Gotham Which Villian do you think was portrayed the best?

[Taarna]

VOTE TWICE PLEASE!


Robin Lord Taylor as the Penguin

Cory Michael Smith as the Riddler

Cameron Monaghan "Jerome " as either the Joker or the inspiration for the Joker

James Frain as Theo Galavan

Anthony Carrigan as Victor Zsasz

 

[Taarna]

I set up the poll so you can vote twice. Not everybody did.

 

[Gu3ree]

I think I'd have to go with Riddler, and Penguin as my second. Robin Lord Taylor's performance is brilliant, and a performance like no other but Cory Michael Smith's Penguin is just so accurate. RLT's Penguin is a younger version, pre-penguin is you will. There is some originality about it.

But again with Cory Michael Smith's Riddler...his performance is spot-on and portrays the character perfectly. His nerdy side and awkwardness and obsessive personality. The way he evolved his character was perfect. He's the most believable younger version of the character, and on the same side as Jim Carrey's Riddler.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Penguin and Riddler. Both actors nail the character completely. and so uch slash fiction potential between them, that even my gf adores them. It's also good to finally see the creepy Riddler on screen after all the cheesy ham Carey and Gorshin induced.

 

[DigificWriter]

My favorite villains through The Last Laugh (which is all that I've seen) are Fish Mooney and Barbara Kean, and I'm unapologetic about that.

Barbara in particular has stood out for me as being the series' most complex character, since watching Season 1 with the knowledge of where her arc went makes it patently clear that, as actress Erin Richards said, Barbara's crazy was there just under the surface even from the moment we first see her in the Pilot.

 

[Kathemy]

Penguin. There's no doubt for me. He's had the most screentime, he's had the most consistent character development and he's portrayed by the best actor. Sorry to Cory and Cameron for that.

Oh and you could argue James is heads above them all but his Theo is an intentional cartoon villain.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ What "character development" has there been for Oswald? I like him and like Robin Lord Taylor's portrayal of him, but he's essentially been the same character, fundamentally, since we were first introduced to him in the Pilot. An elevation in his status within Gotham's criminal underworld doesn't actually constitute character development.

Barbara's had far more actual character development than Oswald, since she's really the only villainous character who's changed and evolved over the course of the series so far, going from someone we thought was the typical 'socialite love interest' and whom fans thought was pretty bland and useless to a complete psychopath who is obsessed with Jim and whom we haven't seen the last of by any means. She may be in a coma right now, but she'll eventually be back on her feet and returning to continue her obsessed torment of Jim, Lee, etc.

 

[Snow Queen]

Penguin. The only one done well and one of the only two characters I find enjoyable.

 

[Kane52630]

I wanna vote for Anthony Carrigan as Victor Zsasz...but that fool haven't used a knife since his first episode.

 

[Kathemy]

^ What "character development" has there been for Oswald? I like him and like Robin Lord Taylor's portrayal of him, but he's essentially been the same character, fundamentally, since we were first introduced to him in the Pilot. An elevation in his status within Gotham's criminal underworld doesn't actually constitute character development.

Barbara's had far more actual character development than Oswald, since she's really the only villainous character who's changed and evolved over the course of the series so far, going from someone we thought was the typical 'socialite love interest' and whom fans thought was pretty bland and useless to a complete psychopath who is obsessed with Jim and whom we haven't seen the last of by any means. She may be in a coma right now, but she'll eventually be back on her feet and returning to continue her obsessed torment of Jim, Lee, etc.

I said "most consistent", not "most". Barbara's change has been far more dramatic but the way Penguin has been developed from "Fish's umbrella boy" to the Gotham crime lord and the exposition of his reliance on his mother and her death's significance have felt a lot more organic. As for Barbara, Lee said it best - "she just went psycho". It's not necessarily badly done, I almost never criticize anything on this show unless I believe I'm standing on solid ground.

Perhaps it would have been better if I'd talked about exposition rather than development.

 

[Taarna]

I think I'd have to go with Riddler, and Penguin as my second. Robin Lord Taylor's performance is brilliant, and a performance like no other but Cory Michael Smith's Penguin is just so accurate. RLT's Penguin is a younger version, pre-penguin is you will. There is some originality about it.

But again with Cory Michael Smith's Riddler...his performance is spot-on and portrays the character perfectly. His nerdy side and awkwardness and obsessive personality. The way he evolved his character was perfect. He's the most believable younger version of the character, and on the same side as Jim Carrey's Riddler.

I must agree. Cory Michael Smith is worthy of an award for his role, this is not to take anything away from Robin Lord Taylor!

And Jerome was the very spirit of the Joker.

Gotham has some heavyweights!

 

[DigificWriter]

Leslie's assessment of Barbara really isn't accurate, since it ignores the fact that Barbara was always one step away from the edge of sanity and struggling not to fall off the proverbial cliff.

 

[Kathemy]

That's also true. One does not negate the other.

 

[DigificWriter]

The term "went crazy", as I noted, implies that the incident with Lennon induced Barbara's craziness when such isn't actually the case.

Barbara didnt "go" crazy; she always * was * crazy, but was using things like drugs, booze, and sexual relationships to tamp down that part of herself. Lennon just helped her realize that there was no need to hide behind facades and "set her free".

 

[Kathemy]

No, it doesn't imply that at all.

 

[Asharad]

Forgot to vote twice... didn't read the thread.

 

[DigificWriter]

No, it doesn't imply that at all.

Yes, it does. The word "went" is a past-tense "action word" that conveys a change, but for Barbara, there actually was no change.

 

[Kathemy]

Again, what I said does not imply that the incident with Lennon was the sole catalyst for the change. Actually it does not even imply that Lennon had a part in it at all, even though I'd surely argue it.

And there was a "change". There was a "change" in behavior from "not doing anything illlegal" to "murdering people". That's a factual change. No amount of twisting things can get around that.

 

[DigificWriter]

Barbara was clearly partaking of illicit substances both before and after she left Jim and then came back to her apartment and Gotham, so she wasn't actually the 'goody two-shoes' socialite people thought she was.

She also has conversations with Renee that imply that they were into some pretty heavy stuff before Jim came along, and her conversation with Lee makes it clear that the dark side of herself that Lennon helped her tap into had always been there, just waiting to break free of the facade she'd locked it behind.

 

[Kathemy]

I don't disagree.

The point here is that the events with Lennon were "the straw that broke the camel's back". That's not all it was. It represents a dialectical cusp. My problem is that we don't have enough explanation about the thesis and antithesis to make the synthesis understandable in the way we immediately understood it with Bruce in The Son of Gotham. She's just got too little independent screentime and the shared screentime isn't optimal for her character exposition.

Post-Lennon her unity of opposites shifted in a significant way making it all very obvious even to a casual bystander.

 

[Kathemy]

Bloody double posts!!!

 

[Quasar]

Ben Gordon is the best villain. Watch his captain give him orders, then count the seconds until the disobeys those orders. He gives his word to Penguin, then always goes back on his word. Every conversation with Lee is "we'll talk later", but later never comes. He's EVIL!

Villain #2 is Alfred. He hits girls.

 

[Kathemy]

"Girls?"

Can you give me one example apart from the distinct grayzone of him slapping Selina that wasn't morally justified?

 

[Taarna]

Ben Gordon is the best villain. Watch his captain give him orders, then count the seconds until the disobeys those orders. He gives his word to Penguin, then always goes back on his word. Every conversation with Lee is "we'll talk later", but later never comes. He's EVIL!

Villain #2 is Alfred. He hits girls.

I see Gordon like this. His ends justify the means. He's on the side of good.

 

[SelinaKitten]

No love for Tabitha at all?

She's so far been my favourite Gotham villain but I do enjoy the Penguin as well