Eleanor Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate.

Of course Zhark isn't bad - he's a sweetheart! (Sorry, but I adore Zhark - no idea why, but I just do)

I'll have to second the vote for Blofield - he is the villian's villian.



*********************
Rock is dead. Long live paper and scissors

Give me ambiguity or give me something else!

UFOs are real. The airforce doesn't exist.

Barefoot Andy said:

"Who is really more evil than the devil himself?"

I thought he was just too proud - which is how he's portrayed in The Lamplighter.



---
Those who forget the pasta are doomed to reheat it.

How about the Wizard of Oz - as per "Wicked" rather than the L Frank Baum version.

Steerpike and/or Baron Harkonnen in the lead so far.
Personal POV, of course.

In that case what about the Wicked Witch of the West in the original L Frank Baum story? Although I feel bad for her because like any true woman all she wanted was the pair of cute shoes!

As for "Wicked," that's a good question. I think Elphaba's sister was more evil (greedy) than Elphaba was or you could go with the wizard - if you want to believe Elphaba's conspiracy theory.

I think a truely nasty villan is Lord Fax from Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" Series

Also in the same series is Avril Brita.

And just for good measure, Lord Voldemort, from "Harry Potter"

I always found Roger from Lord of the Flies very disturbing. Much more so than Jack.



============================================
The inimical is often more instructive than the benign.
So between screams, try to pay attention.
============================================

How could I forget Volde...sorry, You-Know-Who?



*********************
Rock is dead. Long live paper and scissors

Give me ambiguity or give me something else!

UFOs are real. The airforce doesn't exist.

I agree Ash Wednesday. Nessarose was far more "subtley" greedy/evil than Elphaba.

The Wizard still wins though.....creepy bloke!

I have to say that Lord Monday and Grim Tuesday in Garth Nix's "Keys" series are quite evil. And extremely greedy with it.

(These are children's books though.....I thoroughly enjoyed them despite being 27 ;-) )

Dear ffolks,

This is a great topic, Bob! I have a few to add:

1. Fagin (I thought of him almost first thing, when this question came up, glad Aurora put him on the list)

2. Gollum (mixes greed with lust; such a powerful combination that his greed/lust became a separte personality to which he was enslaved)

3. O'Brien (I think "Big Brother" was a Party fiction; the evil ones were servants to that fiction like O'Brien, who greedily sought others to entice, manipulate, or haul by force into the same service and so perpetuate it and their own power)

There's some even more evil choices in earlier literature:

4. Halgerd (of Njal's Saga: proud wife of Gunnar, feeling slighted by the wife of his best friend Njal, sends one of her slaves off to kill someone from Njal's household; the women on both sides bait their male household members into continual revenge killings until most are dead; finally Gunnar, himself a target now, requests his wife's help at a critical moment, and she, remembering a slight he'd given her 20 years earlier refuses; he is killed. Pointless violence in service to someone else's pride)

5. Hagen (of the Nibelungenlied; he convinces his nephew Gunnar [not the same as in NS above] to have his best friend Siegfried killed in order to stay in power, then does the job himself; then he manipulates Siegfried's wife into reconcilliation with Gunnar so Hagen himself can keep control of the Nibelung treasure)

-- j

Wow! Pretty illustrious company we're moving in, huh?

Wow...I go away for a few days and everyone suddenly is reading ancient literature....intriguing but dreadfully confusing if you ask me.... I'm surprised no one has mentioned Esme Squalor from "The Series of Unfortunate Events" or...wait...I can't think of anyone else!!!! I'll leave the rest of the suggestions up to you and occassionally pop in and rant....
Best Regards,
~Antonio Salieri~

Mordred. (Or some such variation - the name has mutated from sitting in my mind for too long without use).

Although come to think of it, a lot of the characters from King Arthur were a bit dodgy.



============================================
The inimical is often more instructive than the benign.
So between screams, try to pay attention.
============================================

I nominate Uncle Quentin from the Famous Five Series.

Because I can.

Well I think Siegfried was pretty greedy. Oh yeah, villains, oh well never mind, Mime (and you know what Terry Pratchett thinks of mimes) or there's always Fafnir?






Steerpike!









Bored now. Meet you for a dram in the kitchen, MissP?



_ _ _ _ _

If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.

Yes indeed Ali, and you're in luck, I have found the nice glasses. You'll bring the whisky I hope?

I suppose SOMEONE will complain if I suggest Mr. Antonio Salieri (as portrayed by Peter Shaffer, of course) as a Top Literary Villian?

Dount it, and yep MissP, got the Brora here... or there's the Macallan if you'd rather?