Top Ten Tuesday: Villains

It’s Tuesday! And that means it’s time to participate in the meme created by Broke and Bookish where bloggers share their top ten based on a given topic.

Today’s Topic is: All About The Villains

I love villains. I often find I love them more than the hero/heroine of the story and find myself upset with the author for having to have the villain be defeated. But I think that’s just something which happens because ultimately – evil can’t win.

So here are ten of my favourite villains/villainous characters.

  1. The bad guys from the Harry Potter series including:
    Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort.
    – I would have put Umbridge here too but oh… she’s one that I don’t love to hate – I just hate. She’s pure evil!
  2. Thiago from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
  3. Lady Macbeth from Macbeth. Also Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello. Iago is kind of like the ultimate bad guy… but I kind of love him.
  4. Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Casey. I read this one back in high school and oh.. she’s still one of the most memorable contemporary villains I’ve read
  5. Mrs Danvers (and also Rebecca) from Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. So creepy. I read this book for an assignment back at uni and I think Mrs Danvers is just pure evil.
  6. Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. He’s not exactly the villain of the piece but he’s twelve shades of creepy so he makes the list.
  7. Queen Levana from the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I’m currently reading Winter and I just couldn’t not mention her this week.
  8. Natasha from The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. She’s unbelievably bad. Total villainess.
  9. Miss Trunchbull from Matilda and The Grand High Witch from The Witches – both by Roald Dahl. I had nightmares over both when I was younger. They are memorable and full of villainish qualities.
  10. Mr Wickham from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I love P&P but I think what I love more is how it has evolved from a single novel into a kind of amalgamation of all the spinoffs and adaptations. It’s so much more than just the original book. For me, I can’t think of Austen’s Wickham without seeing him as a collection of all the traits he shows in other forms. After watching Lost in Austen, I’m much kinder to Wickham. I’m kind of in love with him and wonder if he was more misunderstood than an evil lech. Also, Hugh Grant’s Wickham from Bridget Jones only adds to my love of this slightly villainous character.

 

 


I love all the villains! 😀 I think what I love most about a good villain is when you can understand that if you see the story from their perspective, their actions make sense. In many ways a good villain is one who is the hero of their own story. For all of these – I liked that I could see how they could see themselves as the good guy/girl. 

Do you ever love the character most people hate? 

Which villain has you wanting them to defeat the hero in the end? 

Happy Tuesday! 

16 Comments

    • I’m so glad 😀 I just keep remembering his story in Lost in Austen and think, yeah it’s plausible. Maybe Elizabeth and Darcy just don’t understand him and would rather cast him as the villain in their story rather than hear him out.

  1. I know JK Rowling had that whole rant about people romanticizing Draco… but I must say, I always kind of rooted for him to have his “moment” in the books, and when he didn’t I felt a little BLAH about it. I’m also a Slytherin, so maybe I just wanted SOMEONE from that house to have a breakthrough (I guess the argument could be made for Snape, but UGHH I have issues with that). Great choices on Villains!! Levana is definitely a fave of mine too!

    • I was surprised that he was a victim without any real moment of triumph. I have to admit that I’ve sort of come up with a backstory and continuation to Draco’s tale in my head so the Draco I love may not be JKRs anymore… whoops! I love Snape but his whole rationale for his entire life felt somewhat flimsy. I know the power of love and all that but still… I have so many issues. Harry Potter shouldn’t still be this relevant to me. I started reading the books 17 years ago. That’s just… ridiculous for me to still be this passionate over it. Anyway…

      You’re a Slytherin?! Lucky. Every test I’ve done must be broken because I keep getting Gryffindor!

      • I’m the same way!! I totally have my own story for Draco and see him that way instead of JKR’s way 🙂 HP is totally still relevant in my life and I don’t think there will ever be a time where I’m not constantly dissecting it and loving it. It’s weird because it’s the one book series where I can have major issues and wish things happened differently, but still insanely love the hell out of it!! So basically, keep your passion 🙂

  2. I haven’t read most of these although I like your thoughts on Wickham. And Hugh Grant was fun in Bridget Jones. Even though I kinda hated him. 🙂

  3. I find I tend to be the opposite, I tend to really had the villains which I guess you are supposed to but it made it really hard for me to come up with answers to this weeks TTT. Saying that, I do often prefer villains in TV shows? I don’t know why that is though maybe it’s all because of the acting.

    • I think in TV shows we are shown more of the villains point of view. It’s harder to hate someone when you can understand where they are coming from. In books I think we generally just see the hero and not so much of the other side of the story.

    • I’m starting to think maybe one of the reasons I don’t hate him as much as others is because I was never all that enamoured with Mr Darcy. OH – I see the appeal but I was never… fangirling like a lot of people I know were. And plus… when I’m watching regency retellings on tv they always cast a handsome man as Wickham and what can I say? I’m somewhat shallow when it comes to film and tv.

  4. Ha, I love seeing Nurse Ratchet on here. That’s one of my all-time favorite tales and that woman never fails to creep me out. I also loved Queen Levana! I thought Fairest was incredibly well done, although I also love to love villains. Great list! 🙂

  5. I agree, those are the great heroes. Those who are the hero in their own story. Levana is one of those really. I really liked reading Fairest for that reason.

  6. Great list! Yes, Umbridge is definitely the most evil of all Harry Potter villains! And I forgot about Thiago, but he was really a great villain. And I so agree with you, a good villain is one who is the hero of their own story. If that’s the case, they can really elevate a story to the next level.

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