Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Top 22 Villains - Part 2

Well, it's part two of this pretty big list. I got eight for this run.

16. The Predator from Predator

It’s the alien with the awesome dreadlocks, ‘mon! In Predator, the… Predator (he gets no name) hunts down a team of US soldiers in a South American jungle. What makes him cool and interesting is that so much about him is really hidden until the end. He’s mostly in cloak using some advanced weaponry throughout the movie. He’s still awesome when we finally see him in all of his ugliness and Arnold wasn’t lying about that. He’s not out for something nefarious. He just wants to hunt, prove himself over the soldiers, and be the best hunter.

15. Gul Dukat from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Dukat’s an interesting one. He had an interesting ride on that show. He starts out as an antagonist to the station and to Starfleet. There are also times during the early years where he's working alongside our heroes.  He does get developed a bit better along the way. Then we get to the middle of season 5. When you think they’re going to make him into a conflicted, decent character, they pull back the curtain on you and show you that he’s still a dirtbag… and a crazy one at that. He was one of the best parts of DS9 and he was well acted by Mark Alamo.

14. Magneto from the X-Men franchise

He’s the Master of Magnetism and the ultimate mutant terrorist. I think what makes him a good villain or antagonist is that he sees himself as a good guy. He wants to see mutants prosper and see humans pay for what they’ve to mutants. He provides the counterargument to Xavier’s dream of a peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants. While he’s swaying between hero and villain in the comics, he’s usually the main baddie in everything else X-Men. My favorite iterations are from the movies and the 90’s animated show.

13. Prince Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender

Now I may be cheating a little here especially since Zuko becomes a good guy towards the end of the series. Still, Zuko’s an awesome character and served as an interesting antagonist to Aang and his friends for most of the show’s run. In some ways, Zuko is a bit more interesting that Aang, the Avatar. We see what made him into the guy we see at the beginning of the show. We also see him go on a journey that’s a lot like Aang’s. Throughout that time, we begin to sympathize and even root for him at times. Unlike Dukat’s development, we get to see Zuko fully go over to the light side.

12. Gollum/Smeagel from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

You know, Gollum’s not such a bad guy! I mean, if Sam and Frodo had a couple of female hobbits with them, Gollum would have been set! In all seriousness, I had to include the character. In a way, you kind of feel sorry for him. The Ring really did a number on him resulting in a nasty persona. He tries to let go of it in the second movie, but it does him no good. It also doesn’t help that everyone except Frodo treats him like crap especially Sam. Still, he’s got to go bad eventually and he does so in the third movie in order to get that dang Ring.

11. Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future movies

Biff Tannen is the bully of all bullies. He, his ancestors, and even his descendant were a big part of the BTTF trilogy. Biff was just a bad guy in general. He constantly picks on Marty's dad in the first movie. His d-baggery is elevated in the second movie. We find out that he KILLS George McFly and marries Marty's mom in the alternate universe. I really love it when George McFly belts him at the end of the first movie. I love we get to see it in the second movie as well. What really helped sell the deal with Biff was Thomas F. Wilson. He played Biff and Biff’s family pretty well.

10. Doctor Zaius from Planet of the Apes

Now, Doctor Zaius isn’t like most villains on this list. He’s really more of an antagonist than a straight –out, nefarious villain. He’s the Minister of Science and Defender of the Faith… and yeah, that still sounds a little weird. He’s really the leading force in trying to keep the truth about Taylor's origin a secret. He's worried that this information would spell doom for ape society if it was ever revealed that man came before ape.

Still, he does act pretty shady during the movie. He has Landon (the other surviving astronaut) get a lobotomy in order to keep him silent. He was also going to have Taylor either neutered or castrated, I don’t remember which. At the end, he also has the army blow up the cave with the human artifacts in order to keep the truth about a human civilization from coming to light. He’s definitely one of the best parts to the movie and the franchise as a whole. The guy's name even makes for a good song.

9. Godzilla

He’s "King of  the Monsters" and it’s really easy to see why he is. As an metaphor for nuclear weapons, Godzilla caused Japan and some other parts of the world a lot of hell. In the original movie, he basically wipes out a whole city with that Atomic Breath of his. While he was a hero for a time in his long history, Godzilla was and is still a destructive force. My favorite Godzilla movies include Gojira (or Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Gidorah: The Three-Headed Monster, and Godzilla vs. Destroyah. In any decade, Godzilla’s the go-to guy you want when you need a city demolished. He's also the monster you would want when you need a good laugh. Don't believe me? Check this out:


....................................................................

Well, that's eight down. Next time, I'll finish off the list with my last eight spots. 

1 comment:

  1. Gul Dukat is a crazy good villain... he's just so sleazy. Gollum's a good choice too!

    ReplyDelete