5 of my Favourite Villains 🎃

Happy spooky day, my fellow book lovers! I hope you’ve all enjoyed some creepy or autumnal books in the run up to Halloween. This past month has been a difficult one for me, so my reading motivation has been practically non-existent, which means I haven’t been able to update my usual list of Halloween reads. 

So for this year I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite villains instead! Whether you hate them, love to hate them, or just plain love them, villains are a huge part of a story. Whether it comes in the form of a magical being or a personal problem, our much-loved characters always have to fight against something. 

I’m always a sucker for a well written, in-depth villain, so here are just a few of the ones that have managed to shake me to the core.

The Darkling from Shadow and Bone

Listen, I’m not one of those people who defends his actions (i’m looking at you, Darkling stan twt) but he is undeniably a top-tier villain. I also think he’s one of the most interesting characters in the Grisha Trilogy because *dramatic pause* I find the other characters a little boring. Six os Crows is the superior Grishaverse story and I take no criticism on this opinion. 

The Wood in Uprooted 

Yes, a literal wood. Though the wood is only acting the way it does because it has been corrupted by people, we still spend the majority of this book fearing some damn TREES. It’s genius and refreshing, and absolutely one of the reasons why I love this book so much. 

The Mage from Carry On 

This book is genius in that it has you fearing the Insidious Humdrum throughout the story, only for the Mage, the character you feel like you should trust, to be an absolute snake. He’s the cliché man who thought he could change the world because his ideas were superior but the way the plot unfolds makes for such a rollercoaster of emotions.

Eli and Victor in Vicious 

Eli is trash, so jot that down, but let’s talk about Victor because I LOVE talking about Victor. He is a villain in his own right because he absolutely contributed to both the state he’s in and the mess that Eli caused in the first place. But he’s also the hero of the story. Not a hero in general, but the one who is fighting for justice in this particular situation. It’s such an interesting dynamic. 

Jonathan Morgenstern from The Mortal Instruments 

My favourite villains are usually the ones who have some redeemable qualities. Sebastian has precisely none. And yet he’s still one of my favourites for how genuinely terrifying he is. The scenes in City of Lost Souls in which he attacks Clary are some of the most uncomfortable moments in the whole series for me. He truly makes my skin crawl. 

Who are your favourite villains? Let me know in the comments!