My First List of Least Favorite Villains · 4:56pm May 11th
This is my first attempt at creating lists of characters that I particularly love or hate. And as you can see, I decided to try my hand at it by starting with a list showcasing some of my least favorite villains, each of them being based on various entertainment media I’ve actually watched.
At first, I considered simply trying to narrow it down to a “Top 10” list. After I discovered how many villains I actually have a hatred for, though, I figured that it’d be better to make a multipart list detailing who they were and why my feelings towards them are so sour. So, I decided to display who my “least favorite villains” were ten at a time, with ‘dishonorable’ mentions being included should some of the antagonists I hated have a relation of sorts to ones I list.
Take a look:
(Warning: Some of these explanations may be a little rant-filled and longer than others.)
#1: Robert the Terrible (“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie”)
Explanation: While I can see that Robert was supposed to be a metaphorical representation of Satan, the prospect wasn’t particularly clear to me as I watched the film. Instead, he came across to me as more like the VeggieTales version of Scar from “The Lion King”, and he was neither engaging, original, or interesting. Not to mention the buildup towards him or the constant talk of how threatening he was never did him any favors, because he was relatively bland.
==========*****==========
#2: Ludmilla (“Bartok the Magnificent”)
Explanation: Despite not seeing every movie directed by the legendary Don Bluth, I will say that Ludmilla is quite honestly, and so far, the most unimpressive villain I’ve ever seen in a Bluth-production. Not only was she a poor successor or follow-up to Grigori Rasputin from “Anastasia”, but she’s two-dimensional, generic, irritating, and predictable.
==========*****==========
#3: Victoria Best (“WordGirl”)
Explanation: Without a doubt, Victoria Best is the most one-dimensional and annoying villain in the show. The intentions of making her a polar opposite of Becky Botsford/WordGirl are crystal clear, but whenever she was around, I could hardly stand being in her presence compared to other adversaries of WordGirl. People also try to excuse her behavior by saying that it’s a result of her upbringing by her parents, but I personally don’t care. Plus, she had an interesting character arc going from her title episode, was carried over to “Crime in the Key of V”, and ended with “Don’t Mess with the Best”, but everything ultimately fell apart for Victoria in the latter episode thanks to terrible writing and direction.
==========*****==========
#4: Ledge (“Cyberchase”)
Explanation: Ledge had great potential, but his overall characterization was terrible. He’s neither as smart as he or the character pages on the various wikis let on, and there are several moments involving him in both of his two major appearances that annoyed me more than anything else. Not to mention his motivations are largely idiosyncratic, and he appeared to be a subject of terrible writing, where every other character is given the idiot-ball just to make him seem smart!
==========*****==========
#5: Sprout Cloverleaf (5th Generation of “My Little Pony”)
Explanation: Thus far, Sprout is the most idiotic, one-dimensional, infuriating, and childish villain of the MLP franchise in general. Just like Victoria Best, I don’t care whether his personality or behavior has anything to do with how his mother raised him or if he’s supposed to be an alternate to Sunny Starscout, none of that is any excuse for how overbearing Sprout is. His later appearances after My Little Pony: A New Generation also show that he’s never going to change as a pony or actually learn anything. The only thing I’d like out of Sprout…is to see him turned into a platter of horse meat.
==========*****==========
#6: Pristine Figg ("Tom and Jerry: The Movie”)
Explanation: In many ways, Pristine Figg largely seemed like a cross between two Disney villainesses: Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” and Madame Medusa from “The Rescuers”, only without the charm, personality, or reasonable motivations. On top of that, she was incredibly irritating to sit through, and there were times where she’d form over-the-top expressions that’d be cringy and creepy.
==========*****==========
#7: Mr. Swackhammer (“Space Jam”)
Explanation: One of the most bland and forgettable villains in existence, as well as a lackluster adversary for the Looney Tunes. He has no personality, no sense of humor, and no character development, which pretty much screams one-dimensional and lifeless cardboard. Not to mention his overall motivations were extremely ridiculous and stupid. I mean, imprisoning the Looney Tunes just because he thinks it'll help improve his theme park? That sounds like something only a lame-brained asylum patient could cook up!
==========*****==========
#8: Shaw (“Open Season”)
Explanation: Along with being the first villain of Sony Pictures Animation’s filmography, Shaw is quite honestly one of the worst villains as well. He’s mind-bogglingly infuriating and idiotic, his jokes are more worthy of groans than laughs, and even as the entirety of the film’s story progressed, he neither grew as a character or became more intimidating. Basically, he’s a one-dimensional nut job who should be taken to the nearest asylum and kept there for life.
==========*****==========
#9: Smek (“Home”)
Explanation: As an avid fan of Dreamworks, I’m gonna come clean by saying that Smek is one of the worst villains to be featured in the studio’s filmography. Perhaps even the worst. He’s nothing more than a childish, unfunny, wimpy, and brainless moron who did nothing but cause problems. Turning him into sushi would certainly be on my to-do list, I’ll tell you that.
==========*****==========
#10: Mola Ram (“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”)
Explanation: Looking back on the Indiana Jones franchise, it occurred to me that Mola Ram was the series’ most forgettable and uninteresting of the villains. With how many other terrible qualities Temple of Doom had at the forefront, it was honestly hard to remember that this guy even existed. Not to mention his motivations hardly made sense to begin with.
Dishonorable Mentions: Mr. & Mrs. Best, Victor Best, General Smoochington, Phyllis Cloverleaf, The Nerdlucks/Monstars, Ferdinand
Explanation: These characters have largely been included as dishonorable mentions thanks to their direct relations to some of the villains I listed. They too were less than tolerable in a great many ways, both thanks to having zero character growth and nerve-grinding personalities.
However, while Phyllis Cloverleaf isn’t as one-dimensional compared to the other characters, she’s part of the list specifically due to poor development and character-handling. She takes on the role of a prejudiced and manipulative company CEO who even encourages Sprout to go crazy with his newfound authority, and then just because of that, she goes into a complete 180. Everything about her ‘reformation’ near the end felt like it happened simply for the sake of the plot, and I very much wanted to see her turned into horse meat with her son because of it.
There are just some villains that can fall flat without proper development or motivation, on top of just having basic motivations like" I want all the money", if they don't have proper screen time to establish themselves as threats, they feel more like obstacles instead of real threats for the heroes, unless your some of the real bad guys like Shen, Tai Lung, Death, or Darth Vader, a villain who's evil for the sake of it can be pretty bland, and it's very rare for villains like those to be entertaining now a days , let's just be glad that the studios who've made movies like these, can put a lot of effort in, and make some of the coolest villains we'll ever see.( Also I don't think Smek should be the WORST villain anymore because the Doom Syndicate exists, thanks Dreamworks!
)
Pristine Figg CERTAINLY is a bad egg.