imhilien

Over at That Artsy Reader Girl this weeks Top Ten List is about literary villains, so I thought I would mention my top ten most memorable (in no particular order).

1. Archangel Michaela (Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh) – In an alternate earth where (non-religious) angels rule and vampires & humans serve, she is beautiful, vicious and complex.

2. President Snow (Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins) – No one does ‘the end justifies the means’ like him. Also, Donald Sutherland did a great and menacing portrayal of him in the films.

3. Miss Minchin (A Little Princess by Frances Hogdson Burnett) – Worse. Headmistress. Ever.

4. Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling) – The scary thing about her is that she could be in your workplace.

5. Dumbledore (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling) – A villain who was really hiding in plain sight (e.g. leaving Harry in an abusive household, no regular checkups).

6. Gollum (Lord of the Rings series by J.R. Tolkien) – Corrupted, vicious and pitiful.

7. The White Witch (Narnia series by C.S. Lewis) – Her backstory in ‘The Magicians Nephew' terrified me as a kid.

8. Marc Remillard (Exiles / Galactic Milieu series by Julian May) – Brilliant and capable, but flawed and arrogant (as described by someone on the interwebs).

9. Raistlin Majere (Dragonlance series by Weiss & Hickman) – A lot of peoples Bad Romance back in the day, this charismatic but sickly mage wanted to be a god. That would show those who looked down on him! (No. Just… no).

10. The Phantom (Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux) – Deformed genius with a beautiful voice kidnaps singer he is obsessed with. Yet if he’d had a normal face, people would have looked up to him.