What makes a great villain in your eyes?

An intelligent one.

The villains in the dark knight were perfect; two-face and the joker were motivated by much more than "I R BAD".
They are also the type of villains where you could see where they are coming from. Harvey Dent's 50/50 philosophy was interesting, as was Joker's hybrid anarchism.

Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.dalamplighter

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.Video_Game_King

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.dalamplighter

ama say this too :D

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.super_mario_128

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

[QUOTE="super_mario_128"]

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.battlefront23

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

I know, really. "I'm not a bad person. My daugther is sick so that makes if okay for me to steal." That entire movie sucked.

[QUOTE="super_mario_128"]

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.battlefront23

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

Yeh, but Spiderman 3 as a whole sucked... >______>

[QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="super_mario_128"]

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.super_mario_128

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

Yeh, but Spiderman 3 as a whole sucked... >______>

I know but that, plus Toby's flipping of the hair and dancing in the streets, just butchered what was otherwise a mediocre movie.

[QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="super_mario_128"]

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.Dark_Knight6

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

I know, really. "I'm not a bad person. My daugther is sick so that makes if okay for me to steal." That entire movie sucked.

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

[QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="super_mario_128"]

[QUOTE="dalamplighter"]Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.super_mario_128

Without Heath Ledger, the character wouldn't have been half as epic.

A great villain needs a bit of depth (something The Joker offered in abundance with his anecdotes in TDK); which is why I love Voldemort in the sixth and seventh book where his background is explained more thoroughly...

They also needs to be ruthless, as you said. >.>

You know what villain I hated? The Sandman in Spiderman 3. Just awful.

Yeh, but Spiderman 3 as a whole sucked... >______>

yeah, but I really thought that Sandman was the worse sympathetic villain I've ever seen...

They should go watch Mr. Freeze in BTAS.

I know but that, plus Toby's flipping of the hair and dancing in the streets, just butchered what was otherwise a mediocre movie.

battlefront23

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.battlefront23

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Don't forget Kefka. He's a pretty good villain.

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

I know but that, plus Toby's flipping of the hair and dancing in the streets, just butchered what was otherwise a mediocre movie.

super_mario_128

That movie just made me so mad. :x

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.Video_Game_King

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Don't forget Kefka. He's a pretty good villain.

Who is he?

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

battlefront23

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

super_mario_128

I didn't believe him. He said he got his scars from his father one time, and that he did it to himself another time. IMO I think he was lying to the people about his scars.

[QUOTE="super_mario_128"][QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

battlefront23

I didn't believe him. He said he got his scars from his father one time, and that he did it to himself another time. IMO I think he was lying to the people about his scars.

That doesn't change the fact he put a lot of emotion into telling both of 'em. :P

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

super_mario_128

But it's not certain if that actually happened! He makes up stories to convince people....that's what he does ;)

Bernie Mac.qubert27

You know he's dead, right?

[QUOTE="super_mario_128"][QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

martialbullet

But it's not certain if that actually happened! He makes up stories to convince people....that's what he does ;)

But it's not certain if that actually happened! He makes up stories to convince people....that's what he does ;)

martialbullet

I read somewhere that that was the Joker being delusional, that never really happened. He tells two seperate stories about how he got the scars. It's him being crazy, trying to blame everyone around him for his misfortune except hisself.

Heath Ledger's Joker. Just epic.dalamplighter

This :)

[QUOTE="martialbullet"][QUOTE="super_mario_128"][QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

super_mario_128

But it's not certain if that actually happened! He makes up stories to convince people....that's what he does ;)

Yeah, I was too slow :(

Also, that's how he got Harley to join him. His damn good stories!

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.battlefront23

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Don't forget Kefka. He's a pretty good villain.

Who is he?

:o Blasphemy! How can one not know of Final Fantasy VI? I should smack you with my pimp hand until the pimp has left me, but I must save it. Save its energy for beating you down with the hot dog mace.

[QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.Video_Game_King

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Don't forget Kefka. He's a pretty good villain.

Who is he?

:o Blasphemy! How can one not know of Final Fantasy VI? I should smack you with my pimp hand until the pimp has left me, but I must save it. Save its energy for beating you down with the hot dog mace.

I never got into Final Fantasy besides VII. My bad.

[QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="super_mario_128"][QUOTE="battlefront23"]

Honestly I don't want to have compassion for a villain. Sure I wanna know why they turned evil but I don't want to pity them.

super_mario_128

I didn't believe him. He said he got his scars from his father one time, and that he did it to himself another time. IMO I think he was lying to the people about his scars.

That doesn't change the fact he put a lot of emotion into telling both of 'em. :P

True. He's a good liar then. :P

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="battlefront23"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

[QUOTE="battlefront23"]

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]They essentially have to do something unique as a villain and make you think they're really evil. Add in some sort of passable motivation/backstory and you have a good villain.battlefront23

Voldemort, Vader, and Joker all qualify in that aspect IMO.

Don't forget Kefka. He's a pretty good villain.

Who is he?

:o Blasphemy! How can one not know of Final Fantasy VI? I should smack you with my pimp hand until the pimp has left me, but I must save it. Save its energy for beating you down with the hot dog mace.

I never got into Final Fantasy besides VII. My bad.

1. A great villain needs to be convinced he is doing good. Hitler is a great real-life villain because he thought wiping out the Jews was good for humanity. Magneto is a good villain because you can actually sympathize with him.

2. A great villain needs to be sadistic and have no remorse. The bad guy from Ichi the Killer is awesome.

3. A great villain needs to be really smart, often smarter than the hero. The guy seeking revenge in Oldboy is the essence of this imo. A villain should not fail because he gets outsmarted by the hero, a villain gets defeated because of pride, arrogence, or something else.

I guess what I am saying is that a truly awesome villain, in my eyes, is one you can empathize with and when you watch him in action, it appeals to the id part of your brain (is that the right term). It should make you smirk inside to see the villain get someone.

1. A great villain needs to be convinced he is doing good. Hitler is a great real-life villain because he thought wiping out the Jews was good for humanity. Magneto is a good villain because you can actually sympathize with him.

mrbojangles25

That's a good villain for me. I hate the villains that say, "I'm evil and therefore, I must rule the world!" or something along those lines.The more the villain tries to be like a hero, the more I like him or her.

I think some villains need to show remorse however.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

1. A great villain needs to be convinced he is doing good. Hitler is a great real-life villain because he thought wiping out the Jews was good for humanity. Magneto is a good villain because you can actually sympathize with him.

Genetic_Code

That's a good villain for me. I hate the villains that say, "I'm evil and therefore, I must rule the world!" or something along those lines.The more the villain tries to be like a hero, the more I like him or her.

I think some villains need to show remorse however.

thats why I liked Unbreakable.

***SPOILER***

Samuel Jackson's character, imo, seemed to have qualms about what he was doing. I mean, he convinced himself that he was doing good by staging catastrophes searching for a real superhero, but in the end when he was confronted and Bruce Willis told him how horrible he was, he got really unnerved. I think it was just a dash of remorse that pushed him from stable, calculating villain into stable, calculating, yet psychotic villain.

***END SPOILER***

One that vomits acid and rampages around a town killing people randomly while waving a flag made up of babies faces.