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Greatest character would be an easy win for the Black Wolf, but most EVIL character would be Mannanan. The Black Wolf never chose to be a werewolf, he inherited it. Mannanan was evil be choice, so he wins this one to me.

What IS makes "the best villain" the best? It's so vague. I think DPX brought this up earlier and I find myself wondering the same thing.

The question isn't "Who is the most evil?", but obviously "best" IS most evil to some people. Everyone seems to have their own interpretation of the question. Is it really who you'd be the most afraid of in a face-to-face meeting? The in-depth as a literary villain? The one that causes the hurt to the most people, even if it's a cold impersonal hurt, instead of a deeply profound betrayal of trust?

Despite the fact that the Black Wolf didn't choose to be a wolf, he tried to remove the choice for others. In some ways, the fact that he was hiding his intents under the guise of friendship is even more nefarious. Betrayal of someone's trust in that kind of huge way has always been a about as low as you can go in my books.

To me the "Bwahaha" villains are a dime a dozen. Again, they may influence the most people in a story, but their lack of personality just makes them have that much less impact to me. Of course, I tend to feel the way about those all-powerful god-like heroes as well. I appreciate a story on a more personal level as opposed to an epic level.

Maybe this should be a different topic, but I don't know if anyone will even bite, so I'm leaving it here for now. I guess I just wonder how people decide, since my thought processes are apparently pretty different.

So you think Manannan is a Bwahahahaha villain?

Maiandra wrote: What IS makes "the best villain" the best? It's so vague. I think DPX brought this up earlier and I find myself wondering the same thing.

The question isn't "Who is the most evil?", but obviously "best" IS most evil to some people. Everyone seems to have their own interpretation of the question.

I bolded the part, that to me, answers the question you pose.

And besides, it's all for fun anyway. This very same tournament features Tawmis vs. a box of kittens.

It's impossible for everyone to unanimously decide on what makes anything the best. Being conflicted and complex could make a villain great, but then it could be argued that a "BWAHAHA" villain is actually more secure and pro-active in their villainy, making them more admirable. Then, to argue against that, a villain with an elaborate back-story and many dimensions of morality could relate to and engage a player on a more personal level. Even the question of "which person is a better villain" is ironic. Is it a person who's better at being villainous, or a villain who's better at being a person? You decide!

That, to me, is the whole idea of the poll. To contest all the different ideologies together and see what the majority is.

Datadog wrote:And besides, it's all for fun anyway. This very same tournament features Tawmis vs. a box of kittens.

Hey! I take my Villainy very serious, donchyaknow?

I just noticed the title change under your name! Very nice!

Datadog wrote:I just noticed the title change under your name! Very nice!

!!

That was Collector's handiwork! I didn't notice till you pointed it out!

Tawmis wrote:

Datadog wrote:I just noticed the title change under your name! Very nice!

!!

That was Collector's handiwork! I didn't notice till you pointed it out!

But you are the only other one that change it.

Er...I think you guys misunderstood my reason for posting that. I wasn't criticising people for having a different opinion than me or complaining because the person I prefer didn't win. I'm a little disappointed that some people thought that.

I am genuinely surprised that the Black Wolf isn't winning hands down. When I first saw the thread, I thought that would be the case. My questions weren't rhetorical. I was actually wondering what makes a villiain "best" in other people's mind, since obviously some people here are using criteria different than my own.

Believe me, I'm not taking this whole voting thing seriously at all. The fact that I've barely participated should be evidence of that. Honestly, I don't care who wins. It makes no difference to me. I'm simply surprised by the outcome and, consquently, curious about other people's thoughts. I was trying to start a discussion on it, not cause a fuss.

I never thought you were criticising anyone...I saw it as a discussion like you say.

I agree with what you said, Maia. And, of course, my vote is for the Black Wolf.

When an antagonist is capable of stealing the main character's thunder in almost every scene he's in, when he's morally complex and ambiguous, when he's subtly alluring and yet eerily dangerous, I can have no doubt: the Black Wolf is the best villain I've ever encountered in a game.

Am I allowed to vote even if I didn't participate in any of the previous tiers?

If so, my vote goes for the Black Wolf. Not only a much more interesting villain than Manannan, but arguably the most interesting (and devious) villain in the entire Sierra corpus. Although Katrina would be a close second...

(By the way, how exactly did Ludwig manage to get a color photograph of him in the nineteenth century?!)

He's so evil that his true colours shine through any photograph?