Thursday, February 28, 2013

The five greatest female villains to appear in fiction

My blogger friend L.G. Smith often writes about women in historical context, and she usually praises their heroism, which got me to thinking about all the non-heroic women out there. You know...the villains...and what they bring to a story. So I'm running down my list of my five favorite female villains that have appeared in stories. But I'm not leaving you out of the conversation. Afterward, I'm inviting you to weigh in on some that you would put on your own list.
5.) Catwoman. Her real name is Selina Kyle. We all know her story and depending on which side of Crisis of the Infinite Earths you fall on, she's both a unique addition to the Batman's rogue's gallery and probably one of his most interesting lovers (because she was a bad kitty that the Batman could "reform"). The character of Catwoman was introduced by Bill Finger and Bob Kane in the first Batman comic in 1940 (yeah she's that old) and it's said she was inspired by actress Jean Harlow. Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather, Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Barry, and Anne Hathaway have all played Catwoman.
4.) Lady Macbeth.  She's a character in Shakespeare's Macbeth and the wife of the play's protagonist. She goads him into committing regicide and becomes Queen of Scotland. She's the epitome of ambition, ruthlessness, and the single-minded pursuit of power and really did a lot to break the idea that women were the "gentler sex."
3.) The Reverend Mother Giaus Helen Mohiam. In Frank Herbert's Dune, the Reverend Mother is a fantastic villain. She goes after Paul to test him with her Gom Jabbar because she fears what Jessica, the former Bene Gesserit now married to Leto Atreides, might have done in giving the Duke of Caladan a son. She says in Dune, "Damn that Jessica! If only she'd borne us a girl as she was ordered to do."
2.) Catherine Tramell. Sharon Stone brought this character to life in the 1992 film "Basic Instinct" and she got a lot of press at the time for the infamous "beaver" shot. However, this Paul Verhoeven film was riveting. It took place in San Francisco (which was a fabulous setting), was about a writer (how cool is that?) that writes a book that foretells a murder (thereby creating an alibi), and goes about mind-f*cking the protagonist so bad that you have no idea by the end of the movie as to which girl is innocent and which girl is the killer. The only thing that you do know is that Gus was a good guy and didn't deserve to die, and it's really sad to see a Lotus Esprit bite the big one.
1.) The Wicked Witch of the West. I'm talking Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz and not all of these moneygrabs knockoffs. For what it's worth, I still don't understand how there can be prequels to the Wizard of Oz seeing as the story is complete and as far as I'm concerned, it was a dream that took place in a girl's head (who got knocked unconscious during a wind storm). However, I know the great money machine that is America will want to squeeze every last drop of cash from a franchise so we will have endless prequels and side stories of characters that should be "just a dream" but aren't really because Mr. Baum is dead and can't defend his creation. Oh sorry...did I say that? I guess I did. Anyway, the wicked witch of the west is a great villain. She lives in a castle, has flying monkeys for servants, cackles and cast spells, and she's just downright nasty.

So there you have it, my list of the five greatest female villains to appear in fiction. Do you agree or disagree? Think of any female villains you'd have on this list? I look forward to reading your comments.

36 comments:

  1. It's too late for me to think about this, right now. I'll see if I can come up with something tomorrow.

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  2. I can't think of any right now, except I just thought of Bela Talbot from SUPERNATURAL. I loved her & was sad that her storyline ended. ;) I would have liked to have learned more about her & seen her hang around.

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  3. I have a feeling Lucretia Borgia should be in there somewhere and I also Love Irene Watson in Sherlock Holmes.

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  4. Cruella deVille beats all of them!

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  5. I love Irene ADLER in Sherlock Holmes. She was actually not a bad person, though. Just a woman without options who actually ended up taking the high road. :-)

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  6. Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction hits home for a lot of guys.

    BTW, The Wizard of Oz wasn't a dream in the book, and Baum wrote a whole series, so I don't think there's a problem with making more movies. The problem is with making bad movies.

    mood

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  7. I'd say the alien queen in Cameron's Aliens.
    And Oz the Great and Powerful is NOT a remake. As Moody said, Baum wrote many Oz books - fourteen in all.

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  8. Carol Nelson Douglas wrote a series of mystery books with Irene Alder as the MC.

    I'd add Delores Umbridge from Harry Potter. Maybe some more will come to me later.

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  9. Nurse Ratchet in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest somehow comes to mind.

    When I was little, I was terrified of that Wicked Witch. What scared me the most is when she locked Dorothy in the room with that hourglass. Panic time...Lol...

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  10. I'd have to agree with Ted, but Lady Tremaine in Cinderella is also pretty high on my list, as well as Annie in King's book, Misery.

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  11. When I was young I saw a version of the movie that showed the ruby slippers sitting in the closet at the end, thereby proving it wasn't a dream. It seems the scene was later cut?

    The Borg queen in ST Voyager was pretty cool. I love female villians and strong female characters. Hate Mary Sues...

    In what might seem to clash with that previous statement, I ADORE the sexy costumes like the one catwoman wears on this post. I'd love to have book covers like the old S/F covers from decades ago - but there's too many that think it's sexist and exploitation. I don't. I think it's empowering for a woman to look sexy AND deadly. :)

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  12. Mrs. Danvers in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is so unnerving. The slow escalation of taunts and unflattering comparison is pretty remarkable. In the same vein the fictionalized version of Anna Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada is a fantastic villain.

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  13. You should have called this your badass bitches series. Ha! Great list. And the comments have nailed a lot of the really bad ones. Hmmm, I have to give this some more thought.

    And just as an aside...I was watching a show about Macbeth a few weeks ago, and in it someone mentioned that the Macbeths are perhaps the only happily married couple represented in Shakespeare's plays. That's kind of a stunner, but I think it might be true.

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  14. Isis in the Scarlet Knight series is pretty badass (shameless plug!). And there's a whole group of female assassins who could kick Jason Bourne's ass without working up a sweat. I'm just saying.

    I don't like when other people leech off another author's work, but I did enjoy watching "Wicked" on stage (twice even).

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  15. I will echo both Umbridge and Nurse Ratchett. I also would add the really horrid mothers out there: Mrs. Bates (Norman's mother) and Joan Crawford. You know who else I love... Another Glenn Close role but far more subtle--in Dangerous Liaisons her character toys with people for her own entertainment--I love that movie--how people's rottenness comes back and bites them, but they sure do a lot of collatoral damage on the way.

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  16. Yeah, i'd throw umbridge in there as well. God i hated her

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  17. Some great ones already in the comments. It's too early for me to think. I'll probably think of one later.

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  18. I definitely agree with Catwoman and the Wicked Witch (although she's not so wicked in Wicked). I would definitely add Umbridge. I hate that woman. Hate, hate, hate her!

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  19. China Sorrows in the Skulduggery Pleasant series of children's books by Derek Landy. She was on the side of evil to begin with, but has changed sides. There's more involved to her character as she seems to struggle with friendships, whether she wants them or not.

    Great blog post, by the way. I'm working on creating a great female antagonist character for my anti-religion dystopia that I'm writing later this year. I have a feeling re-watching Dune is on the cards for me soon.

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  20. Ooh, scary choices. I'm trying to think of others, but the only examples I can find come from books! Like Neil Gaiman's version of Snow White...

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  21. Hey Michael,

    Just getting back up to speed in blog land. So hello there.

    Right then, I'm liking your list of female villains. And slightly off a bit with this, I think Halle Berry as Catwoman should be considered a villain to acting.

    I'd like to add the wicked stepmother in Cinderella.

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  22. These are good choices. Can't think of any others this minute. Oh! In Daytime Drama, Angela in Falcon Crest was as devious as they come.

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  23. What about the horrible character Glen Close played in fatal attraction. Scared the crap out of my pet rabbit.

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  24. In the folk tales of India there is a female villain that has super powers and her feet are back words. She has to entrap a young man and get pregnant before she dies in order to get one more life time. She is very beautiful and has gorgeous hair. Once she has her baby she leaves her baby and goes about living her life. When her time to die comes she tries to get pregnant again.
    We used to be terrified of her but always loved to listen to her stories.
    Her name is Churdail in most parts of India.

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  25. I just finished a book where the villian was a woman. And was really badass. But I'll throw out whatshername from Superman II

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  26. Yay for the Wicked Witch of the West! It seems everybody grew up getting their pants scared off by her cackling threats. And if that was the original Catwoman cover, she was way ahead of her time.

    I think a lot of woman fantasize about going bad, really bad....

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  27. I'm so dumb...

    That couldn't have been the original (1940s) Catwoman cover because there's a barcode on it.

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  28. The Wicked Witch made that movie. And who didn't have nightmares about those flying monkeys?

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  29. Can't leave out Bette Midler as Winifred in Hocus Pocus. And of course Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. I love women who chop off heads :)

    ......dhole

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  30. The White Witch from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe comes to mind. I recently re-read Austen's Northanger Abbey and that Isabella Thorpe's a pretty faithless little bitch. :-) Hmmm, who else...oh yeah, Jane Eyre's aunt was something eeeee-viiiiiiil...

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  31. i had the honor of meeting margaret hamilton... in real life she was the sweetest, friendliest hollywood actress anyone could ever want to meet, a genuine sweetheart :)

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  32. Just to get a different view, I match your five with:

    -Harley Quinn (my favorite Batman villain though I like Poison Ivy too)
    -The title character in the movie All about Eve (the ending made me so mad)
    -Queen of the Borg
    -Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction
    -Kathy Bates' character in Misery (I couldn't watch past the hobbling scene)

    Of course if we include other species the all time baddest woman villain in movies has to be the Queen in Aliens 2.

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  33. Bene Gesserit sisters are the ones to have on your side you don't want them as nemesis :)

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  34. Cruella DaVille? I'm sure I spelled it wrong, but she's a classic.

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  35. Bellatrix Lestrange and the woman in Stephen King's Misery.

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  36. Woo, YES, female villains FOR THE WIN.

    I have to disagree with you on Oz. Baum created an amazing world, and people ran with it and created some other truly amazing things. It's a grand old tradition that we call "fan fiction" nowadays.

    Yes, I said it. Wicked is fan fiction. I don't love it any less.

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