40. Scar
The Lion King
Well as far as brains go I got the lion’s share but when it comes to brute strength, I’m afraid I’m at the shallow end of the gene pool.
Disney just hasn’t made a film with a villain so malevolent since The Lion King was released. Disney didn’t shy away from darkness and even murder. Mufasa was set up to save his young son Simba from a stampede of wildebeests. In the process his own brother Scar tossed him off the side of the cliff yelling “Long live the king” and watching as his brother was trampled and killed. Simba vainly attempted to awaken his father, shed some tears, and then cuddled up next to him. It was heart wrenching to watch as Scar scoffed in the back round pleased with the results as the audiences gasps in shock and tears.
Friday The 13th Series
Whether you are a fan of horror flicks or not, you have to give credit where credit is due and Jason Voorhees is certainly a worthy adversary in the world of villains. With films numbering in the double digits, this mass murderer is a relentless and deadly bad guy, who just keeps coming back for more…………..killing sprees. Re-makes and new additions alike, this villain won’t be stopped by time and revels in the pigeon holing his character has received. During the 80′s he was the motivation for not making out at camp or in the woods.
Austin Powers Trilogy
“It’s Dr. Evil, I didn’t spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called “mister,” thank you very much.
Dr. Evil might be the villain to Austin Powers, but he’s so funny you almost don’t want his mischievous plans to be foiled. He is easily one of the most quotable character’s in movie history, and will make you uncontrollably on a regular basis. He is truly one of my favorites. Dr. Evil is deliciously maniacal.
Scream
“Do you LIKE scary movies?”
Yes – in the end he ends up being played by multiple actors, but the character exists as a single entity for so much of the film that I count him as being singular. What can you do when an entire genre of movies has so pumped the well dry that sand is all that remains. Do you abandon it, and try for a new well? You could – or you do what Ghostface does and show people that the sand has value it’s self. It’s the fact that the well has been drained, that we all have taken in the mythology of the slasher film that Ghostface exploits. We are familiar with the dangers and risks slashers pose, so he plays on that knowledge, and twists new dangers and deaths. Yes, sequilitits causes him diminishing returns, but the original stands the test of time.
101 Dalmations (animated)
My only true love, darling. I live for furs. I worship furs! After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn’t?
Let’s be honest, what’s more creepy than a heroin addicted old braud that wants to kill a ton of puppies to maker herself coats? Even from an adult perspective Cruella is just as nasty and bad a villain as she is from a childrens, or maybe even more so. Either way, she has her own wicked style and her terrifying obsession may repulse, but she really makes the classic movie have an extra umph it might have otherwise lacked with a lesser villain.
No Country For Old Men
What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?
Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem is a masterpiece of acting. Anton is perhaps one of the most dark and cold blooded killers ever portrayed. The calm calculated nature that he proceeds through the story with is bone chilling. Each time he appears onscreen it becomes a tense and frightening moment. He uses logic and simple reasoning like the flip of a coin to determine the future. The simplicity of his goals and his complete lack of humanity makes this psychopathic character completely unpredictable.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
“Have you seen this boy?”
Sometimes a monster isn’t a frightening things that roars, sometimes it’s something entirely inhuman inside the form of a human and what is more terrifying than that? Skynet is only so far away from reality. The T-1000 was the scariest thing to happen to robot/cyborgs since Arnold in the original Terminator. If something makes Arnold run, you should probably take a hike. Though Robert Patrick said very little in this role, his deadly stares and strange indifference to his surroundings made him a most sinister foe. The shoot off in the mall when each Terminator finds John Connor is classic in Science Fiction and action films, and the moment his liquid metal persona walks out from the flames of the exploding truck is some of the most amazing special effects even in today’s standards. The T-1000 is a killer.
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a plague and we are the cure.
If you can remember anything from the Matrix series you can remember Agent Smith sneering the name “Mr. Anderson” in the most sinister and arrogant way imaginable. The rational for his mission is almost difficult to argue with. The frightening logic behind his contempt for mankind is hurtful because it hits home, and his relentless unwaivering resolve to destroy humanity is what makes his character so incredibly vicious.
This is Lex Luthor. Only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superman, and that’s you.
Blade Runner
Roy Batty is perhaps one of the scariest villains to grace the big screen, and though he might be referred to as a villain, he is almost a victim. The complexity of his character draws you in, and his dangerous nature is invigorating. Batty has understandable challenges to overcome and the story could easily be swapped to make him the protagonist if complied threw his perspective, but instead it’s shown threw the eyes of an alcoholic dried up officer of the law, who clearly worked under blurred lines and discrepancies. This grey area really gives the “good guys” and “bad guys” a realistic sense of existence. Though Batty might be a violent killer with no sense of morality, he does have the desire and will to live. This is my favorite Rutgar Hauer role and definitely one of the best movie robots of all time.
Great start to the list. Scar in The Lion King is just fantastic, your right that Disney have not gone for a really evil villian like that since.
Dr Evil is possibly the funniest villian in film.
Looking forward to seeing the rest of your list.
i hate that you have JASON on this list. only horror fans like him anyway. he should be on a mass murderers list not villain.
roy batty is one of the best villians ever though.
Can’t believe that Scar is only #40. Jeremy Irons is a legend and it was truly chilling to see a parent-murdering (Simba’s dad) villian in a Disney film for the first time since Bambi, if I recall correctly. Maybe my favourite Disney character.