Follow Friday #30

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. (I'm doing this in the morning because I'm off school! Snow Day! Yay!!)

Q: Who is your favorite villain from a book?

Ohmygosh. Um... let's see... Opal Koboi from Artemis Fowl? Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter? Capricorn from Inkheart? Tigerclaw/TigerStar from the Warriors series (Erin Hunter)?

As you can see, I still have a mighty soft spot for my MG favorites. And that I have a hard time picking my favorite villain.

What makes a good villain?
-A cool name
-brilliant intellect
-doesn't go into monologues
-Actively opposes the protagonist (through minions or by himself)
-That evil, charismatic attitude
-Knows morality; knows what he wants; ignores morals in favor of what he wants.

At least, this is my definition. All of the villains I mentioned above do this. (Except maybe Opal Koboi. But she's crazy. And looks completely innocent, so nobody knows how evil she is for awhile, and she has the freedom to gloat monologue. But I think she has the other attributes.)

Yes, they have to have a cool name. You can't be evil without a cool name, or everyone will laugh at you. Capricorn even renamed himself that -- named after a horoscope, but at least it's a cool horoscope name. (I don't know what I would've thought if it'd been a not-cool name, like Taurus; who would take your genius seriously when your name means bull [or something similar to a bull]?)

And stupid villains... are stupid. Case in point. They have to be a genius. How far would Voldemort have gotten if he was an idiot? Certainly not far enough to know what a horcrux is.

And charisma is necessary if you want followers. Otherwise, the villain sits in his lair, shunned by all, and has no minions to send after you. He's too busy cooking his own meals and cleaning his own house to plan his daring plots against the hero. Or under his bush, if you're Tigerstar. (He's a cat. Living in the woods with his clan[s], who he's not the leader of until after the third book.)

So... yea. This is my list. And my explanations. Trust me, there are plenty of other villains I loved, but I didn't want to blog post to stretch on for infinity, so I cut it short.

How about you? Who did you choose? What makes a villain cool for you?

Have a blessed Friday!