A Few of My Favorite Villains - Part II

Written by Shae Rufe

Belatedly I realized after my last Villains blog went up that I only included three and mentioned my top five and without thought didn’t bother telling everyone a part two would be around the corner. Because sometimes life happens and I forget to add things. So! Without further ado, part two of my favorite villains is now here. Are you ready? Do we need popcorn? I don’t know about you, but I am still full from lunch. Still though, I am a fan of nibbles!

I have spent the past week thinking on how to end this. It’s hard to sit and pick through the countless villains that have come across the geek universe. Obligatorily, I almost want to say that my next favorite villain is the Joker. Being crazy is a huge advantage, but the Joker is also cunning, clever, and I have watched him evolve into a murderous psychopath. Growing up, the Joker was a bad guy, but he was causing trouble, maybe killing a few people, but mostly, he just wanted to kill the Batman. That chilling laugh from the iconic Batman: The Animated Series, will forever be the Joker’s laugh to me.

​There have been so many incarnations of him, and he has been played by so many amazing actors over the years that having a favorite is almost blasphemous. However, as great as the Joker really is, and as fun as it is to write about him, he’s sadly not in my top 5. I know, many of you are up in arms right now…But, before you grab your Lightsabers and Phasers, hear me out. My favorite villain, in place of the Joker, didn’t actually happen until I played Injustice. There have been mixed feelings about the game. Some loved it, others hated it. Personally, I think it’s pretty awesome.  The idea of our beloved heroes as villains?

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Well now, isn’t that just something. Superman is a symbol of justice, of the ultimate good guy. Isn’t that what the whole thing is really about? Superman is, literally, the good guy. Yet, his original creation was meant to have him be the villain. He was changed to a superhero when he was seen as too powerful to really be a bad guy. Plus, I mean, his super weakness is a giant glowing green rock…really, a green rock can make Superman weak. So, when Injustice happened in my life and Superman turned out to be the villain…I couldn’t help but love it.

​Now, you have to understand something about my upbringing. My dad hated Superman. Legitimately could not stand the guy. In turn, I hated him too….and also Spider-Man, but that’s a blog for another day. Now, I know that Superman has been the villain before, but not having read the comics, and my only exposure being television and later video games, I was stoked to see him as the villain in Injustice. How cool of a concept is that? I loved playing the game, and still do from time to time just to beat Superman. Just because I can. Deep down, for me, it’s the fact that this genuinely good guy, this symbol of hope, justice, and the American way, has fallen so far, that he enslaved the earth. He killed his fellow heroes who stood against him, and turned the others to the dark side. That is why Superman is one of my favorite villains.

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Of course, we can’t say villain without bringing up Darth Vader….many of us grew up on Star Wars or had our Parents show it to us. I had no idea what Star Wars was until my dad came along. Even then, it wasn’t until we were living in Florida one day, and he was talking about it, did I stop and go 'what even is that?' Which, apparently was not the thing to say, or was the thing to say?

​Either way, for the next however many hours, I sat and watched all three Star Wars movies. In a row. And you know what? Darth Vader is horrifying when you’re a kid. He’s this big, imposing, figure, with this deep voice…dressed in this black suit of future armor with a glowing red laser sword. How does that not terrify children!? But, there is one other bad guy that scared me more than Vader. One that is easily over looked. The Emperor himself gets my last spot right here. As much as Vader scared me, the Emperor actually gave me nightmares. Seriously, I would dream of him shooting that awful lightning at me…

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You also have to hand it to the guy. I know a lot of us like to ignore the fact that the prequels didn’t happen…but, they did. And honestly, there’s a small part of me that is glad they did. We get to see Darth Sidious weasel his way into power.

​A man, so manipulative, he literally took over the galaxy in a handful of years. And for the most part, he ran it successfully. Given that he is a bad guy, which we’re not even supposed to like, The Emperor really did a number on turning Anakin to the dark side. He had the guy slaughtering children for crying out loud. Actual tiny Jedi’s. That’s pretty hardcore right there. To top it off, we at Nerds That Geek believe in the theory that the Emperor stole Padme’s life force and gave it to Vader…because, who really dies of a broken heart?! Whether it’s true or not, well, we’re fans! We can dream…

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