Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by BrokeAndBookish each week. This week it’s all about villains and I’ve chosen to write about the most memorable villains I’ve ever come across, whether that’s because they really are despicably evil or for some other reason. So without further ado, here’s some great villains.

Professor Dolores Umbridge – Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
While Voldemort might be the main bad guy in Harry Potter, Umbridge is almost more terrifying because she’s so normal and the way she inflicts pain and restrictions is all within the rules of the law. She uses the system to her advantage and is a bigot who always believes she is right.

Nils Bjurman – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
This man is evil and manipulative who preys on people who he sees as weaker than him and who are dependent on him. He’s a rapist and a sadist and just really, really horrible.

Cruella de Vil – The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
I read The Hundred and One Dalmatians when I was about thirteen and I’d seen both the animated and live action films many times, but Cruella de Vil in the book was still super scary.

Grimm – Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman
Grimm doesn’t make an appearance to the later books in the series but he’s instantly memorable. He is stronger and quicker than Cal and has none of Cal’s weaknesses i.e. Niko, so whenever Cal comes up against him there’s a real sense of threat.

Durza – The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
Durza is a powerful Shade and is the main antagonist for Eragon in the first book. One of the interesting things about Durza is that while he isn’t physically in the later books, his actions have long-lasting effects on Eragon and as well as being physically powerful, his mind games also work and hurt Eragon a lot.

Setrakus Ra – The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore
Setrakus Ra is this powerful alien who wants to take over Earth and enslave and/or kill all of humanity. It’s a pretty villainous thing to do but it’s always the description of Setrakus Ra that really gets to me – he is a huge, powerful and grotesque creature and when you think you might be winning against him, he nearly always has another trick up his sleeve.

President Snow – The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
President Snow is smart and that makes him a formidable villain. He’s been the leader of this dictatorship for years and knows how to play the long game, he is a master tactician and just knows how to get under someone’s skin.

The Dane Twins – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
As beautiful as they are, the Dane Twins are crazy and dangerous. They have a lot of power and influence that they have stolen and killed for, so they know how to manipulate people and to get what they want.

Queen Levana – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Queen Levana is powerful and power-hungry and won’t let anything or anyone (even her own family) get in her way. The fact that she can control people with her mind and make her appear more beautiful than she is just extra creepy and terrifying.

Kerrigor – Sabriel by Garth Nix
Throughout the book Kerrigor is like a shadow looming over Sabriel as she tries to save her father. Kerrigor is one of the Greater Dead, meaning he works with Free Magic necromancy and wants to destroy Charter Magic and all life connected to it, he’s strong and capable and the final showdown between him and Sabriel is nail-biting.

Who are some of your favourite villains?