A.E. Albert: A Writer's Blog

My 10 Favorite Literary Villains
by A.E. Albert
@aealbert23

My 10 Favorite

Literary Villains

A good Antagonist is vital to an interesting and well written plotline.  However, they would be nothing without the protagonist.  I mean really, name one good book that didn't have a dastardly and diabolical villain.  Here is a list of my own personal favorite literary rapscallions.


1. Napoleon: Animal Farm by George Orwell

At first it seems that Napoleon the pig was the saviour of the farm.  He and his band of socialist swine ousted the tyrannical farmer and brought liberty to the animals.  Yet, through subterfuge and cunning, he eventually takes the power for himself.

What makes him a truly vile villain isn't just that he himself became what the animals detested most, but he accomplished his task without them being fully aware of it.  His coup d'etat was so subtle and full of duplicity, that even when he sat at the farmer's table smoking and dressed as a man, the animals didn't truly see the situation for what it was.  They knew something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on.


“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”- Napoleon, Animal Farm


2. Iago: Othello by William Shakespeare

Iago has to be one of the greatest villains of all time.  What makes his deeds so frightening is the mask he wears.  He walks about with no one being the wiser to the monster underneath. Iago is surrounded by many who trust him, yet behind the scenes he is moving to destroy Othello, one of the deceived.  

What makes his deeds so heinous is that he didn't even commit the crimes himself.  Through machinations and artifice, he controlled those around him like puppets.  They unwittingly fulfilled his vile plans themselves.  He didn't so much as have to pick up a blade.

"I hate the Moor:
And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets
He has done my office: I know not if't be true;
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety."-Iago, Othello


3. Big Brother: 1984 by George Orwell

Big Brother is not your typical protagonist. Instead of the usual individual, Big Brother is an unknown collective of people who are elected to enforce the watchful gaze of the ruling government in the futuristic state of Oceania.  

What makes them so evil?  Where to begin.  Just so they can control and manipulate the masses, they change history, keep the people under constant surveillance through telescreens, and even attempt to control thoughts utilizing the thought police.  What makes this tale so chilling is it's realism.  No one who has read 1984 doesn't see the similarities and the possibilities of this happening in our own world.

"Big Brother is watching you."- Big Brother


4. Dracula: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Most villains I love to hate.  Who Doesn't?  But Dracula is different, I actually like him.  Yes, he is a murderer, a deceiver and a demon.  What makes the difference for me are his reasons for his crimes. Ok fine, it's still the typical selfish motives, but he sold his soul for the love of his queen.  Then he found the doppelganger Mina and did what he had to do to be rejoined with her.

Are his tactics morally and ethically wrong?  Yes. Should he be punished for his wickedness. Absolutely.   But that doesn't mean I have to hate him for it.


"How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of good men--even if there are monsters in it.”-Dracula, Bram Stoker's Dracula 



5.  Voldemort:  The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Yes, I know Voldemort is your typical I want to take over the world bad guy.  What I think makes him particularly evil is his hypocrisy.  He himself his half-human, yet he sets out to enslave humanity and rule the magical and muggles world as the supreme authority.  Basically what I'm saying is, Voldemort has childhood issues.  Instead of seeking a therapist, he attempts to mask his own self loathing with crimes of mass destruction.


"There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it."-Lord Voldemort, The Harry Potter Series


6. The White Witch: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The White Witch is riding the same wagon as Voldemort.  Her petty self-centeredness is the root of all her crimes.  Mind you, I think inflicting a forever winter without Christmas is particularly dastardly.


"You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny."

- The White Witch, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe


7. Cthulhu: The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

What makes Cthulhu a great villain to me is that he represents the Lovecraft universe and all it's mind bending darkness.  In this world, there are cosmic beings called, The Old Ones.  The only one given a name is Cthulhu.  Myth and legend tell the eerie tale of these beings who ruled the world prior to the arrival of man.  It is a world of ultimate freedom beyond all moral guidelines.  It was a time of anarchy.

It is not just these frightening whispers that put him on my list, but that he is a formidable creature beyond all our physical laws to define.  He and his great stone city are not just alien to Earth, but our very dimension.  The protagonist has a very difficult time attempting to describe Cthulhu and the structure rising from the sea.  The author forces you to use your own imagination, which only makes this monster more chillingly mysterious.

"The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled."-H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu


8. Hannibal Lecter: The Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Whether you've read the books or seen the movies, everyone knows who Dr. Hannibal Lecter is. He is a narcissistic cannibal who sometimes likes to dine on the living victim.  What is so chilling about this monster is that you find yourself liking him.  He's intelligent, cultured and oddly charming.  In short, Lecter is disarming and anyone can be his victim.

"On a related subject, Signore Pazzi, I must confess to you: I'm giving serious thought to eating your wife.”-Hannibal, The Red Dragon


9. Leland Gaunt: Needful Things by Stephan King

Leland Gaunt is another unassuming character.  He arrives in the small town of Castle Rock and opens a quaint shop called, Needful Things.  No matter who walks over the tiny store's threshold, they will be drawn to at least one object, something they have to posses.  

Gaunt uses human greed to pit person against person and turns a once peaceful town into a war zone. Most villains are villains because of their own personal greed.  Gaunt manipulates this human flaw to complete his task; duping unwitting customers into giving him their souls.


"When I started out I was just a peddler moving across the blind face of a distant land. Moving, always moving. Always gone... and in the end I'd always offer weapons. And they'd always take them. Of course I was gone before they realized what they'd purchased."- Leland Gaunt, Needful Things

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10. The Grand High Witch: Witches by Roald Dahl

The Grand High Witch is just as her name implies.  She is the supreme leader of the witches on Earth.  In this story, being a witch is not a choice or a belief system.  They are supernatural beings who came into existence as they are.  And they are evil creatures with the sole aim of eradicating all children from the world.  Why?  Well, apparently smelling like dog poo justifies their annihilation.

The High Witch invents very creative, yet fiendish ways to do away with her young adversaries.  The witches trap them in paintings and turn them into slugs so they can step on them.  One of their more evil tactics is to turn them into hot dogs, only to be eaten by their parents.

"My orders are that every single child in this country shall be rrrubbed out, sqvashed, sqvirted, sqvittered and frrrittered before I come here again in vun year's time! Do I make myself clear?"

-The Grand High Witch, Witches

What would a good book be without a good Villain?