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Who’s your favorite villain?

How well do you know your FR Authors? Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you can expect an update to the author roundtable, featuring many of our best Forgotten Realms authors’ answers to the world’s most important questions, right here on this blog. Submissions for new questions welcome through private message. 

Elaine Cunningham(co-author of The City of Splendors): Elaith Craulnober. Yes, this choice is obnoxiously self-referential, but I really do love the pointy-eared little bastard. (Friend Elaine)

Ed Greenwood (author of The Sword Never Sleeps): Irene Adler, “THE Woman” in the Sherlock Holmes tales. However, ask me on another day and my answer might be different. I like villains for different reasons.

Richard Baker (author of Avenger): Wow, tough one. It’s got to be from a book or movie I really love . . . I suppose Sauron isn’t that great of a villain when you come down to it, you never get any villainous monologues from him. I’m tempted to go with Roy from Blade Runner or Bill “the Butcher” Cutty from Gangs of New York (Daniel Day Lewis is brilliant in that role), who are interesting because they’re ultimately ambiguous. But I think I’ll go with a very un-ambiguous and more off-the-wall choice: Sergeant Lejaune from Beau Geste. Percy Wren describes him as “the only man I have ever met who seemed bad, wholly bad, evil all through, without a single redeeming virtue, save courage.” What more do you need than that? (Friend Richard)

Erin Evans (author of The God Catcher): If I’m being honest, consequences are my favorite villain. When you stop expecting them, you’re screwed. (Friend Erin)

Christopher Rowe (author of a story in Realms of the Dead): You're asking a bunch of writers to name one favorite villain? Have fun editing this one! Okay, partial list in no particular order: Caliban, Khan Noonien Singh, Bertha in Jane Eyre (but only after you've read Wide Sargasso Sea--before that, creepy old "SinDjinn" gets the nod), Savoir-Faire (he's everywhere!), "The Italians" from Breaking Away, Erik Scott de Bie, the anthropomorphic Death that's built up by Dickinson's body of work, all the Fatal Five except Tharok, the Lucifers of John Milton and Mike Carey (but not of Swedish death metal or Neil Gaiman), and Cruella "Crazy Woman Driver" DeVille. (Friend Christopher)

Jak Koke (author of The Edge of Chaos): Brandin in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana. You hate him and love him; his creation is a masterwork by a great writer. Gollum/Smeagol is also one of the best villainous characters ever written. (Friend Jak)

Mark Sehestedt (author of The Fall of Highwatch): Well, keeping the realm of fiction, it’s probably a toss-up between Darth Vader, Roy Batty, and Bruce the shark.

Richard Lee Byers (author of Unholy): I’ll go with the Joker.

Philip Athans (author of A Reader’s Guide to R.A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt): No human being has ever had more fun acting in a movie than Tim Curry had playing Darkness in the otherwise cringe-worthy Legend. (Friend Phil)

Erik Scott de Bie (author of Downshadow): To watch, the timeless Darth Vader. To DM, the unabashed rake Lilten. To write, this dwarven fellow by the name of Rath. (Friend Erik)

Jaleigh Johnson (author of Mistshore): Tie: Khan Noonien Singh and Elaith Craulnober. Khan because he had the best dialogue, and Elaith because of his unmatched style. (Friend Jaleigh)

Rosemary Jones (author of City of the Dead): Long John Silver: because he’s both villain and charmer in Treasure Island (the best pirate book ever!). Even Stevenson couldn’t stand to knock him off at the end. (Friend Rosemary)

Bruce R. Cordell (author of City of Torment): Dexter. (Friend Bruce)

James P. Davis (author of Circle of Skulls): Prince Yyrkoon in Michael Moorcock Elric Saga. He’s a power-hungry, egomaniacal nobleman who has gone half-mad living in the shadow of his allegedly inferior, albino, emperor cousin, Elric. He despises Elric’s power and the fact that their empire is nothing like the cruel conqueror it once was. Yyrkoon tries to kill Elric, usurp his throne, kidnap his lover (Yyrkoon’s sister, Cymoril), and eventually steals a demonic-soul-stealing-god-sword (Mournblade) that further unbalances his already fragile psyche. So, obviously, I prefer a little crazy stirred into my evil. Also, close runner-up, is Gargamel from the Smurfs. (Friend James)

Lisa Smedman (author of Ascendancy of the Last): Evil, in the movie Time Bandits. Love his minions, too. Especially their “idiot-string” pink gloves. Like Evil, I seek a deeper understanding of digital watches, computers and fast breeder nuclear reactors. Unlike him, I don’t want to rule the world. Just fix my damn computer when it crashes.

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