For me, it would be GLaDOS.

Portal 2 spoilerShe deleted the one remaining human part of herself because it was just too much to deal with. She releases you at the end of Portal 2 as a path of least resistance measure because "killing you is hard."

What about you, what is your favorite media villain?

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[–] 169 points 3 months ago

Here are the test results: You're a horrible person. That's what it says. A horrible person. We weren't even testing for that.

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  • [–] 89 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Your favourite media villain

    Easy answer: Rupert Murdoch

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    [–] 84 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Me reading these comments:

    Sorry I had to

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    [–] 67 points 3 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 64 points 3 months ago (5 children)
  • [–] 27 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Gul Dukat was the better villain in my eyes. At least he was way more interesting than Kai Winn.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

    My vote as well.

    He constantly finds the piece of humanity within whoever hes talking to and then tries to manipulate it.

    Its hard to top Gul Dukat.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago

    The great thing about Dukat is that he frequently finds his own humanity. You keep thinking that this time he'll do the right thing and start his path to redemption, but he never does. He always chooses to do the wrong thing even though there's clearly good in him and you're always disappointed and even surprised when it happens. He's like the anti-Zuko.

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  • [–] 21 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    I think the counter to that is that:

    Tap for spoilerthey completely dropped the ball with her toward the end of the show. She went from, I think, a great allegory for a religious radical right wing capitalizing off her people's suffering but in a way she could genuinely warp her beliefs into thinking was for the greater good...

    ... to, I mean, come on... Having her go totally crazed with power and disavowing the Prophets wasn't the problem; it's that it was stupid, egregiously paced, totally unearned MacGuffin power without grounded stakes that only served to make an already-rushed resolution to the show feel even more rushed.

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    [–] 57 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Standartenführer Hans Landa.

    "That's a Bingo!"

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  • [–] 53 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Prince Arthas Menethil from Warcraft.

    [Quietly sweeps WoW:Shadowlands under the rug]

    Dudes villian arc is perfect, his fall is entierly of his own making. Playing as him in Warcraft 3, you follow his reasoning and by the time the corruption sets in, its far too late. In the expansions, you play as him in full BBEG mode. Lastly, WoW:Wrath of the Lich King had him as the capstone boss of one of the best expansions and 15 years of buildup.

    And they never expanded on his character ever again...

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  • [–] 44 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    Sorry for such a "capeslop" answer, but:

    Kingpin from Netflix Daredevil

    He definitely gets a mention. I wish they actually explored what Kingpin wanting to "change the city" meant, though, because the disney+ shows make it seem like he just wants to sell weapons and be rich. They really took a crap on his character after endgame / season3 of Daredevil.

    All the netflix DD villains were just golden. What a ride.


    Primal Fear:Aaron Stampler, and his defence attorney Martin Vail.

    Aaron Stampler and Martin Vail in Primal Fear

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    [–] 35 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Omar Little, The Wire

    “I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It’s all in the game, though, right?”

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    [–] 30 points 3 months ago
    [–] 28 points 3 months ago
    [–] 28 points 3 months ago

    If favorite is a villain whose motivation was pure and got perverted by his obsession and still awesome:

    General Woundwort

    If favorite = one i hate the most, it is a tie between:

    Joffrey

    Ramsey

    If favorite is a villain who is cool as hell it is a tie between

    Voldemort

    Hans Gruber

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  • [+] 26 points 3 months ago (2 children)
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    [–] 26 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg. He's a monster.

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    [–] 25 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I've always been fond of Magneto. He's a dick about it, but I see where he's coming from.

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    [–] 25 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    GLaDOS is mine, too.

    (spoilers ahead, play it if you haven’t)

    In my first playthrough, I didn’t see it coming, and I felt like she was my friend. That was a relationship twist I’ve never had in a game, and I really appreciated what they did there.

    e: if you’re looking for other game recs that fuck with you, I’d say What Remains of Edith Finch.

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    [–] 23 points 3 months ago* (1 child)

    Scorpius from Farscape is a fantastic villain. He was meant to be a one off villain of the week for a clip show. By the time the episode was finished it was a two parter that had only a few seconds of clips, and instead set up the plot elements that would drive the rest of the series, with Scorpius at the heart of it all.

    He's one of the rare genius villains that's actually written well enough to seem smart. He's ruthless but not unreasonable. He's horrific, but also charming. He's a bottomless pit of hatred and vengeance, and yet he is cold and calculating, perpetually in control. I've heard him described as mirror universe spock turned up to 11 and I kind of agree.

    Plus, we also get Harvey.

    See also: David Xanatos. Imagine if Bruce Wayne put all that effort and planning into villainy, mad science and sorcery, theoretically for money but really just for the fun of it. Now give him an Iron Man suit and the voice of Jonathan Frakes. He's an evil genius that's so good at what he does that his name is literally synonymous with plans can only end in a win.

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    [–] 22 points 3 months ago
    [–] 21 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    “I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

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    [–] 20 points 3 months ago

    One of my favorites as an adult, and one that scared the living shit outta me as a kid. Jude Doom from who framed Roger Rabbit.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 months ago

    Andrew Scott as Moriarty he was so fun
    image

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  • [–] 18 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    There's something genuinely compelling about SHODAN.

    They're malignant, objective evil, yet when they talk about their goals and ambitions, they seem almost benevolent, which makes them even more unsettling.

    It's like something telling you to calm down while it's sawing off your legs to replace them with mechanical versions because it's "improving you".

    You didn't ask to be improved.

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    [–] 17 points 3 months ago (4 children)
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    [–] 17 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Favorite Sci-Fi Villain: SHODAN from System Shock/System Shock 2

    Favorite Fantasy Villain: The Nothing from Neverending Story

    Favorite Bond Villain: Elliot Carver from Tomorrow Never Dies because the writers touched on something quite prescient here about media moguls wanting to control society a la Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg.

    Favorite Disney-esque Villain: Raphael from Baldur's Gate III for his "Raphael's Final Act" song.

    Favorite Actual Disney Villain: Lord Hater from Wander Over Yonder

    Favorite Action Villain: Hans Gruber from Die Hard

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    [–] 16 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Silco from Arcane.

    I often struggle with media villains, finding them unrealistic or unconvincing, but Silco is just so well-rounded and well-written, he elevates the quality of every other character he interacts with. In a series full of near- and actually-superpowered people, this weak, middle-aged man is the most terrifying and influential of them all.

    spoilerHis absence from season two is one of the reasons why it flops compared to season one; Ambessa and Viktor are good characters, but weak villains.

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    [–] 14 points 3 months ago (4 children)
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    [–] 13 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    Ming the Merciless

    as played by Max von Sydow in the 1980 film Flash Gordon

    Ming is this potentially goofy over-the-top villain, but Sydow's portrayal makes him dignified, threatening, majestic and malevolent, never laughable.

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    [–] 13 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Idk who my all time favorite is, but I just finished rewatching Clone Wars and man I had forgotten how much I liked Hondo Ohnaka

    Maul: “Filth! You will pay for your insolence!”

    Hondo: “Insolence?! We are pirates! We don’t even know what that means.”

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    [–] 13 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Handsome Jack.

    Best hero to villain in a game yet. Plus dude had charisma for days so even though he was a clear cut asshole you couldn't help but love his antics.

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    [–] 13 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I've always liked Dr. Doom a lot. Never had a good adaptation in movies, but he's great in the comics.

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    [–] 12 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    I'm going to pick a slightly more obscure one: Kane from Command & Conquer.

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    [–] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    The Prophet of Truth from Halo 2. Cunning bastard, one of 3 prophets at the helm of an immense alien civilization, manages to get the other two eliminated, apppropriating all the power, creating a martyr and exacerbating the passion against the human enemy in the process, observes that one caste (the Sangheili) is a little too smart to keep buying his lies so replaces them with a more brutish, loyal caste, the Jiralhanae...

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    [–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    An old one, but the Emperor from Gladiator. His death is among the most satisfying in movie history. Absolutely amazing performance by Joaquin Phoenix.

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    [–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Oh, it's you. It's been a looong time; how have you been? I've been really busy being DEAD. You know? After you murdered me? Look, we both said a lot of things you're going to regret, but I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster.

    I find... we'll just say "the villain" of Undertale compelling, but it's one of my favorite games so I'm a little biased.

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    [–] 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Killmonger from Black Panther. He had a pretty valid perspective, for the most part

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    [–] 11 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Joe Morden in Babylon 5. I do not know much about the actor, but he was cast perfectly.

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    [–] 11 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Genuinely the scariest movie villain

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