As long as there’s a hero, you can be sure there’s a bad guy not far behind.
From Batman to Austin Powers, every self respecting life saver has enjoyed a nemesis, usually one with a cool name and a freaky ability to do something devastating with his eyes/hands/assistant.
Listed below (in no particular order, other than how they popped into my erratic little head) is a selection of the best villains to grace our adventure stories since Hagar the Horrible invaded the Tabloid Islands.
Feel free to tell me what I missed, whether it be a secret superpower, a depraved sidekick or an even badder guy with a penchant for men in tights.
Or tell me why Superman didn’t get it on with anyone but Lois. Because it doesn’t make any sense at all.
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Darth Vader
The best advertisement for quitting smoking ever, Vader makes other bad guys look like pussies with his homemade death mask and storm-trooping tights.
His 6’5” frame towers over his rivals, while his outfit makes every chick in Melbourne swoon in mono-chromatic delight.
Best quote: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” |
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Biff (Back to the Future)
This guy is my favorite baddie ever. He’s rude to chicks, bullies weedy kids and looks a bit like a teenage version of Meatloaf, but with paratrooper hair.
McFly may have filled his car with manure, but to me the big guy still came up smelling of roses.
Best quote: "Anybody home, McFly?" |
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Clubber Lang
In a bid to prove his impressive acting range, Mr T took on the role of the bad guy for the third Rocky fiasco, but ruined it by behaving exactly the same as he did in the A Team.
OK, so he swapped the jewellery for a set of sagging man-cans, but essentially the schlong remains the same.
Best quote: "Bring your pretty self around to my apartment tonight,and ill show you a real man" |
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Dick Dastardly
With his trusty dog Muttley by his side, DD was the terror of the skies, especially for anyone desperate to catch a pigeon or race selected cartoon characters across the desert.
Was prone to screaming “do something!” to his laid back companion, but never enjoyed the sniggering piano solo that followed.
Best quote: "Drat! And Double Drat!" |
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Joe Pesci in just about anything
Even when he played the good guy in My Cousin Vinny, Pesci still made a great villain.
Loud, brash and just over 4 feet high, this midget gangster is scarier than a fart in a space suit, mainly because he doesn’t stop laughing while he beats his friends to death.
Best quote: "Funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you?" |
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Jaws
No, not the shark. I’m talking about the metal mouthed freak from the Bond movies who can chew through bricks and loves to steal your parachute.
Of course, score yourself a large magnet and he’ll be eating out of your hand before you can say “hey mister, you’ve got something stuck in your teeth”.
Best quote: "Well, here's to us" |
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The Daleks
This dangerous group of metallic outlaws terrorized the future according to Dr Who, but still had a rather large Achilles heel.
Forget the lasers, photon reactors and telepathy, just go upstairs and wait for them to fuck off, the three wheeled bastards.
Best quote: "We obey no-one. We are the superior beings!" |
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Wile E. Coyote
Loathed by Roadrunner, loved by the people over at AKME (where he bought all of his killing apparatus), Ole Wiley spent most of his painful life being outsmarted by a non-descript running bird with a voice like a car horn.
It never deterred him though, even when he was unconscious at the bottom of a canyon with his ghostly spirit drifting northwards from his body.
Best quote: "Why do they always want to do it the hard way?" |
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Paul Robinson
He tried to leave Neighbours but nobody wants an actor who only looks comfortable drinking coffee at Lassiters.
So , the cheesiest villain in Soapland went back to work and now spends his days scowling at teenagers, ripping off his family and saying things like “you’ll regret this”
Best quote: [holding up $5 bill] "You see this, Gran? In two years, this will be 5 Million"
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Dr Evil
With his trusty offsider Mini Me, Dr Evil is like a twisted amalgamation of Lex Luthor, The Penguin and my Auntie Doreen (where the really evil bit comes from).
His accent suggests he was born somewhere on the border between Canada and Poland, while his baldy head makes him a great stand-in for Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins.
Best quote: "Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis" |
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