Poll: What are your favorite types of enemies?

[Easton Dark]

Whatever Joker is, I like that kind of villain.

Psychopathic and someone you don't feel bad about hurting. I hate feeling empathy for people I'm fighting. Makes me feel bad later.

 

[Zhukov]

In no particular order:

Calm and intelligent villains. I hate it when the bad guy does something downright stupid. Y'know, like the old throw-the-hero-in-the-shark-tank-rather-than-just-shooting-him routine.

Sympathetic villains. It makes the story better if I can kinda-sorta see where the villain is coming from. I get bored when the villain is bad just because the hero requires someone to punch.

Utterly crazy villains. Requires no explanation.

Or any combination of the above.

 

[sumanoskae]

Ehh... the villains I like I don't favor because they're a certain type of villain. There are so many different and wonderful ways to make a character compelling, but when it comes to fulfilling the mandatory role of antagonist, the villain needs to be genuinely threatening, but coherent philosophical or moral agendas are the key to great villain characters. In epic struggles like Star Wars or Mass Effect, the best antagonists oppose the protagonist on a moral ground, being just as principled as they are, and make them question their beliefs. This allows the protagonist to grow more as a character, and one of the best ways of conveying deep philosophical messages(Joker(The Dark Knight), Magneto, Legato Bluesummers, Darth Treya). In more personal stories, when the protagonists personal life is more the focus, then a villain that's just a complete monster is helpful for making the story emotionality engaging, but this works bets when they also fit the bill for Magnificent Bastards(Go to TV Tropes and look it up), as they must also be threatening(Emperor Palpatine, Judge Turpin)

Note: Principled villains may also be master planners and manipulators, as long as they don't regress to being unscrupulous

Fun Fact: Joker fits both of these roles, as his principle is chaos and madness and he's intent on proving that everyone is like him

 

[Stammer]

As long as a villain has some level of motive I'm satisfied.

One of my favourite villains of all time is Mr Freeze, entirely because I think he has an awesome motive. Like, I think the Joker is a great villain, but even in "The Dark Knight" I couldn't get behind him as much as I could with other villains just because I can't understand his motive from a personal point of view. Even though he's friggin' awesome in his own right.

 

[KingofMadCows]

With the exception of joke villains, I think the most important aspect of a villain is competence.

 

[Wintermoot]

the guy that is evil because he IS supposed to be evil (like Dr.Evil from Austin Powers)
PS
also what,s a izinglia? lord Inglip want,s me to massage it

 

[Greenhand]

I prefer the 'pleasant other than the fact (s)he...' kind.
It makes for a much more compelling antagonist when they seem like a nice person, aside from the genocide thing. Like if Mr. Rogers was a murderer on the weekend; sure, that's terrible, but he's such a nice guy that I'd honestly be conflicted about opposing him.

 

[darth.pixie]

A mastermind...bordering monster. Like Jon Irenicus, honestly. He was the only villain I loved that I still want to kill every single time. The rest just grow on me and it makes it that much more difficult to enjoy fighting them.

 

[ELD3RGoD]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

And then there is the dude who just straight up kills people because he can. "You failed me? Shiii, sorry maaaayn" ... Bang.
"Oh, is this your wife?" ...Ziiiing... "Sorry."

 

[theheroofaction]

The enigma, a being so simple as to not qualify as a person but, with one ultimate, appropriately vague agenda.

 

[370999]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

While 40k writers are in love with Grimdark to a stupid degree you are being a bit biased here. when you compare the marines to the necrons or chaos marines you can see how beneveolent they are. so by any other standard they would be monsters but in the context of their universe they are saints (though it varies from chapter to chapter and marine to marine)

OP: All of them. Bowser doesn't need to be sympathetic, he just needs to be entertaining and mildly threatening. It's wrong to pick one type of villian out as they all work in a different context and as such it's ignoring how the villian should fit the story.

 

[ELD3RGoD]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

While 40k writers are in love with Grimdark to a stupid degree you are being a bit biased here. when you compare the marines to the necrons or chaos marines you can see how beneveolent they are. so by any other standard they would be monsters but in the context of their universe they are saints (though it varies from chapter to chapter and marine to marine.

I said 'Like', everyone in the WH40K universe can be classed as either the good guy or bad guy depending on personal preference. In terms of lore, perhaps, but this is opinion, not law. Relax a little.

 

[370999]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

While 40k writers are in love with Grimdark to a stupid degree you are being a bit biased here. when you compare the marines to the necrons or chaos marines you can see how beneveolent they are. so by any other standard they would be monsters but in the context of their universe they are saints (though it varies from chapter to chapter and marine to marine.

I said 'Like', everyone in the WH40K universe can be classed as either the good guy or bad guy depending on personal preference. In terms of lore, perhaps, but this is opinion, not law. Relax a little.

You can but again arguing that the dark eldar are ethically equal to the Eldar is a stretch for me. You would need a very unorthodox type of morality to do so. I know it is opinion but is it wrong to ask it be actually defendable?

I know it is a bit anal but then again we are on a board where people get intensly passionate over the topic of why dragon age 2 is worse the the holocaust.

 

[ELD3RGoD]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

While 40k writers are in love with Grimdark to a stupid degree you are being a bit biased here. when you compare the marines to the necrons or chaos marines you can see how beneveolent they are. so by any other standard they would be monsters but in the context of their universe they are saints (though it varies from chapter to chapter and marine to marine.

I said 'Like', everyone in the WH40K universe can be classed as either the good guy or bad guy depending on personal preference. In terms of lore, perhaps, but this is opinion, not law. Relax a little.

You can but again arguing that the dark eldar are ethically equal to the Eldar is a stretch for me. You would need a very unorthodox type of morality to do so. I know it is opinion but is it wrong to ask it be actually defendable?

I know it is a bit anal but then again we are on a board where people get intensly passionate over the topic of why dragon age 2 is worse the the holocaust.

True, like I said though, in warhammer, depending on the race you back, you can claim any other race are the bad guys... except maybe the Tau. I've always classed the Dark Eldar as the Chaos version of the Eldar, dunno if that is true or not lol.

 

[370999]

Villains that are not neccesarily the Villain. Like in Warhammer, as much as the Space Marines claim they are good, alot of their methods remind me of Nazis. I call them villains for killing thousands every day to keep one guy alive, even if they think it will save mankind.

While 40k writers are in love with Grimdark to a stupid degree you are being a bit biased here. when you compare the marines to the necrons or chaos marines you can see how beneveolent they are. so by any other standard they would be monsters but in the context of their universe they are saints (though it varies from chapter to chapter and marine to marine.

I said 'Like', everyone in the WH40K universe can be classed as either the good guy or bad guy depending on personal preference. In terms of lore, perhaps, but this is opinion, not law. Relax a little.

You can but again arguing that the dark eldar are ethically equal to the Eldar is a stretch for me. You would need a very unorthodox type of morality to do so. I know it is opinion but is it wrong to ask it be actually defendable?

I know it is a bit anal but then again we are on a board where people get intensly passionate over the topic of why dragon age 2 is worse the the holocaust.

True, like I said though, in warhammer, depending on the race you back, you can claim any other race are the bad guys... except maybe the Tau. I've always classed the Dark Eldar as the Chaos version of the Eldar, dunno if that is true or not lol.

Don't claim it in front of a dark eldar player. Just don't. Nah I would say you can see that some of the races are slightly better then the others. They would still be the most evil guys in the room if thrown into another setting but I do think there is a difference between some of them.

 

[RanD00M]

The over the top, hilariously insane ones that just want to destroy all life for no reason, and be comical about it as well.

 

[Yureina]

I prefer villains that seem to have a real "reason" for their actions. Something that you can look at, see from their perspective, and think "Ok, maybe they might have a point.." Saren from Mass Effect, Loghain from Dragon Age: Origins, and others like them are what come to mind for me.