# Good Villains from the books



## Sephyr (Jan 18, 2010)

What are the coolest, smartest evil fellas in the book fluff? Not counting the Horus Heresy series, mind.

I'm starting to resad the BL books and was curious if their portray orks and chaos lords and the like as cartoonish bad guys having captured, heroic space marines imprisoned on the same floor as their doomsday device, or lowered gradually into shark-infested pools conveniently out of sight.

In Storm of Iron, I must say I liked the Warsmith. Rughtless, smart and cunning, though a bit too quick on the 'you have outlived your usefulness, BAHAhahaha!!!' button. His motivation for his deeds was actually quite well thought-out. Honsou wans't that bad either, even if i suspect he is just being groomed to be the foil of some plucky Space Wolf sergeant somewhere.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

The Warsmith was a genius. Its too bad he left the scene. But Honsou really develops as a character as the stories keep on coming.


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## Gree (Jun 13, 2010)

Sephyr said:


> Honsou wans't that bad either, even if i suspect he is just being groomed to be the foil of some plucky Space Wolf sergeant somewhere.


I thought Honsou is pretty clearly made into Ventris's foil in the latter Ultramarine books.


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## BlackGuard (Sep 10, 2010)

Currently reading Soul Hunter -- I like the depiction there. I would recommend the Night Lords as well-crafted bad-guys.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Ankh, the Herald of Dismay gets my vote. 

Seriously, necrons are evil enough but when one of them plays his fellow lords into being destroyed one by one, it adds a new level of backstabbery to a villain. 

Think Arhiman, but made of metal.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Sadly, not too many villains get enough spotlight in 40k to be truly memorable.

Honsou is an interesting fellow, though his motivation to avenge himself against Uriel Ventris is, at best, contrived.

Talos of the Night Lords is a fine villain (or anti-hero; however you like it), but time will tell if he remains strong.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

I got nothing. There hasn't really been any 40k villains that have really made it to the level I am looking for. IOW, they ain't made no Vader.


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## Akatsuki13 (May 9, 2010)

In recent novels, Talos of the Night Lords and Marduk of the Word Bearers. Both characters were great in their own ways. Talos, hated the Imperium yet refused the Chaos Gods and desires to restore his Company to its former glory while Marduk, devoted to the Chaos Gods and to Erebus and the Dark Council but highly devious and ambitious at the same time. I just love reading about these two, seeing their battles against the Imperium as well as dealing with the plotting of their fellow CSM. In fact, I highly recommend their respective novels for any fan of 40k novels.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

I forgot where I read this but a formidable Chaos champion turned against Chaos and is plotting on how to get rid of them. I forget his name. He sounded like a very interesting character for someone to expand on.


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

Molotoch (I think that's how you spell his name?) from the Ravenor trilogy. That guy was brilliant. My favorite part was when he was talking to an...associate...of his. Over the course of a meal in a local restaurant he calmly explained how he was able to send the entire sub-sector into a self-destructive crisis 3-4 different ways with the smallest amount of effort. It's humbling when most wide spread threats typically from in the form of Black Crusades or Tyranid fleets, but here this one man could cause so much havoc.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

I actually like Captain Forrix as well. It was strange how he was characterized compared to the other Iron Warriors. Unlike them, it seemed that he maintained some of those old values that don't really run within his legion.


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

That's because he was depressed... Once he got over his funk, he was right in the thick of it with the rest of them. :wink:


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Okay, I`ll give a list of the ones I like: 

Honsou. 

Ankh. 

Erebus (the guy you love to hate. I seriously hate this bastard, which means he`s an effective antagonist).

Arhiman.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Cherubael, a villain to a certain extent, depending on you view of him/it


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Definately Blaine the mono. 

An evil, riddling train, that does John Wayne impressions and can shoot lightning? Yes please!



I've never found a 40k villain that is particularly interesting, or likable.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Gah! How could I have forgotten Cherubael?!


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## MuSigma (Jul 8, 2010)

If your mentioning Eisenhorn villains - there is always Pontius Glade.

In the Soul Drinkers and possibley Mechanicus, there are Dark Adepts of the Dark Mechanicus who live on Mars and work in the background undetected for centuries - they are pretty sneaky.

Dont really get good villains - must have missed out somehow, its either a heroic novel and the bad guy is crap or its wriiten from the point of view of the Villain and makes him almost likable.

The Dark Assassin in Nemesis was a good villain charactor, and the Night Lord of Lord of Midnight was a good villain.


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## NiceGuyEddy (Mar 6, 2010)

hailene said:


> Molotoch (I think that's how you spell his name?) from the Ravenor trilogy. That guy was brilliant. My favorite part was when he was talking to an...associate...of his. Over the course of a meal in a local restaurant he calmly explained how he was able to send the entire sub-sector into a self-destructive crisis 3-4 different ways with the smallest amount of effort. It's humbling when most wide spread threats typically from in the form of Black Crusades or Tyranid fleets, but here this one man could cause so much havoc.


That guy deserved a spin off. He was always going to have a tough time against an obsessed inquisitor as psychically powerful and intelligient as Ravenor but always seemed to be a threat. If I'm ever unlucky enough to find myself staring down the barrel of a gun I'm going to have to try very hard to NOT attempt Molotch's flick/disarm trick. 



Serpion5 said:


> Gah! How could I have forgotten Cherubael?!


As much as I liked Cherubael he was never much more than a pawn, and not even a pawn of chaos.



He (it?) had millenia of experience, near limitless power, the ability to see some of the future and still his decades old master plan to achieve freedom from mortals is undone by an inquisitor whose area of exertise isn't even supposed to be daemons. He's then effetively castrated and reduced to the odd heretic flaying. 


But he was quite memorable alright. Always seemed so polite!

I like Huron Blackheart at the moment for his casual badassery like capturing SW strike cruisers and surviving melta explosions.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Not exacty Black Library, but Huron is my favourite so far. Less of the comincal pirate (Aaargh, Matey) he's portrayed in the Codex, more of the dissilsioned awesome prideful character.


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## demonictalkin56 (Jan 30, 2011)

Ahriman is superb however for sheer "you absolute bastard" hatred I have to say Lijjah Cuu.


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## High_Seraph (Aug 28, 2009)

Zygmond Molotch. From Ravenor trilogy.


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## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

I think the best villains are often the ones who are part of the hero himself. For example when Korlandril is effectively battling his emotions and we get to see a darker side of him just made me go wow!


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Shit how did i forget Cuu!! He's got to be top of the list, sure as sure.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

Erebus always tops the list for me. Not only is he coniving crafty asshole but he his almost solely resposible for the HH.

Now a least fav. That Inq. from the first GK book (cant remember his name)

Granted he flippin escaped and managed to convince an entire planet along with the SoBs that the GK were chaos marines all for the rise of this DP just so he could be basically be killed by him. I just thought that guy was an idiot.

Talos comes in there as well though yeah i think he can be a lil whiney but he does know how to get the job done if you want a memorable villian from the night lords i think it would be the exalted one that dude is an A-1 dick in and a half.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

I enjoyed Tellos as a progressing psyko villian in the Soul Drinker Series. And Marduk is a interesting Character like Honsou in that they both are very clever and talented yet are new as Chaos Lords.


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## Weapon (Mar 5, 2009)

I must check out this Honsou fella that everyone keeps praising.

Anyway, my favourite bad guy has to be Talos, but then again I don't know many.


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## Maidel (Jun 28, 2009)

Angel of Blood said:


> Cherubael, a villain to a certain extent, depending on you view of him/it


Totally this.


And the worst part - I actually started to 'like' him at the end of the books, it was so 'subtle'.


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## TheSpore (Oct 15, 2009)

best villian hmmmmmmmm The Emperor
The anti- xenos genocidal maniac JK


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## the Autarch (Aug 23, 2009)

Cherubael,Pontius Glaw,Lijah Cuu and Pater Sin were all pretty creepy but Inquisitor Heldane just freaks me out that horse faced monster


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

Um, Honsou maybe? Dunno, I think most of them are pretty unmemorable, so I tend not to give a shit about them after they have lost their heads/been blown to pieces/been captured by the inquisiton or all three.


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## LordLucan (Dec 9, 2009)

Orfeo Culzean, from the Ravenor trilogy, was brilliant, up until the final chapters of Ravenor, when he suddenly turned into a stereotypical cartoon villain imo...

Moloch from that series was epic too.

I know 30K isn't allowed, but Dinas Chayne was an excellent antagonist from legion imo. The most badass normal human ever!


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

Lijah "Gakking" Cuu for me, i've never hated a character from a book so much. I actually launched "Straight Silver" across the room. I ended up reading the last of the Saint series just to find out if that piece of dirt finally got his comuppance.


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## a_bad_curry (Mar 10, 2011)

For some reason, i cannot stand Elim Rawne. He is the exact sorta guy that i just hate in real life, and with him having actual power, he just pisses me off


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Lijah Fething Cuu, definitely. So emotionless, so efficient. Picks his moment perfectly. It's such a shame he died, although he did go out with a bang 

(And a dead Corbec, and a dead Bragg, and a dead Muril.
 Best villain, sure as sure.

Midnight


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## Dicrel Seijin (Apr 2, 2011)

I'd have to agree with prior mentions of Honsou and Ahriman. There are others, I usually remember one particular villain from each book I read, for a while. If I continue to remember them, then they're the ones.

And I'm nominating Iagon from _Salamander_. The messed up part was that this adjunct could rationalize that his every action was to advance the career of his sergeant (and by extension, his). He coerces, he blackmails, he sets into motion machinations. What did it for me was when he murdered his own captain in cold blood so that his sergeant would have no choice but to take the post. That it goes all wrong at the end is even more of a tragedy.


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