As promised, the inevitable companion piece to the previous Top 10 list. This list will be going into the villains and baddies who terrorize the world and its heroes in equal measure. My favorite part of any story is always the antagonist, so without any more preamble, let’s jump into it!
10) The Doppelgangers (172 Hours on the Moon)
The Doppelgangers are not on this list because of their originality, as plenty of sci-fi stories handle the concept of body snatching, possession, cloning, etc. Still, they are extremely creepy, and the slow-burn pace of this novel does wonders for building the tension to the inevitable reveal of the Doppelgangers and their infiltration of the moon base. Not knowing who to trust is always fun in a thriller. Still, that isn’t why they are on this list. They are on this list because they WIN. After a hectic final battle, the escape pod blasts off to Earth with a Doppelganger of the main hero, as the hero herself is left behind on the moon to die. The assimilation of the entire planet follows. Wow, what an ending!
9) The Nanomachines (Prey)
The Nanomachines are actually extremely similar to the Doppelgangers mentioned above, though that only becomes apparent after a game-changing plot twist in the last act. For the first half of the story, the Nanomachines are a faceless but no less terrifying evil presence threatening mass destruction should their adaptive AI algorithms go unchecked. But, then it’s revealed that a few hyper-advanced swarms have assimilated literally into key characters in the story, including the protagonist’s wife, and are essentially puppeteering their bodies. Everyone is called into question, and the frantic final battle to be rid of the machine menace once and for all is awesome. How in the world has this book not been adapted for the screen yet?
8) Princess Fanry (Star Wars: Master and Apprentice)
Fanry isn’t the most groundbreaking villain in existence, nor does she get a huge amount of time to flex her villainy (she’s revealed as the big bad only sixty pages or so from the end of the novel). Still, she gets massive props in my book, because in no way did I expect the twist. The scene where she prepares to sign a peace treaty, only to stab the officiator in the chest, take over the command of her army, and escape alongside her partner through a blown-open hole in the roof will stick with me forever. She has a reasonable enough motivation behind her actions too, as she’s desperate to do anything to keep her planet free from a treaty with the malicious and overbearing Czerka Corporation.
Also, it’s an article for a different time, but there’s so many interesting parallels between Fanry and Padme from Episode One. They are both young queens, they are both dealing with independence for their planets, and they are both fourteen. The methods are oh-so-different, though. Interesting stuff.
7) Ansel of Briarcliff (Throne of Glass)
Ansel’s another twist villain that I did not see coming (there are a few of them on this list), but she gets the edge over Fanry because, even though her role in the overarching story is small, her story is explored much more. Readers are introduced to her earlier, and have time to watch her explain her background as she trains alongside and grows in friendship with Aelin. Her betrayal hurts, as does her ruthless efficiency in cutting down those in her way. Still, after a protracted battle, a victorious Aelin decides to spare Ansel, and that decision leads to far reaching consequences down the road. Also, her name is super cool!
6) Apara Rann (Legacy Trilogy)
I’m a sucker for villain point-of-view characters, so I latched onto Apara pretty early into this series once I realized I’d be seeing a lot of her. Apara is an assassin desperate for something more than just dark alleys and death, but she’s been born and raised into this life, and the cost of leaving is too steep. So, she carries out her orders, but with begrudging restraint. Fate, however, continues to throw her into the path of the main protagonists, and one fight after another both take their toll on her and mold her into a different person. A stronger person. Someone unafraid to take the steps to change their life and move on from a checkered past.
5) Avery Lazar (Vampire Academy)
The third and final twist villain on this list, and yet another betrayal that I didn’t see coming (look, I get immersed in stories easily, okay?). Avery plays the part of kindhearted, spunky party girl to perfection, and it isn’t until the moment the other shoe drops that you’re left realizing just how disgustingly amoral she really is, and how thoroughly she’s screwed over the protagonists. All her previous actions are cast in an entirely new light. By the climactic final showdown, she’s alienated the main hero from all of her friends and family, broke down her confidence and heightened her anxiety, and has her on the cusp of being willing to commit suicide. All because Avery was jealous of her. She’s remorseless and unforgiveable, but impressively manipulative, and she more than earns her karmic ending.
4) Saki Shamaya (Psycome)
Saki is introduced as THE most deadly and sadistic killer at the already violence-fueled academy for delinquents. So, it’s a bit of shock when she appears in the flesh as a well-behaved and ladylike princess. However, over the course of the story, those layers are peeled back, and it’s revealed she’s simply overcompensating in an attempt to appear normal and reformed. When the bumbling Maina humilities Saki one time to many, the “princess of murder” snaps, and drops the act. With overwhelming force, she defeats every single protagonist, all while espousing her twisted ideology. Only some passionate pleas from the main character, and Maina’s own optimism, stifle the desire to kill raging within her, and prevent a genocide from wiping out everyone. Saki’s terrifying, and her ticking-timebomb act throughout the story building up to the climax keeps me on the edge of my seat each time I reread Psycome.
3) Lorian Nod (Star Wars: Legacy of the Jedi)
Very possibly the first villain to ever draw my attention, as I first read this story when I was in elementary school. It isn’t a stretch to argue that Lorian is, in fact, the main character of this book. Legacy of the Jedi follows key Jedi everyone knows and loves across multiple time periods, and a twist of cosmic fate (or perhaps the Force) throws Lorian into the path of the heroes time and time again. Lorain goes from being a disgraced padawan, to a small-time pirate, to the leader of a planet-wide dystopia cult, to a humble ambassador. Each time, his life is dismantled by the Jedi, whether he deserved it or not. You can’t help but feel bad for him, especially when his older age grants him the clarity to realize the mistakes of his youth.
2) Grace Sheridan (Bloodlines)
Perhaps the most consistently cruel, vile, and manipulative villains I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Sheridan is the driving antagonistic force behind this installment in the Bloodlines series, and I will never forget her or how intensely hate-able she is. A driven, passionate woman, Sheridan runs a correctional facility aimed at torturing and brainwashing young kids into clearing their mind of dark thoughts and embracing the philosophy of the Alchemists, the very same group Sydney had finally broken from and nearly escape. The torture she experiences at Sheridan’s hands is hard to watch, and the eventual prison break is so cathartic. Even then it isn’t even though, as Sheridan and her task force pursue Sydney for the final act of the book, and only a climactic showdown on a rooftop helipad ends Sheridan’s tyranny once and for all.
1) Opal Koboi (Artemis Fowl)
Oh gosh. I feel like there aren’t any words I could use to fully explain just how much I love Opal. She’s just…she’s so amazing.
The de-facto main antagonist of the Artemis Fowl series, Opal shows up in four of the eight books, and is consistently the biggest threat Artemis ever has to contend with. Each of her schemes is deadlier, smarter, and more personal than the last, and she just…won’t…quit! No setback ever stops her for long, and her power and influence only rise through the series. She’s the only villain to ever kill a main hero in this series, and she does it all with a smile on her face. She’s just as smart (if not smarter) than Artemis, and is infinitely quotable because of her deadpan sarcasm and ludicrous insults. The only thing that weakens over time is her sanity, but that only aids in her terrifying schemes and imposing shadow she casts over Artemis’ life. The big finale of book eight will go down as one of the most tense standoffs I’ve ever read!
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 