Villians You Can't Help But Love

Specialty Other Disney
#21

Oh, yes; everybody loves Joker. :wink: He’s so likable. His kinky green hair, his pale, (almost) angelic face paint, not to mention those scars… man! Hey, you know what that someone said in Fantastic Four, “That scar humanizes you.” :wink:

But, I do have some other villains of my personal favorites. :smiley:

Him - The Powerpuff Girls
I know what you be thinking. What is a rugged, rude, insensitive man like myself (c’mon, be honest :stuck_out_tongue: ) liking a villain like this? Well, I can easily tell you that this can be a child’s most hated villain to his/her worst nightmare. This, my friend, is the Freddy Kruger of Cartoon Network. Sure, he possesses a transvestite persona, which already applies to the ‘damage,’ if you will, dealt to a child’s mind (no offense intended), you never really see Him having his butt kicked by the girls before, with the exception of the title screen which, doesn’t count because we didn’t really see Him getting sent to the joint. Basically, Him is invincible. He is like, the Lucifer of the cheesy cartoon world. You could even see His head floating above the sky at times in the manner of illusion. He might be an illusionist, He might be a sorcerer who could teleport Himself out of tight situation, but Him is one tough butt villain, and I’m intending to keep Him at the top of my list.

John Kramer - Saw series
Do I even need to explain for this one? His words are wise. His love is great. His intentions - holy. Having a good sense of philosophy, John was probably the first villain (not vigilante, mind the difference) to kill within a sense of justice. His genius is almost incomprehensibly. I love how his mind works, despite his sick, twisted methods. His philosophy is that if you had not done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about. He’s like your twisted Santa Claus facing dire cancer.

Annnnnndddd that’s all. The other villains suck. :stuck_out_tongue: No, seriously. Which villain do you know that doesn’t ended up having his butt kicked by the good guy and acting like a completely pathetic, wimpy little cry-baby? Little to none (psychos aren’t villains; they lack the consciousness for the villainy persona, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Kruger got sliced, exploded, axed, diced, smashed at least five to seven times). Oh, and one more for anime fans.

Belmont/Vermouth - Detective Conan
She has her weakness, yes, but anyone who knows about her past couldn’t help liking her - not sympathizes her, mind the difference. She is powerful alright. Her only weaknesses are probably her ego and, of course, Conan the ‘silver bullet.’ :laughing: Liking her is actually more of a personal thing for me. I really like the fact that she wouldn’t hurt Ran because she owes her (Ran) her life, having a sort of honor in her rather than being a complete psychotic jerk who has no sense of logic whatsoever (all arrows point to Leatherface). :slight_smile:

#22

I agree with Al-Bob… the Bowler Hat Guy! He’s such a silly villain with his mannerisms and ways of thinking. I also like Scar, Jafar, and Hades. I find their personalities intriguing.

#23

Look Dorus i found a stick!!! :unamused:
…that plus my stick must mean… :shake:

That has to be his best line

he is definitly my favorite villian. He can be dramatic (i need to speak with the man in charge…) and he can also be silly (your Mary Johnson…Yyyeesss. Mary is short for ummmm…Marion…Can that be a boys name?? huh, yes…Then Yes)

So funny…

#24

WBoon- I’m, like, hyperventilating right now. :laughing: Him is just so GREAT! One of my favourite villains of all time! I can’t believe I forgot all about him! I mean, you’ve got Mojo Jojo, who is funny and a bit of a joke, despite his evil intentions, but then you’ve got Him…I don’t know why, but when I was younger, I always thought of Him as the Devil, a sort of Beelzebub. I guess it must be the red skin, the pointy ears or the all-powerfullness. And his voice. My god.

And I honestly never realised that he was a transvestite until recently. Guess I had a very innocent mind as a child. :laughing:

The Powerpuff Girls is just so legendary. The height of children’s programmes. Why can’t TV be like this now?

#25

At least you can REMEMBER the nineties. :cry:

Seriously, those seven words fill my mind every time I watch one of the old shows online. Thank God for YouTube.

#26

That seems to be a trend among Disney villains. One could get some dubious morals out of it, but mostly I just find it amusing. If it were a syllogism, it would be:

All suave villains are British.
All British people are effeminate.
Therefore, all suave villains are effeminate.

But yeah, Scar is awesome. Jeremy Irons.

I think Jafar and Scar are basically the same guy. Scar is just hairier.

#27

I’m literally ROFLing right now. Seriously. :laughing:

Though I do see what you mean! Although I’ve only seen The Lion King a couple of times, and therefore don’t have as much of a grasp on the character of Scar as I do Jafar, I really do see what you mean.

I think my friends can get dubious morals out of anything. How someone can associate The Lion King with necropheliacs is beyond me. :laughing:

#28

IT’S HILARIOUSLY UNCANNY, FOR SERIOUS

I also fondly remember Hexxus from FernGully, who had possibly the creepiest villain song ever.

#29

Awesome side-by-side comparison, Kageri!
And hi, we haven’t met, but I’m The Drive-In Theatre. Nice to be of your acquaintance. :slight_smile:

#30

kageri- Marry me. :laughing:

Fern Gully was my favourite film when I was younger, I was just so obsessive about it, and I still remember being scared witless by Hexxus. He really represents the ‘evil’ of pollution and that sort of thing.

Another villain I love is Thrax, from Osmosis Jones (sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I can’t remember). What a suave, evil and yet strangely attractive character.

#31

kageri :open_mouth: :laughing: That’s hilarious! They’re alike but I never thought they were that alike until now!

lizardgirl: Ooh ooh I know those two! Osmosis Jones’s Thrax was very interesting- a virus for a villain was brilliant. And Hexxus from FernGully really was so wicked he was perfect for representing the destructive powers of pollution. Hm, however, I never found these villains “attractive”, just interesting. I never found any villain attractive (yet) in fact.

Al-Bob: Haha I know! Bowler Hat Guy from Meet the Robinsons wasn’t really evil (though in one line he called himself a villain “how many evil villains do you know that can pull off a name like Goob?”. Don’t know why- in his mind he’s doing justice :confused: ). He was the most immature villain I’ve seen ("I just want to RUIN YOUR LIFE) which is what made him ridiculously hilarious! :laughing:

I like Bowler Hat Guy and Hades (Herculesfor being just hilarious villains. I plain hate Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove but I love how hilarious she can be at times. Cruella de Vil 'cause she’s just unforgettable, you know (btw fun fact: the voice of Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians is the narrator of Disney’s Cinderella :open_mouth: ).

I actually like a variety of villains, usually the ones that I can actually get into the mind of and actually even side with for the slightest moment (but I may deny it).

The Outsiders pride, from The Lion King 2, followers of Scar, were not exactly good and not completely evil. They wanted revenge for being exiled to an unfair territory, which is very understandable. However, it was up to them to follow Scar in the first place. However, I believe some of them didn’t have a choice, like the cubs Vitani, Nuka, and Kovu, because they were simply raised that way. Zira, Scar’s former queen, is intriguing because her loyalty to Scar drove her actions and she even valued it more than her own children.

I love the songs Be Prepared and My Lullaby was good too.

Ooh, and for some reason I am really intrigued by Lock, Shock, and Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Their villainous naughty song Kidnap the Sandy Claws somehow made it to my Top 25 Songs on my playlist! Yes, I like these characters though I don’t like Oogie Boogie. It’s weird. Apparently Lock, Shock, and Barrell switch sides so they can be on the strongest team, which explains why they reformed at the end and didn’t intent on leaving Jack. Still, the movie could’ve showed how they came the decision to serve Jack instead later…

Muntz and Syndrome are really interesting characters because at the same time I want the hero to defeat them, I also understand their perspective and feel sorry for them. Their greed was wrong, but they have a reason behind it. (Not a good enough reason, but still, you know what I mean).

Ooh, and the Other Mother from Coraline is pure evil and gives me chills. It’s strange ‘cause I usually prefer funny villains but once in a while the really dark ones are awesome, too. She starts off amazingly nice and slowly descents to show her true murderous nature towards children she pretends to love. She has another layer to her, too, though. She doesnt’ kill for nothing. Her reason is hard to say, however. The Cat said “She wants something to love, I think. Something that’s not her…OR, she wants something to eat.” It’s one of those darkly mysterious traits that make her a truly wicked but intriguing villain.

I can’t wait to see The Princess and the Frog and get a taste of Disney’s classic dark side again. Dr. Facillier’s short clips of voodoo magic actually sent shivers down my spine and haunted my brain, and he’s a new, fresh villain, too. :smiley:

#32

Judge Claude Frollo, Hades, Gaston, Commander Rourke, Goob (bowler hat guy), Syndrome, Sid, and Malefecent. They’re all creepy yet loveable. :smiling_imp: I just can’t get attached to any female villains except for Malefecent.

#33

When I was little, I ALWAYS preferred the villains over the good guys. :laughing: I was the biggest six-year-old fangirl of Randall. Heck, I even got a plushie of him. I still think I have it somewhere…

Now it’s the other way 'round, tho. Even though I do like some of the bad guys… I really like the hyenas from TLK. Frankly because, heck, I love hyenas

About the way villains don’t kill anymore nowadays: Oh man, I miss the time when bad guys could actually kill. Sounds a bit volatile but really, villains who kill are just so more awesomecreepy than those pansies who don’t. :stuck_out_tongue:
But really, a film without villains lack a plot mostly. I just noticed. There always has to be at least one bad guy, or else it fails. A good movie is a movie with a villain. Woo, that sounded so professional.

#34

Badger- Although I’m a massive fan of most traditional Disney villains, and though I think that villains can have a massive part to play in a lot of movies, I don’t think every movie needs a villain in order to have an interesting or well-structured plot. Finding Nemo is a great example of a villain-less film that has a brilliant plot without resorting to dividing characters into two teams.

It seems like things have progressed somewhat nowadays. When once we were happy, as an audience, to accept the ‘bad guy’ having little motivation aside from being pure evil for the sake of it, we now tend to prefer more three-dimensional villains, ones that redeem themselves by the end of the movie or that aren’t punished quite as harshly as they used to be.

#35

Well, I thought it was good when Syndrome blew up, and I think wether or not the villain needs to be punished has to do with what they did, and other matters of plot. Goob(bowler hat guy) becoming a better person was probably a good alternative to death, but some villains, like Scar or Syndrome living would totally ruin the plot. :smiling_imp:

#36

It actually go the other way too though- rediculous villains who just kill to KILL and are just bonkers. I would n’t call not being able to kill being a PANSIE myself- it’s often a very classical trait… in classical heroes that is. “Valuing life is not a weakness, and disregarding it, isn’t strength.” There’d be something off though with all out villains who would never ever kill. THEN they’re something elese, and don’t come under the villain moniker at all- perhaps they are simply the antagonist, or the anti-hero or anti-villain (yup the latter does exist). Being oppossed to the hero doesn’t make you a villain in my book.

But while the whole killing thing for a hero would be driven by MORAL obligations- for a completely evil villain it would be all about the LOGICAL idea of it and whether a death would help or in some cases hinder them in some form.

Example- Syndrome the deaths benefited him in his insane bid for glory in some cases- not to mention he his horrifically immature. I do not find him symathetic sometimes, though I do sometimes and I hesitate to label him as a villain due to Pixar’s ‘no villain’ rule too.

I like the idea of a villain sometimes killing but perhaps not killing a specific someone because it’s either- not worth the effort involved or simply NOT in their best interests. This is why Jafar failed in the Aladdin sequel. Even though I liked the Iago plot. SMART people don’t go after flimbsy revenge which would earn them nothing unless pushed to that desperate mental state where they feel they have nothing else to do or are driven by some EXTREME past mental trauma or loss in relation to it which defines who they are. Only stupid people do that kind of revenge otherwise- and a scary villain must be smart. Be flawed, perhaps have emotional outburst sometimes and all that, but still- smart. Because brains really do beat brawn in the world stage after all- and it has to be believable at least for a moment, that the villain could indeed win.

I think what can make a villain at their most powerful too perhaps when they have that little piece of them which says ‘I could be YOU.’ to the audience in order to freak them out a tad, but then they become less of a villain and more of an antagonist really- but that sometimes depends on other factors as well.

Honestly? I prefer antagonists, but villains can have their place too sometimes- the scariest Disney villain is Frollo in my opinion.

#37

The best DIsney villain for me is definantly Frollo.

But for non-Disney I have to say the villain I love to hate the most is Princess Azula from avatar (the series, not the film) she steals every scene she’s in, has a fantastic voice actor, is visciously manipulative and has the most chillingly realistic [spoil]mental breakdown[/spoil] I have ever seen in children’s media (or come to think of it, any media.)

Oh and that scene in season 3 where she’s going to just straight up stab [spoil]Sokka[/spoil]? Yeah, I hate her, but she’s very good at being a villain…

#38

I know it’s technically in the Other Disney section, but lots of Non-Disney villains have been mentioned already (including by myself). Ok, that was just me noting something.

Eris, the goddess of chaos from Sinbad was awesome! I think she may be my favorite character in the movie (it’s rare that my favorite character would be the villain). Of course, I would hate it if she messed with me like that, but I just love how effortlessly she gets by and not to mention her smooth flowing hair like she’s underwater.

Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog was an awesome, cool villain! No, he’s not my favorite character really. But his song, Friends on the Other Side is my favorite in the movie (also, it’s rare that my favorite song would be the villain’s) and his suave, smooth, so-persuasive-it’s-creepy style is darkly impressive.

#39

Whoops, I do see now that my statements are a bit incorrect. Sorry for that. xD

Villains are still awesome. :laughing:

#40

Ah, another Avatar fan (I’m a bit of an Aang fan myself- I became one permanently for sure when he saved Zuko in the season 1 finale despite him being his enemy).

Azula is amazing, I give her that much. Even though her father is the better fighter- Azula was definitly the better ‘villain’ in terms of presence- I felt such pity for her during her [spoil]mental break down[/spoil]. I think in the end- BOTH Azula and Zuko were messed up by their biological parents. Yes, Zuko’s mother too has some blame too, though Ozai, the father definitly is more at fault.

But yeah, Aang shows strength and the classical hero stance- I am horrifically amused and appalled at some factions of the fandom who call AANG a weakling for [spoil]not killing Ozai in the finale[/spoil] when honestly A LOT of those people screaming for it were Zuko fangirls, which means under THEIR definition, since Aang [spoil]wouldn’t have known he was good in any way shape or form[/spoil], he should have perhaps done the same to ZUKO much earlier in the story keeping with that mentality. Heck people don’t seem to realise- BOTH Sokka and Katara were fine with that sort of idea in the season ONE finale:

[spoil]Aang: Wait we can’t just leave him here.

Sokka: Sure we can, let’s go.

(Katara says nothing in argument. No shouts of protest against leaving him behind, which given her personality she would do so before Aang would gte a word edgeways- nothing however comes out of her mouth- she doesn’t CARE either way and is fine to go along with whichever route they take. Funny that.)

Aang: No, if we leave him he’ll die.[/spoil]

While I had some misgivings over the season 3 finale and season- overall the Avatar series was great.

Sorry- off topicness. But I adore Avatar: TLA.

ANYWAY- yes a ‘villian’ must still be prepared to kill all in all… but it really should be more of a logical choice for them if they do rather than anything to do with morality- if the person is more valuable alive than dead or if the death would cause more problems than it would solve perhaps. It all depends.

Plus comin back for ‘revenge’ villains just suck completely most of the time.