A Few of My Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Villains

Written by Shae Rufe

Let's talk more about movie villains today. Throughout the history of cinema there have been so many villains and lore, it's almost hard to keep up. As film continues to grow and bring us new and exciting stories, it gives us tons of villains to choose from. Well, I have quite a few favorite bad guys and gals myself and today I'm sharing with you my top picks from science fiction and fantasy and since I am a self-proclaimed expert, I feel pretty qualified to make these assessments, so, I'm going to.

Smaug takes the first pick of today's movie villains because he's a dragon. Have there been other films with dragons as the bad guys? Yes, yes there have. But have they had the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch? No, no they have not. Smaug takes the cake for having the biggest collection of gold, jewels, and shiny things. Not only that, Smaug took on an entire army of Dwarves and drove them from their home, all so he could have pieces of shiny metal and rocks. Granted, he's also a lot cooler in the books and we could sit and argue over which version is better, but the film adaptation of Smaug is pretty epic. From the littlest details to the biggest ones, this dragon beats all the others to become one of the best movie villains out there. Subsequently, that voice alone makes him the scariest of them all.
 
I bet you are expecting me to pick Khan next. I almost want to, but instead I'm going to pick all the Klingons. Old school Trekkies know the fear a Klingon can instill into the hearts of any Federation member, and also ourselves. Klingons in the old series and even the new film verse have kindled that old basic fear within us all. Klingons aren't meant to be warm, cuddly, and friendly. That's Next Gen's thing. No, they're fierce, horrifying, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. They want that planet? That's theirs now. They want that slice of cake you just cut? Kiss it goodbye because they're going to take it. Klingons are intimidating and frankly a scary militant race of people who pretty much survive off of war. Yes, both old and new Klingons have their charms, and well, their psychotic nature. But there's something about fighting an enemy that's sole purpose is to fight that's just downright scary.
 
And lastly for today's pick I have to go with the daddy of all baddies, Darth Vader. Is he our father? No, he's Luke's. And if you were like me and watched these as a kid, you didn't see that plot twist coming a mile away. It has since been used in a multitude of films, books, and comics, and by no means was this the original villain related to hero reveal. Still, it shocked us to our cores and made us second guess a lot. Darth Vader was a great bad guy, especially since his first introduction to us has him literally storming a ship to kidnap a princess! Plus, later on, he outright tortures his own daughter for information. Granted, he doesn't know it's his daughter, but that's not the point. This Sith Lord stops at nothing to see to his evil end goals achieved. Except when it comes to saving his son, because even bad guys can redeem themselves. The only downside is that he did kill a lot of people...and clearly, he loves Luke more than Leia. Which, I guess helps to enhance his villainy?

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