50 MEMORABLE VILLAINS

[knightni]

26. Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Gangs of New York)

 

(3 of 16 lists - 48 points - highest ranking #6 Milkman delivers)

 

In 1846, in Lower Manhattan's Five Points, a territorial war between the "Natives" (those born in the United States) and recently arrived Irish Catholic immigrants, is coming to a head in Paradise Square. The Natives are led by "Bill the Butcher" Cutting (Day-Lewis), a Protestant nativist. The leader of the Irish gang, the Dead Rabbits, is Priest Vallon (Neeson). The gangs meet in a bloody battle, concluding when Bill kills Vallon, which Vallon's son Amsterdam witnesses. Cutting declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed and orders Vallon's body be buried with honor. Amsterdam seizes the knife that killed his father, races off and buries it. He is found and taken to the orphanage at Hellgate.

 

In September 1862, Amsterdam (DiCaprio) returns to New York. Arriving in Five Points, he reunites with an old friend, Johnny Sirocco (Thomas), who introduces Amsterdam to Bill the Butcher. Amsterdam finds many of his father's old loyalists are now under Bill's control, including Happy Jack Mulraney (Reilly), a corrupt city constable, and McGloin (Lewis), now one of Bill's lieutenants. Amsterdam works his way into Bill's inner circle, and learns that each year, on the anniversary of the Five Points battle (February 16), Bill leads the city in saluting the victory over the Dead Rabbits. He makes plans to kill Bill during this ceremony, in order to exact public revenge. Amsterdam meets Jenny Everdeane (Diaz), a pickpocket and grifter, to whom he is attracted. His interest is dampened when he discovers she was once Bill's ward and still enjoys Bill's affections. Amsterdam becomes involved in the semi-criminal empire of Boss Tweed (Broadbent), the leader of Tammany Hall.

 

During a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin Amsterdam thwarts an assassination attempt that leaves Bill wounded. Amsterdam realizes he acted more out of honest devotion to Bill than from his own plan of revenge. Both retire to a brothel, where Jenny nurses Bill. Amsterdam confronts Jenny over Bill, and they have an argument which dissolves into lovemaking. Late that night, Amsterdam wakes to find Bill sitting by his bed in a rocking chair, draped in a tattered American flag. Bill says Priest Vallon was the last enemy he ever fought who was worthy of real respect, and the Priest once beat Bill soundly and then let him live in shame rather than kill him. Bill credits the incident with giving him strength of will and character to return and fight for his own authority. Bill admits he has come to look upon Amsterdam as the son he never had.

 

The evening of the ceremony arrives. Johnny reveals Amsterdam's identity and his plot to kill Bill. During a knife-throwing act involving Jenny, Bill baits Amsterdam when he throws the knife to leave a superficial cut on her throat. Amsterdam throws a knife at Bill, which Bill deflects, and counters with a knife throw of his own, hitting Amsterdam in the abdomen. Bill then repeatedly beats him as the crowd cheers. Bill proclaims he will let Amsterdam live as "[a] freak. Worthy of Barnum's museum of wonders."

 

Afterwards, in hiding, Jenny nurses Amsterdam back to health, and implores him to leave New York. They are visited by Monk McGinn (Gleeson), who was a mercenary for Vallon in the Battle of the Five Points. He gives Amsterdam a straight razor that belonged to Vallon. Amsterdam places a dead rabbit on a fence in Paradise Square. The rabbit finds its way to Bill, who sends Happy Jack to find out who sent the message. Amsterdam ambushes Jack in the catacombs, strangles him, and hangs his body in Paradise Square. In retaliation, Bill has Johnny beaten nearly to death and run through with an iron pike. When McGloin goes to pray at a Catholic church, and sees Amsterdam's friend, Jimmy Spoils (Gilliard), he objects to letting a "n*****" in the church. Amsterdam and his friends respond by beating McGloin. The Nativists march to the Catholic church where the Irish stand on the steps in defense. Bill promises to return when they are ready. Boss Tweed approaches Amsterdam with a plan to defeat Bill: Tweed will back the candidacy of Monk McGinn for sheriff in return for the Irish vote. On election day Bill and Amsterdam force people to the polls, some of them several times, with the result that Monk wins by more votes than there are voters. Bill confronts Monk who does not respond to Bill's challenge, suggesting they discuss the matter democratically. Bill then throws a meat cleaver into Monk's back and kills him with his own shillelagh. During Monk's funeral, Amsterdam issues a traditional challenge to fight, which Bill accepts.

 

The New York Draft Riots break out, and many upper-class citizens and African-Americans are attacked by the rioters. Union soldiers enter the city to put down the riots. As the gangs meet, they are hit by shells from naval ships in the harbor firing directly into Paradise Square. Many are killed, and an enormous cloud of dust and debris covers the area. Union soldiers then fire into the square, killing numerous people, including McGloin. Amsterdam and Bill exchange blows in the haze, then are thrown to the ground by another shell blast. When the smoke clears, Bill discovers he has been hit by a piece of shrapnel. He declares, "Thank God, I die a true American." Amsterdam stabs him, and Bill dies with his hand locked in Amsterdam's.

 

Bill is buried in Brooklyn, in view of the Manhattan skyline, next to the grave of Priest Vallon. Amsterdam narrates New York would be rebuilt, but they are no longer remembered, as if "we were never here". The scene then shifts over the next hundred years, as modern New York is built, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the World Trade Center, and the graves of Bill and Priest gradually deteriorate.

 

William Poole - bare-knuckle boxer, member of the New York City gang the Bowery Boys, and leader of the Know Nothing political movement - was said to have been the inspiration for the Bill Cutting character.

 

[knightni]

25. Magneto (The X-Men)

 

 

(4 of 16 lists - 51 points - highest ranking #2 Quinarvy)

 

Magneto (born Max Eisenhardt, also known as Magnus and Erik Lehnsherr or Lensherr) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. A powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields, in his early appearances, his motive was simple megalomania, but writers have since fleshed out his character and origin, revealing him to be a Jewish Holocaust survivor whose actions are driven by the purpose of protecting the mutant race from suffering a similar fate. His role in comics have varied from supervillain to antihero to hero. His character's early history has been compared with the civil rights leader Malcolm X and Meir Kahane.

 

Sir Ian McKellen has portrayed Magneto through the X-Men film series, while Michael Fassbender plays a younger version of the character in the film X-Men: First Class. Magneto was ranked number 1 by IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains list, was listed number 17 in Wizard's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list, and was ranked as the 9th Greatest Comic Book Character Ever in Wizard's list of the 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time, the second highest villain on that list.

 

Magneto first appeared in the debut issue of X-Men in 1963, along with the titular team. Through the decades from the 1960s, Magneto has appeared in several issues of the original X-Men series, generally known as Uncanny X-Men, as well as in such spin-offs as X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Alpha Flight, Cable, Excalibur, and The New Mutants; many X-Men miniseries, and several other Marvel titles. His first solo title was a one-shot special, Magneto: The Twisting of a Soul #0 (Sept. 1993), published when the character returned from a brief absence; it reprinted Magneto-based stories from Classic X-Men #12 & 19 (Aug. 1987 & March 1988), by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Bolton.

 

In a 2008 interview, Stan Lee elaborated that he "did not think of Magneto as a bad guy. He just wanted to strike back at the people who were so bigoted and racist... he was trying to defend the mutants, and because society was not treating them fairly he was going to teach society a lesson. He was a danger of course... but I never thought of him as a villain." In the same interview, he also revealed that he originally planned for Magneto to be the brother of his archnemesis Professor X.

 

Magneto's first original title was the four-issue miniseries Magneto (Nov. 1996 - Feb. 1997), by writers Peter Milligan & Jorge Gonzalez, and penciller Kelley Jones. The miniseries took place during a period where it was believed Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia, calling himself Joseph; it was later revealed that Joseph was a younger clone of Magneto. Later, Magneto became ruler of the nation Genosha. During this period, he received two miniseries; Magneto Rex (written by Joe Pruett and drawn by Brandon Peterson) and Magneto: Dark Seduction (written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Roger Cruz). A trade paperback novel detailing Magneto's childhood, titled X-Men: Magneto Testament, was released in September 2008, and written by Greg Pak. Magneto Testament, which Pak based on accounts from Holocaust survivors, watched documentaries, and read comics such as Maus, finally confirms and clarifies into the Marvel Comics canon, Magneto's personal history and background. Before the publication of X-Men: Magneto Testament, Magneto's personal background and history was established in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1, #150 (August 1981) as him being a Jewish Holocaust survivor; while he was searching for his wife Magda, a Sinti Gypsy, Magneto maintained a cover identity as a Sinti Gypsy. This created confusion amongst some readers, as to his heritage, until it was authoritatively confirmed in Magneto: Testament that he is, in fact, Jewish.

 

Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran. Surviving discrimination and hardship during the Nazi rise to power, Kristallnacht, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, in 1939 Max and his family fled to Poland where they were captured during the German invasion of Poland and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. Max and his family escaped the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His mother, father, and sister were executed and buried in a mass grave, but Max survived, possibly due to the manifestation of his powers. Escaping from the mass grave, he was ultimately captured yet again and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually became a Sonderkommando. While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunited with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escaped the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda moved to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and Max adopted the name "Magnus". Magda and Magnus had a daughter named Anya, and lived uneventfully until one night when an angry mob burned down their home with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob for preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magnus's powers manifested uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magnus' power, left him and later gave birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch before walking away to die. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a Romanian forger, George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.

 

"Erik" relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. There, lengthy debates were held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither revealed to the other that they both in fact possessed mutant powers. However, they were forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another while facing Baron Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Erik (now dressed as Magneto), realizing that his and Xavier's views were incompatible, left with a cache of hidden Nazi gold, which provided him with the finances to pursue his goals.

 

Rise of Magneto

 

Magneto's experiences surviving Nazi Germany, Auschwitz, and Vinnytsia would shape his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the Marvel Universe. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutantkind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He would believe that mutants ("Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet and would set about either creating a homeland on Earth where mutants could live peacefully, or conquering and enslaving humanity in the name of mutantkind.

 

Magneto's first villainous act was attacking a United States military base called Cape Citadel after bringing down missiles. He was defeated by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the X-Men, in their first mission. He creates Asteroid M, an orbital base of operations in a hollowed out asteroid that he wanted to be a homeland for all mutantkind. He then gathered a group of angry and disillusioned mutants including his own, albeit at the time unbeknown to him, son and daughter Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch and formed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to further his goals. Magneto briefly conquers the fictional South American nation of San Marco in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there after stealing a military ship and getting Mastermind to cast an illusion of an army, but is once again foiled by the X-Men. He tried to make the Toad infiltrate the X-Men, but when that failed he captured the Angel and tried to force him to tell the secrets of the X-Men. However the other X-Men were able to rescue their member and destroy Asteroid M.

 

Constant defeat of him and the Brotherhood by the X-Men led him to get captured by the Stranger, a powerful alien being, whom Magneto initially thought was another powerful mutant. The Stranger encased Magneto and Toad in a special cocoon and spirited him away to another planet, the Stranger's laboratory world. Back on Earth, Magneto's Brotherhood splintered, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch deserted him. Magneto escaped to Earth by repairing a spaceship on the Stranger's planet, but left the Toad behind. He captured nearly all the X-Men and took over the Mansion, hoping to use the parents of Warren Worthington III to create a race of mutants, but was then recaptured by the Stranger after Xavier telepathically contacted the Stranger. Magneto remained on the Stranger's world for a time, but escaped again, made his way back to Earth, and reassembled the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with the exception of the mutant Mastermind. He then captured the X-Men, but with the help of the Avengers and a rebellious member of the Brotherhood, Toad, Magneto was defeated again.

 

Magneto then created the Savage Land Mutates. With the Savage Land Mutates, he clashed with the X-Men and Ka-Zar. Along with Namor, Magneto later attacked New York City. He later fought the Inhumans Royal Family, and battled the Avengers once more.

 

Magneto later reorganized the Brotherhood, and fought Professor X and the Defenders. Using ancient and advanced alien technology he found near the core of the earth, Magneto created an artificial humanoid he named "Alpha the Ultimate Mutant." Alpha rebelled against his creator and reduced Magneto to infancy. Magneto was then placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor Moira MacTaggert at Muir Island. At Muir Island, MacTaggert manipulated the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to prevent him from becoming "evil" in adulthood. However, her genetic tampering lost its effect when Magneto reactivated his powers again. Magneto is eventually restored to adulthood, but to his physical prime rather than his older age, when he is found at Muir Island by the alien Shi'ar agent Erik the Red.

 

Magneto later gathered a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and with them battled Captain America. He then opposed Doctor Doom's conquest of Earth.

 

Redemption

 

Magneto later discovered that former Brotherhood members the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are actually his children, simultaneously learning about their recent marriages to the Vision and Crystal. He revealed to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch that he is their father. He also discovered his granddaughter, Quicksilver's human child Luna Maximoff. Seeing Luna as a bond to the human race he has rejected, Magneto tried to reach out to his children. Angered by his rejection of them and their mother, they pushed him away and refused to forgive him.

 

Magneto found himself allied with Professor Xavier and the X-Men when a group of heroes and villains were abducted by the Beyonder, a nearly omnipotent alien being. This entity took them to a planet he created called the Battleworld to participate in a personal experiment of his to observe the concept of the battle between good and evil which would later be known as the Secret Wars. The characters were sorted according to their desires; Magneto was placed with the heroes as his desires were based on a wish to help mutants rather than the more selfish drives of the others. This surprised many of the other heroes, who still believed him to be a villain, although eventually they came to accept him as an ally. Captain America even spoke in his defense on some occasions, and the Wasp developed a certain affection for him, although it was tempered by her knowledge of his past.

 

After the Secret Wars, Magneto was transported back to his base, Asteroid M, where the alien Warlock, traveling to Earth, collided into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto was sent falling towards Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean, sustaining serious injuries. He was rescued by Lee Forrester, the captain of a fishing trawler. Lee helped him recuperate from his injuries, and the two shared a small romance.

 

After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto was asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder. Magneto stayed with the X-Men even after the Beyonder was defeated. His association with the team softened his views on humanity, and Magneto eventually surrendered himself to the law to stand trial for his crimes. A special tribunal was organized which chose to strike all charges against Magneto from prior to his "rebirth," deeming that this had constituted a figurative death of the old Magneto. However, the tribunal was interrupted by an attack from Fenris, the twin children of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris was defeated, but Professor X was brought to near-death due to the strain of the battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asked Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, and told him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes. Magneto agreed and chose not to return to the courtroom. Instead, he took over Xavier's school under the assumed identity of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's cousin. Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver began accepting him as their father.

 

Though Magneto made a substantial effort as the headmaster of the New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure was disastrous. The Beyonder plagued him yet again, slaying Xavier's current students, the New Mutants, and bringing them back to life soon after. This deeply traumatized the entire group. Magneto was then manipulated by Emma Frost, headmistress of her own school, the Massachusetts Academy, and White Queen of the Hellfire Club, into battling sanctioned heroes the Avengers and the Supreme Soviets. Magneto submitted to a trial once again, but used mind-control circuitry he salvaged from the wreckage of Asteroid M to alter the opinions of the head justice in charge of the trial. As a result, Magneto was finally absolved of his past crimes but found that this had only fueled the hostility that normal humans have towards mutants. Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken after the genocidal massacre in the Morlock tunnels, Magneto and Storm joined the Hellfire Club jointly as the White King. He was unable to prevent his students Roberto da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school, or prevent the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey after the students snuck away yet again to save a friend, and witnessed the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television.

 

His relationship with the New Mutants deteriorated even further when they saw him and the Hellfire Club negotiating with the demons of the Inferno incident. Magneto later ousted longtime Hellfire Club co-chair Sebastian Shaw in order to establish himself as the head of the Hellfire Club as the Grey King. During this confrontation he revealed his real purpose of raising an army for the coming war between humans and mutants. The New Mutants did not return to Magneto's tutelage.

 

Seeing conditions for mutants grow progressively more perilous, Magneto began seeking allies to protect mutants from humanity. He participated in the Acts of Vengeance alongside such established villains as Doctor Doom, the Wizard, the Mandarin, and the Red Skull. His temporary alliance with the Red Skull — an unrepentant Nazi war criminal — was a highly uneasy one. After confirming that the Skull was the original one who had worked with Hitler, Magneto took revenge upon him by entombing him alive. He also fought a cosmically powered Spider-Man in order to examine his powers. He worked alongside Rogue, Ka-Zar, and the American intelligence agent Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to reestablish peace in the Savage Land. This ultimately led to an altercation with Zaladane, who had appropriated the magnetic powers of Magneto's then-unknown daughter, Polaris. The conflict ended with Magneto executing Zaladane himself. With her death, Magneto renounced his previous efforts to act as a mentor to the New Mutants and to follow Xavier's beliefs in peaceful co-existence between mutants and normal humans.

 

Avalon and Genosha

 

Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto set his sights significantly lower than world conquest. Instead, Magneto built a second orbital base called Avalon where he hoped to live a life of quiet seclusion. He was, by this point, a figurehead for the cause of mutantkind and was sought out by a group of new mutants calling themselves the Acolytes who pledged their service and allegiance to him. Under the influence of one of them, Fabian Cortez, he announced that the orbital base known as Asteroid M will be a new homeland for mutantkind, obtaining nuclear missiles from a sunken Soviet submarine he had previously destroyed and placed them around the Asteroid pointed towards Earth.

 

Magneto discovered how Moira MacTaggert had altered his genetic structure when he had been de-aged. Enraged as he felt that his redemption had been a lie, he kidnapped Moira and subjected her to torture. Though it was later revealed that the genetic tampering had lost its effect when he had first used his powers after being re-aged, and thus his actions had never been influenced by Moira's tampering, the damage was done. While the X-Men attacked Avalon to rescue Moira and stop Magneto's plans, the Soviets launched a particle beam satellite which destroyed Asteroid M. Betrayed and abandoned at the last minute by Cortez, Magneto refused Xavier's pleas to escape with the X-Men back to Earth and he and his followers seemingly perished in the subsequent explosion. It would later be revealed that Magneto survived the crash, as the Acolyte Chrome had encased him in a protective shell. However, Chrome and the other Acolytes died.

 

The United Nations Security Council, in response to a resurgent Magneto, voted to activate the "Magneto Protocols" — a satellite network, in slightly lower orbit than Avalon, which skews the Earth's magnetic field enough to prevent Magneto from using his powers within, preventing him from returning to the planet's surface. In response, Magneto generated an electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electric device on Earth within minutes. The X-Men responded by hacking into Avalon's own computer systems to teleport a small team to the station with the aid of Colossus (who had joined Magneto as one of Magneto's Acolytes). Magneto, during the battle with the X-Men, ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's bones, which enraged Xavier to the point that he wiped his former friend's mind, leaving him in a coma. This action later led to the creation of Onslaught an omnipotent being that was formed with the combination of both Xavier's and Magneto's powers. Magneto remained comatose on Avalon, worshiped by his Acolytes under the leadership of the ancient mutant Exodus, until Avalon itself was destroyed by the arrival of Holocaust from the Age of Apocalypse Earth. During the destruction, Colossus placed Magneto in an escape pod sending him back to Earth. This pod was intercepted by Astra, a former ally who now desires his death.

 

After cloning Magneto, Astra restored Magneto's memories and powers before attempting to kill him. Instead, Magneto, now fully revived, battled both Astra and his clone. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphed over the clone sending him crashing into a South American barn. However, too weak to continue the battle, the real Magneto went into hiding while the now-amnesiac clone became known as Joseph (christened as such by the nun who discovered him) and eventually joined the X-Men. Since the world believed Joseph to be the real Magneto, Magneto took his time to plan. He engaged in a pair of brief diversions, first posing as "Erik the Red" and revealing Gambit's past crimes to the X-Men, resulting in Gambit's expulsion from the group. Then he killed George Odekirk, the forger that created his "Erik Lehnsherr" alias to prevent his true identity from being discovered by Sabra and Gabrielle Haller.

 

Following this, Magneto constructed a machine to amplify his powers and blackmail the world into creating a mutant nation. The X-Men and Joseph, who had fallen under Astra's control again, opposed him. Magneto's powers were severely depleted from over-straining them in battling Joseph, who sacrificed his life to restore the Earth to normal. However, the United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, ceded to Magneto the island nation of Genosha, which had no recognized government, leaving Magneto unexpectedly triumphant. He then ruled Genosha for some time with the aid of many who had previously opposed him, including Quicksilver, Polaris, and the founder of the Acolytes, Fabian Cortez, and engaged in a brutal civil war with the island's former human rulers.

 

Despite the UN's hopes that Genosha's civil war between humans and mutants would destroy or at least occupy him, Magneto ultimately crushed all opposition to his rule and rebuilt the nation by forming an army of mutants dedicated to his cause, including mutants coming from all over the world seeking sanctuary. Eventually, Magneto was able to use the Genegineer's equipment to fully restore his power. Intending to declare war on humanity, he captured Professor X to use as a symbol with which to rally his troops. In the Eve of Destruction storyline, Jean Grey recruited a new group of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier; they defeated Magneto when Xavier psychically cut off his access to his powers. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacked the depowered Magneto, crippling him with serious injuries.

 

The Destruction of Genosha

 

While recovering from the stabbing he endured at the hands of Wolverine, Genosha was attacked by an army of Sentinels sent by Xavier's long lost twin sister Cassandra Nova Xavier. Over 16 million mutants and humans died in Genosha, with Magneto as one of the casualties. The attack came just after Polaris (one of the survivors) discovered the truth about her biological relationship as Magneto's daughter.

 

Magneto's last moments were spent revealing to Genosha Polaris's status as his daughter. Kuan Yin Xorn in the guise of Magneto also apparently converted a magnetic black box (designed to disable all forms of global electronic communication) into a recorder for a final message to the masses in which he tells his people that they will live on in the form of a radio message that records their last dying moments.

 

Alliance with Charles Xavier on Genosha

 

Magneto was presumed to be dead until a Chinese mutant named Xorn, who had been associated with the X-Men as a teacher and follower of Charles Xavier, took on the guise of Magneto in the storyline "Planet X" in New X-Men #150, and attacked the X-Men mansion, then attacked New York City after kidnapping Charles Xavier. Xorn as Magneto was then beheaded by Wolverine in the same issue.

 

When Charles Xavier was transporting the body of the supposed "Magneto" to Genosha for burial, a short time later, he was met on Genosha by the real Magneto, who had never left the island, in the first book of a revived Excalibur vol. 3. Magneto explained that he did not know who "Xorn" was, or why he had taken on the identity of Magneto.

 

Magneto and Xavier teamed up to try and rebuild Genosha, and gathered a team around them of young mutants including Wicked, Freakshow, Shola Inkosi, and human-sentinel Karima Shapandar.

 

Meanwhile, Marvel brought back Xorn in Chuck Austen's X-Men #157, which introduced Shen Xorn. Shen Xorn claimed to be the twin brother of the original Xorn (now referred to as Kuan-Yin Xorn) who, under the influence of the entity known as Sublime, had pretended to be Magneto. This claim was supported when Emma Frost conducted a thorough mind scan of Shen. The claim was confirmed by Kuan Yin Xorn himself as the leading intelligence of "The Collective."

 

House of M

 

Following the events in New York, Xavier met the real Magneto in Genosha, who apparently survived Cassandra Nova's attack and lived unnoticed within the ruins. Xavier brought with him the coffin supposedly containing the corpse of Xorn (but which is later shown to be filled with guns), and explains how the impostor had killed over 5,000 people including Jean Grey. Magneto is shocked and angry that people think he is capable of committing such an act. Xavier and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process.

 

Magneto's daughter Wanda suffered a mental breakdown over the loss of her children and started to warp reality in order to recreate them, inadvertently resulting in random attacks on the Avengers, until Doctor Strange put her into a coma to stop her. In Genosha, Magneto heard Wanda's psychic cry for help and created a wormhole, whisking her away before the Avengers were able to stop her. Back in Genosha, Magneto tended to Wanda, increasingly becoming more withdrawn and angry. He allowed only Xavier to visit, in the belief that Xavier could help Wanda. Xavier was angry to learn that Magneto had revealed to the world that he was alive by rescuing Wanda, but agreed to try and help. Months passed with no avail, and not even Doctor Strange's magic helped. The X-Men and the Avengers meet to decide what should be done, and when some of the members suggest killing Wanda, Quicksilver informed Magneto of this development, before convincing Wanda to warp reality into the House of M. In the new reality, where the New Avengers, the X-Men, and the members of Wanda's family all received their 'heart's desires', Magneto was attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979, and revealed an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. This resulted in Magneto being granted sovereignty over Genosha as leader of the world's much larger and much faster growing mutant population. Magneto then turned Genosha into the most powerful, technologically advanced country on Earth, which he used as a base to dominate the world and place mutantkind above humanity.

 

A group of heroes were brought together by Wolverine — who alone remembers the way the world is supposed to be because his 'heart's desire' was to regain all the memories stolen from him by the Weapon X Program — and have their own memories of the "real world" restored by Layla Miller. They banded together and attacked Magneto in Genosha, believing him to be the one responsible. During the battle Layla was able to restore Magneto's memories as well, and he confronted his son, enraged that Quicksilver had done all of this in his name. Quicksilver revealed that Magneto would have let Wanda die, but Magneto replied that Quicksilver was only using Wanda and himself, and he would never have allowed this to happen. Furious, Magneto kills Quicksilver. Sensing her brother's death, Wanda resurrected him and retaliated with the phrase "No more mutants," changing the world back to its original form and causing ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers including Magneto. Magneto was left a broken man, and Wolverine spared his life simply because Magneto wasn't directly responsible for this latest tragedy and because Wolverine felt that he "deserved every second of his crap "sapien" life".

 

Son of M

 

When Quicksilver came to Genosha to restore the mutants' powers with the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists, Magneto condemned his actions, pointing out the disastrous effects the Mists have on non-Inhumans. An angry Quicksilver attacked Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, and savagely beat him until his own daughter Luna stopped him.

 

The Collective

 

Marvel's editor in chief at that time, Joe Quesada, later elaborated on the issue of Xorn and Magneto, stating that "Kuan-Yin Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto." However, the issue of Xorn and Magneto was ultimately resolved during "The Collective" arc in New Avengers. A powerless Magneto is attacked by Xorn, who has somehow evolved into a being of pure energy and merged with both an energy absorbing mutant named Michael Pointer and free floating mutant power energy that manifested itself after Scarlet Witch depowered the bulk of the mutant population. Xorn reveals that he, of his own free will, impersonated Magneto in order to rally mutantkind against humanity but failed due to the quality of his impersonation. As a result, he possesses Magneto and briefly reactivates his powers before being defeated by the New Avengers and a cadre of heroes, including Magneto's former son-in-law Vision and mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and the Sentry combined their powers and send Xorn into the Sun. Michael Pointer and Magneto were freed as a result, though Magneto was promptly arrested and loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. The helicopter, however, exploded upon take-off through unknown means as Magneto used what was left of the energy provided to him by Xorn to escape.

 

Divided We Stand

 

Magneto appeared at the end of X-Men: Legacy #208, apparently at the behest of Exodus and claiming to be powerless, to help restore the broken psyche of Professor Xavier. Together they managed to revive Xavier before being attacked by Frenzy. Magneto wounded Frenzy by firing a medical laser into one of her eyes, prompting Exodus to ask what punishment he would have instilled on a human who injured a mutant (as the Acolytes consider him a human, Exodus even claims that Magneto is dead and that Lehnsherr is just a shell that was left over). Magneto replied "Death" and Exodus proceeded to choke him with his telekinesis before Xavier challenged Exodus on the astral plane. After Xavier defeated Exodus, he left Magneto and Omega Sentinel to try and rebuild his lost memories.

 

Manifest Destiny

 

Magneto appeared, seemingly repowered, reactivating Sentinels to attack the X-Men just as they had recently relocated to San Francisco. The X-Men defeated him in combat, but it was then revealed that his powers were artificially simulated by a suit designed by the High Evolutionary, and that his attack was merely a distraction so the High Evolutionary could gain an unknown object from the Dreaming Celestial in order to further a shared goal between Magneto and the High Evolutionary. After extensively examining the Dreaming Celestial, the High Evolutionary subjected Magneto to an extremely dangerous technological procedure in a successful attempt to restore his powers.

 

Nation X

 

Magneto appeared on Utopia, the new mutant homeland created by the X-Men using the remnants of his old Asteroid M. Magneto stuns the X-Men by offering to work with them impressed with their recent efforts in defending and helping mutantkind. Magneto feared the end of mutantkind until Cyclops informed him that Hope Summers, the Mutant Messiah is alive and well. He puts this offer in action as he assisted the X-Men in defending Utopia Island from an attack of Predator X monsters. After helping the X-Men defeat the Predators, Magneto, now considered a member of the X-Men, assists them in stabilizing the asteroid from sinking into the Pacific. To that end, he worked with Namor and the Atlanteans by constructing a pillar supporting Utopia on the surface that would provide a home for the Atlanteans, which Magneto would later refer to as New Atlantis. However, Magneto's actions angered Cyclops who reprimanded Magneto for acting on his own authority. Despite Xavier being apologetic and appreciative for what he'd done, Magneto left Utopia for nearby Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. In a final bid to gain their trust, Magneto entered into a deep meditative catatonic state to focus his powers at an interstellar distance, reverse the path of Breakworld's "Earth-destroyer" Metal Bullet that Kitty Pryde was trapped in, and bring her home to Earth. Magneto had encountered the bullet earlier while working to regain his powers with the High Evolutionary, and had surmised that Kitty was inside. He had chosen to focus on ways to restore the powers of mutants, but he memorized the metals of the bullet allowing him to keep a trace on it. Using all of his powers, Magneto was able to bring the bullet back to Earth, drawing Kitty out of it and levitating her safely to the ground. However, the use of his power at such intensity and duration severely strained him, leaving him comatose.

 

Second Coming

 

Magneto comes out of his coma right after Hope was teleported into Utopia by a dying Nightcrawler. With the Nimrods laying siege to Utopia, Magneto stopped Hank McCoy from leaving his patients as he prepared to enter battle himself despite his weakened status. Magneto managed to hold off a squad of Nimrods, attacking with electrical blasts before finally dismembering the robots by pulling shards of iron from the core of Utopia through them.

 

The Children's Crusade

 

After that battle, Magneto learned that the Young Avengers were going to search for the still missing Scarlet Witch, and that the heroes Wiccan and Speed are the reincarnations of Wanda's children. Magneto meets them, stating that he wants Wiccan and Speed to finally know him as their grandfather, and helps them find Wanda. The Avengers attempt to stop Magneto and fight him unsuccessfully, before Wiccan teleports Magneto and the Young Avengers to Wundagore Mountain. There they encounter Quicksilver, who attempts to kill his father. They discover that this Scarlet Witch is actually a Doombot in disguise.

 

Magneto Goes Public

 

With his reputation around the world as a well-known mutant revolutionary/terrorist, Magneto is talked into finding a solution to the problem by Cyclops before it goes public that he is established in Utopia. Kate Kildare, a "superhuman public relations specialist", advises him on a costume color scheme containing white, along with getting the public to "love and fear" him, both of which he refuses. With an earthquake inbound for San Francisco, Magneto uses his powers to stabilize the city's buildings, structures and metal vehicles, and to smooth the earth movements themselves, thus preventing any major damage and saving many lives. As a result, some of the city favors him, while others are reminded of how potentially dangerous he can be and has been.

 

Powers and abilities

 

Magneto is a mutant with the power to manipulate the Earth's electromagnetic fields to achieve a wide range of effects.

 

The primary application of his power is control over magnetism and the manipulation of metal - ferrous and nonferrous. He can affect a very large quantity of metal at one time. For example, he has levitated objects as heavy as a 30,000 ton nuclear submarine and has used his power to move large asteroids several times. The maximum amount of mass that he can manipulate at one time is unknown, but his powers extend into the subatomic fields as evidenced during the Secret Wars, when he pulled ambient molecules of metal out of the surrounding atmosphere into a metal comb for Janet Van Dyne. He can manipulate a large number of individual metal objects simultaneously and has assembled complex machinery with his powers. He can also affect non-metallic and non-magnetic objects to a lesser extent and frequently levitates himself and others.

 

Another way in which Magneto frequently uses his power is the projection of force-fields which selectively block out matter and energy. These fields are strong enough to withstand the detonation of multiple thermonuclear weapons; hence Magneto is invulnerable to most harm when surrounded by his shield and can survive in deep space thanks to it.

 

Magneto can also channel his powers through his own body to increase his strength and durability far beyond human limits and has a baseline reaction time 15 times shorter than that of regular humans.

 

On occasion he has altered the behavior of gravitational fields around him, which has been suggested as evidence of the existence of a unified field which he can manipulate.

 

He can also generate electromagnetic pulses of great strength and generate and manipulate electromagnetic energy down to photons. He can turn invisible by warping visible light around his body.

 

Although Magneto has been shown capable of manipulating matter on a subatomic level (insofar as the electromagnetic force is responsible for chemical bonding), the use of his powers in this way seems to be difficult for him, and he has not been frequently depicted as doing so.

 

He has demonstrated the capacity to produce a wormhole and to safely teleport himself and others via the wormhole. His powers have also demonstrated that he can condense planetary objects into subatomic size.[volume & issue needed]

 

He is also regularly seen "flying". The most logical explanation is that he pushes himself away from the minerals in the ground in order to levitate.

 

Magneto has been consistently and frequently depicted as able to resist all but the strongest or most unexpected of telepathic attacks. A number of explanations have been proposed for his unusually strong resistance to telepathy, among them: (a) technology wired into his helmet (the explanation given in the X-Men film series and several comic plotlines), (b) some physical aspect of his electromagnetic powers that can interfere with telepathy (he once used the Earth's magnetic field to dampen the powers of all telepaths within his reach), © latent telepathic powers of his own or (d) sheer force of will (cf. X-Men Vol. 2 #2). The theme of latent telepathic powers has been explored in a number of stories, among them the Secret Wars limited series. In some of his earliest appearances, Magneto was depicted as capable of engaging in astral projection. He has also, on rare occasions, been shown reading other's dreams, issuing telepathic commands, and probing the minds of others. He has demonstrated the ability to shield his mind, while in intense meditation, so completely that even Emma Frost was not able to read his thoughts, despite being directly in front of him and actively attempting to do so.

 

In addition to his powers, Magneto has many other skills. He is a genius with competence in various fields of advanced science, especially in genetic manipulation, particle physics, engineering, and other fields of technology. He has engineered advanced weaponry, space stations, superpowered humanoid lifeforms, devices that generate volcanoes and earthquakes, devices that block telepathy, and devices that can nullify all mutant powers except for his own. He has reconstructed computerized devices from memory. He is fluent in many human languages and once single-handedly deciphered the unknown language of a lost civilization. He possesses extraordinary skill in "reading" the microexpressions on others' faces and sensing what they are thinking and feeling, whether they are lying, fearful, etc. a skill which he refers to as "taking your enemy's measure." He also is a master strategist and tactician with extensive combat experience, and has often been successful in single-handed combat against entire groups of superhuman adversaries. He also has some military training in hand-to-hand combat and has been shown to be effective with his fists, but he prefers to use his powers when in combat situations.

 

[knightni]

24. Scar (The Lion King)

(4 of 16 lists - 54 points - highest ranking #5 Buehrle>Wood)

 

Scar was the main antagonist in The Lion King. He is the younger brother of Mufasa and the uncle of Simba.

 

Appearance

 

Scar is a sleek, elegant lion who is severely lacking in physical prowess, something he comments on himself and according to the synopsis.

 

Scar's lead animator, Andreas Deja, intentionally designed him with a slick, combed back black silky mane that when in the sun apears a very dark brown, and animated him to slither and glide rather than move about in the way the stockier, stronger lions in the movie do such as Mufasa or Simba.

 

Scar's fur is reddish-brown, his mane is coal black,and his eyes are bright yellow-green, two traits he shares with Ahadi. He boast many features that resemble an Outsider. A scar, his namesake, runs across his left eye.

 

He closely resembles Jafar and his design inspired the Outlander Pride's.

 

Personality

 

Scar is highly intelligent and charismatic as he is able to rally the hyenas to his cause and gain fanatical loyalty from Zira and her pride of lionesses. Scar is a psychopathic individual who is mainly concerned with gaining power and will kill anyone he sees as competition. Despite his ruthless nature, he is a somewhat cowardly individual, more likely to run away from violence than confront it. When pressed though, he is portrayed as a fierce fighter who holds his own against, and almost defeats Simba at the movie's climax, despite the fact that he (Scar) is far older by decades yet is able to fight as if he was as young as Simba.

 

Due to him being able to plot the murder of his own brother and nephew, and execute this plot without little remorse, it could be said that he doesn't care much for family relations.

 

Scar's lyrics in the song "Be Prepared" ("meticulous planning, tenacity spanning, decades of denial, is simply why I'll be King undisputed, respected, saluted and seen for the wonder I am") and his inability to take criticism either from Shenzi or Sarabi establish him as being a narcissist. He is also an expert manipulator, having tricked both Mufasa and Simba into situations with the intent of getting them killed (successfully, in the case of Mufasa). His deceptive and opportunistic nature would prove to be his undoing, however, when his hyena allies overheard his attempt to sell them out.

 

Information

 

Backstory

 

According to the novel series, The Lion King: Six New Adventures, Scar's real name is Taka, which is Swahili for "dirt", "trash", or "want". In A Tale of Two Brothers, one of the books in the set, young adult Taka is angry that Mufasa is chosen to be the heir to the throne. He gets even angrier when his father, King Ahadi, breaks his promise to go hunting with him, choosing to solve the drought problems in the Pride Lands instead. Taka wanders off to talk to Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed the hyenas, who tell him that if Mufasa were to be made to look like a failure to their father, Ahadi, and the rest of their pride, then he, Taka, will look good in comparison and take the throne.

 

Taka then tricks his brother into going down to the waterhole, where a cape buffalo named Boma is refusing to share the water. The Pridelands are in a terrible drought and any water there is precious. Mufasa begins reasoning with Boma, when Taka roars and says that Boma must move by order of the Lion King, or Mufasa will face Boma in combat. Boma charges out of the water at Mufasa. Mufasa escapes to safety with Rafiki, but Boma says that his herd will get Taka. Mufasa runs back to find Taka being attacked by Boma's herd. The largest of the buffaloes slashes Taka with his horns, knocking him unconscious. Mufasa leaps in to save his brother and the buffaloes ready themselves to attack again. Before they can do so, however, Ahadi appears with a large herd of animals. The herd surrounds the buffaloes and ends the fight. Later on, Rafiki examines Taka and finds a deep cut on his left eye, which will never fully heal. Taka then requests that he be called "Scar" from now on, as a reminder of how he foolishly allowed his anger to rule him..

 

The Lion King

 

Scar makes his first appearance directly after Simba's presentation, where he traps an unsuspecting field mouse under his paw, lifting it slowly and eyeing it thoughtfully. He points out to the mouse thoughtfully, more to himself, that life isn't fair, before beginning to lament on his own life and about how he'll never be the King. To make himself feel better however, he also tells the mouse he'll never see the light of another day, bidding it adieu, and lowering into his jaws to eat. Zazu interupts him however, asking rhetorically and mocking if his mother ever taught him not to play with his food. Scar responds with annoyance, trying to eat the bird when he points out mufasa won't be pleased with his absence. Just as he traps Zazu within his jaws, the King arrives, commanding Scar to release Zazu. Scar does, leaving the hornbill drenched in saliva, choosing to deal with his brother instead. He approaches Mufasa, carelessly invading his personal space in mock-surprise about being visited by his brother, but Mufasa moves onto more pressing matters. Scar says, again in a mock-surprised voice, he didn't know the Presentation was today and that he fell 'simply awful' for missing. Zazu points out, even as slippery as his mind is, he should've been first in line and Scar snaps his teeth at the bird, pointing out before Simba (referring to him as "hairball") was born he was first in line. Mufasa meets his brother's eyes, clearly stating that "hairball" is his son, the future king, and making it clear Scar was never gets the position. Scar says he'll practice his courtsey, turning his back and walking away from his brother. He veils a threat when Mufasa addresses him again, something that riles up the bigger lion. Scar reassures that he wouldn't challenge Mufasa, as he doesn't have the brawn to do it. He navigates around the two and strides off into the savannah. Later, after Simba is denied permission to accompany Mufasa and go take care of some hyenas, Scar is visited by his nephew. He reacts in seething anger and annoyance when Simba gleefully points out he'll be king, asking what that makes Scar. Scar replies "a monkey's uncle", but Simba simply laughs and calls his uncle weird. Scar takes interest in the cub's previous statement of being showed the whole kingdom, guessing Mufasa didn't show him what's beyond the northern border. He reaffirms that the King was right and 'lets it slip' that the Elephant Graveyard is no place for a prince. Scar shruggingly says Simba would've eventually found out and only requests Simba not go to the place or tell anyone where he heard about the Graveyard from. He pushes Simba off with a paw, knowing the cub's curiousity would eventually draw him there.

 

His plan to kill Simba, via Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, is foiled by Mufasa when the lion comes to their rescue and fights the hyenas off. From attop a knoll, he watches in dismay as the cubs are led out of danger and his plan fails. For this, he scolds the hyenas, debating whether to feed them or not as he "practically gift wrapped the cubs for them" but for whatever reason, they still couldn't dispose of the two. He drops the zebra meat however, and though their noisy eating, Banzai points out something that gives Scar another idea: they'd kill the King and the prince in one full swoop. With a sinister "Precisely", Scar leads his hyenas army into the musical "Be Prepared"

The next day, Scar lures Simba into the gorge and instructs him to wait on a rock for the "marvelous surprise" Mufasa has planned for him. Simba is extremely curious, opting to go with Scar, but the lion abruptly refuses his request. He brings up the incident with the hyenas, making Simba a little more compliant about staying on the rock, and suggest while he's there he work on his "roar". Scar begins to move off, when Simba addresses him again, asking if he'd like the surprise. The dark lion smirks, telling Simba that it is "to die for..." From atop the gorge's walls, he gives the signal to the hyenas and they start up a thunderous stampede, comprised of hundreds of startled wildebeests. Scar finds Mufasa and in a staged panic, tells Mufasa about Simba's being trapped in the Wildebeest stampede. Both lions run off to The Gorge, spotting Simba clinging desperately to a weak branch. Mufasa jumps into the sea of hooves and Scar drops his act of panic, swatting the majordomo into the wall of the gorge rendering him unconscious. The dark lion slithers across the ridges of the gorge, never taking his eyes off of Mufasa's position. The King leaps into the gorge's walls, clinging there, but Scar meets him at the top. After taking time to drink in Mufasa's helpless form, he slams his claws into his brother's paws, sinisterly whispering "Long live the King", and then throwing Mufasa back into the gorge to his doom. The newly labeled murderer meets Simba at the bottom of the gorge, seeing the cub curled up under Mufasa's broken body, and manipulates Simba, telling him that Mufasa's death was all his fault. He instructs Simba to run away and never return, siccing the hyenas on him as the cub disappears.

 

To the pride he returns, telling them all the news of Mufasa and Simba's deaths, unknown to him that the prince was anything, but dead. After this, he introduces the hyenas and ascends Pride Rock to truly assume the throne.

 

During Scar's reign, the kingdom becomes a drought which causes the lionesses refuse to hunt, knowing there is no food left. Even the hyenas, who are probably used to going hungry for days, start complaining to Scar about the larder being bare. Scar, however, picking his teeth with the bones of an animal from a previous meal presumably, tells them to get out when Banzai angers him by mentioning Mufasa, a name that has been banned by law to be spoken.

Finally, Scar calls Sarabi to him, asking her why the hunting party refuses to do its job, not accepting Sarabi's excuse of their not being any food, merely passing their unsuccess off as the lionesses not looking hard enough. When Sarabi suggest they leave Pride Rock, Scar makes it clear he isn't moving the pride anywhere, the former Queen angrily pointing out his decision would end up in the deaths of them all. Scar turns his back on her, telling her that he's fine with this result and that he is the King and can do whatever he wants. He angrily strikes Sarabi when she insinuates he isn't half the King Mufasa was, and this causes Simba, who was observing the entire scene, to spring from hiding in his mother's defense. Scar first mistakens him for Mufasa, but when it's made clear it the thought-dead Simba, he glares at the hyenas and cowers away as his nephew begins to back him into a corner. Scar makes it clear he isn't resigning, pointing to the many hyenas above him and telling him they think he is the King. However, Nala and the lionesses reject him, and Simba threatens he'll fight if his uncle doesn't step down. Scar slinks around Simba, hinting at Mufasa's death. The prince tells Scar his trick won't work, but the lionesses are curious as to what Scar is talking about. Pleasantly surprised, the King forces Simba to admit his responsiblity for Mufasa's death and proceeds to back Simba over the edge of Pride Rock's peak. As Simba slips off the peak, using his fore-paws to desperately cling for his life, Scar suddenly remembers Mufasa in similar situation years ago. Slamming his claws into Simba's paws just like he has previously done to Mufasa and assuming the youthful lion was as helpless as his brother was, Scar leans in and whisper to Simba that he, Scar, was really responsible for Mufasa's death.

 

Enraged, Simba pins Scar, a paw pressing down on his throat. Scar tries to weasel his way out of the situation, but his nephew's choking him forces him to admit what really happened all those years ago. The hyenas ambush Simba, prompting the lionesses to rush in to fight off the hyenas, during which Scar slink away. Simba spots him however, and gives chase. Trapped at Pride Rock's summit, Scar begs Simba for mercy as he places the blame on the hyenas, unaware they are listening, but Simba will have none of it. He asks Simba of his intentions, relieved when his nephew decides not to kill him, but he is horrified when Simba gives him his own advice to run away and never return. Scar begins to cooperate, but throws amber into Simba's eyes and tackles him while he is blinded.

 

The two lions engage in a brutal fight, a hard smack from Scar sending Simba on his back. Scar leaps to deliver the final blow, but Simba uses his hind legs to flip Scar over the edge and send him tumbling down the cliff. Scar survives the fall, and as he struggles to his feet, he greets his hyena friends in a pleasing manner, but they hyenas make it clear they are no longer friends and begin to surround Scar, backing against the stone. Scar pleads with the hyenas to listen to him, but the hyenas have had enough with his treachery and broken promise, and they subsequently leap on him and tear him apart as the flame engulfs them all.

 

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

 

Scar does not return as the villain in the direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, but it is revealed that Scar had a pride of lionesses loyal to him whom Simba exiled to the Outlands after he became king. They are led by Zira who is still fiercely loyal to him, who has three offspring: Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu. In the film, Zira attempts to use Kovu, who was briefly raised by Scar as well as his hand-chosen heir, to kill Simba and become king. Kovu, however, is not Scar's son but because of being chosen and raised by the lion still feels Scar is "a part of him", as he later explains to Kiara, Simba and Nala's daughter, and Kovu's presumed mate.

 

Scar only appears twice, the first time in Simba's nightmare. In the nightmare, Mufasa clings to the cliff above the stampede as in the first film, and Simba tries to reach down to help his father. However, Scar appears on the ledge and grabs Simba's paw, preventing him from reaching Mufasa. Scar laughs, suggesting Simba trust him and let Mufasa fall. Mufasa falls into the stampede and the cackling Scar morphs into Kovu. Kovu flashes an evil grin and throws Simba into the stampede, as Scar had done to Mufasa in the first film. He appears again when Simba banishes Kovu from the Pridelands. As Kovu looks into a stream as he is exiled, he sees Scar's reflection rather than his own. Given that Kovu had rejected defending his legacy, the young lion flees the vision in panic.

 

The Lion King 1½

 

In the direct-to-video "parallel film" The Lion King 1½ (2004), Scar makes a few brief, non-speaking appearances in the scenes for which he was present in the original Lion King film.

 

He is shown making Simba fall over Pride Rock's peak and fleeing from Simba after admiting he murdered Mufasa. Finally, after Timon, Ma, Pumbaa, and Uncle Max defeat the hyenas, Simba kicks him over the side of Pride Rock's summit, into the hole the hyenas fell into, and to his death.

 

Other Roles

 

The Lion King (musical)

 

"Ah...Nala....you know how I loathe Violence...."

—scar to Nala in The Madness of King Scar

 

In the Broadway musical based on the original film, Scar is portrayed by a human actor in an African-style costume with a lion-face headpiece mask that comes down over the actor's face using a hidden remote control along with the use of acane. Scar was originally portrayed in the Broadway production by John Vickery, and is currently played by Patrick Page. Dan Donohue portrays this character on the Broadway tour.

 

Scar's role is expanded upon with the song "The Madness of King Scar". In it, Scar begins doubting his reign, fearing that he might be losing the respect of the lionesses and that he needs a queen. He attempts to seduce Nala, who rebukes him by scratching his face.

 

Kingdom Hearts II

 

Besides appearing in various The Lion King video games, Scar (スカル, Sukāru?) also appears in the Disney and Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts II as the primary villain of the Pride Lands world, voiced by James Horan. Much like in the film, Scar murders Mufasa to become king, and under his reign, the Pridelands suffers a drought and food becomes scarce.

 

Prior to the game's main protagonists' (Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy) arrival at the Pridelands, Pete (in the form of a lion) offers Scar use of the Heartless to maintain his hold on the throne. Sora (in the form of a lion cub, a change brought on by his magical clothes) attempts to confront Scar in order to save the world, but is turned down by Rafiki due to the latter's prophecy. Soon afterwards, they are confronted by Scar. Scar attempts to persuade the lionesses to hunt and kill Sora, Donald, and Goofy and nearly attacks them, but is pinned down by Nala in order to allow Sora and friends some time to escape. Later, Sora locates Simba and brings him back to the Pridelands so he can challenge his uncle for the throne. The confrontation between Scar and Simba that follows is almost identical to that in the original film, starting with Scar's overconfident confession that he killed Mufasa, the only noteworthy exceptions being no hyenas for most of it and Sora and his group replacing the lionesses. Sora's group saves Timon and Pumbaa from Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and heynas, while Scar and Simba fight. As in the film, Simba eventually triumphs over his uncle; though Donald initially wants to help him, Sora prevents him from doing so, believing that it is Simba's fight, and they should not interfere.

 

Thinking Scar to be defeated, the protagonists are surprised when, as Pete explains, Scar returns to battle once again as a Heartless. Scar's anger and jealousy were so strong they lingered after death and consumed him. During the battle Scar uses a series of swift and strong physical attacks and powerful magic against Sora and company. Sora and his friends defeat Scar again. Scar is the only character in the Kingdom Hearts universe - excluding Xehanort - to keep his original form as a Heartless. Whether or not a Nobody will be fleshed out in Kingdom Hearts continuity is debated.

 

By the time Sora returns to the Pridelands to see how Simba is faring, rumors of Scar's ghost haunting the Pridelands have driven Simba into doubt. But once he overcomes this problem, the "ghost" is revealed to be the interaction of Simba's lack of confidence and Scar's spirit. Multiple copies of Scar's "ghost" then combine to form a gigantic Heartless that is eventually killed by Simba and Sora.

 

Scar in Relation to Adolf Hitler and King Claudius

 

Scar is most likely an archetype of King Claudius, the villain from Shakespeare's Hamlet, and inspired by the real-life German dictator, Adolf Hitler. In the song "Be Prepared", in which Scar sings to the hyenas about how he will kill Mufasa and become King, there is a scene where Scar sits on a high up rock, watching the hyenas march along. This is very similar to the Nazi film, Triumph of Will.

 

In the play, Hamlet, Claudius poisoned the old King Hamlet, his own brother, in his sleep in order to usurp both the throne and the queen, and attempts to do the same by poisoning his nephew, Prince Hamlet. Whereas, Scar pushes Mufasa off a cliff to his death in order to become king and uses the same tactic on Simba. However, Scar didn't necessarily have Sarabi or any of the other lionesses to be his queen. Although, in the Broadway version, Scar attempts to seduce Nala to become his queen.

 

Then, the filmmakers decided that the story would be more emotional and scary if the bad guy was someone in the family. So, they made him as King Mufasa's younger brother -- a creepy uncle for Simba, and a threat from the "inside" only to know that this story material originates from Hamlet.

 

Before the animators heard Jeremy Irons' performance and decided to work his features into Scar, he actually did have more obvious similarities to some of the other lions in the pride, noticeably to his brother Mufasa.

 

[knightni]

23. Agent Smith (The Matrix)

 

 

(4 of 16 lists - 58 points - highest ranking #4 littlehurt05)

 

Agent Smith (later merely "Smith") is the main antagonist of The Matrix film series and multimedia franchise, mainly played by actor Hugo Weaving and briefly by actor Ian Bliss in the films and voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in The Matrix: Path of Neo.

 

In 2008, Agent Smith was selected by Empire Magazine as number 84 of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

 

Overview

 

Smith began as an Agent, an AI program in the Matrix programmed to keep order within the system by terminating human simulacra which would bring instability to the simulated reality, as well as any rogue programs that no longer serve a purpose to the Machine collective. To this end, Smith possesses the ability to take control over the simulated body of any human wired into the Matrix. As an Agent, Smith is able to bend the rules of the Matrix (such as gravity and the limitations of the human body), giving him speed and strength beyond ordinary human capability. He and other Agents can dodge bullets flawlessly, punch through concrete with their bare hands, and jump impossible distances. Agents also have the ability to communicate with each other instantaneously and perceive what other humans wired into the Matrix do via a type of shared consciousness, represented via their earpieces (when Agent Smith removes his earpiece during the first film, he is left unaware of the attack on his building). Smith's weapon of choice in the first film, as is standard with all Agents within the Matrix, is the Desert Eagle, chambered for high-caliber .50 AE ammunition.

 

At the end of the first Matrix film, Smith appeared to have been deleted by Neo; however, in the sequels, Smith is revealed to have been "freed" from the Machines' control, preventing him from being forcibly sent to the system source where he and other programs would be deleted. This process makes him into a renegade program, effectively making him a self-replicating computer virus. Along with his freedom, Smith gains the ability to copy himself onto others within the Matrix, rather than simply having the ability to switch between bodies as normal agents are able to. By copying himself into a human in the process of disconnecting from the Matrix by making use of the in-Matrix landlines, Smith is able to insert himself into the outside world. This is seen when Smith takes over Bane's body in The Matrix Reloaded. Smith's real power comes from his ability to absorb memories and power from his victims, culminating in his form that fights Neo in the final battle of the Matrix series. Smith goes so far as to copy himself into the Oracle and he even tries to control Morpheus, and Neo himself.

 

Design

 

All Agents are Caucasian males (with a minor exception of female Agent Pace from The Matrix Online game), which also provides a dynamic compared to the majority population of Zion, containing many diverse cultures and walks of life. Agents wear dark sunglasses with corners or smooth angles and near-identical dark green business suits. The Agents show blandness and an apathy for the human race, with the exception of Smith's obsession with destroying Neo and his general hatred of humans.

 

Other Agents have common Anglo-Saxon names like Brown, Jones, and Thompson. It was mentioned in the Philosopher Commentary on the DVD collection that the names of Smith, Brown, and Jones may be endemic to the system itself, demonstrating a very "robotic" mindset on the part of the Machines.

 

The name "Smith" is explicitly attributed (as "IS 5416" on the license plate of Smith's car in The Matrix Reloaded) to Isaiah 54:16 in the Old Testament:

 

"Behold, I have created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."

 

Neo's solitary role as the One is contrasted by Smith, who, by replicating himself, becomes "the many." When Neo asks the Oracle about Smith, the Oracle explains that Smith is Neo's opposite and his negative.

 

Unlike the other characters in The Matrix, Smith almost always refers to Neo as "Mr. Anderson." He calls him "Neo" only once in each part of the trilogy: the first time when he is interviewing Neo about his double life, the second when he is dropping off an Agent earplug in a package for Neo, and the third when he is repeating a line of his vision to Neo.

 

Personality

 

Agent Smith is significantly more individualistic than the other Agents from the start. While other agents rarely act without consulting each other via their earpieces, to the point where they often finish each others' sentences, Smith is usually the one giving orders or using his earpiece to gather information for his own ends. Smith also appears to be the leader of other Agents in the first movie, as he has the authority to launch Sentinel attacks in the real world. As with other Agents, Smith generally approaches problems through a pragmatic point of view, but if necessary will also act with brute force and apparent rage, especially when provoked by Neo.

 

The earpieces represent some form of control mechanism by the machines. It is notable that when he is interrogating Morpheus, he sends the other agents from the room, then removes his earpiece, releasing himself from the link to the machines before expressing his opinion of humanity. Early in the second film, Smith's earpiece is sent to Neo in an envelope as a message from Smith, representing Smith's newfound freedom.

 

Agent Smith complains to Morpheus that the Matrix and its inhabitants smell disgusting, "if there is such a thing [as smell]". Smith has an open hatred of humans and their weakness of the flesh. He compares humanity to a virus, a disease organism that would replicate uncontrollably and eventually destroy their environment were it not for the machine intelligences keeping them in check. Ironically, Smith eventually becomes a computer virus, multiplying until he has overrun the entire Matrix.

 

At the same time, Smith develops an animosity towards the Matrix itself, feeling that he is as much a prisoner of it as the humans he is tasked with controlling. He later develops an immense and increasingly open desire for the destruction of both mankind and machines.

 

Agent Smith's vehicle of choice, as seen in The Matrix Reloaded is a black Audi A8 with black tinted windows and medium sized five-spoke aluminium wheels. Its registration plate reads IS 5416, which is a reference to the Old Testament.

 

The Wachowski brothers have commented that Smith's gradual humanization throughout The Matrix is a process intended to mirror and balance Neo's own increasing power and understanding of the machine world.

Character history

 

The Matrix

 

In the first film, Smith is one of the three Agents sent to deal with Morpheus. After Neo is successfully removed from the Matrix, Smith arranges Morpheus' capture by bribing Cypher, a disillusioned member of Morpheus' crew, with being reintegrated into The Matrix. When Neo manages to free Morpheus, Smith and his fellow Agents engage in a lengthy cross-town chase. He and Neo fight, with Smith dominating most of the fight. Shortly after Neo escapes the fight, Smith guns him down. Neo revives, realizes his power as the One, and enters Smith, to destroy him from within.

 

The Matrix Reloaded

 

As a result of his contact with Neo from the first film, Smith is "unplugged" in the second film; no longer an Agent of the system but a "free man". This is signified by the lack of an earpiece, which he sends to Neo in an envelope as a message early in the film. His appearance has changed in the second film as well; his sunglasses are of a different, more angular shape than the square ones the Agents wear. His suit color, as opposed to the greenish-tint from the first film, is now jet black. He still possesses the abilities of an Agent, but instead of being able to jump from one human to another, he is able to copy himself over any human or program in the Matrix through direct contact; this includes humans wired into the Matrix, non-Agent programs with human forms, redpills, and other Agents. Smith retains the memories and abilities, if any, of the one over which he copies himself. This ability is much like how a virus replicates, creating an ironic contrast with the first film, where Smith likens humanity to a virus.

 

He makes the claim that Neo has set him free. However, he believes there is an unseen purpose which binds together Neo and himself. He tries to copy his programming onto Neo, but when this fails, he and hundreds of his clones attack him, forcing Neo to flee. Later, he and his clones try to stop Neo from reaching the machine mainframe, but this too fails.

 

Smith copied himself onto Bane (Ian Bliss), a crew member of the Zion hovercraft Caduceus. While waiting to leave the Matrix with a message from The Oracle, Bane was attacked by Agent Smith, who overwrote Bane's mind.

 

The Matrix Revolutions

 

By the start of the third film, Smith has managed to copy himself over nearly every humanoid in the Matrix, giving him complete control over the "Core Network" (the underlying foundation of the inner workings of the Matrix), thus rendering him immutable by even the Machines themselves. The Oracle explains to Neo that he and Smith have become equal in power and that Smith is Neo's negative, a result of The Matrix equation trying to balance itself. Also, she reveals that if he is not stopped, Smith will destroy everything. Unfortunately, the Oracle herself is eventually taken over by Smith, granting him her power of foresight, or omniscience, as well as reality-bending powers equivalent to those possessed by Neo, such as the ability to fly. Meanwhile in the Real World, Smith, who had copied himself into Bane, tries to kill Trinity and Neo, he burns Neo's eyes making him blind, but is then killed by Neo.

 

Near the climax of the film, Neo offers a deal with the Machines to get rid of Smith in exchange for Zion's safety, warning them that Smith is beyond their control and will eventually spread to the machine city, which will result in destruction of both mankind and machines. Knowing that Neo is right, the Machines agree to his terms and hold all Sentinels attacking Zion to stand down and wait for orders. They later give Neo a connection to enter the Matrix to stop Smith on their behalf. Although the Matrix is now populated exclusively by Smith and his clones, the Smith that has obtained the Oracle's powers battles Neo alone; as he explains, he has foreseen his victory, and has no need for the help of his copies. The two are almost evenly matched as the fight begins, though Neo's combat abilities seem arguably superior to that of Smith, the latter attacking more out of brute force, rather than the technical skill he displayed in the first film. As the fight continues, however, it becomes clear that Neo is no match for Smith as Smith begins to dominate Neo in the fight; by the end of the fight, he is able to brutally beat Neo into near defeat. In the midst of this battle, Smith explains to Neo his final nihilistic revelation: "It was your life that taught me the purpose of all life. The purpose of life is to end."

 

When Neo is near defeat, Smith demands to know why Neo continues to fight, knowing he cannot win. Neo responds, "Because I choose to" and is beaten unconscious by the enraged Smith as a result. Suddenly recognizing the scene from his prophecy, Smith is compelled to deliver the line he said in it: "I say... Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo".

 

Confused by his own behavior, Smith suddenly becomes frightened by the effect his words have on Neo. Unable to overpower Smith, Neo understands that he cannot beat Smith physically, and knows what he must do to win. Thus Neo opens himself to assimilation, apparently submitting to defeat. What follows is open to interpretation. Smith copies himself onto Neo and believes himself to be the victor, but does not know that Neo is plugged directly into the source. As a result, Smith "returns to the source," and is thereby able to be deleted by the machines, as evidenced by all of the Smith clones exploding. With Agent Smith purged from the Matrix for good, the Matrix 'reboots' back to its normal state, the Sentinels peacefully retreat from Zion, and mankind and machines put an end to their war against each other, promising each other peace that will last "as long as it can".

 

MegaSmith

 

In the alternative ending of The Matrix Revolutions in The Matrix: Path of Neo the final boss is the MegaSmith. The MegaSmith was used for gameplay reasons, because though the Wachowski Brothers thought the martyr approach suitable for film, they also believed that in an interactive medium such as a video game (based upon the successful completion of goals), this would not work. So, described by the brothers as "A little Hulk versus Galactus action", this character was created to be the more appropriate "final boss" of Path of Neo. The MegaSmith is composed of destroyed buildings, cars, and parts of the road, with the "spectator Smiths" standing around the crater and in the streets acting as the MegaSmith's muscles, resulting in Smith not only becoming the city's people, but the city itself.

 

After Neo knocks Smith into the crater in the level "Aerial Battle", Smith is sent flying through the ground and up through the street. As Neo relaxes, the surrounding Smiths walk away from the crater. Neo gets out of the crater, and dodges a car which flies through the air and lands in a pile of debris. Neo looks on as Smiths tear up chunks of the road and throw cars into this pile. A truck then speeds into a building and blows it up. Smiths can be seen holding the debris together as it takes on a thirty-story tall humanoid form which is then struck by lightning, powering it up. Neo flies up to watch as the giant humanoid lowers its head onto its shoulders. The giant Smith then pulls a pair of giant Smith Shades from a billboard and puts them on. As an interesting aside, the glasses on the billboard are the same ones Agent Smith wore in the first Matrix film, with the curved nose bar, but when the MegaSmith actually puts them on, they become the ones Agent Smith wears in The Matrix Reloaded and in Revolutions.

 

After the fight—consisting of Neo dodging blows and building up power to launch more powerful assaults at MegaSmith, damaging one arm and creating a large hole in his chest—Neo flies straight into MegaSmith's mouth, causing the Smiths throughout the Matrix to overload and explode. The player is then shown a short scene from The Matrix: Revolutions of the streets shining with light emanating from the destroyed Smiths.

[edit] The Smith Virus in The Matrix Online

 

Despite his destruction at the end of the film series, Agent Smith (or at least the remnants of his programming) managed to return and made several appearances inside the movie's official continuation, the MMORPG The Matrix Online.

 

The first infection was noted in Machine mission controller Agent Gray, whose background information confirms that he was overwritten by Smith at some point during the timeline of the second and third films. This infection had somehow survived the reboot at the end of the third film and rose to the surface once again during chapter 1.2, The Hunt For Morpheus. The Agent, in both a storyline related mission and live event, showed signs of uncharacteristic speech and emotion and eventually led an assault against Zionist redpills declaring 'their stench unbearable any longer'. As a result of his actions the agent was apprehended by his fellow system representatives and scheduled for a 'thorough code cleansing'. He has shown no signs of direct infection since.

 

Machine liaison officer DifferenceEngine, following a similar scenario to that of the previous Agent Gray infection, also took on the dialect and emotional characteristics of the famous exile agent. Instead of attacking redpills, this instance insisted on finding 'Mr. Anderson'. In the end, the human/machine head relations liaison, Agent Pace, was made aware of the program's infection and subsequent crusade; she proceeded to lock down his RSI and return his program to the Source for analysis. His subsequent fate is unknown.

 

The third victim of infection was the notorious bluepill Shane Black. This man was an unfortunate victim of the Smith Virus who, once infected, gained the ability to spread the code to others. This quickly led to a small scale outbreak, with several more bluepills becoming infected and joining forces in their hunt for power. He and the other infected were eventually cleansed and returned to their bluepill lives. Shane Black's troubles continued, as he was one of the bluepills recorded to have first witnessed Unlimited redpills practising their newfound powers at the Uriah wharf. This triggered a resurgence of the memories formed during his Smith infection and he soon became volatile and insane. He is reported to have been mercifully killed shortly afterwards.

 

The most recent appearance of the Smith virus was during the third anniversary events. The virus manifested itself in the form of black-suited men (although they lacked the distinct likeness of Smith). As redpills began to fight back using specialist code from the Oracle, the virus vanished suddenly, stating that he had obtained a new and more dangerous form. The only person to kill the main Agent Smith virus was the Machinist Trilateral, originally of the Iterator server, on Recursion server after the server merge, being the first person in game to earn the perpetual flame virus award. The nature of this form was never revealed.

 

[knightni]

22. Gus Fring (Breaking Bad)

 

 

(3 of 16 lists - 61 points - highest ranking #1 pittshoganerkoff)

 

Gustavo "Gus" Fring is a Chilean national and respected Albuquerque restauranteur/philanthropist who owns a successful chain of chicken restaurants, Los Pollos Hermanos, and uses it as a cover for an extremely successful methamphetamine distribution network in the southwestern United States.

 

Character History

 

Little is known about Gus's past, except that he came from Chile and was connected to Madrigal Electromotive GmbH. Mike is the only person other than Don Eladio who might know something more about Fring's background. Mike reassures Gus that if he can't find out anything about him from before 1989 (the year Fring emigrated to Mexico, and subsequently the United States), then it is unlikely that the DEA will either.

 

In the late 80's, Gus and his partner, Max Arciniega, started a chain of Los Pollos Hermanos restaurants in Mexico. This, however, was a cover for their true intentions: to manufacture methamphetamine. They more than got the attention of the Juarez drug cartel by giving out "samples" to various low-level cartel players. At this time, the cartel was only interested in distributing cocaine, and Don Eladio punished Gus for his impertinence by murdering Max in front of him. To Gus's apparent surprise and displeasure, Eladio seemed to have some insight into his former identity; Don Eladio told him that "...he knows who he really is..." and that is the only reason he is not dead next to Max, who was just murdered in front of him by the younger, more expressive Hector Salamanca.

 

Gus later immigrated to the United States and set up his network there with more Los Pollos Hermanos locations. He eventually formed an uneasy alliance with the cartel once they decided to enter the meth business after all. Despite having been in business in New Mexico for nearly twenty years, it was only shortly before his death that anyone suspected his involvement in criminal activities. He conducted his business with extreme caution, never dealing with drug addicts or those he saw as irrational or having poor judgment. This was due in large part to his established role as a legitimate businessman in Albuquerque.

 

Gus lived in a typical suburban neighborhood, playing the role of a socially conscious philanthropist. His loved ones did not know about his real business activities; it would be easy to assume he simply spent his days managing his restaurants and attending functions and banquets. He offered a cash reward for the info on Hank Schrader's attempted assassination. He also sat on the board of at least one ABQ hospital.

 

Season 2

 

Gus is introduced to Walter and Jesse after the two's failed efforts to sell their meth leads to their street dealers either being killed (Combo), arrested (Badger), or quitting (Skinny Pete). Saul Goodman makes the blunt observation "You two suck at peddling meth," but as the two still have 38 pounds remaining, Saul offers to connect them with a distributor through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy." Saul manages to arrange a meeting between Walt, Jesse and the distributor at a Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant, but when Jesse turns up for the meeting late, presumably high and agitated, the distributor does not make contact.

Saul says later they likely blew their chance, but Walt, after some consideration, returns to the restaurant on his own. Asking to see the manager - Gus, who had stopped by their table during the earlier visit to the restaurant to see if they were enjoying their meal - Walt deduces that Gus is their contact after all. He praises Gus for his discipline and caution, saying that he sees the two as alike in that regard.

 

Gus then drops his facade, saying that Walter is not cautious at all and exhibits poor judgment by bringing the obviously high Jesse to a meeting. Walt counters that the quality of his product should outweigh any of these concerns and that Gus will never have to see or deal with Jesse. Gus demurs on whether or not the two will deal, but then on a later visit by Walt he is approached by Gus's henchman, Victor, with a final deal: $1.2 million for the remaining 38 pounds, delivered in one hour or not at all ("Mandala").

 

After the deal goes down, we see Gus with two other local businessmen meeting Hank at the DEA Albuquerque office regarding a fun run they are sponsoring. Gus notices Walt's photo on a donation jar and asks if Walt is an agent. Hank explains that Walt is his brother-in-law and that he is fighting lung cancer. While it is implied that Gus already looked into Walt's background before making the deal, this confirms Gus is aware of Walt's health issues and family connection to the DEA ("ABQ").

 

Season 3

 

Following the success of the previous deal, Gus invites Walt back to Los Pollos Hermanos and makes a new offer: $3 million for three months of his time. Walt, seriously jarred by the plane collision over Albuquerque and his separation from Skyler, refuses the offer by claiming he is not a criminal and wants to be done with the business ("No Mas"). Gus seems to accept this, but later, when Gus's right hand man Mike calls Gus's henchman Victor to inform him that the Cousins are ready to kill Walt, he uses his influence with the cartel to call off the hit ("Caballo Sin Nombre").

 

Meeting with Juan Bolsa, the Cousins and Tio Salamanca, Gus is told that the cartel holds Walt responsible for the death of Tuco - an important man in their organization - and that his execution has been sanctioned. Gus says that while he has no issues with their right to vengeance, he is presently in business with Walt and does not want him killed until that business has concluded. Bolsa agrees to advise the Salamanca family to be patient, but warns Gus that delaying could cost him his high standing with the cartel ("I.F.T.").

 

Successfully baiting Walt with half the money from a drug deal Jesse made through Saul, Gus invites him to his industrial laundromat where he reveals the details of his offer: he has constructed a massive "superlab" underneath the laundromat for mass producing methamphetamine. Receiving legitimate chemical deliveries every week and able to filter the byproducts of cooking meth via the laundry's filtration systems, the facility is capable of producing at least 200 pounds of methamphetamine per week. Swaying Walt with the high-tech apparatus of the lab, he closes the deal by appealing to Walt's pride in providing for his family ("Mas").

 

With Walt's services engaged alongside Gale Boetticher in the lab, Gus's attention turns to the Cousins, who have taken to sitting in his Los Pollos restaurant all day, ordering nothing and saying nothing. He reiterates that Walt will not die until their business is finished, and offers the Cousins permission to take their vengeance on Hank, who was Tuco's actual killer ("Sunset"). However, when the Cousins make their move to kill Hank while he is unarmed in a store parking lot, an anonymous person calls Hank and, using a voice modifier, warns him of the impending attack. It is this warning that allows Hank to get the jump on the Cousins and take them down ("One Minute").

 

After the attack on Hank, Bolsa contacts Gus demanding an explanation, as the Cousins would never have shot Hank without approval. He concedes that meth shipments will be delayed indefinitely, then vows to learn the truth about the assassination plot from the surviving cousin, Leonel. Shortly afterwards, Gus goes to the hospital with a large buffet of fried chicken for the police officers keeping vigil over Hank, also revealing that he is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the assailants. In a room with Walt, Skyler, Marie, Walt Jr. and ASAC Merkert, he mentions that he knew Hank from the fun run sponsorship and that Hank was raising money for Walt's cancer treatments at the time.

 

Walt, speaking to Gus afterwards, expresses that Hank is not a danger to their arrangement but he continues to fear for his family's safety. Gus simply says that he investigates everyone he does business with and doesn't feel there is anything to worry about, as the surviving assassin's survival is doubtful. Shortly afterwards, Leonel goes into cardiac arrest and dies - murdered by a lethal injection from Mike.

 

Following this death, Bolsa calls Gus, angrily stating that he thinks Gus was behind both the authorization of the shooting and the death of the second Cousin, possibly as a move to break away from the cartel. Promising that he will weather the federal attentions and find proof of Gus's treason, he is interrupted by glass breaking and gunfire as unseen assailants gun down his bodyguards and then him. Hearing Bolsa die on the other end, Gus quietly smiles, then disables and discards the cell phone ("I See You").

 

As the methamphetamine production accelerates, Gus's method of distribution is revealed: he has the meth broken up into pound bags, concealed in buckets of batter for fried chicken marked with a star only visible under ultraviolet light, and taken to other states in Los Pollos Hermanos trucks. Walt, after calculating how much Gus stands to make off the deal - $96 million at wholesale price - meets with him to voice his theory that the establishment of the superlab was part of his overall strategy to cut the cartel out and establish himself as the chief distributor of the Southwest. He also says that he sees the shooting of Hank as part of this play, both to increase federal attention on the cartel and ensure Walt's safety. While not acknowledging the truth of this statement, Gus does agree to a raise and an open-ended extension of Walt's contract - $15 million a year - as well as continued protection of his family ("Kafkaesque").

 

Season 4

 

Mike calls Gus on his cell phone shortly after he hears from Victor about Gale's death at the hands of Jesse. A significant amount of time after this, he arrives at the superlab, gets undressed, changes into a hazmat suit, and viciously slits Victor's throat, holding him firmly and directing the aim of the blood in Walt and Jesse's direction. He remains eerily calm during the murder, and after he feels Victor die, gazes at the two of them with anger and disappointment and leaves his dead henchman on the floor while he washes up and changes back into his original clothes. The only words he speaks to them are "Well...get back to work" before he exits, leaving them to clean up the mess he made and dispose of the corpse.

 

Gus later tells Mike that he does not want to lay his eyes on Walt ever again, and Mike communicates this to Walt. He also brings in a new henchman, Tyrus, whom he instructs to station himself in the lab and help Walt and Jesse with their cooking. Walt, desperate and fearing for his life, drives to Gus's house at night and plans to kill him. As he walks to the driveway, he gets a phone call from Tyrus, who is watching him nearby and tells Walt to leave.

 

Gus gives Mike the go-ahead when Mike reports him of Jesse's current behavior.

 

The Mexican Cartel victimize Gus's men one by one, until a talk is conducted between them. A man named Gaff threatens Gus that the Cartel is furious with Gus, and asks " Is it a yes, or a no?" Gus's intentions to negotiate are nullified.

 

Gus is called in by the DEA for questioning after having a grim discussion with Tio Salamanca. In the previous episode, agent Hank Schrader was eventually convinced that Gus Fring was related to the murder of meth cook Gale Boetticher after a napkin was found with a serial number written on it in pen. If Gale was an alleged vegetarian, what was he doing with property that had belonged to a fried chicken joint? After a meeting with Merkert and Gomez, they decide to hold an office for questioning. After a seemingly harmless phone call at one of his restaurants, Gus arrives to the DEA office willingly.

 

While waitng outside an office for the friendly interrogation, Gus spots a missing person's report posted on a billboard across the corridor from him with a sketch clearly depicting Victor. Gus is called in by agents Hank, Gomez, Merkert, and APD detective Tim Roberts, who briefly ask questions pertaining to why his fingerprints were found at Gale's crime scene. Gus answers their questions with daunting accuracy. He answers as to how he knew Gale, when he'd last seen him, and his grief over Gale's death.

 

Before Gus could be excused, Hank butts in, asking him, "Is Gustavo Fring your real name?" Gus assures him that it is, and with another extraordinary explanation, he is free to go. Hank is still uncertain, but his colleagues agree that he is innocent, his alibi is unquestionable, and that nothing legal can get him into trouble with the case. Outside, Gus can be seen twitching his index finger and his thumb, nonchalant. ("Hermanos").

 

After Hank's suspicion of Gus, he convinces a denying Walt to bug Gus's car with a tracking device. Walt makes ammends to Gus, telling him that it isn't his idea. Gus tells him politely to do it anyway. After a day of work at one of his resturaunts, Gus unclamps the bug, and places it on a newspaper stand outside a Pollos Hermanos. Walt implores with him through a security camera he uses to monitor Walt that it isn't his fault, and that no action should be taken against Walt's brother-in-law. With that being said, the two enemies resume to their seperate routines.

 

When an eccentric, bumbling Hank, and Walter return to a Pollos Hermanos to confiscate their tracking device, it turns out to be still attached to his Volvo station wagon. Hank boots up their tracker to his PC, but he is disappointed. From the data Hank's bug had to offer, Gus drove his car to work, then back home, all week. He does find however, that all of Gus's resturaunt establishments have a base of operations.

 

Knowing this, Walt alarms Gus. That day, Jesse is helping Mike clean up any potentially incriminating evidence at the facility. One of Jesse's co-workers is sniped from an unknown location. He watches in terror as the one of Gus's men has their brains splattered about before his very eyes. The sniper's crosshairs center on Jesse, who is saved at the last second by Mike. Gus steps onto the hallowed ground. Mike presumes that Gus does not know they are in the middle of an ambush. He orders Gus to get down, but the boss walks straight at the sniper fire his body language says 'bring it on'.

 

The gunman continues fire into Gus's path, intentionaly missing him. Knowing that Gus sees what he is trying to do, Gaff is satified his message is delivered and ceases fire. Gus is not at all intimidated but in his office after the incident, he tells a voice over the phone that he is willing to accept the Cartel's demands.

 

Jesse makes noise to Mike about the shooting death of his co-worker and walking into bullets superman routine from Gus prompting Mike to set up a meeting, "you got questions?. Ask him yourself." Gus greets him at his door later on for a dinner meeting. " I hope you brought an appetite," he teases. Panic-stricken, Jesse wants to know what is to become of he and Walt. Gus replies by asking Jesse if he can cook Walt's formula without help. Disgusted, Jesse persists that he will not allow Gus to execute Walt and still cook for him. Gus describes that conditions with the Mexican Cartel have become untenable and he wishes to avert all out war. He pursues the question. " Can you cook solo?"

 

Gus eventually takes Jesse to Mexico, to the land where his former hermano passed away. His plan is slowly coming to fruition: Jesse is his answer to the cartel's demand. He will offer Pinkman as his olive branch, to teach them how to cook blue meth themselves.

 

He watches in pride as Jesse cooks a 96% pure meth in the cartel lab, proving he is indeed the cook for the job. In celebration, they take Jesse, Gus and Mike to a familiar location: Don Eladio's estate. Gus stares at the pool and swallows a hidden gel capsule as Eladio emerges with his captains.

 

Gus offers Eladio his favorite brand of tequila as a peace offering, and the ever-cautious Don makes sure Gus takes a shot before drinking any himself, along with his captains. As the party begins to rage, Gus excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Once inside, he lays a towel down and discreetly vomits into the toilet.

 

As Gus emerges from the bathroom several cartel members begin to fall to the ground. The tequila was poisoned with a fast acting, lethal toxin. The capsule consumed by Gus delays the effect of the poison allowing him time to purge narrowly avoiding death. As a weakened Gus walks into his view, Eladio's face contorts with rage and he falls into the pool, dead. Gustavo Fring's twenty year revenge finally comes to fruition ("Salud").

 

Tyrus, who was keeping an eye on Hank, sees Hector Salamanca being loaded into the van at the police headquarters and calls Gus. Despite Tyrus offer to the contrary, Gus is adamant that he will kill Salamanca himself. After Hector is returned to the nursing home, Tyrus enters and sweeps the place for bugs and cameras. When Gus arrives, he insults Hector for calling the DEA. Tyrus prepares a syringe and hands it to Gus. As Gus brings the needle closer to Hector's arm, Hector begins to look remorseful, then looks at Gus at last with an expression of pure wrath. He begins furiously ringing his bell and Gus notices it is rigged to a bomb. Gus stands up and yells as the bomb goes off. Despite the explosion, Gus manages to walk out of the room and straighten his tie maintaining his dignity before collapsing to the floor, dead.

 

[knightni]

21. Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)

 

(3 of 16 lists - 63 points - highest ranking #2 kyyle23, kjshoe04)

 

Lord Voldemort (play /ˈvoʊldəmɔr/; born Tom Marvolo Riddle) is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997. Voldemort appeared either in person or in flashbacks in each book and film adaptation in the series, except the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where he is mentioned.

 

In the series, Voldemort is the archenemy of Harry Potter, who according to a prophecy has "the power to vanquish the Dark Lord". Almost no witch or wizard dares to speak his name, instead referring to him by epithets such as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord". Voldemort's obsession with blood purity signifies his aim to rid the wizarding world of Muggle (non-magical) heritage and to conquer both worlds, Muggle and wizarding, to achieve pure-blood dominance. Through his mother's family, he is the last descendant of wizard Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

According to an interview with Rowling, "Voldemort" is pronounced with a silent 't' at the end, as is common in French. This was the pronunciation used by Jim Dale in the first four U.S. audiobooks; however, after the release of the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in which the characters who dared refer to him by name pronounced it with the "t", Dale altered his pronunciation to that in the films.

 

Character development

 

In a 2001 interview, Rowling said Voldemort was invented as a nemesis for Harry Potter, the main protagonist of the series, and she intentionally did not flesh out Voldemort's backstory at first. "The basic idea [was that Harry] didn't know he was a wizard [...] And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. [...] When he was one year old, the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years attempted to kill him. He killed Harry's parents, and then he tried to kill Harry — he tried to curse him. [...] Harry has to find out, before we find out. And – so – but for some mysterious reason the curse didn't work on Harry. So he's left with this lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and the curse rebounded upon the evil wizard, who has been in hiding ever since."

 

In the second book, Rowling established that Voldemort hated non-pure-blood wizards, despite being a half-blood himself. In a 2000 interview with the BBC, Rowling described Voldemort as a self-hating bully: "Well I think it is often the case that the biggest bullies take what they know to be their own defects, as they see it, and they put them right on someone else and then they try and destroy the other and that's what Voldemort does." In the same year, Rowling became more precise about Voldemort. She began to link him to real-life tyrants, describing him as "a raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering". In 2004, though, Rowling said that she did not base Voldemort on any real person. In 2006, Rowling told an interviewer that Voldemort at his core has a human fear: the fear of death. She said: "Voldemort's fear is death, ignominious death. I mean, he regards death itself as ignominious. He thinks that it's a shameful human weakness, as you know. His worst fear is death."

 

Throughout the series, Rowling establishes that Voldemort is so feared in the wizarding world that it is considered dangerous even to speak his name. Most characters in the novels refer to him as "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" rather than say his name aloud. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a Taboo is placed upon the name, such that Voldemort or his followers may trace anyone who utters it. By this means his followers eventually find and capture Harry, Ron and Hermione. In the second book, Rowling reveals that I am Lord Voldemort is an anagram of the character's birth name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. According to the author, Voldemort's name is an invented word. Some literary analysts have considered possible meanings in the name: Philip Nel states that Voldemort is derived from the French for "flight of death," and in a 2002 paper, Nilsen and Nilsen suggest that readers get a "creepy feeling" from the name Voldemort, because of the French word "mort" ("death") within it and that word's association with cognate English words derived from the Latin mors.

 

Appearances

 

First three books

 

Lord Voldemort on the back of Professor Quirrell's head in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

 

Lord Voldemort makes his debut in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In this story, Rowling introduces him as the Dark Lord who murdered Harry's parents, James and Lily, but as a result of his mother's love and willingness to sacrifice herself for him, baby Harry survives when Voldemort tries to murder him with a Killing Curse. Voldemort is disembodied, and Harry carries a mysterious scar on his forehead as a result. In the book, Voldemort unsuccessfully tries to regain his dissolved body by stealing the titular Philosopher's Stone. To achieve his objective, Voldemort uses Professor Quirrell's aid by latching onto the back of Quirrell's head. However, at the climax of the book, Harry manages to prevent Voldemort from stealing the stone.

 

In the second instalment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling introduces Tom Marvolo Riddle, a manifestation of a teenage Voldemort that resides inside a magical diary found by Ginny Weasley. In this book, Ginny is written as a shy girl with a crush on Harry. Feeling anxious and lonely, she begins to write into the diary and shares her deepest fears with the sympathetic Tom. However, at the climax of the story, when Tom Marvolo Riddle rearranges the letters in his name to create the anagram of "I am Lord Voldemort", Tom as a magical manifestation of the boy who would later grow up to become the Dark Lord is revealed. Riddle states he has grown strong on her fears and eventually possesses Ginny. He then uses her as a pawn to unlock the Chamber of Secrets, whence a basilisk is set free and petrifies several Hogwarts students. Harry defeats the Riddle from the diary and the basilisk. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Albus Dumbledore reveals to Harry that the diary was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes (an external vessel which contains a part of his torn soul).

 

In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Voldemort does not appear, either in person or as a magical manifestation. He is, however, heard when Harry passes out from the harsh effects of a Dementor. Towards the end of the story Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor, makes a rare genuine prophecy: The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before. Tonight... before midnight... the servant... will set out... to rejoin... his master... Though it is initially implied that the prophecy refers to Sirius Black, the book's ostensible antagonist, the servant is eventually revealed to be Peter Pettigrew, who, for the twelve years since the fall of Voldemort, has been disguised as Ron Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers.

 

Fourth through sixth books

 

In the fourth instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort appears at the start and the climax of the book. Rowling lets many seemingly unrelated plot elements fall into order. It is revealed that Voldemort's minion Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Hogwarts professor Mad-Eye Moody, has manipulated the events of the Triwizard Tournament in Harry's favour. Voldemort's goal is to teleport Harry under Dumbledore's watch as a reluctant participant to the Little Hangleton graveyard, where the Riddle family is buried. Harry is captured and, after Pettigrew uses Harry's blood to fulfil a gruesome magical ritual, Voldemort regains his body and is restored to his full power. For the first time in the series, Rowling describes his appearance: "tall and skeletally thin", with a face "whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was as flat as a snake’s with slits for nostrils". Rowling writes that his "hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat's, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness". It was revealed that, while in Albania, Pettigrew had captured the Ministry of Magic official Bertha Jorkins, who was tortured for information about the Ministry. After they learned that Barty Crouch Jr, a faithful Death Eater, had been smuggled out of Azkaban and was privately confined at his father's house, they killed her. With Pettigrew's help, Voldemort creates a small, rudimentary body, corporeal enough to travel and perform magic, and formulated a plan to restore his own body by capturing Harry. A portion of the plan had been overheard by Frank Bryce, a gardener, whom Voldemort then killed. Voldemort then completes his plan and returns to life in his full body as a result of the ritual with Harry's blood. He then summons his Death Eaters to the graveyard to witness the death of Harry as he challenges Harry to a duel. However, when Voldemort duels Harry, their wands become magically locked together due to the twin Phoenix feather cores of the wands. Because of a phenomenon later revealed as Priori Incantatem, ghost-like manifestations of Voldemort's most recent victims (including Harry's parents) then appear and distract Voldemort, allowing Harry just enough time to escape via Portkey with the body of fellow-student, Cedric Diggory, who was murdered by Pettigrew on Voldemort's orders.

 

In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort appears at the climax, having again plotted against Harry. In this book, Harry goes through extreme emotional stress, and according to Rowling, it was necessary to prove that Harry is emotionally vulnerable and thus human, in contrast to his nemesis Voldemort, who is emotionally invulnerable and thus inhuman: "[Harry is] a very human hero, and this is, obviously, there’s a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanised himself. […] and Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down." In this book, Voldemort makes liberal use of the Ministry of Magic's refusal to believe that he has returned. Voldemort engineers a plot to free Bellatrix Lestrange and some other Death Eaters from Azkaban and then embarks on a scheme to retrieve the full record of a prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries regarding Harry and himself. He sends a group of Death Eaters to retrieve the prophecy, where the Order of the Phoenix meets them. All but Bellatrix are captured, and Voldemort engages in a ferocious duel with Dumbledore. Voldemort attempts to possess Harry but finds that he cannot; Harry is too full of that which Voldemort finds incomprehensible, and which he detests as weakness: love. Sensing that Dumbledore could win, Voldemort disapparates, but not before the Minister for Magic sees him in person, making his return to life public knowledge in the next book.

 

Voldemort does not appear in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although his presence and actions are felt: he once again declares war, and begins to rise to power once more. He murders Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and begins to target members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Emmeline Vance.

 

Rowling uses several chapters as exposition to establish Voldemort's backstory. In a series of flashbacks, using the pensieve as a plot device, she reveals that Voldemort is the son of the witch Merope Gaunt and a muggle called Tom Riddle. Riddle abandons Merope before their child's birth, soon after which Merope dies, just hours after giving birth. After living in an orphanage, young Tom meets Albus Dumbledore, who tells him he is a wizard and arranges for him to attend Hogwarts. Riddle is outwardly a model student, but is in reality a sociopath who takes sadistic pleasure in using his powers to harm and control people. He eventually murders his father and grandparents as revenge for abandoning him. The book also discusses Riddle's hatred of "Muggles" (non-magical humans), his obsession with Horcruxes, and his desire to split his soul to achieve immortality. Rowling stated Voldemort's conception under the influence of a love potion symbolises the prejudicial circumstances under which he was brought into the world.

 

In the main plot of the book, Voldemort's next step is to engineer an assault on Hogwarts, and to attack Dumbledore. This is accomplished by Draco Malfoy, who arranges transportation of Death Eaters into Hogwarts by a pair of Vanishing Cabinets, which bypass the extensive protective enchantments placed around the school. The cabinets allow Voldemort's Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts, where battle commences and Dumbledore is cornered. Hogwarts professor (and re-doubled agent) Severus Snape uses the Killing Curse against Dumbledore when Draco could not force himself to do so.

 

Final book

 

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort furthers his quest for ultimate power. He disposes of the Minister for Magic and replaces him with Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse. Establishing a totalitarian police state, he has Muggle-borns persecuted and arrested for "stealing magic" from the "pure blood" wizards. After failing to kill Harry with Lucius Malfoy's borrowed wand (to avoid the effect of Priori Incantatem), he goes on a murderous search for the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever created, seeing it as the weapon he needs to overcome Harry's wand and make him truly invincible. He goes on a quest that takes him out of the country to Gregorovitch's wand shop, where he kills the old wandmaker. His journey also takes him to Nurmengard, the prison where Gellert Grindelwald is kept, and he kills Grindelwald as well. He finally locates the Elder Wand and steals it from Dumbledore's tomb.

 

Later, he finds out that Harry and his friends are destroying his Horcruxes. After offering the occupants of Hogwarts mercy if they give up Harry, he assembles a large army and launches an invasion of the castle, where Harry is searching for Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem, one of the Horcruxes. Voldemort orders his pet snake Nagini to execute Snape, believing it would make him the true master of the Elder Wand, since Snape killed Dumbledore. He then calls an hour's armistice, in exchange for Harry. When Harry willingly walks into Voldemort's camp in the Forbidden Forest, Voldemort strikes him down with the Elder Wand. However, the use of Harry's blood to resurrect Voldemort's body proves to be a major setback: while Harry's blood runs in Voldemort's veins, Harry cannot be killed as his mother's protection lives on now in Voldemort too. Instead, Voldemort destroys the part of his own soul that resides in Harry’s body. Voldemort forces Rubeus Hagrid to carry Harry's apparently lifeless body back to the castle as a trophy, sparking another battle during which Nagini, his last Horcrux, is destroyed by Neville Longbottom. The battle then moves into the Great Hall, where Voldemort fights Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Horace Slughorn simultaneously. Harry then reveals himself and explains to Voldemort that Draco became the true master of the Elder Wand when he disarmed Dumbledore; Harry, in turn, won the wand's allegiance when he took Draco's wand. Voldemort nonetheless casts the Killing Curse with the Elder Wand while Harry uses a Disarming Charm with Draco's, but the Elder Wand refuses to kill its master and the spell rebounds on Voldemort who, with all of his Horcruxes destroyed, finally dies. His body is laid in a different chamber from all the others who died battling him.

 

Rowling stated that after his death, Voldemort is forced to exist in the stunted infant-like form that Harry sees in the King's Cross-like Limbo after his confrontation with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Rowling also mentioned that, despite his extreme fear of death, he cannot become a ghost.

 

Portrayals within films

 

Voldemort appears in seven Harry Potter films, namely Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Five actors have portrayed him, in his varying incarnations and ages.

 

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort's manifestation is as a face on the back of Quirrell's head, an effect achieved by computer generated imagery. Ian Hart, the actor who played Quirrell in the same film, provided the voice and the facial source for this character. Voldemort also appears in a scene in the Forbidden Forest where he is seen drinking the blood of a unicorn. As Voldemort's face was altered enough by CG work, and Hart's voice was affected enough, there was no confusion by Hart's playing of the two roles. In that film, he was also shown in a flashback sequence when he arrived at the home of James and Lily Potter to kill them. In this scene Voldemort is played by Richard Bremmer, though his face is never seen. His next appearance would be in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as the 16-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle (portrayed by Christian Coulson).

 

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort is initially only heard, possessing the scratchy, weak voice heard in the first film. By the film's climax, however, he appears in his physical form for the first time, played by Ralph Fiennes. As in the book, Voldemort is shown clad in dark black robes, being tall and emaciated, with no hair and yellowish teeth; his wand has a white tone and the handle appears to be made of bone; his finger nails are long and pale blue while his toe nails appear to be infected. Unlike in the book, his pupils are not snake-like and his eyes are blue, because producer David Heyman felt that his evil would not be able to be seen and would not fill the audience with fear (his eyes do briefly take on a snake-like appearance when he opens them after turning human, but quickly turn normal). As in the book, the film version of Voldemort has snake-like slit nostrils with the flesh of his nose significantly pressed back. Ralph Fiennes' nose was not covered in makeup on the set, but was digitally removed in post-production. In this first appearance, Voldemort also has a forked tongue, but this element was removed for the subsequent films.

 

Fiennes stated that he had two weeks to shoot the climactic showdown scene where he is gloating over a terrified Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Fiennes said with a chuckle: "I have no doubt children will be afraid of me now if they weren't before." In preparation, he read the novel Goblet of Fire, but jokingly conceded: "I was only interested in my scene, and I had to go through thousands and thousands of other scenes which I did, dutifully, until I got to my scene and I read it many, many, many, many, many times and that was my research." Fiennes reprised his role as Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.

 

Fiennes's nephew, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, portrayed Tom Riddle as a child in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. By the time filming arrived, Christian Coulson had aged and was therefore not eligible to return as the adolescent Riddle. Thomas James Longley was originally scheduled to take over the role, but last minute renegotiation's saw Frank Dillane cast instead.

 

Characterisation

 

Personality

 

Rowling described Voldemort as "the most evil wizard for hundreds and hundreds of years". She elaborated that he is a "raging psychopath, devoid of the normal human responses to other people's suffering", and whose only ambition in life is to become all-powerful and immortal. He is also a sadist who derives amusement from inflicting pain on others without any remorse and murders people just for fun, especially Muggles, and does not recognise the worth and humanity of anybody except himself.[38] He feels no desire or need for human companionship or friendship, and cannot comprehend love or affection for another. He believes he is superior to everyone around him, to the point that he frequently refers to himself in the third-person as "Lord Voldemort." Rowling also stated that Voldemort is "incredibly power hungry. Racist, really", and that if Voldemort were to look into the Mirror of Erised, he would see "Himself, all-powerful and eternal. That's what he wants."

 

Rowling also stated that Voldemort's conception by influence of Amortentia — a love potion administered by the witch Merope Gaunt to the Muggle Tom Riddle — is related to his inability to understand love; it is "a symbolic way of showing that he came from a loveless union – but of course, everything would have changed if Merope had survived and raised him herself and loved him. The enchantment under which Tom Riddle fathered Voldemort is important because it shows coercion, and there can’t be many more prejudicial ways to enter the world than as the result of such a union".

 

Like most archetypical villains, Voldemort's arrogance leads to his downfall. He also suffers from a pathological fear of death, which he regards as a shameful and ignominious human weakness. According to Rowling, his Boggart would be his own corpse. Rowling also said that the difference between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry accepts mortality, and thus Harry is in the end stronger than his nemesis.

 

Magical abilities and skills

 

Throughout the series, Rowling establishes Voldemort as an extremely powerful, intelligent, and ruthless Dark Wizard. He is known as one of the greatest Legilimens in the world and a highly accomplished Occlumens; he can read minds and shield his own from penetration. Besides Dumbledore he is also the only wizard ever known to be able to apparate silently. Voldemort was also said to fear one wizard alone, Albus Dumbledore.

 

In the final book, Voldemort flies unsupported, something that amazes those who see it. Voldemort, like his ancestral family, the Gaunts, is a Parselmouth, meaning he can converse with serpents. This skill was inherited from his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. The Gaunt family speak Parseltongue among themselves. This highly unusual trait may be preserved through inbreeding, a practice employed by the Gaunt Family to maintain their blood's purity. When Voldemort attempts to kill Harry his ability to speak Parseltongue is passed to Harry through the small bit of the former's soul. After that bit of soul is destroyed, Harry loses this ability. In a flashback in the sixth novel, Voldemort boasts to Dumbledore during a job interview that he has "pushed the boundaries of magic farther than they had ever before". Dumbledore states that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is more extensive than any wizard alive and that even Dumbledore's most powerful protective spells and charms would not likely be sufficient if Voldemort returned to full power. Dumbledore also said that Voldemort was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. Although Voldemort remains highly accomplished and prodigious in skill, he is enormously lacking and highly inept in the most powerful magic, love. This inability to love and trust others proves to be Voldemort's greatest weakness in the series. Voldemort initially voices scepticism that his own magic might not be the most powerful, but upon returning to power, he admits to his Death Eaters that he had overlooked the ancient and powerful magic which Lily Potter invoked and that would protect Harry from harm.

 

On her website, Rowling wrote that Voldemort's wand is made of yew, whose sap is poisonous and which symbolises death. It forms a deliberate contrast to Harry's wand, which is made of holly, which she chose because holly is alleged to repel evil.

 

Rowling establishes in the books that Voldemort is magically connected to Harry via Harry's forehead scar. He disembodies himself when his Killing Curse targeting Harry rebounds on him, leaving the scar on Harry's forehead. In the books, and to a lesser extent in the films, Harry's scar serves as an indicator of Voldemort's presence: it burns when the Dark Lord is near or when Voldemort is feeling murderous or exultant. According to Rowling, by attacking Harry when he was a baby Voldemort gave him "tools [that] no other wizard possessed – the scar and the ability it conferred, a magical window into Voldemort's mind."

 

Outward appearance

 

After he regained his body in the fourth book, Rowling described Voldemort as having pale skin, a chalk-white, skull-like face, snake-like slits for nostrils, red eyes and cat-like slits for pupils, a skeletally thin body and long, thin hands with unnaturally long fingers. As mentioned in the first chapter of the seventh book, he also has no hair or lips. Earlier in life, as seen through flashbacks contained in the second and sixth books, Tom Marvolo Riddle is described as handsome. As Tom Riddle, he was tall and had pale skin, jet black hair, and dark eyes. He could charm many people with his looks. The transformation into his monstrous state is believed to have been the result of creating his Horcruxes, becoming less human as he continued to divide his soul. Dumbledore also speculates that Voldemort may have gained his hideous appearance by undergoing dangerous magical transformations. In the movies (with the exception of the first), however, Voldemort's eyes are blue with round pupils.

 

Riddle family

 

The Riddle family consisted of old Mr. and Mrs. Riddle and their son, Voldemort's father, Tom Riddle. They owned over half of the valley that the town of Little Hangleton lay in, and Thomas was the most prominent inhabitant of that town. They lived in a large house with fine gardens, and were unpopular locally, due to their snobbish attitudes. Tom, apparently the only child of Thomas and Mary, indulged in the typical pursuits of the upper class in the first half of the twentieth century, socialising with attractive women of his class, riding horses, and enjoying his status in the town.

 

Rowling revealed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that young Merope Gaunt made efforts to get as close to Tom as she could, peering at him through the windows and bushes at every opportunity. Morfin noticed his sister's affection for Tom Riddle, and hexed Tom as he rode by, covering him in hives. This breach of wizarding law, and the ensuing violent struggle with Ministry of Magic officials, led to Marvolo and Morfin being imprisoned in Azkaban. As surmised by Dumbledore, once Merope was alone and no longer dominated by her father, she could make her move for Tom Riddle. She offered Tom a drink laced with a love potion as he rode by one day without his attractive companion, Cecilia. He became infatuated with Merope and they eloped. Within three months of the marriage, Merope became pregnant. Merope decided to stop giving Tom the love potion; she believed either that he had fallen in love with her on his own or he would at least stay for their unborn child. She was wrong, and Tom quickly left his pregnant wife and went home to his parents, claiming to have been "hoodwinked" and tricked into marrying Merope. Tom Marvolo Riddle, their son, was born on 31 December and was left to grow up in an orphanage, as Merope had died soon after giving birth.

 

Readers first learn about the doom of the Riddles in the beginning of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Tom Riddle Sr and his parents were murdered by Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Riddles' gardener Frank Bryce was blamed for the murders in the Muggle world, though he was never charged or tried, while in the wizarding world Morfin Gaunt was framed for them and died in Azkaban prison.

 

In the film adaptation of The Goblet of Fire, Voldemort's grandparents were given the names Thomas and Mary Riddle.

Gaunt family

 

Most of the House of Gaunt background is exposed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince through Dumbledore's Pensieve. The Gaunts were once a powerful and influential family, and the last known descendants of Salazar Slytherin. However, an infamous streak of instability and violence that was reinforced by cousin marriages to preserve the pureblood line had reduced them to poverty and squalor, as shown in the Pensieve's memory that Harry and Dumbledore witnessed. Like Salazar Slytherin, the Gaunts spoke Parseltongue.

 

Marvolo Gaunt was the last Gaunt family patriarch. He was sentenced to a short term in Azkaban for his and his son's assault upon a Ministry of Magic official. His stint in Azkaban affected Marvolo's health and he died soon after returning home. His signet ring passed to his son, Morfin Gaunt, who was convicted of assaulting a Muggle, and later died in Azkaban after being convicted again, this time for the murder of Tom Riddle Sr and Riddle's parents, a crime committed by his nephew. The truth was discovered much later by Dumbledore, who visited Morfin at Azkaban to gather information about Voldemort. After Dumbledore successfully extracted Morfin's memory of his encounter with his nephew, he tried to use the evidence to have Morfin released, but Morfin died before the decision could be made. As he was the last male Gaunt, the House of Gaunt ended with Morfin's death.

 

Merope Gaunt (/mɛˈroʊpiː/) was the daughter of Marvolo, sister of Morfin. Harry's first impression of her was that she looked "like the most defeated person he had ever seen", probably because she lived in raggedness, squalor and abuse. She married Tom Riddle Sr and became pregnant within three months of the wedding. It is suggested that she tricked her husband by using a love potion, but when she became pregnant, she decided to stop administering the potion. It is implied that Merope had grown tired of living the lie and thought that her husband might have grown to love her, or that he might have stayed for the sake of their unborn child; however, he left her. Desperate, Merope wandered through the streets of London. The only thing she had left was the heavy gold locket that had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin, one of her family's most treasured items, which she sold for a small amount. When she was due to give birth, she stumbled into a Muggle orphanage; within the hour, she gave birth to her only son, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and died within the next hour.

 

The Gaunts, and thereby Voldemort, are distantly related to Harry Potter because they are descendants of the Peverell brothers.

 

Reception

 

Several people have drawn a parallel between Lord Voldemort and some politicians. Rowling has admitted that Voldemort was "a sort of" Adolf Hitler, and that there is some parallel with Nazism in her books. Rowling also compared Voldemort with Joseph Stalin. Alfonso Cuarón, director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban compared Voldemort with George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, as the two of them "...have selfish interests and are very much in love with power. Also, a disregard for the environment. A love for manipulating people." Andrew Slack and the Harry Potter Alliance compare media consolidation in the U.S. to Voldemort's regime in Deathly Hallows and its control over the Daily Prophet and other media saying that "Once Voldemort took over every form of media in the wizarding world, Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix formed an independent media movement called 'Potterwatch'. Now the HP Alliance and Wizard Rock have come together to fight for a Potterwatch movement in the real world to fight back against Big VoldeMedia from further pushing out local and foreign news, minority representation, and the right to a Free Press." Julia Turner from Slate Magazine also noted similarities between the events of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the current War on Terror. She said that Voldemort takes up terrorism by destroying bridges, murdering innocents, and forcing children to kill their elders.

 

Voldemort has also been compared with other characters within fiction, for example Sauron from The Lord of the Rings; they are, during the time when the main plot takes place, seeking to recover their lost power after having been considered dead or at least no longer a threat, and are also so feared that they are sometimes unnamed. Author Christopher Hitchens wrote in 12 August 2007 edition of The New York Times that, in the final book, Voldemort "becomes more tiresome than an Ian Fleming villain."

 

IGN listed Voldemort as their seventh favourite Harry Potter character, calling him "truly frightening".

 

In popular culture

 

Several campaigns have used Lord Voldemort to compare his evilness to the influence of politicians, large media and corporations. "Lord Voldemort" is a nickname sometimes used for Peter Mandelson.

 

Voldemort has been parodied in various venues. In The Simpsons 13th season's premiere, "Treehouse of Horror XII", Montgomery Burns appears as Lord Montymort. A parody of Voldemort appears in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy as Lord Moldybutt, an enemy of Nigel Planter (a parody of Harry). In these episodes, when someone says Lord Moldybutt's name, something unfortunate happens, usually to Moldybutt. Voldemort also appears in the Potter Puppet Pals sketches by Neil Cicierega. One of the episodes titled "Trouble at Hogwarts" features Voldemort being killed with machine guns. Another episode, "The Mysterious Ticking Noise", shows Snape, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore being killed by a pipe bomb placed by Voldemort inside a turducken; the episode being the seventeenth most viewed video of all time as of 2008 and the winner for "Best Comedy" of the year 2007 at YouTube. In 2011 Lord Voldemort was voted one of the Best Screen Villains On Earth, coming only marginally behind The Joker and Darth Vader.

 

In Time, Lon Tweeten shows with Continuing the Magic possible future book covers laced with pop culture references. One of them, the "Dark Lord of the Dance", shows Voldemort teaming up with Harry on Broadway. In the MAD Magazine parodies of the films, the character is called Lord Druckermort, a backwards reference to the magazine's longtime caricaturist Mort Drucker. In Alistair McGowan's Big Impression show, during the sketch called "Louis Potter and the Philosopher's Scone", Gary Lineker appears as the Voldemort figure.[64] In one of the Harry Bladder sketches in All That, Headmaster Pimpell's grotesque pimple turns out to be the head of Lord Moldyshorts. In Harry Podder: Dude Where's My Wand?, a play by Desert Star Theater in Utah, written by sisters Laura J., Amy K. and Anna M. Lewis, Voldemort appears as evil wizard Voldie. In Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1969, a young Tom Marvolo Riddle (introduced as "Tom", whose middle name is a "marvel" and last name is a "conundrum") appears, and becomes the new avatar of Oliver Haddo at the story's conclusion. In A Very Potter Musical, Voldemort is played by actor Joe Walker.

 

In the TV show Weeds, Isabelle Hodes compares her mother Celia whom she despises to Voldemort. After Celia is kicked out of the Hodes house, Isabelle informs her father Dean that Celia will return. Indeed, the Hodes family is reunited a few episodes later.

 

[knightni]

20. Jigsaw (Saw)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 65 points - highest ranking #6 kyyle23)

 

John Kramer (commonly referred to as Jigsaw) is a fictional character and the central character of the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series, Saw, and he's later portrayed as an antihero in Saw II, III, IV, V, VI and 3D. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.

 

In the series' narrative, Kramer is a former civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a failed suicide attempt, Kramer experienced a new respect for his own life and set out to force others through deadly trials to help them appreciate their own lives by testing their will to live through self-sacrifice. The tests were typically symbolic of what Jigsaw perceived as a flaw in each person's moral character or life. The Jigsaw name was given by the media for his practice of cutting puzzle pieces out of the flesh of those who failed their ordeals and perished, symbolic of their missing survival instincts, but Kramer never took or used the name to refer to himself.

 

Saw

 

The Jigsaw Killer character was introduced in the 2004 film Saw through the character Dr. Lawrence Gordon's recounting of his first killings. Jigsaw is described as a mysterious person who kidnaps people he sees as wasting their lives and attempts to "save" them. This is accomplished by administering various inhumane tests consisting of mechanical devices rigged to maim or kill the subjects or other victims if not completed within a certain time period. As opposed to other killers, Jigsaw does not actually intend to kill his subjects; the purpose of his traps is to see if the subject has the will to survive, and thus inflict enough psychological trauma for the subjects to appreciate their life and save themselves from their own demons. As his victims increase, the media dubs him The Jigsaw Killer, or simply Jigsaw, because of the jigsaw puzzle-shaped piece of flesh that he cuts from unsuccessful subjects, a practice explained in Saw II as reflecting each subject "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle; the survival instinct". Throughout the first film, his identity remains uncertain; the unstable ex-cop David Tapp suspects that he may be Dr. Gordon, one of the film's two protagonists, and near the end of the film Dr. Gordon and fellow protagonist Adam are led to believe it is the hospital orderly Zep Hindle. Only at the end of the film is it revealed that the Jigsaw Killer was in fact a terminal cancer patient of Dr. Gordon's, John Kramer, who spent the entire time posing as a corpse on the floor of the bathroom Adam was trapped in.

 

Saw II

 

Much of the character's backstory was revealed in Saw II, revealing that he had become sick and had gone in for a medical examination, where he learned from Dr. Lawrence Gordon that he was dying of colon cancer, with an inoperable brain tumor. At this point, he stated that he began to see how many people took their lives for granted. He drove himself off of a cliff but survived the suicide attempt, and subsequently began his "work" to save people from themselves. Though he never claimed nor encouraged the name, Kramer's work eventually earned him the nickname The Jigsaw Killer, in spite of the circumstances and intentions he had while conducting his work; he did not consider himself to be a "killer" or "murderer". This is because rather than killing his victims outright, he trapped them in situations which he called "tests" or "games", in order to test their instinctual will to live versus physical or psychological torture.

 

In Saw II, Jigsaw leaves a hint in one of his traps that leads police to apprehend him. There, he puts police Detective Eric Matthews through a test by showing him Matthews' son Daniel trapped in a house filled with nerve gas, along with people whom, though far from innocent, Matthews had framed for crimes they did not commit. Jigsaw offers to let the younger Matthews survive if the Detective sits and talks to him, which ends with Eric brutally beating Jigsaw and forcing him to lead him to the house. Upon their arrival, Jigsaw is rescued by Amanda Young, one of his victims (introduced previously in Saw) who, having survived her trap and seeing her captor as a savior, has become his apprentice.

 

Saw III

 

By Saw III, a dying Jigsaw is hospitalized and extremely concerned over Amanda Young's failure to allow her subjects a fair chance to survive her tests. In his desperation, Jigsaw administers a final test to Young, in order to see if she was truly capable of successfully carrying on his work. Being kept alive by Dr. Lynn Denlon, a test subject who is forced to perform brain surgery on Jigsaw at the risk of dying by her own trap, Jigsaw attempts to keep Young from failing her test. However, after she breaks down, Young shoots Dr. Denlon. Witnessing this, Jeff Denlon, Dr. Denlon's vengeful husband who is also being tested, kills Young with a gunshot to her neck. After explaining the rules of a final game to Jeff, Jigsaw is mortally wounded when Jeff slices his throat with a power saw. As he dies, Jigsaw pulls out a tape player and plays a recording explaining that he is responsible for the abduction of Corbett, Jeff's daughter, and that if he wants her back he'll have to participate in another game.

 

Saw IV

 

While Jigsaw appears as a corpse in the present at the beginning and end of Saw IV, a tape found in his stomach during his autopsy assures Lieutenant Mark Hoffman that his games have just begun. During the autopsy, it was revealed that Kramer was 52 at the time of his death.

 

Saw IV also explored Jigsaw's history, more so than previously done in Saw II, rendering some of the content in Saw: Rebirth (a one-shot comic published in 2005) non-canon, instead showing a new back story. From the story given in Saw IV, Kramer was a successful civil engineer who got into property development, and was a devoted husband to his wife Jill; she ran a recovery clinic for drug users, to which he gave his belief, "Cherish Your Life". However, after a robbery and the reckless actions of a clinic patient named Cecil Adams resulted in the loss of the Kramers' unborn child, John became detached and angry, which eventually caused their divorce. After being diagnosed with cancer as first seen in Saw II, and trying to kill himself, Kramer began his work as Jigsaw, hunting down Cecil as his first test subject.

 

Saw V

 

Jigsaw reappears in Saw V, in flashback meetings with Hoffman, attacking and kidnapping Paul Leahy, then setting up and later watching his razor wire trap from Saw, as well as setting up the house of Saw II. He is shown on his deathbed talking to Hoffman about setting up a test, which leads Hoffman to exit the room as Young enters with Dr. Denlon, which occurs near the beginning of Saw III. Jigsaw also appears in a video will to his ex-wife Jill Tuck, leaving her a mysterious box. His deceased body is shown several times during the start of the movie, which was also the end of Saw IV, an opening scene in which Peter Strahm receives his first cassette tape, and a flashback which occurs to Strahm later in the film.

 

Saw VI

 

Jigsaw appears in flashbacks in the film. One flashback set prior to the events of the first film showed that it was Amanda Young who sent Cecil to Jill (Tuck) Kramer's clinic to steal drugs for her. This resulted in Jill's miscarriage, and thus Young was revealed to be an indirect cause of John Kramer's transformation into Jigsaw. Further flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that Jigsaw targeted William Easton for one of his games because he had insensitively denied Kramer health coverage after he had developed cancer. In the present time of Saw VI, Kramer shows himself on video twice to Easton instead of the Billy Puppet (the method Kramer usually used to speak to his subjects), so Easton could look in the eyes of someone he let die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second film, Jigsaw explains to his ex-wife that his "rehabilitation" works, showing Amanda Young as supposed evidence of this. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between Jigsaw, Amanda Young and Hoffman. Jigsaw criticises Hoffman for not seeing the test subjects as human beings and also critiques his approach to setting up Timothy Young's trap. It was also shown that Jigsaw seemed to have had a closer emotional attachment to Amanda Young than Hoffman. Shortly afterward, Jigsaw gave his ex-wife the key which she later used to open the box he gave her in his will in Saw V. In the present time of Saw VI, it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes (marked 1 through 6), a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "Reverse Bear Trap". She gave Mark Hoffman envelopes 1 through 5, but hid everything else from him and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person. Envelope 6 was meant only for Tuck-Kramer, instructing her to trap Hoffman and put the "Reverse Bear Trap" on him so he could be "tested". This fulfilled the promise made, via the audio tape discovered in the stomach of Jigsaw's corpse, that Hoffman would not go untested.

 

Saw 3D

 

Bell reprised his role as John Kramer/Jigsaw in Saw 3D, though his role was extremely minimal compared to previous films. He is seen in a flashback meeting Bobby Dagen at his book signing, subtly calling him a liar. He then mocks him while getting his own copy signed, which is then used in the path of Bobby's game to remind him of their encounter. He appears at the end of the film, where it was revealed that after Dr. Gordon escaped the bathroom, Jigsaw dragged him away and gave him a prosthetic foot, and congratulated him for surviving. He then made Gordon his final accomplice, considering him to be his greatest asset. Gordon assisted Jigsaw in traps which required surgical knowledge. The contents of the package Jill left at a hospital in Saw VI was shown to be a video tape for Gordon, in which Jigsaw told him that should anything happen to Jill, he would have to "act on [Jigsaw's] behalf". It is implied that John knew Hoffman would go rogue and start straying from his ideals and wanted him to be punished. After Jill is killed by Hoffman, Gordon fulfills this request by assaulting Hoffman and sealing him in the bathroom from the first film.

 

In other media

 

Saw: Rebirth

 

The character of John Kramer is also featured in the comic book, Saw: Rebirth, which is set prior to the events of the first movie. It filled in some of his history, showing him as a toy designer at Standard Engineering Ltd. who was too lazy to do much with his life, ultimately ending his relationship with Jill. Saw: Rebirth also reveals Kramer's discovery that he had terminal cancer and outlined how his subsequent failed suicide attempt impacted his train of thought. His relationships with Dr. Lawrence Gordon, Zep Hindle, Paul Leahy, Amanda Young, and Mark Wilson were explored, along with his transformation into Jigsaw. Rebirth's continuity was ultimately contradicted by the backstory presented in Saw IV.

 

"SAW – The Ride"

 

Jigsaw's dead body can be seen on the floor on Thorpe Park's SAW - The Ride. Upon exiting, his head can be seen hanging from a high ceiling.

 

Saw: The Video Game

 

Tobin Bell reprises his role as the voice of Jigsaw in the Saw video game. He is shown on television screens dressed in his signature robes setting up traps for people and preaching his lesson of life appreciation to them. He frequently advises and taunts Detective Tapp as he traverses through an abandoned insane asylum, usually by way of the Billy puppet.

 

Saw II: Flesh & Blood

 

Tobin Bell reprised his role as the voice of the Jigsaw Killer in the Saw: The Video Game sequel Saw II: Flesh & Blood. Tobin Bell also sold his likeness for the Jigsaw Killer, who actually appears in the game.

 

Jigsaw tests Detective Tapp's estranged son Michael, who is wanting to get to the bottom of his father's death. Jigsaw personally taunts Michael throughout the game, always being out of reach. Via case files, we also learn that he built nearly half of the city (explaining his numerous hideouts in the series). He appears to seek the destruction of the drug cartel run by corrupt cops. In the ending, he faces either Michael (tempting him onto becoming another apprentice) or Campbell (giving him freedom but getting attacked in retaliation).

 

Characterization

 

The producers of the Saw films have fought to differentiate the Jigsaw Killer from other horror film killers. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of Saw II, III and IV, has stated on the character's role "He's not Jason or Freddy. He's not even Hannibal Lecter. He's a person with extreme beliefs and he really thinks he's making a difference. He's a vigilante if anything. He thinks he's making a difference." Tobin Bell, the actor who plays Jigsaw, describes his character's role as being more of a scientist or engineer and "he thinks very specifically and very pragmatically". About Jigsaw's games being detail oriented, Bell said: "My sense is that Jigsaw is so detail oriented that I think he thinks in terms of worst case scenario. I think he’s a very good judge of character, so his sense that, for example, that Detective Matthews was going to play right into his trap, which he did, was right on. Now, it seems to me that he's always got a second plan in place. And there's probably been a number of second plans. I mean, we've only seen three movies. Maybe there are six more somewhere where he failed, where something didn't play out".

 

Bousman mentioned that Saw III was intended to contain a scene in which Jigsaw showed remorse for his actions after seeing the results:

 

"For the first time, we actually see him break down and cry. Imagine your entire life's work. You're on your deathbed. You know there's nothing else you can do and here's how you'll be remembered: as a killer, as a murderer. Not as someone who helped people. Not as someone who changed lives. Someone who took away lives. The one thing he didn't want to be and, as he's on his deathbed, he's realizing this."

 

As a result of his cancer and a failed suicide attempt, John decided to dedicate the rest of his life to teaching people to appreciate their own lives. The producers of Saw III and director Darren Lynn Bousman see Jigsaw, not as a serial killer, but a "scientist" who is determined to initiate the survival instinct in his "subjects", believing that humanity no longer uses its instinct of survival.

 

While the character's discovery that he has cancer is acknowledged to be the "final straw" that drove him to his actions, Bell has stated in an interview that "His terminal cancer is one of the elements of his life but he's as angry over the fact the world is going to hell in handbasket because it's no longer the survival of the fittest; it's the survival of the mediocre. That drives him as much as anything else. He doesn't just talk about his frustrations, he does something about them, and he puts himself on the line. His cancer was about one element in about 130 elements that caused him to create the world that he's created."

 

Jigsaw is depicted in the Saw films as being extremely intelligent in the areas relevant to his actions. In Saw: Rebirth he is depicted doing extensive study in multiple fields to gain knowledge for designing his tests, and recurring director Bousman himself has described Jigsaw as being "extremely educated" in an interview.

 

Symbolic representations

 

Traps

 

In the series, Jigsaw usually builds deadly traps for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what Jigsaw perceives as a flaw in the person's life. Jigsaw calls these tests "games", and tells the person the "rules" of the game usually by audio or video tape. The rules are tasks that the person must perform in order to pass the test and survive; however, the tasks often involve extreme self mutilation (although there have been occasions where it is possible for the subject not to harm themselves if they are clever enough, such as the Hand Trap). On occasion, Jigsaw has used psychological torture for the subject's test.

 

Many of the games involve clocks, counting down timers or other measured time constraints provided to the victims. Jigsaw elaborated in Saw II his appreciation of "time", outlining the importance of savoring every moment. He also stated his belief that telling someone the time in which they may die would awaken an alertness for every moment of existence.

 

Jake Huntley wrote of the complexity of Jigsaw's character in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. Huntley described the intention behind Jigsaw's actions, and evaluated the extent to which they can be analyzed to fit into the philosophies associated with Deleuze, Darwin and Nietzsche:

 

"The subject of one of Jigsaw's games is therefore always presented with an opportunity, the aim of which is to reinvigorate the potential of the subject, jump-start the survival instinct and instill a celebration or "savouring" of life. In Deleuzian terms, it is the potential of life that is at stake... It is this that gives Jigsaw's games their Deleuzian tone, the urgent revitalisation of life occasioning new experiences to be learnt and assimilated: such as the perverse, singular and aberrant situation of waking to find a man-trap secured around your neck. There is then the instruction to live or die, to make your choice, to survive the encounter with affect, or the affection-image... There is no thrill, sadistic or otherwise, in setting these games; they are throws of the die by the subjects, aleatoric opportunities... As Jigsaw makes clear to Detective Matthews during their conversation in Saw II, where Jigsaw's motivation and philosophy are most comprehensively explored, "I've never murdered anyone in my life. The decisions are up to them." Whilst it probably wouldn't stand up in court, he is at least correct in his usual, carefully literal sense. The decisions, the choices, the selection of a potential, are in the hands of the subjects of his games and he only intervenes in order to keep the game within its rules so a decision can be reached. The subjects are faced with a shocking choice that forces them to acknowledge what Deleuze identifies as the virtual – that is, the unacknowledged aspects of our experience with reality. This, in effect, is the particular game that Jigsaw himself plays; one where the organism might be failing but the flow of desire succeeds and endures. Jigsaw might resort to discussing Darwin's "little trip to the Galapagos Islands" to provide a theoretical underpinning for his project and echo Nietzsche in talking of the will to survive, but this merely misdirects investigators and witnesses in the same way that the gruesome traps and freely flowing gore earn him his unsettling serial killer soubriquet. Jigsaw's games are designed to crack open the world of their respective players: the challenges are nearly always relevant to the subject's lifestyle in a symbolic or literal way, bringing them to painful self awareness, prompting a reappraisal of their squandered potential."

 

Jigsaw intends through these traps to force his victims to prove to him that they are "worthy" and "deserving" to continue living, and also for them to learn to abandon what he perceives to be their vices. Jigsaw often expressed a desire for his victims to succeed, but stressed that their fate was always in their own hands. The video and audio tape instructions for his games often echo this idea: "Live or die. Make your choice."

 

Billy

 

Billy, a puppet, is an icon of the Jigsaw character. Jigsaw often used it for the purpose of delivering messages to his victims via a television screen, but at times it has also been physically present with the victims during their tests. He provided the (disguised) voice for Billy when it delivered its messages. It is shown in Saw IV that the original puppet was created by Kramer as an intended toy for his unborn child. Jigsaw is shown constructing the more menacing Billy puppet in Saw III for the purpose of its inclusion in his 'games'.

 

Microcassettes

 

Another of Jigsaw's trademarks is his use of microcassettes to deliver instructions to his victims, disguising his voice as on the Billy videotapes. A flashback in Saw IV reveals that he accomplished this by speaking into a reel-to-reel tape recorder, then slowing down the playback. Often, a victim would find a microcassette recorder left for him/her with a tape already loaded in, while at other times the tape would be found separately in an envelope marked with the victim's name or the tape on its own reading "Play Me". One tape was found in Jigsaw's stomach during his autopsy at the beginning of Saw IV. Both of his apprentices, Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman, eventually began making their own microcassettes, but without altering their voices as he did. An exception is the tape for Seth Baxter's trap, for which Hoffman did disguise his voice in order to avoid detection.

 

Huntley remarked that Jigsaw's voice recordings operated for a specific purpose as part of Jigsaw's M.O. Huntley stated that it allowed Jigsaw to be present there not as "a participant or even a spectator but instead as a referee, observing the rules pertinent to that particular subject rather than salaciously enjoying the ‘victim’s agony’."

 

Pig mask

 

The pig mask is a thematic prop worn by Jigsaw and his accomplices throughout the Saw film series to conceal their identities while abducting their "test subjects". As the series continues, the purpose of the pig mask is explored in detail; it is explained to be a tribute to the "Year of the Pig", the year in which Jigsaw started his work.

 

The origin of the pig mask was shown in Saw IV, revealing the first known pig masks to have been latex strap-on masks used at a Year of the Pig Chinese New Year festival. Jigsaw had snatched them and donned one, while using the other one to hold his chloroform-soaked rag. The second mask was then used to knock out his first test subject, Cecil, by placing the mask over his head with the chloroform rag still inside.

 

When working on the original Saw film, writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan wanted their antagonist to have some sort of mask. After some discussion, the idea of Jigsaw wearing a rotting pig's head was chosen to symbolize his pessimistic view of the world and the disease that he was "rotting" from.

 

Nevertheless, the mask given to them from production (a rubber Halloween mask) was considered by them to be less than satisfactory. A number of things were added to make it look more gruesome, including long black hair and pus running from its eyes and nostrils. Whannell has still admitted to being disappointed with its final appearance compared to his intended one, but has admitted that the mask has since become one of the "staples" of the Saw franchise.

 

Along with Billy and perhaps Jigsaw himself, the mask has since become one of the more iconic symbols of the franchise. It has appeared on both the posters for the first film and the fourth. The mask has also been featured on many forms of merchandise. Officially-licensed pig mask accessories have been sold for Halloween. In addition, the mask has been featured on numerous Jigsaw action figures. NECA has released two Jigsaw figurines with the pig mask; the original was Jigsaw wearing the mask in his black cloak, and a Saw III variant of Jigsaw wearing it in his red cloak. In addition, the Be@rBrick line has released a "bear" version of Jigsaw wearing the pig mask. Medicom has also released a figurine of Jigsaw wearing his infamous pig mask in the "Real Action Hero" line.

 

On the commentary track of Saw IV, several discussions occur about Jigsaw's decision to use references to pigs. In the series, the producers explained that Jigsaw was a spiritual person; however, it has never been revealed what religion he follows. In Saw IV, Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill explains Jigsaw's organized and planned lifestyle, stating that she had conceived their miscarried son Gideon, with Jigsaw planning for him to be born in the Year of the Pig. On the commentary track, the producers explain that in the Chinese Zodiac, the pig stands for fertility and rebirth. Jigsaw is seen several times throughout the series with figurines of clay soldiers and buddhas, further symbolizing his reference to various Asian cultures.

 

Jigsaw puzzle pieces

 

Cut outs were made, in the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces, from the flesh of Jigsaw's deceased victims who failed to pass their test. John Kramer received the nickname "Jigsaw" from the police and the press stemming from his tendency to perform such a ritual; however, he never encouraged that name or used it to refer to himself.

 

Huntley argued that the jigsaw pieces that John cut out of the flesh of his failed test subjects was not intended as a mere stylized signature, but rather that it had a much deeper philosophical reflection. He stated that:

 

"Far from being a stamp of final approval, a post-(mortem)-script to the game, the jigsaw piece represents the admission of the subject's missing survival instinct, the corporeal body's non-relational or 'snagged' desire. Those marked with jigsaw pieces are the ones that got away, left inert, reduced to the zero intensity of death. It would seem strange that Jigsaw – surely the last figure ever to be deemed sentimental – should choose to extract this symbolic jigsaw piece from these subjects, except that Jigsaw is linguistically consistent in explaining how he 'takes' or 'cuts' the piece of skin. The jigsaw shape marking those who 'fail' is the adding of a subtraction – in effect, the removal of their inability, their unfulfilled potential or their lack – the excision that leaves the whole of the body that is not the closed, inert corporeal body but is, instead, the 'body-without-organs', that is, the nexus point where energy pools amid the flow and fold of forces and durations, existence beyond the living organism."

 

A hand-drawn jigsaw puzzle piece was also present on the back of a photograph in Saw as part of a clue for one of his games.

 

Apprentices

 

Throughout the Saw series, Jigsaw developed a tendency to recruit "apprentices" to carry on his perceived mission. Amanda Young, Lieutenant Mark Hoffman, Dr. Lawrence Gordon, and two masked men named Pighead (Saw: The Video Game) and Pighead II (Saw II: Flesh & Blood) are the only known Jigsaw apprentices.

 

Huntley analyzed Jigsaw's intentions in taking in protégés as stemming from the terminally ill character's desire to overcome death itself, and argues that this is further evidence of his thought process being characterized by Deleuzian philosophy. Huntley argued:

 

"Jigsaw decides that the answer is to achieve immortality through a legacy, having a successor to continue with his work. The impulse is Deleuzian. Jigsaw remains calm, neutral and impassive throughout the Saw films (not least because of his terminal condition) yet his only expressed wish, concern or desire, is that his legacy is maintained – the work of testing the fabric of humanity should go on. "Jigsaw" – as the intensive site of being, a locus of desire, the body-without-organs – can survive the death of the organism John Kramer... What seems to be consistent thematically through the Saw films is that "Jigsaw" is a part for various players, an identity composed of pieces..."

 

John was also assisted by Obi Tate in the kidnapping of the victims of the nerve gas house, shortly before the events of Saw II, and Zep Hindle throughout the first film.

 

Kevin Greutert, the editor of Saw's I-V and the director of Saw VI and Saw VII, stated that Amanda, in particular, is "such a peculiar aspect of the Jigsaw character", citing the fact that Kramer had developed genuine "tender feelings" for her.

 

The term "apprentice" was used in the official plot synopses for Saw III and Saw IV.

 

Theatrical robe

 

Jigsaw is usually seen wearing a black theatrical robe with a large hood and red lining when running traps or abducting victims. On the commentary track for the first Saw film, it was explained that the producers originally wanted Jigsaw to have the red robe with black interior. Thinking that the red robe was too vibrant for the film, they reversed the robe to make it black with red interior. Amanda wore a similar robe in Saw III in an attempt to symbolically emulate her mentor. Although Hoffman, while wearing the pig mask, always wore the dark blue rain parka he'd worn since the murder of Seth Baxter, further illustrating the gap between him and Jigsaw. Also, both Pighead and Pighead II wear similar robes to Jigsaw, the only difference being that the Pighead robe is red.

 

Tobin Bell

 

Speaking about his character, actor Tobin Bell says:

 

"My wife mentioned to me that she read an interview with Jeffrey Dahmer's mother about his childhood. And she said he was a perfectly normal child. He had friends like everyone else, he participated in the same kind of activities. In terms of your question about icons, if you begin to think of people like that, it's a deadly thing to do. You have to think of someone like Jigsaw from a very specific point of view. He doesn't view himself as some kind of diabolical psychotic. You know there's a little bit of evil in everyone. It just gets carried further. Most of us have some sort of moral fiber that restricts that. Some framework. And then others because of their lives and what happens to them, the thing develops in some other way. You know, I've played a lot of different kind of guys. Jigsaw's a fascinating person. And it's up to the filmmakers to do what ever they want to do with where he's coming from and to shape it and make it something meaningful that fits into the picture."

 

Reaction

 

Critical reception

 

A review of Saw II in the San Francisco Chronicle praised Tobin Bell and Jigsaw as being "more terrifying than the movie villains in Hollywood's last five horror films put together; even though he's in a wheelchair and hooked up to multiple IVs."

 

Don Summer, a writer for Best-Horror-Movies.com, stated that "the villain, in Jigsaw, is brilliant and formidable" and that actor Tobin Bell has done a "fantastic job" in his recurring role.

 

Neil Smith, a film reviewer for the BBC, described Bell's Jigsaw as "creepy", describing the character as adding "a palpably sinister charge" to the scenes he appeared in.

 

Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, remarked that Tobin Bell's Jigsaw had become such an entrenched staple of the Saw franchise, that the character's reduced appearance in Saw V was drastically felt. Ní Fhlainn also commented that Jigsaw's unique character was not successfully compensated for by his apparent successor in Saw V, Mark Hoffman. Ní Fhlainn went to the extent to remark that the character of Jigsaw is so central to the Saw franchise, that it should have ended as a trilogy considering Jigsaw's death at the end of Saw III.

 

Similarly, several critics who reviewed Saw 3D lamented Bell's minimal screentime in the film, with Eric Goldman of IGN writing that he found it "impossible not to be bothered by how little time was spent" with the character.

 

Tobin Bell was nominated for a Spike TV Scream Award three times in the category of "Most Vile Villain" for his portrayal of Jigsaw in 2006 for Saw II, in 2007 (alongside Shawnee Smith's portrayal of Amanda) for Saw III, and in 2008 for Saw IV.

 

[knightni]

19. Annie Wilkes (Misery)

 

 

(4 of 16 lists - 67 points - highest ranking #4 kyyle23)

 

Anne Marie Wilkes Dugan, usually known as Annie Wilkes, is a fictional character and the antagonist/main villain in the 1987 novel Misery, by Stephen King. In the 1990 film adaptation of the novel, Annie Wilkes was portrayed by Kathy Bates, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. The American Film Institute included Annie Wilkes (as played by Bates) in their "100 Heroes and Villains" list, ranking her as the 17th most iconic villain (and sixth most iconic villainess) in film history.

 

Character background

 

The novel provides Wilkes' backstory, stating that she was born in Bakersfield, California on April 1, 1943 and graduated from the University of Southern California nursing school in 1966. After several years of working in hospitals across the country, she settled in a remote portion of Colorado's Western Slope.

 

Wilkes rescues the protagonist, Paul Sheldon, after he breaks both of his legs in a car accident, and takes him to her home to convalesce. She fawns over Sheldon, a writer of romance novels starring her favorite literary character, Misery Chastain; she professes to be his "number one fan" and even says she loves him. This, and the fact that she is not in a hurry to take him to a hospital, makes Sheldon uneasy. Sheldon has studied psychological disorders as part of his research for the Misery series, and suspects early on that Wilkes is mentally unstable.

 

Wilkes is enraged when she discovers Sheldon killed off Misery at the end of his latest novel. She tells him she has not called a hospital or told anybody about him, saying if she dies he dies. She holds him captive in her home and subjects him to a series of physical and psychological tortures. She forces him to burn the only copy of a novel he felt would put him back on track as a mainstream author, and then makes him write a new novel bringing Misery back to life. Sheldon writes the book as Wilkes wants, but chafes under her torture. In the film, he tries to kill her by spiking her drink with a massive overdose of the painkillers she gives him. However, that attempt goes awry when she accidentally spills it.

 

Sheldon gradually develops an addiction to the painkillers. While looking for them, he finds her old scrapbook and learns from the newspaper clippings inside that she is a serial killer whose spree dates back to her childhood in Bakersfield. Among her victims were a neighboring family, her own father, her college roommate, and a hitchhiker with whom she had a brief fling. While serving as head maternity nurse (at a Boulder hospital in the book and a hospital in rural southern Colorado in the film), 11 infants in her care died under mysterious circumstances. She was tried for their deaths, but acquitted for lack of evidence. Sheldon also learns that she killed several patients at other hospitals where she worked, but no one noticed because they were either very sick or suffered debilitating injuries beforehand. Sheldon also finds that Wilkes was formerly married to a physical therapist named Ralph Dugan, who later divorced her citing "mental cruelty." The last picture is an article about Sheldon's own disappearance, leading him to fear that he is Wilkes' next victim.

 

Sheldon doesn't know it, but Wilkes has known all along that Sheldon has been sneaking around her house. This sets off one of the film's most infamous scenes, in which she breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer to stop him from escaping. In the book she chops off his foot with an axe and cauterizes it with a blowtorch, and later cuts off one of his thumbs with an electric knife when he complains about a missing letter on his typewriter.

 

In the book, Wilkes brutally kills a Colorado state trooper who sees Sheldon in her house by stabbing him with a wooden cross and running him over with a lawnmower. In the film, the local sheriff comes to Wilkes' farm to investigate Sheldon's disappearance. Wilkes drugs Sheldon and hides him in her basement before subsequently killing the officer with a double-barreled shotgun as he hears Sheldon's cries for help.

 

Wilkes then says they should "celebrate" the new novel in a murder-suicide. Sheldon pretends to go along with it, telling her he needs a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne and a cigarette, as per his usual practice after finishing a book. He soaks the manuscript with lighter fluid he picked up in the basement and sets it ablaze. While Wilkes tries to put the fire out, Sheldon overpowers her by cracking her over the head with his typewriter and choking her. In the film, he chokes her with pages of the burnt novel. In the novel, he chokes her with blank pages which she believes to be the book; the real novel was hidden from sight and was later published.

 

She ultimately dies of a fractured skull; Sheldon is then rescued by police. In the book, she fractures her skull when she slips and falls on the mantle of the guest room bed. When the police go in to search the bedroom where Wilkes is believed to have died, they find it empty. It is later revealed that, despite being mortally wounded, she managed to escape the bedroom and died in her barn with her hands on a chainsaw, which she presumably intended to use on Sheldon. In the movie, Sheldon kills her after her apparent death by ramming a metal statue of her pet sow pig — named Misery after his stories — into her head.

 

Personality

 

King characterizes Annie Wilkes as a cunning, brutal and dangerously disturbed woman who hides her psychosis behind a cheery facade. Both the novel and the film portray her as extremely paranoid, and also suggest that she may suffer from bipolar disorder. In the novel, she has day-long bouts with depression, during which she is seen maiming herself. She has an unhealthy obsession with romance novels, particularly Sheldon's Misery series.

 

She abhors profanity, to the point that she will fly into fits of rage if it is used in front of her. She instead expresses anger with childishly strange words and phrases like "cockadoodie," "mister man" "dirty bird," "dirty birdy," "oogie," and "rooty-patooties." In the novel, however, she lets more conventional profanities slip on occasion, most notably when she calls Paul "a lying cocksucker" after Paul sets the new Misery book ablaze. The film is also consistent in depicting Wilkes' behavior towards profanity. She frequently has unexpectedly violent tantrums over insignificant matters. For instance, when Sheldon complains that the packet of Eaton's Corrasable Bond paper she bought for him is smudge-prone, she smashes his still-healing knee (with her bare hands in the novel and with the packet of paper in the movie).

 

In a special feature on the collectors' edition DVD, forensic psychologist Reid Meloy said that Wilkes' personality (as portrayed by Kathy Bates) is a virtual catalog of mental illness. According to Meloy, Wilkes suffers from bipolar disorder, a severe personality disorder and sadomasochism. He also believes her profile is typical of people who stalk celebrities.

 

In his commentary on the film available on the DVD, director Rob Reiner notes that Wilkes' killing spree is loosely based on that of Genene Jones, a nurse who is believed to have killed as many as 50 children who were in her care over a two-year period.

 

Other appearances

 

The fictional version of King that appears in The Dark Tower discusses Annie Wilkes.

 

Annie Wilkes is mentioned in Kim Newman's novella, The Other Side of Midnight. Set in his alternate history crossover Anno Dracula series, it is mentioned that she was the murderer of John Lennon, telling the press that she loved him but that he had to die for splitting up the Beatles.

 

Kathy Bates reprised her role as Annie Wilkes in a 2008 commercial for DirecTV, with the setting being the infamous scene where she cripples Paul Sheldon.

 

In the Family Guy episode "Three Kings", which parodies works by Stephen King, Wilkes' role is taken by Stewie Griffin.

 

An episode of the Comedy Central cartoon series Drawn Together, is a reference to the novel. In the episode Wooldoor Sockbat suffers an injury after Princess Clara tries to drown him, and she takes care of Wooldoor until he heals. She soon becomes addicted to the attention and admiration she receives as Wooldoor's caretaker, and so tries to keep him sick by giving him chemicals such as toilet soap and cleaning water; she finally breaks Wooldoor's ankles with a piece of wood and a sledgehammer.

 

French and Saunders parodied Misery with Dawn French in Bates' role. She holds her comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders, captive in her home in the woods until she writes her a decent script. When Jennifer eventually escapes it takes a lot to kill Dawn, reflecting the number of injuries Annie Wilkes endured while Paul Sheldon was escaping in the film.

 

[knightni]

18. Jack Torrance/The Overlook Hotel (The Shining)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 67 points - highest ranking #7 Cali)

 

Jack Torrance is a fictional character, the antagonist in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King. He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 movie adaptation of the novel, and by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries. The American Film Institute rated the character (as played by Nicholson) the 25th greatest film villain of all time. In 2008, Jack Torrance was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. Premiere Magazine also ranked Torrance on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

 

Biography

 

In novel

 

Jack Torrance is a writer and former teacher who is trying to rebuild his and his family's life after his alcoholism and volatile temper costs him his teaching position at a small preparatory school. Having given up drinking, he accepts a position maintaining the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado for the winter, in the hope this will salvage his family, re-establish his career, and give him the time and privacy to finish a promising play. He moves to the hotel with his wife, Wendy, and young son, Danny, who is telepathic and sensitive to supernatural forces. Danny receives guidance from an imaginary friend he calls "Tony."

 

It is later revealed that Jack's father, also an alcoholic, was abusive towards his family. A flashback scene in the novel shows his father pretending to be drunk so as to brutally bash Jack's mother with a cane.

 

Danny finds out that the Overlook Hotel is haunted from cook Dick Hallorann, who is also psychic (in fact, it is he who coins the term "the shining" to describe the powers he and the boy possess) and who teaches Danny to use his gift to defend himself and his family from the evil forces at work in the old building. However, Jack succumbs to both cabin fever and his drinking problem, and allows the hotel to convince him to hate his own wife and child (in fact, a good part of Jack's insanity is caused by the hotel's demonic entity, which uses its supernatural powers to psychologically torture them). Jack has encounters with ghosts of previous staff of the hotel, who insist he had always been working there, and must kill his family so he can be promoted to a managerial position.

 

In fact, the Hotel is not only haunted by the ghosts of those who died violently within it, but the entire Hotel is itself host to a being of unknown origin, who wishes to coerce the father into killing the boy. Apparently, the souls and, perhaps, special abilities of those killed in the building belong to the entity, and the Hotel believes that if it can harness the boy's "shining" (a recurring supernatural ability in the Stephen King universe coined for those individuals who simultaneously exhibit clairvoyant and psychic abilities), then it can gather enough power to "break free" of the building in which it has somehow become trapped.

 

Jack pursues Wendy, who knocks him out as he tries to kill her. She locks him up in a storage room, and realizes that she is stranded there at the hotel (Jack had cut off all radio communications and also sabotaged the hotel snowmobile, their only means of transport). Jack is later helped out of the food storage room by the ghost of the previous caretaker, who murdered his own family before committing suicide.

 

Jack then brutally attacks Wendy with a roque mallet he found, although she escapes. He is interrupted with the arrival of Hallorann, whom he almost beats to death.

 

Jack finds and confronts Danny and is about to kill him when his son reaches through the hotel's power and redeems his father moments before the hotel's boiler explodes, demolishing the building. Wendy, Danny and Hallorann escape, but Jack dies inside.

 

In film

 

Jack Torrance is portrayed in a less sympathetic manner in the 1980 film. In the novel Jack is a tragic hero whose shortcomings lead to his defeat, while the film implies that he is insane from the start. It also omits his traumatic childhood.

 

The film's first major deviation from the source material occurs when Jack attacks Hallorann. Instead of merely injuring him with the mallet, Jack brutally kills Hallorann with an axe wound to the heart.

 

In the film, Jack hears Danny scream, and chases his son to a hedge maze outside the hotel (in the novel topiary animals come to life and threaten Danny). Danny walks backwards in his own footprints to mislead Jack, then jumps to a side path and slips out of the maze. While Wendy and Danny escape the hotel in Hallorann's Snowcat, Jack gets lost trying to pick up Danny's tracks, sits down to rest, and quickly freezes to death.

 

While Jack redeems himself in the book, in the 1980 film, he succumbs to his demons and is ultimately damned (much to Stephen King's chagrin). The film ends featuring an old photograph of a dance at the hotel from the 1920s that shows Jack in the event.

 

In the miniseries

 

Author Stephen King was unhappy with some liberties that the 1980s film director Stanley Kubrick took with the novel, and decided to produce a three-part miniseries of his vision of the story. While well-received by King fans, it received mixed reviews from critics.

 

In King's film version, Jack Torrance is presented more sympathetically than in Kubrick's film. Torrance in the King miniseries is similar to the character in the novel, but the ending is changed. In the book, Jack redeems himself, and the boiler explodes due to the hotel's negligence. In the miniseries, Jack sacrifices himself by causing the boiler to explode in order to destroy the hotel.

 

The miniseries ends with a scene not in the book: Danny graduates from high school, while his spectral father looks on. It is revealed that Danny's imaginary friend "Tony" is, in fact, Danny from the future communicating with his past self, a point briefly touched upon in the book but totally omitted from the Kubrick film.

 

. . .

 

The hotel has a personality in its own right, and acts as a psychic lens: it manipulates the living and the dead for its own purposes, and magnifies the psychic powers of any living people who reside there and makes them more sensitive to its urgings. Danny has premonitions of the hotel's danger to his family and begins seeing ghosts and frightening visions from the hotel's past, but puts up with them in the hope that they are not dangerous in the present. Although Danny is close to his father, he does not tell either of his parents about his visions because he senses that the caretaking job is important to his father and the family's future. Wendy thinks about taking Danny away from the Overlook to leave Jack there to finish the job on his own, but Danny refuses, thinking his father will be happier if they stay. Danny soon realizes, however, that his presence in the hotel makes it more powerful and enables it to make normally harmless objects and situations dangerous, such as topiary animals that come to life.

 

The hotel has difficulty possessing Danny, so it begins to possess Jack, frustrating his need and desire to work. Jack becomes increasingly unstable, and the sinister ghosts of the hotel gradually begin to overtake him. One day he goes to the bar of the hotel, previously empty of alcohol, and finds it fully stocked. As he gets drunk, the hotel attempts to use Jack to kill Wendy and Danny in order to absorb Danny's psychic abilities. Wendy and Danny get the better of Jack, locking him into the walk-in pantry, but the ghost of Delbert Grady, a former caretaker who murdered his family and then committed suicide, releases him. Wendy discovers that they are completely isolated at the Overlook, as Jack has sabotaged the hotel's snowmobile and smashed the CB radio in the office. Jack strikes Wendy with one of the hotel's roque mallets, breaking three ribs, a kneecap, and one vertebra in her back. Wendy stabs Jack in the small of his back with a large butcher knife, then crawls away to the caretaker's suite and locks herself in the bathroom, with Jack in pursuit. Jack tries to break the door with the mallet, but before he unlocks the door she keeps him back by cutting him with some razor blades.

 

Hallorann, working at a winter resort in Florida, has heard Danny's psychic call for help and rushes back to the Overlook. Jack leaves Wendy in the bathroom and ambushes Hallorann, shattering his jaw and giving him a concussion with the mallet, before setting off after Danny. Danny distracts Jack by saying "You're not my daddy," having realized that the Overlook has completely taken over Jack by playing on his alcoholism. Jack temporarily regains control of himself and tells Danny, "Run away. Quick. And remember how much I love you". Soon after, Jack is quickly possessed by the hotel again. He violently bashes his own face and skull in with his mallet so Danny can no longer recognize him as his father. Danny, realizing that his father is now gone forever, tells Jack that the unstable boiler is going to explode. In response, Jack rushes to the basement. Danny and Wendy reunite in the lobby and they flee the Overlook with Hallorann. Though Jack tries to relieve the boiler pressure, it explodes, destroying the hotel. The building's spirit makes one last desperate attempt to possess Hallorann and make him kill Danny and Wendy, but he shakes it off and brings them to safety.

 

[knightni]

17. Verbal Kint/Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 69 points - highest ranking #6 pittshoganerkoff)

 

Keyser Söze (play /ˈkaɪzər ˈsoʊzeɪ/ ky-zər soh-zay) is a fictional character in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects, written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. According to Roger "Verbal" Kint, Söze is a crimelord whose ruthlessness and influence have acquired a legendary, even mythical, status among police and criminals. The character was named the #48 villain in the American Film Institute's "AFI's 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains" in June 2003.

 

Background

 

According to "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), Söze was once a petty drug dealer beginning his criminal career in his native Turkey. The entity that is Keyser Söze is born when rival Hungarian smugglers invade his house while he is away, rape his wife and hold his children hostage; when Söze arrives, they kill one of the children to show him their resolve, then threaten to kill his wife and remaining children if he does not surrender his business to them. Rather than give in to their demands and to spare his family from having to live with the memory of what has happened, he murders them and all but one of the Hungarians, knowing that the survivor would tell the mafia what has happened.

 

Söze goes after the mob, killing dozens of people including the mobsters' families, friends and even people who owe them money as well as destroying their homes and businesses. He then goes "underground", never again doing business in person and remaining invisible even to his henchmen, who almost never know for whom they are working. One of the most famous lines from the movie, spoken by Kint, is: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." This is a paraphrase of a phrase in a story by Charles Baudelaire, as translated from the original French. Neither McQuarrie nor Singer realized this at the time and they "borrowed it from people who were quoting Baudelaire themselves."

 

Söze's ruthlessness is legendary; he is described as having had enemies and disloyal henchmen brutally murdered, along with everyone they hold dear, for the slightest infractions — and as having personally murdered people who have seen and can identify him. Over the years his criminal empire, including the drug trade and the smuggling of weapons and materials flourishes as does his legend; he becomes, as Kint says during his interrogation, "a spook story that criminals tell their kids at night."

 

Film revelations

 

The film The Usual Suspects consists mostly of flashbacks narrated by Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey), ostensibly a con artist with cerebral palsy. Verbal has been granted immunity from prosecution provided he assists investigators, including Customs Agent David Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) and reveals all details of his involvement with a group of notorious criminals that are assumed to be responsible for the destruction of a ship and the murder of nearly everyone aboard.

 

While Verbal is telling his story, Kujan learns the name Keyser Söze from FBI agent Jack Baer (Giancarlo Esposito) and demands Verbal tell him what he knows. Verbal describes how he and a small group of career criminals are blackmailed by Söze, through Söze's lawyer Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite), into destroying a large drug shipment belonging to Söze's Argentinian rivals. All but Kint and a Hungarian are killed in the attack. Baer believes there were no drugs and the true purpose of the attack was to eliminate a passenger on the ship who could identify Söze. Kujan confronts Kint with the theory that Söze is one of the criminals that Verbal had worked with: a corrupt former police officer and professional thief named Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne). Kujan's investigation of Keaton is what involved him in the case.

 

In the final sequence of the movie, it is revealed that Verbal's story is a fabrication, made up of strung-together details culled from a crowded bulletin board in the messy office of the police detective where Kujan conducted Verbal's interrogation. The methods used to persuade the audience of this included a buzzing montage of voices from the movie, cut and pasted with pictures and text from the bulletin board, as well as the "KOBAYASHI" manufacturer's logo printed on the bottom of Kujan's coffee cup. The surviving Hungarian, severely burned and in hospital, describes to a sketch artist a man he saw during the attack that he believes is Keyser Söze: none other than Verbal Kint. Kujan realizes the truth too late, as Verbal has already walked out on bail, his limp suddenly gone. He uses a gold cigarette lighter similar to one Söze was seen carrying at the beginning of the film to light a cigarette with a steady hand and climbs into a car driven by the character we used to know as Kobayashi. As they drive away, Kujan desperately looks around the crowded streets for Verbal, having realized too late.

 

Since almost everything Roger "Verbal" Kint told during his interrogation is unreliable, Kint may be Söze or he could be Söze's agent or that Keyser Söze never existed, being a legend modified by Kint to deceive Kujan.

 

In popular culture

 

Since the release of the film, the name Keyser Söze has gained two popular uses in Western culture: the first is as a description of a legend, usually of underworld crime, which is a result of the character's Satanic presence in The Usual Suspects. For example, in the video game Max Payne, the titular character refers to Rico Muerte as "a regular Keyser Söze." In the video game Warcraft_III, "KeyserSoze" is a cheat code that gives you a desired amount of gold.

 

The second use of the name in popular culture is a shorthand reference to being fooled, by an actual villain, into believing in a villain who does not exist. This use of the name is owed to the film's twist ending. One such reference can be found in "The Puppet Show," an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where upon discovering the disappearance of a possessed dummy that had convinced the heroes it was on their side, Xander Harris asks, "Does anyone else feel like they've been Keyser Sözed?"

 

In his 1999 review of Fight Club, film critic Roger Ebert commented, "A lot of recent films seem unsatisfied unless they can add final scenes that redefine the reality of everything that has gone before; call it the Keyser Söze syndrome."

 

[knightni]

16. Norman Bates (Psycho)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 70 points - highest ranking #2 BigEdWalsh)

 

Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The character was inspired by serial killer Ed Gein.

 

Fictional character biography

 

Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffers severe emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his mother, Norma, who preaches to him that sexual intercourse is sinful and that all women (except herself) are whores. The two of them live alone together in a state of total codependence after the death of Bates' father until Bates reaches adolescence, when his mother takes a lover, Joe Considine. Driven over the edge with jealousy, Bates murders both of them with strychnine. After committing the murders, Bates develops dissociative identity disorder, preserving his mother's corpse and assuming her personality to repress her death and escape the guilt of murdering her. He inherits his mother's house — where he keeps her corpse — and the family motel in fictional Fairvale, California.

 

Bloch sums up Bates' multiple personalities in his stylistic form of puns: "Norman", a child dependent on his mother; "Norma", a possessive mother who kills anyone who threatens the illusion of her existence; and "Normal", a (barely) functional adult who goes through the motions of day-to-day life.

 

Bates is finally arrested after he murders a young woman named Mary Crane (called Marion in the film) and Milton Arbogast, a private investigator sent to look for her. Bates is declared insane and sent to an institution, where the "mother" personality completely takes hold; he becomes his mother.

 

In Bloch's 1982 sequel to his novel, Bates escapes from the psychiatric hospital by killing a nun and donning her habit. Picked up as a hitchhiker, Bates is overcome by the driver of the car as he tries to attack him with a tire iron. This in turn causes a fiery accident where the driver escapes, but Bates dies. Bates's psychiatrist, Dr. Adam Claiborne, discovers Bates' body and assumes his personality. In the next book, Psycho House, Norman appears only as a novelty animatronic on display in the Bates Hotel, which has been converted into a tourist attraction.

 

Film sequels

 

In the sequel to the original film, Bates is released from the institution 22 years after his arrest, seemingly cured, and he meets Mary Loomis — Marion Crane's niece — with whom he falls in love. However, a series of mysterious murders occurs, as well as strange appearances and messages from "Mother", and Bates slowly loses his grip on sanity. The mysterious appearances and messages turn out to be a plot by Lila Loomis, Marion's vengeful sister, to drive him insane again in order to get him recommitted. The actual murders turn out to be the work of his aunt — Norma's sister, Emma Spool — who shares the family's history of mental illness and claims to be Norman's real mother. Before Bates discovers this, however, Mary Loomis is shot dead by the police during a confrontation with Bates, and Spool murders Lila. When Spool tells Bates that she is his mother, he kills her and embalms her body while assuming the "Mother" personality once again.

 

In the third film, Bates continues to struggle, unsuccessfully, against "Mother"'s dominion. He also finds another love interest named Maureen Coyle, who eventually dies at "Mother"'s hand. In the film Mrs. Spool's body is first discovered by sleazy musician Duane Duke, whom Bates kills when Duke tries to use the discovery to blackmail Bates. Tracy Venable, a reporter interested in Bates' case, finds out the truth about Spool. "Mother" orders Bates to kill Venable, but in the end he attacks "Mother"'s corpse violently, attempting to break free of her control, as well as getting revenge at "Mother" for killing Maureen. He is again institutionalized. During the last few minutes of the movie, Venable tells Bates that Emma Spool was his aunt, not his mother, and had killed his father. Apparently, she had fallen for Bates' father and, when Norma Bates had given birth to Norman, kidnapped the child, believing he was her son. Norman is then sent back to the institution.

 

The final sequel, however, supplies that Bates' father was stung to death by bees, effectively retconning the revelations of Psycho III. In this film, Bates had been released from the institution, and is married to one of the hospital's nurses. When his wife becomes pregnant, however, he lures her to his mother's house and tries to kill her; he wants to prevent another of his "cursed" line from being born into the world. (The film implies that Bates' mother suffered from schizophrenia and passed the illness on to him.) He relents at the last minute, however, when his wife professes her love for him. He then burns the house down in an attempt to free himself of his past. During the attempt, he is tormented by hallucinations of "Mother" and several of his victims; he almost dies in the flames before willing himself to get out, apparently defeating his illness at long last.

 

In the pilot episode of the failed TV series Bates Motel, Bates is never released from the institution after his first incarceration. He befriends Alex West, a fellow inmate who had murdered his stepfather, and wills ownership of the titular motel to him before dying of old age.

 

Characterization

 

The character Norman Bates in Psycho was loosely based on two people. First was the real-life serial killer Ed Gein, about whom Bloch later wrote a fictionalised account, "The Shambles of Ed Gein", in 1962. (The story can be found in Crimes and Punishments: The Lost Bloch, Volume 3). Second, it has been indicated by several people including Noel Carter (wife of Lin Carter) and Chris Steinbrunner, as well as allegedly by Bloch himself, that Norman Bates was partly based on Calvin Beck, publisher of Castle of Frankenstein.

 

The characterization of Bates in the novel and the movie differ in some key areas. In the novel, Bates is in his mid-to-late 40s, short, overweight, homely, and more overtly unstable. In the movie, he is in his early-to-mid-20s, tall, slender, and handsome. Reportedly, when working on the film, Hitchcock decided that he wanted audiences to be able to sympathize with Bates and genuinely like the character, so he made him more of a "boy next door." In the novel, Norman becomes Mother after getting drunk and passing out; in the movie, he remains sober before switching personalities.

 

In the novel, Bates is well-read in occult and esoteric authors such as P.D. Ouspensky and Aleister Crowley. He is aware that "Mother" disapproves of these authors as being against religion.

 

Portrayals

 

Bates was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock's seminal 1960 film adaptation of Bloch's novel and its three sequels. He also portrayed Norman Bates, albeit more lightheartedly, in a 1990 oatmeal commercial. Vince Vaughn portrayed Bates in Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake, while Kurt Paul took on the role in Bates Motel. Henry Thomas played a younger version of the character in Psycho IV: The Beginning.

 

Comic books

 

Norman appears in the 1992 three-issue comic book adaptation of the first Psycho film released by Innovation Publishing. Despite being a colorized adaptation of the Hitchcock film, the version of Norman present in the comics resembles the one from Bloch's original novel: an older, overweight, balding man. Comic artist Felipe Echevarria has explained that this was due to Perkins' refusal to allow his likeness to be replicated for the books, wanting to disassociate himself with Norman Bates.

 

Reception

 

Norman Bates is ranked as the second greatest villain on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 film heroes and villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and before Darth Vader. His line "A boy's best friend is his mother" also ranks as number 56 on the institute's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes. In 2008, Norman Bates was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. Bates also ranked number 4 on Premiere Magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

 

[knightni]

15. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 74 points - highest ranking #6 GoSox05)

 

Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, ultimately causing their deaths in the waking world as well. However, whenever he is put into the real world, he has normal human vulnerability. He was created by Wes Craven, and had been consistently portrayed by Robert Englund since his first appearance. In the 2010 remake, however, Freddy is portrayed by Academy Award-nominee Jackie Earle Haley.

 

Freddy is a vengeful spirit who attacks his victims from within their dreams. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, red and dark green striped sweater, brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed brown leather glove on his right hand. Wizard magazine rated him the 14th greatest villain, the British television channel Sky2 listed him 8th, and the American Film Institute ranked him 40th on its "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains" list.

 

Appearances

 

Freddy is a child killer in a Nightmare on Elm Street, which revealed that he was set on fire, resulting in his infamous burns. The character was brought back in Wes Craven's New Nightmare by Wes Craven, who had not worked on the film series since the third film. The silver screen is not the only place Krueger has appeared; there are literary sources that have expanded the universe of Freddy, as well as adapted the films and adjusted various aspects of Freddy's backstory. The character has also hosted his own television show, Freddy's Nightmares, which was an anthology series similar to The Twilight Zone. Freddy also made several guest appearances on the syndicated puppet show DC Follies in 1988. In 2003, Freddy battled fellow horror icon Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th film series in the theatrical release Freddy vs. Jason, a film which officially resurrected both characters from their respective deaths and subsequently being sent to Hell in their respective 'last films'. The ending of the film is left ambiguous as to whether or not Freddy is actually dead, for despite being decapitated, he winks at the viewers. (A sequel featuring Ash from The Evil Dead franchise was planned, but never materialized on-screen. It was later turned into comic book form in Dynamite Entertainment's Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash).

 

Films

 

Freddy's first appearance was in A Nightmare on Elm Street. The story focused on Freddy trying to kill Nancy Thompson and her friends in their dreams, successfully killing all but Nancy. Krueger’s back-story is revealed by Nancy’s mother, who explains he was a child murderer whom the parents of Springwood killed after Krueger was acquitted of police charges on a technicality (he was discovered torturing a child by a police officer who entered his house after hearing the child's screams, but since the officer didn't have a valid warrant to enter the house all evidence was inadmissible in court). Nancy defeats Krueger by pulling him from the dream world into the real world, and setting up a series of booby traps, finally stripping him of his powers when she stops being afraid of him.

 

Krueger returned in the sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge terrorizing the Walsh family, who had moved into Nancy’s old home. Krueger possesses the body of Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton), using his body to kill through his dreams. Jesse is saved by his girlfriend Lisa (Kim Myers), who helps Jesse fight Krueger's spirit.

 

Wes Craven returned to give Krueger life for a third time in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. In the second sequel, Krueger is systematically killing the last of the Elm Street children. The few remaining children have been placed in the Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital, for attempted suicide. Nancy Thompson arrives at Westin Hills as a new intern, and realizes the children are being killed by Krueger. With the help of Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson), Nancy helps Kristen (Patricia Arquette), Joey (Rodney Eastman), Taryn (Jennifer Rubin), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), and Will find their dream powers, so they can kill Krueger once and for all. Neil meets the spirit of Krueger’s mother, Amanda Krueger (Nan Martin), who instructs him to bury Krueger’s remains in hallowed ground in order to stop him for good; however, he is unaware of her connection to Freddy until the end of the film. Neil completes his task, but not before Freddy kills Nancy.

 

The character’s fourth appearance in film came with A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. This time, Kristen (Tuesday Knight) unwittingly releases Krueger, who immediately kills Kincaid and Joey. Before Kristen is killed she transfers her dream power to pull others into her dreams to her friend Alice (Lisa Wilcox), who begins inadvertently providing victims for Krueger. Alice, who has taken on the traits of the friends who were murdered, confronts Krueger and uses her power as the Dream Master to release all the souls Krueger has taken; they subsequently rip themselves from Krueger’s body, killing him in the process.

 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child picks up shortly after the events of The Dream Master. It involves Krueger using Alice’s unborn child, Jacob (Whitby Hertford), to resurrect himself and find new victims, as Jacob has the same power as his mother. The spirit of Amanda Krueger (Beatrice Boepple) returns, revealing that Krueger was conceived when she, a nun working in a mental asylum, was accidentally locked in a room and raped hundreds of times. Alice is able to convince Jacob to use the powers he was given by Krueger against him, which gives Amanda Krueger the chance to subdue Krueger long enough for Alice and Jacob to escape the dream world.

 

Freddy made his sixth appearance in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. The film reveals that Krueger has a daughter, Kathryn (Cassandra Rachel Friel), who was taken away from him during his trial. Krueger sends the sole surviving teenager of Springwood to bring his daughter back to him. Krueger needs Kathryn (now named Maggie Burroughs) (Lisa Zane), who is unaware that she is his daughter, so that he can leave Springwood and create new "Elm Streets" to begin his killing spree again. Maggie, utilizing new dream techniques, uncovers Krueger’s past—child abuse, cruelty to animals, murdering his own wife, the moment the Dream Demons prior to his death at the hands of the Springwood parents. She uses a pipe bomb, embedded in his chest, to blow him up, leaving the Dream Demons unable to resurrect him in reality.

 

Freddy's clawed hand appears at the end of the film Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, the ninth installment of the Friday the 13th film series. His hand is seen bursting from the ground to drag Jason Voorhees' iconic hockey mask into Hell. This would kill his victims.

 

Wes Craven's New Nightmare focuses on a real life setting, where Craven, Langenkamp, and Englund all play themselves, and where the character of Freddy Krueger is an evil entity that has been trapped in the realm of fiction by all the Nightmare films. When the films are stopped, the entity, which enjoys the form of Freddy Krueger, tries to escape into the real world. The only person in its way is Heather Langenkamp, whom the entity sees as "Nancy", the first person who defeated him. Langenkamp pursues "Freddy", who has kidnapped her son (Miko Hughes), into the dream world. There, she and her son trap Freddy in a furnace where he is finally destroyed.

 

"Jackie is not big, and I think that Jackie’s size is gonna really work [...] One of the metaphors [...] I’ve used for Freddy is a little rabid dog that just bites your ankle and holds on. [...] And I think Jackie brings that, with his own physicality, to the role, without ever having to work it a little bit. [...] He brings that naturally with who he is, which I think is really part of the way I see it."

— Robert Englund on Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger.

 

Freddy's next appearance was in Freddy vs. Jason in which Freddy battles Friday the 13th's villain Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger), an undead mass murderer who uses a hockey mask to hide his facial deformities. In the film, Krueger has grown weak, as people in Springwood have suppressed their fear of him. Impersonating Pamela Voorhees, the mother of Jason Voorhees, Krueger resurrects Jason and sends him to Springwood to cause panic and fear. Jason accomplishes this, but refuses to stop killing. A battle ensues in both the dream-world and Crystal Lake. The winner is left ambiguous, as Jason surfaces from the lake holding Krueger's severed head, which winks and laughs.¨

 

Freddy appears in a 2010 remake of the original film, with Jackie Earle Haley taking over the role in Robert Englund's stead. In this film instead of a power plant worker and a child murderer, Krueger was the groundskeeper at Badham Preschool and a child molester (a recycled idea that was abandoned by director Craven himself while making the 1984 original). In this version, he has a more personal connection with the protagonist Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara); in life, he molested her and some of her friends, and thought of her as his "favorite". Though Freddy initially appears to have been wrongly accused, the parents, after observing slashes on their skin and clothes consistent with his trademark glove, burn him to death rather than turn him into the police to spare their children the trauma of having to testify against him in open court. During the climax, Nancy pulls Freddy into reality and apparently kills him by severing his gloved-hand and slashing his throat with a broken paper cutter blade, only to have him reappear and drag her mother into the mirror to some unseen horror.

 

Television

 

Robert Englund continued his role as Freddy Krueger on October 9, 1988 in the television anthology series entitled Freddy's Nightmares. The show was hosted by Freddy, who did not take direct part in most of the episodes, but he did show up occasionally to influence the plot of particular episodes. Further, a consistent theme in each episode was characters having disturbing dreams. The series ran for two seasons, 44 episodes, ending March 10, 1990. Although most of the episodes did not feature Freddy taking a major role in the plot, the pilot episode "No More Mr. Nice Guy" depicts the events of Krueger's trial, and his subsequent death at the hands of the parents of Elm Street after his acquittal. In "No More Mr. Nice Guy", Freddy's acquittal is based on the arresting officer, Lt. Tim Blocker, not reading him his Miranda rights, which is different from the original Nightmare that stated he was acquitted because someone forgot to sign a search warrant in the right place. The episode also reveals that Krueger used an ice cream van to lure children close enough so that he could kidnap and kill them. After the town's parents burn Freddy to death he returns to haunt Blocker in his dreams. Freddy gets his revenge when Blocker is put to sleep at the dentist's office, and Freddy shows up and kills him. The episode "Sister's Keeper" was a "sequel" to this episode, even though it was the seventh episode of the series. The episode follows Krueger as he terrorizes the Blocker twins, the identical twin daughters of Lt. Tim Blocker, and frames one sister for the other's murder. Season two's "It's My Party And You'll Die If I Want You To" featured Freddy attacking a high school prom date who stood him up twenty years earlier. He got his revenge with his desire being fulfilled in the process.

 

Video games

 

Freddy Krueger's first video game appearance was in the Nintendo's 1989 game A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger later appeared as an extra downloadable character for Mortal Kombat in 2011. His design is not based on either actors (Jackie Earle Haley or Robert Englund); according to creator Ed Boon, "When I look at him, I think of the original Freddy: he’s got the striped sweater and is instantly recognizable. He’s Freddy in general, we don’t really identify him as one version or another". Freddy is featured with two claws.

 

Characterization

 

In New Nightmare, Freddy was depicted closer to how Wes Craven had originally intended, less comical and with more of an "organic" style to his claw.

 

Wes Craven says his inspiration for the basis of Krueger's power stemmed from several stories in the Los Angeles Times about a series of mysterious deaths: All the victims had reported recurring nightmares beforehand about a man named Mr. K., thus the name Fred Krueger, and died in their sleep. Additionally, Craven's original script detailed Krueger as a child molester, which Craven said was the "worst thing" he could think of (this idea was later recycled for the character's background in the 2010 remake). The decision was made to instead make Krueger a child murderer in order to avoid being accused of exploiting the spate of highly publicized child molestation cases in California around the time A Nightmare on Elm Street went into production. Craven's inspirations for the character included a bully from his school during his youth, a homeless man who had frightened him when he was eleven, and the 1970s pop song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright. In an interview, he says that (after hearing some noise): "When I looked down there was a man very much like Freddy walking along the sidewalk. He must have sensed that someone was looking at him and stopped and looked right into my face. He scared the living daylights out of me, so I jumped back into the shadows. I waited and waited to hear him walk away. Finally I thought he must have gone, so I stepped back to the window. The guy was not only still looking at me but he thrust his head forward as if to say, 'Yes, I'm still looking at you.' The man walked towards the apartment building's entrance. I ran through the apartment to our front door as he was walking into our building on the lower floor. I heard him starting up the stairs. My brother, who is ten years older than me, got a baseball bat and went out to the corridor but he was gone."

 

In Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Freddy was more a symbol of something more powerful and ancient, and was given more stature and muscles. Unlike the six movies before it, New Nightmare shows Freddy as closer to what Wes Craven originally intended, toning down his comedic side while strengthening the more menacing aspects of his character.

 

Throughout the series, Freddy's potential victims often experience dreams of young children, jumping rope and chanting a rhyme to the tune of "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" with the lyrics changed to "One, Two, Freddy's coming for you", often as an omen to Freddy's presence or a precursor to his attacks.

 

Appearance

 

Freddy Krueger's physical appearance has remained largely consistent throughout the film series, although minor changes were made in subsequent films. He wears a striped red and green sweater (with solid red sleeves in the original film, and red-and-green striped sleeves from the second film onwards), a dark brown fedora, his bladed glove (see below), loose brown trousers (blue jeans in the original film), and worn working boots, keeping with his blue collar background. His skin is scarred and burned as a result of being burned alive by the parents of Springwood, and he has no hair at all on his head as it was presumably all burned off; in the original film, only Freddy's face was burned, while they have spread to the rest of his body from the second film onwards. Additionally, his teeth are in rather poor shape; in the first three films, they are simply filthy and brown, but from the fourth film onwards, he is missing a lot of them, and in Freddy vs Jason his teeth are razor sharp to make him have a more monster-like appearance. His blood is occasionally a dark, oily color, or greenish in hue when he is in the Dreamworld. In the original film, Freddy remains in the shadows and under lower light much longer than he does in the later pictures. In the second film, there are some scenes where Freddy is shown without his glove, and instead with the blades protruding from the tips of his fingers. As the films began to emphasize the comedic, wise cracking aspect of the character, he began to don various costumes and take on other forms, such as dressing as a waiter or wearing a Superman inspired version of his sweater with a cape (The Dream Child), appearing as a video game sprite (Freddy's Dead), a giant snake like creature (Dream Warriors), and a pot smoking caterpillar (Freddy vs. Jason).

 

In New Nightmare, Freddy's appearance is updated considerably, giving him a green fedora that matched his sweater stripes, skintight leather pants, knee-high black boots, a turtleneck version of his trademark sweater, a dark blue trench coat, and a fifth claw on his glove, which also has a far more organic appearance (see above). Freddy also has fewer burns on his face, though these are more severe, with his muscle tissue exposed in numerous places.

 

In the remake, Freddy retains his iconic attire, but his burns are even more disfiguring than his 1984 counterpart, with misshapen facial features and portions of his face missing, including a sizable portion of flesh on his left cheek. Compared to his other incarnations, this Freddy's injuries are more like those of an actual burn victim.

 

Glove

 

Wes Craven claims that part of the inspiration for Freddy's infamous glove was from his cat, as he watched it claw the side of his couch one night.

 

In an interview he said, "Part of it was an objective goal to make the character memorable, since it seems that every character that has been successful has had some kind of unique weapon, whether it be a chain saw or a machete, etc. I was also looking for a primal fear which is embedded in the subconscious of people of all cultures. One of those is the fear of teeth being broken, which I used in my first film. Another is the claw of an animal, like a saber-toothed tiger reaching with its tremendous hooks. I transposed this into a human hand. The original script had the blades being fishing knives."

 

When Jim Doyle, the creator of Freddy's claw, asked Craven what he wanted, Craven responded, "It's kind of like really long fingernails, I want the glove to look like something that someone could make who has the skills of a boilermaker." Doyle explained, "Then we hunted around for knives. We picked out this bizarre-looking steak knife, we thought that this looked really cool, we thought it would look even cooler if we turned it over and used it upside down, we had to remove the back edge and put another edge on it, because we were actually using the knife upside down." Later Doyle had three duplicates of the glove made, two of which were used as stunt gloves in long shots.

 

For New Nightmare, Lou Carlucci, the effects coordinator, remodeled Freddy's glove for a more "organic look." He says, "I did the original glove on the first Nightmare and we deliberately made that rough and primitive looking, like something that would be constructed in somebody's home workshop. Since this is supposed to be a new look for Freddy, Wes and everybody involved decided that the glove should be different. This hand has more muscle and bone texture to it, the blades are shinier and in one case, are retractable. Everything about this glove has a much cleaner look to it, it's more a natural part of his hand than a glove." The new glove has five claws. In the 2010 remake, the glove maintains its original look, but is metal brown and has four finger bars.

 

Freddy's glove has appeared in the 1987 horror-comedy Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn above the door on the inside of a toolshed. This was Sam Raimi's response to Wes Craven showing footage of The Evil Dead in A Nightmare on Elm Street, which in turn was a response to Sam Raimi putting a poster of Craven's 1977 film The Hills Have Eyes in The Evil Dead. The glove also appears in the 1998 horror-comedy Bride of Chucky in an evidence locker room that also contains the remains of the film's villain Chucky, the chainsaw of Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the masks of Michael Myers from Halloween and Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th.

 

At the end of the movie Jason Goes To Hell, the title character's mask is dragged under the earth by Freddy's gloved hand, thus setting up Freddy vs. Jason, played by Kane Hodder.

 

Cultural references

 

References to Freddy have occurred on three of The Simpsons' non-canon Treehouse of Horror episodes. These include "Treehouse of Horror VI": In a Nightmare on Elm Street parody, Groundskeeper Willie has become Krueger; "Treehouse of Horror IX": during the couch gag, Freddy and Jason sit on the couch wondering where the family is (Robert Englund supplying the voice), and "Treehouse of Horror V": after Homer makes a pact with Moe (now a ghost) he attempts to kill the family and Marge locks him in a pantry where an un-happy Moe and his ghoul friends come in and attack him, among the group was Freddy, Jason and Pinhead. Freddy's glove has also been featured in the episode, Cape Feare, in which a paranoid Bart is frightened by Ned Flanders as he leaps out at him brandishing his new "finger razors" for trimming his hedge.

 

In The Critic, Jay's girlfriend Alice is taking her daughter Penny to "Elm Street Preschool" (A moved tree branch revealed it was actually "A Nightmare on Elm Street Preschool") After saying she did not want to nap the director turns into Freddy Krueger and says that she will nap or be swallowed by the worm from hell. The worm then shows up, after leaving he says "It was the worm from hell wasn't it. He's not that bad once you get to know him."

 

Other references include an episode of Tiny Toons Adventures, Plucky Duck is seen watching a horror movie containing the villain "Eddie Cougar". Cougar then recites the line "how sweet, fresh meat" as heard in The Dream Master. In the end of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Freddy sets up Freddy vs. Jason (released a decade later) by grabbing Jason's mask and dragging it underground to hell laughing manically, where Freddy currently is (portrayed by Kane Hodder, who had also portrayed Jason in the film). In the South Park episode "Imaginationland Episode II", he is seen with a group of evil imaginary characters, with each one claiming to be the most evil imaginary character of them all. Also, in the South Park episode "Insheeption", Freddy, who is shown as now being retired and living with a wife and kids in a log cabin deep in the woods, is persuaded to infiltrate Mr. Mackey's dream in order to rescue Stan, Randy, and several other people who are trapped inside the dream from a sinister man in an owl costume who molested Mackey as a child. In episode 70 of Robot Chicken, Freddy (voiced by Seth Green) appears alongside Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Ghostface, Pinhead, and Leatherface in the Big Brother show, where his sweater is shrunk by Ghostface, and he is later stabbed by Michael, which doesn't damage him but annoys him. In the Family Guy episode "The Splendid Source", Quagmire gives Freddy a joke to tell Peter in his dreams. Peter wakes up and paraphrases the line If you die in your dreams, you die for real from the 2010 remake. In another Robot Chicken episode, it is shown that Freddy made the claw glove to scratch an itchy sweater his daughter bought for him. His daughter later gives him a fedora, prompting her father to destroy the school bazaar where she got them. The adults mistake him as a child abuser, and attack him in an angry mob fashion. He is then consoled by spirits saying he can get out of it if he becomes a killer. He says yes but soon realizes he isn't able to take the sweater off. He sighs and states "well, at least I have my complexion" before a fire engulfs him and the school (a clear spoof of his origin). In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Will scares Carlton dressed up as Freddy while in the back seat of a car, a game show from CBS in 2005 that ended up never airing called A Nightmare on Elm Street: Real Nightmares. As Robert Englund hosts, he makes contestants come face to face with their nightmares in an attempt to help them overcome their fears.

 

In the Supernatural episode "Dream a Little Dream of Me", a killer is using dream root to invade people's dreams and kill them. Sam states "You take enough of it (dream root), with enough practice, you can become a regular Freddy Krueger".

 

A comic magazine story featuring Mickey Mouse written by Carol Mcreal centers around one of Mickey's foes, who breaks into his dreams as a figure called "Teddy Sluger". "Teddy Sluger" closely resembles Freddy, but has claws on both hands.

 

Krueger is also a musical topic. Eminem has mentioned Freddy numerous times in many of his songs such as, "Insane", "Underground" in which he says "Walked up Elm Street with a wiffle bat drew, fought Freddy Krueger and Edward Scissorhands too". For example, In 1985, "Freddy Krueger" by Stormtroopers of Death, 1988, "Freddy Krueger" on the album Kneipenterroristen by Böhse Onkelz, 1988, "Are You Ready for Freddy" by The Fat Boys (the video actually features Robert Englund dressed up like Freddy chasing the band around in his house), "Nightmare on My Street" by D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and an entire 1987 album, Freddy's Greatest Hits, by The Elm Street Group, where Freddy (voiced by Robert Englund) sings along on original songs like "Don't Sleep", "Obsession", "Dance Or Else" and "Down In The Boiler Room" as well as cover songs "Do The Freddy", "All I Have To Do Is Dream", "In The Midnight Hour" and "Wooly Bully".

 

Freddy Krueger is also mentioned in a loose cameo in "Weird Al" Yankovich's parody, "The Night Santa went Crazy," which mentions that Santa killed Dasher the Reindeer by cutting him up "just like Freddy Krueger." The music video sports a shot of santa armed with Freddy's glove.

 

In an episode of Everybody Hates Chris, Malvo is dressed as Freddy Krueger in Chris' dream after threatening Chris.

 

[knightni]

14. Sauron (The Lord Of The Rings)

 

 

(4 of 16 lists - 75 points - highest ranking #3 balta1701)

 

Sauron (pronounced /ˈsaʊrɒn/) is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

 

In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. In Tolkien's The Silmarillion (published posthumously by Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien), he is also revealed to have been the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron."

 

Biography[edit] Before Creation of the WorldThe cosmological myth prefixed to The Silmarillion explains how the supreme being Eru initiated his creation by bringing into being innumerable spirits, "the offspring of his thought," who were with him before anything else had been made. The being later known as Sauron thus originated as an "immortal (angelic) spirit." In his origin, Sauron therefore perceived the Creator directly. As Tolkien noted: "Sauron could not, of course, be a 'sincere' atheist. Though one of the minor spirits created before the world, he knew Eru, according to his measure."

 

In the terminology of Tolkien's invented language of Quenya, these angelic spirits were called Ainur (sg. Ainu). Those who entered the physical world were called Valar (sg. Vala), especially the most powerful ones. The lesser beings of the same race, of whom Sauron was one, were called Maiar (sg. Maia). In Tolkien's letters, the author noted that Sauron "was of course a 'divine' person (in the terms of this mythology; a lesser member of the race of Valar)". Though less mighty than the chief Valar, he was more powerful than many of his fellow Maiar; Tolkien noted that he was of a "far higher order" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as the Wizards Gandalf and Saruman. As created by Eru, the Ainur were all good and uncorrupt, as Elrond stated in The Lord of the Rings: "Nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so."

 

Rebellion originated with the Vala Melkor (Morgoth). According to a story meant as a parable of events beyond Elvish comprehension, Eru let his spirit-children perform a great Music, the Music of the Ainur (Ainulindalë), developing a theme revealed by Eru himself. For a while the cosmic choir made wondrous music, but then Melkor tried to increase his own glory by weaving into his song thoughts and ideas that were not in accordance with the original theme. "Straightway discord arose around him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent ... but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first."

 

The discord Melkor created would have dire consequences, as this singing was a kind of template for the world: "The evils of the world were not at first in the great Theme, but entered with the discords of Melkor." However, "Sauron was not a beginner of discord; and he probably knew more of the Music than did Melkor, whose mind had always been filled with his own plans and devices." Apparently Sauron was not even one of the spirits that immediately began to attune their music to that of Melkor, since it is elsewhere noted that his fall occurred later (see below).

 

The cosmic Music now represented the conflict between good and evil. Finally, Eru abruptly brought the Song of Creation to an end. To show the spirits, faithful or otherwise, what they had done, Eru gave independent being to the now-marred Music. This resulted in the manifestation of the material World, Eä, where the drama of good and evil would play out and be resolved. Eru allowed the spirits who so wished to enter into the new world of Eä and follow its history from inside. Many did so, Sauron among them. By granting free will to enter into Eä, Eru allowed great evil, as well as great good.

 

First Age

 

Entering Eä at the beginning of time, the Valar and Maiar tried to build and organise the world according to the will of Eru. Each of the Maia spirits was associated with one of the powerful Valar whom they served; for example, Ossë and Uinen, who were spirits of the sea, served Ulmo, the lord of the oceans. Sauron was prominent among the Maiar who served Aulë the Smith, the great craftsman of the Valar. As a result, Sauron came to possess great knowledge of the physical substances of the world, forging, and all manner of craftsmanship — emerging as "a great craftsman of the household of Aulë". Sauron would always retain the "scientific" knowledge he derived from the great Vala of Craft: "In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people." Sauron's original name was Mairon (the Admirable), but this name was changed to Sauron after he joined Melkor. However, during the First Age Sauron continued to call himself Mairon.

 

Sauron's Fall

 

Melkor opposed the other Valar, who remained faithful to Eru and tried to carry out the Creator's designs. Around this time, Sauron fell victim to Melkor's corrupting influence: "In the beginning of Arda Melkor seduced him to his allegiance."

 

As for Sauron's motives, Tolkien noted that "it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall ...) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction." Thus "it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him." This shows one of the great paradoxes of Sauron: he wanted order and industry, but followed Melkor's destructive and chaotic path to obtain it.

 

For a while, Sauron apparently kept up the pretence that he was a faithful servant of the Valar, all the while feeding Melkor information about their doings. Thus, when the Valar made Almaren as their first physical abode in the world, "Melkor knew of all that was done; for even then he had secret friends and spies among the Maiar whom he had converted to his cause, and of these the chief, as after became known, was Sauron."

 

Melkor soon destroyed Almaren, and the Valar established a new abode in the Uttermost West: the Blessed Realm of Valinor. They still did not perceive Sauron's treachery, for he too became "a being of Valinor".

 

At some point, Sauron left the Blessed Realm and went to Middle-earth. In one text, Tolkien wrote of Sauron that "in Valinor he had dwelt among the people of the gods, but there Morgoth had drawn him to evil and to his service". Sauron deserted his service to the Valar and openly joined their great enemy: "Because of his admiration of Strength he had become a follower of Morgoth and fell with him down into the depths of evil."

 

The Lieutenant of Melkor

 

After joining his new master in Middle-earth, Sauron proved to be a devoted and capable servant: "While Morgoth still stood, Sauron did not seek his own supremacy, but worked and schemed for another, desiring the triumph of Melkor, whom in the beginning he had adored. He thus was often able to achieve things, first conceived by Melkor, which his master did not or could not complete in the furious haste of his malice." "In all the deeds of Melkor the Morgoth upon Arda, in his vast works and in the deceits of his cunning, Sauron had a part."

 

In chapter 3 of The Silmarillion, Tolkien writes that by the time the Elves awoke in the world, Sauron had become Melkor's lieutenant and was given command over the newly-built stronghold of Angband. To protect the Elves, the Valar made war on Melkor and captured him, but could not find Sauron.

 

Thus, "when Melkor was made captive, Sauron escaped and lay hid in Middle-earth; and it can in this way be understood how the breeding of the Orcs (no doubt already begun) went on with increasing speed." In the Blessed Realm, Melkor feigned reform, but eventually escaped back to Middle-earth, holding the Silmarils of Fëanor. By then, Sauron had "secretly repaired Angband for the help of his Master when he returned; and there the dark places underground were already manned with hosts of the Orcs before Melkor came back at last, as Morgoth the Black Enemy."

 

Shortly after the return of Morgoth, the Noldorin Elves also left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West, against the counsel of the Valar, to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank, such as Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron was at that time a master of illusions and shapeshifting; werewolves and vampires were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Father of Werewolves, and his vampire herald Thuringwethil.

 

When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly-created Men, Sauron directed the war against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish island of Tol Sirion, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.

 

Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king of Nargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, came there with Beren. He battled Sauron and was defeated (in part because of the curse of Fëanor). Later, he died fighting a wolf in Sauron's dungeons to save Beren.

 

Soon afterwards Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound arrived, hoping to rescue Beren. Aware of a prophecy to the effect that Huan would be killed by the greatest wolf ever, Sauron himself assumed a monstrous wolf-like form and attacked him. But the prophecy actually applied to the still-unborn Carcharoth, and Sauron could not prevail against Huan.

 

Eventually, Huan had Sauron by the throat. Lúthien gave Sauron two choices: either surrender to her the magical control he had established over Tol-in-Gaurhoth, or have his body destroyed so that his naked ghost would have to endure the scorn of Morgoth. Sauron yielded, and Huan let him go. He fled in the form of a huge vampiric bat, and Lúthien rescued Beren from the dungeons. Afterward Sauron spent some time as a vampire in the woods of Taur-nu-Fuin.

 

Following the voyage of Eärendil to the Blessed Realm, the Valar finally moved against Morgoth. In the resulting War of Wrath, the Dark Lord was defeated and cast into the Outer Void beyond the world. But "Sauron fled from the Great Battle and escaped."

 

Chastened, Sauron assumed his most beautiful form and approached Eönwë, emissary of the Valar, who nevertheless could not pardon a Maia like himself. Through Eönwë, Manwë as Lord of the Valar "commanded Sauron to come before him for judgement, but [he] had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation." Unwilling to bow before the Valar, Sauron escaped and hid in Middle-earth.

 

Second Age

 

About 500 years into the Second Age, Sauron reappeared. "Bereft of his lord...[he] fell into the folly of imitating him." "Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganizing and rehabilitation of Middle-earth, 'neglected by the gods,' he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power," eventually rising to become "master and god of Men."

 

As for Sauron's "fair motives", Tolkien emphasized that at this time he "was not indeed wholly evil, not unless all 'reformers' who want to hurry up with 'reconstruction' and 'reorganization' are wholly evil, even before pride and the lust to exert their will eat them up".

 

"[T]hough the only real good in, or rational motive for, all this ordering and planning and organization was the good of all inhabitants of Arda (even admitting Sauron's right to be their supreme lord), his 'plans', the idea coming from his own isolated mind, became the sole object of his will, and an end, the End, in itself. ... [H]is capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for 'order' had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his 'subjects'."

 

The Rings of Power

 

As part of a plan to seduce the Elves into his service, Sauron assumed a beautiful appearance as Annatar, "Lord of Gifts," befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, and counselled them in arts and magic. Sauron hinted that he was an emissary of the Valar, specifically of Aulë, whom the Noldor in Exile held in high regard. Some of the Elves distrusted him, especially the Lady Galadriel and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor. The Elves in Eregion, however, did not heed their warnings.

 

With Sauron's assistance, the Elven-smiths forged the Rings of Power, which conferred great power upon their bearers. He then secretly forged the One Ring in the volcanic Mount Doom in Mordor. This "One Ring to rule them all" had the power to dominate the other Rings and enslave their wearers to Sauron's will. The Rings of Power were extremely potent, however; to create an instrument that could dominate even them, Sauron was forced to transfer a great part of his native power into it. Yet "while he wore it, his power on earth was actually enhanced".

 

Sauron's plan would have succeeded had the Elves not detected his influence when he put on the One Ring. It was then the Elves saw him for who he really was, removed their Rings, and did not use them for as long as Sauron retained the One Ring. Enraged, Sauron initiated a great war and conquered much of the land west of Anduin. This began the Dark Years. He overran Eregion, killed Celebrimbor, leader of the Elven-smiths, and seized the Seven and the Nine Rings of Power that had been previously forged with his assistance. The Three Rings, however, had been forged by Celebrimbor himself without Sauron's help. These rings were saved and remained in the hands of the Elves, specifically Gil-galad, Círdan, and Galadriel.

 

Sauron besieged Imladris, battled Moria and Lothlórien, and pushed further into Gil-galad's realm. The Elves fought back, however, and with the aid of a powerful army from Númenor, they destroyed Sauron's army and drove the remnant back to Mordor. The Númenóreans were descended from the Three Houses of the Edain who helped the Elves in their war against Morgoth. They lived on the island of Númenor in the seas between Middle-earth and Valinor, a reward for their service from the Valar, and theirs was the most powerful kingdom of Men at this time.

 

Resurgence from Mordor

 

From this time on, Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. He completed the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr, already centuries in the building, and distributed the remaining rings of the Seven and the Nine to lords of Dwarves and Men. Dwarves proved too resilient to bend to his will, but the Men were enslaved by Sauron as the Nazgûl, his most feared servants. Sauron regained control over most of the creatures that had served Morgoth in the First Age (such as Orcs and Trolls). Sauron also gained power over most of the Men in the East and the South, becoming their god-king.

 

The second Dark Lord was now at the height of his power, having become "almost supreme in Middle-earth. … He rules a growing empire from the great dark tower of Barad-dûr in Mordor, near to the Mountain of fire, wielding the One Ring."[29] Toward the end of the Second Age, Sauron assumed the titles of Lord of the Earth and King of Men.

 

Destruction of Númenor

 

Toward the end of the Second Age, Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful of the Númenórean kings, came to Middle-earth with a large army. Sauron, realizing he could not defeat the Númenóreans with military strength, surrendered. Clad in a beautiful incarnation, he came to Ar-Pharazôn's camp to swear allegiance to the king, and allowed himself to be taken as a prisoner to Númenor.

 

This was part of his plan to corrupt Númenórean civilization from inside. "Sauron's personal 'surrender' was voluntary and cunning: he got free transport to Númenor." When Ar-Pharazôn in his arrogance took Sauron hostage, he failed to realise with whom he was dealing: Sauron "was of course a 'divine' person ... and thus far too powerful to be controlled in this way. He steadily got Arpharazôn's [sic] mind under his own control, and in the event corrupted many of the Númenóreans."

 

The Akallabêth, the account of the history of Númenor, does not specifically mention the Ring. In his letters, however, Tolkien noted that Sauron "naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans. " Through the power of the Ring, Sauron soon became an advisor of the king, and he used his influence to undermine the religion of Númenor. He represented Eru as an invention of the Valar that they used to justify their decrees, and substituted the worship of Melkor, with himself as high priest, for that of Eru. The worship of Melkor, with human sacrifice, became mandatory in Númenor.

 

But there was seen the effect of Melkor upon Sauron: he spoke of Melkor in Melkor's own terms, as a god, or even as God. This may have been the residue of a state which was in a sense a shadow of good: the ability once in Sauron at least to admire or admit the superiority of a being other than himself. ... But it may be doubted whether even such a shadow of good was still sincerely operative in Sauron by that time. His cunning motive is probably best expressed thus. To wean one of the God-fearing from their allegiance it is best to propound another unseen object of allegiance and another hope of benefits; propound to him a Lord who will sanction what he desires and not forbid it. Sauron, apparently a defeated rival for world-power, now a mere hostage, can hardly propound himself; but as the former servant and disciple of Melkor, the worship of Melkor will raise him from hostage to high priest.

 

In the end, Sauron prevailed upon Ar-Pharazôn, fearful of his approaching death, to sail with a great armada upon Aman in order to seize immortality by force from the Valar. Sauron expected the Valar to respond by destroying Ar-Pharazôn and his naval might, thus removing Sauron's greatest obstacle to domination of Middle-earth. But the Valar had no direct dominion over the Children of Eru, so in the face of this challenge they laid down their guardianship of the world and appealed to Eru for a solution.

 

Eru's divine intervention did indeed destroy the king and his armada; but Númenor itself was swallowed by the sea, and the Blessed Realm was removed from the physical world. Sauron had not foreseen this, and his body was destroyed in the destruction. Having expended much energy in the corruption of Númenor, he was diminished,[33] and lost forever the ability to take a fair form. Yet his spirit rose out of the abyss, and he was able to carry with him the one thing that mattered most. Wrote Tolkien, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended."

 

In the essay "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", Tolkien wrote that Sauron "took up" the Ring after returning to Middle-earth.

 

War against the Last Alliance

 

The few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the Downfall. With Elendil as their leader, they escaped the cataclysm and founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor among the Númenórean colonists and the natives of north-western Middle-earth. At first they believed that Sauron had perished in the Downfall, but it soon became evident that the Dark Lord had returned to Mordor.

 

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien wrote that Elendil and his sons forged the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Gil-galad to fight Sauron. The Alliance won a great victory on the plain of Dagorlad and invaded Mordor, laying siege to Barad-dûr for seven years. Finally, Sauron was forced to emerge from his tower and fight against the Last Alliance himself.

 

In the battle on the slopes of Mount Doom, Sauron killed both Gil-galad and Elendil, though he himself was destroyed in the process. When Elendil fell, his sword, Narsil, broke beneath him. Taking up the hilt-shard of Narsil, Elendil's surviving son, Isildur, cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. "Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste places."

 

Elrond and Círdan, Gil-galad's lieutenants, urged Isildur to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom, but he refused and kept it for his own: "This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I that dealt the Enemy his death-blow?"

 

A few years after the battle, Isildur's army, marching to Rivendell, was ambushed and overwhelmed by a band of Orcs in what became known as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Isildur put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across Anduin, but the Ring — which had a will of its own and a desire to return to Sauron — slipped from his finger. He was spotted and killed by Orc archers. The Ring would remain lost beneath the water for thousands of years, with many believing there was no way Sauron could return or so long as the Ring was lost Middle Earth was safe.

 

Third Age

 

The traumatic loss of the Ring greatly weakened Sauron; he spent the first thousand years of the Third Age as a shapeless, dormant evil.

 

The Necromancer of Dol Guldur

 

Around the year 1050, a shadow of fear fell on the forest later called Mirkwood. As would later become known, this was the first intimation of Sauron manifesting himself yet again, but the Elves did not recognise him at first. As mentioned in The Hobbit, he was known as the Necromancer. He established a stronghold called Dol Guldur, "Hill of Sorcery", in the southern part of the forest.

 

The Valar would not act to defeat Sauron in a massive intervention comparable to the War of Wrath that overthrew Morgoth, as they feared it could end in widespread destruction; rather, they sent five Maiar in the form of Wizards, the most prominent being Gandalf and Saruman.

 

Around the year 1100, "the Wise" (the Wizards and the chief Elves) became aware that an evil power had made a stronghold at Dol Guldur. Initially it was assumed that this was one of the Nazgûl rather than Sauron himself. About the year 1300, the Nazgûl did indeed reappear, and their influence would have serious consequences for the nations established by the Númenórean exiles.

 

Over the ensuing centuries, the Witch-king of Angmar (the chief Nazgûl, acting on Sauron's behalf) repeatedly attacked the northern realm of Arnor, first in 1409 and finally overrunning the realm in 1974. Six years later, the Witch-king entered Mordor and gathered the Nazgûl there. In 2000, the Nazgûl issued from Mordor and took the city of Minas Ithil (later known as Minas Morgul) in one of the mountain-passes. Thereby they also captured an object that would prove most valuable to Sauron: a palantír, one of the seven seeing stones that Elendil's people had brought with them from Númenor at the eve of the Downfall.

 

As the power of Dol Guldur grew, the Wise came to suspect that the controlling force behind the Witch-king and the other Nazgûl was indeed their original master, Sauron. In 2063, Gandalf went to Dol Guldur and made the first attempt to learn the truth, but Sauron retreated and hid in the East. It would be almost 400 years before he returned to his stronghold in Mirkwood, and his identity remained undetermined.

 

Sauron finally resurfaced with increased strength in 2460. About the same time, the long-lost Ruling Ring was finally recovered from the River Anduin, found by a hobbit named Déagol. His relative Sméagol killed him for the Ring, and was eventually corrupted into the creature Gollum. Banished by his family, he took the Ring, which he called his "Precious," and hid in the Misty Mountains.

 

In 2850, Gandalf made a second attempt to spy out Dol Guldur. Stealing into the stronghold, he was finally able to confirm the identity of its lord, later reporting to the White Council of Elves and Wizards that Sauron had returned. Saruman, hoping thereby to acquire the One Ring for himself, dissuaded the Council from acting against him.

 

Eventually, the Wizards and chief Elves combined to put forth their might, and drove Sauron out of Mirkwood in 2941. During the White Council's delay he had, however, prepared his next move, and was willing to abandon Dol Guldur.

 

Just before Sauron fled Dol Guldur, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, on an improbable adventure with a party of Dwarves, stumbled across the Ring deep within the Misty Mountains. After his quest was over, Bilbo brought the Ring back to Hobbiton in the Shire. Decades later, he passed it on to his heir, Frodo.

 

Sauron's power had now recovered to the point that he was able to extend his will over Middle-earth. The Eye of Sauron, as his attention and force of will was perceived, became a symbol of oppression and fear. Following his expulsion from Dol Guldur, he returned to Mordor in 2942, openly declared himself nine years later, and started raising Barad-dûr anew. In preparation for a final war against Men and Elves, he bred immense armies of Orcs, augmenting them with Men from the East and South to create the monstrous Uruk-hai.

 

The War of the Ring

 

The three volumes of The Lord of the Rings tell the story of Sauron's last attempt at achieving world dominion, as the Third Age reached its climax in the years 3018 and 3019.

 

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf deduced that the Ring of Power that Bilbo had found in Gollum's cave was indeed Sauron's lost Master-ring. He informed Frodo about the true nature of the heirloom Bilbo had left for him, and its terrible potential if Sauron should ever regain it: "The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring... So he is seeking it, seeking it, and all his thought is bent on it."[40]

 

Gandalf went for advice to Saruman, but discovered that he had been corrupted by his long studies of Sauron. Using the palantír in the tower of Orthanc, Saruman was now in communication with the Dark Lord and acted as his ally, though he also secretly hoped to gain the Ring for himself and use its power to supplant Sauron. Gandalf was held captive atop Orthanc for a time, but soon escaped with the help of one of the giant Eagles of Manwë.

 

Having captured and tortured Gollum, Sauron learned that the Ring had been found by a Hobbit named "Baggins." Sauron sent the Nazgûl to the Shire, Bilbo's home, but Bilbo had left years earlier. Frodo was likewise on his way out of the Shire (on Gandalf's advice). The Nazgûl pursued Frodo and his companions and nearly killed Frodo, but were defeated near Rivendell.

 

In Rivendell, Elrond convened a high council of the peoples of Middle-earth to decide how to handle the crisis. The council determined that the Ring must be destroyed where it was forged, since it was utterly impervious to any other flame than the volcanic fires at its place of making. Frodo and his friend Samwise Gamgee joined the Fellowship of the Ring, accepting the council's mission to cast it into the volcano.

 

In The Two Towers, Saruman used his own army on Sauron's behalf and invaded Rohan. Gandalf, Théoden King of Rohan and the Ents, led by Treebeard, finally defeated Saruman's forces. His stronghold at Isengard was overthrown and Saruman left trapped within the Tower of Orthanc. Thus, one of Sauron's most powerful allies was neutralized.

 

During Saruman's confrontation with Gandalf, the palantír of Orthanc fell into the hands of the Fellowship. Gandalf handed it over to Aragorn, a direct descendant of Isildur and Elendil and hence the rightful owner of the Stone. In The Return of the King, Aragorn used it to show himself to Sauron (who still controlled another Seeing Stone, the one captured from Minas Ithil centuries earlier). Aragorn was leading Sauron to think that he now had the Ring and was preparing to turn its power against its maker. The Dark Lord was troubled by this revelation, and therefore attacked sooner than he had planned by sending an army to overthrow Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. (See Battle of the Pelennor Fields)

 

Immediately after the huge army left Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol, Frodo and Sam attempted to enter the Black Land the same way. They had been previously met by Gollum, whom Sauron had earlier released from captivity while letting him think that he escaped by accident. For a while, Gollum had acted as a guide for Frodo and Sam. However, he finally betrayed them to Shelob – a monstrous, spider-like creature that guarded the pass.

 

In the end, Sam drove off both Gollum and Shelob, but Frodo had been stung by Shelob and appeared to have died from her venom. The Orcs found Frodo's body and stripped him of his gear, but Sam (thinking his master dead) had already secured the Ring. Frodo regained consciousness and was freed by Sam, and the two started the gruelling journey across the plains of Mordor towards Mount Doom.

 

Aragorn marched on the Black Gate of Mordor with 7000 men. After a brief encounter with the Mouth of Sauron, the battle was joined and went very poorly for the outnumbered Gondor/Rohan armies. Now convinced that Aragorn had the Ring, Sauron apparently reacted just as Gandalf had thought he would: "I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever."

 

Even as the Captains of the West were about to be utterly defeated by the superior might of Sauron's grand armies, Frodo reached his goal, entering the fiery interior of Mount Doom. However, his will failed at the last moment; unable to resist the growing power of the Ring, he put it on his finger and claimed it for his own. Sauron was instantly aware of him, and his gaze turned immediately to the Door in the Mountain. Recalling his remaining Nazgûl from the ongoing battle, he commanded them to hasten to Mount Doom in a desperate attempt to secure the Ring. It was too late, however: Gollum attacked Frodo, bit the Ring from his finger, then lost his footing and fell with the Ring into the fire. With "a roar and a great confusion of noise", the One Ring perished along with all the power Sauron had invested in it – Gollum inadvertently achieving the quest after Frodo's failure.

 

At the Ring's destruction, Sauron's power was immediately broken and his form in Middle-earth was destroyed. His departing spirit towered above Mordor like a black cloud, but was blown away by a powerful wind from the West (the direction of the Blessed Realm and the Valar). His vast empires collapsed, his armies lost heart and were easily overcome, the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr crumbled and the Nazgûl were consumed in a hail of fire from the Mountain. Sauron himself was crippled for all time. Thus, on March 25, Third Age 3019, the long reign of terror of the second Dark Lord finally came to its end.

 

Gandalf had predicted what the destruction of the Ring would mean to Sauron: "If it is destroyed, then he will fall, and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed."

 

Names and titles

 

In some of Tolkien's notes, it is said that Sauron's original name was Mairon or "the admirable", "but this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. But he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-Mairon "King Excellent", until after the downfall of Númenor.

 

The name Sauron (from an earlier form Thauron) originates from the adjective saura "foul, putrid" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya, and can be translated as "the Abhorred" or "the Abomination". In Sindarin (another Elf-language created by Tolkien) he is called Gorthaur, "the Abhorred Dread" or "the Dread Abomination". He is also called the "Nameless Enemy". The Dúnedain (the descendants of the Númenóreans) call him "Sauron the Deceiver" due to his role in the Downfall of Númenor and the forging of the Rings of Power. In the Númenórean (Adûnaic) tongue he was also known as "Zigûr", The Wizard.

 

His two most common titles, the "Dark Lord of Mordor" and the "Lord of the Rings", appear only a few times in The Lord of the Rings. His other titles or variants thereof include "Base Master of Treachery", the "Dark Lord", the "Dark Power", "Lord of Barad-dûr", the "Red Eye", the "Ring-maker" and the "Sorcerer".

 

In the First Age (as detailed in The Silmarillion) he was called the "Lord of Werewolves" of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the Second Age he assumed the name Annatar, which means "Lord of Gifts", and Aulendil, meaning "Friend of Aulë", as well as Artano, meaning "High-Smith", with which he assumed a new identity and tricked the Elves into working with him to create the Rings. In the Third Age he was known for a time as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur because his true identity was still unknown.

 

Russian historian Alexandr Nemirovsky suggests that the name Sauron is meaningful in the Hurrian language. He derives the name from the Hurrian sequence Sau-ra-n(ne), meaning "possessing the weapon" or "armed".

 

Appearance

 

Nowhere does Tolkien provide a detailed description of Sauron's appearance during any of his incarnations.

 

According to The Silmarillion, Sauron was initially able to change his appearance at will. In the beginning he assumed a beautiful form, but after switching his allegiance to Morgoth, he took a sinister shape. In the First Age, Gorlim was at one point brought into "the dreadful presence of Sauron", but the only concrete hint about his appearance is a reference to his daunting eyes.

 

As part of a plan to destroy Huan, Sauron took the form of the greatest werewolf in Middle-earth's history till then. When the plan backfired, he assumed a serpent-like form, and finally changed back "from monster to his own accustomed form". The implication is that his "accustomed form" was not, at least, overtly monstrous. It is understood to have been humanoid.

 

Sauron took a beautiful appearance once again at the end of the First Age in an effort to charm Eönwë, near the beginning of the Second Age when appearing as Annatar to the Elves, and again near the end of the Second Age when corrupting the men of Númenor.

 

One version of the story describes, in general terms, the impression Sauron made on the Númenóreans. He appeared "as a man, or one in man's shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature... And it seemed to men that Sauron was great, though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil."

 

Like Morgoth, Sauron eventually lost the ability to change his physical form (his hröa). After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron was unable to take a pleasing appearance or veil his power again. Thereafter, at the end of the Second Age and again in the Third, he always took the shape of a terrible dark lord. His first incarnation after the Downfall of Númenor was extremely hideous, "an image of malice and hatred made visible". Isildur recorded that Sauron's hand "was black, and yet burned like fire..." Gil-galad perished from Sauron's heat.

 

Eye of Sauron

 

A shield displaying the Red Eye of SauronThroughout The Lord of the Rings, "the Eye" (the Red Eye, the Evil Eye, the Lidless Eye, the Great Eye) is the image most often associated with Sauron. Sauron's Orcs bore the symbol of the Eye on their helmets and shields, and referred to him as the "Eye" because he did not allow his name to be written or spoken, according to Aragorn[47] (a notable exception to this rule was his emissary, the Mouth of Sauron). Also, the Lord of the Nazgûl threatened Éowyn with torture before the "Lidless Eye"[48] at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

 

In the Mirror of Galadriel, Frodo had an actual vision of this Eye:

 

The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.

 

Later, Tolkien writes as if Frodo and Sam really glimpse the Eye directly, not in any kind of vision. The mists surrounding Barad-dûr are briefly withdrawn, and:

 

one moment only it stared out...as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye... The Eye was not turned on them, it was gazing north...but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.[50]

 

Gollum (who was tortured by Sauron in person) tells Frodo that Sauron has, at least, a "Black Hand" with four fingers. The missing finger was cut off when Isildur took the Ring, and the finger was still missing when Sauron reappeared centuries later. (Similarly, the injury to Sauron's throat in the much earlier battle with Lúthien and Huan is maintained even after his transformation.)

 

In the third volume, The Return of the King, the heralds of the Army of the West call Sauron out before the Battle of the Morannon, telling him to "come forth", which would seem pointless if he did not have a body.

 

In one of his letters Tolkien does state that Sauron had a physical form in the Third Age:

 

...in a tale which allows the incarnation of great spirits in a physical and destructible form their power must be far greater when actually physically present. ... Sauron should be thought of as very terrible. The form that he took was that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.

 

Tolkien writes in The Silmarillion that "the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure" even before his body was lost in the War of the Last Alliance.

 

J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator includes Tolkien's own drawing of Sauron, showing him as a humanoid with literally black skin.

 

In the draft text of the climactic moments of The Lord of the Rings, "the Eye" stands for Sauron's very person, with emotions and thoughts:

 

The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo], the Eye piercing all shadows... Its wrath blazed like a sudden flame and its fear was like a great black smoke, for it knew its deadly peril, the thread upon which hung its doom... ts thought was now bent with all its overwhelming force upon the Mountain..."

 

Christopher Tolkien comments: "The passage is notable in showing the degree to which my father had come to identify the Eye of Barad-dûr with the mind and will of Sauron, so that he could speak of 'its wrath, its fear, its thought'. In the second text...he shifted from 'its' to 'his' as he wrote out the passage anew."

 

Most adaptations of the story to visual media depict the Eye as visibly present; for obviously the Eye of Fire is visually effective, whereas references to Sauron's never-seen body are so few that even readers of the novel often overlook them.

 

Concept and creation

 

Since the earliest versions of The Silmarillion legendarium as detailed in the History of Middle-earth series, Sauron underwent many changes. The prototype or precursor Sauron-figure was a giant monstrous cat, the Prince of Cats. Called Tevildo, Tifil and Tiberth among other names, this character played the role later taken by Sauron in the earliest version of the story of Beren and Tinúviel in The Book of Lost Tales. The Prince of Cats was later replaced by Thû, the Necromancer. The name was then changed to Gorthû, Sûr, and finally to Sauron. Gorthû, in the form Gorthaur remained in The Silmarillion; both Thû and Sauron name the character in the Lay of Leithian.

 

The story of Beren and Lúthien also features the heroic hound Huan and involved the subtext of cats versus dogs in its earliest form. Later the cats were changed to wolves or werewolves, with the Sauron-figure becoming the Lord of Werewolves.

 

Prior to the publication of The Silmarillion (1977), Sauron's origins and true identity were unclear to those without full access to Tolkien's notes. In early editions of Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, Sauron is described as "probably of the Eldar elves." Yet there were other critics who essentially hit the mark. As early as 1967, W. H. Auden conjectured that Sauron might have been a Vala, long before it became known that Tolkien had indeed described him as "a lesser member of the race of Valar" (see full quote above).

 

Adaptations

 

Unused imagery of Sauron as "Annatar" from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.In film versions of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron has been portrayed as either a humanlike creature (as in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version, The Lord of the Rings) or a physical, disembodied Eye (as in the 1980 animated The Return of the King),[58] or both.

 

This last option is shown in the 2001-2003 film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Here, Sauron is shown to have a large, human-like form during the forging of the Ring and up to his losing it, then being "limited" to the disembodied Eye form throughout the rest of the storyline.

 

Though the 1978 animated film and the 2001 live-action film both contain a prologue featuring the forging of the Rings of Power, the War of the Elves and Sauron goes unmentioned and the films jump straight to the much later War of the Last Alliance. In both, Sauron does not have the form he wore as "Annatar" when he forges the One Ring, but rather the one reflecting his identity as Dark Lord, and he is defeated by Isildur alone.

 

In Jackson's series, Sauron is originally portrayed as a towering "black knight" wielding a huge black mace (reminiscent of Tolkien's descriptions as well as conceptual artist John Howe's illustrations of Morgoth); in this form, he is portrayed by Sala Baker. This body disintegrates with explosive force after Isildur cuts off the Ring with the hilt-shard of the sword Narsil. After this defeat, he is thereafter portrayed as the Eye, which is presented as an actual physical manifestation. The ring is voiced by Alan Howard.

 

Later in the first film, Saruman remarks that Sauron cannot yet take physical form, so the audience is apparently to assume that the flaming Eye of Sauron is his disembodied spirit. This Eye hovers between the twin horn-like spires above Barad-dûr. In the novel, Sauron was inside the tower, gazing out through "the Window of the Eye in [his] shadow-mantled fortress".[50] In the extended edition of The Return of the King, Sauron's humanoid form appears when Aragorn looks into the palantír.

 

In interviews, Jackson repeatedly refers to Sauron as "just a giant floating eyeball". In the novel, even if one interprets the text as saying that the Eye exists physically, it is never clear whether it is disembodied or not.

 

In the Jackson films, Sauron wears plate armour, but the author nowhere specifically discusses what kind of armour (or even clothing) Sauron may have worn during his physical incarnations.

 

According to Saruman in the first film, the Eye of Sauron "sees all" — though this is somewhat clarified in the third film. Here, the Eye of Sauron is shown scanning Mordor rather like a searchlight, and can only observe one location at a time. The effect in Mordor is seen as a red beam that moves across the land, forever probing. A later statement regarding Sauron's observational powers shows they are akin to the novel, as Gollum says at one point that Sauron can see everything, but he cannot see everything all at once. It also seems to be visible to Frodo (and to see him in turn) any time that he is wearing the Ring.

 

Pippin has a brief encounter with the Eye, after gazing into the palantír of Orthanc. In the book, Pippin indicates that he somehow perceived Sauron, but it is not made clear exactly what he saw, whether the Eye or some other manifestation of the Dark Lord.

 

Curiously, before the Battle of the Black Gate, Aragorn says a line from the book, "Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" despite earlier references in the films that Sauron lacks a physical form. The Dark Tower crumbles with the destruction of the Ring, and as it does so the Eye appears to turn more yellow and the dark clouds of Mordor swirl in around it before finally being wiped from existence with a final massive explosive force, which in turn destroys anything under the control of Sauron (the Black Gate, the Ringwraiths, and the Orcs)

 

In earlier versions of Jackson's script, Sauron would indeed "come forth" at Aragorn's challenge, and do battle with him: The extra materials published together with the extended DVD version of the third movie indicate as much. Scenes of the fight were shot, but later this idea was discarded and was replaced by a scene (in the extended version) where Aragorn kills the "Mouth of Sauron" (a representative of Sauron) before fighting a Mordor troll. In fact, the footage of the battle with the troll was the same footage of Aragorn fighting Sauron, with the CGI troll mapped over a painted-out Sauron, as seen in the DVD special features.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch will portray Sauron in The Hobbit film adaptations.

 

Sauron appears in merchandise of the Jackson films, including computer and video games. These include The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, The Lord of the Rings: Tactics and The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. He is also a playable character in the tabletop wargame The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game published by Games Workshop Ltd. Sauron also appears as a playable character in the game, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

 

Allusions in other works

 

The Eye of Sauron is mentioned in The Stand, a post-apocalyptic novel written by Stephen King. The villain Randall Flagg possesses an astral body in the form of an "Eye" akin to the Lidless Eye. The novel itself was conceived by King as a "fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings, only with an American setting".

 

The "Eye" is also used in The Dark Tower series (also inspired by The Lord of the Rings) as the "sigul" of the Crimson King, an analogous figure in King's mythos.

 

The Eye of Sauron appears as a visual reference in the Waking the Dead episode "Double Bind".

 

SPECT attenuation correction image resembles the Eye of SauronIn S.M. Stirling's Emberverse series, the Eye of Sauron is the emblem of one of the new polities arising in the wake of the "Change".

 

In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz repeatedly characterises Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo as "our Sauron." Multiple references appear throughout the novel.

 

In the Marvel Comics Universe, the supervillain Sauron, an enemy of the X-Men, names himself after the Tolkien character.

 

The "Eye" is mocked in the television show Family Guy, showing the eye scanning the ground, saying it has lost its contact lens.

 

In the 2010 Nikita television show, Seymour Birkoff refers to the head of Division as Lord Sauron.

 

A large red eye with a cat-like oval pupil is used as an image designed to inspire abject terror in the online motion-comic Broken Saints.

 

An image resembling a fire-rimmed Eye of Sauron, is often seen in SPECT Myocardial perfusion studies utilizing an external radiation source for attenuation correction.

 

[knightni]

13. Ben Linus (Lost)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 78 points - highest ranking #3 pittshoganerkoff)

 

Benjamin "Ben" Linus is a fictional character portrayed by Michael Emerson on the ABC television series Lost. Ben was the leader of a group of island natives called the Others and was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. He began as the antagonist during the second and third seasons, but in subsequent seasons, becomes something of an uneasy ally to the main characters; even so, however, throughout the series, he is persistently characterized by spontaneous coldblooded actions and the shroud of moral ambiguity. Other characters frequently describe him as loyal only to himself, though it is also often hinted that he may be driven by some higher purpose.

 

As with most characters on Lost, Ben's history is revealed through flashbacks and episodes set in other time periods which are revealed slowly as the series progresses. Sterling Beaumon first portrayed a young Ben late in season three, in the character's first centric episode, "The Man Behind the Curtain". Ben's childhood is further explored in the fifth season of the series, partially set in 1977. Fifth season episode "Dead Is Dead" explores Ben's fragile state following the events of the fourth season, in which his loyalty to the island led to the death of his adoptive daughter Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde), and flashbacks show the audience Ben's original acquisition of Alex and his rise to leadership of the Others, after exiling his rival Charles Widmore (Alan Dale). Originally cast for three guest appearances in the second season, Emerson's role was expanded. As leader of the Others, Ben became a regular cast member from the third season onward. Reviews of the show would often focus on Ben's mysterious motives. Emerson's portrayal garnered many positive reviews, resulting in nominations for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor year-on-year from 2007 to 2010, winning in 2009.

 

In 2010, Ben Linus was ranked #24 on the TV Guide Network special, 25 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.

 

Arc

 

Prior to the crash

 

Flashbacks during "The Man Behind the Curtain" show Benjamin Linus being born in the woods outside of Portland, Oregon, to Roger (Jon Gries) and Emily Linus (Carrie Preston). Emily dies after giving birth to Ben. When Ben is young, he and his father move to the Island, after his dad is offered a job working for the Dharma Initiative. On the Island, Ben begins to see visions of his mother, while Roger starts drinking heavily and verbally abusing him. Ben develops a hatred for the Dharma Initiative and one day runs away from the Barracks. He comes across Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), one of the Island natives known to the Initiative as the "Hostiles", in the jungle, who agrees to Ben's request to join his group but tells him he needs to be very patient.

 

Season five's "Namaste" shows a young Ben coming into contact with a captured Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), who along with several other Oceanic Flight 815 survivors has been brought back in time from 2007. In the following episode, "He's Our You", he helps free Sayid under the impression Sayid was sent by the Others to bring him to Richard. Sayid instead shoots Ben and leaves him for dead. Fellow crash survivor Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) refuses to help the boy, so Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) and James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) take Ben to Richard, who informs them Ben will henceforth lose his innocence and always be one of the Others. In 1988, Charles Widmore, leader of the Others, sends Ben to kill French scientist Danielle Rousseau (Melissa Farman), who was marooned on the island. However, when Ben learns Rousseau has a child, he kidnaps the baby Alex Rousseau, warning Rousseau to never come looking for the baby if she wants either of them to live. Four years after this, it is revealed in flashbacks Ben kills his father with poison gas, then discovers every Dharma Initiative member dead, also from poison gas. He banishes Charles Widmore from the island and assumes his leadership role, as he is the only one who can allegedly interact with their real leader, Jacob, and communicate his will to the group.

 

Two days before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, Ben discovers he has a spinal tumor. After witnessing the crash, he sends Ethan Rom (William Mapother) and Goodwin Stanhope (Brett Cullen) to investigate. He chooses Goodwin in order to remove Ben's competition for the affections of Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell), a woman recruited to the island three years previously in order to help the Others with their fertility problems.

 

After the crash

 

Seasons two to four

 

In the season 3 episode "Exposé", Ben and Juliet enter a Dharma station, the Pearl, and watch Jack on a monitor. Ben tells Juliet he will convince Jack to perform surgery on him. After Goodwin dies, Ben shows Juliet the corpse, so she knows she is Ben's and will be on the Island forever. Ben makes his first appearance in the season two episode "One of Them", where he is caught in a trap set by Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan). He pretends to be Henry Gale, a man from Minnesota who crashed on the island while traveling via hot air balloon. Rousseau turns him over to Sayid, who takes him to the Swan Station, where he is held captive and interrogated. Ben is exposed as a fraud when the body of the real Henry Gale is found, but he is set free by Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau), a crash survivor whose son has been kidnapped by the Others. When Michael successfully brings Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to the pier, Ben gives him a boat so he can leave the Island with his son. Ben then takes Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to a smaller island nearby.

 

In the beginning of season three, Ben gives Juliet the task of interrogating Jack, while Kate and Sawyer are kept in cages. He admits to Jack about having a tumor on his spine, and asks him to remove it in order for him to leave the Island. During the surgery he wakes up, where Jack refuses to finish until Kate and Sawyer are safely away from the Others. After they escape, Ben's operation is finished. He returns to the Barracks with the rest of the Others, and Jack in tow. When Locke comes to rescue Jack, he and Ben have a confrontation. Ben tells Locke of a "magic box" which can produce whatever someone wishes for and shows him his father, Anthony Cooper (Kevin Tighe), who they are holding captive and was brought to the Island because of the box. Ben offers Locke the opportunity to join the Others, but only if he kills Cooper; Ben knows he won't kill in cold blood, and so makes the offer as a way to humiliate Locke.[15] Locke returns a few days later with Cooper's corpse, having used Sawyer to do the deed for him, so Ben takes him to meet Jacob. When Ben discovers Locke can hear Jacob, he shoots Locke and leaves him for dead. He returns to the Others' camp, and tells Richard, now his second-in-command, to lead the remaining Others to the Temple. Ben takes Alex with him as he attempts to prevent Jack from sending a radio message to a nearby freighter. He reunites Alex with her mother, and claims if Jack contacts the freighter, every single person on the Island will die. Ben is beaten and taken hostage, and forced to watch as the freighter is contacted.

 

In the first episode of season four, "The Beginning of the End", the survivors divide into two groups. Those who believe the people from the freighter to be dangerous, Ben among them, join Locke and head to the Barracks. After Ben confesses the freighter crew has come to capture him, Miles Straume (Ken Leung), a medium from the freighter, makes a deal with Ben, asking for $3.2 million in exchange for reporting Ben as dead to Charles Widmore (Alan Dale), the man who sent the freighter. Ben agrees after Miles rebuffs his claims such a small fortune is beyond him. Ben eventually gets his freedom when he tells Locke who sent the freighter. Once free, Ben urges Alex, and her boyfriend and mother, to travel to the Temple, for protection from the people on the freighter. However, they are ambushed en route by mercenaries from the freighter and all but Alex are killed. Alex is taken hostage after revealing herself to be Ben's daughter. In "The Shape of Things to Come", Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand), the leader of the mercenaries, threatens to shoot Alex if Ben does not come forward; Ben staunchly denies any attachment to her, which results in her execution. Ben claims Widmore has "changed the rules", then summons the smoke monster to attack the mercenaries. He then leaves with Locke and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) to communicate with Jacob. Locke enters Jacob's cabin alone, and returns stating they need to move the Island. They go to the Orchid, a Dharma station which allows them to do this. Ben sends Locke to become the new leader of the Others, then enters a secret level of the Orchid. He turns a large frozen wheel in the wall, which teleports the Island to a new location. Ben himself is transported to the Sahara Desert, specifically, Tunisia, which was formerly the ancient country of Carthage.

 

The flashforwards in "The Shape of Things to Come" show Ben arrives in the Sahara Desert ten months ahead of when he left the Island. Ben finds Sayid at the funeral of his wife Nadia (Andrea Gabriel), and recruits Sayid as his personal assassin, telling him Widmore ordered the assassination of his wife. Ben provides Sayid with a list of targets, all of which he successfully kills over the next three years. At one point, Ben infiltrates Widmore's penthouse apartment in London to inform him of his intention to kill his daughter, Penelope (Sonya Walger), as retribution for the death of Alex.

 

Seasons five and six

 

When Locke leaves the island to bring the survivors back to the island, Ben tracks him down. He gets Locke to reveal what he knows about returning to the island, then kills him and stages it as a suicide. Ben visits Jack in the funeral home housing Locke's body, telling Jack he will help him return to the island, but the only way to get back is to bring everyone who had left it, including Locke's corpse. Ben boards Ajira Airways Flight 316 with the rest of survivors, which then crashes on the island. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid are transported to 1977, while Sun and Ben remain in the 2007 with a resurrected Locke. The plane crash lands on the Hydra Island, so Ben attempts to take a boat to the main island. Sun strikes him in the back of the head and takes the boat with Frank, so Ben is left in the care of the other survivors, including Locke. After Ben regains consciousness and finds Locke to be alive, he convinces Locke he knew bringing him to the island would resurrect him, and he stopped Locke's suicide attempt merely to gain information. Locke travels with Ben, who is to be judged by the Monster. After they fail to find the Monster at the Barracks, they head to the Temple. As Ben and Locke travel through a series of tunnels beneath the Temple, Ben falls through the floor, so Locke leaves to get something that he can pull him up with. The Monster flows out of a grate below and surrounds Ben, showing flashes of decisions he made in his life involving Alex. The Monster takes the form of Alex and pushes Ben against a wall. She says she knows Ben is planning to kill Locke again, and if he does she will hunt him down and destroy him. She orders him to follow Locke and do whatever he asks, then disappears. They return to the Others' camp, where Locke gathers the group together and announces he is taking them to see Jacob. As they are walking, Ben relates his experience with the Monster and his promise to do whatever Locke asks, so Locke convinces Ben to kill Jacob. Richard leads them to the base of the statue, where Jacob lives. Within, they are met by Jacob (Mark Pellegrino). Jacob greets Locke and observes Locke has found a loophole. It is reveal that Locke was not resurrected, and is instead the Monster taking the form of Locke. Ben confronts Jacob about why he never revealed himself at any time during Ben's tenure as leader, but when Jacob is dismissive towards him, he stabs Jacob twice, killing him.

 

After Jacob's death, the Monster tells Ben to fetch Richard, as he wants to speak to him. However, when Ben exits the statue, Richard throws him down beside the corpse of the real John Locke, which has been brought to the statue by survivors of the Ajira flight, led by Ilana Verdansky (Zuleikha Robinson). Ben is forced by Ilana's group to bring them to the imposter Locke. They start shooting at the Monster, but he disappears, then returns in its black smoke form, killing Ilana's group. The Monster returns to Locke's form and mockingly informs Ben of the real Locke's last thoughts, while being strangled by Ben. Afterwards, Ben comforts Ilana when he finds her crying in Jacob's chamber and sets off with her, Sun, and Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) to bury Locke before going to the Temple, where they believe they will be safe from the Monster. At Locke's funeral, Ben provides the eulogy, and expresses his sincere apologies for killing Locke. When they arrive at the Temple, the Monster is destroying the place. They return to the beach as a temporary shelter, and Ben attempts to make amends with everyone for killing Jacob. Ilana then forces him to dig a grave and explains she will kill Ben for murdering her father figure. Later, the Monster visits Ben, telling him to join him and then magically frees Ben. After Ben escapes, Ilana chases after him, and the two come face-to-face at the jungle when Ben points a rifle at her. Ben explains to her why he really killed Jacob, particularly grieving his daughter. Ilana understands and allows him to rejoin their group, which he does. Hurley, Jack, and Richard show up and join their group, then have a meeting, deciding what to do next. Richard suggests they should stop the Monster escaping by blowing up the Ajira plane. After Hurley destroys the available the dynamite from the shipwrecked Black Rock, Richard insists he will find other explosives. Ben and Miles join Richard, while the rest decide to go talk to the Monster. When Ben, Richard and Miles arrive at the Barracks, Widmore is there, and is soon joined by the Monster. Ben murders Widmore before he is able to make a deal with the Monster to spare his daughter. The Monster and Ben find Desmond and the Monster forces him to go destroy the Island. They run into Jack's group and they both go to the heart of the Island, where Desmond removes the cork of the Island, causing the Island to begin to collapsing. After Jack kills the Monster, Ben and Hurley volunteer to stay behind on the Island with Jack to assist him relighting the Island. Jack tells them he will die doing this and Jack gives Hurley the new position of being protector of the Island. Ben advises him to approach his Island duties with his kindness and helpful attitude. Hurley asks Ben to become his advisor, to which he is honored. After an undisclosed period of time, Ben, on orders from Hurley, arrives at the Dharma Logistics Warehouse in Guam. He speaks to the two workers there and instructs them that the facility is being shut down. Afterward, Ben arrives at the Santa Rosa Mental Hospital and visits Walt. Ben tells him that he is still special and that he can help his father, Michael, even though he is dead, and offers Walt a job to return to the island.

 

The afterlife experienced by the surivors is shown during season six. In "The Substitute", Ben Linus is shown as a teacher of European History. In "Dr. Linus", Ben laments his life in general, particularly because his principal, Reynolds, does not care for the school. He is living with his father, Roger (Jon Gries), who is on life support. At school, he is shown to have a close relationship with his star pupil, Alex, and befriends a substitute teacher, John Locke. While studying together, Alex tells Ben that Principal Reynolds is having a sexual affair with one of the school nurses on campus. Ben attempts to blackmail Reynolds, threatening to reveal his affair and citing his position as principal as the demand. However, Reynolds swiftly retaliates by saying if he makes good on his threats, Alex's chances of going to Yale University will decrease substantially, as he is requested to write her a recommendation letter. Wanting to save Alex's educational future, Ben backs down. Days later, Ben notices Desmond Hume waiting outside the school in his car for an extended amount of time. Desmond runs over Locke, and swiftly drives off. As soon as the ambulance arrives, Ben gets in and sits next to the critically injured Locke, assuring him everything will be all right. When Locke returns to the school, Desmond does as well, and Ben catches him. Desmond beats Ben severely saying he was only trying to help Locke let go. Ben has a vision from his previous life during Desmond's beating. Ben believes him and relays Locke this information. When Alex sees how badly Ben was beaten, she invites him to her house where her mother, Danielle, fixes him supper. Danielle tells Ben that Alex views him as a father, and Ben begins to cry. Ben waits outside the chapel where the Oceanic survivors plan to move on together, and he sees Locke for the last time. Ben apologizes to Locke for killing him, and Locke forgives him. Hurley later comes out of the chapel and invites Ben in, but Ben politely declines saying he is not ready to move on, saying he "has a few things to work out".

 

Personality

 

"That's what my father does - he manipulates people. He makes you think it's your idea but it's his."

 

Alex in "The Man from Tallahassee"Ben, although extremely well-mannered, has an impeccable ability to lie and manipulate the people around him, even when he is at a physical disadvantage. He can also be petty and vindictive, even to the point of murder, when he does not get what he wants. He claims to have been born on the Island, leading to him being thought of as a miracle by the Others, as pregnant women die on the island; but later confesses to Locke that he was lying. He unsuccessfully tries to convince the survivors he is Henry Gale, although succeeds in manipulating Locke to turn against Jack whilst held prisoner under this guise. While he claims he will not sacrifice innocent lives in order to accomplish his goals, he has been shown to do quite the opposite. In the third season finale, Ben is informed by Tom Friendly (M. C. Gainey), an Other, that they have captured three of the crash survivors: Sayid Jarrah, Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson), and Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim). When Tom tells Ben they are unwilling to reveal any information about the rest of the survivors, Ben quickly replies "Shoot Kwon... You want them to answer questions, kill Kwon - do it now". Conversely, Ben refuses to allow his spy on the freighter to destroy it long before it reaches the Island, as he would not kill anyone who "did not deserve to die". Furthermore, when Locke confronts Ben about causing the freighter to explode, Ben coldly replies, "So?"

 

"I have full sympathy [for Ben]. I believe he has a mission and an agenda that he hasn't shared with us yet. The survival of the earth may depend on Ben's work, so it justifies his ruthless behavior. Maybe I'm just fantasizing or deluding myself."

 

Ben's unclear motives have led to speculation about his possible status as a villain. Ben Rawson-Jones from Digital Spy describes Ben as a "supposed villain", pondering "Could he really have been the good guy all along" following the fourth season episode "The Shape of Things to Come". Actor Michael Emerson suspects where Ben's loyalties lie will always be ambiguous, making this a "wonderful role". He is rarely shown losing control of his emotions, but when he does, it is done in a big and childish way. Emerson explains "He's cold because any trace of warmth makes him vulnerable to his enemies". Ben is also known for his commitment to the island and doing whatever is necessary to protect it. He has no qualms with Locke attempting to kill Naomi (Marsha Thomason) and even Jack after the survivors begin to call the freighter. He undertakes the risky and unpredictable step of moving the Island to prevent the freighter crew, and thus Charles Widmore, from finding it. He always has a plan and is described by Kevin Thompson from The Palm Beach Post as a "know-it-all", which another reviewer thinks is because "[ben] talks quietly, in a menacingly measured drawl... with lots of pauses and emphases".

 

Ben also appears to know Turkish, as he asks the bedouins on horseback "Türkçe biliyor musunuz?" late in season 4.

 

Development

 

Michael Emerson was cast on the show after receiving an Emmy for his role in The Practice. In 2001, American actor Michael Emerson won an Emmy award for his guest appearance as serial killer William Hinks on The Practice. The Lost producers liked his work on The Practice, so they were keen to cast Emerson in the role of Ben, then known as "Henry Gale", as they thought he would fit the character well. He was originally contracted to appear in just three episodes of Lost, making his first appearance midway through the second season, in episode "One of Them". The producers were so impressed by him that they contracted him for a further five episodes, citing the scene at the end of "The Whole Truth" where Ben asks for milk as the moment they knew he was a "keeper". He was then made a part of the regular cast from the third season. Had Emerson not worked out during his initial appearances a different actor would have been cast for the leader of the Others, but it was always intended the survivors would have the leader right under their noses and not realise it. During one episode of the Official Lost Podcast, the producers state they always knew Ben would be the "Big Bad". Emerson had no idea of his character's importance during his second season recurring role. He was told nothing about Ben's backstory and would only receive scripts at the last minute. He enjoys how the ambiguity of Ben's motives allows him to "paint it the way [he] please". Sterling Beaumon was cast to play Ben in the flashbacks of episode "The Man Behind the Curtain". Emerson's wife Carrie Preston was cast as Ben's mother following Emerson telling people at parties she was desperate for a part on the show.

Referring to the scene in the third season where Ben seemingly fits Sawyer with a lethal pacemaker, Emerson comments "Sadistic may be the word, but he doesn't seem to take much relish in it. He's just sort of detached, he looks at it coldly. I sometimes feel like everything to him is a sort of scientific experiment and he is interested in a dispassionate way in how the experiment runs its course. I think some day if we ever find out what his parentage is, that his parents were people of science". Elizabeth Mitchell, who plays Juliet, did not think it was a "huge surprise for Juliet that Ben had feelings for [Juliet], but I still think it was... it was horrifying under the circumstances". She also thought "[Juliet has] this kind of wonderful mind, and I think that Ben probably has a tremendous respect for that. It's not because Juliet is so enticing, it's just the fact that she's got this amazing mind, she has this amazing, you know, intelligence, and I think that's what intrigues him, that's what draws him into her". During season four the producers deliberately left it ambiguous as to whether Ben was a part of the Oceanic 6 (six survivors of the plane crash that make it off the Island) after he appeared in one of Sayid's flashforwards.

 

Reception

 

Critical reception

 

During the beginning of season three, Chris Carabott from IGN described Ben as "one of the best 'villains on television', due to his 'eerie manner' and 'methodical delivery'". Later in the season Carabott had a problem with Ben being so deceptive, as "anything he imparts must be taken with a grain of salt". Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly also noted this, saying "I don't trust Ben. I have no idea when he's lying and when he's telling the truth. The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that everything he says is for the purpose of impacting a character — and the audience". Ben's father issues revealed towards the end of season three are described as "not the most original Lost character trait by any means but it is the thrust behind Ben's development into the genocidal maniac he eventually becomes". Following the penultimate episode of the season, Carabott stated "Even with his limited screen time, Michael Emerson's performance shines through and we hope that he survives the events of the finale because we love seeing his character every week." Erin Martell from TV Squad picked the Others as one of her season three highlights, partly due to the development of Ben, adding "I cannot even picture the final three seasons without Ben". Martell also gave six reasons to look forward to season four, one of which was Ben Linus.

 

Aubry D'Arminio of Entertainment Weekly describes "savvy Ben" as a "captivating minor character". Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly praised Emerson's acting in the beginning of season four, calling him "a genius in [the] role". Alan Sepinwall from The Star-Ledger worried "the actor is so good and the character so popular that he's kept alive even though it makes all the heroes look like idiots". Following "Confirmed Dead", Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen felt "Isn't the whole business of Ben manipulating Locke with the promise of Island secrets getting just a little bit old?" SyFy Portal's Dan Compora said that "The more I hate Ben, the more I realize that Michael Emerson is just a very fine actor doing his job". Don Williams of BuddyTV said "consider my mind blown again", referring to the flashforward in "The Economist" where it is revealed that Sayid is working for Ben. Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV called Emerson an acting "god". Chris Carabott from IGN found one of the best moments of "Eggtown", was the power struggle between Locke and Ben, because "Their scenes together are amongst the best in the series and the one that opens "Eggtown" is a perfect display of how well Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn work together. O'Quinn captures Locke's uncertainty perfectly in the opening scene and it's always fun to watch Ben prey on any weakness of character." Kevin Thompson of The Palm Beach Post wrote "with those big ol' eyes of his, [Emerson] could always say more with a lengthy stare than he could with twenty pages of dialogue.... [He has], once again, proved why he has become Lost's star as well as its heart and soul.... an Emmy should belong to [him]." Jennifer Godwin of E! wrote that "no one has ever done better work humanizing a supervillain." Matt Roush of TV Guide puts Ben in "The Shape of Things to Come" in the top 20 moments of the week, stating "Michael Emerson on Lost. It doesn't get better than that". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy describes Emerson's performance as "fantastic", with "many layers of intrigue and humanity". John Kubicek of BuddyTV also found his performance "fantastic", adding "he nailed it". Critic Kelly Woo, from TV Squad, placed him on second on her list of "Seven new characters that worked", ranking just below Desmond Hume, also from Lost.

 

Awards

 

In 2006, Michael Emerson was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, but lost out to Ugly Betty's Tony Plana. Following the third season in 2007, Emerson was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Program, losing to Masi Oka from Heroes. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series but lost out to fellow Lost cast member Terry O'Quinn (Locke). Later in the year, he was nominated for Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - TV Series, Miniseries or TV film again, this time losing to David Zayas from Dexter. Emerson won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Program, beating fellow Lost actors Terry O'Quinn and Josh Holloway (Sawyer). Emerson was also nominated for the Teen Choice Award for Best Villain. In 2008, Emerson was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to Damages' Željko Ivanek, who has also appeared on Lost. In 2009, Emerson was nominated again for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, this time winning. In 2010 he was again nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, this time losing.

 

[knightni]

12. Palpatine (Star Wars)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 81 points - highest ranking #2 Steve9347)

 

Palpatine is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Star Wars saga, portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in the feature films.

 

Palpatine first appeared as the unnamed Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In this film and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, he is an aged, pale-faced figure who wears dark robes.

 

In the prequel trilogy, Palpatine is a middle-aged politician of the Republic who rises to power through deception and treachery. As the Senator of Naboo and later the Supreme Chancellor, he outwardly behaves like a well-intentioned and loyal public servant, yet underneath his affable public persona lurks his true identity: Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith. As both Palpatine and Sidious, he sets into motion a series of events—including the Clone Wars—which ultimately destroys the Jedi Knights and the Republic, allowing him to usher in the Galactic Empire, a brutal authoritarian regime.

 

Since the initial theatrical run of Return of the Jedi, Palpatine has become a symbol of evil and sinister deception in popular culture.

 

Appearances

 

Star Wars films

 

Original trilogy

 

In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, several characters mention that The Emperor is the ruler of the Empire, but he is neither properly named nor seen in the film.

 

In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Emperor Palpatine appears for the first time as the Sith master of Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones). The Emperor contacts Vader via holographic communication to tell him of a "great disturbance in the Force," and warns him that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is becoming a threat. Vader convinces the Emperor that Luke would be an asset if he could be turned to the dark side of the Force.

 

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Palpatine arrives on the second Death Star to oversee the last stages of its construction. When Darth Vader delivers his son, Luke Skywalker, to Palpatine, the Emperor—intent on replacing Vader with a younger, more powerful apprentice—tempts the young Jedi to the dark side by appealing to his fear for his friends. This leads to a lightsaber duel in which Luke defeats and nearly kills Vader. Luke ultimately refuses to turn to the dark side, however, and an enraged Palpatine attacks him with Force lightning. Moved by the sight of his son's suffering, Vader turns on his master and redeems himself by throwing the evil Emperor into the Death Star's reactor shaft, killing him.

 

Prequel trilogy

 

In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, set 32 years before A New Hope, Palpatine is introduced as the senior Galactic Senator from the planet Naboo. The corrupt Trade Federation blockades and invades Naboo under the influence of Palpatine's Sith alter ego, Darth Sidious. Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) flees to the planet Coruscant to receive counsel from the senator. After a plea for help from the senate results in bureaucratic delays, Palpatine persuades her to make a motion to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum (Terence Stamp) removed from office. Palpatine, as Sidious, sends his apprentice Darth Maul (Ray Park/Peter Serafinowicz) to Naboo to oversee the invasion and find the queen. The invasion, however, is thwarted by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor); in the ensuing lightsaber duel, both Maul and Jinn are killed. Palpatine returns to Naboo, having been elected the new Supreme Chancellor. He tells nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), newly accepted as Obi-Wan's Jedi apprentice, that "we will watch your career with great interest".

 

In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, set 10 years later, the galaxy is on the verge of civil war, as a growing Separatist movement of planets seeks to secede from the Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems. They are led by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), a former Jedi and Darth Sidious' new apprentice, known secretly by his Sith name, Darth Tyranus. Dooku hires a bounty hunter named Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) to assassinate Padmé, leading to a wild goose chase for Obi-Wan to kill Fett and find Dooku. Palpatine tells Anakin (Hayden Christensen) to bring Padmé to her home planet of Naboo and guard her; Anakin and Padmé soon fall in love. After Obi-Wan discovers that the Separatists are building a secret battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers. Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to the Senate once the crisis has ended. His first act is to create an army of cloned human warriors to counter the Separatist threat. The clones had recently been discovered by Obi-Wan as having been secretly ordered by deceased Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas many years earlier. When Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padmé, and the other Jedi go to the planet Geonosis, they engage in an epic battle that serves as the opening salvo of the Clone Wars, but Dooku and the Separatists escape. Dooku then meets with Sidious, bringing with him plans for a Geonosian superweapon.

 

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, set three years later, Palpatine is captured by Separatist leader General Grievous (Matthew Wood) as part of Darth Sidious' elaborate plan. Palpatine is rescued by Anakin and Obi-Wan, but not before the Jedi confront Count Dooku. A short duel ensues, in which Dooku knocks Obi-Wan unconscious, and goes after Anakin; the younger Jedi eventually overpowers Dooku, and then kills him in cold blood at Palpatine's urging. Palpatine then escapes with his Jedi rescuers and returns to Coruscant.

 

By this point, Palpatine has become a virtual dictator, able to take any action in the Senate. The Jedi Council is troubled by Palpatine's power and fears he will not relinquish it when the Clone Wars end — suspicions which only grow when the Senate grants Palpatine a vote on the Jedi Council. He appoints Anakin as his representative on the Jedi Council, but they refuse to grant Anakin the rank of Jedi Master. The Council then orders Anakin to spy on Palpatine, but he instead reveals the Jedi's plan to him. Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise, a powerful Sith Lord who was able to manipulate life and death, but was killed by his apprentice. Eventually, Palpatine reveals his secret identity to Anakin, and tempts him with promises of the power to prevent death. Palpatine knows that Anakin has been having visions of Padmé, who is now pregnant with Anakin's children, dying in childbirth, and offers to teach him Plagueis' secrets to save her life.

 

Confused and torn over his loyalty to both Palpatine and the Jedi, Anakin informs Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) that Palpatine is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Windu and fellow Council members Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin go to arrest Palpatine, but the Chancellor surprises them with a lightsaber and quickly dispatches Kolar and Tiin by means of a stab in the chest and a slash in the gut, respectively. It was only a matter of seconds before Fisto was killed by a slash in the gut as well. In the ensuing duel, Windu disarms his opponent. Palpatine unleashes Force lightning at Windu, who deflects it back with his lightsaber at Palpatine, deforming Palpatine's face into the wizened, yellow-eyed visage seen in the original films. Anakin appears and intercedes on Palpatine's behalf and cuts off Windu's hand, allowing Palpatine to shoot Windu with another blast of lightning, hurtling him through the window to his death. Palpatine then accepts Anakin as his new apprentice, Darth Vader.

 

Palpatine then sets the destruction of the Jedi in motion: He sends Vader to destroy the Jedi Temple with a battalion of troops, and instructs all of the clone troopers to kill their Jedi generals under a secret command known as Order 66. He then sends Vader to Mustafar to assassinate the Separatist leaders. He announces to the Senate that the Jedi were planning to overthrow the Republic, and that the Republic will be reorganized into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor for life. Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) survives the attempt on his life and confronts Palpatine in his Senate office. A lightsaber duel erupts between them which ends in stalemate when Yoda flees into exile. Sensing his apprentice is in danger, Palpatine travels to Mustafar, where he finds Vader maimed and burned almost to the point of death following a duel with Obi-Wan. Palpatine returns to Coruscant with Vader and provides him with the black armor suit first seen in the original trilogy. When Vader regains consciousness, Palpatine tells him that Padmé died in the heat of Vader's anger, breaking what remains of his apprentice's spirit. Palpatine is last seen watching the first Death Star under construction, with Vader and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Wayne Pygram) at his side.

 

Clone Wars

 

2003 Animated Series

 

Palpatine is a central character in Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars, an animated miniseries set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The character is based on McDiarmid's likeness in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In the first chapter, Obi-Wan Kenobi informs Palpatine that the Jedi have discovered that the InterGalactic Banking Clan has established battle droid factories on the planet Muunilinst. Palpatine agrees to send a strike force that includes Obi-Wan and Anakin, but Palpatine suggests that Anakin be given "special command" of Obi-Wan's fighters. Yoda and Obi-Wan initially speak against it, but reluctantly concede to the Chancellor. In another chapter, Darth Sidious appears to Count Dooku as a holographic image shortly after Dooku trains Asajj Ventress, a Force-sensitive female warrior adept in the dark side. Sidious orders her to track down and kill Anakin Skywalker; he remarks to Count Dooku that her failure is certain, but the point of her mission is to test Anakin. Chapter 22 features the training of General Grievous by Count Dooku. Darth Sidious appears as a hologram and orders Grievous to begin the special mission: an assault on the galactic capital. The Separatist invasion of Coruscant begins in the next episode, and Palpatine watches from the window in his private residence. He is protected by Jedi Shaak Ti, Roron Corobb, and Foul Moudama. Grievous breaks through the Chancellor's window and kidnaps him. Grievous kills Roron and Foul and captures Shaak Ti as Palpatine is taken to the Invisible Hand, Grievous' flagship, setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith.

 

2008 Animated Series

 

In the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars, also set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious engineers a Separatist plot to turn Jabba the Hutt against the Republic by kidnapping his son, Rotta, and framing the Jedi for it. Anakin and his apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, foil the plot, but the outcome also suits Sidious' ends, since Jabba places Hutt hyperspace routes at the Republic's disposal.

 

In the spinoff animated series, Darth Sidious hires Cad Bane, the galaxy's deadliest bounty hunter, to infiltrate the Jedi Temple and steal a holocron. He then takes a valuable Kyber memory crystal, held by Bolla Ropal. The crystal contains the names of thousands of Force-sensitive younglings around the galaxy, and thus the future of the Jedi Order. The final stage of the plot: to retrieve four children to bring to Sidious' secret facility on the planet Mustafar. Bane kidnaps Zinn Toa and Wee Dunn and brings them there. Anakin and Ahsoka again foil the plot, but Bane escapes and any evidence of whoever was behind the scheme is lost.

 

Star Wars literature

 

Star Wars Expanded Universe literature elaborates on Palpatine's role in Star Wars fiction outside of the films. The first appearance of Palpatine in Star Wars literature was in Alan Dean Foster's (writing as George Lucas) novelization of the script of A New Hope, published as Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976). Foster characterizes Palpatine as a cunning Senator who "caused himself" to be elected president of the Republic, and then declared himself Emperor and isolated himself from his subjects, eventually becoming a pawn of his advisors.

 

Palpatine made his first major appearance in the Expanded Universe in 1991 and 1992 with the Dark Empire series of comic books written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Cam Kennedy. In the series, set six years after Return of the Jedi, Palpatine is resurrected as the Emperor Reborn or Palpatine the Undying. His spirit returns from the underworld of the Force with the aid of Sith ghosts on Korriban and possesses the body of Jeng Droga, one of Palpatine's elite spies and assassins known as the Emperor's Hands. Droga flees to a secret Imperial base on the planet Byss, where the Emperor's advisor Sate Pestage exorcises Palpatine's spirit and channels it into one of many clones created by Palpatine before his death. Palpatine attempts to resume control of the galaxy, but Luke Skywalker, who is now a Jedi Master, sabotages his plans. Luke destroys most of Palpatine's cloning tanks, but is only able to defeat the Emperor with help from his sister, Princess Leia, who is now herself a Jedi. The two repel a Force storm Palpatine had created and turn it back onto him, once again destroying his physical form.

 

Palpatine's ultimate fate is further chronicled in the Dark Empire II and Empire's End series of comics. The Dark Empire II series, published from 1994 to 1995, details how the Emperor is once again reborn on Byss into a clone body. Palpatine tries to rebuild the Empire as the Rebel Alliance grows weak. In Empire's End (1995), a traitorous Imperial guard bribes Palpatine's cloning supervisor to tamper with the Emperor's stored DNA samples. This causes the clones to deteriorate at a rapid rate. Palpatine attempts to possess the body of Anakin Solo, the infant son of Princess Leia and Han Solo, before the clone body dies, but is thwarted once again by Luke Skywalker. Palpatine is killed by a blaster shot fired by Han, and his spirit is captured by a wounded Jedi named Empatojayos Brand, who uses his remaining strength to dissipate Palpatine's spirit, destroying the Sith Lord once and for all.

 

Novels and comics published before 1999 focus on Palpatine's role as Galactic Emperor. Shadows of the Empire (1996) by Steve Perry and The Mandalorian Armor (1998) by K. W. Jeter—all set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi—show how Palpatine uses crime lords such as Prince Xizor and bounty hunters like Boba Fett to fight his enemies. Barbara Hambly's novel Children of the Jedi (1995), set eight years after Return of the Jedi, features a woman named Roganda Ismaren who claims that Palpatine fathered her son Irek. The Jedi Prince series of novels introduces an insane, three-eyed mutant named Triclops who is revealed to be Palpatine's illegitimate son. Created from DNA extracted from Palpatine and placed into a woman, he was born mutated, cast away and forgotten. Triclops had a son named Ken who became known as the Jedi Prince but also as Palpatine's grandson.

 

Beginning in 1999 with Terry Brooks' novelization of The Phantom Menace, Star Wars writers chronicled the role of Palpatine prior to A New Hope as a politician and Sith Lord. The comic "Marked" by Rob Williams, printed in Star Wars Tales 24 (2005), and Michael Reaves's novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter (2001) explain Darth Sidious' relationship with his apprentice Darth Maul. Cloak of Deception (2001) by James Luceno follows Reaves's novel and details how Darth Sidious encourages the Trade Federation to build an army of battle droids in preparation for the invasion of Naboo. Cloak of Deception also focuses on Palpatine's early political career, revealing how he becomes a confidante of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and acquainted with Padmé Amidala, newly elected queen of Naboo. Palpatine's role during the Clone Wars as Supreme Chancellor and Darth Sidious is explained in novels such as Matthew Stover's Shatterpoint (2003), Steven Barnes' The Cestus Deception (2004), Sean Stewart's Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (2004), and Luceno's Labyrinth of Evil (2005).

 

Following the theatrical release of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars literature focused on Palpatine's role after the creation of the Empire. John Ostrander's comic Star Wars Republic 78: Loyalties (2005) chronicles how, shortly after seizing power, Emperor Palpatine sends Darth Vader to assassinate Sagoro Autem, an Imperial captain who wants nothing to do with the new government and plans to defect. In Luceno's novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (2005), set shortly after Revenge of the Sith, the Emperor sends Darth Vader to the planet Murkhana to discover why clone troopers there refused to carry out Order 66 against their Jedi generals. Palpatine hopes these early missions will teach Vader what it means to be a Sith and crush any remnants of Anakin Skywalker.

 

Characteristics

 

In Star Wars fiction, Palpatine is a manipulative politician, a ruthless emperor, and an evil Sith Lord. The Star Wars Databank describes him as "the supreme ruler of the most powerful tyrannical regime the galaxy had ever witnessed" and Stephen J. Sansweet's Star Wars Encyclopedia calls him "evil incarnate."

 

As a Senator, Palpatine is "unassuming yet ambitious". In Cloak of Deception, James Luceno writes that Palpatine carefully guards his privacy and "others found his reclusiveness intriguing, as if he led a secret life". Despite this, he has many allies in the government. Luceno writes, "What Palpatine lacked in charisma, he made up for in candor, and it was that directness that had led to his widespread appeal in the senate. ... For in his heart he judged the universe on his own terms, with a clear sense of right and wrong." In Terry Brooks' novelization of The Phantom Menace, Senator Palpatine claims to embrace democratic principles. He tells Queen Amidala, "I promise, Your Majesty, if I am elected [supreme Chancellor], I will restore democracy to the Republic. I will put an end to the corruption that has plagued the Senate." A Visual Dictionary states that he is a self-proclaimed savior.

 

As Emperor, however, Palpatine abandons any semblance of democracy, as noted in A New Hope, when he abolishes the Imperial Senate. Sansweet states, "His Empire ... is based on tyranny, hatred of nonhumans, brutal and lethal force, and, above all else, constant fear." In Matthew Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Count Dooku anticipates the coming of the new government: "A government clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of ignorant rabble and subhuman creatures that made up the Republic he so despised. The government he would serve would be Authority personified. Human authority."

 

The apprentice of Darth Plagueis, Palpatine is "the most powerful practitioner of the Sith ways in modern times." Palpatine is so powerful that he is able to mask his true identity from the Jedi. In the novel Shatterpoint, Mace Windu remarks to Yoda, "A shame [Palpatine] can't touch the Force. He might have been a fine Jedi."

 

The Star Wars Databank moreover explains that the Force "granted him inhuman dexterity and speed, agility enough to quickly kill three Jedi Masters" (as depicted in Revenge of the Sith). Stover describes the duel between Yoda and Palpatine in his novelization of Revenge of the Sith thus: "From the shadow of a black wing, a small weapon ... slid into a withered hand and spat a flame-colored blade[.] When the blades met it was more than Yoda against Palpatine, more the millennia of Sith against the legions of Jedi; this was the expression of the fundamental conflict of the universe itself. Light against dark. Winner take all." During the duel, Yoda realizes that Palpatine is in fact a superior warrior, and that he represents a small but powerful Sith Order that had changed and evolved over the years, while the Jedi had not: "He had lost before he started."

 

According to the Databank and New Essential Guide to Characters, Palpatine possesses great patience and his maneuverings are as a dejarik grandmaster moves pieces on a board. He is depicted as a diabolical genius.

 

Character creation

 

Lucas' conceptualization of Palpatine and the role the character plays in Star Wars changed over time. From Return of the Jedi onwards, Palpatine became the ultimate personification of evil in Star Wars, replacing Darth Vader as the central villain.

 

When the original Star Wars trilogy was filmed, the Emperor was unnamed and his throne-world unidentified. Though it would not be used in film until the prequel trilogy, the first mention of the name Palpatine came from the prologue of Alan Dean Foster's 1976 A New Hope novelization, which detailed the Emperor's rise to power. Foster writes,

 

Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic. Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears.

 

However, it is unclear whether Lucas intended Palpatine to be the reigning Emperor or just the first of a succession of Emperors. Michael Kaminski, author of The Secret History of Star Wars, claims that Lucas' initial notes discuss a line of corrupt Emperors, not just one. If Palpatine was the first, Kaminski infers, he would therefore not be the current. Later Lucas would abandon this idea, opting instead to focus on a sole villainous ruler.

 

During story conferences for The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas and Leigh Brackett decided that "the Emperor and the Force had to be the two main concerns in the [Empire Strikes Back]; the Emperor had barely been dealt with in the first movie, and the intention in the sequel was to deal with him on a more concrete level." Lucas ultimately decided instead to feature the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.

 

In that film, the initial conception of Palpatine was superseded by his depiction as a powerful, dictatorial ruler adept in the dark side of the Force. The Emperor was inspired by the villain Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon comic books. Lucas explained in an interview that he also patterned the Emperor after several historical figures, including Julius Caesar, Joseph Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Richard Nixon and Ferdinand Marcos. Lucas said, "The whole point of the movies, the underlying element that makes the movies work, is that you, whether you go backwards or forwards, you start out in a democracy, and democracy turns into a dictatorship, and then the rebels make it back into a democracy."

 

Lucas wanted to establish the Emperor as the true source of evil in Star Wars. Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan noted, "My sense of the relationship [between Darth Vader and the Emperor] is that the Emperor is much more powerful ... and that Vader is very much intimidated by him. Vader has dignity, but the Emperor in Jedi really has all the power." He explained that the climax of the film is a confrontation between Darth Vader and his master. In the first scene that shows the Emperor, he arrives at the Death Star and is greeted by a host of stormtroopers, technicians, and other personnel. Lucas states he wanted it to look like the military parades on "May Day in Russia."

 

Lucas fleshed out the Emperor in the prequel films. According to Lucas, Palpatine's role in The Phantom Menace is to explain "how Anakin Skywalker came to be [Palpatine's] apprentice" and the events that lead to his rise to power. The true identity of Darth Sidious — the phantom menace — is left a mystery, and his relationship to Palpatine is not clear, though popular consensus agreed that Darth Sidious and Palpatine were one and the same. Film critic Jonathan L. Bowen remarks, "Debates raged on the Internet concerning the relationship between Darth Sidious and Senator Palpatine. Most fans believed the two characters are actually the same person with logic seeming to support their conclusion." Bowen notes that the debate was fueled by the fact that "suspiciously Darth Sidious does not appear in the credits."

 

Portrayal

 

The Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back portrayed by Elaine Baker, voiced by Clive Revill.

 

When the Emperor first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, he was portrayed by Elaine Baker, the wife of make-up designer Rick Baker. Chimpanzee eyes were superimposed into darkened eye sockets during post-production "in order to create a truly unsettling image". The character was voiced by Clive Revill.

 

"With Kershner," Revill said, "you had to keep the reins tight — you couldn't go overboard. It was the perfect example of the old adage 'less is more' — the Emperor doesn't say very much. But when he finally appears, it's at a point in the saga when everyone's waiting to see him. It's the Emperor, the arch villain of all time, and when he says there's a great disturbance in the Force, I mean, that's enough oomph!" Years later, during production of Revenge of the Sith, Lucas decided to shoot new footage for Empire Strikes Back to create continuity between the prequels and original trilogy. Thus, in the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, the original version of the Emperor was replaced by McDiarmid, and the dialogue between the Emperor and Darth Vader was revised.

 

Lucas and Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand cast Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid to play Emperor Palpatine. He was in his late-30s and had never played a leading role in a feature film, though he had made minor appearances in films like Dragonslayer (1981). After Return of the Jedi, he resumed stage acting in London. In an interview with BackStage, McDiarmid revealed that he "never had his sights set on a film career and never even auditioned for the role of Palpatine." He elaborated, "I got called in for the interview after a Return of the Jedi casting director saw me perform in the Sam Shepard play Seduced at a studio theatre at the Royal Court. I was playing a dying Howard Hughes."

 

McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him 16 years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine. In an interview, he stated, "When we were doing Return of the Jedi there was a rumor that George Lucas had nine films in his head, and he'd clearly just completed three of them." McDiarmid added, "Someone said that, 'Oh, I think what he might do next is go back in time, and show how Vader came to be.' It never occurred to me in a million years that I would be involved in that, because I thought, 'oh well, then he'll get a much younger actor [to play Palpatine].' That would be obvious." However, "I was the right age, ironically, for the first prequel when it was made. ... So I was in the very strange and rather wonderful paradox of playing myself when young at my own age, having played myself previously when 100-and-I-don't-know-what."

 

Recalling the initial days of shooting The Phantom Menace, McDiarmid stated, "Stepping onto the set of Episode I for the first time was like going back in time, due to my experience in Jedi. Palpatine's an interesting character; he's conventional on the outside, but demonic on the inside — he's on the edge, trying to go beyond what's possible." McDiarmid added another layer to the character in Attack of the Clones. He noted, "[Palpatine] is a supreme actor. He has to be even more convincing than somebody who isn't behaving in a schizophrenic fashion, so he's extra charming, or extra professional — and for those who are looking for clues, that's almost where you can see them." McDiarmid illuminated on the scene where Padmé Amidala is almost assassinated:

 

There's a moment in one scene of the new film where tears almost appear in his eye. These are crocodile tears, but for all those in the movie, and perhaps watching the movie itself, they'll see he is apparently moved — and of course, he is. He can just do it. He can, as it were, turn it on. And I suppose for him, it's also a bit of a turn-on — the pure exercise of power is what he's all about. That's the only thing he's interested in and the only thing that can satisfy him — which makes him completely fascinating to play, because it is an evil soul. He is more evil than the devil. At least Satan fell — he has a history, and it's one of revenge.

 

In Revenge of the Sith, McDiarmid played a darker interpretation of the character. He explained that "[...]when you're playing a character of solid blackness, that in itself is very interesting, in the sense that you have no other motivation other than the accumulation of power. It's not so much about not having a moral center, it's just that the only thing that mattered is increasing power." He admitted, "I've been trying to find a redeeming feature to Palpatine, and the only one I've got so far is that he's clearly a patron of the arts because he goes to the opera." McDiarmid compared the character to Iago from Shakespeare's Othello:

 

Everything he does is an act of pure hypocrisy, and that's interesting to play. I suppose it's rather like playing Iago. All the characters in the play — including Othello until the end — think that "Honest Iago" is a decent guy doing his job, and he's quite liked. But at the same time there's a tremendous evil subconscious in operation.

 

McDiarmid noticed that the script for Revenge of the Sith demanded more action from his character than in previous films. Lightsaber combat was a challenge to the 60-year-old actor, who, like his costars, took fencing lessons. The close-up shots and non-acrobatic sequences of the duel between Palpatine and Mace Windu were performed by McDiarmid. Advanced fencing and acrobatic stunts were executed by McDiarmid's doubles, Michael Byrne, Sebastian Dickins, and Bob Bowles.

 

McDiarmid's performance as Palpatine was generally well-received by critics. Todd McCarthy of Variety commented, "Entertaining from start to finish and even enthralling at times, 'Sith' has some acting worth writing home about, specifically McDiarmid's dominant turn as the mastermind of the evil empire." A reviewer for The Village Voice wrote that "Ian McDiarmid's unctuous Emperor turns appropriately vampiric as he attempts to draw Anakin into the Sith fold with promises of eternal life." Still, his performance was not without detractors; David Edelstein of Slate critiqued, "McDiarmid isn't the subtlest of satanic tempters. With his lisp and his clammy little leer, he looks like an old queen keen on trading an aging butt-boy (Count Dooku) for fresh meat — which leaves Anakin looking more and more like a 15-watt bulb."

 

Make-up and costumes

 

Ian McDiarmid required little make-up in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. He recalled, "I'm ... slightly aged [in Attack of the Clones]. In the last film, I had a fairly standard make-up on, but now, they're starting to crinkle my face." Transforming McDiarmid into Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, however, required extensive make-up. McDiarmid remarked in an interview with Star Wars Insider magazine, "Yes—that was a four-hour job, initially, although we got it down to about two-and-a-half in the end. But this was just a little bit of latex here and there, a little bit of skin-scrunching." He told the Homing Beacon newsletter, "When my face changes in the film, my mind went back to the early silent movie of The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney." Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that he "looks uncannily like Death in The Seventh Seal" (1957) and film historian Robin Wood compares him to the witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

 

Palpatine's wardrobe, tailored by costume designer Trisha Biggar, played an important part in the development of the character throughout the films. In Attack of the Clones, explained McDiarmid, "The costumes ... have got much more edge to them, I think, than the mere Senator had [in The Phantom Menace]. So we see the trappings of power." In the next episode, McDiarmid remarked, "To wear the costumes as the character I play is wonderfully empowering." McDiarmid's favorite costume in Revenge of the Sith was a high-collared jacket that resembles snake or lizard skin. He stated that "it just feels reptilian, which is exactly right for [Palpatine]." According to Trisha Biggar, Palpatine's costumes proved the most daunting challenge. She said, "His six costumes get progressively darker and more ornately decorated throughout the movie. He wears greys and browns, almost going to black, taking him toward the dark side."

[edit] Popular culture

 

With the premiere of Return of the Jedi and the prequel films and the accompanying merchandising campaign, Palpatine became an icon in American popular culture. Kenner/Hasbro produced and marketed a series of action figures of the character from 1983 to 2005. According to John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett, "These action figures allow children ('4 & up') to handle the symbols of the Force."

 

Academics have debated the relationship of Palpatine to modern culture. Religion scholars Ross Shepard Kraemer, William Cassidy, and Susan Schwartz compare Palpatine and Star Wars heroes to the theological concept of dualism. They insist, "One can certainly picture the evil emperor in Star Wars as Satan, complete with his infernal powers, leading his faceless minions such as his red-robed Imperial Guards." Lawrence and Jewett argue that the killing of Palpatine in Return of the Jedi represented "the permanent subduing of evil".

 

Palpatine's role in popular culture extends beyond the Star Wars universe. Since the release of Return of the Jedi, Palpatine has become synonymous in American mass media with evil, deception, manipulation, and power. The character is used as a literary device—either as a simile or metaphor—to emphasize these traits. For example, one of the characters from Orland Outland's novel Every Man for Himself (1999) is described as "rubbing his hands together in imitation of the emperor in Return of the Jedi." He says, "Everything is happening exactly as I have foreseen!"

 

In film and television, Palpatine's likeness is similarly used as a parody. Animated television series such as The Simpsons, American Dad!, South Park, Robot Chicken, and Family Guy have employed Palpatine's image to satirize characters and public figures. For instance, "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man," an episode of American Dad! portrays George W. Bush's then-current senior advisor, Karl Rove, as Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith. The main character, Stan Smith, uses Rove to help him become a deacon at his church through deceit. In Fanboy and Chum Chum, there is a parody of him called Janitor Poopatine. In the Family Guy episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire" just when Cleveland is about to kill Quagmire with a baseball bat he looks at the Griffin family's shocked faces and then at Palpatine who encourages him to let the hate flow through him, however he is pushed to the ground by Lois saying "You're not helping!".

 

Since Return of the Jedi and the prequel films, Palpatine's name has been invoked as a caricature in politics. The liberal website BuzzFlash remarked in 2004, "When we saw ... [senator] Zell Miller [of Georgia] giving his invective at the RNC, we knew it reminded us of someone. We just couldn't place it until we realized it was the hate in Zell's eyes, his skin and the way it looks like that hate is eating his soul. Then we remembered: he reminded us of the evil Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. (We didn't know the Emperor had a name until this morning.)" A Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial noted that anti-pork bloggers were caricaturing West Virginia senator Robert Byrd as "the Emperor Palpatine of pork" with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska having "clear aspirations to be his Darth Vader." The charge followed a report that linked a secret hold on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to the two senators. Politicians have made comparisons as well. In 2005, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey compared Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee to Palpatine in a speech on the Senate floor, complete with a visual aid.

 

A Fox News editorial stated "no cultural icon can exist without someone trying to stuff it into a political ideology. The Star Wars saga, the greatest pop culture icon of the last three decades, is no exception... Palpatine's dissolution of the Senate in favor of imperial rule has been compared to Julius Caesar's marginalization of the Roman Senate, Hitler's power-grab as chancellor, and FDR's court-packing scheme and creation of the imperial presidency."

 

Palpatine was ranked third greatest villain by Wizard magazine on its "100 Greatest Villains of All Time" list.

 

[knightni]

11. Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 86 points - highest ranking #1 kjshoe05)

 

Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer Simpson's boss. He is attended at almost all times by Waylon Smithers, his loyal and sycophantic aide, advisor, confidant and secret admirer.

 

Although originally conceived as a one-dimensional, recurring villain who might occasionally enter the Simpsons' lives and wreak some sort of havoc, Burns' popularity has led to his repeated inclusion in episodes. He is a stereotype of Corporate America in his unquenchable desire to increase his own wealth and power, inability to remember his employees' names (including Homer's, despite frequent interactions - which has become something of a recurrent joke) and lack of concern for their safety and well-being. Reflecting his advanced age, Burns is given to expressing dated humor, making references to pre-1950 popular culture, and aspiring to apply obsolete technology to everyday life.

 

Burns' trademark expression is the word "Excellent", muttered slowly in a low, sinister voice while tenting his fingertips. He frequently orders Smithers to "release the hounds", so as to let his vicious guard dogs attack any intruders, enemies or even invited guests. Mr. Burns is Springfield's richest and most powerful citizen (and also the richest person in Springfield's state; his current net worth has been given as $1.3 billion by Forbes, though it fluctuates wildly depending on the episode). He uses his power and wealth to do whatever he wants, usually without regard for consequences and without interference from the authorities. These qualities led Wizard Magazine to rate him the 45th greatest villain of all time.

 

Role in The Simpsons

 

Mr. Burns spends his time in his office, at the nuclear plant, monitoring his workers via closed circuit cameras. At a young age, Burns left his family to live with his grandfather, a twisted and heartless billionaire who owned an atom mill in Shelbyville. He lived a life of privilege and would amuse himself by injuring immigrant laborers. Burns later attended Yale University, where he studied both science and business, and graduated. At his 25-year college reunion, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an old flame. She would later bear his child, Larry Burns, who was given up for adoption and would later enter Mr. Burns' life briefly. Burns has been engaged at least three times: to a woman named Gertrude who died of loneliness and rabies, to Marge Simpson's mother Jacqueline Bouvier, and to a meter maid named Gloria. Burns enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, and served as a member of Springfield's Flying Hellfish squad under Master Sergeant Abraham Simpson and saw action in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. Later on he was shipped to the Pacific Theater and was a co-pilot along with Abe Simpson and his brother, Cyrus. Burns and Abe were shot down by a kamikaze and stuck on an island. At the end of World War II he was personally hired by President Harry S. Truman to transport a specially printed trillion-dollar bill to Europe as the United States' contribution to the reconstruction of Europe. As the United States' richest citizen, Burns was thought to be the most trustworthy. Burns absconded with the bill and kept it in his possession for many years until it was lost to Fidel Castro in "The Trouble with Trillions". Burns was once indicated to have been a homosexual, and has in his office a "Corpse Hatch", which he refers to smoothly as an "Innocence Tube". In "Homer the Smithers", it is revealed that Burns' mother is still alive at 122 years old, although Burns dislikes speaking to her, because she had an affair with President William Howard Taft and she in turn refers to him as an "improvident lackwit".

 

Burns resides in a vast, ornate mansion on an immense estate called Burns Manor. It is protected by a high wall, an electrified fence, and a pack of vicious attack dogs known as "The Hounds". Burns routinely subjects Springfield and its residents to his abuse and, as a result, there is a general dislike of him throughout the town. Burns has blackmailed and bribed various officials in Springfield, including Mayor Quimby and its nuclear safety inspectors. He employed his wealth to make an ultimately unsuccessful run for state governor, to be denied his chance to be Governor by Marge Simpson. He once blocked out the sun to force Springfield residents to increase their use of electricity produced by his nuclear plant and was subsequently shot by Maggie.

 

Burns' extreme old age is a frequent source of humor on the show. He is occasionally referred to as "Springfield's oldest resident"; in Season 2's Simpson and Delilah, he told Homer that he is 81, although in several other episodes, he is shown to be 104. When Smithers informs him that Burns' credit card PIN is his age, he types four digits in his answer. His Social Security number is 000-00-0002, second only to President Roosevelt. When Lisa Simpson is researching her ancestors from the American Civil War, she comes across a Mr. Burns in the journal, presumably one of Mr. Burns' ancestors. However, when Lisa mentions him, Burns replies by saying he hasn't heard his father's name in years. In other episodes, his birth place is apparently Pangea, his national anthem implies he originates from Austria-Hungary, and he mentions the possibility of an update on the Siege of Khartoum, implying that he was aware of current events as early as 1884. In other episodes, he has instructed a postal clerk to send a telegram to the Prussian consulate in Siam, and believes a nickel will buy "a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.”

 

Burns' state of mind is the subject of frequent jokes on the show. At times, he appears to be completely removed from reality and modern conventions. He continually fails to recognize Homer Simpson or remember his name, even though many of the recent major events in Burns' life have involved Homer in some way. Burns is, for the most part, unaware of the townspeople's general dislike of him. He also displays mannerisms which are considered outdated, such as practicing phrenology, writing with a quill pen, and using an antique view camera to take photographs. Burns refers to many celebrities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in present tense, assuming they are still alive. In "Homer at the Bat", Burns instructs Smithers to recruit dead ball era players, such as Honus Wagner and Cap Anson for the plant's softball team, and has to be told that all of them died long ago. However, despite his obvious senility and social ineptitude, Mr. Burns is an extraordinarily clever bussinessman, as he has lost his fortune several times, only to regain it a very brief time later. In the episode The Old Man and Lisa, Burns loses his fortune, and regains it by opening a recycling plant, which allows him to regain his Nuclear Power Plant.

 

Burns is physically weak, and often shown to have little more strength than an infant. In "Rosebud" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", he needed a great deal of effort to wrench items from Maggie. He has difficulty performing such simple actions as giving a thumbs-up, and crushing an insect by stepping on it. He pitched the opening baseball at a game in "Dancin' Homer", but was only able to throw it a tiny distance, which drew mocking laughter from the crowd. Similarly, when Burns joined Homer's ten pin bowling team in Team Homer, he was barely able to roll the ball down the lane.

 

He also had a teddy bear named "Bobo" that he loved as a child, revealed in the episode "Rosebud". The stuffed animal was lost and eventually the stuffed bear became a toy for Maggie. In "American History X-cellent", Burns gets sent to jail because he is in possession of stolen paintings. In the same episode, it is implied that he was once in the Schutzstaffel.

 

Character

 

Creation

 

Burns's character, appearance, and mannerisms are based on several different people. The show's creator Matt Groening principally based Burns on his high school teacher Mr. Bailey. Drawing further inspiration from oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, David Rockefeller and fictional character Henry Potter from It's a Wonderful Life, Groening made Burns the "embodiment of corporate greed". Animator David Silverman parodied Burns's appearance on Fox founder Barry Diller, and modeled his body on a praying mantis. The idea of Burns reading employee names off cards in "There's No Disgrace Like Home" came from an article about Ronald Reagan that writer Al Jean had read. In some episodes, parallels have been drawn between Burns and moguls such as Howard Hughes and, more frequently, fictional character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane. Writer George Meyer lifted Burns's "Excellent!" hand gesture from his former Saturday Night Live colleague Jim Downey. While perhaps not intentional, Mr Burns' physical characteristics and mannerisms are cited as a modern example of the Commedia dell'arte character Pantalone.

 

Matt Groening got Burns' middle name from a Montgomery Ward department store in Portland, Oregon's Northwest Industrial district and his surname from Burnside Street, a main thoroughfare in Portland. Burns' first name being Charles is a reference to Charles Foster Kane. In the script for "There's No Disgrace Like Home", Al Jean and Mike Reiss referred to him as "Mr. Meanie".

 

Coincidentally, the 19th century businessman and founder of Barnes & Noble was called Charles Montgomery Barnes (1833–1907).

 

In the second season, the writers started to enjoy writing about Smithers and Burns's relationship, and they often pitched episodes with them as the focus, but many never came to fruition.

 

In the 2011 episode Flaming Moe, it was shown for his last will and testament that his full legal name is Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns. The names Plantagenet and Schicklgruber indicate a mix of English royal blood (see House of Plantagenet) with that of Adolf Hitler's lineage (see Alois Schicklgruber).

 

Voice

 

Harry Shearer modeled his voice for Burns on Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan.

 

Burns was originally voiced by actor Christopher Collins in the episode "Homer's Odyssey". He was soon replaced by Harry Shearer, who has voiced the character ever since. He modeled the voice on Lionel Barrymore and Ronald Reagan. Shearer is also the voice of Smithers and is able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. Shearer said that Burns is the most difficult character for him to voice because it is rough on his vocal cords and he often needs to drink tea and honey to soothe his voice. He describes Burns as his favorite character, saying he "like Mr. Burns because he is pure evil. A lot of evil people make the mistake of diluting it. Never adulterate your evil."

 

Reception

 

In 2006, Wizard magazine rated Burns the 45th greatest villain of all time. In a 2007 article, Entertainment Weekly named Smithers the 16th greatest sidekick of all time. They also described Smithers and Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple". In a 2003 article, EW also named "Last Exit to Springfield" the greatest episode of The Simpsons. Other episodes which feature Burns placed on the list, including "Rosebud", at number two, and the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-part episode, at number 25. Vanity Fair placed "Rosebud" first on their list of the top 25 The Simpsons episodes.

 

Forbes estimates Burns's net worth at $1.3 billion, placing 12th on the 2008 Forbes Fictional 15 list. Burns has been on the list since 1989 and has previously placed fifth in 2005, second in 2006 and sixth in 2007 when he was estimated to be worth $16.8 billion.

 

Burns's evil has made him a popular example of terrible television bosses. In 2006, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released a report saying that Burns was one of the eight worst bosses on television. The News & Observer named Burns the third worst boss, calling him "heartless, greedy and exceptionally ugly, Mr. Burns makes Ebenezer Scrooge seem downright lovely."

 

In the run-up to the New York City's 2009 mayoral election, several posters appeared throughout the city, showing Burns and accompanied by the words "No Third Terms, Vote for Burns" – a reference to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's unprecedented run for a third term that year—in the style of Shepard Fairey's Obama poster. The city's Board of Elections announced that December that Burns had received 27 write in votes out of 299 write in votes cast.

 

In the first episode of the sixth season of American Dad TV Show, in the opening scene, Roger is disguised as the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt, and is talking about The Simpsons episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?".

 

[knightni]

10. Hans Gruber (Die Hard)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 86 points - highest ranking #4 Balta1701)

 

German terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his band of thieves took over Nakatomi Tower and held the entire company hostage.

 

Hans Gruber was quite the mastermind, though, assembling a team capable of breaking through a number of high-level security measures to infiltrate the main vault in search of hundreds of millions of dollars of negotiable bearer bonds. On the way, he personally killed Joseph Takagi, the company CEO, and was deft enough to keep both the hostages and his own crew together while distractions like McClane were running around the building screwing things up for him. At one point, Hans would find himself on the wrong side of the building, coming face-to-face with McClane himself and pretending to be a company employee. It wasn't entirely believable, but it was strong enough to buy himself the opportunity to get back with his German compadres.

 

It was Hans Gruber who anticipated the FBI shutting down the building's power, thereby allowing his gang to open the vault. It was Hans Gruber who told his right-hand man Karl to "shoot the glass," inflicting further injury to McClane. And it was Hans Gruber who discovered McClane's wife was among the hostages, setting up a showdown between the thief and the cop with her caught in the middle. Unfortunately, it was Hans Gruber who fell out a window, ending his felonous plans, and setting up a little revenge story we like to call Die Hard with a Vengeance.

 

[knightni]

9. Michael Myers (Halloween films)

 

 

(5 of 16 lists - 93 points - highest ranking #2 GoSox05)

 

Michael Myers is a fictional character from the Halloween series of slasher films. He first appears in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) as a young boy who murders his older sister, then fifteen years later returns home to murder more teenagers. In the original Halloween, the adult Michael Myers, referred to as The Shape in the closing credits, was portrayed by Nick Castle for most of the film, with Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace substituting in during the final scenes. He was created by Debra Hill and John Carpenter. Michael Myers has appeared in ten films, as well as novels, a video game and several comic books.

 

The character is the primary antagonist in the Halloween film series, except Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which is not connected in continuity to the rest of the films. Since Castle, Moran, and Wallace put on the mask in the original film, six people have stepped into the role. Tyler Mane is the only actor to have portrayed Michael Myers in consecutive films, and one of only two actors to portray the character more than once. Michael Myers is characterized as pure evil, both directly in the films, by the filmmakers who created and developed the character over nine films, as well as by random participants in a survey.

 

Appearances

 

Michael Myers is the primary antagonist in all of the Halloween films, with the exception of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, as that film did not feature any of the characters from the original two films and had nothing to do with Michael Myers. Michael would return immediately following Halloween III, in the aptly titled Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The silver screen is not the only place Michael Myers has appeared; there have been literary sources that have expanded the universe of Michael.

 

Films

 

Michael Myers made his first appearance in the original 1978 film, Halloween, although the masked character is credited as "The Shape" in the first two films. In the beginning of Halloween, a six-year-old Michael (Will Sandin) murders his teenage sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) on Halloween. Fifteen years later, Michael (Nick Castle) escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. He stalks teenage babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) on Halloween, while his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) attempts to track him down. Murdering her friends, Michael finally attacks Laurie, but she manages to fend him off long enough for Loomis to save her. Loomis shoots Michael six times in the chest, before Michael falls over the house's second-story balcony ledge; when Loomis goes to check Michael's body, he finds it missing. Michael returns in the sequel, Halloween II (1981). The film picks up directly where the original ends, with Loomis (Pleasence) still looking for Michael's body. Michael (Dick Warlock) follows Laurie Strode (Curtis) to the local hospital, where he wanders the halls in search of her, killing security guards, doctors and nurses that get in his way. Loomis learns that Laurie Strode is Michael's younger sister, and rushes to the hospital to find them. He causes an explosion in the operating theater, allowing Laurie to escape as he and Michael are engulfed by the flames.

 

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) picks the story up ten years after the events of Halloween II. Michael (George P. Wilbur) and Dr. Loomis (Pleasence) are revealed to have survived the explosion, although Michael has been in a coma at the Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium for a decade. Michael wakes from his coma when he learns Laurie Strode has died, but also learns that she has a seven-year-old daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris). Returning to Haddonfield, he causes a city-wide blackout and massacres the town's police force, before being shot down a mine shaft by the state police. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) begins immediately after the fourth film ends, with Michael Myers (Donald L. Shanks) escaping the mine shaft and being nursed back to health by a local hermit. The next year, Michael kills the hermit and returns to Haddonfield to find Jamie (Harris) again, chasing her through his childhood home in a trap set up by Loomis (Pleasence). Michael is eventually captured and taken to the local police station, but an unseen figure kills the officers and frees him. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) takes place six years after the events of The Revenge of Michael Myers; both Jamie (J. C. Brandy) and Michael (Wilbur) have disappeared from Haddonfield. Jamie has been kidnapped and impregnated by the Cult of Thorn, led by Dr. Terence Wynn (Mitch Ryan), Loomis' friend and colleague from Smith's Grove. Wynn is revealed to have been manipulating Michael Myers all along, and was his mysterious savior in Halloween 5. Michael kills Jamie, but not before she hides her newborn, who is discovered and taken in by Tommy Doyle (Paul Stephen Rudd). While trying to protect the baby from Michael and Wynn, Tommy learns that the Curse of Thorn may be the cause of Michael's obsession with killing his entire family, in addition to his seemingly supernatural abilities.

 

Ignoring the events of the previous three films, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) establishes that Michael Myers (Chris Durand) has been missing since the explosion in 1978. Laurie Strode (Curtis) has faked her death to escape her brother, and is now living in California under an assumed name with her teenage son John (Josh Hartnett). On the twentieth anniversary of their last meeting, Michael tracks Laurie and her son to the private boarding school where she is headmistress, and murders John's friends. Getting her son to safety, Laurie willingly goes back to face Michael, and succeeds in decapitating him. Halloween: Resurrection (2002), which picks up three years after H20, retcons Michael's death, establishing that the man Laurie decapitated was a paramedic whom Michael had attacked and swapped clothes with. Michael (Brad Loree) tracks down an institutionalized Laurie (Curtis) and kills her. Returning to Haddonfield, he finds and kills a group of college students filming an internet reality show inside his childhood home. Contestant Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich) and show producer Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) escape by trapping Michael in a burning garage.

 

A new version of Michael Myers appears in Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007), a reimagining of the original film. The film follows the basic premise of the original film, with an increased focus on Michael's childhood: ten-year-old Michael (Daeg Faerch) is shown killing animals and suffering verbal abuse from Judith (Hanna R. Hall) and his mother's boyfriend Ronnie (William Forsythe), both of whom he later murders. During his time in Smith's Grove, Michael takes up the hobby of creating papier-mâché masks and receives unsuccessful therapy from Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). As an adult, Michael (Tyler Mane) returns to Haddonfield to reunite with his beloved younger sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton). Laurie, however, is terrified of him and ends up shooting him in self-defense. Zombie's story is continued in the sequel, Halloween II (2009), which picks right where the remake leaves off and then jumps ahead one year. Here, Michael (Mane) is presumed dead, but resurfaces after a vision of his deceased mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie) informs him that he must track Laurie (Taylor-Compton) down so that they can "come home". In the film, Michael and Laurie have a mental link, with the two sharing visions of their mother. During the film's climax, Laurie apparently kills Michael by stabbing him repeatedly in the face and chest with his own knife.

 

Literature

 

Michael Myers made his literary debut in October 1979 when Curtis Richards released a novelization of the film. The book follows the events of the film, but expands on the festival of Samhain and Michael's time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Michael returned to the world of literature with the 1981 adaptation of Halloween II written by Jack Martin; it was published alongside the first film sequel, with the novel following the film events, with an additional victim, a reporter, added to the novel. The final novelization to feature Michael was Halloween IV, released October 1988. The novel was written by Nicholas Grabowsky, and like the previous adaptations, follows the events of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

 

Over a four month period, Berkley Books published three young adult novels written by Kelly O'Rourke; the novels are original stories created by O'Rourke, with no direct continuity with the films. The first, released on October 1, 1997, titled The Scream Factory, follows a group of friends who set up a haunted house attraction in the basement of Haddonfield City Hall, only to be stalked and killed by Michael Myers while they are there. The Old Myers Place is the second novel, released December 1, 1997, and focuses on Mary White, who moves into the Myers house with her family and takes up residence in Judith Myers' former bedroom. Michael returns home and begins stalking and attacking Mary and her friends. O'Rourke's final novel, The Mad House, was released on February 1, 1998. The Mad House features a young girl, Christine Ray, who joins a documentary film crew that travels to haunted locations; they are currently headed to Smith Grove Mental Hospital. The crew is quickly confronted by Michael Myers.

 

The character's first break into comics came with a series of comics published by Brian Pulido's Chaos Comics. The first, simply titled Halloween, was intended to be a one-issue special, but eventually two sequels spawned: Halloween II: The Blackest Eyes and Halloween III: The Devil's Eyes. All of the stories were written by Phil Nutman, with Daniel Farrands—writer for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers—assisting on the first issue; David Brewer and Justiniano worked on the illustrations. Tommy Doyle is the main protagonist in each of the issues, focusing on his attempts to kill Michael Myers. The first issue includes backstory on Michael's childhood, while the third picks up after the events of the film Halloween H20.

 

In 2003, Michael appeared in the self-published comic One Good Scare, written by Stefan Hutchinson and illustrated by Peter Fielding. The main character in the comic is Lindsey Wallace, the young girl who first saw Michael Myers alongside Tommy Doyle in the original 1978 film. Hutchinson wanted to bring the character back to his roots, and away from the "lumbering Jason-clone" the film sequels had made him. On July 25, 2006, as an insert inside the DVD release of Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, the comic book Halloween: Autopsis was released. Written by Stefan Hutchinson and artwork by Marcus Smith and Nick Dismas, the story is about a photographer assigned to take pictures of Michael Myers. As the photographer, Carter, follows Dr. Loomis; he begins to take on Loomis's obsession himself, until finally meeting Michael Myers in person, which results in his death.

 

In 2008, Devil's Due Publishing began releasing more Halloween comic books, starting with a four issue mini series, titled Halloween: Nightdance. Written by Stefan Hutchinson, Nightdance takes place in Russellville, and follows Michael's obsession with Lisa Thomas, a girl who reminds him of his sister Judith. Lisa is afraid of the dark after Michael trapped her in a basement for days, and years later, he starts sending her disturbing, child-like drawings and murdering those around her on Halloween. Meanwhile, Ryan Nichols is hunting Michael down after seeing him attack and kidnap his wife. In the end, Michael frames Ryan for the murders and buries Lisa alive. Hutchinson explains that Nightdance was an attempt to escape the dense continuity of the film series and recreate the tone of the 1978 film; Michael becomes inexplicably fixated on Lisa, just as he did with Laurie in the original Halloween, before the sequels established that a sibling bond was actually his motivation for stalking her. Included in the Nightdance trade paperback is the short prose story Charlie, which features Charlie Bowles, a Russellville serial killer who taps into the same evil force which motivates Michael Myers. To celebrate the anniversary of the Halloween series, Devil's Due released a one-shot comic entitled Halloween: 30 Years of Terror in August 2008, written by Hutchinson. An anthology collection inspired by John Carpenter's original film, Michael appears in various stories, tampering with Halloween candy, decapitating a beauty queen, tormenting Laurie Strode, and killing a school teacher.

 

Characterization

 

"I met this six year old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes; the devil's eyes […] I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply…evil."

— Loomis' description of a young Michael was inspired by John Carpenter's experience with a real life mental patient.

 

A common characterization is that Michael Myers is evil. John Carpenter has described the character as "almost a supernatural force - a force of nature. An evil force that's loose," a force that is "unkillable". Professor Nicholas Rogers elaborates, "Myers is depicted as a mythic, elusive bogeyman, one of superhuman strength who cannot be killed by bullets, stab wounds, or fire." Carpenter's inspiration for the "evil" that Michael would embody came when he was in college. While on a class trip at a mental institution in Kentucky, Carpenter visited "the most serious, mentally ill patients". Among those patients was a young boy around twelve to thirteen years-old. The boy gave this "schizophrenic stare", "a real evil stare", which Carpenter found "unsettling", "creepy", and "completely insane". Carpenter's experience would inspire the characterization Loomis would give of Michael to Sheriff Brackett in the original film. Debra Hill has stated the scene where Michael kills the Wallace's German Shepherd was done to illustrate how he is "really evil and deadly".

 

The ending scene of Michael being shot six times, and then disappearing from the ground outside the house, was meant to terrify the imagination of the audience. Carpenter tried to keep the audience guessing as to who Michael Myers really is—he is gone, and everywhere at the same time; he is more than human; he may be supernatural, and no one knows how he got that way. To Carpenter, keeping the audience guessing was better than explaining away the character with "he's cursed by some..." For Josh Hartnett, who portrayed John Tate in Halloween H20, "it's that abstract, it's easier for me to be afraid of it. You know, someone who just kind of appears and, you know [mimics stabbing noise from Psycho] instead of an actual human who you think you can talk to. And no remorse, it's got no feelings, that's the most frightening, definitely." Richard Schickel, film critic for TIME, felt Michael was "irrational" and "really angry about something", having what Schickel referred to as "a kind of primitive, obsessed intelligence". Schickel considered this the "definition of a good monster", by making the character appear "less than human", but having enough intelligence "to be dangerous".

 

"Michael Myers is enduring because he's pure evil."

—Steve Miner

 

Dominique Othenin-Girard attempted to have audiences "relate to 'Evil', to Michael Myers's 'ill' side". Girard wanted Michael to appear "more human […] even vulnerable, with contradicting feelings inside of him". He illustrated these feelings with a scene where Michael removes his mask and sheds a tear. Girard explains, "Again, to humanize him, to give him a tear. If Evil or in this case our boogeyman knows pain, or love or demonstrate a feeling of regrets; he becomes even more scary to me if he pursue his malefic action. He shows an evil determination beyond his feelings. Dr. Loomis tries to reach his emotional side several times in [Halloween 5]. He thinks he could cure Michael through his feelings."

 

Daniel Farrands, writer of The Curse of Michael Myers, describes the character as a "sexual deviant". According to him, the way Michael follows girls around and watches them contains a subtext of repressed sexuality. Farrands theorizes that, as a child, Michael became fixated on the murder of his sister Judith, and for his own twisted reasons felt the need to repeat that action over and over again, finding a sister-like figure in Laurie who excited him sexually. He also believes that by making Laurie, Michael's literal sister, the sequels took away from the simplicity and relatability of the original Halloween. Nevertheless, when writing Curse, Farrands was tasked with creating a mythology for Michael which defined his motives and why he couldn't be killed. He says, "He can't just be a man anymore, he's gone beyond that. He's mythical. He's supernatural. So, I took it from that standpoint that there's something else driving him. A force that goes beyond that five senses that has infected this boy's soul and now is driving him." As the script developed and more people became involved, Farrands admits that the film went too far in explaining Michael Myers and that he himself was not completely satisfied with the finished product.

 

Michael does not speak in the films; the first time audiences ever hear his voice is in the 2007 remake. Michael speaks as a child during the beginning of the film, but while in Smith's Grove he stops talking completely. Rob Zombie originally planned to have the adult Michael speak to Laurie in the film's finale, simply saying his childhood nickname for her, "Boo". Zombie explained that this version was not used because he was afraid having the character talk at that point would demystify him too much, and because the act of Michael handing Laurie the photograph of them together was enough.

 

Describing aspects of Michael Myers which he wanted to explore in the comic book Halloween: Nightdance, writer Stefan Hutchinson mentions the character's "bizarre and dark sense of humor", as seen when he wore a sheet over his head to trick a girl into thinking he was her boyfriend, and the satisfaction he gets from scaring the characters before he murders them, such as letting Laurie know he is stalking her. Hutchinson feels there is a perverse nature to Michael's actions: "see the difference between how he watches and pursues women to men". He also suggests that Michael Myers' hometown of Haddonfield is the cause of his behaviour, likening his situation to that of Jack the Ripper, citing Myers as a "product of normal surburbia - all the repressed emotion of fake Norman Rockwell smiles". Hutchinson describes Michael as a "monster of abjection". When asked his opinion of Rob Zombie's expansion on Michael's family life, Hutchinson says that explaining why Michael does what he does "[reduces] the character". That being said, Hutchinson explores the nature of evil in the short story Charlie—included in the Halloween Nightdance trade paperback—and says that Michael Myers spent fifteen years "attuning himself to this force to the point where he is, as Loomis says, 'pure evil'". Nightdance artist Tim Seeley describes the character's personality in John Carpenter's 1978 film as "a void", which allows the character to be more open to interpretation than the later sequels alloted him. He surmises that Michael embodies a part of everyone; a part people are afraid will one day "snap and knife someone", which lends to the fear that Michael creates on screen.

 

A study was conducted by California State University's Media Psychology Lab, on the psychological appeal of movie monsters—Vampires, Freddy Krueger, Frankenstein's monster, Jason Voorhees, Godzilla, Chucky, Hannibal Lecter, King Kong, The Alien, and the shark from Jaws—which surveyed 1,166 people nationwide (United States), with ages ranging from 16 to 91. It was published in the Journal of Media Psychology. In the survey, Michael was considered to be the "embodiment of pure evil"; when compared to the other characters, Michael Myers was rated the highest. Michael was characterized lending to the understanding of insanity, being ranked second to Hannibal Lecter in this category; he also placed first as the character who shows audiences the "dark side of human nature". He was rated second in the category "monster enjoys killing" by the participants, and believed to have "superhuman strength". Michael was rated highest among the characters in the "monster is an outcast" category.

 

In popular culture

 

In Robot Chicken's nineteenth episode, "That Hurts Me", Michael Myers (voiced by Seth Green) appears as a housemate of "Horror Movie Big Brother", alongside other famous slasher movie killers such as Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and Leatherface. Myers is evicted from the house, and takes off his mask to reveal himself to be the comedian Mike Myers, and utters his Austin Powers catchphrase, "I feel randy, baby, yeah!" He then proceeds to kill the host. Michael appeared on the April 25, 2008 episode of Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, titled "Horror Show". Here, a spirit communicates with Hewitt's character by placing her in scenes from the deceased's favorite horror movies, and one of the scenes involved Michael Myers. The Cold Case episode "Bad Night" has the main characters reopening a 1978 murder case after new evidence indicates the victim was not killed by a mentally disturbed man who, after seeing Halloween in theatres, went on a killing spree dressed as Michael. Michael Myers makes a cameo appearance in Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, released on September 22, 2009.

 

In the collection of short stories The Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams, a character, while looking through a book entitled Beasts Who Walk As Men: A Case History of America's Vilest Serial Killers, finds a page in it mentioning Michael, as well as Jason Voorhees and the Sawyer family.

 

In one of the various merchandises to feature the character, Michael Myers made his video game debut with the 1983 Atari video game Halloween. The game is rare to find, often being played on emulators. No characters from the films are specifically named, with the goal of the game focusing on the player, who is a babysitter, protecting children from a "homicidal maniac [who] has escaped from a mental institution".

 

Michael was one of several horror icons to be included in the 2009 version of Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights event, as a part of a maze entitled Halloween: The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers.

 

[knightni]

8. The Shark (Jaws)

 

 

(7 of 16 lists - 95 points - highest ranking #5 GoSox05)

 

During an evening beach party on the fictional Amity Island in New England, Chrissie Watkins, a 23-year-old woman, leaves a beach party to go skinny dipping, only to be dragged back and forth violently and then under the water. Amity's police chief, Martin Brody, is notified that Christine is missing, and deputy Len Hendricks finds her remains on the beach. The medical examiner informs Brody that the death was due to a shark attack.

 

A short time later, a boy is killed by a shark at the beach. The boy's mother places a bounty on the shark, sparking an amateur shark-hunting frenzy and attracting the attention of local professional shark hunter Quint. Brought in by Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper examines Christine's remains and concludes she was killed by a shark, not a boat.

 

A prank by two boys causes misguided panic and the real shark enters a nearby estuary, killing a man and causing Brody's son to go into shock after witnessing the attack. Brody convinces Vaughan to hire Quint. Quint reluctantly allows Hooper to join the hunt along with Brody. The three set out to catch or kill the shark aboard Quint's vessel, the Orca.

 

Brody is given the task of laying a chum line while Quint uses fishing tackle to try to hook the shark. As Brody continues chumming, an enormous great white shark looms up behind the boat; the trio watch the great white circle the Orca while Hooper takes pictures of the shark for research purposes. They estimate it weighs 3 short tons (2.7 t) and is 25 feet (7.6 m) long. Quint harpoons the shark with a line attached to a flotation barrel, designed to prevent the shark from submerging and to track it on the surface, but the shark pulls the barrel under and disappears.

 

The shark reappears, damaging the boat's hull before slipping away. In the morning, the men make repairs to the engine. Attempting to call the Coast Guard for help, Brody is stopped by Quint, who destroys the radio with a baseball bat. After a long chase Quint harpoons another barrel to the shark. The men tie the barrels to the stern, but the shark, after Quint harpoons it again adding a third barrel, drags the boat backwards, forcing water onto the deck and into the engine, flooding it. Quint is about to cut the ropes when the cleats are pulled off the stern. The shark continues attacking the boat and Quint heads toward shore with the shark in pursuit, hoping to draw the animal into shallow waters, where it will get beached and, once unable to swim, suffocate. In his obsession to kill the shark, Quint overtaxes Orca's engines, causing them to stall.

 

With the boat immobilized, the trio try a desperate approach: Hooper dons his SCUBA gear and enters the ocean inside a shark proof cage in order to stab the shark in the mouth with a hypodermic spear filled with strychnine. When the shark attacks and begins destroying the cage, Hooper drops his spear. The shark gets tangled in the cage's remains, allowing Hooper to escape to the seabed. As Quint and Brody raise the remnants of the cage, the shark throws itself onto the boat, crushing the transom. As the boat sinks, Quint slides down the slippery deck into the shark's mouth and is eaten alive. Brody retreats to the boat's partly submerged cabin. When the shark attacks him there, he shoves a pressurized scuba tank into the shark's mouth, then takes Quint's rifle and climbs the Orca's mast. Brody shoots at the tank wedged in the shark's mouth, causing it to explode and blow the shark to pieces. Hooper emerges, and the two make rafts out of the Orca's remains to paddle back to Amity Island.

 

Sequels

 

The film spawned three sequels, all of which failed to match the success of the original. Indeed, their combined domestic grosses barely cover half of the original's. Spielberg was unavailable to do a sequel, as he was working on Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Richard Dreyfuss. Jaws 2 was directed by Jeannot Szwarc; Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, and Jeffrey Kramer reprised their roles from the original film. It is generally regarded as the best of the sequels. The next film, Jaws 3-D, directed by Joe Alves, was released in the 3-D format, although the effect did not transfer to television or home video, where it was renamed Jaws 3. Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr. starred in the movie. Jaws: The Revenge, directed by Joseph Sargent, featured the return of Lorraine Gary and starred Michael Caine, is considered one of the worst movies ever made. While all three sequels made a profit at the box office (Jaws 2 and Jaws 3-D are among the top 20 highest-grossing films of their respective years), critics and audiences were generally dissatisfied with the films.

 

Legacy

A large replica of the film's shark hangs from a wooden frame. A sign next to it says "Jaws" and a man standing nearby is about a third of the height of the shark. A pulley and rope are used to pretend to hold the shark's mouth open.

"JAWS" on display at Universal Studios Florida

 

Jaws was a key film in establishing the benefits of a wide national release backed by heavy media advertising, rather than a progressive release that let a film slowly enter new markets and build support over a period of time. It was also the first film to successfully use "wide release" as a distribution pattern, changing the then-usual handling of film distribution and marketing. Jaws and Star Wars are retrospectively considered to have marked the beginning of the new business model in American filmmaking and the beginning of the end of the New Hollywood period.

 

Similar to the fear of showers created by the pivotal scene in the 1960 film Psycho, Jaws caused many viewers to be afraid to enter the ocean. The film was credited with reduced beach attendance in the summer of 1975. Although it is considered a thriller-horror classic, the film is recognized as being responsible for perpetuating negative stereotypes about sharks and their behavior. Author Peter Benchley stated that he would not have written the original novel had he known what sharks are really like in the wild. Benchley later wrote Shark Trouble, a non-fiction book about shark behavior, and Shark Life, another non-fiction book describing his dives with sharks. Conservation groups have bemoaned the fact that the film has made it considerably harder to convince the public that sharks should be protected.

 

Jaws set the template for many future horror films, so much so that the script for Ridley Scott's 1979 science fiction film Alien was pitched to studio executives with the proposed tag line: "Jaws in space."

 

In the 2000s, an independent group of fans produced a feature-length documentary. The Shark is Still Working features interviews with a range of cast and crew from the film, and some from the sequels. It is narrated by Roy Scheider and dedicated to Peter Benchley, who died in 2006.

 

 

 

[knightni]

7. The Terminator (T-800)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 107 points - highest ranking #4 BigEdWalsh)

 

"The Terminator" (also known as the T-800, T-850 or T-101) refers to a number of fictional characters portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger – a cyborg, initially portrayed as a programmable assassin and military infiltration unit. "The Terminator" character first appeared as the titular antagonist in The Terminator, a 1984 film directed and co-written by James Cameron, and its sequels. The first film in the series features only one cyborg: the one portrayed by Schwarzenegger, although a second Terminator played by Franco Columbu is shown in a future flashback scene. In the first two sequels, Schwarzenegger's Terminator is pitted against other Terminators; it appears briefly in the third sequel as a CGI model. In the sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Schwarzenegger reprises the role, but with a twist: Schwarzenegger is the hero instead of the villain playing a different but visually identical Terminator in each of the three films. Within the Terminator universe created by Cameron, Terminators of the same "model" share identical characteristics. In the production of the films, this has allowed multiple Terminators to be portrayed by Schwarzenegger. In the context of the stories, this plot device provides a certain continuity for the human characters, by exploiting their emotional familiarity with a particular "human" visage.

 

"The Terminator" is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the credits of the three Terminator movies. At different times, the character is given more specific designations such as model and series numbers, in efforts to distinguish Schwarzenegger's character from other Terminators. The Terminator appears in Terminator Salvation. Schwarzenegger reprises the role via facial CGI (he was unable to appear in person as he was Governor of California at the time), while the character itself is physically portrayed by Roland Kickinger. The title has also been used as a generic name for other human-simulating characters in the "Terminator" universe, notably the liquid metal shape-shifting T-1000 antagonist in the sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

 

The Terminator from the original film was ranked #22 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list of villains and was also ranked #14 on Empire's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters. The Terminator from the second film was ranked #48 on AFI's list of heroes.

 

Character nomenclature

 

The end credits of the first three Terminator films list Schwarzenegger's character as simply "The Terminator". Later films call the newer terminator characters by their series numbers (T-1000, T-X, etc.). The only consistent name for Schwarzenegger's Terminator character has been "The Terminator". Kyle Reese in The Terminator and Schwarzenegger's character in Terminator 2 refer to it as a "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101." In Terminator 3, the Terminator refers to itself as a "T-101," which could be an abbreviation of its model number.

 

In Terminator Salvation, the T2 Extreme Edition DVD, and the Terminator 2 video game he is referred to as an 800 series and a T-800. The T3 extras refer to him as an "850 series Model 101", a "T-850", and a "T-101".

 

Additionally, most merchandising for T2 and T3 - both at the time of their original releases and retroactively - (e.g. Action Masters miniatures, Cinemaquette statues, Sideshow Collectables replicas, Hollywood Collectibles statuettes, ArtFX kits, Medicom figures, Hot Toys, and McFarlane Toys) have all used the T-800 and T-850 nomenclature, contributing to this designation having arguably the most popular and widely disseminated usage, especially in direct juxtaposition to the explicitly named T-600s and T-1000. Terminator Salvation has the first on-screen usage of the term T-800, when John Connor sees blueprints of said series' endoskeleton.

 

In the T2 commentary, Cameron states that the Model 101s all look like Schwarzenegger, with a 102 looking like someone else, leading to speculation that the 101 refers to the physical appearance while the 800 refers to the endoskeleton common to many models. A scene deleted from the theatrical cut, but restored in the Terminator 2 Special Edition, lends the most credence to this explanation. In this scene, John and Sarah shut down The Terminator for modification according to his instructions. When he reboots, the upper-left of his HUD reads "Cyberdyne Systems Series 800 Model 101 Version 2.4". Additionally, the original Terminator 2 teaser trailer further verifies this on a display monitor during cyborg tissue generation, referencing the Series 800 Model 101.

 

Role in the series

 

A Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the main antagonist in The Terminator, the original Terminator film. An identical Series 800 Model 101, having been reprogrammed by the resistance in the future, is one of the protagonists in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Schwarzenegger plays an updated T-850 unit, with the same outward appearance as the Series 800. His character is destroyed at the end of each of these films. The fourth installment, Terminator Salvation, reveals the origin of the 101 Model. Roland Kickinger was cast as the principal actor but CGI was used to superimpose Schwarzenegger's face from the original 1984 film.

 

The original Terminator was sent to terminate a single target, Sarah Connor, in 1984, to prevent the birth of her son, John, the future leader of the human resistance. It survives being caught in a truck exploding, though it is fully revealed as a machine. The Terminator was finally crushed in a hydraulic press by Sarah after a lengthy chase. However, its damaged main CPU and right arm were recovered by Cyberdyne. These artifacts were used to dramatically advance the technological level and direction of the research at Cyberdyne, paradoxically leading to the creation of Skynet. But its remains were destroyed at the end of the second movie when John threw them in the molten metal vat.

 

Schwarzenegger's Terminator's role was reversed in the second film. He was reprogrammed by the future John Connor and sent back to protect his younger self from the T-1000. This Terminator is taught how to speak in slang-like terms like "Hasta La Vista". At the end of the film, he orders Sarah to lower him into a molten metal vat in order to destroy the CPU, though John wanted him to stay with them.

 

In the third film, he is again portrayed as the hero, this time protecting John and his future wife Kate Brewster from a T-X. He tells John he postponed Judgment Day, because the original planned Judgment Day, August 29, 1997, passed without incident. They are also running from Judgment Day, trying to postpone it again, but they fail. They run for protection and the Terminator is destroyed when it jams its remaining hydrogen fuel cell into the T-X's mouth (with a cold remark of "You are terminated!"), resulting in a massive detonation that destroys them both.

 

In the fourth film, the Terminator makes a brief cameo, though once again as an antagonist. Being the very first T-800 produced, it engages John Connor in battle during Connor's attempt to rescue Kyle Reese from the Skynet base in San Francisco. John holds his own with his advanced weaponry, but is unable to stop the Terminator until it is drenched in molten metal and then liquid nitrogen, freezing it temporarily. As John begins planting hydrogen fuel cells (similar to the ones powering the model from Terminator 3) around to blow the base up, the Terminator resumes its attack but is intercepted by Marcus Wright. Although the Terminator succeeds in stabbing John through the heart, Marcus finishes the fight by ramming a metal bar through the Terminator's neck and twisting its head off, killing it. According to Cameron, this Terminator was supposed to be the first Terminator of its kind to be covered with human flesh and skin.

 

Characteristics

 

In the fictional Terminator universe, the Terminator is a formidable robotic assassin and soldier, designed by the military supercomputer Skynet for infiltration and combat duty, towards the ultimate goal of exterminating the human resistance. It can speak naturally, copy the voices of others, read human handwriting, and even genuinely sweat, smell, and bleed. To detect the Terminators, who are otherwise indistinguishable from humans, the human resistance uses dogs to alert humans to their presence. The most notable science fiction characteristics are that of an expert system featuring strong AI functionality combined with machine learning, and the system can interpret arbitrary non-formalized tasks. The other notable science fiction component is that of a power source which can last 120 years.

 

A trait persistent throughout the series is the faint red (or blue in the case of the T-X Terminatrix) glow of the "eyes" when online, which dim to nothing when a Terminator shuts down. In all four movies, the lack of the glow has been used to show when one is out of action. The trait is so characteristic that light-up eyes are often found on Terminator merchandise, with some even replicating the dimming/reillumination effect that occurs during shut down or start up.

 

Construction

 

A description from Kyle Reese from the film "The Terminator" states that:

 

The Terminator is an infiltration unit, part man-part machine. Underneath it's a hyperalloy combat chassis, microprocessor controlled, fully armored, very tough. But outside it's living human tissue. Flesh, skin, hair, blood, grown for the cyborgs.

 

As seen in the movies, a Terminator can withstand standard 20th century firearms, crash through walls intact, and survive explosions to some degree. Repeated shotgun blasts have enough force to knock it down and temporarily disable it, while heavy amounts of automatic fire are able to compromise the organic disguise layer. In the second film, the Terminator says he can run for 120 years on his existing power cell. In the finale to Terminator 2, his power source is damaged, and he is able to find an alternate source, described on the DVD commentary as heat sinks, harnessing the thermal energy from the hot surroundings. In the third film, the Terminator - an 850 series rather than the 800 series depicted in the first two films - operates on two hydrogen fuel cells and discards one of them early due to damage. It explodes shortly thereafter with enough force to produce a small mushroom cloud.

 

The endoskeleton is actuated by a powerful network of hydraulic servomechanisms, making Terminators superhumanly strong. For instance, in the third movie, Schwarzenegger's character was able to handle firing a Browning .30 machine gun from the hip with one hand, while holding a coffin containing an alive John Connor and a heavy cache of weapons, showing no signs of the extra weight being any real concern.

 

Late in the first film, the Terminator is stripped of its organic elements by fire. What remains is the machine itself, in James Cameron's own words "a chrome skeleton, like death rendered in steel." In the later Terminator films, armies of endoskeleton-only Terminators are seen. They are visually identical to the one in the first film, and feature prominently in the "future war" sequences of those films.

 

CPU

 

The Terminator CPU is a room-temperature superconducting artificial neural network with the ability to learn. In Terminator 2, The Terminator states that "the more contact [he] has with humans, the more [he] learns." In the original film, he learns how to swear from the punks he encounters in the beginning of the film. In the Special Edition, he says that Skynet "presets the switch to 'read-only' when [Terminators] are sent out alone", to prevent them from "thinking too much". Sarah and John activate his learning ability, after which he becomes more curious and begins trying to understand and imitate human behavior. This leads to his use of the catchphrase "Hasta la vista, baby." A line spoken by the Terminator at the end of the movie shows that Terminators have the potential to understand emotion: "I know now why you cry, but it is something I can never do." Sarah muses in the closing narration that the Terminator had "learned the value of human life". The terminator's developing appreciation for life and emotion was also displayed shortly before its destruction when John was frantically trying to convince it not to be destroyed, to which it replied "I'm sorry, John." An apology would have been an unlikely action for a machine with no emotional comprehension.

 

Organic covering

 

The flesh-covering that is used on the majority of Terminator models has similar qualities to real human muscle and skin, as well as the ability to sweat, simulate breathing, and produce realistic body odor. Although Terminator flesh does contain blood, it only displays very minimal bleeding when damaged and has never been shown to experience any kind of profuse bleeding even from massive lacerations, dozens of gunshot wounds, or even complete removal. In the absence of a circulatory system, the flesh uses a system of "nanobots" which maintain the skin. It is unknown what biological processes take place to sustain the flesh covering, since Terminators do not require the consumption of food. Under 2007-era analysis, this blood is shown to be similar to human blood, using a synthetic oxygen carrier rather than human red blood cells, as Terminator endoskeletons contain no bone marrow. Terminator flesh heals by itself, and at a much faster rate than normal human tissue and has never been shown to bruise or discolor from trauma, even after several days. However, a Terminator's flesh covering can die if it sustains adequately massive damage, at which point it takes on a waxy, corpse-like pallor and begins to decompose.

 

Although clearly not the normal procedure, a bare T-888 endoskeleton is able to grow itself a new flesh covering using 2007 technology (with the assistance of a geneticist and its own knowledge of future formulae) by submerging itself in a blood-like bath. This improvised process results in a deformed covering that has the appearance of a burn victim and lacks its own biological eyes, requiring it to steal some and subsequently undergo cosmetic surgery to produce a more normal appearance. The theft of the eyes suggests that Terminator flesh is capable of accepting some degree of organ grafts from ordinary humans, that it can circumvent transplant rejection, and is capable of sustaining the life of the grafted tissue via its own unknown biological process.

 

Physical template

 

It has been shown that Terminators' flesh coverings are somehow grown identically, producing many multiple copies of exactly the same physical appearance, indicating the use of specific physical templates for different variations of a model or series. The most well known is that worn by multiple T-800/850 Model 101 units portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger; a scene in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles displays a memory of a T-888 model, referred to as "Vick", facing a room (presumably in the factory where he was created) of several dozen units sharing an identical template to himself, naked and moving in unison to his direction.

 

The 'Arnold' model came to be known as the 101, which refers to its likeness and skin type. A deleted scene from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines reveals that the Model 101's appearance was based on Chief Master Sergeant William Candy, with his Southern accent replaced by the more menacing voice of one of the developers. One part of the scene shows Candy next to a partially complete endoskeleton, indicating that the Terminators were being developed by humans before Judgment Day. This contradicts information from the first film, where Kyle Reese refers to the Model 101 as "new", replacing the older rubber-skinned 600 series, also seen in Terminator Salvation. The T-800 is shown to be stronger both physically, tearing a malfunctioning T-600 in half. It's also the first model to be manufactured using a titanium alloy. However, titanium loses strength when heated above 430 °C (806 °F) which later prompted Skynet's decision to use Coltan, which is also referred as columbite–tantalite, for better heat resistance as its metal base as stated in "Terminator-The Sarah Connor Chronicles"; it is also used for the T-850 and T-888 models. According to Terminator Salvation, the T-800 was the first terminator to have a human styled skeleton built using coltan and titanium alloy. The earlier Terminators had a bulkier appearance.

 

An entirely different origin of the Model 101's physical and vocal templates was provided in the novel T2: Infiltrator (published prior to T3), in the form of former counter-terrorist Dieter von Rossbach. The reason stated for copying Dieter was that Skynet was looking in the old military files for someone whose body could effectively conceal the Terminator's massive endoskeleton.

 

The music video for the Guns N' Roses song "You Could Be Mine" shows a T-800 having its flesh covering applied by a large industrial mold.

 

[knightni]

6. Pennywise (It)

 

 

(6 of 16 lists - 119 points - highest ranking #4 pittshoganerkoff)

 

Pennywise the Clown or "It" is from a novel and a 1990 television miniseries by horror writer Stephen King.

 

"It" is an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears allowing it to exploit the fears and phobias of its victims, while also disguising itself when hunting.

 

Children encounter the mysterious, monster haunting their home town of Derry, Maine. The monster usually appears as the thing the child victim most fears before taking the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. It appears every 30 years to feed (1930, 1960, and 1990 in the film.)

 

"It"'s true form has living white lights called the "Deadlights" that can either instantly kill or hypnotize anyone who looks directly at them. It hides in the sewers because its true form is of a monstrous, spider-like creature.

 

During the climax of It, the monster appears to be killed by disembowelment and ripping out its heart. However, at the close of the film, Pennywise is heard laughing - hinting that he may return.

 

English comedic actor Tim Curry (Clue, Spamalot, Rocky Horror) played Pennywise in the film.

 

Critics have said that the novel and miniseries have been a major contributor to society's growing Coulrophobia.

 

[knightni]

5. T-1000 (Terminator 2)

 

 

(7 of 16 lists - 128 points - highest ranking #1 LittleHurt05)

 

The T-1000 is a fictional nanomorph mimetic poly-alloy (liquid metal) assassin and the main antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day controlled by the series main antagonist Skynet. The T-1000 is portrayed primarily by Robert Patrick; however, being a shape-shifter, the T-1000 is played by other actors in some scenes of the film. In Terminator 2, the T-1000 is presented as a technological leap over the "800 Series" Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Described by Allmovie as "one of the most memorable roles in one of the most memorable films of the decade", Patrick's portrayal of the T-1000 earned him nominations for Best Villain and Best Supporting Actor at the 1992 MTV and Saturn Awards and was ranked #39 in the Online Film Critics Society's "Top 100 Villains of All Time" in 2002.

 

A similar Terminator appears in the 2007-08 FOX television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where it is referred to as a "T-1001".

 

Description

 

In the Terminator 2 storyline, the T-1000 is made of "liquid metal". Schwarzenegger's character explains that the T-1000 is a more advanced Terminator, composed entirely of a mimetic metal alloy, rendering it capable of rapid shapeshifting, near-perfect mimicry and rapid recovery from damage. Furthermore, it can use its ability to quickly liquify and assume forms in innovative and surprising ways, including fitting through narrow openings, morphing its arms into solid metal tools or bladed weapons, walking through prison bars, and flattening itself on the ground to hide or ambush targets. The T-1000 also had the ability to extrude small, simple items from itself. For example, it created a motorcycle helmet and a pair of sunglasses when these items were necessary for its disguise (the Motorcycle cop disguise is used for the T-1000 toy action figure). The T-1000 can also change its color and texture to simulate flesh, clothing, and other nonmetallic materials. It is capable of accurately mimicking voices as well, including the ability to extrapolate a relatively small voice sample to generate any words or inflections it requires.

 

The T-1000 is effectively impervious to mechanical damage, such as being dismembered, shot with bullets, or attacked with explosive devices. Wounds close almost immediately, and any detached parts simply flow back into the T-1000's body. In T:2, this Terminator was even frozen using liquid nitrogen and shattered, but the pieces simply flowed back together after thawing. Temperature-based attacks are effective, however. Low temperatures can cause the liquid metal to freeze, which inhibits its ability to move or shapeshift. High temperatures degrade its ability to maintain a disguise; after emerging from a burning truck, the T-1000 appeared in its default liquid-metal state and was only able to reestablish its policeman disguise after cooling for several seconds. Only extremely high temperatures, such as molten steel used in the climax of T:2, are capable of disassociating its molecular structure and permanently destroying it.

 

The Special Edition DVD release contains additional scenes in the steel foundry showing that the effects of being frozen and shattered caused the T-1000 to glitch, causing its extremities to morph and match into its surroundings against the T-1000's will (such as its hand latching on and taking on the metallic texture and caution striping of a guardrail). In the Special Edition, this glitch is what enabled John Connor to see through its ruse when it impersonated his mother. The DVD also contains a Deleted Scene where the T-1000 uses its hands to "scan" John Connor's bedroom for genetic and psychological information, including DNA, an ability it may have in common with the T-X.

 

The T-1000 and T-1001 often attempt to accomplish their goals by subterfuge instead of brute force. For example, in Terminator 2, it disguises itself as a police officer to gain trust, access information, and provide a benign appearance. It also imitates family members of its human target to gain that person's confidence. In fact, the T-1000 is able to pass as human, possessing a larger repertoire of emotional expression and interpersonal skills than earlier Terminator models. In one scene in Terminator 2, disguised as a police officer, it holds a conversation with John Connor's foster parents in an attempt to learn Connor's location. It is also capable of exploiting the emotions of its targets, as in the steel foundry when it tortured Sarah Connor to call out for her son, knowing that she would respond accordingly. In addition, it is able to express fear or pain, demonstrated when the T-1000 gives a brief look of shock after the T-800 shoots a grenade into its stomach, and when it writhes in agony after falling into a vat of molten metal.

 

The T-1000 did have weaknesses compared to the T-800. Although both types were impervious to small arms fire, the T-1000 frequently suffered knockback which delayed its pursuit efforts, while the T-800 had a sturdier frame.

 

Film

 

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the T-1000 is sent by Skynet back in time to kill a young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the Human Resistance against the machines. The T-1000 ambushes a Los Angeles Police Department police officer on arrival and takes on his identity, tracking down John Connor through the police cruiser's on-board computer and eventually confronting him in a shopping mall, where it meets a T-800 Model 101 like the one from the first Terminator film. The audience is misdirected up to this point. In the first film, two men appear from the future, a Terminator sent by Skynet, and a human protector sent by the Resistance. In the second film, two men appear from the future, a Terminator T-800 model like the one from the first film, and a second man. The audience is initially left to assume that the second man is the new human protector sent by the Resistance. But when the two men finally meet, there is a plot twist, and the second man is also a Terminator. Schwarzenegger's Terminator - the same model as the one which was the assassin in the first film - is the new protector sent by the Resistance, while Patrick's Terminator is the new Terminator sent by Skynet, a reversal of the roles from the first Terminator film. There are clues leading up to the confrontation in the mall, such as when the T-1000 kills a police officer by stabbing him in the stomach with his bare hand (although it is not explicitly shown and can easily be misinterpreted as the T-1000 merely punching the man out). It is also noted that while the T-800 protector does have similar mannerism and modus operandi to his assassin counterpart (notably being involved in brawls to acquire clothing), the protector has not killed any innocent bystanders unlike the T-800 assassin and T-1000.

 

The T-1000 confronts the protagonists at the psychiatric institution where Sarah Connor is being held, demonstrating impressive abilities, such as flattening itself into a thin 'carpet' of metal or oozing through prison-style bars while maintaining the shape of a walking man. It then predicts that the Connors will try to prevent Skynet from being invented, and confronts them at Cyberdyne Systems Corporation headquarters. It hijacks a helicopter and gives chase. While flying, it sprouts two more hands, two to fly the helicopter and two to reload and fire the MP5K submachine gun. The chase ends when it crashes a liquid nitrogen truck into a steel mill.

 

When it exits the wrecked truck, the T-1000 is frozen solid by liquid nitrogen spilling from its ruptured tank. The T-800 shatters the T-1000 with a gunshot, but the high temperatures inside the mill soon melt the fragments and the T-1000 reforms itself. After a short hunt, it tracks down John, who is confronted by two seemingly identical versions of his mother – one of which is the T-1000 in disguise. Finally, The T-800 fires a grenade at the T-1000, causing enough damage to disrupt it significantly. Although it attempts to reform itself, it stumbles and falls backwards into a vat of molten steel, and the T-1000, unable to stand the high temperature of the steel corrupting its alloy and design, screams before finally being dissolved away into the molten steel.

 

Despite failing to eliminate John Connor, it is later revealed in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines that the T-1000 "inadvertently interfered" with the development of his relationships with Kate Brewster (Claire Danes/Bryce Dallas Howard), whom he attended school with, and her father, Robert (David Andrews), who was the true creator of Skynet by using Cyberdyne Systems' research.

 

Terminator 5

 

McG, the director of Terminator Salvation, said that the T-1000 will be reintroduced in the fifth film: "I like the idea and the perspective for the next picture that you meet Robert Patrick the way he looks today, and he's a scientist that's working on, you know, improving cell replication so we can stay healthier and we can cure diabetes and do all these things that sound like good ideas, and to once again live as idealized expressions as ourselves." He also said the origin story they had in mind for the T-1000 would satirize the world's "obsession" with youth and aging. However, due to the bankruptcy of the Halcyon Company, and Pacificor's purchase of the Terminator rights and talks with Lionsgate and Sony for Terminator 5, it is unknown if this will be the story that is used.

 

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

 

A T-1001 Terminator, a second liquid metal prototype, is introduced in the 2008 television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles at the start of the show's second season (though sometimes misidentified as a T-1000 by reviewers). It masquerades as Catherine Weaver (Shirley Manson), the co-founder and current CEO of ZeiraCorp. "Weaver" often has mixed results when socially interacting both with subordinates at ZeiraCorp and Weaver's daughter Savannah (portrayed by Mackenzie Smith), but was written with an improved ability to adapt to and sustain itself in changing situations more adeptly than prior Terminators. However, it has been unable to make convincing smiles or relate to people, despite being more advanced than the T-1000, which seemed to be better at social interaction. Although, she was able to successfully lead a company and use literary allegories.

 

The T-1001's mission remains unclear throughout the television series, but diverts from the single-minded attempts to assassinate the Connors, as seen in the prior films. Through most of the TV series, the T-1001, as well as Sarah Connor and her allies, did not appear to be aware of each other's existence. As the head of ZeiraCorp, the T-1001 diverts that company's resources into developing an artificial intelligence, titled 'Project Babylon' which appeared sufficient to combat Skynet's development. Catherine Weaver is first seen in the second season opener when she purchases the late Andy Goode's Turk computer system for $300,000 from an associate and then introduces this new computer system to her department heads to reveal her plans to create a new artificial intelligence computer system. Towards this end, Catherine Weaver recruits FBI Special Agent James Ellison to find and capture a Terminator in order to reverse engineer it using a variety of deceptions. Until the end of the series, Ellison is never aware of Weaver's true nature. Ellison delivers a T-888 Terminator's body to Weaver after it was critically damaged by Connor's Terminator bodyguard. The T-1001 advocates learning more about the 'robots' ironically in order to prevent Judgment Day. With Ellison's initial mission complete, it assigns him to act as tutor/mentor to the now incapacitated (and rebooted) T-888, which Weaver nicknames "John Henry".

 

John Henry quickly identifies Weaver as a machine, albeit different from itself, but obeys Weaver's instruction not to share that information with anyone, assuring him that everything done at ZeiraCorp is for John Henry's benefit. At one point, Weaver reveals a clue to the nature of its mission when it tells Ellison that Savannah's future safety is dependent upon John Henry, but that the reverse is not the case. This appears to be in contradiction to assumption that Weaver was coordinating the efforts to develop Skynet to eradicate humanity.

 

In the TV series, the true nature of the T-1001's entire mission is never revealed, and much of what Weaver does in furtherance of it seems contradictory. In one of the episodes that shifts between the present day and post-Judgment Day, it is learned that leader of the resistance, John Connor, asked a liquid metal Terminator to join him, and the Terminator refused. In the series finale, by way of introduction, the T-1001 asks (using the same phrase) the same of Connor (and his bodyguard Cameron, who was privy to the aforementioned events in the future) through Ellison, sent as intermediary.

 

Also in the season/series finale, when Sarah Connor and John Connor finally meet Catherine Weaver face-to-face at her office, Ellison, Sarah, and John all discover Weaver's true nature when she uses her Terminator liquid metal abilities to form a shield to protect them from a flying Kaliba Corp drone which crash-dives into the ZeiraCorp building. When Sarah Connor discovers that ZeiraCorp possesses Andy Goode's Turk, she assumes that Weaver is constructing Skynet but Weaver corrects her by stating that she is "building something to fight it." Upon entering the basement, the four discover that John Henry has transported himself to the future with Cameron's chip, leaving Cameron's empty body. When Ellison and Sarah Connor decline to jump forward in time with Weaver and John Connor, Weaver instructs Ellison to pick up Savannah from school.

 

Weaver then transports itself and John Connor to a post-Judgment Day future in which John Connor is not known to the human resistance. Though Connor and the T-1001 arrived naked, the T-1001 forms "clothing" a moment later. After briefly talking to John, the Terminator slips away when the human resistance encounters John, thus leaving its whereabouts unknown.

 

Comics

 

In the Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Nuclear Twilight comic published by Malibu Comics in 1996, an injured Tech-Com soldier named "Griff" is abducted by a troop of T-800 Terminators and brought back to Skynet. He is drugged and, while in a delirious state (believing he has died and gone to Heaven), questioned by Skynet about Tech-Com's acquisition of a T-800 unit. After he has supplied all the information he is aware of, two T-1000 Terminators enter the room, both assuming his appearance before killing him. One of these T-1000 units is then sent to infiltrate the human resistance, the other sent through time to kill John Connor as outlined in the Terminator 2 movie. In the simultaneously published Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Cybernetic Dawn, set just after the film, a female T-1000 and two T-800s come to the present to make sure the creation of Skynet happens as planned.

 

Creation

 

Teaser trailers for Terminator 2 deliberately withheld the notion that the T-1000 character was the villain. A tagline for the film was "This time there are two. Terminator 2."

 

Director James Cameron had originally chosen rock musician Billy Idol to play the T-1000 and had drawn storyboards to resemble him, but a serious motorcycle accident prevented Idol from accepting the role. On the Terminator 2 DVD, writer/director James Cameron describes his casting of Robert Patrick as a deliberate contrast to the original Terminator character portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger: "I wanted to find someone who would be a good contrast to Arnold. If the 800 series is a kind of human Panzer tank, then the 1000 series had to be a Porsche." Originally, he thought of casting actor Michael Biehn, who played Kyle Reese in The Terminator, in the role with the explanation that Skynet managed to clone Reese's body and use it for a new Terminator. Cameron ultimately dropped this idea after deciding the audience would find it too confusing.

 

The visual effects used in Terminator 2 to create the T-1000 won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. The development of computer-generated imagery (CGI) by Industrial Light & Magic to manipulate, re-create, and "morph" the image of an actor was used in the creation of the T-1000 character in the film. According to the book The Winston Effect: The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio, however, of the 15 minutes that the T-1000 displays its morphing and healing abilities, only 6 of those minutes were accomplished with pure computer graphics. The other 9 were achieved in camera with the use of advanced puppets and prosthetic effects created by the Stan Winston studio, who were also responsible for the metal skeleton effects of the T-800.

 

Entity FX, Inc. is responsible for the visual effects of the T-1001 on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, along with the digital animation of endoskeletons, Hunter-Killers, and the future war sequences on the second season of the show. The company also contributed the digital imagery of feature films James Cameron's True Lies and Titanic.

 

http://youtu.be/e5gGV1WB-xg

[knightni]

4. John Doe (Se7en)

 

 

(9 of 16 lists - 128 points - highest ranking #3 kyyle23)

 

Detectives investigate a series of murders relating to the seven deadly sins, such as an obese man who was forced to feed himself to death, representing "Gluttony". They find clues at each crime scene related to other deaths, and believe they are chasing a serial killer. A set of fingerprints found at the scene of the "Greed" murder — the fatal bloodletting of a rich attorney — leads them to an apartment where they find an emaciated man strapped to a bed. Though he initially appears to be dead, it soon is discovered that the man, a drug dealer and sexual deviant before his captivity, has been kept alive and entirely immobile by the killer for exactly one year to the day. This victim, who dies soon after being found, represents "Sloth". Though unable to learn anything from the insentient victim, the detectives agree that the killer has planned these crimes for more than a year.

 

Using illegally obtained library records, Detectives Somerset and Mills track down a man named John Doe (Spacey), who has frequently checked out books related to the deadly sins. When Doe finds the detectives approaching his apartment, he opens fire on them and flees, chased by Mills. Eventually, Doe gains the upper hand and holds Mills at gunpoint, but then abruptly leaves. Investigation of Doe's apartment finds handwritten volumes of his irrational judgments and clues leading to another potential victim, but no fingerprints. They arrive too late to find their "Lust" victim, a prostitute killed by a man wearing a bladed S&M device, forced by Doe to simultaneously rape and kill her. Some time later, they investigate the death of a young model whose face had been mutilated. Having chosen to kill herself rather than live with a disfigured face, she is the victim of "Pride".

 

As they return to the police station, Doe unexpectedly appears to them and offers himself for arrest, with the blood of the model and an unidentified victim on his hands. They find out that he has been cutting the skin off his fingers to avoid leaving fingerprints. Through his lawyer, Doe claims he will lead the two detectives to the last two bodies and confess to the crimes, or otherwise will plead insanity. Though Somerset is worried, Mills agrees to the demand. Doe directs the two detectives to a remote desert area far from the city; along the way, he claims that God told him to punish the wicked and reveal the world for the awful place that it is. He also makes cryptic comments toward Mills.

 

After arriving at the location, a delivery van approaches. Somerset intercepts the driver, leaving Mills and Doe alone. The driver hands over a package he was instructed to deliver at precisely this time and location. While Mills holds Doe at gunpoint, Doe mentions how much he admires him, but does not say why. Somerset opens the package and recoils in horror at the sight of the contents. He races back to warn Mills not to listen to Doe, but the killer reveals that the box contains Tracy's head. Revealing that he purchased information about Mills by posing as a tabloid reporter, Doe claims to represent the sin of "Envy"; he was jealous of Mills' normal life, and killed Tracy after failing to "play husband" with her. He then taunts the distraught Mills with the knowledge that Tracy was pregnant. Somerset is unable to contain Mills as he unloads his gun into Doe, becoming the embodiment of "Wrath".

 

Kevin Spacey wasn't listed in the opening credits of the film so that John Doe's identity would remain a surprise.

 

[knightni]

3. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs series)

 

 

(10 of 16 lists - 199 points - highest ranking #1 kyyle23, BigEdWalsh)

 

Hannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.

 

Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. The novel and its sequel, The Silence of the Lambs, features Lecter as the secondary antagonist after the other two serial killers of each story. In the third novel, Hannibal, Lecter becomes the main character. His role as protagonist and anti-hero occurs in the fourth novel, Hannibal Rising, which explores his childhood and development into a serial killer.

 

The first film adapted from the Harris novels was Manhunter (based on Red Dragon) features Brian Cox as Lecter, spelled "Lecktor". In 2002, a second adaptation of Red Dragon was made under the original title, featuring Anthony Hopkins, who had played Lecter in the motion pictures The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Hopkins won an Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. In 2003, Hannibal Lecter (as portrayed by Hopkins) was chosen by the American Film Institute as the #1 movie villain.

 

Appearances

 

Novels

 

Hannibal Lecter is introduced in the 1981 novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist who is incarcerated after having been revealed to be a cannibalistic serial killer. In the backstory, FBI special agent Will Graham, who investigated Lecter's murders but was unaware of his involvement, initially consulted Lecter about the case before realizing he was the culprit; Lecter nearly killed Graham when he was captured. The plot finds Graham consulting Lecter in order to catch another serial killer, Francis Dolarhyde, known by the nickname "The Tooth Fairy". Through the classifieds of a tabloid, The National Tattler, Lecter provides Dolarhyde with Graham's home address, enabling him to disfigure Graham and attempt to kill his family.

 

In the 1988 sequel The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter assists an FBI agent-in-training named Clarice Starling in catching a serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". Lecter and Starling form an unusual relationship in which he provides her with a profile of the killer and his modus operandi in exchange for details about her unhappy childhood. Lecter had previously met Buffalo Bill, the former lover of his patient (and eventual victim) Benjamin Raspail; he keeps this information to himself, however, preferring to give Starling information in the form of clues and riddles designed to help her figure it out for herself. Lecter eventually stages a dramatic, bloody escape from captivity and disappears.

 

In the third novel, 1999's Hannibal, Lecter lives in Florence, Italy, under an assumed name, while Mason Verger, his surviving victim, attempts to capture Lecter with the intention of feeding him to wild boars. Verger enlists the help of Rinaldo Pazzi, a disgraced Italian police inspector, and Paul Krendler, a corrupt Justice Department official. Lecter kills Pazzi and returns to the United States to escape Verger's Sardinian henchmen, only to be captured. After helping kill Verger, Lecter rescues Starling (who had followed Lecter with the intent of arresting him herself, only to be overtaken by Verger's henchmen) takes her to his rented lake house to treat her, after she was shot with several tranquilizer darts. During her time there he keeps her sedated, attempting to transform her into his dead sister Mischa through a regimen of classical conditioning and mind-altering drugs. One day, he invites her to a formal dinner where the guest and first course is Paul Krendler, whose brain they consume together. On this night, Starling tells Lecter that Mischa's memory can live within him instead of taking her place. She then offers him her breast, and they become lovers. The novel ends three years later with the couple living in Argentina.

 

Subsequently, Harris wrote a 2006 prequel, Hannibal Rising, after film producer Dino De Laurentiis (who owned the cinematic rights to the Lecter character), announced that he was going to make a film depicting Lecter's childhood and development into a serial killer with or without Harris' help. (Harris would also write the film's screenplay). The novel chronicles Lecter's early life, from birth into an aristocratic family in Lithuania in 1933, to being orphaned, along with his beloved sister Mischa, in 1941 when a German Stuka bomber attacks the Soviet tank that was in front of their forest hideaway, collecting water. Shortly thereafter, Lecter and Mischa are captured by a band of Nazi collaborators turned deserters, who murder and cannibalize Mischa before her brother's eyes. Lecter is so traumatized that he is rendered temporarily mute and later becomes fixated on cannibalism. Lecter escapes from the deserters and takes up residence in an orphanage (where he is bullied by the other children and abused by the dean) until he turns 16, when he is adopted by his uncle Robert and his Japanese wife, Lady Murasaki. After his uncle dies, Lecter forms a close, pseudo-romantic relationship with his step-aunt; during this time he also shows great intellectual aptitude, entering medical school at a young age. During this period, he is tutored in the Japanese martial art of kenjutsu by Murasaki, who descended from a house of Hiroshima Samurai. Despite his seemingly comfortable life, Lecter is consumed by a savage obsession with avenging Mischa's death. He kills for the first time as a teenager, brutally murdering a fishmonger who insults Murasaki; he then methodically tracks down, tortures and murders each of the men who killed his sister, in the process forsaking his relationship with Murasaki and seemingly losing all traces of his humanity. The novel ends with Lecter being accepted into the Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

 

In film

 

Red Dragon was first adapted to film in 1986 as the Michael Mann film Manhunter. Due to copyright issues, the filmmakers changed the spelling of Lecter's name to "Lecktor". He was played by Scottish actor Brian Cox.

 

In 1991, Orion Pictures produced a Jonathan Demme-directed adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, in which Lecter was played by Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins' Academy Award–winning performance made Lecter into a cultural icon. In 2001, Hannibal was adapted to film, with Hopkins reprising his role. The ending for the film was changed from the novel due to the controversy that the novel's ending generated upon its release in 1999. In the 2001 film adaptation, Starling attempts to apprehend Lecter, who cuts off his own hand to free himself from her handcuffs. In 2002, Red Dragon was adapted again, this time under its original title, with Hopkins again as Lecter and Edward Norton as Will Graham.

 

In late 2006, the script for the film Hannibal Rising was adapted to novel format. The novel was written to explain Lecter's development into a serial killer. In the film, the young Lecter is portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel. Both the novel and the film received generally negative critical reception.

 

Concept and creation

 

Thomas Harris has given few interviews, and has never explained where he got inspiration for Hannibal Lecter. However, in a making-of documentary for the film version of Hannibal Rising, Lecter's early murders were said to be based on murders that Harris had covered when he was a crime reporter in the 1960s. In 1992, Harris also attended the ongoing trials of Pietro Pacciani, who was suspected of being the serial killer nicknamed the "Monster of Florence". Parts of the killer's modus operandi were used as reference for the novel Hannibal, which was released in 1999. In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Hopkins said that he used the characteristics of Katharine Hepburn and HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey as inspiration for his performance.

 

According to David Sexton, author of The Strange World of Thomas Harris: Inside the Mind of the Creator of Hannibal Lecter, Harris once told a librarian in Cleveland, Mississippi, that Lecter was inspired by William Coyne, a local murderer who had escaped from prison in 1934 and gone on a rampage that included acts of murder and cannibalism.

 

In her book Evil Serial Killers, Charlotte Greig asserts that the serial killer Albert Fish was the inspiration, at least in part, for Lecter. Greig also states that to explain Lecter's pathology, Harris borrowed the story of reported serial killer and cannibal Andrei Chikatilo's brother Stepan being kidnapped and eaten by starving neighbours (though she states that it is unclear whether the story was true or whether Stepan Chikatilo even existed).

 

Red Dragon firmly states that Lecter does not fit any known psychological profile. However, Lecter's keeper, Dr. Frederick Chilton, claims that Lecter is a "pure psychopath." Lecter's pathology is explored in greater detail in Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, which explain that he was irreparably traumatized as a child in Lithuania in 1944 when he witnessed the murder and cannibalism of his beloved younger sister, Mischa, by Lithuanian Hilfswillige. One of the Hilfswillige members also claimed that Lecter unwittingly ate his sister as well.

 

In The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter is described through Clarice Starling's eyes as "small, sleek, and in his hands and arms she saw wiry strength like her own". The novel also reveals that Lecter's left hand has a condition called mid ray duplication polydactyly, i.e. a duplicated middle finger. In Hannibal, he performs plastic surgery on his own face on several occasions, and removes his extra digit. Lecter's eyes are a shade of maroon, and reflect the light in "pinpoints of red". He is also said to have small white teeth and dark, slicked-back hair with a widow's peak.

 

Popular culture

 

Hannibal Lecter (specifically Hopkins' portrayal) has often been the subject of parodies and references in general media. These include an appearance in MAD magazine, as well as several television series and films such as The Simpsons, French and Saunders, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, South Park, the Nickelodeon program Fairly OddParents, Fillmore!, The Office, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Family Guy, Happy Tree Friends, The Cable Guy, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Addams Family Values, The Critic and Clerks 2.

 

The character has also been parodied in a musical, entitled SILENCE! The Musical.

 

Rapper Eminem frequently mentions him in his songs.

 

[knightni]

2. Darth Vader (Star Wars film series)

 

 

(10 of 16 lists - 229 points - highest ranking #1 GoSox05)

 

Darth Vader (born Anakin Skywalker) is the central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy.

 

The character was created by George Lucas and numerous actors have portrayed him. His appearances span all six Star Wars films, and he is an important character in the expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books. The films establish that there was originally a Jedi Knight named Anakin who fell to the dark side of the Force; he is also revealed to be the father of both Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, the two main protagonists of the original trilogy. Vader is ultimately redeemed in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he sacrifices himself to save his son, Luke.

 

He is one of only four characters to appear in all six Star Wars films, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO.

 

Vader's name has become used as a synonym for a powerful form of evil, in both televisual pop culture and political discourse.

 

Concept and creation

 

Darth Vader design being shown in a Star Wars exhibit. Lucas' vision of Darth Vader's design is to have a cape that fluttered in the wind and a wide-brimmed helmet similar to the headgear of a medieval samurai. The costumiers, Bermans Nathans and John Mollo, who completed the character with elements from four separate departments: a monk's cloak from the ecclesiastical division, a World War II German helmet and gas mask from the military department, a leather undersuit from the motorcycle department, and a metal breastplate from the medieval section.

 

While the first draft of Star Wars includes a tall, grim general named Darth Vader, the character came closer in line with his final depiction in the second revision. A character named "Anakin Starkiller" also appears in an early draft of Star Wars, playing a role similar to Luke Skywalker's, as the 16-year-old son of a respected warrior. Vader's mask was originally designed by Ralph McQuarrie as part of Vader's spacesuit, and not intended to be part of the regular costume. Brian Muir sculpted Darth Vader's costume based on McQuarrie's design.

 

After Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was successful, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write Star Wars II (later retitled Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called The Empire Strikes Back. The treatment is very similar to the final film, except that Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke. George Lucas was disappointed with the script, but Brackett died of cancer before he could discuss it with her. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. In this draft, he made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claiming to be Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles writing the first film.

 

This new story pointing out that Darth Vader was Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was a separate character from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back in which the point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he had created: Anakin Skywalker had been Obi-Wan Kenobi's brilliant student and had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Emperor Palpatine (who became a Sith and not simply a politician). Anakin battled Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was badly wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Galactic Republic became the tyrannical Galactic Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi. This change in character would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline that underlies the prequels.

 

For Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the first film in the prequel trilogy, Lucas made Anakin nine years old to make the character's departure from his mother more poignant. Movie trailers for The Phantom Menace focused on Anakin, and a one-sheet poster showing him casting Vader's shadow informed otherwise unknowing audiences of the character's eventual fate. The movie ultimately achieved a primary goal of introducing audiences to Anakin Skywalker.

 

After deciding to create the prequels, Lucas indicated the series would be a tragic one examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. He also saw that the prequels could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a "Saga".

 

Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Count Dooku, murdered by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side. After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side; his fall from grace would now be motivated by a desire to save his wife, Padmé Amidala, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004.

 

Portrayals

 

Bodybuilder David Prowse's size and stature allowed him to fill out the large Vader costume in the original Star Wars trilogy, although stunt performer Bob Anderson portrayed Vader during the intense lightsaber fight scenes in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Sebastian Shaw originally portrayed the unmasked Vader in Return of the Jedi, although stock footage of Hayden Christensen replaced Shaw's appearance of Vader as a ghost in the 2004 DVD release. James Earl Jones, who provided the voice of Darth Vader, was initially uncredited in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back because Jones felt his contributions were too small to warrant recognition.

 

Jake Lloyd was chosen from over 3,000 prospective child actors to play Anakin in The Phantom Menace. Casting director Robin Gurland initially thought Lloyd was too young to play the role; however, upon another meeting several years later, Gurland believed Lloyd was an appropriate choice for the part.

 

Hayden Christensen played Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith; he also donned Darth Vader's armor for the final scenes of the latter film. Mat Lucas voiced Anakin for the Clone Wars animated series and in various Star Wars video games. Matt Lanter voiced the character in the CGI The Clone Wars film and subsequent TV series.

 

Appearances

 

Films

 

Original trilogy

 

Darth Vader is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) as a ruthless cyborg pursuing the film's protagonists. Vader is charged with recovering technical schematics of the Death Star stolen by the Rebel Alliance, who seek to overthrow the Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker that Vader is a former Jedi who "betrayed and murdered" Luke's father. Obi-Wan and Luke — along with smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, and droids R2-D2 and C-3PO — help Princess Leia Organa escape the Death Star. Vader kills Obi-Wan in a lightsaber duel, and later escapes the Death Star's destruction during the film's climactic battle scene.

 

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), set three years later, depicts Vader leading an Imperial starfleet in pursuit of the Rebels. Emperor Palpatine (Clive Revill; Ian McDiarmid in subsequent films), Vader's Sith master, tells Vader that "the offspring of Anakin Skywalker" must not become a Jedi; Vader promises that he will turn Luke to the dark side. To this end, Vader captures Leia, Han, Chewbacca and C-3PO on Cloud City, using them as bait for Luke, who has by now been partially trained as a Jedi by Yoda (Frank Oz). During their lightsaber duel, Vader cuts off Luke's right hand and reveals that he is Luke's father; he then entreats Luke to convert to the dark side and help him overthrow Palpatine so they can "rule the galaxy as father and son". Horrified, Luke throws himself into Cloud City's reactor core, ultimately escaping aboard the Millennium Falcon. Onboard his Super Star Destroyer, Vader telepathically tells Luke that it is his destiny to join the dark side.

 

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), a dying Yoda confirms to Luke that Vader is indeed his father; moments later, Obi-Wan's spirit tells him he has a twin sister — whom Luke almost instantly divines to be Leia — and that he must confront his father to save the Rebellion. Luke surrenders himself to Imperial forces, hoping to turn his father back "to the light side". Vader brings Luke onto the second Death Star, where Palpatine tries to seduce Luke to the dark side. During their duel, Vader learns Leia's true identity and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not submit. Enraged, Luke attacks and overpowers Vader, severing his mechanical right hand. At the last minute, Luke realizes he is close to suffering his father's fate, and refuses Palpatine's command to kill Vader and take his place. An enraged Palpatine unleashes a torrent of Force lightning upon Luke, who begs his father for help. Unable to bear the sight of his son in pain, Vader kills Palpatine by throwing him into the Death Star's reactor core; in the process, however, he is mortally wounded by his master's lightning. The redeemed Anakin Skywalker asks Luke to remove his helmet; in his dying breaths, Anakin tells his son that there was good left in him after all. Luke escapes with his father's remains, which he burns in a funeral pyre. The same night, the Rebels celebrate the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of the Empire, and Luke sees the spirit of Anakin standing alongside the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda.

 

Prequel trilogy

 

Anakin Skywalker as portrayed by Jake Lloyd in The Phantom Menace (1999), Hayden Christensen in Attack of the Clones (2002), and Sebastian Shaw in Return of the Jedi (1983). Shaw was digitally replaced with footage of Christensen for Return of the Jedi's 2004 DVD release.

 

Anakin Skywalker appears as a nine-year-old slave in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). He is raised on the planet Tatooine by his mother, Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August), who says Anakin had no father, implying miraculous birth. He is a gifted pilot and engineer, and has the ability to "see things before they happen". He even creates his own protocol droid, C-3PO. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) meets him after an emergency landing on Tatooine and becomes convinced the boy is the "Chosen One", foretold by a Jedi prophecy as the one who will bring balance to the Force. Anakin wins his freedom in a podrace, but is forced to part with his mother. Qui-Gon takes Anakin to the Jedi Council, who forbid training on the grounds that the boy's future is clouded by the fear he exhibits. During the invasion of Naboo, Anakin helps defeat the Trade Federation by destroying their command ship. After Qui-Gon is killed in a duel with Sith Lord Darth Maul (Ray Park), his apprentice, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), promises to train Anakin, a proposal the Jedi Council reluctantly accepts. During the film, Anakin forms a close bond with Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), Naboo's queen. Palpatine, newly elected as the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, befriends the boy, telling him that "we will watch your career with great interest."

 

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), set 10 years later, depicts Anakin as Obi-Wan's Padawan learner; by this time, he has grown powerful but arrogant, and has begun to chafe against his master's authority. Palpatine assigns Anakin and Obi-Wan to investigate an assassination attempt made on Padmé, who is now a senator. Anakin travels with her to Naboo, where they fall in love. Anakin has a vision of his mother in pain, and goes to Tatooine, where he learns that Shmi had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. He goes to the Tusken camp, where he finds his mother, tortured to death by the tribe; overcome with rage, he kills the entire tribe. He returns with his mother's body, and tearfully confesses his crime to Padmé, who comforts him. Soon after, Anakin and Padmé travel to Geonosis, hoping to rescue Obi-Wan from Jedi-turned-Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and his army of Separatists; instead, they are captured and sentenced to be executed. Anakin and Padmé profess their love for each other moments before being rescued by an army of clone troopers and Jedi. Anakin loses his right arm in a lightsaber duel with Dooku; it is replaced with a prosthetic. At the end of the film, Anakin and Padmé marry in a secret ceremony.

 

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), set three years later, Anakin is a Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars. He and Obi-Wan lead an attempt to rescue Palpatine, who has been kidnapped by Dooku and Separatist leader General Grievous (Matthew Wood). During the rescue, Anakin defeats Dooku in a lightsaber duel, and decapitates him at Palpatine's urging. When he returns to Coruscant, he meets with Padmé, who tells him she is pregnant with his child. That night, he has a vision of Padmé dying in childbirth; he fears it will come true, as it is similar to visions he had of his mother before she died. Meanwhile, Palpatine names Anakin his representative on the Jedi Council; the Council, suspicious of Palpatine's dictatorial power in the Senate, denies Anakin the rank of Jedi Master, and asks him to spy on Palpatine, whom Anakin considers a friend and mentor. Angered by the snub and instructions to commit what he believes to be treason, Anakin begins to lose faith in the Jedi.

 

Palpatine eventually reveals to Anakin that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, the mastermind behind the war, and that the dark side holds the power to save Padmé's life. Conflicted, Anakin reports Palpatine to Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). Despite orders to remain behind, Anakin follows Windu to the Chancellor's office to ensure Palpatine is captured alive. He walks in on Windu ready to kill Palpatine and intervenes on the Sith lord's behalf, severing Windu's lightsaber arm; Palpatine then kills Windu with a blast of Force lightning. Desperate to save his wife, Anakin pledges himself to the Sith as Palpatine's apprentice, Darth Vader.

 

Palpatine sends Vader to kill everyone inside the Jedi Temple, and then to assassinate the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. Padmé meets him there and pleads with him to flee Palpatine's grasp with her. He refuses, saying that the two of them can overthrow Palpatine and rule the galaxy. When Obi-Wan emerges from Padmé's ship, Vader accuses her of conspiring against him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Vader then engages Obi-Wan in an epic lightsaber duel, which ends when Obi-Wan severs Vader's legs and remaining organic arm in mid-air. Vader then slides too close to a lava flow and catches fire, sustaining life-threatening third-degree burns. Obi-Wan picks up Vader's lightsaber and leaves him to die.

 

Moments later, Palpatine rescues Vader and reconstructs his apprentice's ruined body with the cybernetic limbs and black armor first seen in A New Hope. When Vader regains consciousness, Palpatine tells him Padmé died as a result of Vader's anger. The news of her death breaks what remains of Vader's spirit, and he screams in torment. He is last seen alongside Palpatine and a young Grand Moff Tarkin (Wayne Pygram) viewing the construction of the first Death Star.

 

Expanded Universe

 

Animation

 

In the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003), Anakin (voiced by Mat Lucas) is made a Jedi Knight despite the Council's reservations. During the next three years of fighting in the Clone Wars, Anakin becomes a legend throughout the galaxy, renowned as "The Hero With No Fear". Anakin's adventures in the Clone Wars are also chronicled in the Star Wars: Republic comic series. In the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars and the subsequent television series, Anakin (voiced by Matt Lanter) takes on Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein). In the episode "Ghosts of Mortis", he sees a cryptic vision of his eventual transformation into Darth Vader.

 

Literature

 

Vader appears numerous times in comic books such as Dark Horse Comics's Star Wars Tales and Marvel Comics' Star Wars series (1977–1986). Vader's Quest (1999) which depicts Vader hiring a bounty hunter to bring him information about the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, ultimately meeting Luke for the first time.

 

In the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978), Vader and Luke duel, and Luke cuts off Vader's right arm.[7] Shadows of the Empire (1996) reveals that Vader is conflicted about trying to turn his son to the dark side of the Force, and knows deep down that there is still some good in him. In James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (2005), set a few months after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Vader disavows his identity as Anakin Skywalker as he systematically pursues and kills the surviving Jedi and cements his position in the Empire. The novel also reveals that Vader plans to eventually overthrow Palpatine, and that he betrayed the Jedi because he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power. The redeemed spirit of Anakin Skywalker appears in The Truce at Bakura (1993), set a few days after the end of Return of the Jedi. He appears to Leia, imploring her forgiveness, but she condemns him for his crimes and banishes him from her life. He promises that he will be there for her when she needs him, and disappears. In Tatooine Ghost (2003), Leia learns to forgive her father after learning about his childhood as a slave and his mother's traumatic death. In The Dark Nest trilogy (2005), Luke and Leia uncover old recordings of their parents in R2-D2's memory drive; for the first time, they see their own birth and their mother's death, as well as their father's corruption to the dark side. In The Unifying Force (2003), Anakin tells his grandson, Jacen Solo, to "stand firm" in his battle with the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong. In Bloodlines (2006), Jacen — who has himself turned to the dark side — uses the Force to "watch" Anakin slaughter the children at the Jedi Temple and become Darth Vader.

 

Video games

 

Darth Vader (voiced by Matt Sloan) plays a central role in The Force Unleashed (2008). He is a playable character in the first level of the game, where he and his armies invade Kashyyyk to hunt down a Jedi who had survived the Order's destruction. Vader kills the Jedi and kidnaps the man's young Force-sensitive son, whom he raises as his secret apprentice. Vader sends this apprentice — the game's protagonist — on various missions throughout the galaxy, with an ultimate goal to assassinate Palpatine so that Vader can rule the galaxy himself. Toward the end of the game, however, it is revealed that Vader isn't planning to overthrow Palpatine at all; he is merely using his apprentice to expose the Empire's enemies. At the game's climax, the player chooses between attacking Palpatine to help his Rebel friends escape the Death Star or killing Vader to become the Emperor's new apprentice.

 

He appears in the sequel The Force Unleashed II as the main antagonist and final boss.

 

Vader is a playable character in other games, including Lego Star Wars: The Video Game , Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy , Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Soulcalibur IV, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Empire at War and its Forces of Corruption expansion, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. Vader is an active but non-playable character in Star Wars Galaxies.

 

In 2010, IGN ranked Darth Vader 25th in the "Top 100 Videogames Villains".'

 

Characteristics

 

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin feels "smothered" by Obi-Wan Kenobi and is unable to control his life. By Revenge of the Sith, however, Anakin's "father-son" friction with his master has matured into a more equal, brotherly relationship. Once he becomes Darth Vader, each evil act he commits makes it harder for him to return to the light, but Vader ultimately escapes the dark side and redeems himself before he dies by saving his son and killing Palpatine.

 

Eric Bui, a psychiatrist at University of Toulouse Hospital, argued at the 2007 American Psychiatric Association convention that Anakin meets six of the nine diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD), one more than necessary for a diagnosis. He and a colleague, Rachel Rodgers, published their findings in a 2010 letter to the editor of the journal Psychiatry Research. Bui says he found Anakin Skywalker a useful example to explain BPD to medical students. In particular, Bui points to Anakin's abandonment issues and uncertainty over his identity. Anakin's mass murders of the Tusken Raiders in Attack of the Clones and the young Jedi in Revenge of the Sith count as two dissociative episodes, fulfilling another criterion. Bui hoped his paper would help raise awareness of the disorder, especially among teens.

 

Cultural impact

 

Darth Vader's iconic status has made the character a synonym for evil in popular culture; psychiatrists have even considered him as a useful example to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students. Anakin's origin story in The Phantom Menace has been compared to signifiers of African American racial identity, and his dissatisfaction with his life has been compared to Siddhartha's before he became Gautama Buddha. A Mexican church advised Christians against seeing The Phantom Menace because it portrays Anakin as a Jesus figure. A slime-mold beetle of the genus Agathidium is named after Vader, and several buildings across the globe are regularly compared to him. A grotesque of Darth Vader looms over the south side of the Washington National Cathedral's northwest tower. During the 2007–08 NHL season, Ottawa Senators goaltender Martin Gerber performed so well in an all-black mask that fans endearingly termed him "Darth Gerber". Many commentators and comedians have also evoked his visage to satirize politicians and other public figures, and several American political figures have been unflatteringly compared to the character. For example, Al Gore referred to Tele-Communications Inc.'s John C. Malone as the "Darth Vader of cable", and political strategist Lee Atwater was known by his political enemies as "the Darth Vader of the Republican Party".

 

On June 22, 2006, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney referred to himself as the Darth Vader of the Bush administration. Discussing the administration's philosophy on gathering intelligence, he said to CNN's John King, "It means we need to be able to go after and capture or kill those people who are trying to kill Americans. That's not a pleasant business. It's a very serious business. And I suppose, sometimes, people look at my demeanor and say, 'Well, he's the Darth Vader of the administration.'" Jon Stewart put on a Darth Vader helmet to address Dick Cheney as a "kindred spirit" on The Daily Show on January 25, 2007. Cheney's wife, Lynne, presented Stewart with a Darth Vader action figure on her appearance on the show on October 10, 2007. Both Stewart and Stephen Colbert have occasionally referred to Cheney as "Darth Cheney". In the satirical cartoon show Lil' Bush, Dick Cheney's father is portrayed as being Darth Vader. At her presidential campaign event on September 19, 2007, Hillary Rodham Clinton also referred to Cheney as Darth Vader. At the 2008 Washington Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner, Cheney joked that his wife Lynne told him that the Vader comparison "humanizes" him. George Lucas told The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, however, that Cheney is more akin to Emperor Palpatine, and that a better stand-in for Vader would be George W. Bush. An issue of Newsweek referenced this quote, and compared Bush and Cheney to Vader and Palpatine, respectively, in a satirical article comparing politicians to various Star Wars and Star Trek characters.

 

Many films and television series have paid homage to Darth Vader. Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985), dressed in a radiation suit, calls himself "Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan" to convince the past version of his father to ask his mother to a dance. Rick Moranis plays "Dark Helmet" in the Star Wars parody Spaceballs (1987). In Chasing Amy (1997), Hooper X speaks at a comic convention about Darth Vader being a metaphor for how poorly sci-fi treats black people; he is especially offended that Vader, the "blackest brother in the galaxy", reveals himself to be a "feeble, crusty old white man" at the end of Return of the Jedi.

 

The character has gained much positive reception as a classic film villain. The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history on 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. Darth Vader was also ranked number two on Empire magazine's 2008 list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. Premiere magazine also ranked Vader on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Vader at number 6. Darth Vader was also the #1 supervillain on the Bravo series Ultimate Super Heroes, Vixens and Villains. Darth Vader was also ranked as #1 in IGN's list of top 100 Star Wars characters. Furthermore, Darth Vader's quote in The Empire Strikes Back — "No, I am your father" (often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father"), — is one of the most well known quotes in cinema history. The line was selected as one of the 400 nominees for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of the greatest American movie quotes. Vader received the Ultimate Villain recognition at the 2011 Scream Awards.