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Curated category

Male film villains

  • Darth VaderGeorge Lucas hired concept artist Ralph McQuarrie during pre-production of the original Star Wars film in 1975. Lucas asked McQuarrie to depict a very tall…
  • Kylo RenIn March 2014, the production team for Star Wars: The Force Awakens knew their main antagonist only as Jedi Killer. That name hid a character who had gone…
  • Stormtrooper (Star Wars)In the opening scene of Star Wars, a squad of white-armored soldiers descends from a transport ship onto the Tantive IV.
  • IagoIago stands in the shadows of a Venetian camp, his face hidden behind a mask of absolute honesty. He has served Othello for years as standard-bearer, yet he…
  • PalpatineGeorge Lucas first sketched the character in 1974 under the name Cos Dashit, a young human leading a New Galactic Empire.
  • SarumanIn the valley of Isengard, a once-green landscape transformed into a scarred industrial wasteland. Gandalf stood atop the tower of Orthanc and saw the truth…
  • Gríma WormtonguePsychologists Deborah and Mark Parker identified Gríma Wormtongue as the archetypal sycophant in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
  • Darth MaulGeorge Lucas first imagined Darth Maul as a masked figure, something that could rival the iconic Darth Vader. Early concept art by Iain McCaig showed…
  • Captain AhabAhab stands on the deck of the Pequod, his eye fixed on the horizon. He is fifty-eight years old and has lost a leg to the white whale Moby Dick.
  • SauronIn the First Age, a creature known as Mairon served Aulë, the smith of the Valar. He was called The Admirable until he betrayed his masters to join Melkor.
  • Supreme Leader SnokeIn the opening scene of The Force Awakens, a massive hologram projects across a dark throne room. This figure speaks with a deep, resonant voice that fills…
  • Vega (Street Fighter)Akira Nishitani stood before a whiteboard in 1990 and drew a list of countries. He needed fighters from Spain and Thailand to complete the roster for Street…
  • PeliasPelias, king of Iolcus in Greek mythology, owes his entire reign to a single missing sandal. When a young stranger arrived in Iolcus wearing only one shoe…
  • GollumIn 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien introduced a small, slimy creature into the world of The Hobbit. This character lived on an island in an underground lake beneath…