Who are your most despised movie villains?

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Luther (David Patrick Kelly) from The Warriors - Scheming, paranoid and scrawny little toerag who leads the New York gang known as the Rogues, it was he who shot Cyrus during the midnight ceremony, then he quickly shifted the blame to The Warriors, where Cleon (The Warriors' leader) pays with his life and rest of the gang, led by Swan, spend a good deal of the movie trying to make it back to Coney Island. During a confrontation on the beach, Luther meets his match when Swan disarms him with a knife to the wrist and the Gramercy Riffs show up, let the Warriors go and give Luther and lackeys their big comeuppance.

Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) from Pan's Labyrinth - Stepfather to young Ofelia and a Falange officer, Vidal's cold-hearted cruelty knows no bounds. He's violent to the extreme, setting a bloody example for his men by butchering two farmers whom he suspects as rebel allies, as well as horrendously torturing nervous and stuttering rebel Tarta, and even shoots Doctor Ferreiro, who had euthanized the former at his request. He gets his just deserts with a bullet to the face, but not after he callously shoots poor Ofelia.

Nils Bjurman (Yorick van Wageningen) from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011 - Not so much a main villain, but more of a fat, arrogant and twisted sadist who becomes Lisbeth Salander's guardian. He abuses his power by sexually abusing Lisbeth in exchange for access to her money, one which involves horrifically raping her. However, Lisbeth has hidden a camera in her backpack, which films everything Bjurman did to her. She gets her revenge on Bjurman by finding a novel use for a taser, a metal dildo and a tattoo needle. Needless to say, he deserved it.

Last edited by LexingtonDeville on 12 Nov 2012, 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Victor the Cleaner (Jean Reno) in Nikita (the original French film, not the American duplicate with a similar name La Femme Nikita).

Can't forget Hannibal the Cannibal! Of course, Ralph Fiennes is the best villain in whatever movie he pops up in.

I guess you could call this guy a villain, but I'd say Percy from The Green Mile. I can't think of a movie character right now that I've hated more.

I agree with you on him. He's a sadistic spoiled brat.

The Warden from The Shawshank Redemption
Being corupt and crooked is one thing, but being both those things and a man of God is another. I don't know if God exists or not (I have know religious background) but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't welcome this jerk into the light.

Not from a movie, but Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) from American Horror Story: Asylum.
Originally perceived to be just about one of the few sympathetic, if not decent characters in the series, when he reveals he's actually a sexual psychopath, and serial killer known as Bloody Face.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Voldemort, Professor Umbridge, Draco and Lucius Malfoy, the Dursleys

Agreed. The worst thing about Vidal is how perfect a representation of fascism he is. It's not that he's murderous; he is that. It's not his sadism; we've seen that before. Nor is it his smirking vanity, his self-righteousness, or his swaggering machismo. It's that he's so bloody believable. He's evil in its most honest form - banal, self-centered and brutal. You see Vidal and there's a swift recognition that this is a real person, someone so full of self-righteousness and contempt for others that he's a single petty reason away from torturing someone to death with pliers or bashing their skull in with a bottle.

It says a lot when you consider that he's easily creepier than the hairless, eyeless, baby-eating manifestation of clerical gluttony from the same movie.

Commodus (Gladiator)

Mrs. Iselin (The Manchurian Candidate)

I would also add the Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

In the recent Robin Hood movie, Sir Godfrey is another great villain

From Harry Potter, the Malfroys, Voldermort, and Umbridge, with Umbridge being even worse than Voldermort.

Palpatine from Star Wars, as he manipulated Anakin Skywalker to the point where he became Darth Vader.

Not a movie, but I think Morgana from the TV series Merlin is a terrible villain.

I don't know. While Darth Vader et al are impressive and iconic villains, I don't think they're meant to be despised by the audience. Some of them are even more admirable in their own way than the hero (for an example, look at Hellboy 2's villain, Prince Nuada Argetlam: sure, he looks a bit ravaged, but he's well-spoken, earnest, and passionately believes in his cause, while in comparison Hellboy himself occasionally comes across as a belligerent, uncouth thug).

Then there's another category of villain, by which I mean someone who's so utterly vile that the audience either wants that person gone or simply dead. Brick Top ("Snatch") is a good example.

So when we say "despised", do we mean the first category or the second?

The Thief from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.

Anybody who has seen that film will know exactly what I mean.

Loved the part where the centaurs dragged Umbridge. If only they killed her.

Lolita, from Welcome to the Dollhouse

Worst case of juvenile sociopathy I've ever seen. I'm surprised she can even function in society without, you know, having her teeth kicked in.