Who is the worst villain in D&D?

[Etan Moonstar]

I voted Orcus/Tenebrous (Dead Gods was a great adventure), but I really would have liked the option to vote for Acererak (the ur-demilich from Return to Tomb of Horrors).

 

[frankthedm]

You know, it would be remiss if Bargle the Infamous wasn't mentioned at least once.

Yep! worst wizard ever!


Orcus is my poll-able choice

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wastri is great in a so-bad-it's-good sort of way. If I ever DM in GH again, he'll certainly be part of the picture, but he's no Iuz or Vecna.

On the other hand, I had two Known World campaigns that featured Bargle as a background mover and shaker (during his time in the wilderness once he and his boss finally lost power in Karameikos). The silly name just makes him cooler, IMO, since in the real world, people's names don't necessarily have anything to do with how they end up as an adult. Who knew that "Adolph" would be synonymous with evil one day, instead of just being synonymous with "guy whose lunch money got taken every day in Vienna growing up?"

 

[talinthas]

Say what you will about anything else he did, but Tracy Hickman knew how to create amazing bad guys. My votes on Stradh and Soth.

 

[jonshaft]

I got one for Venger. So ubiquitous, too bad those meddling kids always wound up on top.

 

[Alzrius]

I couldn't vote for just one. In the end, I was able to restrain myself to four: Azalin, Dregoth, Vecna, and Orcus.

To me, these four are the pinacles of villainy. All of the others ultimately suffer from some flaws that either prevent them from achieving true success in the first place, or ultimately keep them mired in whatever major setbacks they encounter, instead of rising above their failings.

One thing though, I recongized every name on the list, except Tisan...her I know absolutely nothing about, and it's eating my up inside. Can somebody tell me her bio, and more importantly, what product(s) have her history and stats? Thanks!

 

[demiurge1138]

Wait! If we're going to bring Venger into all this, wither Warduke? His was an awesome action figure, and I've made good use of his Dungeon Magazine stats.

Demiurge out.

 

[Joël of the FoS]

I have read the basic Ravenloft handbook, and Count Strahd gave me the impression of being evil in a very sophisticated way, not just the dumb BBEG who "wants to rule the world", but instead a much more realistic and dramatic evil, and therefore more impressive. I have never played Ravenloft, and still that setting gives me a feeling of being somehow restrictive, but the evil guy is really interesting.

Most Ravenloft villains are indeed sophisticatedly twisted and evil

Ravenloft is not restrictive, it's a prison !

Joël

 

[maddman75]

I think of Ravenloft as a personal hell for the Dread Lord in command. Strahd will never find his lost love, Azalin has all the powers of a huge kingdom at his disposal, but the lich is unable to learn anything new. In Ravenloft, there are no monsters, only characters. That the character may be a vampire, or werewolf, or golem is irrelevent. They are characters first.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Someone else mentioned Bargle, but to me, even Bargle's neferoiusness can't match the pure "Bwahahaha!" evil that is...

Ludwig von Hendriks, the Black Eagle Baron!