The
Doctor (#9)
Universe: Doctor Who
Details: The Doctor is as enigmatic a character as they
come. The last of a race of Time Lords from the planet Galifrey, his past,
and his true identity, are shrouded in complete and utter mystery, but
he has a surefire love of the human race (for some reason) and is determined
to help save us from more frequent an alien invasion than we thought possible.
Portrayed by the talented and downright sexy Christopher Eccleston in
the first of the new series, the Doctor is a witty and intelligent piece
of work who carries around with him the burdens from his past lives, and
an all-conquering (and ultimately fatal) love for his young assistant
and soul mate, Rose Tyler.
Francis
Walsingham, Sir
Universe: Elizabeth I
Details: Okay, so this guy is a borderline character
in that he's based on a real person, but still... indulge me. The 1998
film version of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (imaginatively titled Elizabeth)
was a visually-stunning, emotive and moving filmatic experience, which
made the life of one of Britain's most famous monarchs into, if far from
a faithful re-telling of history, at least a compelling conspiracy story.
The young Elizabeth is faced with enemies at every turn, most of which
reside within her own court, and it's generally down to the cunning and
sacrifice of a man named Walsingham that she remains protected. Played
to a "Vetinari-ish" perfection by Geoffrey Rush, Sir Francis
is a cunning piece of work, a master of his own spy-ring, a skilled assassin,
and, when duty calls for it, also a charismatic seducer. He's the quiet
man who hovers around in the shadows, and who will prove to his enemies
that, when the need arises, his genteel and calm demeanor can transform
into a frighteningly efficient killing machine... (He's really quite sexy,
on top of all that, too, casting even Eccleston's forceful Duke of Norfolk
quite into the shade. ^_^)
Magneto
(Erik Magnus Lensherr)
Universe: The X-Men movie trilogy
Details: Erik Lensherr has been ill-treated by life.
Born a Polish Jew in early twentieth century Europe, he later found his
family persecuted by the rise of the Nazis and was later separated from
his parents at the Auschwitz concentration camp. He never saw them again.
Embittered by this experience, Erik found himself further persecuted for
being a "mutant", and he soon grew bitter and angry with mankind,
until he was pushed too far and he began to take revenge on humanity.
Possessing the ability to manipulate magnetic fields and metal itself,
Erik adopted the alias "Magneto" and, unlike his long-time friend
Charles Xavier, desired nothing more than the extinction of the human
race, and the domination of mutant-kind. Portrayed as an educated but
merciless man by Sir Ian McKellen, Magneto is an individual whose history
has pushed him so far that he is almost beyond help. His mesmerising voice,
muscular frame and striking blue eyes add to the facade of a man not to
be messed with, but certainly to be admired, whether it be for good or
evil.
Auron,
Sir
Universe: Final Fantasy X
Details: Hailing from the land of Spira, Auron is a brooding
character who keeps himself to himself but who, nevertheless, puts his
life on the line as a Guardian for two different Summoners from different
generations - first Braska and then Braska's daughter, Yuna. As a Guardian,
his job is to protect his Summoners as they make their pilgrimages across
the land of Spira and try to defeat the great malevolent force known as
"Sin". Skilled and determined, though not always right in his
decisions, Auron is a stunning warrior, swinging his almighty sword with
awesome power and control, and is brave to the core. His good heart and
rough-but-attractive exterior are but a few of the assets which make him,
for me, an irresistable and attractive character.
Sephiroth
Universe: Final Fantasy VII
Details: Allegedly the most popular villain in video-gaming
history, Sephiroth is an ominous and hateful figure who dominates the
plot of Final Fantasy VII until the end. Sephiroth was once a
member of the organisation SOLDIER, who were the bodyguards of energy
company ShinRa, and he was, without a doubt, the best of the best in its
ranks. But behind the facade of SOLDIER lay a dark secret - each man had
been subjected to a series of scientific experiments and injected with
the cells of Jenova, a malevolent, female entity which had fallen from
the skies. Discovering these truths and angered because of it, Sephiroth
became angry and set out to destroy the monsters who had created him,
and then, under Jenova's influence, attempted to overturn the world. Unnervingly
cool and calm, Sephiroth is as compelling and frightening a bad guy as
they come, and it's almost a pity to have to defeat him in the game.
Cid
Highwind
Universe: Final Fantasy VII
Details: At the other end of the scale from the likes
of Cloud and Sephiroth is a man called Cid. No-nonsense, brash and foul-mouthed,
Cid is as happy-go-lucky and reckless as they come, yet he still manages
to be a surefire charmer and valued member of the Final Fantasy VII
team. His weapon is a simple staff, which he wields with frightening power,
and he's also the pilot of the group, something which comes very much
in handy later on in the game when you need to fly from one corner of
the world to the another. :)
Daniel
Gregg, Captain
Universe: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Details: Daniel Gregg is a little different to most of
my favourite characters in that he's dead. A former sailor who died as
a result of an unfortunate accident, the bold and brash Captain Gregg
has to come to terms with a young widow, Lucy Muir, as well as her daughter
and her maid, moving in to his precious house. Though he at first tries
to ward them off, like he has with every other previous tenant, he soon
comes to realise that Mrs. Muir has no intention of letting him succeed.
Soon, their relationship blossoms into a most unlikely love affair, one
which leaves both parties rather bemused and quite frustrated as they
are forced to remain parted by their different plains of existence. Rex
Harrison is perfect as the ghost in the wonderful 1947 movie, which really
wrenches your heart.
Megabyte
Universe: ReBoot
Details: One of the resident viruses in the cyber-city
of Mainframe, Megabyte is a sinister and suave villain who, beneath his
gentlemanly persona, hides a ferocious temper and a brutal physical power.
Taller than the average sprite in the city, and armed with retractable
claws and other untold abilities, this virus' greatest ambition is to
access the super computer and to spread his corruption throughout the
'Net.
Claude
Frollo, Minister/Judge
Universe: Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Details: Disney's Hunchback film is one of those
forgotten gems of the Disney archive, a dark, brooding and much more mature
adventure about outcasts living in a cruel time. Claude Frollo is the
'villain' of the piece, though he's not technically a true bad guy, for
he simply has become a victim to his own power and control, and, though
he believes himself to be pious and untainted by sin, has actually lost
sight of what it truly means to be a Christian man. Wonderfully voiced
by the late Tony Jay, Frollo is an intriguing piece of work, and as human
a Disney 'villain' as you're ever going to find, who's brought down by
his desire for a woman... I'm also a fan of his novel-counterpart in Victor
Hugo's original novel.
Edward
Fairfax Rochester, Mr.
Universe: Jane Eyre
Details: The enigmatic master of Thornfield Hall, Rochester
is the Byronic anit-hero of Charlotte Brontë's most famous novel,
Jane Eyre. Both 'changeful and abrupt', and the victim of a rather
tragic life, Edward comes to love the poor and plain Jane, who acts as
governess to his ward, a little girl named Adèle. It is the mystery
in the attic that comes between their union, but love conquers all in
the end and he and the governess do eventually marry. Despite my better
judgement, I love the guy. Now, go read the book if you haven't already...
Severus
Snape, Professor
Universe: Harry Potter
Details: The Potions Master at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft
and Wizardry first attracted my attention when I read Philosopher's
Stone back in 2001, before the films emerged. He's another enigma,
with some rather dark and troubled characteristics that makes him most
intriguing, but the main question is: Is he a hero of the shadows, or
is he really the savage murderer that Book 6 made him out to
be? Who knows? In Book 7 we'll no doubt find out the final truth.
Havelock
Vetinari, (the Patrician) Lord
Universe: Discworld
Details: Patrician of Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld
saga, Havelock Vetinari was first introduced to me by my friend Merrymoll
through a piece of fanfiction by an author named Mercator. Following this,
I began to read into the Discworld and the Patrician soon became
my favourite character. He has something of a dark and mysterious past,
but he's also, unlike some of the characters on this page, remarkably
in-control, all the time, and we haven't yet seen him lose his temper;
if we ever do, it'll no doubt be quite terrifying. Known to have been
trained as an Assassin, Vetinari is notoriously dangerous and universally
feared... though no one's actually seen anything to substantiate any of
this (or just hasn't lived long enough to). He gives into the every demand
of all the city's guilds and always leaves people wondering why he's,
therefore, still in charge. The truth is, Havelock has found the key to
good leadership - stability. He may not be a popular leader, but he's
a good one, and Ankh-Morpork with him is much better than without.
He's welcome to "detain" me anyday, as well... ^_~ Yummy.
Zedd
, Lord
Universe: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Details: Taking command over the evil doers from Rita
Repulsa during the second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,
Lord Zedd has always been one of my favourite fictional characters. He
has pretty much no backstory or anything, due to the flatness and transparency
of the characters in Power Rangers, but he has a tremendously
wicked nature and a black sense of humour. He also has the most vile and
repulsive appearance of any children's villain, being void of both skin
and a skull, and trapped within the confines of his own life support system.
Dooku,
Count (AKA Tyranus, Lord Darth)
Universe: Star Wars
Details: Leader of the Separatist movement in Star
Wars: Episode II and Episode III, it's not just the presence
of the great Christopher Lee in the role that impresses me about this
character, but the fact he's very much a man of mystery and has a past
that's only partially known to us. His decision to rebel against the institution
he once served as a Jedi, and to take up with the Sith, was a terrific
change in his life, and one wonders what it was that exactly made him
do it. Besides all this, he's a man of tact & charisma, and his skills
with a lightsabre are astounding. Unfortunately, it took him until the
end to realise that betrayal is the way of the Sith... and he died because
of it.
Palpatine,
Senator/Supreme Chancellor/Emperor (AKA Sidious, Lord Darth)
Universe: Star Wars
Details: Void of conscience and feeling, Sidious is a
true marvel amongst men in that he carries none of the attributes natural
to all human beings. He's a creature born evil into the world, and we
can only imagine what horrors are in his past because of that. Also known
as the politician for Naboo, later becoming Supreme Chancellor of the
galaxy, Sidious is a true genius, completely deceiving everyone around
him, and never once being uncovered as the Sith Lord that he is, until
it is too late. How ironic that the one threat he promised to remove from
the galaxy as Supreme Chancellor is the very one that exists beneath his
own skin.
Maul,
Lord Darth
Universe: Star Wars
Details: I was seriously obsessed with this guy back
in 1999 when Episode I of the Star Wars saga hit cinema screens.
Though Maul actually has very little screen-time, or even import in the
film, he's one of the characters that really sticks in your mind afterwards.
A superb duellist, trained to the highest levels by his mentor, Lord Sidious,
Maul is a single-minded fighting machine whose only purpose in life is
to serve his master and the Sith cult, and to wipe out the Jedi.
Scar
Universe: Disney's The Lion King
Details: Scar is everything and more that you expect
from a Disney villain - ruthless, deceptive yet terribly likable. His
dark sense of humour and cynic outlook on life are glorious to witness,
as is the process of seeing the cogs whirl in his mind, albeit it for
dire purposes. Scar was my first 'proper' favourite villain, and a character
I've loved ever since I first watched The Lion King.
Hades
Universe: Disney's Hercules
Details: Disney's Hercules can only be described
as a cocktail of Greek Myths, for it uses and mixes so many of them together
in one original storyline - hence the fact that Hades, God of the Underworld,
becomes a bad guy for once. Voiced by James Woods, who re-wrote most of
the character's lines to his more amusing tastes, Hades is a truly hilarious
villain who is a joy to behold. If you want a comic bad-guy who has an
equal capacity to be brutal, then look no further than this fire-crested
despot.
Rochefort,
Count de
Universe: The Three Musketeers
Details: Another enigmatic character, Count Rochefort
is lackey of the ingenius Cardinal Richelieu in Alexandre Dumas' historical
piece of fiction, The Three Musketeers. Though he never really
has chance to develop as a character in the novel, we can infer that he
is a loyal and dangerous servant, with his own code of honour. Unfortunately,
Dumas writes him off fairly anti-climatically in the book. His best on-screen
interpretations come from Richard Lester's 1973/4 films based on the novel,
where he is portrayed by none other than Christopher Lee, and the character
also makes a great impression in the 1980s' children's cartoon, Dogtanian.
The
Shredder (Aroku Saki)
Universe: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Details: Every kid growing up in the 1980s will remember
the Turtles craze, and the heroes in half-shells have made a
recent comeback in a slap-bang up-to-date series for the children of the
Noughties. The Shredder for me is the greatest of the Turtles
villains, and is particularly impressive in the 1989 movie. He's a mysterious
Japanese warrior with a costume hinting at a Samurai-esque past, and is
a magnificent fighter. As with many-a-villain, he has a grudge to fulfil,
and those mutant turtles just keep getting in his way.