What are some of the most creative villain concepts?

[Scurrybt]

One I can think of is Cain from RoboCop 2. A cult leader that was mechanized into a total war machine powered by the very chemicals he used on his cult.

[Devsman]

I dunno about creative, but these days I've grown a lot more fond of "because being evil is fun" types, simply because they're such a rarity these days.

Seems all the bad guys for some reason these days have to have sympathetic backstories. Which can be ok and all but VARIETY, PEOPLE.

[MinionJoe]

Probably William Foster from Falling Down.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't classify him as a "hero". Certainly not an antihero.

Protagonist fits in the literary sense. But can a "villain" be a protagonist?

[Scurrybt]

Messaggio originale di Devsman:

I dunno about creative, but these days I've grown a lot more fond of "because being evil is fun" types, simply because they're such a rarity these days.

Seems all the bad guys for some reason these days have to have sympathetic backstories. Which can be ok and all but VARIETY, PEOPLE.

I am totally on board with this. That is the reasons why I considered Little Jack Horner from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish such a breath of fresh air.

[Acetyl]

"Teacher" from The Sky Crawlers.
Kano and Yoshii from Texhnolyze.
Proxy 1.
The World, from Pikmin.
Andrew Ryan was a decent concept.

I appreciate adversary / antagonist concepts that are either obfuscated to the point where they're like a black box, or force of nature. Or are rendered diffuse, to the point where the protagonist themselves is a part of the antagonist. Bioshock 1 and 2 both capture this diffusion. And I don't mean "omg srs moral choices with impact" diffusion, actual diffusion, to the point of merging and entwinement, inside and out.

Otherwise antagonists replicate certain spaces which make the entire world an adversary. Like Pikmin, and others. The body and the world are the threat you're trying to thwart. Majora's Mask falls under this as well.

[Abaddon the Despoiler]

Dr Evil. Even his name is Evil. And he had sharks with lasers in their heads

[Scurrybt]

Messaggio originale di Abaddon the Despoiler:

Dr Evil. Even his name is Evil.

Good one lol

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

T-1000, Agent Smith, Sauron, Loki, The Joker, Magneto, Venom, Griffith (Berserk), Sephiroth, Mewtwo, Hannibal Lecter (creative cooking), Maleficent, HAL 9000, Alien

Probably not the most famous but my favorite: Mr. Sinister (X-men), Nyx (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3), King Ghidorah

[MinionJoe]

Now, if we want to venture into the realm of supervillains, it's Lex Luthor, hand down.

[76561198356019466]

The Bookworm from Batman.

[Scurrybt]

Messaggio originale di MinionJoe:

Probably William Foster from Falling Down.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't classify him as a "hero". Certainly not an antihero.

Protagonist fits in the literary sense. But can a "villain" be a protagonist?

I definitely think a villain can be a protagonist. Protagonists are the characters that stories focus on, not defining whether that character is a hero or villain.

[Azza ☠]

Hannibal Lecter
Darth Vader
The Joker
Pennywise
Chucky
Thanos
The Terminator
Freddy Krueger
Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw)
IT (Clown, real name John Wayne Gacy)

There's quite a few good villains, most of which are based upon true events.

[76561198356019466]

Messaggio originale di Azza ☠:

Hannibal Lecter
Darth Vader
The Joker
Pennywise
Chucky
Thanos
The Terminator
Freddy Krueger
Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw)
IT (Clown, real name John Wayne Gacy)

There's quite a few good villains, most of which are based upon true events.

He said villains.
IMO all of those guys are heroes!

[Azza ☠]

Messaggio originale di tiny E:

Messaggio originale di Azza ☠:

Hannibal Lecter
Darth Vader
The Joker
Pennywise
Chucky
Thanos
The Terminator
Freddy Krueger
Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw)
IT (Clown, real name John Wayne Gacy)

There's quite a few good villains, most of which are based upon true events.

He said villains.
IMO all of those guys are heroes!

Haha. Well from their own point of views, sure.

Even a terrorist assumes they are the hero doing the good and justified.

[Scurrybt]

Messaggio originale di Azza ☠:

Hannibal Lecter
Darth Vader
The Joker
Pennywise
Chucky
Thanos
The Terminator
Freddy Krueger
Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw)
IT (Clown, real name John Wayne Gacy)

There's quite a few good villains, most of which are based upon true events.

Great list!

[Cinnamoon_dragon]

Also I think the most creative villains are the ones who create some kind of traps for death games with their victims, like John Kramer from the movie Saw. I'm not a fan of the movie Saw, but I adore the type of villain "Mad game master". Zero Escape or Danganronpa games, etc