Naraku from Inu-Yasha. His constant scheming and manipulating while remaining mostly behind the scenes would drive many players wild with frustration. He's very good for keeping the characters on task when searching for the MacGuffin. A villain modeled on Naraku would be great for summoning demons and devils into the Material Plane to harass the heroes, or creating undead for similar purposes.

The homunculi from Fullmetal Alchemist. Imagine an organization of doppelgangers created by magic, now trying to make themselves 'real' people, or perhaps trying to take control of the reins of power. Doppelgangers are always a good villain anyway, IMHO, but doppelgangers inspired by the homunculi could have both a very sinister side and provoke a little sympathy from some characters. It would be even more disturbing if these doppelgangers were somehow imbued with the spirits of the dead - characters could run into villains who contained the memories and personalities of old friends or family members.

Anything like the Borg from Star Trek or the Cybermen from Doctor Who. Villains who were once human but have had their humanity stripped from them and now consider any creature not like them to be inferior. The Borg are scary because they want to make everything else like themselves, and they adapt everything to themselves instead of destroying it. The Cybermen are a little more of the classic 'if you aren't of us you deserve to die' type. Warforged are an obvious way of adapting either of these villain types to a fantasy/D&D setting, but you could also make these villains out of some sort of spellstitched template or undead or constructs.

 

[Dragonbait]

Also from Beast Wars was Rampage, the near unstoppable killing machine. Why'd he kill? For the sheer pleasure of it. In fact, he might've ate a few (or more) of his victims, especially after terrifying them to make them 'tastier'. But he's more of a Michael Myers (Halloween not Wayne's World) so a little 1 dimensional. However at the end, maybe he felt remorse or just wanted release. Then again he could've just been plain ol' psychotic.

Check out the episode with that weird malformed transformer. Metamorph or something? Rampage was much more lucid and intelligent, and in fact he showed remorse. I think they had to dumb-down the villains when Mattel told the writers to "make it more funny and less serious, or else."
In fact, I based a group of villains on the Predacons. They went through serious revisions, and it was mostly the voices and personalities that remained in tact. The villains based on Waspinator and Inferno were very popular amongst the players.

I'm really tempted to go with a few of the villains from the Power Rangers shows.

Did this, and had fun with them. In fact, I made them one of the primary villains in my home setting (something like demons, but each one is unique). You referenced the honorable villains, but the common monsters could be fun too. They seemed to have so much fun being bad.

Some other media villains that I have used as inspiriation for a villain, and proved to be fun:
Dr. Robotnik
Disney's Hades
the robot masters from Megaman
The Phantom Blot (anyone know this guy?)
The Heartless (featured a whole campaign around these)

I have, of course, used many serious villains (I played teh Heartless darker and less whimsical than they appear in Kingdom Hearts). It's just that the players remember the more "unique" villains that have lots of personality, but in a good way. In the end, though, the best villains are the ones that the players love to hate.

 

[Agent Oracle]

Heh, my turn: "The Zeiram"

From the anime Iria, the Zeiram actually was featured in several Japanese horror movies / animes. The bioengineered beast is relentless in it's persuit of... something, which is not clearly identified. It's able to create spawn based on what it kills, and Besides, when the protagonists that hunt it are named Iria and Bob, what's not to like?

All that, and the Zeiram has an awesome look to him.

 

[Valesin]

I second Magneto; any villain who is often right yet needs to be stopped anyway is my kinda villain.

Spike from Buffy. Overlapping and often incompatible motives, a mean streak a mile wide, a gift for turning heroes against each other.

 

[Nichols]

I think it is hard to top IRL villains.

Hitler
Saddam
The AL Queda guy
Pol Pot
Stalin
Vlad Drakov

etc

Having written the Falkovnia section in Ravenloft Gazetteer, Vol. 2, I can definitively state the Vlad Drakov is NOT an real person.

I think you mean Vlad Tepes, on whom Dracula is based.

Chris Nichols

 

[Nightfall]

Apocalyse or any Marvel Demon. Heck any of marvel's most awesome and well used villians.

DC...eh not many stand out. Maybe Lex Luthor, but other than not sure.

Spawn. Nuff said.

TV show wise...eh nothing comes to mind except maybe Aku and a few anime villians.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Viktor Von Doom (Dr Doom) and Khan Noonian Sighn (Khan) - both are meglomaniacs that originally thougt that their plans were for the betterment of their particular societies, however, as the old saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutley.

Either of these two would make a great psychotic, meglo-maniac that believes hes is infallable, super intelleigent and near invincible. Makes for a sweet climactic battle (if you know how to do the typical evil villian rant befor the heroes kill him).

 

[Nightfall]

Eh Von Doom is done to death. I prefer to see how a guy like Apocalyse, who's lived thousands of years, views magic or divinity as an evolutionary force.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Eh Von Doom is done to death. I prefer to see how a guy like Apocalyse, who's lived thousands of years, views magic or divinity as an evolutionary force.

Yes, but never well!