HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I bet you thought I forgot all
about you and had moved onto other things…..well I try to write when I can……but
it would pain me to no end if I forgot to do my Halloween Holiday special. So
here we are….what to do…..if only I could make a list appear like magic…..and
to heck with all that build up, here are my Top 10 Dark Lords of Magic! (not
really doing a great job with the rules on this one but let’s role with it)
Before I start here are a few honorable mentions:
-Loki (Thor)
-Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd (Power Rangers)
-Jareth the Goblin King (Labyrinth)
Now onto the main event:
10-Wicked
Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)
Nothing quite beats a classic villain (and nothing quite
feels as satisfying as snubbing every single Loki fan than by stating that the
Wicked Witch is better). To be fair here, the Wicked Witch has everything that
Loki can’t really accomplish. She has a kingdom, a legion of loyal warriors (or
at least scared enough not to question) and she can even write letters in the
sky with her broomstick. It really is hard to say that she doesn’t have
everything….I mean other than ruby slippers or a questionable weakness to
water.
9-Dormammu
(Doctor Strange)
Now you face The Dread Dormammu! Not saying that Doctor
Strange doesn’t have a wide range of recognizable villains, but at least some
people are mildly aware of Dormammu. Ruling upon a plane of existence forged
entirely out of dark magic with an appearance that would drive some insane,
Dormammu wages war on our dimension but is regularly bested by the Sorcerer
Supremes. Despite this, Dormammu is an ageless being and if he cannot beat
Earth’s Sorcerers through combat he can always beat them through…the waiting
game. Fear in terror as The Dread Dormammu patiently waits for old age to take
you down. BWAHAHA!....or something.
8-Maleficent
(Sleeping Beauty)
I know what you’re thinking ‘but the new film showed she
was a good character all along and that she had been horribly wronged’ and to
that I say I’m not talking about the new film I’m talking about the original
Disney character the one who would curse you with all the powers of Hell! I
loved Maleficent in this movie. She is literally evil for the sake of being evil.
The only reason any of the events happen is because she got snubbed a birthday
party invite. Whimsically evil.
7-The
Lich (Adventure Time)
“THE LICH KING IS NOT FUNNY’ is probably the best lines
ever written about this character. In a series that can go from absolute
nonsense to OH MY GOD EVERYONE IS DEAD in two seconds flat really has The Lich
to thank for that. Every single time this character appears someone either dies
or something in the series is changed dramatically. Little is known about the
character other than he was somehow spawned from the bomb in the Mushroom War.
The Lich is solely driven towards the end of everything. In a show that is
about nothing, The Lich is one of the few plot movers but always in the most
terrifying of ways.
6 -The
White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)
Jadis, better known as the White Witch, is very similar
to the Wicked Witch. She has a kingdom, legions of followers who are more
afraid than loyal, but the true difference between the characters comes
entirely through power. The White Witch was able to cast the land of Narnia
into a 100 year winter, ruling over the land with a terrifying might. Most
notable is her wand which has the ability to transform anyone to stone. Thank
god we have super magical Lions and prophecy children to make things right….as
you do.
5 -Emperor
Palpatine (Star Wars)
And to the large group of people who stood up immediately
to protest, I have this to say: we’re all entitled to our own opinions and I
think that Jedi and Sith qualify as space wizards…..so there. With that in mind
I would be absolutely remised if I didn’t include the Emperor. Darth Sidious
has a heck of an all-encompassing, slow-burn, take over the entire universe
schemes, but I think it says a lot when we realize his plan ended up working.
He did take over the galaxy with absolute power for many years. If he was a bit
smarter with his apprentice he would have continued to rule for many more
years.
4 -Lord
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ ‘You-Know-Who’ ‘The Dark Lord’
or better known as Tom, is one of the wizarding world’s most devastating dark
wizard. When people are even too scared to say your name, for fear of being
cursed somehow, is a good sign that you’re a pretty powerful warlock. If I
really had to think of one major fault to good ol’ Voldy it’s that he found out
about a prophecy to end him and decided to go out of his way to stop the prophecy from
happening. Look…trying to stop the prophecy from happening always makes it
happen…….it’s like a finger trap that way.
3 -Ganon
(Legend of Zelda)
Or better known now as Ganondorf, is an incarnation of
the Demon King, Demise, who will ALWAYS reincarnate eventually. As far as
curses go having a never ending warlock re-incarnate every few years is a
pretty potent one. When you think about magic users the first thing that comes
to mind is rather studious book-ish types who prefer to spend their hours
locked away in a library tower. Alternatively, Ganondorf is a hulking beast on
the battlefield, and at times literally IS a beast when he takes on his demonic
boar form.
2-Morgan
le Fay
When we think about dark magic users one of the first
characters that came to mind was Morgan le Fay. This character has been adapted
time and time again. Sometimes they don’t even tie in the King Arthur stuff and
just have a really powerful sorceress named Morgana. Possibly Arthur’s
half-sister, possibly Merlin’s apprentice; Morgan le Fay has been around long
enough that were just not sure which interpretation is correct. An icon of the
dark wizard trope, there is no denying that Morgan le Fay belongs at the top of
this list…is what I would have said were it not that I felt there was ONE who
stood above them all.
1 -Sauron
(Lord of the Rings)
“Three
Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their
halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his
dark throne. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to Rule them
all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind
them. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”
I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I am
familiar with the extensive back-history of Tolkien’s epic fantasy series, nor
am I going to pretend that I fully understand everything that is going on, but
I cannot deny the power of Sauron. From my brief delves into the story-at-large,
I understand that Sauron isn’t even the first evil to appear, but I did grow up
watching the film franchise and loving every second of it. Maybe someday I will
dive deeper and have a better comprehension of the events going on but for now
I cannot imagine putting Sauron anywhere else on this list…..he is…precious to
me……..my precious……..
…………………….
….And with that bit of silly melodrama out of the way, I
bid you all a Happy Halloween!
