What is your favorite Nemesis character?
Received this tweet from @khanb1:
Whats your fav nemesis archetype of all time? I want to know, what makes for a memorable nemesis? Someone we love to hate?
I thought that would make an excellent question for the GITS community. What is your favorite movie Nemesis?
To get this party started, here is the Top 50 Villains as selected by the American Film Institute.
1 Dr. Hannibal Lecter
(in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS)
2 Norman Bates
(in PSYCHO)
3 Darth Vader
(in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
4 The Wicked Witch of the West
(in THE WIZARD OF OZ)
5 Nurse Ratched
(in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST)
6 Mr. Potter
(in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE)
7 Alex Forrest
(in FATAL ATTRACTION)
8 Phyllis Dietrichson
(in DOUBLE INDEMNITY)
9 Regan MacNeil
(in THE EXORCIST)
10 The Queen
(in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS)
11 Michael Corleone
(in THE GODFATHER: PART II)
12 Alex De Large
(in CLOCKWORK ORANGE)
13 HAL 9000
(in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
14 The Alien
(in ALIEN)
15 Amon Goeth
(in SCHINDLER’S LIST)
16 Noah Cross
(in CHINATOWN)
17 Annie Wilkes
(in MISERY)
18 The Shark
(in JAWS)
19 Captain Bligh
(in MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY)
20 Man
(in BAMBI)
21 Mrs. John Iselin
(in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE)
22 Terminator
(in THE TERMINATOR)
23 Eve Harrington
(in ALL ABOUT EVE)
24 Gordon Gekko
(in WALL STREET)
25 Jack Torrance
(in THE SHINING)
26 Cody Jarrett
(in WHITE HEAT)
27 Martians
(in THE WAR OF THE WORLDS)
28 Max Cady
(in CAPE FEAR)
29 Reverend Harry Powell
(in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER)
30 Travis Bickle
(in TAXI DRIVER)
31 Mrs. Danvers
(in REBECCA)
32 Clyde Barrow & Bonnie Parker
(in BONNIE AND CLYDE)
33 Count Dracula
(in DRACULA)
34 Dr. Szell
(in MARATHON MAN)
35 J.J. Hunsecker
(in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS)
36 Frank Booth
(in BLUE VELVET)
37 Harry Lime
(in THE THIRD MAN)
38 Caesar Enrico Bandello
(in LITTLE CAESAR)
39 Cruella De Vil
(in ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS)
40 Freddy Krueger
(in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET)
41 Joan Crawford
(in MOMMIE DEAREST)
42 Tom Powers
(in THE PUBLIC ENEMY)
43 Regina Giddens
(in THE LITTLE FOXES)
44 Baby Jane Hudson
(in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE)
45 The Joker
(in BATMAN)
46 Hans Gruber
(in DIE HARD)
47 Tony Camonte
(in SCARFACE)
48 Verbal Kint
(in THE USUAL SUSPECTS)
49 Auric Goldfinger
(in GOLDFINGER)
50 Alonzo Harris
(in TRAINING DAY)
Obviously a lot of old white guys voted for this list. What about Agent Smith in The Matrix? Or T-1000 in Terminator 2? Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas? Jigsaw in Saw?
Besides several of the characters in the list above have other narrative functions in their respective movies. Verbal Kint is a Trickster. Travis Bickle is a Protagonist. Hannibal Lecter is a Mentor.
So perhaps we need a new list specifically tied to characters who actively oppose the movie’s Protagonists. What are your favorite Nemesis characters in movies?
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