Day 1: Villainous Villains

Here is a series dedicated to villains, where I post a few of my thoughts and reflections of their character and just how evil they are. The order of villains I will be listing start from the lowest of my evil scales.. keep in mind, I'm not doing every villain. Just some of my favorites who I feel are some of the baddest.

But just how bad? We'll see.



Professor Ratigan




Evil Scale: 5.9

You've gotta admit, for a rat, he was a pretty good villain. Regardless of who he was based off of.
Ratigan was a gentleman of sorts and had a twisted sense of humor and order, much like his human counterpart. But you could tell, there was always something hidden there that he tried to keep at bay.
He's a rat of class and likes to keep things under control. His control.
But that doesn't stop him from showing a dark and menacing side that can sometimes slip out if he's pressed too hard. Especially when referred to as a rat.
Not too often does he get his own hands dirty, except for when he's brought to absolute necessary levels, so he's much like your average crime boss. He relies well enough on his lackeys to do the job and shows little to no compassion for those who he suffers through his schemes and actions.



Like many a villain, his goal is power and wealth and dominion over those he sees lesser than him.
And he'll stop at nothing to get him there.
If you are no longer of use to him, he doesn't hesitate for a second on getting rid of you.
He respects his opponent Basil to a certain extent, but his pride and arrogance that clouds his good judgment leaves him blind to see that Basil is far greater than him.
In the end, when everything falls out of his control, he loses all of his cool demeanor and breaks free of the gentleman shell to release a far more barbaric and unpredictable part of himself that up until that point, he tried so hard to keep at bay. Image and status is important to him, but it's not his fashion or manner that he worries about.
It's the fear of appearing weak and beatable. It's the fear of losing control.






Edgar



Evil Scale: 6.0

Massively grotesque and due to his species, heavily unpredictable, Edgar has just got to be included solely because of the way he killed and the way he felt about us.
The irony of his character is that even though he himself was a bug, he felt differently about our roles to one another. He felt like we were the bugs. We were the infestation.
He saw us as a disgusting race who were too many and decided to take matters into his own hands to extinguish us. It's made clear that the only thing he really cares about is his own kind.
Therefore, to us, he shows zero tolerance and a heavy disregard for our own lives and he kills us in a cold, callous way, much like one would do to a bug.



A few of his actions or choices of dialogue can unintentionally be comical, so he keeps his character leveled with a menacing manner, but still be humorous to watch.
There are times with him in the movie where you feel grossed or creeped out, or you laugh, or have chills running down your spine, which makes for an excellent brand of a villain. The only thing that stops many a villain from being truly bad to the core is their care for something, and this is the same with Edgar.
His actions may have been evil, but he showed a weakness and he let it drive him.

His seemingly callous nature towards us winds up taking part of his downfall where he doesn't recognize the capability of K and J in stopping him, therefore plays it out in an ignorant, cocky manner, that led to him being outsmarted and eventually defeated.

Ghostfreak

Evil Scale: 6.0

If you were unaware before, I am a huge Ben 10 fan (particular of the old series) and one of my favorite characters from it is Ghostfreak.
I dunno why, his character is just seriously interesting.
He was created to be intentionally creepy and spooky for it's own genre in Ben's selection of aliens, but his background is actually more dark and mysterious than the writers had intended. And I think that's what gives Ghostfreak his charm. The way they brought him in was pretty clever, from what seemed to be just another alien for Ben to turn into, to a rather cunning and dangerous future adversary.



I love every episode he's in, but especially the ones where he teams up with Frankenstein, The Wolf and The Mummy. While Ghostfreak may have his own weaknesses, it doesn't stop him from being cold and twisted to his victims. For a kid's show, Ghostfreak was pretty dark, implied or otherwise.
So dark, he terrified other villains. Even the great Vilgax had problems taking him down on his own.
Cuz Ghostfreak is just that cunning and powerful. He can take you over with ease and make you do anything he wants. One of those dangerous sorts of villains that take over your mind. And once they get in, it's difficult getting them out.
While he may have the disadvantage of being vulnerable to light, he does quickly have the means to turn this around by taking over your body and treating you like a puppet.
His abilities make him all the more threatening, making him a rather worthy foe for Ben to face.
Villain or not, Ghostfreak is awesome.



Tune in tomorrow for my next villainous post!