Who are some of your most memorable villains? (And why?)

[MFontana]

Seeing as how I've been working on the opening of Chapter 3 of Duskfall, and doing so introduces one of that series' main, recurring, antagonists it's gotten me thinking.
Who are some of the most memorable villains my fellow authors here have created for their own stories and why were those characters particularly memorable for you (the authors) to write?

Shameless Self-Promo is entirely encouraged here if you're boasting about your cool, and memorable, villains.

Spoiler: The Jester

For mine, I guess it would definitely be The Jester (as I am presently calling him here on SH, since I haven't yet revealed his name in the story).
The character practically breathes malice and I genuinely hope that his presence will come to instill a sense of dread whenever he makes an appearance in the story, as one of the figures lurking in the shadows as he orchestrates the ruin of nations. (Or tries to).
He is intended as a recurring villain throughout the series, up until he is finally met and confronted by the heroes in Volume 3 of the series.
All I have written for him so far (to the point that I'm satisfied with sharing it), is three paragraphs in the opening of the chapter, but so far I've rather enjoyed writing for this asshole, and long for the day when I get to write my protagonist(s) kicking his ass.
As for what makes him a good villain... so far I'd say the intentional "wrongness" and lingering menace that he exudes whenever he is on stage / on screen / on the pages.
I haven't yet had the chance to fully develop him, and those eager to meet him in earnest, will have to wait until the release of The Elarian Chronicles: Duskfall's new chapter later this month.
There is a little teaser that I've asked for some feedback on over in the Story Feedback thread, if you're not patient enough to wait, or want to give some feedback as well.

What about the rest of you?
Who are some of your most memorable villains?
Why are they memorable (for you)?
And what did you enjoy writing about them the most?

ALT - For Readers:
Who are some of your favorite, most memorable, villains in fiction?
Why?
What has made them so memorable for you?

 

[Omarfaruq]

For me, my most memorable villain would be the Grey Clock from the Empire. I was making him just for fun, to create some obstacles for my MC, and I deliberately made him very persistent so I wouldn’t have to add more antagonists . Yeah, you’re right—I haven’t named him, and I don’t have any other antagonists so far. There are plenty of antagonists in the Empire, but they’re mostly just mentioned, not shown. So yeah, Grey Clock is the only antagonist I have right now.

 

[Playerkartik]

 

[LuoirM]

Spoiler: The Giantess

The setting is of stereotypical manhwa/Sword Art Online modern world with VR technology so good you can play MMORPG with it.
Ann Murphray is a simple chubby art teacher... But online, for the past 20-ish years, she never play the game the real way, her level is like, never maxed, she switches accounts constantly and probably can be one-shotted, but she's a pimp

A literal pimp making money by letting weirdos do ERP stuff with her employees... Yeah sorry this story is an author undisguised fetish

That was the PC version years ago, but when the VR version dropped, she started building a mercenary group, did a false-flag operation and incites two (technically three) of the biggest guilds against each other, having the leader of one of those guilds under her arm as a spy for most of the drama-waging. Advertising her mercenary group as a result while the other three crumbles.

The FMC owes her a lot of favors and was emotional manipulated by her so it's hard to take her down... So the FMC declares that she'll put blade under Ann's neck 3 times, and will actually kill her the 4th time

 

[Eldoria]

Honestly... I wanted to answer Pain (Uzumaki Nagato) but when I looked at the thread's question about the most memorable villain, not the most memorable antagonist... my shoulders slumped.

Pain is more worthy of being called an anti-villain than a villain. An anti-villain is a character who has good motivations but realizes his ideals through extreme actions. Or people like to call them a (dark) hero according to the character's own version. While a villain is a character who is evil for evil. And Pain?

He is a tragic anti-villain, he dislikes sadism, depravity, empty cruelty... he actually came to bring world peace through pain. He is a dark version of the protagonist if he stops empathizing and falls into harsh reality.

And ironically... the main antagonist in my series takes Pain's reference regarding character motivation but in a darker feminine version in a broken world. She is called Black Mist Princess - a disaster princess who lulls the tyrannical world through mist.

Spoiler: Black Mist

I rarely write pure villains... even if I do, they're only minor villains who appear for a chapter or three before dying, like when I narrated the slave trader at the beginning of the series who ended up becoming forest fertilizer.

So back to the thread question... who's the most memorable villain? I'd say the Joker. His madness and psychopathy truly haunt me. He's a villain who would do anything to make Batman cry.

 

[Tsuru]

Honestly... I wanted to answer Pain (Uzumaki Nagato) but when I looked at the thread's question about the most memorable villain, not the most memorable antagonist... my shoulders slumped.

Same.
Why the heck everyone that create this kind of great idea thread most always do the [.....that you wrote] part........
Its like the 5th time i come in, only to get out because its a "written by you" part.

------------------------------
So whatever i will say it even if not written by me.
For me. I have a lot of them but i will say one random that i will never forget. Despite not epic.

History Strongest husband's villain n°i forgot.
There is this patriarch guy of this big big villain family.
And as a very original wuxia that mix sci-fi, history, nerfed qi, etc, it still retains the enjoyable idea of "MC never let any enemy go"
But strangely, despite this guy being like a VERY HIGH RANK target in the list of enemies of MC to kill (btw he wrote a wall with the names of his enemies in the mansion), he wasnt killed.
This guy plan both overtly and secretly. High noble rank. Lot of soldiers. Heck possibly could have toppled the emperor. And the number of tricks or attacks he(or his family) did against the MC, is a lot.

But strangely, the dude is one of the very rare enemies that survived MC's plans and counter-attacks. (MC have 0 fighting strength btw and pure IQ all novel long)
Heck, "he" and his whole escaping family, was even caught by MC army. And "he" was eunuched like all others "enemies" before killed.
But that is the thing, novel didn't reveal that it was a 100% fake body double. His actions, body, and speech being totally identical. The body double was cultivated from young, preplanned far ago. That is how cautious this guy was, but still far eclipsed by MC cautiousness +IQ.

This great dude(middle-age) fled alone to another country(ally) and married a persian-like woman after pleading allegiance to the king(important side character). To give birth to a bunch of children and recreate his clan/family.
Later he as a general encounter MC they dont fight & are allies bc of a bigger enemy, . In fact, both of them dont seem to have grudges against each other. One killed the other entire family (main culprits and not him), the other dont particularly have a reason to dislike MC from beginning, bc his sole reason of his actions is simply "his family(BLOODLINE) existing" (becoming rich, plotting, etc are just actions for this goal)
and he is not mad that MC killed his whole family bc it was simply being defeated logic, and he already have children (new blood) soon created by his wife(wives?).
Ironically, its not said canon, but now after typing this, i feel they are similar (him+MC), in the meaning that their goal is to simply want a family. (one wanting close ones, the other wanting his bloodline becoming numerous)


tldr ; I remember him because he is the one rare enemy that the MC didnt kill. Despite being so evil.

 

[MFontana]

Honestly... I wanted to answer Pain (Uzumaki Nagato) but when I looked at the thread's question about the most memorable villain, not the most memorable antagonist... my shoulders slumped.

Pain is more worthy of being called an anti-villain than a villain. An anti-villain is a character who has good motivations but realizes his ideals through extreme actions. Or people like to call them a (dark) hero according to the character's own version. While a villain is a character who is evil for evil. And Pain?

He is a tragic anti-villain, he dislikes sadism, depravity, empty cruelty... he actually came to bring world peace through pain. He is a dark version of the protagonist if he stops empathizing and falls into harsh reality.

And ironically... the main antagonist in my series takes Pain's reference regarding character motivation but in a darker feminine version in a broken world. She is called Black Mist Princess - a disaster princess who lulls the tyrannical world through mist.

Spoiler: Black Mist

I rarely write pure villains... even if I do, they're only minor villains who appear for a chapter or three before dying, like when I narrated the slave trader at the beginning of the series who ended up becoming forest fertilizer.

So back to the thread question... who's the most memorable villain? I'd say the Joker. His madness and psychopathy truly haunt me. He's a villain who would do anything to make Batman cry.

Good news, El.
An Anti-Villain is still qualifies as a type of villain, so they are still a "Villain" here.
The only true difference between the two is motivation.
Villains (like The Joker) take a certain pleasure in their role.
Anti-Villains do the Villainous thing for some misguided reasons they believe are justified. "I wish I didn't have to, but..."

Same.
Why the heck everyone that create this kind of great idea thread most always do the [.....that you wrote] part........
Its like the 5th time i come in, only to get out because its a "written by you" part.

------------------------------
So whatever i will say it even if not written by me.
For me. I have a lot of them but i will say one random that i will never forget. Despite not epic.

History Strongest husband's villain n°i forgot.
There is this patriarch guy of this big big villain family.
And as a very original wuxia that mix sci-fi, history, nerfed qi, etc, it still retains the enjoyable idea of "MC never let any enemy go"
But strangely, despite this guy being like a VERY HIGH RANK target in the list of enemies of MC to kill (btw he wrote a wall with the names of his enemies in the mansion), he wasnt killed.
This guy plan both overtly and secretly. High noble rank. Lot of soldiers. Heck possibly could have toppled the emperor. And the number of tricks or attacks he(or his family) did against the MC, is a lot.

But strangely, the dude is one of the very rare enemies that survived MC's plans and counter-attacks. (MC have 0 fighting strength btw and pure IQ all novel long)
Heck, "he" and his whole escaping family, was even caught by MC army. And "he" was eunuched like all others "enemies" before killed.
But that is the thing, novel didn't reveal that it was a 100% fake body double. His actions, body, and speech being totally identical. The body double was cultivated from young, preplanned far ago. That is how cautious this guy was, but still far eclipsed by MC cautiousness +IQ.

This great dude(middle-age) fled alone to another country(ally) and married a persian-like woman after pleading allegiance to the king(important side character). To give birth to a bunch of children and recreate his clan/family.
Later he as a general encounter MC they dont fight & are allies bc of a bigger enemy, . In fact, both of them dont seem to have grudges against each other. One killed the other entire family (main culprits and not him), the other dont particularly have a reason to dislike MC from beginning, bc his sole reason of his actions is simply "his family(BLOODLINE) existing" (becoming rich, plotting, etc are just actions for this goal)
and he is not mad that MC killed his whole family bc it was simply being defeated logic, and he already have children (new blood) soon created by his wife(wives?).
Ironically, its not said canon, but now after typing this, i feel they are similar (him+MC), in the meaning that their goal is to simply want a family. (one wanting close ones, the other wanting his bloodline becoming numerous)


tldr ; I remember him because he is the one rare enemy that the MC didnt kill. Despite being so evil.

I can't speak for anyone else's motivations but my own for including the "that you've written" part.
That said, my reasons were quite simple. ScribbleHub is a place for authors and readers, and this sub-forum is primarily for the authors, so I prioritized authors in my questions.
I did also include optional questions for readers as well to list some of their favorite villains too, as part of the character study on what makes a villain memorable.

 

[LilythGeist]

So... On my end there would be two options:

Maximilian Löwe - an actual Nazi that was isekaied to Dwynevia

Kojiro Yamaoka - a serial rapist "working" as a Lieutenant in a criminal conspiracy funding itself through slavery.

 

[Envylope]

I have not had a memorable villain.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Who are some of your most memorable villains?

Gaius Julius Caesar

Why are they memorable (for you)?

Well, it's Caesar.

And what did you enjoy writing about them the most?

The 'what ifs' about his life.

 

[Dawnathon]

From one of my not-web-novel works, the most memorable villain is less a direct antagonist, and more a force of nature personified. She drifts in and out of the scope of the story, with enough remnants of her actions being seen throughout the setting. When she is actively antagonizing anyone on screen, it's always with the worst sense of helplessness for the victim.

She has no name, but she was once known as Rendarsahaivāna. "The divine ruination from on high." You may call her Rend.

The title was less a name and more a description. She is the current incarnation of one of the few Divine Beasts of the setting. Giant monsters so mysterious that even the creator gods don't know how they exist, and so powerful that those very gods couldn't kill them. Each of them had their own strange powers, but they all shared the trait of being walking disasters for anything in their path. Of them, Rend was the most destructive. The skies themselves would quake as light erupted from the demonic titan. Think Destoroyah as a rough comparison.

Nowadays, after a lot of things we don't have time to get into, she's incarnated as a hulking woman over two meters tall. Ironically, despite being renowned for destruction before, one of her most striking traits now is her sheer vitality. Several times over the past centuries, she has had to shed her skin to remove one of her weaknesses in the process. Each shed skin, owing to her vitality, have regrown into a living creature and become their own person. A living snapshot of the shames and failures she sought to abandon when she rended that very skin off. They're something in between clones and daughters. The first daughter is her when she was an ignorant, beastly savage, yet also carefree and innocent. The second daughter, who is a main character in her own right, is her when she thought she was a proud, noble hero, saving the world and all its people, not knowing her own quixotic naïvete would lead to her being misled and abused to commit atrocities. There's several more daughters too, each representing a dramatic shift in the life of this immortal beast.

Yet with all these aspects she abandoned, what remains of the Rend that exists today? She's a monster who's at peace with herself and at war with the world, in the oddest way possible. She'll drift into one village simply to dine there without any incident, then she'll march into a guarded fort, shredding and crushing everyone in sight for no clear reason. If anybody asks, she'll just laugh at them for thinking she owes them any answers, though the reader is able to piece it together as more than senseless slaughter. It's completely unpredictable, which makes her perpetually anxiety inducing to be around. She'll do it all with nothing more than a bored smile and a sense of nonchalance. Just like how she must have been back as a giant monster, and even how she was before the first time she shed her skin.

As for her role in the story, one of the major driving motivations is from the "heroic" second daughter wanting to stop Rend, yet also having her biggest fear be her own "mother". She's an optimistic idiot who charges in headfirst to enact justice, yet she finds herself a scared little girl around Rend. You don't even need to hear about their backstories to guess how things must have gone. Part of this daughter's motivations is to stop the evil monster terrorizing the lands, but the main reason is just wanting to put the old girl out of her misery. If she even mentions a peep of that around Rend, it's a coin toss whether she'll be patted on the back in amusement, or find herself being strangled on the spot for the same reason.

There are other villains throughout, but Rend is unique in her sheer prominence and how she simultaneously has the most character and the least at the same time. The shed skins tell the grand tale of an immortal who's been on countless adventures and tragedies, all while the woman herself comes off as little more than a capricious beast. The quietest tragedy is the unspoken fact that this is what countless years of immortal wisdom has led her to, after an untold amount of interactions with mortals. Again, an oddly similar image to the Divine Beast that haunted the lands in the same way she's doing now.

She was one of the hardest characters to write, but hopefully you can see some of the reasons why I had to keep going. The original idea was "simultaneously a living legend and a living nightmare", and I think it turned out well.

 

[CountVanBadger]

So far, XNPC doesn't have any outright villains. The closest thing they have are three guys from a rival guild who are hunting the main characters. But they're not doing it out of malice, they're doing it because the MCs poached a dungeon from their guild's territory, which permanently robbed them of precious resources, and if they don't make an example out of the thieves then all the other guilds will think they can walk all over them.

There will be actual villains eventually, but probably not until book 3.

 

[Cardon]

What about the rest of you?
Who are some of your most memorable villains?
Why are they memorable (for you)?
And what did you enjoy writing about them the most?

The villain of my first arc was Lethe, the incarnation of forgetfulness.
She's born from a storyteller's curse that struck a monarch from the records of history, and her cruel deeds are just her nature as a curse.
She gains pleasure from hurting people by making them forget their loved ones or important things like their medication.
It was pretty enjoyable to write how unhinged she was.