Helium

So I wrote something on Helium. It's pretty geeky. But this is what I wrote. If you like it, this is the link to it there.


Anyway:


When judging and rating the best villains in superhero movies there are several things that have to be taken into consideration. Is the villain evil or a victim? What exactly does he or she do to make them a villain? Memorable quote or scene? Classic fight scene with hero? If you want to get technical you should also consider how close to the source material the villain is portrayed. Now when using this profile to rate the best villains in superhero movies the following ten nicely fit the top ten bracket of villainy.

10 - Dr. Arcane. The villain from a not that well known movie about a not that well known superhero. The Swamp Thing. A man turned into the living swamp, or the swamp turned into a man perhaps. Either way, Swamp Thing was a cult classic movie with a decidedly evil villain. The mad scientist Dr. Anton Arcane had his men raid a lab in the swamp that was run by Dr. Alec Holland who was on the verge of a major discovery in botany and biology. A plant that could live anywhere, imagine the possibilities. However the side effect of the formula for this super-plant was explosive, literally. Arcane wanted the formula for his own uses and had an army of mercenaries steal everything they could and burn the place, in the process dousing Holland with the formula and setting him on fire to fall into the swamp and emerge as the Swamp Thing. Arcane mercilessly pursues his enemy the Swamp Thing and a survivor from the lab in order to get the formula, even going so far as to cut off the swamp thing's arm. Once he obtained the formula he was so bold as to drink it to see the effects it would have on him, unleashing his inner evil monster. This cult favorite was an early Wes Craven villain as well, that counts for something.

9 - Doctor Doom. Now, he was not that faithful to the source material, which is truly a shame as the comic book Dr. Doom is by all rights top villain in his world. Here is a man who is more than a genius on the level of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic himself, but truly so self involved his ego is the only thing that keeps him from winning against the Fantastic Four and conquering the world. However, his movie counterpart while no where near as good of a character has his own redeeming qualities. For instance he is still a genius, he's got a bone to pick with Reed Richards and still pulls off the arrogance of the Latverian dictator well. However he's just a businessman here. He was playing Lex Luthor with Doctor Doom's body. Doom with his electric bursts was a nice fight scene. He even manipulated the Thing into giving up his powers, knowing the machine used to do so was untested and potentially fatal. "But Ben Grimm is a mere nothing to the excellence of Doom" Julian McMahon really pulls that arrogance off nicely but does not portray the evil side to Doom as well. Doom is still a menacing villain for the Four enough to rank in the top 10, but not up to his full potential as the mad dictator genius with a serious ego problem. The movie version was just a villainous genius turned into a monster who enjoyed the power he was given and wanted to be stronger for his own evil purposes. A memorable quote would be "Susan let's not fight." Right before his fight with Susan Storm, the Invisible Woman. What makes it memorable is how calm, arrogant, and pretentious he made it sound. A great movie villain.

8 - Deacon Frost. Stephen Dorff really brings this character out. In the comics Deacon Frost is an older man and his vampire powers were different, he wasn't the most menacing of villains. But the movie version from Blade is much more exciting as a character. He is a young brash vampire leader, a turned vampire as opposed to a born vampire like most of the leaders. He comes up with this plan to turn himself into a truly immortal vampire god and ravage the human population whom he thinks of as cattle. His consideration of the humans he feeds on as nothing but a food source and so low that he would throw a child into the path of a movie bus is menacing enough, but what makes him even more scary is that he actually succeeds in his plan and becomes immortal until Blade finds a way to incapacitate him by clotting the blood that makes him immortal and essential blow him up. The most memorable scene, aside from a crudely CGI blood sequence, would be Deacon Frost showing up to talk to Blade in daylight, by wearing layers upon layers of sunscreen cementing how much of a bad ass Deacon Frost is in this movie. A rare occasion that the movie version is better than the source material.

7 - Mystique. The femme fatal shapeshifter from the X-men franchise. Using her powers to further the agenda of the Brotherhood. Her memorable fight scene with Wolverine in the Statue of Liberty was only topped by the fact that technically, she was buck naked the entire time she was on screen. She makes the ranking almost completely by fanboyism. Her attempt to seduce Wolverine in the sequel because he cut her is just so sick and twisted on her part. It's when she loses her abilities that makes her even more so a threat; A woman scorned and all that. Mystique is an evil temptress with the cunning to further her own agenda all the while pretending to be on someone else's side. Except for her quiet attitude, she's a really good transitions from the comics. In the comic form, Mystique is even crueler and has abandoned her children or tried to kill them if they got in her way as X-men. An technically, she's naked. An evil, naked super villain babe is always a top ten contender.

6 - Ra's Al Ghul. The Demon's Head. Batman's trainer and master of deception. A truly evil man who leads a league of assassins in an attempt to control the world. Batman Begins was such a great movie that the inclusion of Ra's was so cool and then the twist with his return at the end was just an awesome way to start the Batman's career. Besides the Joker and Two-Face, Ra's is the greatest enemy of Batman. The movie version proves why he's such a threat. Representing this father figure for a young and still-in-training Bruce Wayne only to turn on him without hesitation adds a great element to the story. There is a great in-joke or easter egg for comic fans with this movie version as well. When Ra's reveals himself and asks "...or is Ra's Al Ghul immortal?" referencing the fact that Ra's Al Ghul is immortal in the comics is a nice touch. He makes a great villain to start out a great hero on.

5 - General Zod. A villain who could stand toe to toe with the Last Son of Krypton, even if he could be beaten with a random cellophane shield that came from nowhere. Zod has been one of the bigger villains of Superman's career and he's only faced him once or twice in continuity of the comics. Another Kryptonian, powered by the Earth's yellow sun only also a complete military genius and a ruthless bastard to boot. Zod provided the archetype for a good superhero movie villain. Someone who could provide a fight scene with the hero, but also affect him without using his powers. He also uttered one of the most memorable movie quotes ever. "Kneel before Zod." Terrence Stamp provided one of the greatest villains ever in his portrayal of General Zod, the evil version of Superman.

4 - Bullseye. He never misses. The greatest assassin on the planet. Armed with whatever he can get his hands on, Bullseye is without a doubt the most dangerous person alive. A pencil, a paper clip, his own tooth even, is all he needs. Collin Farrel gave him this bestial side that fit so perfectly to the core of the character. Bullseye is a vicious psychopath who just wants to kill for the sheer fun of it and he does with ease. He may just be one of the most faithful adapted characters the silver screen has ever seen. All he needed was his "bloody costume" and he would have been perfect. His murder of Elektra was a classic villain move as well. When everything has gone to hell, he just goes and makes it worse for the hero Daredevil. His obsession with the man who made him miss gives a great character dynamic as well. He is definitely worthy of being in any kind of top ten villain list, comic based or otherwise.

3 - Magneto. Victim turned villain. A sympathetic character who's also just so arrogant about his position it makes him one of the greatest. Magneto was the Malcolm X to Charles Xavier's Martin Luther King. A mutant, persecuted his entire life, but gifted with one of the greatest powers of all time; the complete mastery of magnetism. Magneto's attempt to mutate the world leaders, and his indifference to weather or not his device really works marks him as a villain. His decision to help his enemies, the X-men, and then betray them once he got what he wanted makes him a great villain. His attempt to control the powerhouse that is the Phoenix that leads to his final loss at the end of X-men 3 returns him to the role of victim. He thought himself a God and paid for it with his greatest fear. Magneto being played by the great Ian Mckellan didn't hurt his rating as one of the top villains of all time one bit either.

2 - The Joker. Batman's greatest enemy. A murdering psychopathic clown is definitely the best idea for a villain. The natural evil of a clown, combined with maniacal genius, makes him the perfect nemesis to the stern and fearsome Batman. While Jack Nicholson's Joker could have been crazier, he was definitely pulling off the evil side quite nicely. Consider the amount of people with the fear of clowns, and consider what happens when they find out there is a psychotic killer clown out there stalking the streets. He's John Wayne Gacey, with a comical side. The Joker had the permanent disfiguring of a smile on his face and pasty white skin. The way it was portrayed was creepy enough to properly produce the Joker as the great villain he has always been in the comic books onto the big screen.

1 - The Green Goblin. Evil industrialist Norman Osborn, taking his experiment too far and turning himself into a psychotic and violent super villain. Norman Osborn is the Lex Luthor of the Marvel Universe. Willem Dafoe is one of the most villainous looking actors on the planet. Put them together and you have the greatest movie villain ever. Killing the one person who could have helped him immediately after getting his powers was only the first step in his evolution of evil. To further prove how easy he slipped into the role of villain, he went on a violent "industrial espionage" mission as the Green Goblin against his company's main competitor within minutes of getting his powers. He killed off the inner threat to his control of his company, endangering his own son and hundreds of innocent bystanders, many of whom were children. He wasn't out to take over the world, he was out for his own devious agenda. Making sure he stayed on top, regardless of who got in his way. His obsession with Spider-Man is something of comic book legend. The entire point to his existence is ruining Peter Parker's life. He lives to torture his enemy, and really nothing else. If he appears to be occupied with some other project he's really just planning what to do to Spidey. The movie incarnation nicely sets up that characteristic for the Green Goblin. Here is Peter Parker, Norman Osborn's son's best friend. He was the son he always wanted, and thought of him as such up to the point of discovering he was in reality Spider-Man. Feeling betrayed by the surrogate son, he turns his attention from his own goals to either getting the son back as Spider-Man or kill him. He truly makes for a great villain by having no regard for anyone's safety except his own. He proves this by not only threatening the life of an elderly and kind old woman in Aunt May, but endangering the lives of children at parades and on trains. Not much can match an act as evil as threatening the elderly and children. His death by impalement on his own glider solidified his position as the greatest superhero movie villain. By pretending to be in a moment of clarity and begging Spider-Man, Peter Parker, his friend, to help him before the Goblin took over again only to attack the distracted Spider-Man with a deathblow earns him a memorable place in the halls of villainy.