“Being a good fiend is like being a good photographer. You have to search for the right moment.” – Vegeta

Ahhh…despite my innate goodness and innocence (halo). I have always had respect for a good bad guy. The consumate villan. Not just someone who does evil things, but the guy who plans evil things and manipulates others to make them fit his plans. He doesn’t need everyone to know he’s evil and he doesn’t have to be brutal…but he will. So here is my list of the Greatest Bad Guys along with their class.

Keyser Soze Criminal Mastermind
Of course he’s on the list. This guy is so bad, bad guys use his name to scare their kids. He is not only a butcher and a killer, but he’s a planner. He not only used others to accomplish his goals, but while everyone was scared of him he pretended to be the most unthreatening person around. He sits in plain view, but is so bad he convinced the majority of people who know his name that he is a myth. This guy spends hours in a police station leading the cop through all types of circles, engineers his own release and just walked away.

Stansfield Psychopath
Perhaps not as well known as many villains, Stansfield is one of my favorites. A rouge DEA agent/drug addict and an all around psychopath. He’s not here so much for planning, but for raw…bad. This guy kills the family of a man working for him including a 5 year old boy. He doesn’t get the older daughter who is saved by a killer. When the little girl is captured and the killer saves her this guy declares war. He beats up a minor mob boss and then uses all of his legal resources to try and kill the duo. This includes having about 50+ cops including S.W.A.T. storm a building in the end he even kills the killer…he doesn’t live long after, but how many bad guys get to kill the hero? Quote: “Bring everyone.” “You want everyone–?” “EV-ERY-ONE!!!!”

Hannibal Lecter Evil genius psycopath
This dude was the man. Before he was ever locked up he influenced his patients to leave him lots of money in their wills. He stabbed the FBI agent who locked him up a crazy amount of times and even after he was put in an asylum they still needed his help to catch other killers. Not to mention that this dude was such unique combination of crazy/intelligent that doctors just called him a sociopath cause they couldn’t figure him out. Despite the fact that he helped the FBI he sent a coded message to the killer who then tried to kill the agent and his family. This guy will not only screw with your mind, he will eat you…with favah beans, and a nice chianti. He’s high class too. Then dude escapes from the asylum (wearing the face of a guard he killed) and wreaks more havoc. Including capturing the second agent who came to him for help. To top it off he is never caught again. Clearly a lunatic and a genius as well as an educated man. Lecter is a hero’s nightmare.

Darth Vader Tyrant
This guy is on the list for historical sake. He was mislead, however as a result he basically killed his wife, the order he belonged to (including MANY children) and helped enslave the galaxy. He is only briefly stopped because his mentor and father figure (who he was trying to kill) cut off three of his limbs. With a fake arm and no legs, burning, next to a river of lava he puts his energy into letting his mentor know he hates him. This guy has personally killed more people than anyone on this list. He kills people that work with him for failing. He chokes out people who disagree with him on a whim. He is so gone to evil that he wouldn’t even acknowledge the person he started out as. He cuts off his sons hand (after whopping on him) and then when his son is at the point of purely hating him he lets him know that he is his father. When we were little and Vader came on screen my cousin would make people take him to the bathroom.

The Joker Criminally insane
This cat has been a bad guy in my eyes since I was young, but only when I got older did I find out how truly evil he was. Basically this guy is crazy. To the point where other famous villians don’t want to deal with him. He makes no sense accept to himself and his nemesis Batman (who’s not all there either). This guy may have done more to a hero than any other villain in history. He killed the second Robin, crippled Batgirl and killed Commisioner Gordon’s wife. His only purpose in life becoming to defeat Batman utterly and publicly. To the point where he passed on chances to kill Batman cause it was “anti-climactic”. This cat is not only a villain, but he is a lunatic.

So for my ultimate choice….

Darth Sidious aka Senator/Emperor Palpatine Evil Genius…Galactic Pimp
When I first saw the Return of the Jedi I just thought this guy was Vaders boss and I wondered how the hell he got to tell Vader what to do. Well this cat not only corrupted the “Chosen One”, but he basically pimped an entire galaxy. He engineered events that not only took out every threat to him (save for two children), but put him in a position where he would basically be handed the power to do whatever he wanted to do. He then promptly made himself Emperor and ruled the Galaxy. Even after he recruited Darth Vader he kept manipulating him. Via “saving his life” he put him in a suit that would restrict him and make him easily killed by himself while simultaneously using him as a figure head to put fear into his subjects. Meaning only a few people even knew about the real power that he himself had. Then to top it off as soon as his “apprentice’s” son shows up he starts trying to figure out how to put him in his fathers place and go on ruling the galaxy. He is a great bad guy because not only did he manipulate a galaxy, but he personally has probably killed the least amount of people of anyone on this list. He has, however, killed more people with orders and legislation than anyone…even Reagan, Bush and Bush, Inc.