I always liked the idea of this guy more than the execution. I found him more chilling in the beginning of the series, when he just seemed like a guy in the background of Walter Skinner's office. Once he started showing up in parking garages all smoky and trenchcoat-clad, two steps away from a modern day Darth Vader (in more than one way, considering how long the creators allowed the gossip to build that he was Fox Mulder's real father), it was a little over the top. He seemed scarier as an - as Stephen King might put it - officious little prick than as the earthly god of black ops.
Still, the character left a sizable mark on the pop culture landscape, and that has to be respected.
9. Q from Star Trek
A good friend is such a stalwart fan of Star Trek's most enduring trickster that she will be both proud Q made the list and disappointed that A) he's on the low end of the totem pole and B) I put him in a list of villains.
And as far as the latter is concerned, she'd be right. Calling Q an out-and-out villain is to miss the point of Q entirely. He certainly rates as "antagonist" and an entertaining one at that, but after watching a hell of a lot more of Star Trek lately than usual I'm convinced that Q genuinely wants to help humanity; even if he can't do it without being a dick at the same time. More importantly, I appreciate the irony that as insufferable as all the various captains find Q, he's really no more condescending toward humanity than the Federation is toward, you know, EVERYONE.
But still, I think he causes enough trouble to rate on a list of villains for enjoyment's sake, if nothing else. He did send the Enterprise into the arms of the Borg, thereby unleashing a deadly engine of death and destruction on the Federation and her people. So, you know, that could measure up as a little villainy.
8. Michael Scott from The Office
No, no, no. Michael Scott is a villain. He was certainly more sympathetic than his English counterpart - and I would argue the slow decline in quality of The Office over the years coincided with more stories that made Scott out to be The Hero - but if The Office ever had a bad guy, it was Michael. The fact that we all love the dumb bastard is just part of the show's genius.
7. The Chicken from Family Guy
Last year I had the opportunity to see The Daily Show's John Oliver on stage in Pittsfield. I was laughing so much and so loudly that at one point, I swear to Hulk, he looked right at me and said, "Could you possibly laugh a little less?" Which, of course, just made me laugh more.
And it's that kind of near-religious level of almost dangerously long and hard laughter that accompanied my first viewing of one of the epic battles between Peter Griffin and the Chicken on Family Guy.
Occasionally on Family Guy, in the middle of the story and for no apparent reason (there is apparently some narrative explanation earlier in the series, but I don't remember), Peter Griffin and this Chicken Man start beating the hell out of one another. The fight starts off like a bar brawl and inevitably reaches Hulk Vs. Thor levels of destruction. The fights are usually uninterrupted for at least 5 minutes, stop-and-start about a half dozen times, and end with half the city in ruins. If you ever saw Roddy Piper and Keith David fight at the end of They Live, it's kind of like that except intentionally funny and stupid.
6. Caleb from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Among Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, the seventh and final season is generally held in very low regard, and for a lot of very good reasons. But Nathan Fillion's Caleb was a bright spot. A bright spot of brutal, violent, and depraved death, but still a bright spot. Of all the Buffy villains important enough to last more than an episode or two, I'd say Caleb was one of the most disturbing and intimidating. He was a bad guy so genuinely scary that you actually believed he might snuff out a few of the headlining good guys. He didn't, but not for lack of trying. He's the reason why Xander Harris looked like Nick Fury for the rest of the series.
5. Sylar from Heroes
There was so damn much wrong with Heroes and it's a real shame. The first season was certainly better than what followed, but it had its share of bad.
Still, say what you want about the rest of the series, I can never fault Zachary Quinto's portrayal of the show's brain-eating bad guy. Like Buffy's Caleb, he was so freaking chilling you believed he might really kill some of the main characters. Unlike Buffy's Caleb, he goddamn did.
Unfortunately, true to its comic book roots, Heroes decided to ruin their successful bad guy by making the audience believe he wouldn't be a bad guy anymore. And then that he would. And then that he wouldn't. And then that he would. Etc.
4. Benjamin Linus from Lost
Benjamin Linus made me feel dumb. As jaded and pop-culture-worldly as I like to consider myself, that Machiavellian bastard fooled me. When they captured him, brought him down to the hatch and kept him prisoner, I really, really, really wanted to believe he was the rich, bored jerk whose hot-air ballon crashed on the island, just like he claimed. He convinced me more than once that he had nothing to do with the engimatic Others.
And of course, eventually he proved to not only be one of them, but that he was their leader.
Just as the case was with Sylar from Heroes, even though Lost was not always the best show, Michael Emerson consistently did a fantastic job as the morally ambiguous Benjamin.
3. Tony Soprano from The Sopranos
There is something particularly haunting about The Sopranos. For me, it has something to do with what it taught me about where we let our sympathies live. If there is such a thing as evil, Tony Soprano lays claim to it. He's funny, charismatic, loving toward his family (sometimes), and maybe even just a teeny bit more thoughtful than your average TV gangster, but he's also an evil prick. And I don't think the creators ever tried to sugar-coat that. They never tried to make him a gangster with a heart of gold. They showed his deception. More importantly they showed the ramifications of Tony's actions on others.
Still we cared about Tony and we wanted him to succeed. We certainly didn't want the Uncle Juniors or the Richie Apriles of Tony's world to gobble him up.
And the reason I think is simply because Tony Soprano was a part of our life. If the show was called The Leotardos and the main character was Phil Leotardo, then it would've been Tony Soprano we would have seen as the bad guy in those last two seasons. It would've been Phil we would've rooted for. We want the people in our lives to be protected and to succeed, which is why we were behind Tony no matter how much of a satannic prick he was. And that's a little interesting considering that's always the gangster's justification for doing what he does: to protect the people in his life.
2. Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad
If an episode of Breaking Bad is halfway to the end and I haven't seen Gustavo yet, I start getting genuinely goddamn angry.
I don't know what it is about the guy. I've seen Giancarlo Esposito in stuff for years, but I've never so viscerally enjoyed his work before his portrayal of the cold, calculating drug lord of Breaking Bad. His quiet viciousness, his manipulative - yet somehow genuine - civility, and that deadly stare are just lots of fun to watch.
I remember thinking Jack Nicholson's Joker was so funny I almost didn't want Batman to win. I don't think Gustavo is very funny, but otherwise I kind of feel the same. I know eventually it will probably come down to either Walter White - Breaking Bad's main character - killing Gustavo or the other way around, and I don't look forward to that.
1. Walter White from Breaking Bad
Believe me, I'm as disappointed as you are that I've been forced to break one of the cardinal list-making rules. You need diversity. In the case of this list, I shouldn't have two characters from the same show and if I absolutely HAVE TO have two characters from the same show, I certainly shouldn't place them back-to-back.
But I can't help it. Actually, choosing between Walter White and Gustavo for the #1 spot was the toughest part of this list.
Walt won for one main reason: I believe in Walter White more than any other villain I've seen in film or television. I believe that guy is out there or that he will happen, or could happen. I believe his story. I never imagined the father from Malcolm in the Middle would play such an affecting character.
I also like the fact that Bryan Cranston seems to genuinely appreciate the gift Breaking Bad gave him. AMC had one of those commercials where they showed clips of the various actors speaking about the series as if they were being interviewed by someone other than the people signing their paychecks, and Cranston said something along the lines of "This is the role of my life." And I just thought, you know...good for you. Good for you for not bitching about typecasting. Not that the David Duchovnys and Sarah Michelle Gellars of the world don't have reason to bitch, but man it is nice when they don't.
Not to mention that I think Cranston is talented enough he won't have to wait for 20 years to be ironically cast in comedies.
