Final Friday Top Five

Villains

 

5. Ursula

Naturally, Ursula had to make this list. She is a badass sea witch with an awesome villain song. She's dramatic, body proud, and not afraid to be herself. And like every good villain, she is just charming (and seductive!) enough to lure our unsuspecting heroes in. Villains for the sake of villains fall a little flat, but a good villain is endlessly fascinating. If Disney wanted to do a live action treatment for Ursula like they did Maleficent, I would very much be behind that!

4. Norman/Norma Bates

I blame Norman Bates for my fascination with serial killers in movies. Between him and another on this list, I went through a phase of loving serial killer films. Anthony Perkins plays Norman Bates (in the 1960 film, not the TV series) with an endearing awkwardness which is often left to the "geek guy who is really nice and secretly hot" character. He is a complex character with more meat to him that merely someone obsessed with killing. He's kind and caring towards Marion, shows a creative side with his taxidermy, and displays a fetish for voyeurism when watching Marion. Followed by the murderous desire.

I did enjoy the TV series too. But it was more because of Norma Bates than Norman himself. Vera Farmiga was incredible in the role of Norma and Freddie Highmore did a very good job of encapsulating her when that aspect of Norman's personality took over. It is always "the mother" committing the murders for Norman and the TV show took it to another level - rather than a skinny guy in a bad wig.

The shower scene will always be iconic though. And a fun fact for you: Psycho (1960) showed the first flushing toilet on the silver screen, when Marion flushes the calculations down the loo.

3. Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter is the second serial killer on this list which contributed to my fascination. Silence of the Lambs (1991) to this day is one of my favourite films. There is always a part of me which says, "It puts the lotion in the basket" whenever I put away moisturiser.

Lecter is terrifying and off putting while still managing to be intelligent and charming. I put a lot of that down to Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of him. In Silence of the Lambs, he had a grand total of 17 minutes screen time and won the Oscar for Best Actor that year. The man has chops. (And that noise he makes after the fava bean line was entirely improvised.)

I guess the most terrifying thing about Lecter is the fact that his victims trust him. Even Clarice trusts him and she meets him as a prisoner in a maximum security prison. She knows what he has done to end up there and still she trusts him. He even helped the FBI in a professional capacity before incarceration. He hides in plain sight and that takes a lot of charm and confidence.

2. Emperor Ozorne

The picture of Ozorne was drawn by spyridona on DeviantArt.

Naturally, I could not talk about a list of villains without including one from Tortall. Emperor Ozorne is the overall villain for the Immortals Quartet. He is the ruler of the rival land, Carthak, and is trying to conquer Tortall throughout the four books. He unleashes the Immortals from the Realm of the Gods, he illegally mines for black opals on Tortallan soil, he purposely tanks the peace summit, and then uses an army of Chaos creatures, Immortals, and all round bad guys to wage war. He is not a good dude.

In the third book, Emperor Mage, we get to spend a lot of time with Ozorne and see some of the terrible facets of his personality in action. When alone with Daine, especially when talking of his birds, he is a charming and caring man. When we see him threaten Numair, he becomes the sadistic and vicious man from rumour. He is petulant. He is smooth. He is angry. He is calm. But most of all, he is desperate and willing to do anything to get what he wants.

Including meta-morphing into an Immortal creature himself.

Ozorne is an intelligent and industrious man. When he wants something he will find a way to achieve it. And if there isn't a way to achieve it, he will make one. Tamora Pierce writes him with the right amount of nuance and prior to meeting him as the right amount of "monster in the shadows". With every re-read, I am drawn into the facade Ozorne presents while simultaneously being unnerved by his overt displays of power and domination.

He is also one of those villains which gets increasingly more unstable as they realise they are losing. We see his breakdown through Daine's eyes when she is shapeshifted as a hyena. There is a lot of focus on what his breakdown smells like, as they have very acute sense of smells, being filtered through Daine's mind. His scent was always a strong aspect of his character as he displays his wealth in jewels and perfume; so to get a raw description of the desperation in his scent is a fascinating way to look at a villain.

Honourable Mentions

Audrey II

The Red Queen

Sylar 

 

1. Oogie Boogie

Oogie Boogie is the unofficial King of Hallowe'en. The technical King of Hallowe'en is of course Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. But he ain't no bad guy. Oogie Boogie is. And he is unapologetically bad. The people of Hallowe'en Town are shown as frights in the night who enjoy being spooky but are generally very nice. Sure, they have some twisted ideas on what makes a good gift but their hearts are in the right place. Oogie Boogie on the other hand...

He gambles. He tortures. He lusts. He even has henchmen. (And they take their job with pride.)

If you need convincing just how evil and proud Oogie Boogie is, just listen to his song. He mocks Santa, admits to his vices and that he cheats at them, and ends the number with a sinister threat. 

For what I am expecting is actually just a tour of Tim Burton's imagination, Oogie Boogie is the perfect bad guy. Sinister yet cartoonish. Stylised in a simple way. Absolute. Banger. Of. A. Song. Never change, Oogie Boogie!

So who are your favourite villains? And does anyone else fancy playing Villainous now?!

Listening to: Hallowe'en