Top 10 Villains

It's been a while since I've made a "Kelsi just talks about things" post. I was watching some videos on YouTube of a guy who reviews movies and makes lists of the top scariest moments, top catchiest theme songs, etc. Anyways, he had one of his top scariest performances, and it got me thinking… I want to do something similar. So here we are: My top 10 villains in cinema (and maybe literature).


#10- WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST from The Wizard of Oz
"I'll get you, my pretty. And your little dog too!"

For a lot of kids, The Wizard of Oz was one of the first movies we ever saw, so this lady was one of the first villains we were introduced to. And boy, was she quite a villain to start out with. With her green skin, long nose, and black attire. And who could ever forget her theme song? (It is now stuck in your head! You're welcome.) She's just… well, scary. The way she laughs, flies around on her broom, kidnaps girls and dogs, has an army of flying monkeys, lives in a creepy castle, throws fireballs, etc. She's the iconic witch.


#9- GEORGE WICKHAM from Pride and Prejudice
"But it is not for me to be driven away by Mr. Darcy. If he wants to avoid seeing me, he must go."

You know, sometimes when you're watching a movie and somebody walks into a scene and you're just like "oh yeah. That's the villain.". Like with Star Wars, Darth Vader walks in, helloooo villain! Big scary guy dressed in black with the heavy breathing and standing over dead bodies= villain. But with Pride and Prejudice, that's not the case. I mean, this guy, he just seems to be this nice, friendly, supremely charming guy. Handsome too. And he gives this sob story making you feel all sorry for him. And he does it in such a way that makes it seem like he doesn't want to divulge this information, which makes him seem humble too. But it's all just a facade. Underneath it all he's just a money-hungry playboy. A conman! A dirty rotten scoundrel out for revenge and to ruin anybody who gets in his way. That's why he's so horrible. He fools EVERYBODY into thinking he's such a wonderful individual until… too late.


#8- DARTH VADER from Star Wars
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

There is a very small percentage of people in the world who doesn't know this guy. I've found there's actually a lot of villains out there who have an alter ego (and a tragic backstory). He's one of the few who redeem themselves in the end without it being super lame and cliche. But, focusing on him as a villain… I wasn't alive when he first appeared, but I can just imagine sitting in the theater and seeing him enter for the first time. That black 1/2 robot-1/2 man thing, all black attire (helmet, cape, etc) with the creepy breathing. Sooo iconic now. And that voice! James Earl Jones is legend! It's just so scary and awesome at the same time! And then all the power he has, he's got an army (even if the clones are kind of pansies), the frikin' Death Star, and not to mention the Force. And of course he holds the number one spot for the biggest plot twist in all history. All around great villain.


#7- VOLDEMORT from the Harry Potter series
"Only I can live forever."

Well of course he has to be on my list. He's like the epitome of evil. He's actually kind of lower on my list than you'd expect because honestly, I don't find him all that interesting. I mean yeah, he did scare the crap out of me and he kept things intense and he is rather creepy looking. You'd think I'd like that, since that's basically everything I like in a villain. But it's missing something. He's not very showy about it. I mean, yeah, he likes to show off and make a graphic scene of things (not as much as Bellatrix *shudders* maybe she should have been on my list), but he just kind of does it all blandly. Like "oh, OK let's go raid the Ministry. Yes, knock down all the shelves and cabinets while you're at it. Yes, yes, break all the glass. OK, kill everybody. Good." There could be a little more finesse when he talked (and I put no blame on Ralph Fiennes, well maybe a little, but I think most of the problem was in the character himself, the writing, and the directing). But anyways, other than that, Voldemort is a great villain. I mean, he's so scary, people are even afraid to say his name. I mean, there are a lot of real life serial killers, dictators, etc. in history, but we still speak their names. That's how much of an impact this guy has on our fictional characters's lives.


#6- LADY TREMAINE from Disney's Cinderella
"I said… if."

Dis lady. What a scuzzball! Like she doesn't do anything so universally horribly wrong, except for make one person's life miserable. And all because Cinderella was nicer and prettier than her own two daughters. Pfft! I mean, she doesn't even let her go to the ball, and she lets her daughters tear up the dress, and then she freakin' locks her in her room so she can't have her happily ever after, and THEN she breaks the glass slipper just as Cinderella's about to try it on! Like what the heck, lady? Just looking at her smirks all the while during that end scene while Cinderella's locked up, ooh! You just want to punch her! (And that face when she realizes Cinderella was the mystery girl from the ball and follows her upstairs to lock her in. D8 One of the freakiest villain faces ever!)


#5- DOLORES UMBRIDGE from the Harry Potter series
"Deep down you know that you deserve to be punished, don't you, Mr. Potter?"

And speaking of ultimate scuzzballs. Dis mother-hugger! Ooh, don't you just want to smack that prissy smile off her face? Practically any Harry Potter fan you talk to will tell you that they hated this son of a gun more than Voldemort, and I concur. While Voldemort was doing horrible things like massacring people, taking over the wizard and muggle world, splitting his soul so he could live forever, things like that, this lady was focused on ruining the lives of teenagers, specifically our protagonist. I mean, her detention is them writing lines, which is bad enough, but then it carves the sentences into their hand! I mean, how sadistic is that? And she just goes about with her ridiculous, strict rules, sucking all the fun and life out of everything. Even all the teachers hated her! ("Is it true you shouted at Professor Umbridge?" "Yes." "You called her a liar?" "Yes." "Have a biscuit, Potter.")  But the thing that makes her so horrible is that she does all this with a smile. Like she looks like one of those overly-sweet secretaries you'd find at a customer service desk for some fancy cruise-liner or something. And the pink and the cats! Argh! It's so horrid!


#4- MALEFICENT from Disney's Sleeping Beauty
"Oh dear, what an awkward situation."

No, not the Angelina Jolie backstory remake one. I'm talking about the original animated awesomeness! First off I just have to say that she has the most boss costume out of any of the Disney villains (or maybe any villain, IDK). Her motivation is kind of ridiculous. I mean, she could have been more lenient about it like "Fine. See if I invite you to MY birthday party!". But no she's all "What? You don't want to invite me to your party. Fine. I'll just curse your baby to die when she turns sixteen! Muahahaha!". But really, looking past the ridiculous motivation, she is such a boss! She yells, she screams, she has fire, she has minions, she lives on "the forbidden mountain" (I mean how cool is that?), she goes to extreme lengths to accomplish her goals. Like, there's a wall of thorns, there's lightning, and she flippin' turns into a dragon! I mean, she creates one of the most awesome climaxes in all Disney movies with all this.


#3- MRS. DANVERS from Rebecca
"I watched you go down, just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress, you couln't compare."

Oh my word, this lady freaks me out. And I just want to punch her in the face. She's the originator of mental abuse. The ways she's just SO obsessed with the previous Mrs. DeWinter and lets the new one know at every possible moment. I mean, the new Mrs. DeWinter moves a hairbrush over like an inch and Mrs. Danvers notices. Not only does she move it back, but she lets the poor woman know like "no, Rebecca always kept the hairbrush here and you should too because she was so perfect and you aren't." I mean, literally EVERYTHING the new Mrs. DeWinter does she gets criticized by this stupid housekeeper and compared to Rebecca. Like ARGH! "Your husband doesn't love you, he still loves Rebecca, because she's perfect and you're not. How dare you try to take her place." And then when she tricks the poor girl into wearing Rebecca's dress to the party causing her husband to lash out and have a breakdown. And Mrs. Danvers KNEW that would happen! GAAAAHHHHH!!! I hate this lady so much!


#2- THE JOKER from Batman/THE MASTER from Doctor Who
"If I weren't crazy, I'd be insane."/ "The drumming. Can't you hear it? Inside my head. I thought it would stop. But it never does. It never, ever stops."

They're both number two because they're both extremely similar. I'm not exactly referring to a specific performance of the Joker, just the Joker in general. Same with the Master. I'm not referring to a specific incarnation of him (and I guess now her too), just the Master all around. With villains, I don't really have a preference per say for classy, laid back villains or psycho ones. Either one can be scary, but in different ways. Here with the Joker and the Master, we have the ultimate example of psycho. The thing with crazy villains is that they will do literally anything, even if it doesn't make sense (like in Doctor Who, one of the Master's victims plead "I'm much more valuable to you alive", which he agreed to, but then killed her anyways). And they just won't care. Plus they often do it with that crazy look in their eye and/or a crazy, psychotic laugh. They just enjoy what they do.


#1… (drum roll please)… FROLLO from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
"I'll find her. I'll find her if I have to burn down all of Paris!"

Where do I even begin with this guy? He kills an innocent woman, tries to drown her baby, keeps said baby in a bell tower for his whole life (all the while insulting him), burns people alive, lusts over women, offers their freedom for... well him. And all while claiming he's a good christian. This guy is in a Disney movie??!! D8 I mean, he is the ultimate creep-fest! He just gets so obsessed with Esmerelda that he literally burns Paris to the ground in attempt to find her. And that one scene where he has her in an armlock in the cathedral, threatening her, and then sniffs her hair! DD8 And then what a jerk he is to poor Quasimodo. I mean, yes some of the stuff he says is true, that he may be rejected and scorned if he went out into the world because of his looks. But I hardly think he tells him that to protect him, I think he just tells him those things because he's a flat out jerk. And then THE WHOLE TIME he claims he's a good Christian, praying and doing all this stuff in God's name! Like, UGH!!! (Also he has one of the best villain songs ever, which if it's a musical, the villain song had gosh darn better be epic and charismatic, which 'Hellfire' most definitely is).

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
CHAUVELIN from The Scarlet Pimpernel

Blood-thirsty, blackmailing, conniving. What else could you ask for in a villain?

CRUELLA DEVILLE from 101 Dalmations

Really, anyone who wants to kill a bunch of sweet innocent puppies is already soulless, but wrap that up as a psychotic fashionista and you get a fantastic villain.

THE CHILD CATCHER from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Because he's just plain creepy! He's the reason parents warn their kids not to take candy from strangers.

NORMAN BATES from Psycho

Since I haven't actually seen Psycho, I feel I can't include him on my actual list. But who doesn't know Norman Bates? I mean, I haven't even seen the movie, and he totally freaks me out.