Oh For A Secure Undisclosed Location

[filkertom]

We've got Hurricane Irene bearing down on NC, with paths projecting it heading right up the coast into New York and New England.

We had a frickin' East Coast earthquake yesterday.

I'm supposed to be getting severe thunderstorms and possibly a tornado.

I'm seriously beginning to think we're passing out of the realm of nature and into supervillainy.

Who's your favorite supervillain, and least favorite? Mine's Doctor Doom, if he's well-written, with a lot of love for Thanos and The Red Skull. Least favorite? Norman Osborn, no question. Somehow, everything they've done with him in the past fifteen years (including, y'know, bringing him back to life in the first place) has seemed pathetic.

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

At their best, the Joker and Harley Quinn are hard not to love. Well, in a "wow, I wish I were that good, if not that evil" sort of way. On the Marvel side, I'd have to concur with Doctor Doom, though with a serious nod to Magneto.

Vice versa, I really hate what Marvel has done to and with Loki. I mean, the dude's a freakin' GOD, and he is often played as dumber than a box of rocks. Back in DC-land, there's not one Flash villain for whom I have any respect at all. Clowns, the lot of them.

At least yesterday's alleged earthquake (hey, I slept through it; it might even have happened :-) isn't the result of one or another Supermales punching Time, or turning the Earth backward to reverse time. I think.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

The Joker would easily get my nod for Best Villain if I could cherry-pick the stories. After a certain point, the "oh he's crazy and homicidal ha ha ha" bit wears thin. Same reason I'm not that fond of Deadpool.

Magneto's had a few too many heel/face turns for me to really respect him. The movie Magneto is much better, in my opinion -- he's focused.

I try not to think about Loki too much. Just... gaaaaaah.

The only member of the Rogues Gallery I ever liked was Digger Harkness, the original Captain Boomerang, and only because of his turn in Identity Crisis, which had many problems but Digger damn sure wasn't one of 'em. Apart from that, yeah. Especially given some of their staggering potential power levels. (Mirror Master vs. Animal Man, in the Grant Morrison run, was pretty fun.)

[sdelmonte]

Sinestro. Because in his mind and heart, he's a hero. Because everything he's done with the Sinestro Corps is about bringing order to the universe through fear. He's a bad guy, of course. Little more than a tyrant. But he's so much more interesting than most villains. And most heroes. (The news that he will, at least for a while, be the lead in the rebooted Green Lantern comic really thrills me. Because he has layers that Hal Jordan never will.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Green Lantern: First Flight handled that so well. Didn't hurt that Sinestro was voiced by Victor Garber.

[cathain.livejournal.com]

It's the run-up to 2012! Quick! Hide!
OTOH maybe Jesus really *is* gearing up to come back. God knows I hope so. SOMEBODY needs to get these stupid Christianists in hand.
However, I have this sinking felling that if he ever did come back the ones he'd take are not the ones who *think* they are going.

[aulayan.livejournal.com]

Gaddaffi, like all supervillains, has started up his doomsday devices. The earthquake generator and the weather machine.

As for villains. Doom, Magneto. Johns-written Captain Cold. (I had to throw someone from DC in there)

[dhstein.livejournal.com]

here's an odd choice - Chase Young from Sholin Showdown. He was well written.

[djonn]

Not all that odd, now that you mention him; you're right, that series did an excellent job of making him considerably more interesting than most archvillains.

[ericcoleman]

Magneto, Dr Doom and, as you said above, when written well, The Joker.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Hard for me to pick a comic villain, since I haven't really picked one up since I got out of college. If I was forced to choose I'd go with Omni-Man (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Invincible), just because he managed to live for over fifteen years among humans pretending to be a Superman when he really was a General Zod.

Right now my favorite webcomic supervillian is the Gene Mage (http://www.terinu.com/GalleryImage.aspx?Gallery=6&Image=4) from chaypeta's comic Terinu (http://www.terinu.com/). He's a punch-clock villain who'd much rather be working in his labs than helping his race conquer the universe, but he barely notices when someone asks for a genocidal plague to be cooked up. You don't get more dangerous than that.

[djonn]

Hmmm.

Favorite archvillain: easily Demona, from the animated series Gargoyles. She's impeccably devious and strongly motivated; she has reasons for the plots and schemes she hatches, and she's among the very rare archvillain characters in modern media that is both forthrightly wicked and tragically sympathetic. No one from the DC or Marvel universes really compares. (Some Gargoyles fans may argue a case for David Xanatos, with good reason; Xanatos is arguably more fun to watch as he schemes, and the TV Tropes folks have rightly named various plot tropes after him. But Demona's more emotionally complex, and so a more interesting character at the end of the day.

Least favorite villain: the Joker. The more DC's writers make him into an archetype rather than a character, the less interesting he gets, and the harder it is to find reasons to read about him.

[batyatoon]

Demona! *high fives* So awesome.

The only reason I wouldn't argue the case for Xanatos is not that he's a less interesting character, but that he's less of a villain. And he's at his best when he's being morally ambiguous instead of outright evil.

WHY don't I have a Gargoyles icon. I ask you.

[j-e-richards.livejournal.com]

Lucretia Monkfish Heterodyne from "Girl Genius". Now there's a character who really plans ahead....

[ldydragon7.livejournal.com]

Seconded very, very much.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I think Thanos is one of the better villains because he's more complex. Not just complex, but powerful. He doesn't plan bank robberies, he plots universal destruction/recreation. I like the scope of his plots and how in some ways, he goes beyond good/evil designation. He's the villain who would join the heroes when there's a bigger threat that threatens everyone. He's also more introspective than most villains I've read. More than once he has contemplated his current path and justified his actions to himself. Some of his lines have been surprisingly deep. At the end of Infinity Wars he's sitting alone in the dark thinking, "Prophets and devils constantly make promises. But in the end, their words always prove empty. Salvation, whatever that may be, will never be found amongst the external. It is always within."

[90scartoonman.livejournal.com]

When written well, I can see why the big ones ARE the big ones, meaning Doom, Magneto, and Luthor.

I've liked some of what they've done with Osborn after they brought him back, but the problem is, very often he just come across as a second rate Lex Luthor.

I also have a special place in my heart for Captain Cold and Mysterio, not big name threats by any means, but always enjoyable.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

Osborn doesn't rate that highly, in my book.

Luthor (in his current incarnation, at least) is sane. Insane villains never are as good as sane ones in my book, because the insane ones can't get my sympathy.

It's those little glimpses inside Luthor's mind, showing why he hates Superman, that make him so good to me. Because I know that people can rationalize their actions like that, he isn't just some caricature of villainy. He thinks he's the hero, even as he goes down the slippery slope.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

While he's been walking the line between villain and hero lately, Helmut Zemo is still one of my favorite villains, as well as a member of the select "World Conqueror Club," with a duration that is second only to Victor von Doom.

Least favorite villain? Stilt-Man or Rainbow Raider.

Least favorite A-list villain? Prometheus, who was designed to be ridiculously powerful for no apparent reason, and appears to be decaying rapidly. Villains should move up in the world, not down.

[gimmeahand.livejournal.com]

Since this East Coast earthquake, I'd have to vote for the villain featured on the "Extras" section of the "Dr Horrible" DVD,
TUR-MOHEL! Our national phallic symbol has actually been circumsized!!! Bet Tur-Mohel had something to do with it! ;-)

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

After reviewing a handy list (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comic_book_supervillain_debuts) I find my favorite super-villain to be.. Catwoman. I love how adding her to a story can bring out some very complex elements.

Least favorite super-villain.. honestly, any villain that fails to pay attention to the Evil Overlords List (http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html) on a consistent basis.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

My own take was that the quakes, as well as the storms and floods, mean that the Mandate of Heaven is passing. Soon a new Son of Heaven will sit on the Dragon Throne.

--Eric who maaaybe took a few too many courses in Chinese history.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

I like what Marvel is doing with the new Loki in "Journey Into Mystery" (from #622 on up) and really hope they can keep it up because that would make a good super villain.

Bane, when done right, is surprisingly intelligent and cunning, but his machismo always brings him down. I like watching those two elements wrestle in his subconscious.

Troll bait - bring it on!

[antinomic.livejournal.com]

Let's just hope that Obama stays on Martha's Vineyard. Two disasters in Washington would be too many.

Re: Troll bait - bring it on!

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

By that standard, we should escort every member of the Legislative and Judicial branches out of the District of Columbia, just to be on the safe side.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

Doctor Doom always makes me laugh, just for the name. Mister Sinister, too. I look at those names and go, "Who are we up against next, Marvel Super Heroes? Brigadier General Bad Guy?"

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

DC: Deathstroke, ("Slade" from Teen Titans)
Batman Villain: Poison Ivy, for having an agenda as well as being a redhead.

Marvel: A soft spot for Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man
X-Men: Magneto

[batyatoon]

Oh goodness, Slade on Teen Titans. There were times he seriously made me want to crawl backwards through the back of the couch. Brrrr. :D

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

My favorite supervillain is The Master on Doctor Who.

And that earthquake might have been a fracking shame (http://blogs.alternet.org/refugee/2011/08/23/did-fracking-cause-the-virginia-earthquake/).

[wingus.livejournal.com]

I'm rather fond of Lord Zedd from Power Rangers, myself. As well as Transformers: Prime's Starscream.

And Dr. Wily. I like supervillains I can laugh at, generally.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

That Starscream does hit my sympathy button. He gets treated like shit by Megatron (granted he did deserve some of it) and pretty much driven away. Now he's on his own trying to gather support because no bot can make it alone.

He reminds me of Armada Starscream who did join the Autobots for a time, but his desire to get revenge on Megatron for betraying him drove him away.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I think that my favorire comic book supervillain would be Doctor Doom. Aside from him I also liked Mr. Jipp, an evil body hopping sorcerer from the Cloak and Dagger series.

From TV it would have to be Megatron from Generation One Transformers and Transformers: Beast Wars.

Least favorite is easily Carnage.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Gawd, Carnage. Oooooh, let's have somebody else evil and unstoppable and fetishizing murder and who thinks he's a comedian! Only this one has an obsessive tropism toward Spider-Man! Oy.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

My favorite villains are the Joker and Dr Doom [joining the chorus] - but only when they are written well.

Villain I am most disappointed in the writing for is also Loki. I -like- the devious trickster, but he's got to be devious, fer crying out loud.

As for nifty villains, I liked the Shadows from B5 [and Mister Morden].

[netpositive.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yes, Thanos. Gotta love a craggy, slate-colored demi-god who embraces both love and destruction on a truly... cosmic scale. Literally, even. :)

I also enjoyed the early Ultron stories from the original Avengers series.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

My least favorite villains are the mad scientists. They reflect and shape what society thinks of science and those who pursue it. It's just bad for the image.

I'd like to see more scientists as heroes and more religious villains (unfortunately many villains are portrayed as Atheists). Like how about a villain who wants to start a nuclear war to trigger the Rapture or one that enforces Old Testament punishments for exercising the freedoms we enjoy today.