www.sfsignal.com: Everyone loves a good bad guy, so we asked this week’s panelists the following:
Q: Who are the best bad guys in science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror literature?
- Saruman (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)
- Horrabin (Tim Powers, The Anubis Gates)
- Randy Flagg (Stephen King, The Stand)
- Annie Wilkes (Stephen King, Misery)
A: Kay Kenyon
- I start with Big Brother in Orwell’s 1984. Massively influential; perhaps the best known force of antagonism if not strictly a “bad guy.”
- Some of my favorite villains are from Stephan King: These include his brilliant renderings of possessions by evil: Jack in The Shining and;
- All the Tommyknockers of King’s book by that name. I don’t know if it’s that he is often describing *writers* that grabs me so.
- My favorite ensemble cast of bad guys in any novel: In Michale Swanwick’s The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, there is an amazing assemblage including the rusted old dragon Melancthon, the elf lord Galiagante, the snotty delinquents and so many more. All bad to the bone, and more fun than should be legal.
- Hal in Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; perhaps just technically a book.
See the entire list here.
This is a great list, don’t you think?
Did the panelists miss any great villains? Who would you add?
And, what makes a great villain for you?
