Hella
Most readers don’t like villains, but there is one villain, who stole my heart. Hela appears in Marvel’s “Thor Ragnarok”. Her name itself evokes fear among people. She is popularly known as the goddess of death in Norse mythology. Her dark eyes, black clothes and powerful necroswords make her seem evil and wild. My favourite Hela scene is when she breaks her brother’s strongest hammer. She is incomplete without her pet wolf companion Fenris, who fought with her till the end without getting tired. She was unexpectedly killed by Surtur’s fire sword.
Darth Vader
My favourite literary villain is Darth Vader, who lived in a galaxy far, far away, Armed with a lightsaber and having a unique mastery of the ‘force’, he is the ‘Chosen One’ in the ‘Star Wars’ saga. He was born as a young slave named Anakin Skywalker on the planet of Tatooine. He was very intelligent and knew a lot about machines. Anakin became a Jedi knight under his master Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also participated in the Clone Wars and later unfortunately came under the influence of the evil Sith lord Darth Sidious. He turned to the Dark Side in order to save the lives of his dear ones. He became Darth Vader and everyone in the galaxy feared him. When finally, his son returned after many years, Vader understood the error of his ways and killed the emperor Darth Sidious to restore peace and balance in the galaxy and the force. I love him as he is the “Chosen One” and despite turning to the Dark Side, he never becomes totally evil.
Tom Marvalo Riddle
Everyone loves Harry Potter! In fact, I loved the films so much that I bought the books. However, everyone hates that evil Voldemort – Harry’s nemesis. But I find Voldemort fascinating, especially how J.K. Rowling has created his character. Pale and snake-like, his face is fit for a villain. Voldemort sets really clever traps and obstacles for Harry to face. In the book, his real name is Tom Marvalo Riddle. In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, I was surprised to see how good-looking he was as a teen. He turns into a monster when he becomes an adult. In the last book, Harry finally manages to kill Voldemort. The story would not have been interesting if Harry had a weaker rival. Actor Ralph Fiennes brilliantly portrayed the adult Voldemort on screen.
Mary Crawford
Mary Crawford is probably my most favourite villainess. Witty, pretty and outspoken, this unscrupulous young lady is a character from Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park”. Of course, I love the protagonist Fanny Price much more than Mary. But I cannot ignore the fact that Mary is the only villain whom I do not hate even though the causes distress to the main character. Mary is clever, polite, and quite caring. However, Mary’s “dark side” shows her to be selfish and insecure. In spite of this, her open mindedness and her easy ways catch my fancy. She is the complete opposite of the shy, quiet Fanny. Although Mary behaved in an undesirable manner throughout the book, her boldness continues to fascinate me.
President Snow
My most favourite literary villain would be President Coriolanus Snow from “the Hunger Games” series. I like him for his resourcefulness and the ability to intimidate everyone around him. He reeks of roses and blood, which makes him more menacing. According to the star of the series Katniss Everdeen, Snow has snake-like eyes. I love how he laughed when he was about to die in the third and final book in the series. The way he keeps calm when he is in danger is what made me like him. Although he has many good qualities, he is pure evil. He is the president of Panem, which is equivalent to the present-day America. He reminds me of a venomous snake ready to attack. Shudder!
Captain Hook
Do you know about the pirate who loves treasure, but is scared of a crocodile, who swallowed a ticking-clock? Yes, I’m talking about Captain James Hook (or Captain Hook), from the novel “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Never Grew Up”, written by J.M. Barrie. Captain Hook also appears in Disney’s famous television series “Jake and the Never Land Pirates”, along with his best mates Mr. Smee, Sharky, and Bones. He is pretty comical in the television series, and is always snooping around for treasure. He also happens to be arch enemy of Peter Pan and Beatrice Le Beak, and loves his brave mother, Mama Hook. He captains a ship called “The Jolly Roger” and is constantly chased by the Tik-Tok Croc.
Shere Khan
People don’t usually like villains because they are either too cruel or unvirtuous. However, the one villain who I think possesses heroic qualities despite being cruel is Shere Khan from “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling. Although Shere Khan was absolutely evil, I felt he was interesting because of his relentless perseverance and fine sense of humour. He is determined to catch Mowgli at any cost. Such determination is usually seen in the protagonists. I also believe that Mowgli was able to move of his comfort zone and venture out into the real world because of Shere Khan. Although Shere Khan was a coward deep down, his words showed confidence.
Light Yagami
My favourite literary villain is Light Yagami from the manga series “Death Note”. He is one of the smartest characters in the series despite being portrayed as the villain. He was a 17 year-old genius who wanted to eradicate evil from the world. So, he used the Death Note, a book which gives the owner the power to kill anyone by just writing their name in it, to punish criminals.
Although his intentions were noble, his methods were mendacious. He acted solely upon his own intuition and didn’t reveal his identity. To the public he was known as Lord Kira, who would judge the evil-doers. The police force viewed this anonymous executioner as a threat as he held too much power. And the greater the power, more dangerous its abuse. In the end, we realise that the real villain could have been the corrupt human society. What Light Yagami did was undeniably wrong, but it makes us question where the real evil lies.
Rastapopulos
I think a classic villain should be dangerous, yet a numskull. And Rastapopulos, a short tempered and dimwitted character in ‘The Adventures of Tintin” by Herge, fits this description perfectly. He is my favourite villain. His brilliant scams always fail. Sometimes, he gets trapped in peculiar situations and hilariously tries to escape from them. Even a villain can teach us a lot. I like his ability to constantly come up with plans and execute them even though he does not succeed often.
Kumbhakaran
Kumbhakaran, the great Asura, younger brother of Ravana is my favourite literary villain Kumbhakaran did penance for Indrasana, but got Nindrasana in return thanks to goddess Saraswati, who sat on his tongue. Later, during the great war with Lord Rama Ravana woke him up in the middle of his six-month sleeping cycle. Although this meant sure death for Kumbhakaran, he did not scold his brother or fear death. On the contrary, he tried in vain to counsel Ravana to release Sita. I am surprised at this good sense in an Asura. Also, for the last one year. I have turned into a baby Kumbhakaran. As the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, I have taken a recourse in Nindrasana. I am able to sleep a lot more and I have gained weight and feel powerful. My new mantra is ‘Eat, sleep, read, repeat. Also, add ‘play’ whenever, wherever possible! In the absence of a vaccine for children, I urge everyone to stay home and stay safe.
Poopypants
My favourite literary villain is Professor Poopypants. He is a fictional character created by Dav Pilkey in the Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants Poopypants appears as Professor P. The muschievous dun. George and Harold are curious to know how he got his name. They find out that his full name is Professor Pee Pee Diarrheastein Poopypants. The professor starts partnering with Melvin Sneedly, George and Harold’s arch enemy. Melvin has no sense of humour so with Melvin’s help. he creates a machine to rid the world of laughter. Poopypants is a short man with weird hair. After Captain Underpants defeats him in the end. Poopypants returns in “Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Trinkletrousers. I like him because of his mind-blowing weapons such as the Shrink Ray, which can enlarge and condense the object it is pointed at.
Dolores Umbridge
My favourite literary character is undoubtedly Dolores Umbridge from the “Harry Potter” series by J.K Rowling. Though Umbridge is not the main antagonist, she manages to get on everyone’s nerves with her spiteful, narcissistic, power-hungry, and sadistic personality. Most readers can relate more to a spiteful human than an all-powerful being who wants to take over the world. The moment she steps foot into Hogwarts, she imposes strict rules such as checking everyone’s mail. confiscating wands, and not permitting students to be within six feet of each other. Many readers, especially school students, may link Umbridge’s character to one of their extremely strict school teachers. This is why Umbridge is the most hated villain of the “Harry Potter” series, according to multiple surveys. I believe that the character of Umbridge was specifically engineered to be the most annoying character in the series.
Luke Castellan
My favourite literary antagonist would be Luke Castellan of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series. He is a demigod. He is the son of Hermes. He believes that the Olympian gods don’t care for demigods and other minor gods, who are less powerful compared to them. Luke develops this idea because he has had bad experiences in his life. He agrees to turn against the Gods and hosts the evil king of Titans, Kronos. However, he realises his mistake and when Kronos possesses him and injures Annabeth, his closest friend in the Battle of Manhattan, Luke fights against him. He kills himself to stop Kronos and is revealed to be the hero of the Great Prophecy. He is my favourite because of his often-contradictory morals. He is good as well as bad.
Count Olaf
My favourite literary villain is Count Olaf from the book “A Series of Unfortunate Events” written by Lemony Snicket, Count Olaf was a greedy and a cruel man who wanted to get his hands on the Baudelaire children’s fortune.
He is my favourite villain because of the wonderful disguises he conjures up to get out of tricky situations. Most of his disguises cover up his single eyebrow and the eye tattoo on his ankle. However, eventually, the clever Baudelaire children ruin his schemes and report him to the officials.
While others fail to recognise Olaf when he is disguised, the Baudelaire children always know its him. Olaf also keeps a backup plan ready so that he can escape from the officials and the police, if anything goes wrong. Even though he might be a villain, he is by far my most favourite one.
Picture Credit : Google
