Villains are one of the important ingredients that can make a good literary work. They are amongst the many agents that arouse different kinds of emotions from the readers, such as hatred, fear, anger, disgust, and more. Black hat and antagonist are some of the synonyms of the term villain. They are popularly known to be as the bad guys in every story. In other words, they are the fictional characters that brings hardships and misfortunes to the protagonists. These evil characters are not only present in literature but also in film and theater.
Moreover, these characters are almost present in every story and in any genre, especially in fantasy fiction. The mentioned category is amongst the widely patronized genres, which is why authors are doing their best to shape up an evil to the core antagonist to make their stories effective. There are essential traits of an effective fantasy fiction villain that authors are applying to their works. That is why there are many bad guys in different work of fantasy fiction that are never forgotten by readers and still make them feel irritated when they remember them.
Literature showcase plenty of outstanding antagonists that are still being hated and feared by readers until today. That said, listed below are some of the most promising black hats that are conquering the literary world that you might get to know.
Dolores Umbridge
Dolores Jane Umbridge is a character in the 6th Harry Potter book called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. She is a short and sweet-looking woman who works as the Senior Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Magic. However, looks can be deceiving for Umbridge is cruel and strict, which is a complete contrast to her physical appearance. She came to Hogwarts as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and began changing the rules of the subject and the school with the use of her power and connection to the Ministry. She started putting bumps into Harry Potter’s life and began halting the happiness of other students. She is not an efficient professor for she is opposed on teaching the students about magic spells that would help them defend themselves, instead she commanded them to study and do paper works. She was motivated to make the lives of Harry and other members of the school, except Mr. Filch’s, more challenging.
Joffrey Baratheon
Joffrey Baratheon is a product of an incest relationship of siblings Cersei and Jaime Lannister, along with his sister Myrcella and Tommen. However, he and his siblings are unaware of their origin and they were introduced to be Robert Baratheon’s children. He is one of the antagonists in George R.R. Martin’s popular series called A Song of Ice and Fire or also known as the Game of Thrones. Joffrey is not the main villain but he is the bad guy that has been hated all throughout his appearance in the book and film. He is an abusive partner, ruthless king, and stubborn son but he was so much loved by his mother. He was the reason why Ned Stark was beheaded and Sansa Stark lived a miserable life. He was first engaged to Sansa but their engagement was broken after the death of both their fathers. Later on, he was married to Margaery Tyrell but immediately died after they were wed.
Sauron
Sauron is the main villain in the classic The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. He was also mentioned in the TLOTR sequel titled The Hobbit as the Necromancer. He is the ruler of Mordor, a land in the Middle-earth; but, he is not contented of ruling only one tiny part of their world. His discontentment turned into a huge ambition of having to rule all of Middle-earth. He is a title character and can do extraordinary things, like being a shape changer. Sauron can appear in different appearances as he wish, such as vampire, serpent, and more. He was not born evil for he was made. The Dark Lord shaped him into something vile by corrupting him, along with the Balroghs. He died later on after his encounter with Gil-galad and Elendil.
The Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is the primary villain of the novel The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum. She is a hostile and spiteful leader of her kingdom called the Winkie Country. Her castle was differently displayed in the film for it was a beautiful kingdom instead of a menacing one. She has an unreasonable fear of water. She formed a group along with the Wicked Witches of the North and South to vanquish the Land of Oz and get an equal portion of it to enjoy themselves. The Wicked Witch of the West is obsessed with power, making her greedy. She doesn’t care about the death of the Wicked Witch of the East for she is only interested on the thing that will give her more power, which is the Silver Shoes.
Oliver’s Twist 