A Lesson on How to be a Villain
To be a great villain requires more than merely being rotten to the core. The best bad guys are multi-dimensional and unpredictable. With each patronizing grin, disdainful remark and narcissistic fit, Alan Rickman elevates the role of a villain from the plain ol’ bastard to a bastard coated bastard with bastard filling. Actors take note. We’ve picked our four favorite Rickman villains to illustrate the ultimate lessons in how to be a villain, the Alan Rickman way.
The Faces
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Sheriff of Nottingham Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves |
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Severus Snape Harry Potter Series |
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Hans Gruber Die Hard |
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Elliot Marston Quigley Down Under |
Step 1: Establish the Setting
Even though his home base is England, Alan Rickman’s villainy knows no bounds.
Exhibit A: Map of Misery
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Nottingham East Midlands, England |
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Hogwarts Somewhere in Scotland |
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Nakatomi Plaza Los Angeles, California |
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Western Outback Australia |
Exhibit B: Timeline of Terror
Step 2: Perfect The Look
Fashion Accessories
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Medieval David Lee Roth ensemble |
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Wizard robes complete with cape |
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Wool trench coat over suit |
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Cowboy duster and hat |
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The messy mullet |
The emo |
The pencil-thin |
The handlebar |
Exhibit C: Hairstyles & facial hair
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Bow & Arrow | |
Wand |
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Machine Gun | |
1874 Sharps Buffalo Rifle |
Exhibit D: Adversary’s Weapon
Step 3: Acquire an Adversary
It is crucial that said adversary is as good as Rickman is vile and merciless.
| The Adversary | His Accomplice(s) | |
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Robin of Locksley | A band of merry outlaws from Sherwood Forest |
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Harry Potter | Ron & Hermione |
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John McClane | Sergeant Al Powell, (aka Carl Winslow) |
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Matthew Quigley | A band of aborigines |
Step 4: Hone An Evil Personality
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Exhibit E: Practice saying the adversary’s last name with disdain and over-enunciation
Fine-Tune a Sneer
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Raging eye bulge |
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Silent rage lip curl |
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Grinning ear-to-ear |
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Teeth flashing squint |
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Spoon |
Wand |
9mm |
Revolver |
Exhibit F: Choose a weapon
Step 5: Prepare for Battle
A legion of loyal henchmen is essential.
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English soldiers & Celtic warriors |
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Death Eaters |
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German terrorists |
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Dopey cowboys |
Step 6: The Money Quote
A sarcastic and pompous delivery is key. This is the beginning of the end.
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“It’s dull you twit, it’ll hurt more.” |
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“You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you.” |
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“SHOOT the GLASS!” |
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“Oh, by the way, you’re fired.” |
Step 7: The Untimely Demise
At this point, Rickman has underestimated his foe and written his own death certificate. Here’s the blow-by-blow.
| A Henchman Doesn’t Get the Job Done | So He Kills/Attempts to Kill | And Meets His Demise By | |
|---|---|---|---|
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His cousin, Guy of Gisbourne | Half of Sherwood Forest | Getting stabbed with his own dagger |
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Draco Malfoy | Dumbledore | Spoiler Alert! Bitten in the neck by a snake |
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Karl Vreski | The adversary’s ex-wife | Being thrown off a building |
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Every cowboy in Australia | Quigley and Crazy Cora | Getting shot with his own gun |
Bonus: If Rickman played Palpatine
The SettingA long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. |
Preparing for BattleLightsaber. A legion of loyal Storm Troopers. |
Money Quote“Mr. Skywalker… The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” |
Perfect the LookDirty old man. Wizard robes and cape. |
Acquire an AdversaryJedi. The forces of good. |
The Untimely DemiseAttempted to kill Luke Skywalker. Got thrown off a building by his loyal henchman, Darth Vader. |
This is way better than I could even imagine! Great work, friends.
How about limited edition prints?
This website is beyond incredible. I don’t even have a word for it.
The illustrations and content flow perfectly and are exhibit A, B and C for why people should create unique designs for their page content.
I love Rickman, too. He has mastered the evil accent.
It’s so great to see this come alive. I’m in awe of your talent sir.
This is awesome! Can’t believe I didn’t know about this.
Oh what a lovely layout!
Great work guys, looking forward to the next installment.
Great look, fun site. One quibble: McClane’s accomplice was Sergeant Al Powell, LAPD. Deputy Chief Robinson was more of a wannabe adversary.
I second the request for prints. I’d buy!
Love it! Especially the quote that brings me way back: “Locksley! I’m going cut your heart out with a spoon!”
“Why with a spoon, cousin? Why not with a sword or an axe or something?”
“Because its dull you twit, it’ll hurt more!”
Good work.
@Kevin-
You got us on that one! Changed. Nice find, btw.
Haha Alan Rickman should commend you for your serious efforts.
This is beautiful. You went WAY beyond that I thought this site would be. LOVE IT.
Great site!
This is great. Good work guys!
Bonkers. Bonkers. Brilliant work men.
Fantastic work!
I’m Looking forward to the next part of the series.
This is awesome, though I think Hans Gruber should be #1.
One of the most intelligent sites ive seen this year. period.
I would also like to add that my vote for next month’s project would be Dolph Lundgren.
He-Man
Ivan Drago
The Punisher
and that dude in Universal Soldiers…
What a resume!
Fantastically engaging and well designed. I love it!
Thanks all!
@scrogson – that quote was pretty much the inspiration for the whole site
@Scott Travis – We’d never dream of attempting to rank them. They’re just numbered so it’s easy to keep up with as you scroll.
@RayRay – Step into our office!
Love the illustrations, cant wait for the next installment!
Epic. Win.
[...] The many faces of Alan Rickman. [...]
stellar work and great guy to start. you’re added to my google reader.
Excellent work! Design, concept, execution are outstanding.
This is so fantastic! Really great work.
This is damn good!
Inspired lunacy. Particularly the “medieval David Lee Roth ensemble”.
Trivia: Die Hard was Rickman’s first movie role.
Great idea, great website! :)
Nicely done. Nicely done.
LOVE YOUR WORKKKK!!!!!
Really Impressive stuff. I think the next candidate (if you are accepting request) should be Jack Nicholson. The joker, The Shining,Col. Nathan R. Jessep.
Brilliant!
You could also create another site called the many ‘faeces’ of… and show pictures of Alan Rickman’s poo
This site is great. Easy to digest and gave me a good giggle too. Love it!
It’s spelled Jedi. Jedi is the plural of Jedi. Other than that, this is AWESOME.
This site is really cool guys. Such a simple idea but greatly executed. I love it.
@Tyler – I’m going die a thousand deaths for not catching that typo.
@Derek – That may already be a Tumblr site…
@Matthew – I just got really excited about that idea! I’m awkwardly a fan of old Jack Nicholson too. Maybe there’d be one of him on the sidelines at a Lakers game. The ideas are flowing now.
I really liked this! Very cool. Alan Rickman makes any movie infinitely better.
However, not to be “that guy” but TECHNICALLY Snape isn’t a villain… he just acts like one. And is an ass hole. Other than that, superb.
This is amazing. Looking forward to the upcoming series!
I found this through stumbleupon and think that it is quite possible the funniest thing that I have seen in a long time. Absolutely love Alan Rickman!!
Despite my fannish devotion to Severus Snape, who I have always considered a bastard but never considered a villain, I would tip my hat to you gentlemen were I wearing one.
As far as I am concerned, Rickman is pretty much the best go-to guy for all of your villainous needs. He is, as they say, The Shit. And if you are honoring him that, combined with your love of Ghostbusters and Han solo, makes you The Shit as well.
Brilliant job.
Amazing design dude!
I love Mr. Rickman, but I think I would have had Judge Turpin from Sweeney Todd as one of the examples. He was such a sleeze in that movie! xD
Despite the lack of that character, this was a great little bit of funny!
What about korg or gorg from the Fifth element?! Definitely up there with great roles taken by Alan Rickman
“English soliders” should be “English soldiers”
@sevets:
Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg was played by Gary Oldman, not Alan Rickman.
This is what the internet was made for. Please tell me we’ll be exploring the many faces of Gary Oldman sometime soon.
Awsone guys!!!
This is amazing.
Holy crap, this is amazing. Every thought that I have right now is in a drawn-out, snarky Rickman voice. I can’t wait for the many faces of Duane Johnson.
I LOVE THIS!!!
Most Epic!! Most Epic!!
Am I going to have to be the one to mention that the content of this page doesn’t actually have much of anything to do with the actor? This is just outlining an architype, and he happend to play 4 different characters that fall under that architype and he pulls it off really well.
Absolutely nailed it!
Badass. QED.
I want Gary Oldman! Gary Oldman FTW!
Magnificent idea and website !
At last, a deserved tribute to this amazing actor !
Hurray for him !
I would like to see the evil version in pictures
You have done Mr. Rickman proud!
Love it; absolutely fantastic work. So refreshing to see bespoke, for purpose layout on the web. Also, Alan Rickman is a legend. Well done
snape. snape. severus snape.
XD
i love this website.
Love this and love Rickman. One flaw though: Snape was never eaten by the snake in Harry Potter, the snake did kill him but never ate him.
I think this is great, except that you seem to have gotten your Snape facts all mixed up. The death eaters and Draco are not his henchmen, and Draco doesn’t get eaten by a big snake. Snape is not actually a villain, just an asshole. Other than all that, goooood jorb.
Don’t stop! Don’t ever stop!!
Terrific website but you forgot a couple of worthies!
Rasputin (1996)
Judge Turpin in Tim Burton’s more recent Sweeney Todd
“Spoiler Alert! Getting eaten by a big snake”
ummmm draco didn’t die… reread the last book buddy.
Rickman would tear that role (Palpatine) a new asshole!!!!! This page is awesome
I have but one word for this-> AWESOME!
I’d buy the poster ;-)
This is awesome!
This is absolutely fabulous. I am an avid Alan Rickman fan, and this made my day completely.
Great art, the charts of evil are hilarious–I’m looking forward to more!
can’t say enough about how much of a badass he is. you guys have said it all. although i will reference his character in dogma because the groin-less angel thing was hilarious. http://www.hwdyk.com/q/quizimage/dogma.jpg
Snape did not get eaten by a snake, just bitten by one.
This is amazing! Sadly, a lot of the Snape info is wrong. He’s actually trying to help Harry and Draco doesn’t get eaten by Nagini?! haha but other than that, very amazing.
This is a nice website, but I have to differ on the choice of villain. In my opinion, the best villain portrayer isn’t Alan Rickman, but the honor should go to Tim Curry.
One of my favorite villains ever! This is the most amazing site with one of the funniest ideas I seen in ages.
Just had to say that this website is awesome. Beautiful and informative graphics, design and layout.
We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy! Incredible series guys.
And eviljbrian, I gotta disagree. Curry never screamed a line like “Cancel Christmas!” with such conviction.
Absolutely brilliant, though my favorite Rickman quote is “And call of Christmas…”, also from Robin Hood.
Excellent !! Great work, and good recipes to be a great villain !
Laurent
(France)
This is super. I think Hans Gruber is my favourite. GIVE ME MY DETONATORS!
May I suggest if you’re ever pressed for time, you could do a “The Many Faces Of Matt Damon”. A cut and paste job surely.
“When Alexander the great saw the breadth of his domain he wept…for there were no more worlds to conquer”
great site & concept. awesome.
I love it! I desperately want that banner at the top. Love the artwork! No one compares to Rickman!
Alan Rickman would play a great Sith Lord!
Very cool, love this site!
Love, love, LOVE this website. Great idea and so entertaining.
Alan Rickman has the defining charisma to be an evil bastard, but he has his good sides like in Love Actually or Galaxy Quest.
This is amazing! LOVE IT.
dude, how the crap did you get that crazy dropshadow effect on scroll?
I had a good time reading this. Certainly wins out in the end!
Well done.
Gret website, looking forward for some new faces. Maybe Kevin Spacey. ^^
I think this is the best thing on on the whole internet… hhmm… yep. Yep it is definitely the best thing on the internet.
wow, amazing… greetings from colombia, south america
Classic, keep it up. Tom Cruise would be an interesting follow up.
Pure genius! Step 7 part 4 is my particular favourite
It’s like you designed this site to my exact taste. Probably one of the best designs I’ve seen. Fun idea as well, looking forward to the next one
I was planning on gouging out my eyes with this empty Red Bull can during a morning meeting, but now I’m going to keep them for a bit, just to see what you guys come up with next. God bless you.
Ya, don’t think they read the HP books.. Snape’s not the bad guy.. oops!
Not clear to me why this is a good thing, unless of course, we can mix and match….
MORE MORE MORE!!!
FANTASTIC work!
Fantastisch! Rickman is teh master, and your website is as great as he is!
i love it! can’t wait to see the next one :)
I am in awe. This is the world’s best most intriguing site.
My most favorite being is now properly worshiped!
This is great. I love Alan Rickman. He just plays evil so well.
Nice website ;)
Alan Rickman is a great actor!
This is fantastic. Alan Rickman has always been great, and with your help, now we know why!
Absolutely is the single most important achievement in the history of humanity. Either that or a self-indulgent waste of time.
Okay, sept for one problem. Snape is not a villain. He was one of the good guys.
Love it!
I especially am fond of the “…Alan Rickman elevates the role of a villain from the plain ol’ bastard to a bastard coated bastard with bastard filling…”
Pure.
Genuis.
Love this page.
Best wishes and keep them coming!
:)
This is totally awesome!!!! Found it through Stumbleupon and have shared it with my friends lolz
Great idea! I love it. Beautifully done!
Hilarious- I think his best villanous role was as Mr Slope in the Barchester chronicles. He mastered ’slimy’ to perfection.
I too am in awe of your page. Saw a snippet of it yesterday. Glad to have found the full page. It is totally brilliant, superbly unique and wonderfully hilarious.
And of course, what a wonderful person to build such characters on.
I love it.
“…Benefits of a classical education.”
Brilliant concept. Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson. Make it happen baby!
Simple and to the point, and so true, seventeen thumbs up!
Amazing website. Everything is perfect.
Love it. But I don’t see Mr. Rickman plays Palpatine, he’s a comical villain, which Palpatine isn’t.
Just because Snape turned out to be secretly working for the good guys doesn’t mean he’s not a villain. He played a villainous role throughout the series up til the very end. For the purposes of this site, at least, it’s okay to classify him as such. Stop being nit-picky.
And for the people who failed their reading comprehension test, the “Meets his Demise” section refers to the villain, not the henchman.
oh my I AM IN LOVE WITH THE MAN THIS IS THE ANSWERS TO MY PRAYERS!!!
This is the best site i’ve been on in a long time.
Ok, you fogot one of Rickman’s best roles. You have to watch him play “Interrogator” in Closet Land. Deliciously evil torturer. And it’s a two-person show, so you get a LOT of Rickman goodness. (The part of “Victim” is played by Madeleine Stowe, FYI)
This is amazing! Keep up the good work. I can’t wait for more.
Love the site, very nice.
And to repeat a request, how about some prints. I’ll take the header banner on a 3′ print for cash. Seriously!
Sometimes when watching a film without Rickman I think,”Y’know, this film would be so much better if that actor was Rickman.”
Hogwarts is in England. Perfect otherwise!
would LOVE a t-shirt with that print on it !!
And if you truly love the man’s acting watch him play a good guy in Truly Madly Deeply
this, is so cool. it made me really happy, because it talks about snape and star wars! Long live Alan Rickman!
Love the site, very nice.
And to repeat a request, how about some prints. I’ll take the header banner on a 3′ print for cash. Seriously!
Sometimes when watching a film without Rickman I think,”Y’know, this film would be so much better if that actor was Rickman.”
hahahahahahahahahaha………….
Do NOT disappoint me.
This is so good. I’m going to be chuckling about it for days. Though Snape isn’t really a villan, more an anti-hero, he still fits the mold for acting like one and I do think he is one of Alan’s best roles.
Thank you so much for the great fun.
Oh GOD, the idea is awsome, and I just LOVE Alan! I vote for a print or a poster version of this idea :)
wow! wow! wow!
I love the attention you have paid to the subject matter. I’m not sure at all if you are familiar with the Terry Pratchett Discworld series of books that are slowly becoming movies. My friends and I have long had a game of casting the stories. The leader of the biggest city is called the Patrician. Rickman would be perfect for this! The Patrician is not necessarily evil, but very practical in a shades-of-gray sort of way. The role has been played by Jeremy Irons, who was not bad. But he just did not possess quite the right look.
it seems that some ppl are getting confused with the layout so i’ll clarify. when he wrote “getting bitten by a big snake” he was referring to the demise of snape and not draco
Wow. I’m blown away. Well done. WELL done.
Great website, love it!
i believe that in die hard thats actually his brother not him.
This site is awesome. I love a great story telling site, really impressed ten-fold. Love the Palpatine ending… :)
Great site! Loved the bonus bit.
Fantastic and I agree that selling posters of this content would be great.
Looking forward to more!
Ha, brilliantly done, look forward to seeing more
Great page! :)
Interesting though, his slightly less memorable villains get killed by their own weapons.
Genius! Do Keanu Reeves..erm maybe not
This is great, good concept, fantastic execution.
Awesome!
If you had bothered to do any real research, you would know Severus Snape is not a villain at all.
This design is really really clever. I love it.
Great! it’s very beautifull wp themes realization!
I just love all the many faces of Alan Rickman!
They should have added the patriot as well. otherwise its great!
Gasp! Shocking…and brilliant.
Just simple talent, thanks
this. is. fkn. awesome.
Am I the only woman that thinks these guys are HOT? Come on ladies, you know you like em mean.
Sweet! S. W. Eet.
Great work! Rickman is such a great actor. Please include some video snippets of his work!
brilliant beyond brilliant. looking forward to the next installment.
Thanks for making this! Thanks for the design, for the great illustrations and jokes, and last but not least, thanks for reminding the world of Sir Alan Rickman, the greatest villain that can speak without his lips touching his teeth!
Kudos
Let us not forget him in one of his best villain roles as Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
Yikes – I see you have that. Darn how did I miss that? Coffee and cold meds, not a good combo.
…
I love Alan Rickman
I love this website
and now, I think I love you!^^
It’s a great work, thank you.
I’m a big fan of Alan Rickman, once saw him in London walking down the street.
This page is very clever + enetertaining. Kudos!
Will share it via Twitter.
I’d say that the Money Quote from Die Hard, delivered with a sneer and dripping sarcasm, should be, “Yippee ki yay…”
…I love it! It makes me want to eat! As should all this this amazing!
Nice website, ceep up the good work :-)
this is so absolutely awesome.
I like it. But the Harry Potter nerd in me has to point something out. Draco really isn’t Snape’s “henchman,” as he (Draco) is assigned by VOLDEMORT to kill Dumbledore. Furthermore, Snape only kills Dumbledore at Dumbledore’s prior request, as the curse incurred from Marvolo Gaunt’s ring is going to kill Dumbledore in the near future anyway. That is all.
Terrific actor, terrific post. xoxo from Brazil
This is amazing but where’s Judge Turpin? But this is really creative! :P
what about the judge turpin from sweeney todd
where are the women?
This rox! He should have been Palpatine! I love Starwars and Harry Potter, so i love this page! RICKMAN ROX!
I love it! Haha. Rickman really mastered the villainy real well. Too bad he said he didn’t like playing villains.
Pure gold
This is possibly the most amazing thing I have ever seen. And I second limited edition prints.
THIS IS AWESOME!!!
I’ll take No. 2. XD
F*cking awesome.
I LOVE Alan Rickman! Your site is incredible & made my day! YOU ROCK!
This is amazing!!! You should do this for Nicholas Cage. :D that would be genius.
Amazing website and great illustration. Hans Gruber was a very well played villian.
Do you have t-shirts?? You should have t-shirts.
excellent web! was so much fun….. excelente trabajo!
I lol’d extensively. Great work.
I was disappointed that Judge Turpin from Sweeney Todd wasn’t on here. He fits the model! lol
Otherwise it is really good and SUPER funny! I lol’d, I LMAO’d, and may have even ROFL’d!
Fantastic!
Great job guys!
Love the design and style of the website. John Cusak is excellant but Rickman has to be my favourite.
Looking forward to see the next installment.
Amazing!
LOVED!!!
I’D LOVE SOME PRINTS TOO…
GREAT JOB!
; )
I am totally going to use this with my students! Characterization, villiany, oh-so-much-fun!
Thanks!
Liked the work, it would be cool to do something similar on Gary Oldman
This is really fantastic
I love this website and i love AR