Amelia Student Ministries - Amelia Church of Christ

Alright, the gloves are off and my top ten villain list is ready to be unveiled.

Now, we all know that Satan is the ultimate bad guy, and that one day God is going to kick him where he belongs for the rest of eternity, so no worries. But in the world of fiction, just who is the baddest of the bad. I mean, come on, there’s a lot of bad guys to choose from, so how do you pick a list like this?

The answer is very simple. These are the villains ranked from ten to one on my scale of “I wouldn’t want to mess with them for anything.” You may agree with them, and you may not, but that’s why this is my blog and not yours! You can however feel free to leave your comments at the bottom with who you think should or should not have been on the list.

#10 – Shredder – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Shredder is a villainous ninjutsu master called Oroku Saki. He is the archenemy of the turtles who, at one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT franchise, has been the main enemy of Splinter and the Turtles. He is also the leader of the Foot Clan. He wears armor which consists of blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms, hands (sometimes just his left hand), and shins; he wears a purple, gray, blue, or red robe that variously appears to be simple fabric or a form of chainmail. And no, his armor is not just for opening cans.

#9 – Commodus – Gladiator
I remember hating this character as I watched the movie, after the movie, and when I told people about the movie. He was like a spoiled brat. That kid who would take his ball and go home, only his ball happened to be all of Rome. There was also that awkwardness with him and his sister. Sort of creepy if you ask me. His Most Villainous Moment: The sequence when Commodus kills Marcus Aurelius after he tells him that Maximus will be the leader of Rome, then proceeds to tell everyone that his father passed in his sleep, calls Maximus a traitor, and has his family killed. All takes place in the first half hour.

#8 – Ganon – The Legend of Zelda
One of two video game villains on this list, Ganon was originally a Gerudo leader who has become a dark demon emperor. Ganon’s motives and desires vary in specifics in each Legend of Zelda game, but most often include the domination of Hyrule and presumably the world beyond it. To this end he seeks the relic of the gods known as the Triforce, which can bestow great power upon its holder. Ganon’s influence over the Triforce varies, but he is consistently shown as being associated with the Triforce of Power and is often in possession of it, giving him great strength but not enough to fulfill his dark desires, leading him to hunt the remaining Triforce pieces. I much prefer him in his beast form as opposed to his human “Gannondorf” form.

#7 – Darkseid – Superman
Ah, I long for the days of stone faces and Omega Beams. Darkseid is the ruler of the planet Apokolips, a post he obtained after assassinating his mother. Darkseid’s first born son is Kalibak the Cruel, and his other sons are Orion and Grayven. His greatest ambition is to eliminate all free will from the universe and reshape it into his own image. Darkseid has tried on several other occasions to achieve dominance of the universe through many methods. He has a special interest in Earth, as he believes humans possess collectively within their minds most, if not all, fragments of the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid intends to probe the minds of every human in order to piece together the Equation. Even Superman wants nothing to do with this monster. I’m convinced that Darkseid could hold his own against almost everyone on this list, but his attitude is tempered and thusly, I cannot place him at number one.

#6 – Agent Smith – The Matrix
One of the coolest villains we’ve had over the past few years. His no-nonsense attitude and penchant for the villainous monologue earn him the number six spot in my countdown. Smith’s aim in the Matrix was to bring everything to a crashing halt with himself at the controls. I absolutely loved how he would fix his suit during a fight scene. Don’t think he’s a great movie villain? Watch the movie again, and you’ll see how everyone is completely terrified of him. His Most Villainous Moment: When the agents have Morpheus captured, Smith gives his speech and says, “I can taste your stink and every time I do, I feel that I’ve somehow been infected by it.”

#5 – Hannibal Lechter – The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins is one messed up guy. Creepy is not the word to describe this one. I’m not sure if there is even one word that sums up this character. Was what he said scary, or how he said it? You start to kind of like Hannibal because he’s helping Clarice solve the murders………….then you see him kill someone and you say, “Oh that’s why they have that mask on his face.” You don’t want to end up in a dark alley with this one. Trust me.

#4 – The Terminator – The Terminator
“I’LL BE BACK.” Those three words go down as one of the greatest lines in history because he came back alright. Two movies and a TV series later, the Terminator remains one of the modern monsters to wreak havoc at the box office. When this film came out, people lined up to see this movie, not for the hero, but for the bad guy. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of the futuristic cyborg killing machine earned him a one way trip to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the number four spot on my villains list. He shows no emotion through the whole movie. He wasn’t even upset when he couldn’t get to his target. He just kept going and going like an evil Energizer Bunny. The Terminator is definition of a one-man wrecking crew. One of the most relentless bad guys we’ve ever had in cinema.

#3 – Sephiroth – Final Fantasy VII
The other of the two video game villains to grace this list, Sephiroth may be the baddest video game villain ever. When you can coldly murder one of the most beloved characters of a role-playing franchise because she stands in the way of your destroying a planet and becoming the pinnacle, you’ve ascended to the top ranks of villainy. Sephiroth‘s psychotic fixation on being the sole survivor of an ancient race and meting out its vengeance made many a Final Fantasy player infuriated and eager to get into a fight with this lunatic. The cutscenes that involve him in this game are amazing and leave you with a sense of a cold unfeeling nightmare. Sephiroth is evil. Pure evil.

#2 – Maleficent – Sleeping Beauty
What ?????? A Disney Villain? At number 2 ?????? YES! ABSOLUTELY! Maleficent embodies evil. Everything about her is wicked, right down to the core. The reason she is so evil is that she hates love. Love is her enemy and thusly, she is pure evil. Oh and did I mention that she cursed a helpless baby, kept a prince locked away in her dungeons, destroyed every henchman she had because she was hacked off, created a hedge of thorns around an entire castle, and turned into a monstrous fire-breathing dragon? Yeah, she’s evil to the bone. Even her voice is cold and her cackling laugh gave me nightmares as a child. Do not mess with this one. She could end the life of every other Disney Villain around without breaking a sweat. And that includes Jafar.

SO WHO’S THE NUMBER ONE BAD GUY?

IT

WOULD

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#1 – Darth Vader – Star Wars
As if there’s anyone else that could hold the number one spot in this list! Vader is the most memorable villain in film history, and is among the best characterized. Emerging in the first film as evil personified, he becomes more complex as the series progresses, up until his final reversal at the end of Return of the Jedi, which was the redemption of his character. Darth Vader was the source of many nightmares for me when I was young, and he is still the most distinctive bad guy I have ever encountered in a dark theater. The Dark Lord of the Sith was once Anakin Skywalker, but his lust for power and vengence forced him to walk a dark path that landed him inside of a mechanical suit that is nothing more than a glorified respirator. He commands the Dark Side of the force and personifies evil.

Well, I hope you enjoyed traveling through this list with me. Watch for next week as I unveil my top ten heroes of all time. You might be surprised at a few of them! Feel free to comment on who I left out of the list or who you think I should have left out of the list!