Best Villians and More Tour

So apparently Moviefone has come up with their list of the top ten movie villains of all time. Cool. In my mind, the first character that popped into my head was Norman Bates. Especially considering when Psycho came out, he was the creepiest of the creepy. I think what sold me on him was that he killed pretty much whoever dropped by. Nothing personal, just doing my job. Slash, slash, slash. But then, the whole mother twist at the end. I had lots of bad dreams about him. So I was sure he would be one of the top ten, if not number one.

But then I see the list, and he doesn?t even make it. What? How can that be? That?s like leaving The Babe out of the MLB hall of fame. It?s like forgetting Queen in the list of the best rock bands. It?s like not including Harry Potter in the best fantasy books. Ahh, but there?s our problem. Harry Potter trumps all. So the top movie villain, hold your breath if you haven?t already heard, is . . .



Voldemort? What? Really? Voldemort is the BEST movie villain of all time? Are you kidding me? Okay, the dude was a pretty good villain in books. And he was okay in the movies. But are you telling me he was scarier than Nazgul in LOTR? Are you telling me he was meaner than Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty? This woman put a family's daughter to sleep for 100 years. Talk about rude!

I don?t buy it, but here?s their list.

1. Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter - Ralph Fiennes

I?ve said enough about this. Bad choice. Not even the best villain in the last ten years.

2. Darth Vader, Star Wars -James Earl Jones, Hayden Christensen

Who?s going to argue with this? Dude was a GREAT villain.

3. Wicked Witch Of The West, The Wizard Of Oz - Margaret Hamilton

Don?t know that I?d put her near this high. But yeah, she and her flying monkeys gave me some pretty bad nightmares.

4. Hannibal Lecter, Silence Of The Lambs - Anthony Hopkins

Oh yeah. Waaayyyy creepy. He is in my top ten. Although the guy who was taking the girls and sewing their skin was also pretty nasty.

5. Joker, The Dark Knight - Heath Ledger

Okay, I have a big problem here. He can make the list next year. But this list was made before the movie even came out. You can?t put a guy in the HOF before he even comes up to bat. Even if he is great. The entertainment world is going to miss him, but no sentimental vote here.

6. Goldfinger, Goldfinger - Gert Frobe

Huh? Nope. Lots of better villains, even in the Bond movies alone. I personally thought the Jaws character was pretty good.

7. Chigurgh, No Country For Old Men - Javier Bardem

No comment. Haven?t seen it.

8. Hans Gruber, Die Hard - Alan Rickman

Another swing and a miss. No idea why he made the list.

9. Max Cady, Cape Fear ? Robert De Niro

Okay. He was scary.

10. The Queen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs- Lucille La Verne

Base hit. But I think a homer would have been Maleficent. I mean, dude, she could turn into a dragon!

So who were your favorite movie villains? And just for fun, who are you favorite book villains. I?d have to put the clown from IT pretty high on my list. Bonus question, what makes a good villian for you?

In blog tour news, I?ve been having a ball globe trotting and doing virtual interviews. Here are some more of the tour stops.

Jessica at The Blue Stocking Society joined me in Park City

Kimberly of Temporary? Insanity fattened me up on fondue.

Anna Hedges joined me for a fun Q&A on her blog ThE bLoG oF A. e. heDgES

Karlene of Ink Splasher and I ate fruit and listened to the dawn chimes sing.

?Weston? Elliott and I hung out in Farworld. You can read her Q&A and review at Wendword

Heather Justesen did a review on her blog, and will be doing a Q&A shortly

G Parker and I got to hang out at her sister?s cabin at Fish Lake. You can read about it at Musings From an LDS Writing Mom

And Mikaela did a review at her blog

Thanks so much to everyone who is taking part. If you have posted a review or interview and I missed you, please let me know. If you have sent me questions that I haven?t answered. I?m hurrying. I promise!

Q&A #3

Keep them coming Anna. I've got four more days to go!

Q: Got any advice on how to write really awesome villains? They are so hard! The one I have now also has a pretty dumb name. I think my plot is improving though, and the over the past couple of weeks I somehow came up with some really good plot twists. Surprising, but I did.

A: Keep working on that plot. Remember, it's easier to go back and edit later, than to get the momentum back if you stop and rewrite all the time.

The key to good villains is giving them real motivations. Just like your hero needs a noble quest, your bad needs a reason for being bad, other than that he/she is evil. For example, in the first chapter of Farworld, I have a dark wizard named Bonesplinter. He is going to meet with the head of The Dark Circle. In the first draft I had him simply be scared of the Master. But in rewrites he turned into a power hungry schemer. Even while he is groveling before the Master, he is thinking about what he would do with that kind of power. By adding more depth to him, it makes him more real and gives me options down the road.

The other thing to think about?especially in a fantasy series?is the hierarchy of bad guys. If I start with the top bad guy in the first book, where do I go from there? As my hero/s become stronger, I want my bad guys to become worse, so I need to use balance and restraint in the first book.

Another thing to consider is language. I am writing a YA novel so I don?t want my bad guy to be cursing up a storm. But I do want the reader to get how bad he is. So I use imagery in his language that makes you go, ?Oh, this guy is creepy.?

For example:

Marcus says, ?What are you going to do to me??

Bonesplinter answers, ?I?d like to spend a little time getting to know you. I?d like to study you like a fine watch and see what makes you tick.?

And later

?Unfortunately,? Bonesplinter whispered, ?it?s not up to me. It won?t be long before the others come looking for you, and my orders are quite clear. I?m afraid, little bird, that you won?t be returning to your nest.?

See, I don?t use bad language, but the reader hopefully will get that this is a bad dude.

So what do you like to see in your villains?