20. The KlingonsKlingons (Klingon: tlhIngan, pronounced [ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn]) are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe. They are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films. Initially intended to be antagonists for the crew of the USS Enterprise, the Klingons ended up a close ally of humanity and the United Federation of Planets in later television series.
As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were darkly colored humanoids with little honor, intended as an allegory to the then-current Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not aspire to any political parallels. With a greatly expanded budget for makeup and effects, the Klingons were completely redesigned in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), gaining ridged foreheads that created a continuity error not explained by canon until 2005. In later films and the spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the militaristic traits of the Klingons were bolstered by an increased sense of honor and strict warrior code.
Among the elements created for the revised Klingons was a complete language, developed by Marc Okrand off gibberish suggested by actor James Doohan. Klingon has entered popular culture; the works of William Shakespeare and even parts of the Bible have been translated into the guttural language. A dictionary, a book of sayings, and a cultural guide to the language have been published. In addition, according to Guinness World Records, Klingon is the most popular fictional language by number of speakers.
19. ZombiesA zombie is asserted to be a reanimated corpse, or a human who is being controlled by someone else by use of magic with some media renditions using a pandemic illness to explain their existence. Stories of zombies originated in the West African spiritual belief system of voodoo, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful wizard. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction, largely because of the success of George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and they have appeared as plot devices in various books, films and in television shows.
The modern conception of the zombie owes itself almost entirely to George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.[23][24] In his films, Romero "bred the zombie with the vampire, and what he got was the hybrid vigour of a ghoulish plague monster". This entailed an apocalyptic vision of monsters that have come to be known as Romero zombies.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times chided theater owners and parents who allowed children access to the film. "I don't think the younger kids really knew what hit them," complained Ebert. "They were used to going to movies, sure, and they'd seen some horror movies before, sure, but this was something else." According to Ebert, the film affected the audience immediately:
The kids in the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had stopped being delightfully scary about halfway through, and had become unexpectedly terrifying. There was a little girl across the aisle from me, maybe nine years old, who was sitting very still in her seat and crying.
Romero's reinvention of zombies is notable in terms of its thematics; he used zombies not just for their own sake, but as a vehicle "to criticize real-world social ills—such as government ineptitude, bioengineering, slavery, greed and exploitation—while indulging our post-apocalyptic fantasies". Night was the first of six films in the Living Dead series.
Innately tied with the conception of the modern zombie is the "zombie apocalypse", the breakdown of society as a result of zombie infestation, portrayed in countless zombie-related media post-Night. Scholar Kim Paffrenroth notes that "more than any other monster, zombies are fully and literally apocalyptic ... they signal the end of the world as we have known it."
Night made no reference to the creatures as "zombies". In the film they are referred as "ghouls" on the TV news reports. However, the word zombie is used continually by Romero in his 1978 script for Dawn of the Dead, including once in dialog. This "retroactively fits (the creatures) with an invisible Haitian/African prehistory, formally introducing the zombie as a new archetype".
Movie poster for the 1968 film Night of the Living DeadDawn of the Dead was released under this title just months before the release of Lucio Fulci's Zombi II (1979). Fulci's gory epic was filmed at the same time as Romero's Dawn, despite the popular belief that it was made in order to cash in on the success of Dawn. The only reference to Dawn was the title change to Zombi II (Dawn generally went by Zombi or Zombie in other countries.)
After the mid-1980s, the subgenre was mostly relegated to the underground. Notable entries include director Peter Jackson's ultra-gory film Braindead (1992) (released as Dead Alive in the U.S.), Bob Balaban's comic 1993 film My Boyfriend's Back where a self-aware high school boy returns to profess his love for a girl and his love for human flesh, and Michele Soavi's Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) (released as Cemetery Man in the U.S.). Several years later, zombies experienced a renaissance in low-budget Asian cinema, with a sudden spate of dissimilar entries including Bio Zombie (1998), Wild Zero (1999), Junk (1999), Versus (2000) and Stacy (2001).
In Disney's 1993 film Hocus Pocus, a "good zombie", Billy Butcherson played by Doug Jones, was introduced, giving yet a new kind of zombie in an intelligent, gentle, kind, and heroic being.
The turn of the millennium coincided with a decade of box office successes in which the zombie sub-genre experienced a resurgence: the Resident Evil movies in 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2010; the Dawn of the Dead remake (2004), the British films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later and the homage/parody Shaun of the Dead (2004). The new interest allowed Romero to create the fourth entry in his zombie series: Land of the Dead, released in the summer of 2005. Romero has recently returned to the beginning of the series with the film Diary of the Dead (2008).
The depiction of zombies as biologically infected people has become increasingly popular, likely due to the 28 Days Later and Resident Evil series. More recently, Colin (UK, 2008) has taken the step of using an artisanal hand-held camcorder to provide the zombie point-of-view of the eponymous central protagonist, who is bitten (twice), turns yet retains some residual memories of his pre-revenant life. The short film screened at Cannes in 2009 and was released by Kaliedoscope Entertainment in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2009.
2006's Slither featured zombies infected with alien parasites, and 2007's Planet Terror featured a zombie outbreak caused by a biological weapon. The comedy films Zombie Strippers and Fido have also taken this approach.
As part of this resurgence, there have been numerous direct-to-video (or DVD) zombie movies made by extremely low-budget filmmakers using digital video. These can usually be found for sale online from the distributors themselves, rented in video rental stores or released internationally in such places as Thailand.
18. Hannibal LecterHannibal Lecter, MD is a fictional character in a series of novels by author Thomas Harris. The character is introduced in the thriller novel Red Dragon (1981) as a psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. The novel and its sequel, The Silence of the Lambs (1988), feature Lecter as one of two primary antagonists. In the third novel, Hannibal (1999), Lecter becomes the main character. His role as protagonist and anti-hero occurs in the fourth novel, Hannibal Rising (2006), which explores his childhood and development into a serial killer. Lecter's character also appears in all five film adaptations.
The first film, Manhunter, based on the novel Red Dragon, features Brian Cox as Lecter, spelled as "Lecktor". In 2002, a second adaptation of Red Dragon was made under the original title, featuring Anthony Hopkins, who had previously played Lecter in the motion pictures The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Hopkins won an Academy Award for his performance of the character in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. In 2003, Hannibal Lecter (as portrayed by Hopkins) was chosen by the American Film Institute as the #1 movie villain
Red Dragon was first adapted to film in 1986 as the Michael Mann film Manhunter. Due to copyright issues, the filmmakers changed the spelling of Lecter's name to "Lecktor," who was portrayed by Scottish actor Brian Cox.
In 1991, Orion Pictures produced a Jonathan Demme-directed film adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, in which Lecter was played by Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins' Academy Award–winning performance made Lecter into a cultural icon. In 2001, Hannibal was adapted to film, with Hopkins reprising his role. The ending for the film was changed from the novel due to the controversy that the novel's ending generated upon its release in 1999: in the film adaptation, Starling attempts to apprehend Lecter, who cuts off his own hand to free himself from her handcuffs. In 2002, Red Dragon was adapted to film again under its original title Red Dragon, with Hopkins once again as Lecter and Edward Norton as Will Graham.
In late 2006, the script for the film Hannibal Rising was adapted to novel format. The novel was written to explain Lecter's development into a serial killer. In the film, the young Lecter is portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel. Both the novel and the film received generally negative critical reception.
17. The BorgThe Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe.
Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world (and in recent times the real world) to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg voluntarily submit to cybernetic enhancement as a means of achieving what they believe to be perfection (they also force their idea of perfection on others).
Aside from being the main threat in Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg also play major roles in The Next Generation and Voyager television series, primarily as an invasion threat to the United Federation of Planets and the means of return to the Alpha Quadrant for isolated Federation starship Voyager, respectively. The Borg have become a symbol in popular culture for any juggernaut against which "resistance is futile". The Borg manifest as cybernetically enhanced humanoid drones of multiple species, organized as an interconnected collective, the decisions of which are made by a hive mind, linked to subspace domain. The Borg inhabit a vast region of space in the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy, possessing millions of vessels and having conquered thousands of systems. They operate solely toward the fulfilling of one purpose: to "add the biological and technological distinctiveness of other species to [their] own" in pursuit of perfection. This is achieved through forced assimilation, a process which transforms individuals and technology into Borg, enhancing - and simultaneously controlling - individuals by implanting or appending synthetic components.
In their first introduction to the franchise (Q Who?), little information is forthcoming about the Borg or their origins and intents. In alien encounters, they exhibit no desire for negotiation or reason, only to assimilate. Exhibiting a rapid adaptability to any situation or threat, with encounters characterized by the matter-of-fact statement "Resistance is futile", the Borg develop into one of the greatest threats to Starfleet and the Federation. Originally perceived on screen as a homogeneous and anonymous entity, the concepts of a Borg Queen and central control are later introduced, while representatives for the Borg collective are occasionally employed to act as a go-between in more complicated plot lines.
In Star Trek, attempts to resist the Borg become one of the central themes, with many examples of successful resistance to the collective, both from existing or former drones, and assimilation targets. It is also demonstrated that it is possible to survive assimilation (most notably Jean-Luc Picard), and that drones can escape the collective (most notably Seven of Nine), and become individuals, or exist collectively without forced assimilation of others. They are notable for being a main antagonist race in more than one series who never appeared in the original Star Trek.
16. The Terminator"The Terminator" refers to a number of fictional characters portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger – a cyborg, initially portrayed as a programmable assassin, main protagonist, and military infiltration unit. "The Terminator" character first appeared in the 1984 movie of the same name, directed and co-written by James Cameron, and its sequels. The first film in the series features only one cyborg: the one portrayed by Schwarzenegger, although a second Terminator played by Franco Columbu is shown in a future flashback scene. In two sequels, Schwarzenegger's Terminator is pitted against other Terminators, and appears briefly in the fourth as a CGI model.
In the sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Schwarzenegger reprises the role, but with a twist: Schwarzenegger is the hero instead of the villain playing a different but visually identical Terminator in each of the three films. Within the Terminator universe created by Cameron, Terminators of the same "model" share identical characteristics. In the production of the films, this has allowed multiple Terminators to be portrayed by Schwarzenegger. In the context of the stories, this plot device provides a certain continuity for the human characters, by exploiting their emotional familiarity with a particular "human" visage.
"The Terminator" is the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the credits of the three Terminator movies. At different times, the character is given more specific designations such as model and series numbers, in efforts to distinguish Schwarzenegger's character from other Terminators.
The Terminator appears in Terminator Salvation. Schwarzenegger reprises the role via facial CGI, while the character itself is physically portrayed by Roland Kickinger.
15. HAL 9000HAL 9000 is the sentient on-board computer of the Discovery One spacecraft in Arthur C. Clarke's fictional Space Odyssey saga.
HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is an artificial intelligence which interacts with the crew, usually represented only as a red television camera "eye" that can be seen throughout Discovery. He speaks in a soft voice and a conversational manner, in contrast to the ship's crew who speak in a terse way, with little inflection. The voice of HAL 9000 was portrayed by Canadian actor Douglas Rain.
HAL became operational on 12 January 1997 (1992 in the film) at the HAL Laboratories in Urbana, Illinois as production number 3. His first instructor was Dr. Chandra (Mr. Langley in the first film). HAL is capable not only of speech, speech recognition, facial recognition, and natural language processing, but also lip reading, art appreciation, interpreting and expressing emotions, reasoning, and playing chess, in addition to maintaining all systems on an interplanetary mission.
HAL was ranked No. 13 on a list of greatest film villains of all time on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.
In the French-language version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL's name is given as "CARL", for Cerveau Analytique de Recherche et de Liaison ("Analytic Brain for Research and Communication"). The camera plates, however, still read "HAL 9000".
In 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL begins to malfunction in subtle ways, and as a result, the decision is made to shut HAL down in order to prevent more serious malfunctions. The sequence of events and manner in which HAL is shut down differs between the novel and film versions of the story. He is the film's main Antagonist.
In the film, astronauts David Bowman and Frank Poole consider disconnecting HAL's cognitive circuits when he appears to be mistaken in reporting the presence of a fault in the spacecraft's communications antenna. They attempt to conceal what they are saying, but are unaware that HAL is capable of lip reading. Faced with the prospect of disconnection, HAL decides to kill the astronauts in order to protect and continue its programmed directives. HAL proceeds to kill Poole while he is repairing the ship. When Bowman goes to rescue Poole, he is locked out of the ship, and HAL proceeds to disconnect the life support systems of the other hibernating crew members, killing them in their sleep. Dave manages to force his way back onto the ship by jumping through space and prying open an emergency airlock, outside of HAL's control.
In the novel, the orders to disconnect HAL come from Dave and Frank's superiors on Earth. After Frank is killed while attempting to repair the communications antenna, Dave begins to revive his hibernating crewmates, but is foiled when HAL vents the ship's atmosphere into the vacuum of space, killing the awakening crew members and almost killing Dave. Dave is only narrowly saved when he finds his way to a spacesuit which has its own oxygen supply.
In both versions, Bowman then proceeds to shut down the machine. In the film, HAL's central core is depicted as a crawlspace full of brightly lit computer modules mounted in arrays from which they can be inserted or removed. Bowman shuts down HAL by removing modules from service one by one; as he does so, HAL's consciousness degrades. HAL regurgitates material that was programmed into him early in his memory, including announcing the date he became operational as 12 January 1992. When HAL's logic is completely gone, he begins singing the song "Daisy Bell" (this being a reference to the first song played on a computer, the UNIVAC I, was "Daisy Bell"). HAL's final act of any significance is to prematurely play a prerecorded message from Mission Control which reveals the true reasons for the mission to Jupiter, which had been kept secret from the crew and not been intended to be played until the ship entered Jovian orbit.
14. PredatorThe Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens. Other franchises that have been based on this film include the comic books "Aliens vs. Predator" and the "AVP" film series as well.
First introduced in 1987 as the main antagonist of the film Predator, the Predator creatures returned in the sequels Predator 2 (1990), Alien vs. Predator (2004), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), and Predators (2010). The Predators have also been the subject of numerous novels, video games, and comic books, both on their own and as part of the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint. While a definitive name for the species is not given in the films, the names yautja and Hish have been alternatively used in the expanded universe.
Created by brothers Jim and John Thomas, the Predators are depicted as large, sapient and sentient humanoid creatures who possess advanced technology, such as active camouflage and energy weapons, and are capable of interstellar travel.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast as the Predator, the idea being that the physical action star would use his martial arts skills to make the Predator an agile, ninja-esque hunter. When compared to Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura, actors known for their bodybuilding regimens, it became apparent a more physically-imposing man was needed to make the creature appear threatening. Ventura's autobiography also alleges that Van Damme intentionally injured a stunt man. Eventually, Van Damme was removed from the film and replaced by actor and mime artist Kevin Peter Hall. Hall, standing at an imposing 7 foot 2, had just finished work as a sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons. Peter Cullen did the creature vocals in the original film, and said the inspiration for the Predator sounds were horseshoe crabs. Hal Rayle did the Predator vocals in the second movie.
Hall played the Predator in the first and second movies. He was trained in the art of mime and used many tribal dance moves in his performance, such as during the fight between Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Predator at the end of the first movie. In Predator 2, according to a "making of" featurette, Danny Glover suggested the Los Angeles Lakers to be the other Predators because Glover himself was a big fan. Hall persuaded some of the Lakers to play background Predators because they couldn't find anyone on short notice. Hall died not long after Predator 2 was released in theaters.
In Alien vs. Predator, Welsh actor Ian Whyte, a fan of the Predator comics and movies, took over as the man in the Predator suit, portraying the "Celtic" Predator during Celtic's fight with an Alien warrior. Whyte returned to portray the "Wolf" Predator in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
In Predators, actors Brian Steele and Carey Jones both portrayed a new breed of Predator known as the "Black Super Predators", who have been dropping humans on their planet for many years to play a survival game against them. In a nod to the first film, Derek Mears played the Predator as the creature appeared in the original, dubbed the "Classic Predator".
13. Norman Bates
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the villain of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The character was inspired by serial killer Ed Gein.
Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffers severe emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his mother, Norma, who preaches to him that sex is evil and that women (except herself) are whores. The two of them live alone together in a state of total codependence after the death of Bates' father. When Bates is a teenager, his mother takes a lover, Joe Considine, driving him over the edge with jealousy; Bates murders both of them with strychnine and preserves his mother's corpse. Bates develops dissociative identity disorder, assuming his mother's personality, repressing her death as a way to escape the guilt of murdering her. He inherits his mother's house, where he keeps her corpse, and the family motel in fictional Fairvale, California.
Bloch sums up Bates' multiple personalities in his stylistic form of puns: "Norman", a child dependent on his mother; "Norma", a possessive mother who kills anyone who threatens the illusion of her existence; and "Normal", a (barely) functional adult who goes through the motions of day-to-day life.
Bates is finally arrested after he murders a young woman named Mary Crane (called Marion Crane in the film) and Milton Arbogast, a private investigator sent to look for her. Bates is declared insane and sent to an institution, where the "mother" personality completely takes hold; he essentially becomes his mother.
In Bloch's 1982 sequel to his novel, Bates fakes his death in a car accident while escaping from the asylum and heads to Hollywood, where a film based on his murders is in production. In the next book, Psycho House, Norman appears only as a novelty animatronic on display in the Bates Hotel, which has been converted into a tourist attraction.
The characterization of Bates in the novel and the movie differ in some key areas. In the novel, Bates is in his mid-to-late 40s, short, overweight, homely, and more overtly unstable. In the movie, he is in his early-to-mid-20s, tall, slender, and handsome. Reportedly, when working on the film, Hitchcock decided that he wanted audiences to be able to sympathize with Bates and genuinely like the character, so he made him more of a "boy next door." In the novel, Norman becomes Mother after getting drunk and passing out; in the movie, he remains sober before switching personalities.
In the novel, Bates is well-read in occult and esoteric authors such as P.D. Ouspensky and Alistair Crowley. He is aware that "Mother" disapproves of these authors as being against religion.
Bates was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock's seminal 1960 film adaptation of Bloch's novel and its three sequels. He also portrayed Norman Bates, albeit more lightheartedly, in a 1990 oatmeal commercial.[10] Vince Vaughn portrayed Bates in Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake, while Kurt Paul took on the role in Bates Motel. Henry Thomas played a younger version of the character in Psycho IV: The Beginning.
12. Jason Vorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th (1980), as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S. Cunningham, and Tom Savini, Jason was not originally intended to carry the series as the main antagonist. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, comic books, and a cross-over film with another iconic horror film character, Freddy Krueger.
The character has primarily been an antagonist in the films, whether by stalking and killing the characters, or acting as a psychological threat to the lead character, as is the case in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Since Lehman's portrayal, the character has been represented by numerous actors and stuntmen, sometimes by more than one at a time; this has caused some controversy as to who should receive credit for the portrayal. Kane Hodder is the best known of the stuntmen to portray Jason Voorhees, having played the character in four consecutive films.
The character's physical appearance has gone through many transformations, with various special makeup effects artists making their mark on the character's design, including makeup artist Stan Winston. Tom Savini's initial design has been the basis for many of the later incarnations. The trademark hockey mask did not appear until Friday the 13th Part III. Since Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, filmmakers have given Jason superhuman strength, regenerative powers, and near invulnerability. He has been seen as a sympathetic character, whose motivation for killing has been cited as driven by the immoral actions of his victims. Jason Voorhees has been featured in various humor magazines, referenced in feature films, parodied in television shows, and been the inspiration for a horror punk band. Several toy lines have been released based on various versions of the character from the Friday the 13th films. Jason Voorhees's hockey mask is a widely recognized image in popular culture.
11. Jack TorranceJohn Daniel "Jack" Torrance is a fictional character, the antagonist in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King. He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 movie adaptation of the novel, and by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries. The American Film Institute rated the character (as played by Nicholson) the 25th greatest film villain of all time. In 2008, Jack Torrance was selected by Empire Magazine as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. Premiere Magazine also ranked Torrance on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Jack Torrance is a writer and former teacher who is trying to rebuild his and his family's life after his alcoholism and volatile temper costs him his teaching position at a small preparatory school. Having given up drinking, he accepts a position maintaining the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado for the winter, in the hope this will salvage his family, re-establish his career, and give him the time and privacy to finish a promising play. He moves to the hotel with his wife, Wendy, and young son, Danny, who is telepathic and sensitive to supernatural forces. Danny receives guidance from an imaginary friend he calls "Tony."
Jack Torrance is portrayed in a less sympathetic manner in the 1980 film. In the novel Jack is a tragic hero whose shortcomings lead to his defeat, while the film implies that he is insane from the start. It also omits his traumatic childhood.
The film's first major deviation from the source material occurs when Jack attacks Hallorann. Instead of merely injuring him with the mallet, Jack brutally kills Hallorann with an axe wound to the heart.
In the film, Jack hears Danny scream, and chases his son to a hedge maze outside the hotel (in the novel topiary animals come to life and threaten Danny). Danny walks backwards in his own footprints to mislead Jack, then jumps to a side path and slips out of the maze. While Wendy and Danny escape the hotel in Hallorann's Snowcat, Jack gets lost trying to pick up Danny's tracks, sits down to rest, and quickly freezes to death.
While Jack redeems himself in the book, in the 1980 film, he succumbs to his demons and is ultimately damned (much to Stephen King's chagrin). The film ends featuring an old photograph of a dance at the hotel from the 1920s that shows Jack in the event.
All monster info from Wikipedia
See Also:
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #21 - #30 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #31 - #40/
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #41 - #50 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #51 - #60 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #61 - #70 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #71 - #80 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #81 - #90 /
The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #91 - #100
