Your Top Three Bad Guys from Sci-fi/Fantasy Books

[FarAway Sooner]

I thought this might be a fun topic.  Here's my list:

• Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers, from the series of the same name.  Worst.  Enemy.  Ever.
• Stephen R. Donaldson's Lord Foul, from his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series.  His malice and subtlety truly redefine evil.
• Sauron.  I know it seems like a cliche, but if you look at the way Tolkien actually textures Evil (and Good) in LoTR, you begin to appreciate just how nuanced a bad guy Sauron really is.

There are a zillion other good candidates out there, but those are my Top Three!

[Martok]

1.)  Shaitan/The Dark One from The Wheel of Time series.  Unlike Tolkien's Sauron or Saruman, he is *not* your stereotypical Dark Lord.  In terms of power, cunning, planning, resources, subtlety, and -- most of all -- sheer depth/breadth of evil, I've yet to see any villain match him. 

2.)  Sauron, for pretty much the same reasons FarAway Sooner already listed.  That, and he's your archetypical fantasy-setting "Dark Lord", which is always a trope I enjoy. 

3.)  The Mule from Asimov's Foundation series.  With only the power of his mind -- and driven by a broken pscyhe -- he conquers half the galaxy before he is finally stopped. 

[bayonetbrant]

The Bishop from the original Dernyi series was quite the bastard

[undercovergeek]

i always wanted to punch Joffrey Lannister in the face simply having read the books, but the smug **** they have playing him in the series (good casting) only makes me want to do it more

[JasonPratt]

The correct answer as always is:

1.) Thrawn
2.) Thrawn
3.) Thrawn

>:D

[bayonetbrant]

yeah, I was waiting to see how long before Thrawn popped up on the list, but I'm not really sure how many folks here have read the original Dernyi series.  And if you haven't, you should.  They're excellent high fantasy.

[Martok]

The correct answer as always is:

1.) Thrawn
2.) Thrawn
3.) Thrawn

>:D

If we were doing a Top Five, he'd be in it.  8) 

[JasonPratt]

Well, I didn't think it'd be fair for me to vote for the bad guys from my own fantasy series...  ;D

Aside from Thrawn, hmm...

2.) Voldemort, not from the original HP novels, but from Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality epic fanfic, which should be finishing around year's end or a little after.

3.) Stephen King's It


Martok: you might decide by the end of WoT that Demandred should jump a lot higher in the rankings. While the DO is still technically a serious threat, he doesn't come off as being very practical -- Dem, however...

[Martok]

Martok: you might decide by the end of WoT that Demandred should jump a lot higher in the rankings. While the DO is still technically a serious threat, he doesn't come off as being very practical -- Dem, however...

I believe I already mentioned elsewhere (the main book/reading thread, perhaps?) that he has long struck me as being among the most -- if not THE most -- capable Forsaken overall, and that (given I've not reached the Sanderson books yet) I've only seen the barest hints of just how dangerous he really is.  So I won't be at all surprised if your prediction turns out to be true.  :) 

[JasonPratt]

Demandred and the Forses generally illustrate a basic problem for designing narrative antagonists: they should be competent enough to provide a suitable threat at the scale they're operating in, but then if they're too competent the protagonist fails. And the protag generally starts off way behind so that he or she can progress.

The Forsaken generally, especially Ishy who had three thousand years to be setting up for this three-or-four-year-period, seem too tentative and outright incompetent. It can't be because they're overly worried about the "untrained children" waxing them if they step up too obviously: the Forses were (supposedly) the top 13 agents of the Dark One back during a war that ran for years (long enough for 'war' to be practically reinvented from sport fencing) and came close to wiping out worldwide civilization, in a time when magic-tech was like modern real-world technology or better. Smacking around the Randland equivalent of the European Renaissance period should be a lot easier for them, even if they're lacking as many skilled lackies this time. (Or more to the point, there was a whole war in the intervening period which was run by numerous powerful Darkfriend channelers, and certainly nothing was put in place afterward to minimize that happening again.)

Demandred is the only Forse who comes out the story looking like he was spending his time wisely during the past 3 years -- not that I'll get spoilery as to why. He effectively takes over as Nae'blis during the final book, while the real official Nae'blis gives up early for no clear reason and spends the last two books sulking in a corner about how he's probably going to lose again, retreating back to a (just about literal) last-ditch guard position, and even there he doesn't seem like he expects to really accomplish anything. This is while Demandred is out kicking all the ass, mind you, and putting the other surviving Forses into reasonably good tactical and strategic plans.

(And don't get me started on the Superfade, who/which turns out to be utterly pointless; though I've warned you of that before, back when you started your re-read of Lord of Chaos: get ready for disappointment, and don't be fooled into hoping much from him/it.)


This is why I put Thrawn and MoRVoldy so high on the list: they start off competent and stay competent within the plan they have in mind.

("It" on the other hand doesn't have a plan, but It's like the fifth Warhammer40K chaos god, Kloênesh or something.  >:D )

[endfire79]

Jason mentioned 'It: Pennywise', I second that.

The Stand:  Randall Flagg (The Dark Man)

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I seem to be brain blocked for the worst bad guys. Nothing comes to mind.

Albert Broccoli? no, Blofeld? not scifi...

The terminator. I did read the first book.

I can go with the berserkers.

Maybe the forsaken Semirhage. She seemed to love cruelty.

[bayonetbrant]

Tucker's Kobolds   

[mirth]

If we're looking at King villains, Randall Flagg has to be at the top of the list.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Is it about their bossness or their villainy?