The Most Inspiring Villain of All Time?

[Mutagen]

Dracula maybe. Doom Maybe. Satan doesn't count. I'd like to hear more ideas from you; the viewers.

 

[CFE]

The Nazis...they've inspired more films than I can count.

 

[Yurka]

By inspiring do you mean a) manipulative? or do you mean b)villain with the largest following/fan-base?
if a)I would say Hannibal or the Joker, b) would be Vader

 

[Mutagen]

I meant characters that have a base, reference, and/or idea that is related to the original villain.

Perhaps Doctor Jekell and Mr. Hyde? Seeing as how many scientists that turn into freaks of nature all the time. DOc Ock, Green Goblin, Vader, Joker (in Killing Joke), Invisible Man, The Hulk. Not to mention Two-Face.

 

[CFE]

Again...Nazis.

Final Solutions, Mass Genocide, Armies of Darkness, Axis of Evil.

The Third Reich is a cesspool of inspiration for Evil in all forms of media.

 

[Yurka]

Ah, I misunderstood, I would definitely agree with Jekell/Hyde. There are too many villains to count with the basic Jekell/Hyde dilemma

 

[Mutagen]

Again...Nazis.

Final Solutions, Mass Genocide, Armies of Darkness, Axis of Evil.

The Third Reich is a cesspool of inspiration for Evil in all forms of media.

They also appear in a highly anticipated movie, for me, Captain America.

One of the many reasons I would love to see the Captain America movie, to see those jerks beat down with bare fists.

 

[DChero]

I really have to agree with the comments about the Nazis. Though they (in theory) could have been inspired by Constantine and Alexander. So it's hard to say which started it all.

Though I think we all know that Emperor Palpatine did it first since Star Wars did happen a long time ago...

 

[bullets]

i would want to be scarface

 

[fu manchu]

Fu Manchu would have to be one of most inspiring villain, if not the most.

Per Wikipedia:

The character of Fu Manchu became a stereotype often associated with the Yellow Peril. Fu Manchu has inspired numerous other characters, and is the model for most villains in later "Yellow Peril" thrillers.[4] Examples include Pao Tcheou, Dr. Azimn, Ancient Wu from True Crime: Streets of LA, Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, Li Chang Yen from The Big Four, James Bond adversary Dr. No, Dr Benton Quest's archenemy Doctor Zin from the Jonny Quest television series, Dr. Yen-Lo from The Manchurian Candidate, Lo-Pan from Big Trouble in Little China, Marvel comics foes the Mandarin and the Yellow Claw,DC Comics' Rā's al Ghūl, and Wo Fat from the CBS tv series Hawaii Five-O.

While not of Chinese descent, "Egyptian" arch-villain "Kathulos" (then revealed to be a survived Atlantean) of Robert E. Howard's Skull-Face novella is blatantly inspired by Fu-Manchu.

"Comrade Li" in Peter George's "Commander-1" (1965) is essentially the same type of villain - despite his name having only a thin veneer of Communism or Marxism, being rather a suave philosopher steeped in ancient Chinese learning whose cold-blooded machinations bring about a nuclear holocaust in which nearly all humanity perishes (including China, which he sought to make great) and who eventually meets a suitable gruesome and ignominious end.

Fu Manchu is also one of the earliest known examples of a supervillain, with Professor Moriarty being among the few other precedents.

 

[Mutagen]

Didn't know that. Certainly glad I do now.

 

[Adrian89]

Dracula I guess. He was used in many movies, often with very different stories!