Lord Voledmort, the lead bad guy in the Harry Potter saga has been voted favorite literary villain of all time, in a poll conducted by Bloomsbury, HP’s British publisher. Over 16,000 Brit kids voted in the poll, which had Sauron at #2, and, somewhat surprisingly, Lex Luthor and The Joker at #4 and 5 respectively. We say surprisingly because the DCU’s main villains exposure is certainly not in printed form. Magneto came in at #11. We a bit saddened that Annihilus didn’t make the list. Mark Millar pal and Potter author JK Rowling had this to say:

I am thrilled and honoured beyond words that Lord Voldemort has been voted best villain in the BigBadRead poll.

I am not sure how he would react ot knowing that he had won a Muggles’ unpopularity poll. A mixture of pleasure that you recognised his power and menace, coupled with fury at your nerve at mentioning his real name, I think. His author, however, is absolutely delighted.

The complete list of evil:
1. Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
2. Sauron, The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Mrs Coulter, His Dark Materials Sequence, Philip Pullman
4. Lex Luthor, Superman Graphic novels, DC Comics
5. The Joker, Batman Graphic novels, DC Comics
6. Count Olaf, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket
7. The Other Mother, Coraline, Neil Gaiman
8. The White Witch, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
9. Dracula, Dracula, Bram Stoker
10. Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
11. Magneto, X-Men Comics, Marvel Comics
12. Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
13. Zaphod Beeblebrox, HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
14. Captain Hook, Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
15. Napoleon the Pig, Animal Farm, George Orwell
16. Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
17. Miss Trunchbull, Matilda, Roald Dahl
18. Cruella de Vil, 101 Dalmations, Dodie Smith
19. The Wicked Witch, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum of the West
20. The Grinch, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss


  1. Voldey more evil than Sauron? Heh. Voldemort wouldn’t even be able to look Sauron in the eye.

    Zaphod? Selfish, yes. Villain, no.