Quote:
Originally Posted by DonQuigleone
Distant villains who are orchestrating things unseen far away just don't cut it. They have to be in your face cackling with abandon. Otherwise, they're really just a bit dull.
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Would/Did you regard Sauron as a dull villain? His influence in LOTR was through either the ring, or his minions. There were a few instances where he revealed himself (when Frodo put on the ring), and at the end of the movie but by and large he wasn't an 'in your face' villain.
I've always preferred the villains who have a perverse sense of the way things should be. E.g. a villain who isn't power-hungry as an end of itself, but who believes that they're the best person to rule because they would do the best job. So even if that means crushing all dissent that's acceptable because (to them) the ends justify the means.
Off the top of my head my favourite villains would be:
1) The Shivan race in
FreeSpace 1: Their motivation was simply to wipe out any space-faring species that might be a threat to other, younger (and non-space-faring) species.That way such younger species would have a chance to develop before being wiped out or enslaved.
2) The Vorlons/Shadows in Babylon 5: Rather than try to attack each other directly they tried to use the younger space-faring species to fight for them. For the Shadows it was all about 'development through chaos', i.e. getting the other species to fight each other (by instigating wars) with the hope that those who survived would be militarily stronger. For the Vorlons it was about 'development through order'. Species should develop through cooperation, so any trying to enslave or wipe out the others was the enemy.
3) Sakurai Shin'ichirou in Senkou no Night Raid, for being able to manipulate others in order to (almost) get what he wanted. All of this, whilst (to the audience) pretending that his agenda was not deceptive.
4) Jouslain Tytania in Tytania: Mostly for being a likeable villain and his ability to play politics to maintain his position.
using the younger space-faring species as collateral