If I had to pick the best joker depiction of late I would say arkham assaults was the best so far.and now that I’ve been thinking about it the villain in the lawful citizen was good too tho he was more of a Ani hero…and venom rules
Sir Ian Mckellan’s Magneto, I presume :)?
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Really I’m a fan of the character as a whole, but yes I did like his the best.
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I know it’s a bit late now but yes, video game villains count 
I really love a lot of the baddies being mentioned here @TooSchweddy you’re a genius for saying Plankton!
Also was I the only one who preferred michael fassbender as magneto?..
AHAHAHAH, PLANKTON! I just saw that. You are, indeed, a genius for that.
- Joffrey from Song of Fire and Ice (little bastard annoys the hell out of me)
- Aria from Mass Effect 2/3 (more of an antihero I guess)
- The bad guy from the first Spyro game (forget his name but could never beat him, so yeah evil)
- Merl from Walking Dead (just cause he’s Merl)
- Giant Chicken from Family Guy (he livens up the mood)
- Vaas from Far Cry 3
I think that’s bout it
@Sameul, I guess I was just a bit confused after those Starwars comments, then…
Since everyone is saying the Heth Ledger Joker, it look’s like I’ll have to break out the Jack Nicholson Joker
Venom. Of Spider-Man fame. Especially when the symbiote was on Peter. Honestly, I would rank Venom even above Joker when it comes to just great quality villains who mesh so well with their hero counterparts.
When it comes to more traditional literature, I would say Morgoth/Melkor from Silmarillion. He is just such a great and deep character.
I guess both of them have the same kind of satanic traits with similar ways of affecting people. Venom especially as a symbiote to Peter Parker more than as the Eddie Brock hulking enemy. They both lure others in with promises of power, or beauty, or whatever it is that the hero wants, exploiting the weakness of the heroes for their own ends. There’s just something so rewarding about those villainous characters that pulls you in.
@that1german you just brought back a lot of memories mentioning Spyro *sniff I think his name was nasty gnorc?
I too love Giant chicken hahahaha!
@Goshman It’s always the villains that play the mind games and draw you towards them with their words that makes the experience worthwile. Good baddie choices. 
I have to say the Red Skull , he’s just soooooooooooooooooooo evil
I just said that I prefer the new trilogy over the old trilogy. 
Sometimes it’s hard to tell through forum messages… It’s always one extreme or the other, you know?
Usually, yes. xD (and now I’m typing random stuff because the forum says my comment has to be at least 20 characters long.)
Hmmm… let’s see. To me, what makes a good villain is that he’s not just a one tick pony, not just an obstacle for the protagonist to overcome. A villain is a character, just like any other. And they oppose the hero, sure, but they also teach the hero, manipulate the hero. Make the hero become stronger by themselves, not just naturally from the writer.
It’s a tricky line to walk but I’ve got a few good examples.
Kreia from KOTOR 2. Your teacher, your mentor. Her whole reason for training Meetra was for her to expose the corruption of the Jedi teachings. She taught Meetra to always be suspicious. She taught her to always question. Not as a part of being a Sith, but by just general pragmatism. Kreia taught her student well.
Pavel from Last Light. A friend in the foreboding dark Metro, you and him eventually make your way forward, together. Until he turns out to be from the Red Line and captures you. What you end up doing, may indeed affect the whole Metro.
John Silver (Cyborg) from Treasure Planet. The leader of a band of pirates hiding on the R.L.S Legacy, he takes young Jim Hawkins under his wing, teaching him how to sail the solar plane. Eventually Silver has to decided what he wants more, the respect of Jim or a whole planet’s worth of treasure.
Zuko from ATLA. Burned by his father in single combat, Zuko sets out to find the avatar and restore his honour. He doesn’t find him, however, he eventually goes from being a kid hunting another kid to actually growing up and becoming his own man. And while he and Aang may have started out on the wrong foot, they became life long friends.
Jeremiah from Code Geass. Initially starting out as a minor villain where he gets labelled “Orange.” He goes crazy during one battle where the main hero calls him that name. He hates Orange, he charges and gets himself killed… But the military collect his body, turn him into a cyborg and battles out at the end of season 1. In season 2, he comes back as a fashionable cyborg, hunts the hero for abit before he remembers he swore an oath to his mother. He remembers his Loyalty and joins the hero, becoming a major/minor character, enough so that the hero trusts the finally of season 2 to him. He then goes on to become and Orange Farmer, adopting one of his teenage opponents.
“Orange… yes, that is the colour of my loyalty.”
Xanatos from Gargoyles. Complex to the extreme, he really wants to control those creatures of the night. Hell, the Xanatos Gambit is named after him. I remember this one scene where he has the heroes dangling over a pool of acid and he says “Do you like it? It’s as close to classical villainy as I’ve ever gotten.” This is how you write a villain.
Father from KND. There’s a whole list of colourful villains from KND, father being the best. He’s just your typical father figure, except he’s always a silhouette and a pyrokinetic. It’s a kids cartoon, he doesn’t really need to be that complex, but what he is tough is consistent. In his rage, in his shooting of fireballs…
Akachi the Betrayer from NWN 2. You only fight Akachi once. Right at the end of the adventure. But everything you learn about him, you learn from second hand sources. How he sacrificed himself to become a soulless entity for Myrkul, you learn that it was out of love that he lead his crusade and failed. He’s not really a villain, as he is the player character if they fail the Third Crusade again the Wall of the Faithless.
I want you to think about your favourite villains again and ask yourself: Did they undergo enough character progression to be considered villains? Were they only an obstacle for the heroes to beat? Did they teach the heroes anything?
Any evil bastard can do evil, but he’s just that, an evil bastard. When you have a character commit evil in such a way, that makes him a villain. That’s the difference between just another evil person and a true villain.
Hmm… Villains can make or break a story for me, so I like a lot of them. Let me try to pick out some of my favorites…
Barnabas Collins, from Dark Shadows
If you’re only somewhat familiar with the character, you might wonder why I’ve named him in a thread about villains. Well, before he became the hero of the show, he was a villain… and he was masterful at it. He was so charming, and you almost felt bad for him, but at the same time, he could be very, very sinister.
Albert Wesker, from Resident Evil
Wesker’s just cool. Plus, I like mad scientists!
Jean Descole, from Professor Layton
Same logic–he’s just really cool.
Iago, from Othello
He’s just a classic. I like Shakespeare, and I think Iago rubbed off on the way I write villains. I wrote an entire paper on him in school, too.
Manfred von Karma, from Ace Attorney
von Karma isn’t as memorable as some of the Ace Attorney villains, but he might have the longest reach. His actions extend beyond the game he appeared in to affect characters in its sequels, and he remains one of the most devious, intriguing villains in the series for me.
@SamLienhard, I still can’t get the picture of Wesker in the lab coat with sunglasses still on out of my head from RE1…
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- Kefka from FFVI
- Godot from Ace Attorney 3
- Darth Revan from KOTOR
- Illusive Man and Aria from Mass Effect
- Scar, Lust, and Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist
- Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2
- The Master from Doctor Who
- The Joker (Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill)
Wow, there are quite a few baddies being mentioned that I’m not aware of but the reasoning why is incredible! Your comments actually made me stop eating to read! The horror!
I’m so happy that Descole from professor layton and the master got mentioned though. You gotta love em both 
Hehe, good to see there are at least a couple other Ace Attorney and Professor Layton fans here.