Five Answers part 2- Moo hoo ha ha
Today I'm answering solaeris ' 'Name your top five antagonists'.
5. Doctor Facilier
(The Princess and the Frog)
'I hope you're satisfied- but if you ain't, don't blame me- blame my friends on the other side'
Disney does awesome villains. This is simply a fact. So when I say that Facilier is, to me, one of the best villains Disney has produced, well, that surely means something! He manages to be menacing, charismatic and sympathetic all at the same time. You hate Facilier for what he does to Naveen (and Ray, sweet goodness Ray), but at the same time you can't help but feel for the guy when his 'Friends' finally collect on their debt, sending him into a desperate, screaming panic. Plus, he's just cool. Look at that damn hat. It's got a skull on it. That is a nice hat. His song is cool too- one of the best in the movie. It's certainly one of the most memorable. Good villains need to be memorable, and Doctor Facilier certainly didn't leave my brain in a hurry.
4. Hercules Gryptpype-Thynne and Count Jim 'Thighs' Moriarty
(The Goon Show)
Moriarty- This is the charlie who's going to drain the loch for us.
Speaking of memorable, these two have been around since the Fifties and they're still pretty great. Gryptpype and Moriarty are the main antagonists of the radio series The Goon Show, which you may know of as having inspired, oh, I don't know, THE FRIGGING BEATLES and MONTY PYTHON. There's a good chance that if you approach a Brit of a certain age and say 'He's fallen in the water' in a silly voice they'll crack up. The world of The Goon Show is a surreal, frequently chaotic place inhabited by surreal, frequently chaotic people. The role of Gryptpype and Moriarty was basically to show up every episode with a scheme to con well-meaning idiot hero Neddie Seagoon out of vast sums of money. They were usually thwarted by underestimating exactly how absurd the world of the show was- and how stupid Seagoon could be. Nevertheless, they are great villains because 1. they are the original and the best and 2. sometimes an entertaining failure is better than a boring success.
3. Ursula
(The Little Mermaid)
Ariel: And if I don't?
Ursula: "Nothing drastic darling, I'm sure. Oh, look, small print. Your soul is mine forever and you're doomed to spend the eternity in my watery hell-soaked lair. Lawyers, don't you just love 'em?!"
I won't lie to you- this list changes a lot according to my whim and what's floating around in my fandom at the time. This spot, however, is always taken. Because Ursula is an incredible villain. Not only does she hold her own (along with Maleficent) against the usual Disney male villain heavy-hitters (Frollo, Scar, Hades, the aforementioned Doctor, etc) but she does it with such style. Her song, Poor Unfortunate Souls, is just brilliant- the way it veers from shop-patter and self-aggrandizement to villainous gloating is a perfect insight into her character. Ursula doesn't give a crap about Ariel. She just wants to get back at Triton. And she nearly succeeds! Also, she's terrifying. My little brother used to hide when she came onscreen (he was quite small at the time). That's basically what all villains live for- to frighten small children senseless. And Ursula succeeds marvelously.
2. Princess Azula
(Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game.
Azula: Oh, don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.
What can you say about Princess Azula? She has 1. 'killed' an Avatar, 2. taken over a seeming impenetrable city with only two allies, 3. achieved the pinnacle of firebending (namely lightning), and 4. managed to manipulate the seemingly-impossible return of Aang so that she came out on top. Oh, and she's only fourteen. Yeah, Azula is pretty much the epitome of villainy. To me, the best example of this was the season 2 finale, which was pretty much the Azula Is Awesome Show (And It Is Horrifying). Within the space of two episodes she managed to make it so that the GAang went from almost-victory to utter defeat. But Azula isn't just out-and-out-evil- the story makes it clear that under that sociopathic exterior is a girl who is just as alone as her brother. You can't help but feel sorry for Azula, in the end.
1. Doctor Sofia Lamb
(Bioshock 2)
"Rapture is a body, Delta. I am the voice and Big Sister is the hand. When Rapture speaks of you, she says only this: Sleep now. Your day is done."
You never, ever feel sorry for Doctor Lamb, though. In my opinion, Bioshock 2's antagonist passes the original Andrew Ryan in almost every way. Where Ryan was, often, a foaming despot, Lamb is cool, calm, and utterly dedicated to her goal. Which is, by the way, turning her only daughter into a Weird Science hivemind of every inhabitant of Rapture, building a cult of the 'Family' in the process. Sofia Lamb basically answers the question of 'what would a mad Social Scientist be like?'. Lamb is so dedicated to her goals that when it looks like she's going to fail she is fully prepared to smother her own daughter. And she still believes that what she's doing is right. More than any other antagonist, Lamb genuinely scares and compels me in equal measures. I've never seen a female villain quite so brilliantly realised (Azula came close), and her cool, measured voice taunting me through the speakers was half of the reason Bioshock 2 was such an interesting narrative experience. Seriously, look up the trailers. That's some A quality voice acting right there. Doctor Sofia Lamb is, by all accounts, a Magnificent Bitch. And that's why she's my number one antagonist.
Tomorrow, protagonists!
5. Doctor Facilier
(The Princess and the Frog)
'I hope you're satisfied- but if you ain't, don't blame me- blame my friends on the other side'
Disney does awesome villains. This is simply a fact. So when I say that Facilier is, to me, one of the best villains Disney has produced, well, that surely means something! He manages to be menacing, charismatic and sympathetic all at the same time. You hate Facilier for what he does to Naveen (and Ray, sweet goodness Ray), but at the same time you can't help but feel for the guy when his 'Friends' finally collect on their debt, sending him into a desperate, screaming panic. Plus, he's just cool. Look at that damn hat. It's got a skull on it. That is a nice hat. His song is cool too- one of the best in the movie. It's certainly one of the most memorable. Good villains need to be memorable, and Doctor Facilier certainly didn't leave my brain in a hurry.
4. Hercules Gryptpype-Thynne and Count Jim 'Thighs' Moriarty
(The Goon Show)
Moriarty- This is the charlie who's going to drain the loch for us.
Speaking of memorable, these two have been around since the Fifties and they're still pretty great. Gryptpype and Moriarty are the main antagonists of the radio series The Goon Show, which you may know of as having inspired, oh, I don't know, THE FRIGGING BEATLES and MONTY PYTHON. There's a good chance that if you approach a Brit of a certain age and say 'He's fallen in the water' in a silly voice they'll crack up. The world of The Goon Show is a surreal, frequently chaotic place inhabited by surreal, frequently chaotic people. The role of Gryptpype and Moriarty was basically to show up every episode with a scheme to con well-meaning idiot hero Neddie Seagoon out of vast sums of money. They were usually thwarted by underestimating exactly how absurd the world of the show was- and how stupid Seagoon could be. Nevertheless, they are great villains because 1. they are the original and the best and 2. sometimes an entertaining failure is better than a boring success.
3. Ursula
(The Little Mermaid)
Ariel: And if I don't?
Ursula: "Nothing drastic darling, I'm sure. Oh, look, small print. Your soul is mine forever and you're doomed to spend the eternity in my watery hell-soaked lair. Lawyers, don't you just love 'em?!"
I won't lie to you- this list changes a lot according to my whim and what's floating around in my fandom at the time. This spot, however, is always taken. Because Ursula is an incredible villain. Not only does she hold her own (along with Maleficent) against the usual Disney male villain heavy-hitters (Frollo, Scar, Hades, the aforementioned Doctor, etc) but she does it with such style. Her song, Poor Unfortunate Souls, is just brilliant- the way it veers from shop-patter and self-aggrandizement to villainous gloating is a perfect insight into her character. Ursula doesn't give a crap about Ariel. She just wants to get back at Triton. And she nearly succeeds! Also, she's terrifying. My little brother used to hide when she came onscreen (he was quite small at the time). That's basically what all villains live for- to frighten small children senseless. And Ursula succeeds marvelously.
2. Princess Azula
(Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game.
Azula: Oh, don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.
What can you say about Princess Azula? She has 1. 'killed' an Avatar, 2. taken over a seeming impenetrable city with only two allies, 3. achieved the pinnacle of firebending (namely lightning), and 4. managed to manipulate the seemingly-impossible return of Aang so that she came out on top. Oh, and she's only fourteen. Yeah, Azula is pretty much the epitome of villainy. To me, the best example of this was the season 2 finale, which was pretty much the Azula Is Awesome Show (And It Is Horrifying). Within the space of two episodes she managed to make it so that the GAang went from almost-victory to utter defeat. But Azula isn't just out-and-out-evil- the story makes it clear that under that sociopathic exterior is a girl who is just as alone as her brother. You can't help but feel sorry for Azula, in the end.
1. Doctor Sofia Lamb
(Bioshock 2)
"Rapture is a body, Delta. I am the voice and Big Sister is the hand. When Rapture speaks of you, she says only this: Sleep now. Your day is done."
You never, ever feel sorry for Doctor Lamb, though. In my opinion, Bioshock 2's antagonist passes the original Andrew Ryan in almost every way. Where Ryan was, often, a foaming despot, Lamb is cool, calm, and utterly dedicated to her goal. Which is, by the way, turning her only daughter into a Weird Science hivemind of every inhabitant of Rapture, building a cult of the 'Family' in the process. Sofia Lamb basically answers the question of 'what would a mad Social Scientist be like?'. Lamb is so dedicated to her goals that when it looks like she's going to fail she is fully prepared to smother her own daughter. And she still believes that what she's doing is right. More than any other antagonist, Lamb genuinely scares and compels me in equal measures. I've never seen a female villain quite so brilliantly realised (Azula came close), and her cool, measured voice taunting me through the speakers was half of the reason Bioshock 2 was such an interesting narrative experience. Seriously, look up the trailers. That's some A quality voice acting right there. Doctor Sofia Lamb is, by all accounts, a Magnificent Bitch. And that's why she's my number one antagonist.
Tomorrow, protagonists!