Top Ten Villains, Criminals, Degenerates

10. The writers from Nazi Literature in the Americas

Villainous mainly for their beliefs. Luckily they were all too pathetic to accomplish anything.

9. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights

All-around selfish, dysfunctional jerk who just ruins freaking everything.

8. Popeye from Sanctuary

An impotent creep who kidnaps and rapes a woman with . . . Never mind. How did the 1930s let Faulkner get away with that?

7. The "Ancient Enemy" from Phantoms

Say what you want about Dean Koontz's latest offerings, but this one is a classic of the thriller genre. A shape-shifting Eldritch Abomination, self-styled as Satan, has wiped out an entire town and sees humans as nothing more than playthings to sadistically toy with before devouring. What's not to love?

6. Rupert from Rupert: A Confession

He's what TV Tropes calls a "Villain Protagonist" but that doesn't mean he's sympathetic. The book is entirely from his POV as he defends himself to a jury. What he's being tried for exactly isn't revealed until the end, in the most horrifying detail imaginable.

5. Yutzi from Laundry

This woman literally fits the textbook criteria for a real-life psychopath. Also a rare example of a non-murderous Complete Monster but that doesn't make her any less terrifying. The emotional and physical abuse she inflicts on a helpless little girl is pure High Octane Nightmare Fuel.

4. Håkan from Let the Right One In

Most characters in this book are villainous in one way or another but this piece of work especially stands out. As if being a pedophile harvesting blood for a child vampire wasn't bad enough, Håkan had to go and become the most revolting vampire-zombie-thing in all of modern horror.

3. Sauron from Lord of the Rings

Self-explanatory. One of the greatest and most famous literary villains of all time.

2. Patrick Bateman from American Psycho

I have not read this book. Reading about it was quite enough, thank you.

1. The Cosmic Horrors of H.P. Lovecraft

Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Dagon, Nyarlathotep, Azathoth . . . Not really evil so much as they're completely beyond anything the human mind can conceive of. Villainous mainly for the madness and havoc unleashed once an "unclean mockery of natural law" makes its appearance.

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers' answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time . . . just post what you can!