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The 10 most truly, utterly evil things in sci-fi
No question, sci-fi is full of badasses. But there's bad, and then there's evil—so for the 27th of our 31 specials for the 31 days of Halloween, we're taking a look at true, black-hearted evil so far removed from humanity that it can't even be called sadistic or cruel, because those petty human emotions would just get in the way.
Check back tomorrow at noon for a look at the most cursed objects in sc-fi, fantasy and horror.
AM from "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
Once you read this short story you will never forget AM, a genocidal, world-spanning computer that keeps some pet humans alive—forever—in order to torture and mutilate them. Forever. Frankly, AM makes Skynet look only a little worse than Windows Vista.
The Cube from Cube
Is the Cube truly evil? It's a box that wants to kill you, but that describes a lot of things (like cars and Box from Logan's Run). More than a box, though, the Cube is a maze of death traps that tantalizes its victims with the slim chance of escape. And that's where its true evil lies—because people inside it have two choices: face down trap upon deadly trap, or lie down and die of thirst.
Armus, aka the Skin of Evil, from Star Trek: The Next Generation
The phrase "pure evil" is usually hyperbole, except in the case of Armus, a creature formed from all the evil and negative emotions of an entire race. Those enlightened beings then left Armus all alone on its planet, which was cruel, if you ask me. So maybe they weren't entirely successful at exorcising their tarry demons. It's easy to sympathize with Armus' plight, thus demonstrating the power of Star Trek to make us feel empathy even for pure evil.
Red Lectroids from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Here's what Buckaroo himself says about Red Lectroids: EVIL! PURE AND SIMPLE! FROM THE 8TH DIMENSION! Which is strange, because by all appearances Red Lectroids are bumbling nincompoops who couldn't fry an egg in the Mojave Desert. But if Buckaroo says it's so, it's so.
Everyone from Star Trek's Mirror universe
Looking for villainy? How about an entire parallel universe of selfish, scheming, churlish, underhanded, cutthroat, murderous, lecherous, backstabbing, double-crossing, liverish, lowdown, corrupt, nefarious, petty, spiteful and darn rude people who look just like you and all your friends. But slightly cooler.
Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars
Here's a guy who blows up inhabited planets to make a point. Just because they are in his way. Compared to Tarkin, should we really be afraid of Darth Vader? What's Vader going to do that's so scary? Choke someone from a foot away? Build a protocol droid?
Daleks from Doctor Who
Unlike so many robotic/cyborg life-annihilators that lack all emotion, the Daleks exhibit a healthy ability to feel. But they only feel hate. And they feel a lot of hate, although maybe they wouldn't be so cranky if they had legs.
Berserkers, created by Fred Saberhagen
Yes, there are a lot of machines out there that hate humans, but Berserkers always bring their A game. First, they want to destroy all organic life, down to the microbe. Second, they are planet-sized starships. Third, they are self-replicating. Imagine a gigantic Death Star with the mind of a Dalek that can reproduce. That's a Berserker.
Evil Whatzit from Event Horizon
The baddie that haunts the starship Event Horizon is completely ethereal, but it's bad, bad, bad. It sends the crew into a festival of torture, mutilation and cannibalism, then goes all subtle on the rescue party, giving them visions of the loved ones they have lost and betrayed. When is an experimental warp drive ever going to open a portal to the dimension of pink fluffy happiness?
Galactus from Marvel Comics
Vengeful gods are a problem, no question, but they are generally on your side. Galactus, though, is a god who has no need of worshipers--except as salt on the planets he eats. And because he's telepathic, unkillable and can teleport entire galaxies, the best policy to adopt with him is: Avoid. Which isn't easy, considering he's 28 feet tall and weighs 18 tons.
And while you're in a Halloween state of mind, why not check out:
Day 1: 19 amazing Star Wars pumpkins
Day 2: Our 9 favorite crazy zombie kills of all time (video)
Day 3: 10 scariest Stephen King novels
Day 4: 14 great Cthulhu toys that make devouring souls fun
Day 5: 15 haunted cereals that will scare your dentist
Day 6: 20 great costumes to dress up your pet
Day 7: 21 (mostly) sexy female stormtroopers (NSFW)
Day 8: 9 movie and TV clowns that scared the hell out of us
Day 9: 10 creepy movie kids even Angelina Jolie wouldn't adopt
Day 10: 6 most awesome Stephen King horror films (plus 3 that sucked)
Day 11: 16 horror movie posters so gruesome they make our eyeballs bleed
Day 12: 16 hot movie and TV vampires who turn us into willing victims
Day 13: 20 awesomely hot Slave Leia costumes (slightly NSFW)
Day 14: 14 lamest horror movie killer costumes (What were they thinking?)
Day 15: 9 of the grossest, goriest X-Files creatures
Day 16: 11 splatterific exploding head scenes from the movies
Day 17: 15 of the most disgusting Halloween candies you can buy
Day 18: 19 freakiest movie and TV neighbors from hell
Day 19: 11 most disturbing Treehouse of Horror segments from The Simpsons
Day 20: 9 rampaging space zombies hungry for our sci-fi brains
Day 21: 10 most nightmarish movie prom nights
Day 22: 11 scary, goofy and just plain revolting movie possessions
Day 23: 13 kick-ass moments from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Day 24:13 real haunted houses you can visit in the U.S.
Day 25: 15 ghoulish apps you can download to your iPhone
Day 26: 20 hot film and TV witches and warlocks that cast a spell on us
Day 28: The 15 cursed movie objects you NEVER want to own
Day 29: 14 most twisted original Twilight Zone twist endings
Day 30: 16 sci-fi costumes that would definitely get you fired (NSFW)
Day 31: 12 awesome sci-fi Halloween moments, real and fake
By Praetor ShinzonII at 12:10 PM ON 10/27/09
O.K. The Daleks are evil.EXTERMINTATE the rest!
By DOCTOR DOOM! at 12:12 PM ON 10/27/09
Galactus isn't evil, just hungry. DOCTOR DOOM should be in his place.
By a different tim at 12:18 PM ON 10/27/09
oh Tarkin is so evil, for the 5 seconds he was in star wars right?
By whatabout at 12:21 PM ON 10/27/09
Forgot about Armus...good one! Although "Armus" is not a scary name. He needs better PR.
But how could you leave off Ming the Merciless! I mean, c'mon, he was MERCILESS!
Princess Ardala was pretty evil btw. And hot.
By ASoCalGuy at 12:24 PM ON 10/27/09
No list of evil things in sci-fi would be complete without Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay.
By Colicos's Ghost at 12:25 PM ON 10/27/09
Galactus is a force of nature, not evil.
By IronOre at 12:29 PM ON 10/27/09
You forgot one. The heart of a Fox Network Executive.
By MCP-001 at 12:30 PM ON 10/27/09
I nominate Ron Moore for the damage he has done to sci-fi (i.e. Star Trek & Battlestar Galactica...just to name a few) over the years.
By Alverant at 1:17 PM ON 10/27/09
Unicron from the first Transformers movie (from the 80s) should replace the Death Star. The DS only blew up planets, Unicron ATE them. In the comics Unicron is a dark god seeking to end all existence, returning it to the void.
By Jim Stewart at 1:18 PM ON 10/27/09
AWWWW, the nerd is mad, because i hurt his feelings about star trek.
By Des_Shinta at 1:18 PM ON 10/27/09
Galactus is HOW tall? man, that is inconsistent.
Daleks; beings so evil, it takes one of their own seeing what they have done throughout time to permanently wipe them out.
I see no Unicron, but he's more of a rarely seen, much talked about big bad anyways.
Oi, can we get a list of the greatest planet killers/ star system destroyers?
By @AndyMcW at 1:40 PM ON 10/27/09
what about all the 'Rimmers' from 'Rimmerworld' - Red Dwarf S06E05
By asfm at 1:41 PM ON 10/27/09
I'm glad AM is on the list.
By Fred at 1:41 PM ON 10/27/09
Galactus isn't bad, he's just drawn that way.
By IronOre at 1:47 PM ON 10/27/09
Nice one Fred. Of course, Jessica Rabbit is much nicer to look at than Galactus.
By MCP-001 at 1:51 PM ON 10/27/09
Fred,
Ouch!
:-)
By @Ironore at 1:56 PM ON 10/27/09
Jessica Rabbit = FTW.
By jolinar at 2:28 PM ON 10/27/09
What about Phoenix from The XMEN comic books? She has enough power to destroy the universe 10 times over!!!
By ellekc at 2:40 PM ON 10/27/09
How could a list of evil not include HAL 9000?
By Virgil's Diner at 2:46 PM ON 10/27/09
I was about to balk on Galactus but was beaten to the punch. As stated, he's a force of nature. While him eating the earth would suck for us, it's no more evil than me cooking up some Bambi's mom and throwin' her on a bun with some A-1. Maybe it's a little evil.
NOTABLE OMISSION: The Martians from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). I mean, come on - they kidnap Santa...
By MUADIB at 2:48 PM ON 10/27/09
Does it make me evil to get a little hot over evil uhura's short skirt and exposed taught ,sculpted,sexy,stomach? mmmmmm! red shirts must.........do something ......i can't think right now .....blood has left brain...can not think....
By Virgil's Diner at 2:57 PM ON 10/27/09
@Muadib - It would be evil NOT to feel that way...
As per my above post, if you've never the true face of evil, then watch this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yriVTs-3A
By Crusade2267 at 3:00 PM ON 10/27/09
While I appreciate that Star Trek made the list twice, Seriously, Armus? There's more evil people and things in Star Trek than him, and some of them have offed main charicters too. Dukat, Khan, whiney Picard Clone, and of course The Borg, just to name a few.
By Sithboy at 3:40 PM ON 10/27/09
No list of Sci-Fi evil would be complete without honorable mention of Orson Scott Card! This psycho-nazi-facist is crazier than Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys, and more evil than Khan!
By DarkDoc25 at 3:43 PM ON 10/27/09
You've obviously never used Vista. Evil incarnate.
By IronOre at 3:56 PM ON 10/27/09
I've always felt the most evil Star Trek character was Wesley Crusher. You just know that guy would have been eating people's livers as soon as he stopped whining...
By ulic at 4:06 PM ON 10/27/09
Um. The Emperor? Star Wars? Absolutely NOTHING good about him at all? Hello? This just shows how incredibly subjective these lists are...
By Alverant at 4:09 PM ON 10/27/09
AndyMcW, I wouldn't call the RImmers evil, just pathetic.
ulic, the Emperor made the Star Destroyers run on time. How about that for good things?
By emily margrit at 4:17 PM ON 10/27/09
Good one with Daleks--they are pretty vicious! But I could never hate Armus simply because he rid the Star Trek universe (well, mostly) of the tedious and ill-conceived Tasha Yar. Thanks, Armus!
By Gilveron at 4:41 PM ON 10/27/09
I'm surprised with the mention of both Armus and The Mirror Universe from Star Trek that there was no mention of The Borg--Star Trek's ultimate evil. No emotion, no compassion, just the utter annilhation of the individual.
Also, may I humbly suggest Benjamin Barker and Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd. Cutting people's throats and making pies out of them, then feeding them to unwitting patrons is pretty evil, you have to admit.
By Mandy at 4:50 PM ON 10/27/09
Sweeney Todd isn't scifi or fantasy. It's even speculated to be loosely based on actual events. It wouldn't belong on this list.
I'm glad they mentioned Daleks. And AM is creepy. (Shudder).
By Mandy at 4:51 PM ON 10/27/09
I'm glad they mentioned Daleks. And AM is creepy. (Shudder).
By krom at 5:16 PM ON 10/27/09
the box from hell raiser..it makes you obsessed with solving it then when you do rips your skin off and or impales you with nails then opens a door to hell
now THATS evil!
By madcatjo at 6:13 PM ON 10/27/09
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the pure evil that is the theme song from Enterprise...
By at 6:31 PM ON 10/27/09
I can't imagine a robot with a bathroom plunger to be the most gravest and evilest race in the universe. The Daleks are nothing more than robot janitors! They shouldn't even be on the list. That silly design dates back to the 60s, and surprisingly has never been updated.
By KeyBorg at 7:09 PM ON 10/27/09
lol @ madcatjo. that song should be #1 on this list...
By Gilveron at 7:18 PM ON 10/27/09
@mandy: No, it isn't sci-fi or fantasy, it's horror, which is also fair game for this list.
By mykl at 7:49 PM ON 10/27/09
You're missing HAL.
By Omen at 7:50 PM ON 10/27/09
What no Cancerman?
Every XPhile knows his evil deeds.
He shot JFK & MLK.
Hell, He shot his own son!
He is totally ruthless in carrying out the Plan.
He even lusted for Scully.
OK. We'll give him a pass on that one.
But he clearly smokes in the No Smoking areas. Pure Evil.
By Gilveron at 8:12 PM ON 10/27/09
Tarkin was one of those characters I expected would be fleshed out in the prequels, as he seems to have been something of a favorite of the Emperor, being put in charge of the Death Star and even having the ability to order around Darth Vader. Alas, he wasn't as interesting as an annoying little kid or an even more annoying animated racist stereotype. Maybe he'll figure in the forthcoming live action series.
By Gilveron at 8:14 PM ON 10/27/09
That should have read as interesting to George Lucas as an annoying little kid or an even more annoying animated racist stereotype.
By Admiral100 at 8:23 PM ON 10/27/09
Galactus:
His reputation is expanding faster than the universe. He once had an awkward moment just to see how it feels. He lives vicariously through himself. He is the most interesting evil god in the universe.
He doesn't always drink beer and eat planets, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.
By Al at 9:05 PM ON 10/27/09
What about Dr Horrible? No, maybe the lame vamps in Twilight. Nah, maybe susan. Suuuussaaaan! Woah! I just scared myself.
Galactus ain't evil. He's just hungry.
By prospero at 9:26 PM ON 10/27/09
AM beats all the rest into the ground, literally.... The top spot on your list is well-earned. When I was 12 the ccomputer that hated mankind for creating him, gave me a ton of nightmares. One of the truly classic science fiction stories and anyone who hasn't read it should go out and buy a copy tonight.
By Afronaut at 10:13 PM ON 10/27/09
The Weyland-Yutani Corporation (a.k.a. "The Company") from "Alien".
By SpiritWolfe at 11:30 PM ON 10/27/09
Cool to see a reference to Fred Saberhagen and the Berserker's. Usually I haven't known many people who have even heard of him. One of my favorite series he wrote were the Sword Series to include the Empire of the East trilogy. On whole a series of 15 books I think. Good stuff
By Red Mask at 12:02 AM ON 10/28/09
Galactus isn't evil. He's a force of nature. What happened in Soylent Green, that's more evil. We're doing it to ourselves. It's more diabolical than the original story of the "Running Man".
By Jack at 12:04 AM ON 10/28/09
And Scorpius doesn't even make the list? Pfft.
By asfuller at 1:46 AM ON 10/28/09
Harlan asked that I pass this on…
HARLAN ELLISON responds to BROOKS PECK:
Dear sir: I am quietly humble and proud to have found such estimable acclaim as the creator of the Number One most evil thing in all of science fiction, beating out MY choice for #1, Lovecraft's Cthulhu.
I must, with all courtesy, however, take exception to the inclusion of one of my great heroes, Galactus, on your list. The big guy ain't "evil," dude; he's -- as someone else posted -- just hungry. Amoral and needful of a cosmic Dunkin' Doughnut the size of the rings of Saturn don't make a mile-high epicure "evil."
Respectfully, Yr. Pal, Harlan
By Afronaut at 2:56 AM ON 10/28/09
Big Brother.
By Cris at 4:01 AM ON 10/28/09
How about the Reavers from Firefly? Or The Master, Drucilla or Angelus from Buffy?
By Michael_GR at 4:48 AM ON 10/28/09
His Shadow form Lexx. I didn't really watch that show, but from the couple of episodes that I did watch (the pilot included), His Shadow seems to be evil incarnate.
By Mr Cinema at 9:27 AM ON 10/28/09
Where's Jar Jar Binks? It's takes something so pure of evil to destroy the entire Star Wars franchise in one single swoop.
By sparrowlord01 at 10:23 AM ON 10/28/09
Okay, I agree with all but one on this list. Galactus. He is NOT evil. He simply does not interact the lesser beings on the planets he eats. And if he does notice you. RUN LIKE FREAKIN HELL!!!! He has no emotions to speak of. ALthough he does send his herald ahead to warn anyone living on his next meal. If he were truly evil, he would give no warning. Oh yeh, he is MUCH larger than 28 feet.... Add a digit.
By 3456 at 2:29 PM ON 10/28/09
"AM" from Harlan Ellison. Hands-down, the
WORSTof the bunch listed here. Downright
hellish.
By Jeff77042 at 3:15 PM ON 10/28/09
My ex-wife trumps them all.
By lookn_4_stars at 10:45 PM ON 10/28/09
Add the Shadows (whose real name is 10,000 letters long) and the Drakh from B5, and the Reavers from Firefly to this list.
By muadib at 3:20 PM ON 10/29/09
j.j.abrahms is my pick!
By Afronaut at 6:10 PM ON 10/30/09
@Mr Cinema
George Lucas himself trumps Jar Jar in pure sci-fi evil and the destruction of Star Wars. He betrayed and murdered his franchise when he released the Greedo-shot-first, so-called Special Editions. The steaming pile of bantha dung that stunk up theaters known as Episodes I, II, and III was just insult to injury. And don't get me started on that damnable animated Clone Wars.
By Oakashthorn at 7:54 PM ON 11/01/09
Sithboy...What's so evil about Orson Scott Card?
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