Best Literary Villain

[Augustus Medici]

Given the popularity for the movie one, I thought I'd create one specifically for books.

My nomination goes towards Baron Vladimir Harkonnen of Dune fame. It's almost hysterical how he's portrayed: fat, sadistic, cunning, and a gay pedophile to boot. I really love how Herbert was careful with this character; he's more of a connoisseur of sadism rather than just an evil "tank brain" like his nephew Beast Rabban. He reveled in exquisitely executed tortures/murders but was openly disgusted with Rabban's willy-nilly mass killings. His evil had structure and control. He even disliked how he was forced to kill Duke Atreides in front of people because it set a "bad precedent." A really repulsive individual, through and through, but with style!

 

[Connemara]

Pavel Petrovich Kirsanov from Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. A stroke of genius on the author's part, really...he isn't the overt villain of the story, but his utter hatred of Bazarov and all things "new" could put him into the "wicked" category. He's also a total dandy.

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

heathcliff from wuthering heights.

it is difficult to be sympathetic to the bastard, despite his mistreatment at a child. and the way he... oh... spoiler spoiler spoiler... ugh!

 

[LabelKing]

I'm partial to anti-heroes rather than any wholesale villains.

That noted, I like Humbert Humbert although I'll likely think of more. Uriah Heep was an interesting bit of work.

 

[Ivan Kipling]

I 'like' Iago . . . from Othello.

 

[lefty]

Professor Moriarty.

lefty

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Augustus Medici

Given the popularity for the movie one, I thought I'd create one specifically for books.

My nomination goes towards Baron Vladimir Harkonnen of Dune fame. It's almost hysterical how he's portrayed: fat, sadistic, cunning, and a gay pedophile to boot. I really love how Herbert was careful with this character; he's more of a connoisseur of sadism rather than just an evil "tank brain" like his nephew Beast Rabban. He reveled in exquisitely executed tortures/murders but was openly disgusted with Rabban's willy-nilly mass killings. His evil had structure and control. He even disliked how he was forced to kill Duke Atreides in front of people because it set a "bad precedent." A really repulsive individual, through and through, but with style!

I was thinking the exact same thing when I clicked on the thread. I'm a huge Dune fan. I really like his mentat Piter as well because he's seriously twisted. Have you read all the books?

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Excellent call on the Dune villains.

Since the Baron and Piter have been mentioned already, I'm going to go with Dmitri Ravenoff (Raven) from Snow Crash. I look enough like his description that I demand to be casted if/when they make a movie.

He has rides a motorcycle with a hydrogen bomb sidecar that is triggered by a pacemaker attached to his heart. He's killed thousands of people with handmade knives that he's chipped out of plate glass, and his ultimate dream is to nuke the USA. Other than that, he's actually a pretty sympathetic character, and seemingly a genuinely decent guy.

 

[Augustus Medici]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Have you read all the books?

Yes, I've read all the way through Chapterhouse. I tried reading House Atreides, but I couldn't stomach it. All of Brian Herbert's efforts are like fanfic, so I've since stopped.

I think Dune is pretty underrated these days. Hopefully, somebody can do for it what Peter Jackson did for Lord of the Rings and introduce Herbert's masterpiece to a new generation. With the recent interest in Islam (for obvious reasons), perhaps the time will be ripe for a righteous movie adaptation in the near future. Just imagine a well done Dune saga on the silver screen

And by the way, f*ck Harry Potter.

 

[Augustus Medici]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

He has rides a motorcycle with a hydrogen bomb sidecar that is triggered by a pacemaker attached to his heart. He's killed thousands of people with handmade knives that he's chipped out of plate glass, and his ultimate dream is to nuke the USA. Other than that, he's actually a pretty sympathetic character, and seemingly a genuinely decent guy.

Don't forget, he's got "POOR IMPULSE CONTROL" tatted on his forehead!

You know, I sort of imagined Snow Crash as an anime-style movie rather than live-action because it was so zany. I'm sure both styles could work given the right director.

 

[LabelKing]

I've never read Dune.

 

[designprofessor]

there are some memorable characters in Flannery O'Connor's Wiseblood

 

[DocHolliday]

Lord Henry in "Dorian Gray;" Sula in "Sula;" Napolean in "Animal Farm," O'Brien in "1984"

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by Augustus Medici

Yes, I've read all the way through Chapterhouse. I tried reading House Atreides, but I couldn't stomach it. All of Brian Herbert's efforts are like fanfic, so I've since stopped.

I think Dune is pretty underrated these days. Hopefully, somebody can do for it what Peter Jackson did for Lord of the Rings and introduce Herbert's masterpiece to a new generation. With the recent interest in Islam (for obvious reasons), perhaps the time will be ripe for a righteous movie adaptation in the near future. Just imagine a well done Dune saga on the silver screen

And by the way, f*ck Harry Potter.

I keep hoping for this, but I don't think I'm ever going to get my wish. Adapting Dune for the movies is much more difficult that LoTR, which is just a nice story. There's so much going on in Dune that it would be hard to get right. I mean look at what's been attempted... The David Lynch movie was horrible. The first mini-series was ok, but the follow-up was horrible. The productions values were pretty bad. I keep hoping for a great adaptation, but I think I'm gonna have to make do with the books. It's too bad too, because Herbert captures so many trends in human history.

I've read all the new books too btw. What can I say, they're good for a fix... They're not as good as the originals, but they're not horrible either. They lack the depth that Herbert's had. The plot-lines are more just telling a story, whereas Herbert was commenting on a whole number of issues. One of the things I really liked in the first books are the little quotations at the beginning of every chapter. Some of them were very insightful, especially the manner in which he distilled some patterns in human history or behavior. They're totally lacking in the new ones.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to reading Dune 7, but since it's being published in two parts, I'm waiting until fall so that I can read them back to back. I'm gonna re-read the first six books after I finish the two books I'm working on now (Decline and Fall & Augustus).

Dune would definitely get my vote for best series ever.

 

[Augustus Medici]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Lord Henry in "Dorian Gray;" Sula in "Sula;" Napolean in "Animal Farm," O'Brien in "1984"

Hahahaha nice touch with the font.