Villain of the Month: Teen Picks.

 I'm gearing up for a great year with my AP Literature students & when asked about who their favorite villain is and why, here is what they came up with in under two minutes:

Captain Hook: Because he’s very funny and has a pet crocodile.

• Syndrome from the Incredibles: He wasn’t born with super powers, he created them himself. He was a genius who just wanted to be a super hero, but he was turned away and turned evil.
• James Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes: Because he’s really brilliant and is Sherlock’s equal. Plus he doesn’t have any advantage, because their intelligence is on the same level. Making him the perfect enemy. –Brittany Rodriguez
• Manray from Spongebob: he  is easily the best villain. He has all the best gadgets and a cave underground pretty much like an evil Batman, and Batman is badass. Darth Vader is a close second. –Andrew Solomon
• Queen Beryl from Sailor Moon: She was tall, had purple skin, bony limbs, and frizzy witch’s hair. Everyone was afraid of her because she was heartless but she ended up falling for Sailor Moon’s Boy Tuxedo mask and she ended up dying by his and Sailor Moon's hand.
• Ice King from Adventure Time: Why I like him: He is obsessed with capturing princesses for a bride but is really dumb and weird. Evil: because he kidnaps princesses and is always trying to defeat Finn and Jake the heroes. – Kailey Castro
• Green Goblin:  He is just really scary and I know that I would lose a fight with him.
• The Penguin from Batman: That guy wore a suit and had a cane; that’s a classy villain. And Darth Vader too, self-explanatory. –Daniel Charette
• Ursula: She has Octopus arms and is very scary. She’s mean and not pleasant to hear about.
• Darth Vader: He is the peak of evil at a point in his life. He is unwavering and loses his true self to the evil within. However, I believe that there is always good within that can change a person back to good. –Ben Lee
• Gaston from Beauty and the Beast: You would first think the Beast is the villain, but the person who thinks he’s doing the most good is actually the worst. –Grace P.
• Frankenstein’s monster is who I think of when I think of a villain because he is the epitome of a being that wreaks havoc and spreads disdain. He’s not a cliché character and gives a tribute to literature. He also has a wretched appearance.
• Captain Hook: I love that he’s probably never going to give up on trying to capture Peter pan even though he’ll never beat Peter because he’s never going to grow up.
• Cruella De Ville: Because she is just such a mess and basically is ruining her life and other’s lives just to get the dalmations. –Shireen Karimi 
• Bane from The Dark Knight: Because he is very manly and very skilled at being the bad guy that even though you know he is going to lose to Batman, you enjoy his winning scenes and battles.
• Scar from Lion King: I like Scar because he’s very clever although he uses it in a bad way. He has a strong personality too and has great power over other animals.
• Bane: Because his voice is awesome and that thing on his face is frickin scary. He just has this horrifying presence about him that is really frightening. – Mariah M
• Cruella De Ville: 1. Her hair is rad. 2. I like how she wears fur coats and diamonds while smoking her long skinny cigarette. She’s different from other villains. –Coral Jones
• Lord Voldemort: Because he’s just mean and his face and characteristics and the symbol of the snake. It’s just plain evil. Not nice. –Caroline
• Voldemort: Evil man, part murderer, part wizard, part demonish looking. He is a little bit of everything and lots of people know about him. Harry Potter was such a big seller that tons of people know about him. Just a good combination of part imaginary, part human.
• Voldemort: Because he manipulates people for his own self-preservation and kills without regret.
• Voldemort! Even though I don’t like him he’s still my favorite villain because he is so evil. He is so creative and never gives up. I like villains in stories because there would be no story or conflict without them.
• Voldemort:  Not only does he have a really cool nose but he also has the best lines in the books “there is no good or evil, only power and those too weak to see it!” –Kelly
• And then a ton of votes for one villain who received so many that he'll receive his own column next month. Any guesses?????

PS: Props to University of Chicago for the best college application prompts on analyzing enemies and posing the age-old important question: Where is Waldo? Looking forward to reading those essays.