My Favorite Villains
Hello and welcome aboard this year’s Halloween special! This year I will be talking about some of my favorite Villains from fiction. Some are despicable, some are goofy, and some are horrifying. So without further delays and in no particular order let's begin.
1: LANFEAR
My favorite Forsaken from The Wheel of Time
In Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time the Forsaken are a group of bad guys chosen by the Dark One to make the world a worse place through their cruelty and greed. There are a lot of them and we get a wide variety of evil displayed through their actions. Of course what can you expect from The Chosen who prepare for the return of The Dark One.
My favorite Forsaken, however, is the lovely Lanfear because (At least how I read her character) she didn’t become a Forsaken to prepare for the dark one’s return. She did it to get back with her ultra powerful and hot boyfriend. She did it to become immortal so she’d have another chance to win over Lews Therin Telamon in his new life as Rand.
The Wheel of Time focuses on how time is a never ending loop and how in every age the Dragon Reborn has to reincarnate to defeat the forces of the Dark One. A fight that might seem hopeless but we learn cannot be lost as long as humanity works together. As long as humanity doesn't lose hope in each other and can love each other they will not lose to the Dark One. [#Power of Friendship].
Rand Al'thor is the most recent incarnation of Lews Therin Telamon meant to remind humanity of this. Lanfear, not caring that he is now thousands of years younger than herself now, sets out to win him over ignoring the plans of the other forsaken. Protecting Rand from them and even teaching him. Of course it is pointed out that she never truly loved Lews Therin for who he was but just because he is The Dragon Reborn the Incarnation of Ultimate Power.
Despite this I love her. Imagine having your amazing reincarnating boyfriend break up with you because you are ‘too violent’ and ‘too power hungry’. So you go to the greatest evil ever known to become ‘its servant’ so you can become immortal and try and win him over in his next life.
Lanfear takes petty relationship drama to the next level and I love her for it. She’s a fantastic villain and I love how she constantly shows up to protect, teach, manipulate, and seduce Rand. The vibes of petty jealousy, terror, and attraction are off the charts whenever she shows up. She is truly a top tier villain and I am so glad I got to meet her in The Wheel of Time.
Original Book Illustration of Lanfear
2: MURDOC
The undying Villain of MacGyver
The most memorable episodes of the 80’s show MacGyver include Murdoc. A mercenary assassin who works for Homicide International Trust (H.I.T.). He is an unparalleled assassin and has never failed a mission until he meets Mcgyver. In a mission where H.I.T. and The Phoenix Foundation are at odds, MacGyver manages to leave Murdoc in a collapsing building. Leading Murdoc to curse Macgyver and swear he’ll get his revenge.
This leads to Murdoc making a seasonal appearance where he tries and kills Macgyver through the most outlandish plans and traps. What makes Murdoc so compelling isn’t just the insanity or complexity of his traps but by his pure unhinged hatred for MacGyver and his ability to disguise himself and disappear.
Some of Murdoc’s most iconic lines are him shouting “MacGyver!” at the top of his lungs and his sinister phrase “R.I.P. MacGyver or should I say Rest in Pieces MacGyver” with just the most joyful and sinister laugh following afterwards. Murdoc is a fantastic villain for spectacle and what makes him doubly great is that he is a horror monster. No matter how many times MacGyver manages to send him off a cliff, drown him, drop a building on him, burn him, or blow him up; Murdoc always comes back next season with more and more horrific scares and disfigurements. He is beautiful.
No other villain in the series can trigger a trauma response in MacGyver like Murdoc can. MacGyver canonically has nightmares about this man and for good reason. They are true nemesis. Hating each other's morals, ideals, and strategies; but never being able to kill each other no matter how hard they try.
This isn’t what makes Murdoc a truly fantastic villain. No, what makes him fantastic is his last appearance on the show when he kidnaps MacGyver to ask for his help. Apparently H.I.T. and Murdoc had a falling out and now H.I.T. has taken Murdoc’s little sister and has threatened to kill her unless Murdoc tries out their super deadly obstacle course full of traps.
This last episode with Murdoc is such a treat because we get to see these two nemesis have to work together. We finally get to see how their skill sets complement each other and how they both hate snakes. Which is just such a charming detail. They work together and we get to see how Murdoc is more than just the villain we have seen so far. In the end Murdoc sacrifices himself to save his sister and MacGyver and they manage to take out the evil people at H.I.T..
However, the episode ends with MacGyver getting a tape recording proving that Murdoc is in fact still alive and while he is grateful to MacGyver for helping him save his sister that he still needs to watch his because Murdoc is still out there. Truly an amazing undying villain and the platonic ideal of what a nemesis is.
Fun fact: Murdoc is also apparently an accomplished pianist (I mean we all gotta have hobbies).
3: KING LECK
The manipulator from the Graceling Series
In a series where each book is its own closed adventure and each book has its own conflict and villain King Leck manages to be a pivotal villain in two of the books. He is genuinely terrifying because of his power and cruelty.
Leck as a boy and as King
In the Graceling Series we learn that there are some people who are born with heterochromia and those people are gifted with magical powers called a grace. A grace is basically just a super skill. Like you could have a grace that lets you be a perfect baker, or craftsman. But you could also have a grace that lets you see in the dark, read minds, or be exceptionally good at statecraft.
King Leck's power is that he can make anyone within the sound of his voice believe anything he wants them to. The first scene that we meet him in is when he murders his wife in front of a large group of people. He then decries how his wife just died of a terrible accident and what a horrible tragedy it was.
What is spooky about this scene is how we’re inside of out main character’s head when we see him murder his wife yet, our hero is unable to see it as a murder after Leck speaks. Even though our character’s companion is magically immune to Leck’s influence, our main character believes Leck over their companion.
Which makes you feel crazy. But being the fact that Leck is meant to be a representation of manipulative family members, who lie and use your own emotions against you making you question reality he is perfect. Leck is a horror villain that is all too real in our world and I really love him as a villain as a cautionary tale and as a lesson to trust yourself.
4: REACHER GILT
The slimy capitalist from Going Postal
I love Reacher Gilt because he doesn't hide that he is the bad guy. He soothes people with words and preys upon their greed and desires to get what he wants. Now Reacher Gilt doesn't have any supernatural powers but he does understand money and people and that is what makes him dangerous.
Reacher Gilt from the Going Postal Movie
What is so great about him is that he is a perfect mirror for our protagonist Moist Von Lipwig. Moist is a scam artist who is also really good with people. The difference is that Moist has a personal code to do no harm. He is a thief not a robber. Reacher Gilt on the other hand has no problem murdering people and trampling on those beneath him to build his fortune.
Reacher shows us that even though Moist was dedicated to doing no harm and scamming those people who could afford it. Who wanted to harm others he was not actually taking from the rich. He was unintentionally causing harm to those under the rich people’s power. Because when the rich lose money they aren’t the ones who pay for it. Its their employees, their customers, and its those who cannot stand up for themselves.
Reacher makes Moist self reflect on his own morals and helps us understand that while being a trickster and daredevil is not inherently bad, exploiting those around you is. You need to put people before money and you need to work to build those relationships of trust to make a better tomorrow. Reacher Gilt is an excellent example of a mirror for a protagonist.
5: GOLDIE O'GILT
The sly con-woman adventurer Duck Tales 2017
Goldie originally in the Carl Barks’ & Don Rosa’s comic was a lady entertainer in the Yukon when Scrooge was much younger trying to get rich off of the goldrush. They were antagonistic towards each other but ultimately loved each other and understood each other. They truly have some of my favorite dysfunctional couple moments in fiction. They simply never got together because Scrooge was too greedy and Goldie was too busy trying to survive.
Hearts of the Yukon Cover
They change this in the 2017 reboot. While the core relationship dynamic is not different in the reboot, they make Goldie a rival treasure hunter instead of a simple saloon girl that catches Scrooge’s affection. Goldie in the reboot is much more antagonistic because she represents Scrooge’s greed without the work ethic. She isn’t afraid of cheating and causing chaos when she treasure hunts unlike Scrooge who “...made my fortune by being smarter than the smarties, tougher than the toughies, sharper than the sharpies, and most important of all, I made it square.”.
I love Goldie in the reboot because not only does she maintain her flirty and understanding with Scrooge but she also genuinely challenges him. She goes on her own arc of learning to care and put others above the gold that she is constantly hunting. It is a sweet change that happens over the three seasons of her backstabbing Scrooge to eventually helping him and his family. I like Goldie in both of her iterations and how she challenges the Richest Duck in the World.
Final thoughts:
This list was a fun thing to compile but I wasn’t able to get every villain that I adore on here. I was able to see that my favorite villains are the ones who have a close relationship to our hero. I love a villain that is able to be emotionally or ideologically close to the hero and challenge them in a way that a normal narrative doesn't allow. Because that is where you are able to get chills from them appearing. When you know the emotional toll that they bring to our protagonist’s heart is real is when I truly start to love a villain. They always have something to teach us and always leave the biggest mark. That is why I love them.
I hope that you enjoyed this trip as much as I did! Below I have a list of honorable mentions of villains I simply adore! Let me know if you would like me to cover any of them in the future. Also let me know who your favorite villains are and if I should check them out!
Thank you for coming aboard and we’ll see you on Monday!
Honorable Mentions:
The Classic Disney Villains (in all of their Queer Coded Glory)
Commander Rourke (The Adventure Capitalist from Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
Lady Eboshi (The morally grey female powerhouse: Princess Mononki)
Lex Luthor (The jealous billionaire: Superman 2025 & All Star Superman)
Azula (The fearmongering firebending prodigy: Avatar The Last Air Bender)
THE BEAST (The fae who feeds on despair: Over the Garden Wall)
Irene Adler (The only person to outwit Sherlock Holmes and live: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (The most iconic Vampire)
Victor Frankenstein and his Monster (Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein) [Yes they’re both petulant villains, It’s a tragedy and I love it, Fight Me]
Shen (The best way to add a tragic backstory to a hero: KungFu Panda 2)
Ganondorf (One of the best reincarnating villain ever: Legend of Zelda)
Doofenshmirtz (The best example of a wholesome nemesis: Phinias & Ferb)
Syndrome (The best flare of petty vengeance ever: The Incredibles)
Demona (The best Ex-Wife villainess you could ask for: Gargoyles)
Ultron (My favorite extinction robot: Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes)
