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I love a good villain! I think it is very important for a book to have a convincing and scary villain, but so much so that you kind of love them. I love this weeks topic, and I think of sooooo many villains straight away... and yes, most of them are from Harry Potter.
Lord Voldemort
There can be no other villain at the top of my list! For me, Voldemort will always be the ultimate villain. He was scary to read, but so much so that you love him. He seemed super psychotic, especially since he is a grown man who spends all of his time trying to kill a young boy. Reading the books, my heart would speed up whenever Harry encountered Voldemort. He craved power like nobody else and he didn't care what he had to do to get it. It made you genuinely scared that he might win in the end. He was unpredictable and just the best villain I have ever encountered in fiction.
Bellatrix LeStrange
I have realised that I love a villain that I hate but love in equal measure. Bellatrix is definitely one of those characters. She is so mad and crazy, and I love her for it. But she was so evil and I hated everything she did in the books. She killed off one of my favourite characters, you just can't forgive that. I think her portrayal by Helena Bonham Carter was absolutely superb.
Severus Snape
There are few characters that have as great a story as the one that J.K.Rowling provided Snape. He was a character who was so easy to hate, but so easy to question as well. You never quite knew exactly what to make of him, whether he was as bad as you thought. If Dumbledore trusted him, could he really be as bad as we thought. He was such a brilliantly complex character, I loved his storyline and I love him as a character.
Mrs Coulter
I hated this woman! She was just so despicable and it's hard to think of a character that I have hated more. She actually brought out genuine fear in me the first time I read the Northern Lights books. Her plans with daemons just made me so sad, especially since one of the things I crave most in the world is a daemon of my own. Such a brilliant series, such a brilliant villain. The movie was hideous, so I won't use Nicole Kidman for it. That movie doesn't deserve to be associated with the book series.
President Snow
I think the movie did such a good job with the character of President Snow. They gave him a lot of air time and really showed just how powerful he is. He is a brilliant villain; the right amount of cold and calculating and unpredictability. You can completely understand why Katniss is so afraid of him, he possesses so much power.
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I was surprised that I know ALL of these villains, and I am also surprised that they ALL came from children's/teens books, two fantasy and one dystopian sci-fi. Being a fantasy fan, that is VERY interesting to me. =D
ReplyDeleteMrs Coulter really got me as somehow I still remember how much I couldn't stand this villain, even though I barely remember the plot of Northern Lights. You mentioned your love of Harry Potter before, so it makes perfect sense that three of this list are from HP world. This was a great post to read! Thanks for sharing. If I get the time to do a response post, I'll do just that and link you in.
I have to admit that I still love rereading all my favourite books from my childhood. I also really enjoy and love teen and children's books, I probably prefer them to adult fiction.
DeleteShe used to really scare me as a kid, but also bring out this intense hatred in me like no other villain. I adore HP, I think it has some of the best villains. Thanks for stopping by :)
Oh Yea! Definitely a bad ass group of villains here! I'm glad you listed Mrs. Coulter ;) Phillip Pullman's, His Dark Materials, is one of my favorite series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing ;)
Michelle @ Book Hangover Blabs Books
Mine too!!! :)
DeleteFantastic list hun! I'm excited about Mrs Coulter for Northern Lights, she really looks like a sassy woman, but she has that evil twinkle in that picture, that's exciting, and I'm really hoping to get more of President Snow in Catching Fire, The Hunger Games was a bit of a let down for me personally. Make me so happy that people agree with Voldy though, number one all the way!
ReplyDeleteShe is a sassy woman and really evil, I hated her!!! VOLDY ALL THE WAY! BEST VILLAIN EVER!!!!
DeleteDOWN WITH PRESIDENT SNOW. Gah, he is probably the worst villain in the world, and I love how he retains that quiet evilness in the movies too. Absolutely astounding. One of my top hates would be Count Olaf. GOSH HE IS SO ANNOYING AND EVIL. I wanted to save the Baudelaire's SO many times.... ;)
ReplyDeleteCount Olaf is deliciously awful! Good choice.
DeleteDefinitely one of the worst, he really got to me in the books and movie. I haven't read the books, but I have seen the film for A Series of Unfortunate Events and I loved to hate Olaf. Especially since I adore Jim Carrey.
DeleteI so agree with you with all the four I know (I haven't heard of Mrs Coulter). I was actually thinking of putting Snape onto my list as well. And who can blame you for having most villains from Harry Potter? J.K. certainly knows how to write brilliant, complex characters.
ReplyDeleteShe really does, she has created some of the most awesome villains ever, in my opinion at least. I think Snape was a brilliant villain because of how complex he was, you never really knew if he was a villain or not.
DeleteSnape was a great villain since he was so complex (definitely not two dimensional). The Darkling is a pretty great villain, I absolutely hate him. ~Pam
ReplyDeleteNot at all, I adore his character and how ridiculously complex he is. I haven't read S&B yet but I own it, hopefully will get to it soon.
DeleteSnow made my list too. I seem to go for the villains who try to project a pleasant facade, but are evil underneath.
ReplyDeleteMe too, they make some of the best villains out there.
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