Evil Stalks the Land

Via The Beat yesterday, school kids in Britain have voted Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort as the worst literary villain of all time. The BigBadRead poll (sponsored by Harry's publisher Bloomsbury) recorded more than 16,500 votes from a list of 40 villains. Some of the villains are odd choices: I'm not sure I'd put Zaphod Beeblebrox from HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in that category, and although I've only seen the movie and haven't read the book, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights always seemed more tragic than villainous. But you can make up your own mind. Here's the Top 20:

1. Lord Voldemort--Harry Potter series--J.K. Rowling
2. Sauron--The Lord of the Rings trilogy--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 of the West--The Wonderful Wizard of Oz--L. Frank Baum
20. The Grinch--How the Grinch Stole Christmas--Dr. Seuss

It's odd that both Lex Luthor and the Joker are said to come from graphic novels but that Magento Magneto comes from comics. But I have to say I learned something today. She came in at number 3, but I never knew that Coulter was Ann's married name.