I am a member of “Plot-aholics Anonymous”. Readers like me know what a struggle it is to meander through a character driven tale that really goes nowhere. I need conflict. I need struggle. I need a villain to be the yin to the hero’s yang.
When I pitched this idea to Colby, I thought it would be easy to come up with ten great villains from children’s literature. It turned out to be ridiculously hard to narrow my list (and this was after I decided that I could lump a whole mess of baddies into one group at the end). Count Olaf is only being mentioned now, because he was my last cut. I cut a man who spent 13 books terrorizing the Baudelaire children. Whoa.
In no particular order, here is a list of my favorite villains:
Lord Ombra from Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson: I wavered between Lord Ombra and Black Stache/Captain Hook from this series, but in the end the villain who is not quite human and can possess your mind by stealing your shadow captured my heart.
S. Wendell Palomino from Swindle by Gordon Korman: An all out sleaze bucket. He swindles Griffin Bing out of a million dollar baseball card and then taunts Griffin after the fact. There would be no ‘man-with-the-plan’ that continues on for three more books if it wasn’t for Palomino’s over-the-top nastiness.
Marv Hammerman from The 18th Emergency By Betsy Byars: I remember reading this when I was in middle school and Marv Hammerman still haunts me to this day. Kudos to Byars for creating two of the greatest names ever, the neaderthalian Hammerman and the diminutive hero of this story, Mouse Fawley.
Cluny the Scourge from Redwall by Brian Jaques: Eye patch wearin’, ferret headed pole totin’, poison barbed tail whippin’ beast of a rat who also leads an army of four hundred other nasties. Seriously, how did Matthias beat this dude?
The Shroud/Herman Plunkett from Powerless by Matthew Cody: Oh how I love this dastardly menace. His town is filled with superhero children and he spends his life stealing their powers and memories when they turn 13. With a nod to classic comic book villains Cody has given us a master class in how to create a wickedly good bad guy.
The White Witch from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: Yes, I am aware that she appears in other books within the Chronicles of Narnia, which just makes her that much more awesome, but this incredibly beautiful and powerful antagonist shows her best stuff while turning Edmund Pevensie bad with some Turkish Delight.
Casper/Fako Mustacho from Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger: This newcomer is the guy who knocked Count Olaf off the list. I think he usurped Olaf due to his brilliant and humorous plan to take over the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime soon we have an actual presidential candidate sporting the Heidleberg Handlebar.
Delores Umbridge from Harry Potter (the last three books) by J.K. Rowling: Rowling definitely knows how to craft compelling villains and Delores is one of the best. Umbridge’s pompous and vile attitude combined with her sickly sweet grandmotherly wardrobe makes for a total package.
Voldemort from Harry Potter … by J.K. Rowling: It would have been hard not to include the dark wizard who fuels the plot of one of the greatest stories ever written for children. Even though I knew early on he would be vanquished, but his insidious nature sure made the entire series fun.
Nine down and more than one to go. I knew I had to include at least one villain from a Roald Dahl book, but once you’ve have one, you just can’t stop. Dahl deserves a lifetime achievement award for consistently conjuring despicable but enjoyable antagonists. Here is just a sampling of his miscreants:
Boggis, Bunce and Bean from The Fantastic Mr. Fox: ”Boggis and Bunce and Bean, One fat, one short, one lean, These horrible crooks, So different in looks, Were nonetheless equally mean.”
The Grand High Witch from The Witches: What’s not to like about a character whose biggest desire is to rid the world of all human children?
The Fleshlumpeater from The BFG: Holy Snozzcumbers Batman, I wouldn’t want to meet this menacing giant any time soon.
Mr. and Mrs. Twit from the Twits: Capable of cold and calculating acts of cruelty plus mighty ugly to boot.
Spiker and Sponge from James and the Giant Peach: Can you admit you didn’t cheer when this wicked duo was crushed way too early in the story?
Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Greedy like Gordon Gekko and ultimately meets her demise via some crafty squirrels.
Miss Trunchbull from Matilda: C’mon you know you have wished that just once you could throw a student in “The Chokey” and bellow “In this classroom, in this school, I am God!”
Who did I miss?
Tony Keefer (@tonykeefer) lives with his NBC family and teaches 4th grade NBCers in Dublin, Ohio. He also writes for Choice Literacy and on his own blog atychiphobia.
An Homage to Nefarious Intent or “A List of About 10 Fantastic Villains in KidLit”
31 Mar14 Responses to “An Homage to Nefarious Intent or “A List of About 10 Fantastic Villains in KidLit””
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I was happy to see Lord Ombra there at the top of the list, Tony. My sons and I have read all of the Peter and the Starcatchers books as read-alouds (highly recommended, by the way) and they still get spooked out by Ombra. His shadow trick will send your spine a-tingling. (Our biggest debates has been how to pronounce it: is it “OOOOOmbra” (long O) or “UUUmbra” (U sound) or “Ambra” (short O). I always read it with the U sound, for some reason. My sons would argue but I was the reader, so I just kept to my guns. Maybe something was messing with my shadow reader …)
Kevin
Kevin,
Love how you read these books as read-alouds with your sons. I am an “Ambra” reader.
Tony
The worst villain in kidlit for me is Gar Face from The Underneath. The cruel trapper hurts animals and that makes him the lowest of the low.
Ooohhh, good choice, I had forgotten about Gar Face.
‘The Preacher’, from Elijah of Buxton, especially the audiobook version, where the reader does a fabulous job of getting just the right sliminess into his voice. We just listened to Elijah of Buxton for the second time, and loved it more than before. (Elijah is the first free-born child in a town in Canada composed of escaped slaves. The town is real, the story is fictional. Christopher Curtis, you rock!)
I haven’t yet read Elijah yet. I think Christopher Paul Curtis is a wonderful writer, but historical fiction is usually not high on my list. Will now add this book to my TBR list. Thanks.
Oh, these villians! I see your challenge with the Dahl books So many many to choose from that they are absolutely in their own category! Thrilled that Umbridge made your list. Yes of course Voldemort is such an absolute symbol of all that is dark and evil but Umbridge is in a class by herself. Harry scratching words into his hand Over and over. I can’t even think about it without shivering! Such a fun post!
It was a fun post to write and Umbridge was one of the first names I scratched down on my brainstorming list.
Umbridge really is the worst of the worst. There was something crazy creepy about her love for kittens on plates in the midst of torturing students.
Yes, kittens on plates just adds to her creeptasticness.
Oh, you can’t forget Squinton Leach from Rodman Philbrick’s The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg!
Like I replied to mathmomma above, historical fiction is not my usual cup of tea. So thanks for suggesting Squinton Leach. Just read a review and am looking forward to meeting “the meanest person in the entire state of Maine.”
I do love Lady Lamorna from French’s The Robe of Skulls.
Your comments about Miss Trunchbull made me laugh out loud! This is a great list, and it makes me want to create a “Books with Great Villains” box in my classroom library.