Who in the Cosmere so far is the Most Evil?

[Xaladin he/him]

I am excluding Shardholders because  Rayse is probably the "correct" answer at this point, and that would leave the poll uninteresting.

 

Dilaf: A candidate because of his extreme hatred and attempted genocide (though we know and maybe understand a little about why his hatred is so strong).

Wyrn: A candidate because he was behind the attempted genocide.

Straff Venture: A candidate because of his POV.

The Lord Ruler: A candidate because of his murderous tyranny.

Suit: A candidate... well we don't know a lot about him yet, do we?

Bluefingers: A candidate because of his attempt to start a massive and destructive war. His justification falls short because of his frantic attempt to murder Siri even after it was obvious his plan had failed.

Denth: A candidate because if ANYONE knew better than to do what he was doing, it was him.

Sadeas: A candidate because of his massive treachery and also his POV.

Amaram: A candidate because of his treachery and hypocrisy (though his intent isn't as evil as Sadeas' IMO)

Taravangian: A candidate for the massive amount of carnage he has caused (is this justified?)

Szeth: A candidate for mass murder (is he justified?)

Other: who do you think?

 

[Iredomi]

I wouldn't say he is the most evil but I absolutely detest Iadon from elantris. sexist, cowardly, murderer, and probably a million other things I can't think of right now.

[Haradion Drogon]

Well, I would discount any of the Shards, because their actions are dictated by their nature...
I despise Wyrn - his perversion of a world religion for military conquest is despicable, and is clearly capable of genocide.

He's like a Fusion of Bin Laden and Hitler!

Sadeas on the other hand has a personal treachery to take into account... Its very difficult.
 

[gjustice99 she/her]

I wouldn't say he is the most evil but I absolutely detest Iadon from elantris. sexist, cowardly, murderer, and probably a million other things I can't think of right now.

Like horrible emotionally abusive parent?

[Xaladin he/him]

Then perhaps I should have included Rayse in the poll... It is suggested in the letter (written by Hoid?) that Rayse was already Hateful and gladly took the shard of Odium. Of course it could just be (Hoid's) biased opinion of Rayse. Otherwise, I would have to agree that we can't be quick to judge the Shardholders.

 

And yes, Iadon is despicable.

 

Edit: This was supposed to quote Haradion Drogon, but either me or this computer or this site or a combination of these is incapable to doing quotes.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Xaladin

[gjustice99 she/her]

Then perhaps I should have included Rayse in the poll... It is suggested in the letter (written by Hoid?) that Rayse was already Hateful and gladly took the shard of Odium. Of course it could just be (Hoid's) biased opinion of Rayse. Otherwise, I would have to agree that we can't be quick to judge the Shardholders.

 

And yes, Iadon is despicable.

 

Edit: This was supposed to quote Haradion Drogon, but either me or this computer or this site or a combination of these is incapable to doing quotes.

I agree that we can't judge shardholders by the intent of the shard they hold. Ati (the holder of Ruin) was apparently a very nice guy before his shard corrupted him. 

[Iredomi]

I'm really interested in finding out what leras and Ati were like before but I guess they'll feature in dragon steel when that is finally re written and released.

[Fatebreaker he/him]

I voted other because of Tarson.

 

Only truly evil people steal a guy's lucky hat.

[Haradion Drogon]

I just realized how much of an emotional experience realizing Dragonsteel/Liar will be. Because by the time they come out, we'll know precisely what Ati and Leras will become, and the destiny that awaits them all...

[vineyarddawg]

I voted for Denth, because to have been around as exceedingly long as he has and still intentionally choose to surround yourself with close associates like Tonk Fah takes a truly malevolent mindset.  

[Bronzeheart he/him]

I have to go with Straff Venture. He kinda reminds me of Joseph Stalin with the way he was willing to use anyone and everyone as tools to get what he wanted, and Stalin was one evil mofo. 

[Xaladin he/him]

In judging a person's character, motive is the most important. Sadeas and Straff Venture are motivated by a desire for power and nothing else (and are willing to do ANYTHING to grab power). We know this because we have both of their POV's. Are there any major differences between Sadeas and Straff Venture?

 

Wyrn and Dilaf may have been motivated by power, but their intention to annihilate could only have been motivated by pure hatred.

 

Denth is up there because HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. (see post 10) What were his motivations for starting another Manywar? Surely it couldn't be just the money. Was it an extreme case of apathy?

 

And then we don't even know what motivates Suit or Ialai (we will probably find out later).

Most everyone else "evil" are either just messed up in the head (Bloody Tan, Tonk Fah?, Szeth?) or they think they are justified by some cause (Amaram, Taravangian, Bluefingers, The Lord Ruler?, Miles?). Some of these really went Out Of Bounds, though.

 

I am having trouble placing Iadon into any of the above categories. Someone remind me what he wanted so badly he was willing to do human sacrifices for it?

[Blaze1616 he/him]

I voted other, because I do not see anyone on this list as particularly evil. They are all simply misguided.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Blaze1616

[gjustice99 she/her]

In judging a person's character, motive is the most important. Sadeas and Straff Venture are motivated by a desire for power and nothing else (and are willing to do ANYTHING to grab power). We know this because we have both of their POV's. Are there any major differences between Sadeas and Straff Venture?

 

Wyrn and Dilaf may have been motivated by power, but their intention to annihilate could only have been motivated by pure hatred.

 

Denth is up there because HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. (see post 10) What were his motivations for starting another Manywar? Surely it couldn't be just the money. Was it an extreme case of apathy?

 

And then we don't even know what motivates Suit or Ialai (we will probably find out later).

Most everyone else "evil" are either just messed up in the head (Bloody Tan, Tonk Fah?, Szeth?) or they think they are justified by some cause (Amaram, Taravangian, Bluefingers, The Lord Ruler?, Miles?). Some of these really went Out Of Bounds, though.

 

I am having trouble placing Iadon into any of the above categories. Someone remind me what he wanted so badly he was willing to do human sacrifices for it?

He did human sacrifices as he practiced the Jeskeri Mysteries.

 

I'm really interested in finding out what leras and Ati were like before but I guess they'll feature in dragon steel when that is finally re written and released.

According to the letter, Ati was a nice guy before he took up Ruin.

Edited January 19, 2015 by gjustice99

[Iredomi]

yeah I'm aware of that detail about Ati which makes me even more intrigued to find out more about their personalities

[Left he/him]

I voted Straff. He's probably the most all around horrible person we've seen, and while the king from Elantris was pretty bad Straff is worse in my opinion. That being said, Brandon doesn't usually delve into the evil of his worlds like other fantasy authors do, so honestly I can see there being worse people who either haven't been on screen or their actions haven't.

[hoidhunter he/him]

I'm going with Wyrn.  Manipulating a religion in order to facilitate mass genocide and the conquest of the known world sounds like something that an evil dude would do.  I was a little hesitant to cast this vote since we see so little of his actual presence in the book.  He may turn out to be a godking like figurehead that really isn't as bad as most people think that he is.  But for now I am happy to throw him in the category of evil.  Straff Venture is definitely a pretty evil dude...but he failed where Wyrn is succeeding...

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

In judging a person's character, motive is the most important. Sadeas and Straff Venture are motivated by a desire for power and nothing else (and are willing to do ANYTHING to grab power). We know this because we have both of their POV's. Are there any major differences between Sadeas and Straff Venture?

 

Sadeas loves his wife.

[Iredomi]

also I believe one of sadeas's main motivations was fear. fear of his own mortality. he wanted power yes and control over others but he really wanted to experience conquest again to feel how he did when he was younger.

edit: not that any of that excuses his actions I just feel he isn't as evil as some.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Iredomi

[Unhinged he/him]

My big three would be Straff Venture,  Sadeas and Amaram. If I had to chose one though I'd say Straff Venture, as SmurfAquamarineBodies pointed out Sadeas does seem to genuinely care for his wife and Amaram is actually delusional enough to think he's doing the right thing. But Straff he doesn't care for anyone he sleeps around with every women he can just so he'll produce more mistings for him to use and he makes it clear that he cares nothing for any of them heck he even sets up a cruel joke were his son has to watch the women he just slept with get put down for no apparent reason other than to give him a laugh.

[Iredomi]

I would definitely agree straff is pretty much as evil as you can get without being in a grrm novel.

[Newan he/him]

Straff isn't even misguided.  He's just horrible.  Practically every other villain in mistborn was being influenced by Ruin's intent, but Straff was bad all on his own.  

 

First time I've ever cheered when someone was chopped in half.  

[Iredomi]

yeah I normally hate when any one dies in a book but pretty much cheered when straff died

[gjustice99 she/her]

yeah I normally hate when any one dies in a book but pretty much cheered when straff died

I cheered when Sadeas died too. I was like "ok when is this guy going to die" the entire time I was reading WOR

Edited January 21, 2015 by gjustice99

[Iredomi]

I cried haha Sadeas was one of my favourite characters really wanted him to somehow be redeemed.

but I'm pretty sure it was more the manner of his death that got me haha.