Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 2:35:32 GMT
I'm bored so I'm ranking more stuff
Honorable Mention: Handsome Jack - After thinking about it for quite some time, I decided not to include Handsome Jack because Telltale technically didn't create him. Also, he'd end up taking a very high spot on the list, if not the top spot, and I feel like that'd be... unfair(?) to the characters Telltale has actually created. But, I have to recognize that he was an incredibly entertaining, surprisingly complex villain.
Dishonorable Mention: Whoever the fuck the villain in ANF was supposed to be - Joan? Clint? David? Who even knows? Like, I was tempted to put Joan at the bottom of the list for literally being a walking collection of cliches, but then, is David supposed to be the villain? He is, then he isn't, then he is again, then maaaaybe he isn't? And what the fuck was up with Clint?? This season... didn't even really have a villain, but just, general dishonor on Telltale for fucking it up so badly.
23. All of the Forgettable Bad Guys from Minecraft: Story Mode - Such as: that guy that was with Lukas but then was kind of a dick. The youtuber guest star with a cat. A less good version of any generic evil AI ever. And who could forget, that guy... with a mustache... who also... used obsidian... fuck, I forgot him.
22. Norma - Okay, I get that she was... I guess complex... in theory? Because... she wasn't really the bad guy of the story... and that made you think... except it didn't. Nothing about her worked. She didn't really have any presence, everything morally grey about her felt so manufactured, she was just... labelled the villain and that was it. A villain, a bad guy. I know that sounds weird, but seriously, she was just the villain because we were told she was the villain in a meta-story sense. Not interesting, poorly written, also forgettable.
21. Mr. Freeze - Man, he really didn't do much but spice up some of the fight scenes, huh? Not that I didn't like what we saw of him, but he barely got any screentime. I mean, yeah yeah he wants to save his wife, he gets infected with the virus... yep. All theoretically interesting, but it just doesn't work when the villain in question has absolutley no presence or impact on the story. I guess he's not dead since he either gets experimented on or... is still probably experimented on but is cold? uuuhhhhh can someone explain the Freeze choice for me actually? What happened? Freezing him saves his life but... maybe it killed him? Whatever, he did a good job of spicing up the fight scenes, especially that opening one in Episode 4.
20. Vallory - Another very forgettable, not particularly interesting villain. The most interesting part about her was her relationship to August. Aside from that... eh, she just wasn't all that interesting and didn't have enough presence in the story/wasn't entertaining enough to reach a higher spot on my list. (also, I'm not including August on this list since, as a bad guy, he was more of a lackey than anything else. I'm also not including Finch, Kroger, or Bossanova. All of them were smaller villains, and I just don't think they were worthy of a spot on my list. :/)
19. Ivor - I'm tempted to place Ivor higher on the list... but then I remember, all of the interesting stuff about him was after Episode 4, when he stopped being a villain. He was a legitimately interesting and entertaining character after that, but as a villain... eh, kind of forgettable.
18. Carver - He's only higher than Ivor because Michael Madsen is a great voice actor, he had a few good scenes in episode 3, and he had the potential to be a really great villain in episode 2. Seriously, the scene at the lodge in episode 2 was fantastic. He was scary, cunning, and driven. His ultimate goal was to, in his own twisted way, protect his imagined family. Even in episode 3, he's more interesting if you see how he acts as the facade presented in episode 2 cracking. See it as him revealing himself to be a thug trying to manipulate all of these people as their leader, trying to protect them, but often resorting to violence, and the violence nature of others. Still, the sudden shift between episodes is jarring, and episode 3 Carver most of the time doesn't work, and he died too early. A lot of wasted potential with this character.
17. Randall - There isn't much to say about Randall, he was a villain that I loved to hate, like some others on this list. He was easily the best part about the mini-series he was in, and at any given time, the most entertaining character on screen.
16. Ludd Whitehill - For the most part, Ludd is an irredeemable bastard. The only thing he has that makes him more complex than that is his love for his family. "A Whitehill is still a Whitehill" and all that. But while he may not be particularly complex, he his a villain that I loved to hate. And while I never actually got revenge on him in either of my playthrough, that still holds true.
15. The Stranger - The Stranger works in the narrative and moves along the story, but as a character in his own right, he kind of falls apart. I mean, his final scene outside of judging Lee is really good, very creepy. But, the whole judging part of that scene makes it fall apart. His presence over the story, like I said, works for the story, but it doesn't help him feel like he has any presence over the story as a character in his own right. I really wish he'd worked better than he did as a villain.
14. Harvey Dent/Two-Face - I'd be very tempted to put Harvey much higher on the list if not for the obvious illusion of choice, and that fact that Telltale really never delved into how the drug was making issues resurface. He was threatening, scary(less so without his scars, which was the case for me) and his final resolution was surprisingly emotional... He really should be higher on the list, but because of how Telltale utterly fucked up how choices affected his story... he's on the lower end of things.
13. Riddler - So, some people didn't really like the Jigsaw Riddler thing. I loved it. Okay, maybe not "loved", but I thought it was pretty great. It seemed like a way to make the character more brutal and threatening. His ultimate goal of wanting to prove himself smarter than Batman still remains, and he's retroactivley given a bit of depth after his death when we find out he was driven insane by Lotus. His final scene on the bridge is super tense and just a killer ending for the premiere episode, and his whole self-contained story for Episode One was great. The only real negative is I'm still not a fan of his design, but we won't be seeing him again so I guess it doesn't matter.
12. Gryff Whitehill - Like Ludd, Gryff isn't a particularly complex villain. He has a bit more complexity due to the story of how his brothers hated him, the whole "I've suffered so now I'll make others suffer" idea behind his character gives him just a bit of depth. His voice actor was great, too. He's higher on the list than Ludd due to this added bit of depth, and the fact that he had more good scenes that stick out for me than Ludd did. (standing up to him in episode 3, and getting revenge in episode 4 "Now then, about humility").
11. Vazquez - Patrick Warburton is awesome, and Vazquez was a hilarious villain. He was kind of a bumbling idiot, and he wasn't all that threatening(and didn't have much depth), but as a comedic villain for a comedic series, he was perfect.
10. Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin - Going to be honest, I love everything about Telltale's version of the Penguin. I love how they incorporate classical elements of his character in new ways, I love Jason Spisak as a voice actor, I love the overall design, and his motivations. He has clear, kind of relatable motivations, yet he's definitely a "love to hate" type of villain. However, the name Penguin makes... no sense at all, and it's disappointing that he was ultimately just a lackey to the main villain.
9. Nate - Okay, so he had a really small part in one stand-alone episode, but honestly? The fact that I remember him this long after 400 Days speaks to something. He was a great villain, and I wish we got to see more of him, hell, I'm still wishing that. I feel kind of weird about placing him here in the Top 5, but like I said, he was a great villain even if he had the smallest amount of screen time out of any other villain here, and considering Walking Dead has no other villain within my Top 5, consider him a representative of what a good villain for the series should be.
8. Lord Rickard Morgryn - Again, not a very complex villain or one with a lot of depth(kind of a problem for Game of Thrones as a whole), but the twist was good, and he was an absolute snake once he was revealed as a villain. For a lot of people, that's probably not enough to justify him being this high on my list, but hey it's my list and I honestly really did like him as a villain.
7. Amanda Waller - Fuuuuuuuuuck Waller. Absolutley hate her. At the same time, she's kind of a necessary evil. Still, wish there was some way to take her down. Anyway, he dynamic with Gordon for the first half of the season was great, the VA who played her did a great job(same VA that was Grace in Wolfenstein 2!), she's got a lot of screen presence, and I guess there are some people who like her so maybe I'm just a bit biased. I can't in good faith place her higher than Bane, because I loved Bane, but she is a pretty great villain if you take the Vigilante Path. Can't wait to see how the Suicide Squad turns out in Season Three(if I just act like it's gonna happen then it eventually will, right?).
6. Bane - I love Bane. Pains me not to put him in my top 5, but I don't think he has quite enough depth to justify me putting him ahead Lady Arkham. For as unremarkable as Season One of Batman was, Lady Arkham was the actually a pretty great villain, and an original one at that! But Bane was still great, and I love him. He's a super threatening presence, his fight scenes are awesome, he's got a lot of charisma, and his ultimate motivation(s) of wanting to cure himself of his addiction/getting revenge for his friend are enough to give him some depth and elevate him from just being "The Muscle". I kinda hope we see him again in a minor role. Maybe if the Suicide Squad returns for Season 3?
5. Vicki Vale/Victoria Arkham/Lady Arkham - Honestly, once her whole story was revealed, I did come around to her as a villain. I mean, she's in my top 3, so yeah. One of the best surprises of the Batman season finale. Discovering "punishment" in the Vale home was honestly chilling... and suggested a deeper tragedy that I feel was explored just enough. The fact that the mask is based off her old creepy doll, that even once she sees that Bruce is Batman and the world is more complicated than she though, she still attacks. She's still a child, one who was hurt and abused ad never really got to grow up. She forces herself to see the world in black and white, and nothing will keep her from her childish ideal of revenge. She's... a much more complicated villain than she really had any right to be, she was scary before the reveal, and she was tragic after it.
4. Bloody Mary - The pinnacle of "love to hate". She was terrifying, one of the most entertaining character, strangely sexual, and monstrous. I mean... I feel like I don't even really need to say much, just play Wolf Among Us again and see what I'm talking about.
3. Harley Quinn - I loved Telltale's version of Harley Quinn. I loved how much attitude she has, how in control she is, how she weilds violence and chaos like a weapon. Her manipulations of John make her hateable, her fear over inhereting her father's illness make her understandable. She's an absolute joy to just have on screen, seriously, one of Telltale's most entertaining character in a long while. Oh! I really love her theme music, too. Honestly, I like Harley for a lot of the same reasons I liked Bloody Mary, but whereas Bloody Mary is pretty one-dimensional, Harley is a complex character, so that gives her a big edge.
2. The Crooked Man - Honestly, looking back on it, The Crooked Man was one of Telltale's most complex villains. He created a system that kept the poor and other marginalized groups of the Fable community under his thumb, while at the same time telling them that he was saving them. He provided jobs, gave them glamours, and protected them from their corrupt government. He kept them in debt to the point of slavery, solved problems with violence, and did not tolerate disobedience. And while the whole system he creates is fascinating, he's also a very interesting character once you meet him. He tries to be calm, to present himself as the reasonable one. After all, he's not a murderer, he's a business man. But when things don't go his way, violence is his first solution. He's really just a thug running a criminal syndicate, but he seems to have bought into his own illusion of being the hero. He's almost able to talk his way out of a conviction, and probably would have if not for Nerrisa. Add on top of that an immediately interesting character design and overall aesthetic, along with a fantastic performace from his voice actor, and you have, in my opinion, the best Telltale villain.
1. John Doe/Joker - Maybe the best Telltale character ever? Definitely the best version of the Joker ever. Maybe.... one of the best characters... ever? I just relate to John in so many ways, and his story is so emotionally resonant and powerful. He's vulnerable and confused by a world he doesn't understand, trying to fit in, clinging to his only friend, and that same friend ultimately leads him to his downfall. It's just such a perfect story, and John Doe is such a perfect character. Not to mention that Anthony Ingruber is fantastic, the best Joker ever, and just gives an unforgettable performance. Telltale turned one of fiction's greatest monsters into my friend, a character that I truly cared about. His inevitable descent into becoming a villain, especially in the Vigilante Path, is one of the best character arcs I've ever seen in all of fiction.
Honorable Mention: Handsome Jack - After thinking about it for quite some time, I decided not to include Handsome Jack because Telltale technically didn't create him. Also, he'd end up taking a very high spot on the list, if not the top spot, and I feel like that'd be... unfair(?) to the characters Telltale has actually created. But, I have to recognize that he was an incredibly entertaining, surprisingly complex villain.
Dishonorable Mention: Whoever the fuck the villain in ANF was supposed to be - Joan? Clint? David? Who even knows? Like, I was tempted to put Joan at the bottom of the list for literally being a walking collection of cliches, but then, is David supposed to be the villain? He is, then he isn't, then he is again, then maaaaybe he isn't? And what the fuck was up with Clint?? This season... didn't even really have a villain, but just, general dishonor on Telltale for fucking it up so badly.
23. All of the Forgettable Bad Guys from Minecraft: Story Mode - Such as: that guy that was with Lukas but then was kind of a dick. The youtuber guest star with a cat. A less good version of any generic evil AI ever. And who could forget, that guy... with a mustache... who also... used obsidian... fuck, I forgot him.
22. Norma - Okay, I get that she was... I guess complex... in theory? Because... she wasn't really the bad guy of the story... and that made you think... except it didn't. Nothing about her worked. She didn't really have any presence, everything morally grey about her felt so manufactured, she was just... labelled the villain and that was it. A villain, a bad guy. I know that sounds weird, but seriously, she was just the villain because we were told she was the villain in a meta-story sense. Not interesting, poorly written, also forgettable.
21. Mr. Freeze - Man, he really didn't do much but spice up some of the fight scenes, huh? Not that I didn't like what we saw of him, but he barely got any screentime. I mean, yeah yeah he wants to save his wife, he gets infected with the virus... yep. All theoretically interesting, but it just doesn't work when the villain in question has absolutley no presence or impact on the story. I guess he's not dead since he either gets experimented on or... is still probably experimented on but is cold? uuuhhhhh can someone explain the Freeze choice for me actually? What happened? Freezing him saves his life but... maybe it killed him? Whatever, he did a good job of spicing up the fight scenes, especially that opening one in Episode 4.
20. Vallory - Another very forgettable, not particularly interesting villain. The most interesting part about her was her relationship to August. Aside from that... eh, she just wasn't all that interesting and didn't have enough presence in the story/wasn't entertaining enough to reach a higher spot on my list. (also, I'm not including August on this list since, as a bad guy, he was more of a lackey than anything else. I'm also not including Finch, Kroger, or Bossanova. All of them were smaller villains, and I just don't think they were worthy of a spot on my list. :/)
19. Ivor - I'm tempted to place Ivor higher on the list... but then I remember, all of the interesting stuff about him was after Episode 4, when he stopped being a villain. He was a legitimately interesting and entertaining character after that, but as a villain... eh, kind of forgettable.
18. Carver - He's only higher than Ivor because Michael Madsen is a great voice actor, he had a few good scenes in episode 3, and he had the potential to be a really great villain in episode 2. Seriously, the scene at the lodge in episode 2 was fantastic. He was scary, cunning, and driven. His ultimate goal was to, in his own twisted way, protect his imagined family. Even in episode 3, he's more interesting if you see how he acts as the facade presented in episode 2 cracking. See it as him revealing himself to be a thug trying to manipulate all of these people as their leader, trying to protect them, but often resorting to violence, and the violence nature of others. Still, the sudden shift between episodes is jarring, and episode 3 Carver most of the time doesn't work, and he died too early. A lot of wasted potential with this character.
17. Randall - There isn't much to say about Randall, he was a villain that I loved to hate, like some others on this list. He was easily the best part about the mini-series he was in, and at any given time, the most entertaining character on screen.
16. Ludd Whitehill - For the most part, Ludd is an irredeemable bastard. The only thing he has that makes him more complex than that is his love for his family. "A Whitehill is still a Whitehill" and all that. But while he may not be particularly complex, he his a villain that I loved to hate. And while I never actually got revenge on him in either of my playthrough, that still holds true.
15. The Stranger - The Stranger works in the narrative and moves along the story, but as a character in his own right, he kind of falls apart. I mean, his final scene outside of judging Lee is really good, very creepy. But, the whole judging part of that scene makes it fall apart. His presence over the story, like I said, works for the story, but it doesn't help him feel like he has any presence over the story as a character in his own right. I really wish he'd worked better than he did as a villain.
14. Harvey Dent/Two-Face - I'd be very tempted to put Harvey much higher on the list if not for the obvious illusion of choice, and that fact that Telltale really never delved into how the drug was making issues resurface. He was threatening, scary(less so without his scars, which was the case for me) and his final resolution was surprisingly emotional... He really should be higher on the list, but because of how Telltale utterly fucked up how choices affected his story... he's on the lower end of things.
13. Riddler - So, some people didn't really like the Jigsaw Riddler thing. I loved it. Okay, maybe not "loved", but I thought it was pretty great. It seemed like a way to make the character more brutal and threatening. His ultimate goal of wanting to prove himself smarter than Batman still remains, and he's retroactivley given a bit of depth after his death when we find out he was driven insane by Lotus. His final scene on the bridge is super tense and just a killer ending for the premiere episode, and his whole self-contained story for Episode One was great. The only real negative is I'm still not a fan of his design, but we won't be seeing him again so I guess it doesn't matter.
12. Gryff Whitehill - Like Ludd, Gryff isn't a particularly complex villain. He has a bit more complexity due to the story of how his brothers hated him, the whole "I've suffered so now I'll make others suffer" idea behind his character gives him just a bit of depth. His voice actor was great, too. He's higher on the list than Ludd due to this added bit of depth, and the fact that he had more good scenes that stick out for me than Ludd did. (standing up to him in episode 3, and getting revenge in episode 4 "Now then, about humility").
11. Vazquez - Patrick Warburton is awesome, and Vazquez was a hilarious villain. He was kind of a bumbling idiot, and he wasn't all that threatening(and didn't have much depth), but as a comedic villain for a comedic series, he was perfect.
10. Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin - Going to be honest, I love everything about Telltale's version of the Penguin. I love how they incorporate classical elements of his character in new ways, I love Jason Spisak as a voice actor, I love the overall design, and his motivations. He has clear, kind of relatable motivations, yet he's definitely a "love to hate" type of villain. However, the name Penguin makes... no sense at all, and it's disappointing that he was ultimately just a lackey to the main villain.
9. Nate - Okay, so he had a really small part in one stand-alone episode, but honestly? The fact that I remember him this long after 400 Days speaks to something. He was a great villain, and I wish we got to see more of him, hell, I'm still wishing that. I feel kind of weird about placing him here in the Top 5, but like I said, he was a great villain even if he had the smallest amount of screen time out of any other villain here, and considering Walking Dead has no other villain within my Top 5, consider him a representative of what a good villain for the series should be.
8. Lord Rickard Morgryn - Again, not a very complex villain or one with a lot of depth(kind of a problem for Game of Thrones as a whole), but the twist was good, and he was an absolute snake once he was revealed as a villain. For a lot of people, that's probably not enough to justify him being this high on my list, but hey it's my list and I honestly really did like him as a villain.
7. Amanda Waller - Fuuuuuuuuuck Waller. Absolutley hate her. At the same time, she's kind of a necessary evil. Still, wish there was some way to take her down. Anyway, he dynamic with Gordon for the first half of the season was great, the VA who played her did a great job(same VA that was Grace in Wolfenstein 2!), she's got a lot of screen presence, and I guess there are some people who like her so maybe I'm just a bit biased. I can't in good faith place her higher than Bane, because I loved Bane, but she is a pretty great villain if you take the Vigilante Path. Can't wait to see how the Suicide Squad turns out in Season Three(if I just act like it's gonna happen then it eventually will, right?).
6. Bane - I love Bane. Pains me not to put him in my top 5, but I don't think he has quite enough depth to justify me putting him ahead Lady Arkham. For as unremarkable as Season One of Batman was, Lady Arkham was the actually a pretty great villain, and an original one at that! But Bane was still great, and I love him. He's a super threatening presence, his fight scenes are awesome, he's got a lot of charisma, and his ultimate motivation(s) of wanting to cure himself of his addiction/getting revenge for his friend are enough to give him some depth and elevate him from just being "The Muscle". I kinda hope we see him again in a minor role. Maybe if the Suicide Squad returns for Season 3?
5. Vicki Vale/Victoria Arkham/Lady Arkham - Honestly, once her whole story was revealed, I did come around to her as a villain. I mean, she's in my top 3, so yeah. One of the best surprises of the Batman season finale. Discovering "punishment" in the Vale home was honestly chilling... and suggested a deeper tragedy that I feel was explored just enough. The fact that the mask is based off her old creepy doll, that even once she sees that Bruce is Batman and the world is more complicated than she though, she still attacks. She's still a child, one who was hurt and abused ad never really got to grow up. She forces herself to see the world in black and white, and nothing will keep her from her childish ideal of revenge. She's... a much more complicated villain than she really had any right to be, she was scary before the reveal, and she was tragic after it.
4. Bloody Mary - The pinnacle of "love to hate". She was terrifying, one of the most entertaining character, strangely sexual, and monstrous. I mean... I feel like I don't even really need to say much, just play Wolf Among Us again and see what I'm talking about.
3. Harley Quinn - I loved Telltale's version of Harley Quinn. I loved how much attitude she has, how in control she is, how she weilds violence and chaos like a weapon. Her manipulations of John make her hateable, her fear over inhereting her father's illness make her understandable. She's an absolute joy to just have on screen, seriously, one of Telltale's most entertaining character in a long while. Oh! I really love her theme music, too. Honestly, I like Harley for a lot of the same reasons I liked Bloody Mary, but whereas Bloody Mary is pretty one-dimensional, Harley is a complex character, so that gives her a big edge.
2. The Crooked Man - Honestly, looking back on it, The Crooked Man was one of Telltale's most complex villains. He created a system that kept the poor and other marginalized groups of the Fable community under his thumb, while at the same time telling them that he was saving them. He provided jobs, gave them glamours, and protected them from their corrupt government. He kept them in debt to the point of slavery, solved problems with violence, and did not tolerate disobedience. And while the whole system he creates is fascinating, he's also a very interesting character once you meet him. He tries to be calm, to present himself as the reasonable one. After all, he's not a murderer, he's a business man. But when things don't go his way, violence is his first solution. He's really just a thug running a criminal syndicate, but he seems to have bought into his own illusion of being the hero. He's almost able to talk his way out of a conviction, and probably would have if not for Nerrisa. Add on top of that an immediately interesting character design and overall aesthetic, along with a fantastic performace from his voice actor, and you have, in my opinion, the best Telltale villain.
1. John Doe/Joker - Maybe the best Telltale character ever? Definitely the best version of the Joker ever. Maybe.... one of the best characters... ever? I just relate to John in so many ways, and his story is so emotionally resonant and powerful. He's vulnerable and confused by a world he doesn't understand, trying to fit in, clinging to his only friend, and that same friend ultimately leads him to his downfall. It's just such a perfect story, and John Doe is such a perfect character. Not to mention that Anthony Ingruber is fantastic, the best Joker ever, and just gives an unforgettable performance. Telltale turned one of fiction's greatest monsters into my friend, a character that I truly cared about. His inevitable descent into becoming a villain, especially in the Vigilante Path, is one of the best character arcs I've ever seen in all of fiction.