TTT Rewind: Villains/Criminals/Other Nasties

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Originally, I had planned to post a review today, but since I seem to have a total writer's block when it comes to them, I thought I might as well check out TTT's topic. When I saw that it was Top Ten Tuesday Rewind, which means we can pick any past topic, it felt like the perfect thing for me to do. After looking through all the older themes, I found one I particularly like. So, without further ado I give you my

Top Ten Villains/Criminals/Other Nasties

There is no real order to these and I will probably group a couple together since they are from the same series.

 

1. Avari from Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series

Someone from this series always seems to be able to sneak into my TTT, no matter which topic it is. Avari is the kind of villain I love to hate. He is so obsessed with Kaylee Cavanaugh, the heroine of this series, and her soul that he doesn't shy away from anything to achieve his goal. He doesn't care about anyone but himself and it's not for no reason he is the hellion of avarice...

Photo Credit: Alexander Gordon Smith

2. Warden Cross, Alfred Furnace, Wheezers, and Berserkers from Alexander Gordon Smith's Escape from Furnace series

None of these fit into the "love to hate" category. They are all just plain and simple terrifying. It's all of theirs fault I had a hard time breathing through all of the books. The looks of the Wheezers are especially unsettling. Just take a peak at the picture of the author with a replica of a wheezer. It's so incredibly creepy. It gives me the chills just looking at that thing... Add to that the ever dark presence of Alfred Furnace looming over everyone and everything and there is no way, you come up feeling totally unaffected...

3. Luke from Leah Clifford's A Touch Trilogy

Luke definitely falls into the "love to hate" category. He is the singer in a rock band how could that not be alluring? You can't ever forget that he is also pure evil - never, ever forget that...

"Spill it, or I carve out her eyes."

Gabe hesitated, his eyes shifting from maroon to gold and back.

"If you'd like," Luke added, "I'll save them for you in a jar."

4. Bishop from Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series

As if the ordinary Morganville vampires weren't scary enough already, all of a sudden you have Bishop and his entourage showing up, hell-bend on taking over the whole town and making all humans into snacks on legs. He is a crazy, old vampire who I wouldn't even want to be in the same room with...

 

5. Valentine Morgenstern from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series

If he isn't evil, then I don't know who is. The stuff he did to his own children is despicable - not to mention all the other terrible things he's responsible for. I don't think I need to say anymore about him...

 

6. Victor Dashkov and Strigoi from Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series

I loved Richelle Mead's idea of Moroi and Strigoi vampires. You definitely wouldn't want to come face-to-face with a Strigoi - at least not if valued your own life. As if Strigoi weren't bad enough, you also have to look for Morois like Victor Dashkov who is willing to sacrifice pretty much anyone just so he can live a longer life.

 

7. President Snow from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series

He is plain cruel and you know it's all fun and entertainment for him to watch kids kill each other. It would have been very interesting to watch him fight in the arena. I wonder how far he would have gotten...

8. Gary Soneji and Kyle Craig from James Patterson's Alex Cross series

How I love this series. It has been one of my favorites for years and years. I am always astonished about the new kinds of evil characters James Patterson comes up with. You think you've seen it all, but then... bam... and the wind gets knocked right out of you. These are two of the cruelest lunatics he has ever written about.

9. Jack Torrance from Stephen King's The Shining

Looking back at it, I think I was definitely way too young when I read this book. I believe I was about 9 or 10 at the time and it completely terrified me. It was so hard to finish it, and when I now put Jack Nicholson's face behind the name of Jack Torrance, it makes it all the more frightening. He did such an incredible job at portraying this character and just looking at his face makes me shudder.

10. The Tiger from James Patterson's Cross Country

Even though he is also part of the Alex Cross series, I had to give him his own number. He is the most vicious, brutal, sadistic, and heartless character I have ever encountered in a story. I cannot even start to describe the things he does - or has somebody else do - to others. This book was one of the toughest Alex Cross books to read, and it completely and  utterly terrifies me to know there ARE indeed people like him out there in the world. It took me a few weeks to pick up another book after this one, I just couldn't let it go.

*****

Wow, I cannot believe how many hours it took me to get this post done. Who would have thought? So, but this is my top ten. There are a ton more I could have put on this list, but I settled on these ones.

Which are some of your favorite villains or nasty creatures? I would love to hear from you!