@Mark Morlock... I agree, it depends on the genre... Scar: Lion King.. the cowboys: tombstone.. Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry) Legend.. Commodus: Gladiator... Longshanks-King Edward I: Braveheart... And don't forget the wicked step mother in Ever After (The movie)
Heath Ledger as the Joker was brilliant as was Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in blade Runner. Both truly memorable and devious villains. When an actor can take a role and add so much Dimension it is truly a testament to the art of acting. Looking at the characters, one can sense that There is much more going on within their troubled minds.
I love Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Nice looking, yet so calm and cold. Never loses her cool...always in control in the chaos. That woman had ice in her veins. Wicked Witch a close 2nd.
The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. She's the first true villain I remember watching and she's just a classic character with a great memorable evil laugh.
There are so many to choose from! Personally for me there are two favourites: as a child it was most definitely Darth Vader (but was he really a 'villain' or a pawn of prophecy?), and as an adult I am both fascinated and feel revulsion at Tim Roth's 'Archibald Cunningham' in Rob Roy - when Liam Neeson's sword sliced through him at the end I was genuinely pleased - he was soooo horrible! (not Tim Roth of course - brilliant actor!)
Hiya Richard, thanks for the comment - glad you got it! I've thought for a long time that he never really was a true villain, more rather a good person who succumbed to his personal weakness. But then he had to, so that he could learn both sides of the Force, and thus fulfill the prophecy and bring balance back to the Force, through the love of his child.
I know you asked for film, but as far as television, right now it's Alice Morgan from Luther hands down. I think she's up there for favorites of all time too. As for movies, I've always loved the Batman villains, particularly Two-Face. There's something very realistic and human about how they became villains (The comics/graphic novels provide a great back story). It's hard not to empathize with them. Two-Face develops this twisted sense of fairness and justice based on chance, directly proportional to how his lover died.
Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, because they were the main ones I watched growing up. There's something about his noseless face that creeps me out.
Heath Ledger as the Joker - he owned that role, when they cast him I was skeptical but I was so so wrong! Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates - the last scene was amazingly horrifying. Tom Hiddleston as Loki - he turned what could have been a cliche character into something with depth and at times, Shakespearian.
I agree with you about Heath Ledger, most soulless and diabolical....very scary dude..when I think about villains a lot depends on the criteria, is the character scary, mind chilling, gruesome, cerebral (Hannibal Lector), acerbic, mysterious, funny, sad...lot's of villains out there...Dick Chaney for example..ha...sorry to get political..oh, and let's don't forget Richard III, one of my favorites..
Heath Ledger, Dark Knight, Danzel Washington, Training Day, Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men, Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland, Kevin Spacey, Usual Suspects, Christopher Waltz, Inglorious Basterds, Michael Douglas, Wall Street, Kathy Bates, Misery and Nurse Ratched, One Flew over the the Cuckoo's Nest to mention a few..who's your favorite?
Gosh, that's a toughie. I loved Al Pacino as Michael Corleone -- perhaps my favorite movie series, and almost don't consider him a villain. ;) Darth Vader is another fave. Kim Novak in Satan's Triangle creeped the hell out of me. Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear. Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker was one of those "out of body" moments when you truly watched one of the greatest performances of our time. If we went to TV, I'd have to say Zachary Quinto as Syler in Heroes and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Adebisi in OZ.
Too hard to narrow down to just one, so here's my top ten, in no particular order: 1. Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?). 2. Stripe (GREMLINS). 3. The Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston, THE WITCHES). 4. The Wheelers (RETURN TO OZ). 5. The Penguin (Danny DeVito, BATMAN RETURNS). 6. Jareth (David Bowie, LABYRINTH). 7. The Nothing (NEVERENDING STORY). 8. Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?). 9. The Horned King (THE BLACK COULDRON) 10. Daryl Van Horn (Jack Nicholson, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK).
It's a tie between Viggo Mortensen as SATAN in THE PROPHECY; and Heath Ledger's JOKER. Love that line from the former... "Little Tommy Daggett How I loved listening to you say your prayers at night. And then you'd jump into bed, afraid that I was under there...And I WAS!" (What a mind fuck!)
Christopher Lee in and as Dracula. I favour only him as the original Dracula-the rest are all imitations and take offs! And if I have a second choice, it is Lee Van Cleef as a villain in movies like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
I thought Darth Vader of the original Star Wars trilogy was the ultimate villain. However, I mentioned the joker from the movie Dark Knight earlier because Heath Ledger (RIP) really nailed that role. That was possibly Heath's best acting performance ever.
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Moved this to the proper category, No Le...I'll cast a vote for Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men.
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Hannibal Lecter
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Man it is Hannibal Lector all the way. I also really like the Joker.
Frank Booth
Honorable mentions to Jean Girard of Talladega Nights, The Wicked Witch of the West, Annie Wilkes, and Percy Wetmore from The Green Mile.
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And a big shout out to Hans Gruber - the Nakatomi Tower will never be the same.
I like Alonzo Harris( Training Day) , Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) , I like Jack Nicholas as Joker in TIm Burtons Batman ( he was so funny)
Hans Gruber certainly set the bar for all action film villains to come, Mark.
Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. You HAVE to love Ricardo Montalban's line delivery.
I love Clsncy Brown. He's almost always the villain and he's so good at it. He was great in "The Shawshank Redemption" as well.
Clancy Brown was Jamie Lee Curtis' love interest in BLUE STEEL. I wish he was cast in more roles like that...a strong romantic lead.
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T1000 from Terminator 2! :)
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I have to go with Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort.
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Tom Hardy as Bane in TDKR.
I'm with RB -- Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men. That weird hair -- bangs that go all the way around his head. Terrifying!!!
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Where's the love for Tim Curry, Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken.
Depends on the genre. Sci/fi it's a tie for me; Robocop 2, and Agent Smith. I like Hannibal Lecter for Thriller, and Freddy Krueger for horror.
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Ledger's Joker.
Hannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter
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Dr. Evil from Austin Powers
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No seriously, I'm gonna go with Agent Smith and John Travolta (when antagonist) in face-off
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@Mark Morlock... I agree, it depends on the genre... Scar: Lion King.. the cowboys: tombstone.. Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry) Legend.. Commodus: Gladiator... Longshanks-King Edward I: Braveheart... And don't forget the wicked step mother in Ever After (The movie)
Robert DeNiro
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.... I hated it....
Anthony Hopkins
I'd have to go with Hannibal Lector.
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Otto Kruger as Charles Tobin in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur.
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Ah, nice one, Beverly. Great film.
Well written, beautifully acted portrayal of a dark soul masquerading as a loving, sophisticated gentleman.
Kick ass 2! ya boy the MOTHER FUcker was hilarious! kid who played Mclovin in Super Bad! lol
Heath Ledger as the Joker was brilliant as was Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in blade Runner. Both truly memorable and devious villains. When an actor can take a role and add so much Dimension it is truly a testament to the art of acting. Looking at the characters, one can sense that There is much more going on within their troubled minds.
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I love Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Nice looking, yet so calm and cold. Never loses her cool...always in control in the chaos. That woman had ice in her veins. Wicked Witch a close 2nd.
Wow, hard one! Toss up between Hans Grueber (Die Hard), and Agent Smith (The Matrix). Mr. Joshua (Lethal Weapon) comes a distant third.
Heath Ledger's Joker springs to the front. Pretty chilling.
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George Bush
Jaws. Apollo Creed. Michael Corleone. Terminator 1. Bishop(Juice). Joker(Nolan). Calvin Candie.
The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. She's the first true villain I remember watching and she's just a classic character with a great memorable evil laugh.
Probably Joker (Nolan), Rorshack (?) And ... too many for write them all!
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There are so many to choose from! Personally for me there are two favourites: as a child it was most definitely Darth Vader (but was he really a 'villain' or a pawn of prophecy?), and as an adult I am both fascinated and feel revulsion at Tim Roth's 'Archibald Cunningham' in Rob Roy - when Liam Neeson's sword sliced through him at the end I was genuinely pleased - he was soooo horrible! (not Tim Roth of course - brilliant actor!)
A pawn of prophecy. Dig that, Dale.
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Hiya Richard, thanks for the comment - glad you got it! I've thought for a long time that he never really was a true villain, more rather a good person who succumbed to his personal weakness. But then he had to, so that he could learn both sides of the Force, and thus fulfill the prophecy and bring balance back to the Force, through the love of his child.
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Hannibal Lecter.
Heath Ledger's Joker
Aliens! aka Xenomorphs. but whichever you prefer
Patty McCormack as "Rhoda Penmark" in THE BAD SEED - 1956.
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Gary Oldman (Stansfield) in Leon: The Professional!
Joker (Heath Ledger), Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). Darth Maul
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Beetlejuice
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Bob Mitchum in CAPE FEAR. Awesome.
There are tooooo many. lol
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I know you asked for film, but as far as television, right now it's Alice Morgan from Luther hands down. I think she's up there for favorites of all time too. As for movies, I've always loved the Batman villains, particularly Two-Face. There's something very realistic and human about how they became villains (The comics/graphic novels provide a great back story). It's hard not to empathize with them. Two-Face develops this twisted sense of fairness and justice based on chance, directly proportional to how his lover died.
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Joker, from dark knight. Best portrayal ever
Loki from Thor...You can't help but love to hate him...
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The Jackal - starring Bruce Willis
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Hannabil of course.
David Warner from "Island"
Cumberbatch's Khan, Andy Sirkis' Gollum
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Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men - convincingly psycho!
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Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, because they were the main ones I watched growing up. There's something about his noseless face that creeps me out.
Amon Goeth(Schindler's List) Mass Murderer!!!
Tony Bates
Or the bad guy from Marathon Man
I'm partial to Hans Gruber, Darth Vader and Colonel Jessup from A Few Good Men.
Gotta be Hannibal lecter for me
Kinda Blair in The Exorcist
***LINDA (oops)
Ok I'll add a vote for the character Hans Gruber but really the vote is won by Alan Rickman one of (if not the) best villains out there.
and Robert Mitchum
Angelina Jolie and Charlise Forin I think that's how you spell it.
Heath Ledger as the Joker - he owned that role, when they cast him I was skeptical but I was so so wrong! Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates - the last scene was amazingly horrifying. Tom Hiddleston as Loki - he turned what could have been a cliche character into something with depth and at times, Shakespearian.
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I agree with you about Heath Ledger, most soulless and diabolical....very scary dude..when I think about villains a lot depends on the criteria, is the character scary, mind chilling, gruesome, cerebral (Hannibal Lector), acerbic, mysterious, funny, sad...lot's of villains out there...Dick Chaney for example..ha...sorry to get political..oh, and let's don't forget Richard III, one of my favorites..
I wonder how many villains have won Oscars.
Heath Ledger, Dark Knight, Danzel Washington, Training Day, Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men, Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland, Kevin Spacey, Usual Suspects, Christopher Waltz, Inglorious Basterds, Michael Douglas, Wall Street, Kathy Bates, Misery and Nurse Ratched, One Flew over the the Cuckoo's Nest to mention a few..who's your favorite?
on that list it's anthony hopkins
The Devil from "Legend". Something about his look and personality resonate pure evil, perhaps because he is Satan.
Tommy Devito from Goodfellas was pretty insane
John Doe - " Become vengeance, David.... become Wrath"
Gosh, that's a toughie. I loved Al Pacino as Michael Corleone -- perhaps my favorite movie series, and almost don't consider him a villain. ;) Darth Vader is another fave. Kim Novak in Satan's Triangle creeped the hell out of me. Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear. Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker was one of those "out of body" moments when you truly watched one of the greatest performances of our time. If we went to TV, I'd have to say Zachary Quinto as Syler in Heroes and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Adebisi in OZ.
Heath Ledger in Batman
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Darth Vader.
Archibald Cunningham from Rob Roy!
Played by Tim Roth
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Too hard to narrow down to just one, so here's my top ten, in no particular order: 1. Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?). 2. Stripe (GREMLINS). 3. The Grand High Witch (Angelica Huston, THE WITCHES). 4. The Wheelers (RETURN TO OZ). 5. The Penguin (Danny DeVito, BATMAN RETURNS). 6. Jareth (David Bowie, LABYRINTH). 7. The Nothing (NEVERENDING STORY). 8. Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?). 9. The Horned King (THE BLACK COULDRON) 10. Daryl Van Horn (Jack Nicholson, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK).
Count Dracula! Particularly Christopher Lee as the suave and well read "vampire" who prefers his blood straight-not shaken or stirred.
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Stansfield played by Gary oldman In Leon: The professional
Thanks spike for the invitation , I wish you a lot of success with your series . Good luck .
has anyone put down claude raines.......the invisible man
It's a tie between Viggo Mortensen as SATAN in THE PROPHECY; and Heath Ledger's JOKER. Love that line from the former... "Little Tommy Daggett How I loved listening to you say your prayers at night. And then you'd jump into bed, afraid that I was under there...And I WAS!" (What a mind fuck!)
I love Robert DeNiro, batman return , Angelina Jolie . .....
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Tim Curry in Legend. Now that was a performance! :D
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I agree, Jodi, but the same goes for Alice Playten as BLIXX, and Robert Picardo as MEG MUCKLEBONES in the same film. Definitely deserving of a nod! ;)
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Too many good ones throughout history to choose a favorite.
Waldo Lydecker in "Laura" (1944)
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Christopher Lee in and as Dracula. I favour only him as the original Dracula-the rest are all imitations and take offs! And if I have a second choice, it is Lee Van Cleef as a villain in movies like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
One of them is Jason Robards in what I consider the best western ever made, Once In A Time In The West. Semi villain may be more accurate.
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Ghostface from SCREAM
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Buffalo Bill. The Silence of the Lambs.
Jack Nicholson as Joker and Antonio banderas in the new spongebob movie
The joker on Dark Knight
Alan Rickman's Severus Snape. I like my villains to be not entirely villains.
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Lee Van Kleef in all the Sergio Leone westerns and Christopher Lee as Dracula from Hammer Film Productions
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Eli Wallach as Tuco Benedicto Pacífico Juan María Ramírez in the Good , the Bad and the Ugly.
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I thought Darth Vader of the original Star Wars trilogy was the ultimate villain. However, I mentioned the joker from the movie Dark Knight earlier because Heath Ledger (RIP) really nailed that role. That was possibly Heath's best acting performance ever.
Jason Robards in the greatest western ever filmed, Once Upon A Time In America.
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Freddy Krueger. Robert Englund was exemplary in bringing him to life.
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Can Television count? If so, Hannibal Lector from the TV series Hannibal.
The Joker from Batman is up there as well.