Who is your favorite villain of all time?

[jmoz]

Ah, Melkor. He probably got some twisted pleasure out of how Fëanor branded him as Morgoth, the Dark Lord, the Great Enemy, and all these other epithets.

I know people who have watched the extended edition of Lord of the Rings numerous times but have never read any of the books in Tolkien's legendarium. Their eyes always widen in disbelief when I tell them about how and why Morgoth was so, SO, SO much worse than Sauron could ever be.

damn, now I gotta read Samirillion.

[DigiFluid]

Don't get discouraged by the first 50-100 pages. I know they're dense, but it turns into a (somewhat) more conventional narrative after that. And it's an even grander story than LOTR (IMO).

[Cold Fuzz]

Don't get discouraged by the first 50-100 pages. I know they're dense, but it turns into a (somewhat) more conventional narrative after that. And it's an even grander story than LOTR (IMO).

To see The Silmarillion turned into a miniseries would be a sight to behold: the complete and utter defeat of the Elves, Men, and Dwarves in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears and the misery afterward... and then followed up a century later by Morgoth's spectacular fall in the War of Wrath. Now that I think about it, I don't know if any movie or miniseries could do such stories justice.

[DigiFluid]

I don't know if it ever could, to be honest. I wish it could. I've thought about it a great many times, but the only way it could ever really happen would be something like a chapter by chapter telling. But the budget required would be phenomenal. Prohibitively so

[Cold Fuzz]

I don't know if it ever could, to be honest. I wish it could. I've thought about it a great many times, but the only way it could ever really happen would be something like a chapter by chapter telling. But the budget required would be phenomenal. Prohibitively so

The more I think about it, the more I lean towards that direction of thinking too. I mean, to get the creation of the world, the Silmarils, Beren & Luthien, Turin... it's all too big. I think a 10 or 12 part HBO miniseries (like Band of Brothers or The Pacific) would be the only possible venue you could get all of that in. The VFX needed would be hideously complex and expensive.

[DigiFluid]

The more I think about it, the more I lean towards that direction of thinking too. I mean, to get the creation of the world, the Silmarils, Beren & Luthien, Turin... it's all too big. I think a 10 or 12 part HBO miniseries (like Band of Brothers or The Pacific) would be the only possible venue you could get all of that in. The VFX needed would be hideously complex and expensive.

Though I'm not even sure a 12-part miniseries would be long enough to cover it all! Unless each part was 2-3 hours

[kisstian]

The more I think about it, the more I lean towards that direction of thinking too. I mean, to get the creation of the world, the Silmarils, Beren & Luthien, Turin... it's all too big. I think a 10 or 12 part HBO miniseries (like Band of Brothers or The Pacific) would be the only possible venue you could get all of that in. The VFX needed would be hideously complex and expensive.

Brilliant! If only someone would really have the vision to see it through. When I read it, I got the sense that, if The Silmarillion had been written 2000 years ago, it would have changed the landscape of mythology.

[the fifth man]

I would have to go with Scorpius from Farscape. Easy choice for me.

[DigiFluid]

Brilliant! If only someone would really have the vision to see it through. When I read it, I got the sense that, if The Silmarillion had been written 2000 years ago, it would have changed the landscape of mythology.

You're not far off the mark. Tolkien always found it unfortunate that England had no real (origin) mythology of its own, and sought to correct that in writing his legendarium.

[Cold Fuzz]

Though I'm not even sure a 12-part miniseries would be long enough to cover it all! Unless each part was 2-3 hours

I think that certain parts could be compressed, like when the Elves had relative peace in Beleriand between the Siege of Angband and the Battle of Sudden Flame. The details could be done by voiceover but if it's glossed over too quickly, some important plot details would get lost. There are certain parts that need to be heavily focused on though, even if there's not too much action: like the Noldor's unrest in Valinor because of Morgoth's manipulations, or the whole subplot with Maeglin in Gondolin.

[mrscopterdoc]

I would have to go with Scorpius from Farscape. Easy choice for me.

me too.

[Sami_]

Their eyes always widen in disbelief when I tell them about how and why Morgoth was so, SO, SO much worse than Sauron could ever be.

Sauron is still worse in my opinion, Melkor was no doubt far more powerful and perhaps more evil but Sauron was insidious and coniving which I think in the long run is far more dangerous.

Melkor would torture and kill his enemies, Sauron would corrupt them and force them to serve - I suppose it depends what you see as being the worse of the two.

[Cold Fuzz]

Sauron is still worse in my opinion, Melkor was no doubt far more powerful and perhaps more evil but Sauron was insidious and coniving which I think in the long run is far more dangerous.

Melkor would torture and kill his enemies, Sauron would corrupt them and force them to serve - I suppose it depends what you see as being the worse of the two.

Morgoth was able to sow enough discontent with Fëanor and almost all the Noldor to convince them to turn against the Valar in their own realm. He also effectively deceived Manwë, Nienna, and some of the other Valar into thinking he was "cured" of his evil. Deceiving men into taking fallen rings is one thing. Convincing the Elves and tricking the Valar in their own realm are feats of deceit and connivance Sauron would never have been able to pull off. There's also the fact that he was the one who corrupted Sauron and many of the Ainur to fall into evil in the first place. Morgoth was far, far worse.

[Acolyte Of Bli'l'ab]

Azathoth. Everything else is complete fail in comparison IMO.

[Sami_]

Morgoth was able to sow enough discontent with Fëanor and almost all the Noldor to convince them to turn against the Valar in their own realm. He also effectively deceived Manwë, Nienna, and some of the other Valar into thinking he was "cured" of his evil. Deceiving men into taking fallen rings is one thing. Convincing the Elves and tricking the Valar in their own realm are feats of deceit and connivance Sauron would never have been able to pull off. There's also the fact that he was the one who corrupted Sauron and many of the Ainur to fall into evil in the first place. Morgoth was far, far worse.

Sauron at his peak was more powerful than Morgoth, by the time Melkor was known as Morgoth he had already spent most of his power corrupting Arda.

Melkor > Sauron > Morgoth - at their peak.