Countdown: My Top 10 Favorite Movie Villains

1. Darth Vader- In my opinion, Darth Vader is the epitome of villains. He's powerful, foreboding and he's got a temper. His fall from grace chronicled in Star Wars' prequel trilogy was saddening to say the least, and for fans of the original trilogy, nothing compares to the moment where Vader revealed himself as Luke's father.








2. The Joker-While Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker was greatly hyped due to his death after the film's completion, his final performance was one for the ages. Ledger brought about a perfect interpretation of the classic comic book villain, while adding several small additions of his own to Batman's bane.







3. The Borg-The penultimate adversaries for the Federation and all its allies, the unstoppable force that is the Borg wreaked chaos throughout the Star Trek universe many a time, coupling their hive mind with their tenacity and impressive technology.








4. Colonel William Tavington-The personification of a coldblooded soldier, Colonel Tavington sowed death and destruction into the Martin family after killing both of the family's eldest sons during the Revolutionary War. believe it or not, Tavington was an actual Colonel during the Rev War. Google it if you don't believe me.






5. The Terminator-Yes, I did feature The Terminator as an 'Honorable Mention' on my list of Top 10 Movie Heroes (below), but as you may or may not know, he began as a villain; hence the name the Terminator. The unstoppable killer is a common theme in action, horror and suspense movies. One of the original examples is of the T-800, or the Terminator featured in the movie of the same name.



6. Sauron/The Ring: The creator of The Ring of Power, Sauron gathered massive amounts of villainous creatures to him, creating a true force to be reckoned with for those inhabiting Middle Earth. Sauron also wreaked havoc in his postmortem state of being, as both the 'Eye' of Sauron and The Ring itself. Besides, his armor is so cool looking!



7. The Alliance-Everyone fears rule under a corrupt government. The Galactic Alliance is a shining example of such a government. With Serenity's exploration into characters and their freedom the Galactic Alliance became the adversaries of the crew after creating the madness that was River Tam, and attempting to dissolve of the evidence of their creation of the space savages, the Reavers.




8. The Klingons- A species of interstellar warriors with a barbaric mindset, the Klingons began as the Federation's original nemeses, but eventually created a fragile alliance with the Federation. I still prefer them as the enemies. *Crosses fingers for next Star Trek movie.





9. Emperor Palpatine- Known as the ultimate manipulator, the Emperor began as a politician, rising into the office of Supreme Chancellor, and eventually bestowing the title of Galactic Emperor onto himself. His manipulation of Anakin, the Jedi and the entire galaxy creates the focal point for the entire Star Wars movie saga.



10. Lord Voldermort-The tormentor of both Harry Potter and the magical world in which he inhabits, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had all the tendencies of a power hungry protege. Though his character doesn't make a true appearance until the fourth novel and its subsequent movie tie in, mere stories of his exploits had fans of the books and movies eagerly awaiting his return.

Honorable Mentions:






Grendel: Grendel was the reason that Beowulf traveled to Denmark in the first place. News of his terrible exploits had reached far and wide, and the movie adaption of Beowulf did a wonderful job of bringing the creature to life.





Viki and the NS-5s: Viki was an artificial intelligence that made all the NS-5s (new and powerful robots) turn on their human creators. In the end, Detective Spooner hit the nail on the head when he simply said, "You so have to die!" before putting an end to the computer.







Davy Jones: The antagonist of the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Davy Jones was loosely based off of the seafarer's legend of Davy Jones' Locker. In the films, Jones was beautifully created using motion capture technology.

Stay on the lookout for my Countdown of My Top 10 Favorite Movie Heroins & Villains, along with a new ongoing segment wherein I feature one of my favorite movie or TV soundtracks.