Jiren
Patti Mayonnaise
Hearts Bayformers
Posts: 35,163
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Post by Jiren on Jun 6, 2008 13:25:21 GMT -5
Funnily enough i just about to was was Javier Bardem in this list
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Post by 'Foretold' Joker on Jun 6, 2008 18:03:37 GMT -5
Has Mysterio been in this list yet, if not why not? Nice to see Deathstroke getting some praise.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
Crow T. Robot
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 6, 2008 21:00:03 GMT -5
Countdown time. Here's number 38: 38. Anton Chigurh Who is he: A hitman. What is he from: No Country For Old Men (novel and movie) What has he done: Killed a lot of people. Intelligence: Has a Ph. D. in killing, and some medical knowledge. Power: He is usually hired by other people. Vileness: Kills a lot of people, even those he is working for. Sway: Fear and intimidation come off this man like sweat. Purity: Spares one man, but only because he flipped a coin and that man called it correctly. Physical Prowess: Average sized male who is very good at armed and un-armed combat. Name Coolness: “Anton Chigurh” has this cool, foreign quality to it. Created by: Cormac McCarthy. Portrayed by: Javier Bardem, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal as Chigurh. The film opens with shots of desolate, wide-open country in West Texas in June 1980 as the antagonist, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), is apprehended by a sheriff's deputy while in possession of a captive bolt pistol he uses as a weapon. In a voiceover, the local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tells of the changing times as the region becomes increasingly violent. Chigurh strangles a sheriff's deputy while handcuffed, escapes custody, steals a patrol car, pulls over a driver while in possession of the cruiser, and steals another car by using the bolt pistol to kill the driver. Meanwhile, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), hunting pronghorn near the Rio Grande, comes across a collection of corpses and one dying Mexican: the aftermath of a drug deal gone awry. He also finds two million dollars in a satchel a short distance from the massacre. Initially taking the money and leaving the Mexican to die, Moss suffers a pang of conscience later that night and returns with water for the dying man. Discovered by returning Mexican gangsters, this good deed sets off a cat-and-mouse game in which the hunter and hunted frequently switch roles, as the gang of Mexicans, Moss, Chigurh, and Bell chase each other and the money across the Texas and Mexico landscapes. Chigurh, a professional hitman, has been hired to retrieve the satchel of money. Inside the money is a hidden radio transponder which Chigurh has been following via his corresponding receiver. The Mexicans track Moss to the motel room where Moss has hidden the satchel inside an air vent. They wait inside the room to ambush him. Moss, however, sees their car, rents an adjacent room, and retrieves the satchel through the common vent. Chigurh tracks the money to Moss's original room, bursts in, and slaughters the Mexicans. Searching for the satchel, Chigurh sees the vent cover, unscrews it using a dime, and looks inside where he sees tell-tale scuff marks. He realizes that Moss has escaped with the money. Using the receiver again, Chigurh tracks Moss to a border town hotel, his pursuit climaxing in a firefight that spills onto the streets. Narrowly escaping death by crossing the border, the wounded Moss wakes up after being transported to a Mexican hospital where he meets Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), another operative hired by the drug buyer. After Moss rejects Wells's offer to save his life, Wells returns to his hotel where he is captured and killed by Chigurh, just as Moss calls Wells. Picking up the phone, Chigurh offers to spare Moss's wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) if Moss forfeits the money, although Moss himself would still be killed. It is an offer that Moss angrily rejects. Moss arranges a rendezvous with Carla Jean in El Paso to give her the money and send her out of harm’s way. The characters all converge on a seedy hotel in El Paso, but not simultaneously: Sheriff Bell and Carla Jean do not arrive until after Moss has been killed by the Mexicans in a shootout. Sheriff Bell returns that night to the now-quiet motel and finds that the lock to Moss's hotel room door has been blown out. Chigurh is shown hiding behind the door of the hotel room as he observes Bell in the reflection of the empty lock hole. His gun drawn, Bell enters the room and notices the vent cover, which is rectangular but covers a round hole about 10 inches in diameter, has been removed with a dime. Bell eventually leaves without encountering Chigurh. Some time later Bell visits his Uncle Ellis (Barry Corbin), an ex-lawman. Bell is planning to retire due to his weariness of the changing times, but Ellis points out that the region has always been violent. He accuses Bell of "vanity" in thinking that he could personally make a difference. Chigurh, in the meantime, has located the widowed Carla Jean and waits for her at her recently deceased mother's home. Despite telling her that he "gave Llewelyn his word" that she would die if Moss did not hand over the money, Chigurh reconsiders and offers Carla Jean the same "coin flip" opportunity previously given to an innocent bystander. Carla Jean, however, refuses to call heads or tails, claiming that they have no say. The audience sees Chigurh leaving the house, carefully checking the soles of his boots. As Chigurh drives away he is seriously injured in a car accident where his left arm is badly broken; he manages, however, to leave the scene before the police arrive. The film closes with Bell at home, in retirement, reflecting on his life choices. Bell relates to his wife (Tess Harper) two dreams he had, both involving his deceased father who was also a lawman. Bell reveals that in the first dream he lost "some money" that his father had given him; in the second dream, he and his father were riding horses through a snowy mountain pass. His father, who was carrying fire in a horn, quietly passed by Bell with his head down and was "going on ahead, and fixin' to make a fire" in the surrounding dark and cold. When Bell got there, his father would be waiting. Bell closes the dream narrative, and the film, with the final words: "And then I woke up." There’s a scene in “No Country For Old Men,” probably the most famous scene in the whole movie, in which Anton Chigurh is at a gas station. He’s talking with the owner of the gas station, and the owner says something doesn’t rub Anton the right way. So, he flips a coin and tells the owner to “Call it, friendo.” The owner asks why he’s calling it, and Anton explains, without actually saying it, that he should guess which side of the coin came up and if he guesses correctly, then Anton will spare his life. It is a wonderful with a lot tension. It just builds and builds, and you just know that Anton will kill this old man if he guesses incorrectly. Hell, at the beginning of the movie, Anton killed a cop and some driver on the road. We know what he is capable of, and killing an old man because he lost a coin toss wouldn’t surprise us. However, the old man gets it right, and Anton lets him live, telling him to keep the coin since it is his lucky coin. That whole scene sums up who Anton Chigurh is. He is a man with honor, but it is a twisted honor. He kills indiscriminately but will give some people the chance to have their lives spared. He is also very good at his job. When he is hired to do something, he will stop at nothing to get the job done, even if it means he has to kill some people. And, Anton kills a lot of people in this movie. Hell, he even kills the people who hired him. The reason behind that is that they hired some Mexicans to help him on his job to retrieve the satchel of money Llewelyn. This did not sit with Anton well as he has a bit of an ego. He feels that you should choose the “right tool” for the job, and he is that “right tool.” However, Anton doesn’t get to finish his job, as Llewellyn is killed by a Mexican gang. Nevertheless, Anton tracks down Llewellyn’s wife Carla Jean like he told Llewellyn he would. He gives her the same coin toss opportunity that he gave to the gas station owner, but she doesn’t take. The anger he feels is very obvious. However, the next thing we see is Anton walking out of Carla Jean’s house. We don’t know if he killed her, but we know Anton Chigurh and just how evil he is. So, it would be safe to say that Anton didn’t leave that house with her alive in it.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 6, 2008 21:59:02 GMT -5
37. Tony Soprano Who is he: The de facto boss of the DiMeo Crime Family. What is he from: The Sopranos. What has he done: Killed at 8 people that we know of, probably more, and is responsible for the deaths of others on his orders. Intelligence: Street smarts and is pretty smart when it comes to crime. Power: He is a boss and can have a lot of things done. Vileness: Killed his cousin Tony and his nephew Christopher. Sway: Gives out orders, and they are done, or else. Purity: He cares for his family, and his life in the mob leads him to depression, panic attacks, and therapy. Physical Prowess: Fat and bald but can still kick some ass. Name Coolness: “Tony Soprano” is pretty cool. Created by: David Chase. Portrayed by: James Gandolfini, who won three Best Actor in a Drama Emmys for his portrayal as Tony. Tony was born on August 24, 1959, to Livia and "Johnny Boy" Soprano. Tony grew up living with his mother, father, and two sisters Janice and Barbara in the Ironbound in Newark, New Jersey. His father was always involved in crime and Tony recalls some of his activities in flashbacks on the show. He had his first panic attack as a young boy, prompted by seeing his father mutilate the hand of a pork store owner and then his mother's intense pleasure at receiving free meat. Tony's Uncle Corrado (Junior) Soprano lived nearby and worked with Johnny Boy closely when Tony was a child. In another flashback sequence, Tony recalled his father's relationship with his older sister, Janice, and his use of her as a cover for attending meetings with criminal associates at a children's fair. At the time, Tony thought Janice was his father's favorite child. In therapy, when asked to remember happy childhood memories about his mother, Tony struggled to come up with any; he later described her as a joyless woman who wore his father down "to a little nub." Tony also has a mostly unfriendly relationship with Janice because she always asking him for money and once tried to sell Livia's house for sale by herself. Tony also had to deal with her previous boyfriend Richie Aprile, after Janice killed him. Tony went to high school with Artie Bucco and Davey Scatino and remained friends with them into later life. It was in high school he met his future bride, Carmela DeAngelis. Tony was also close to his cousin Tony Blundetto, and neighborhood kids used to call them Tony Uncle-Al and Tony Uncle-Johnny after their fathers to tell them apart. In their teenage years, the two Tonys spent summers at their Uncle Pat Blundetto's farm; Pat was a soldier in the DiMeo organization. They were sometimes joined by their younger cousin Christopher Moltisanti, whom they bullied. Tony B was arrested for his part in a hijacking when the two Tonys were young men. Tony S was supposed to join Tony B on the job but failed to because of a panic attack; at the time, he told people he'd been attacked by a couple of "mulignans" and injured. Tony also attended Seton Hall University for a semester and a half before dropping out. Tony was part of an unofficial crew of young criminals consisting of Silvio Dante, Ralph Cifaretto and Jackie Aprile, Sr., Tony gained notoriety in the DiMeo crime family by robbing a card game run by Feech La Manna along with Silvio and Jackie. From then on, he was on a fast track to becoming a made man. He committed his first murder on Labor Day 1982. His father shepherded Tony through his ascendancy until his death in 1986 from emphysema. When he died, Johnny Boy had risen to the level of captain of his own crew, as had his brother Junior. Junior took over the paternal role and continued to advise and assist Tony. Tony remembers having to buy expensive dinners for Richie Aprile as a newly made man. Soldiers from Johnny Boy's crew, Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero and Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri, passed their loyalty on to Tony, and he became capo of his father's old crew. Old friend Silvio Dante joined him in the group. By 1995, Tony was a well-respected Capo in the organization when the boss of the family, Eckley DiMeo, was sent to prison. Tony's longtime friend and fellow captain Jackie Aprile, Sr. took on the role of acting boss in December 1995. With DiMeo in prison, Aprile became the official Acting Boss of the family. Under Jackie's wise and respected rule, the DiMeo Family was peaceful and prosperous until 1998. Jackie was diagnosed with intestinal cancer early in the year, and the family slowly descended into turmoil. With Jackie in and out of the hospital, and as such not able to fully run the family, Tony began to take on many of his duties, much to Uncle Junior's chagrin. For a time in early 1999, Jackie seemed cured and was back on the street as boss and the family's woes were eased. But by late spring, he was back in the hospital and had begun chemotherapy treatments. With Tony's role in the family's operation increasing and disagreements including Tony thwarting Junior's plot to kill Pussy Malanga, tensions between Tony and Uncle Junior rose and reached an all-time high as Jackie's condition turned for the worse. With Jackie's death in mid-1999, a crisis emerged as to who would run the family, and the soldiers and other captains began to prepare for all-out war within the family, but Tony brought a quick end to the conflict by making Junior the nominal boss of the family. Junior would unknowingly act as the lightning rod for the feds, while Tony would run the family from behind the scenes. Tony's grandfather, Corrado Soprano Sr. was a stone mason who emigrated from Avellino in Italy in 1910. He helped to build a church in Tony's old neighborhood that Tony occasionally takes his children to so he can tell them about their past. Tony also recalls that when he was 13 his father would let him play around on his construction sites, even driving heavy machinery. Tony has personally committed at least 8 murders in the show, although he may have committed others that have not been shown or referenced considering his lengthy career in the mafia. However, as a Boss, he is fully responsible for the deaths of others killed on his orders. The 8 known killings, all (save the first) explicitly presented onscreen, were: Willie Overall, shot and killed by Tony to become a made guy (1982); Fabian "Febby" Petrullio, strangled by Tony for ratting out members of Paulie and Pussy's crew and joining witness protection (1999); Chucky Signore, shot and killed by Tony for conspiring to kill him with Junior (1999); Matthew Bevilaqua, killed by Tony and Big Pussy for attempting to kill Christopher (2000); Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, executed by Tony, Silvio and Paulie after discovering he was an FBI informant (2000); Ralph Cifaretto, choked/bludgeoned to death for supposedly killing Tony's prize winning race horse Pie-O-My for insurance money (2002); Tony Blundetto, shot and killed by Tony for the unauthorized killings of Joe Peeps and Billy Leotardo [Prevents a blood war with NY] (2004); and Christopher Moltisanti, suffocated by Tony after a major car accident (2007). Some murders hit him on a personal and emotional level leaving him perplexed as to how to cope with the situation. Most notably, after the murder of his "nephew" Christopher Moltisanti in “Kennedy and Heidi,” throughout the episode he feels a rush of relief for finally being rid of his nephew whose troubling habits throughout the years could've landed him in jail. However, he was plagued in having to "show the sad face" while the rest of his family grieves. However, Tony reassures himself that Chris's murder was necessary, despite the hurt caused to the people closest to Christopher. The murder of "Big Pussy" in Funhouse weighed heavily on Tony. Being his closest ally turned informant, Tony almost felt he wanted to give him a pass, but in the end knew what his priorities were. In the years to follow, Tony along with Silvio and Paulie had haunting dreams of the murder of their best friend. Ralph Cifaretto's death came from Tony's pure outrage as he accused Ralph of killing his horse in Whoever Did This. Tony tried to confront Ralph about the situation but after some heated words, Tony lost control and violently murdered Ralph. Though no solid proof was found that the fire killing Pie-O-My was arson, Tony was convinced Ralph did it. Despite Cifaretto's claims, Tony took satisfaction in disposing of his capo, putting his mind at ease about his horse. The murder of Matthew Bevilaqua was pure vengeance and an act that had to be carried out since Christopher getting shot was a direct insult to him. Tony took satisfaction in bringing the young associate's demise. The murder of his cousin Tony Blundetto was solely to save him the painful death if he were to fall into Phil's hands, and also so that Tony did not lose his reputation as a boss. Tony has two children: Meadow Soprano and Anthony (AJ) Soprano. He also treated his putative nephew, Christopher Moltisanti (actually a second cousin), as a son in many ways. Tony is often portrayed as a loving father: he attends his children's sporting events and wants them to be safe, happy and to have every opportunity in life. He hopes that both his children will escape the life of crime he has led. Tony takes great pride in Meadow's achievements. In Season 1 he is moved close to tears by her performance at a choir recital. He often tells people about her aspiration to become a pediatrician. However, he also sometimes alienates his children through his behavior. He has always tried to conceal his criminal life from them; something that Meadow saw through early on and AJ also realized with guidance from his sister. Tony's over-protectiveness of Meadow has led to feuds between them on several occasions. For example, her first boyfriend at college had a mixed Jewish and African-American heritage, and Tony's racism led him to try to drive him away. Meadow learned of her father's actions and didn't speak to him for several months, eventually reconciling at Christmas in 2001. Meadow's next boyfriend was Jackie Aprile, Jr., the son of Tony's old friend Jackie Aprile, Sr. Tony had promised Jackie Jr.'s father that he would try to keep his son on the straight path. Tony was initially pleased with the relationship, believing Jackie to be a hard-working pre-med student from a good family. However, since his Uncle Richie's release from prison and subsequent death, Jackie had become more and more involved in the Mafia. Tony realized this by catching Jackie at strip clubs and a casino. He eventually delivered a beating to Jackie to warn him about abusing his daughter's feelings and confiscated a gun from him. Tony failed in his role as surrogate father to Jackie Jr., perhaps because of his overprotectiveness of Meadow and a sign of his selfishness. Jackie was eventually killed by Vito. This drove Meadow to drinking and depression at the loss of her boyfriend though they'd broken up shortly before his death. After Jackie's death, Tony accepts Meadow's college friends and got on well with her fiancé, Finn, before the two separated under unrevealed circumstances. Tony's feelings toward his son, however, are mixed, especially so with worries about his future. From the very beginning, Tony understood that his son would not be his successor, as Anthony Jr. lacks both the brains and the aggressive nature of his father: Tony instead tells A.J. numerous times that he is proud that his son is gentle and kind. Tony was especially proud of A.J.'s prowess on the football field, even amid his failing grades in high school but is frustrated with the path A.J.'s life took after graduation. After failing out of Ramapo State, A.J. loafed around the house, partied, and for a time held a job at Blockbuster, until his father, hoping to keep A.J. away from a life of crime, one that inadvertently got Jackie Jr. killed, got him a job working construction. It was there that A.J. met Blanca and in Tony's opinion, regardless of Blanca's ethnicity and age difference, A.J. was doing well until he and Blanca broke up. It was then that Tony's worries again amplified around A.J.'s depression, a 'rotten putrid gene' that Tony believes he passed down to his son, along with his infrequent panic attacks. Hoping to get A.J. back on track, Tony rekindled A.J.'s friendship with "the Jasons", sons of two of his associates, and A.J. seems to be doing better. With the help of a therapist and medication, A.J. is finally getting back to college, this time at Rutgers, to take classes and party with girls as Tony believes every college-aged kid should. This later turns sour after A.J. sees his newfound friends attack a Somalian student on a bike and he returns to depression. A.J. attempts suicide by drowning but decides he wants to live. Unable to escape the pool, it is Tony who discovers him, hears his cries for help, and rescues him. After A.J. is released from a mental-health ward, Tony and Carmela convince him to not join the Army and instead become involved in a film bankrolled by Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr., with the possibility of opening his own club. Tony has suffered from panic attacks that sometimes cause him to lose consciousness since his childhood. He has his first on-screen panic attack while cooking sausages at his son's birthday party; this occurs in a flashback in the pilot episode. Tony loses consciousness and causes a small explosion when he drops a bottle of lighter fluid onto the coals. Tony describes the experience of the panic attack as feeling like he had "ginger ale in his skull". This prompts him to seek help for the attacks. After extensive testing that includes an MRI scan and blood work no physical cause can be found so Dr. Cusamano referred Tony to psychiatrist, Dr. Melfi. Tony's referral to therapy allowed a discussion of his thoughts and feelings away from both aspects of his life; this forum for reaching into the characters thoughts has been described as a Greek chorus and key to the viewers understanding of the character. Tony was initially very resistant to the idea that there was a psychiatric cause for his symptoms. He resented being in therapy and refused to accept the diagnosis of panic attacks given him by the neurologists who had investigated his illness. Tony begins to open up once Dr. Melfi explains the doctor-patient confidentiality rules. He tells her about the stress of his business life; he has a feeling that he has come in at the end of something and describes a reverence for times past. Tony leaves out the violence associated with his criminal career. Tony tells Dr. Melfi a story about ducks landing in his pool. He also tells her about his mother, Livia, who is relentlessly pessimistic and cynical, at once demanding and resentful of assistance. By the end of the first session Tony has admitted that he feels depressed but storms out when Dr. Melfi presses him further about the relationship between his symptoms and the ducks. When the family visits Green Grove, a retirement community which Tony is trying to place his mother in, Livia's derisive outburst prompts a second panic attack. Dr. Melfi's prescribed Prozac as an anti-depressant for Tony, telling him that no-one need suffer from depression with the wonders of modern pharmacology. Tony fails to attend their next scheduled session. At their next session Tony is still reluctant to face his own psychological weaknesses. Tony is quick to credit the medication for his improved mood but Dr. Melfi tells him it cannot be that as it takes 6 weeks to work; she credits their therapy sessions. Tony describes a dream where a bird steals his penis; Dr. Melfi extrapolates from this to reveal that Tony projected his love for his family onto the family of ducks living in his back pool and this brings him to tears, to his consternation. She tells him that their flight from the pool sparked his panic attack through the overwhelming fear of somehow losing his own family. In the episode "46 Long" they continue discuss Tony's mother and her difficulties living alone. Tony admits that he feels guilty because his mother could not be allowed to live with his family. We learn that he has been left to care for his mother alone by his sisters. When Dr. Melfi asks him to remember good experiences from his childhood he has difficulty. It is clear that Tony's perception of his mother does not meet with the reality of her personality. He also shows that he blames Carmela for preventing his mother from living with them. Later they discuss Livia's car accident and Melfi suggests depression may have contributed to the accident - Tony misunderstands her and becomes angry. Tony has a panic attack while visiting his mother's home after she moves to Green Grove. In a later session Dr. Melfi pushes Tony to admit he has feelings of anger towards his mother and he again storms out. During this episode Tony introduces the concept of him acting like the sad clown - happy on the outside but sad on the inside. In "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" Tony discusses Jackie's cancer with Dr. Melfi. She tries to use it as an example of Tony's negative thinking contributing to his depression. Tony becomes angry and storms out because he feels she is trying to trick him and manipulate his thoughts using the pictures that decorate her office. After Jackie worsens and Tony is called a Frankenstein by a business associate he returns to therapy to discuss these things with Dr. Melfi; she asks him if he feels like a monster. In "Fortunate Son" Tony discusses a childhood memory of an early panic attack. He saw his father and uncle mutilate Mr. Satriale, the local butcher, and later fainted at a family dinner consisting of free meat from the butcher. Dr. Melfi makes a connection between meat and Tony's panic attacks and also explores his mother's attitude to the fruits of his father's labor. Later Dr. Melfi tries prescribing Lithium as a mood stabilizer. In the episode "Isabella" Tony sinks into a severe depressive episode and experiences hallucinations; he sees a beautiful Italian woman named Isabella in his neighbor's garden. Tony sees Isabella several times during the episode and later learns that she never existed. Melfi theorizes that Isabella was an idealized maternal figure that Tony's subconscious produced because of he was deeply upset at his own mother's actions at the time. In "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" Tony abruptly ends his therapy and convinces Dr. Melfi to go into hiding when he discovers that his Uncle Junior has found out about their sessions. The relationship between Tony and Dr. Melfi has been up-and-down, with Tony reaching a level of comfort with Dr. Melfi that he has never experienced with anyone else before, not even his wife. This closeness leads Tony to have something of a "crush" on Dr. Melfi, something that is unattainable. However, the "prying" from Dr. Melfi is uncomfortable for Tony and he often turns sarcastic and antagonistic towards her, leading to an ongoing strain in their relationship. During the episode "The Second Coming", aired in part II of season six, Melfi's own therapist suggests to her that therapy like which she administers to Tony has been considered to be an enabler to certain sociopathic personalities. Finally, in the penultimate episode of the series, "The Blue Comet", Melfi severs her relationship with Tony as his therapist. In the first season, Tony is attacked by John Clayborn and Rasheen Ray, two thugs sent by Donnie Paduana under order to execute Tony. Tony sustains some minor bruises and cuts from crashing his vehicle. One of the two assailants, Clayborn, is fatally wounded in the crossfire, and Ray is left bruised but runs off. In the premiere of the sixth season (spring 2006), Junior Soprano, suffering from dementia, believes Tony to be "Little Pussy" Malanga and shoots him in the abdomen. He manages to dial 911 but loses consciousness before being able to tell the operator what happened. The second episode of the sixth season reveals Tony is currently in a medically-induced coma in the hospital. In the second and third episode the viewer sees Tony in a dream-like state, eventually arriving at what could be purgatory or perhaps an alternate life, where he is greeted by a man who takes the physical form of his late cousin Tony Blundetto. It is also possible the shadowy figure in the doorway to the house is either his mother or Gloria Trillo, both of whom are dead. The voice of a younger version of his daughter calls him back. At the end of the third episode he awakes from his coma in a confused but stable state. By the fourth episode Tony is mobile and fully aware and has regained his voice but is still recovering. Tony's attitude to life has been changed by his near death experience. He has yet to discuss his experiences while unconscious with anyone close to him. However, in the Season 6 episode "Kaisha", he admits to Phil Leotardo (who had just suffered a heart attack), that while he was in a coma, he went to a place, but he knows he never wants to go back there. He talks philosophy with John Schwinn, another patient at the hospital, and mentions that while in the coma he had the experience of being drawn towards somewhere he did not want to go and narrowly avoiding it. In the sixth episode of the final 9 episodes "Kennedy and Heidi", Tony sustains minor injuries in a car accident that seriously injures his nephew Christopher Moltisanti (whom Tony killed by suffocation while he (Christopher) succumbed to his injuries). He was on bed rest for about a week and quickly recovered. Nonetheless, this gave his family quite a scare and a painful memory of his nearly fatal shooting the previous year. Tony sometimes has vivid dreams that are shown to the viewer. Episodes with dream sequences include "Pax Soprana", "Isabella", "Funhouse", "Everybody Hurts", "Calling All Cars" and "The Test Dream." In the pilot, Tony tells Dr. Melfi about a dream he had wherein a screw in his belly button, when removed, causes his penis to fall off. He tries to find a car mechanic (who had worked on his Lincoln when Tony drove Lincolns) to put it back on, but a duck swoops down and snatches it from his hand. In "Meadowlands", Tony has a dream of several people in his life in Dr. Melfi's office, causing him to be paranoid that people will find out he is seeing a psychiatrist. The dream ends with Tony confronting Melfi, only to find out he's speaking to his mother, Livia. In "Pax Soprana", Tony has several dreams and fantasies of Dr. Melfi. He becomes convinced that he is in love with her, but she turns him down when he makes advances towards her. In "Isabella", Tony, suffering from depression after Big Pussy disappears, acquaints himself with a dental student named Isabella who is staying in the Cusamano home while they are on vacation. He later discovers that he'd hallucinated Isabella due to taking too much lithium, and that Isabella represented the mother he never had. In "Funhouse", an extended dream sequence exposes many of Tony's subconscious thoughts and feelings through symbolic and sometimes bizarre events: he attempts suicide to preempt a doctor's diagnosis of early death by dousing himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire, witnesses himself shooting Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultieri to death during a card game, has an innuendo-laden conversation with his therapist Dr. Melfi while sporting a prominent erection, and a fish that speaks with the voice of Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero confirms his suspicions that the longtime friend and soldier is a federal informant. In "Everybody Hurts", Tony dreams of his ex-comaré Gloria Trillo shortly after learning of her suicide by hanging. He visits her apartment and finds her in a black dress with a black scarf around her neck. She is cooking dinner and when she goes over to the oven the scarf drapes across Tony. Plaster falls down in front of Tony and when he looks up he sees that the chandelier is almost pulled out of the ceiling. Gloria is suddenly back at the table and offers Tony a choice between seeing what she has under her dress or under her scarf. As she goes to peel away the scarf, Tony wakes up and makes his way to the bathroom for some medication. In "Calling All Cars" Tony has two dreams featuring Ralph Cifaretto. In the first he is being driven by Carmela in the back of his father's old car while Ralph sits in the passenger seat. There is a caterpillar crawling on the back of Ralph's head. Tony's fellow passenger in the back seat changes; Gloria Trillo and Svetlana Kirilenko are both seen. The caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Dr. Melfi later tells him that the dream signifies a change for Ralphie (recently killed by Tony) and Carmela being in control. In the second dream Tony follows Ralph to an old house, which Ralph enters. Tony is dressed in trousers, suspenders and a vest. He knocks on the door and a female figure descends slowly in shadow; the door creaks ominously. Tony says he is there for the stonemason job but does not speak English well (Tony's grandfather was an immigrant stonemason). Just as Tony is about to enter the house he wakes up. In "The Test Dream", Tony comes to terms with having to kill his cousin Tony Blundetto, as well reflecting inner demons and fears ranging from his children's future, his relationship with his wife, his infidelities, deceased acquaintances including some who have died by his hand or by his orders, his fate and even his relationship with his father. He is again shown in his father's old car accompanied by a range of past associates. In "Kennedy and Heidi", a stressed Tony Soprano has a dream following the death of his nephew Christopher Moltisanti. In this dream he tells his therapist Jennifer Melfi that Christopher was a burden and that he was relieved that he was dead. After that he also tells her that he murdered Big Pussy and his cousin Tony Blundetto. Following the dream he acts differently to his friends and family, trying to see if they also feel relieved now that Christopher is dead. Tony Soprano is a fierce and quick-tempered man. He runs the most powerful mob organization in New Jersey, and he is good at his job. When Jackie Aprile, Sr., the boss of the DiMeo crime family, died, a war almost broke out among the family. However, Tony quickly stopped it by making his uncle Junior the nominal boss of the family. In a wise move, he has Junior acting as a diversion: with the FBI surveilling Junior, Tony is allowed to run the family from behind the scenes. As boss, he is responsible for quite a few deaths, some by his own hands. He is a businessman, and if killing someone is good for business, then he will either have them killed or kill them himself. For example, there were two FBI informants in the family: Big Pussy and Adriana. So, Tony had them killed, shooting Big Pussy himself. If may have been difficult for him since Big Pussy was a close friend and Adriana was his nephew’s fiancée. But, he did it anyway because they were giving info to the FBI. He will even kill family members, most notably his cousin Tony, which he did after Tony killed Billy Leotardo and Joe Peeps in order to prevent a war with the Lupertazzis, and his nephew Christopher. In fact, Tony was relieved when he killed Christopher. He felt that his nephew was a hazard with his troublesome ways (i.e. he was a drug addict) and was pissed that he had to act all sad around his family during the mourning period. That is quite cold. Tony can also be brutal in his killing. Just look at Ralph Cifaretto. After he killed the horse Pie-O-My in a fire, Tony was pissed at Ralph for killing an innocent animal just for insurance money. He confronts Ralph they get into an argument that leads to a very violent fight, ending with Tony strangling Ralph and smashing his head against his kitchen floor shouting "She was a beautiful, innocent creature what'd she ever do to you?" until he is finally dead. Though he quite brutal in his murder of Ralph, this also shows that Tony has some compassion. Besides the horse, Tony loves his family deeply. Also, his actions in the mob end up taking a toll on him. He begins to suffer from depression and panic attacks and starts going to therapy to try and cope with his demons. However, this does not stop him from committing his crimes and killings. In fact, Tony Soprano is a great representation of all of the mafia’s brutality. He is in deep, so deep that Tony will never be able to get out and lead a normal life.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 6, 2008 22:03:33 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 36 to 33. Here are the hints:
she's not a nice nurse, she won't be ignored, a Shakespearean villain, and he killed the girlfriend of a famous hero.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 7, 2008 13:12:06 GMT -5
Time to countdown more villains. Here's 36: 36. Nurse Ratched Who is she: The head administrative nurse at the Salem, Oregon State (Mental) Hospital. What is she from: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel and movie). What has she done: Causes Billy to commit suicide; has McMurphy lobotomized. Intelligence: Medical and bureaucratic knowledge. Power: She practically runs the hospital she works. Vileness: Her intimidation and controlling ways over Billy eventually leads to his suicide. Sway: Can intimidate anyone, even her superiors. Purity: Only cares about keeping the hospital running in an orderly fashion. Physical Prowess: Average female build. Name Coolness: “Nurse Ratched” just sounds cruel and evil. Created by: Ken Kesey. Portrayed by: Louise Fletcher, who accepted the role one week before filming began after six other actresses, Anne Bancroft, Colleen Dewhurst, Geraldine Page, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, and Angela Lansbury, turned down the role. However, their loss was Louise’s gain, as she won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal as Ratched. Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a recidivist criminal serving a short prison term on a work farm for statutory rape, is transferred to a mental institution due to his apparently deranged behavior. This is possibly a deliberate gambit by McMurphy in the belief that he'll now be able to serve out the rest of his sentence in relative comfort and ease. His ward in the mental institution is run by a calm but unyielding tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who has cowed the patients, most of whom are there by choice, categorized as "voluntary" patients, into dejected submission. While he initially has little respect for his fellow patients, McMurphy's antiauthoritarian nature is aroused. His needling of Nurse Ratched is initially just for kicks, but his sense of injustice at their treatment leads him into a battle for the hearts and minds of the patients. What he finds out only later is that Ratched has the power to keep him there indefinitely. Rather than simply bide her time with McMurphy and have him transferred, Ratched sees his behavior as a personal affront and challenge to her authority and becomes obsessed with winning this contest. McMurphy gradually forms deep friendships in the ward with a group of men which includes Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), a suicidal, stuttering and helpless young man whom Ratched has humiliated and dominated, and "Chief" Bromden (Will Sampson), a 6’ 5” muscular Native American. Believed by the patients to be deaf and unable to speak, Chief is mostly ignored but also respected for his enormous size. In Billy, McMurphy sees a younger brother figure whom he wants to teach to have fun, while the Chief ultimately becomes his only real confidant, as they both see their struggles against authority in similar terms. McMurphy initially insults Chief when he enters the ward, but attempts to use his size as an advantage (for example, in playing basketball). Later, they and patient Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick) are detained for being involved in a fight with the ward attendants. Cheswick undergoes electroshock therapy, while McMurphy and Chief wait their turn on a bench. While they wait, McMurphy offers Chief a piece of Juicy Fruit gum, and Bromden verbally thanks him. A surprised McMurphy discovers that Chief actually hates the hospital establishment just as he does but handles it in a different way (by remaining mute instead of using Randall's strategy of open defiance). McMurphy hatches a plan that will allow himself and Bromden to escape. Following his "therapy," McMurphy jokingly feigns catatonia before assuring his cohorts and Nurse Ratched that the attempt to subdue him didn't work. On the night of December 10, 1963, McMurphy sneaks into the nurse's station and calls his girlfriend, Candy, and tells her to bring booze. Another woman tags along and both enter the ward after McMurphy bribes the night watchman, Mr. Turkle (Scatman Crothers). The patients drink while Billy flirts with McMurphy's girlfriend. McMurphy sees that Billy likes Candy and tells her to sleep with Bibbit. While Billy and McMurphy's girlfriend are in a separate room, the rest of the patients, including McMurphy and the Chief who had been planning to escape, pass out from drinking, probably because of the extant neuroleptic drugs (Thorazine, etc.) in their systems. When Nurse Ratched arrives the next morning she commands the attendants to clean up the patients and conduct a head count. Billy is found in a room sleeping with Candy. When he announces that he is not ashamed with what he done, Nurse Ratched then threatens that she will tell his mother about it. Billy breaks down, and after being carried into the doctor's office, kills himself by slitting his throat. McMurphy, furious at what Nurse Ratched did to Billy, tries to strangle her. McMurphy is subdued and taken away again. A few days later, the patients are seen playing cards as usual. Nurse Ratched, her vocal cords damaged by McMurphy's previous attack, is forced to speak through a microphone for the patients to hear her. They are now free to think for themselves, unconstrained by Nurse Ratched's intimidation. Later that night, Chief Bromden sees McMurphy being returned to his bed. When the Chief approaches him, he finds to his horror that he has been given a lobotomy. Unwilling to leave McMurphy behind, the Chief suffocates his neurologically disabled friend with a pillow. He follows Randle's plan for escape by heroically hoisting a very heavy hydrotherapy control panel (which McMurphy had tried to lift earlier) and hurling it through a barred window. He is last seen fleeing the institution. Nurse Ratched is a cold, sadistic tyrant. She is a stereotype of the “battleaxe nurse” and has become a popular metaphor for the corrupting influence of power and authority in bureaucracies such as the mental institution in which the novel is set. She is quite the control freak. She wants her hospital to run in an orderly fashion. She exercises near-absolute power over the patients' access to medications, privileges, and basic necessities such as food and toiletries. She capriciously revokes these privileges whenever a patient displeases her. Her superiors turn blind eyes because she maintains order, keeping the patients from acting out, either through antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs or her own brand of "therapy," which consists mostly of humiliating patients into doing her bidding. Her greatest success is with the stuttering, suicidal Billy Bibbit, who is so terrified of her that he does whatever she says. Her hospital is a finely tuned, perfectly running machine. However, a wrench is soon thrown into the cogs of her machine: Randle McMurphy. When McMurphy arrives at the hospital, her dictatorial rule is nearly toppled: he flouts her precious rules with impunity, and inspires other patients to follow. Her attempts to cow him into submission, at first with threats and mild punishments, then with shock therapy, are unsuccessful, serving only to redouble his defiance. McMurphy presents a discipline problem and challenge to Nurse Ratched's authority, and the two become engaged in a power struggle. This power struggle comes to a breaking point when McMurphy sneaks some girls into the asylum and has a little party, and during it, McMurphy encourages his girlfriend Candy to have sex with Billy, in order to relieve him of his virginity. However, they are caught. After being found with Candy, Billy stands up against Ratched. But, it is short lived as Ratched threatens to tell Billy's mother about the transgression. Since Billy fears his mother as much as or more than he fears Ratched, the threat causes Billy to have an emotional breakdown frightens him into committing suicide. Enraged, McMurphy attacks Ratched, and nearly chokes her to death. He fails and is removed to the Disturbed ward, where he undergoes a lobotomy. When McMurphy returns, he is wheeled onto the ward on a bed, in a near-vegetative state similar to its most elderly patients. The Chief realizes that if other patients see McMurphy in that condition, Nurse Ratched will have ultimately "won", demoralizing the patients who were only beginning to assert themselves as men because of McMurphy's influence. The Chief smothers McMurphy with a pillow to suffocate him during the night so that McMurphy can die with dignity rather than lie there as a representation of what happens when one tries to buck the system. Chief Bromden then lifts and carries the shower room control panel to the window, throws it through the window and escapes. Nurse Ratched may have gotten rid of her main antagonist, but the damage has been done: her vocal cords have been severely damaged to the point where she has to talk with a microphone so that people can hear her. Now that she has been basically silenced, the patients can think for themselves without her intimidation to stop them.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 7, 2008 13:48:39 GMT -5
35. Alex Forrest Who is she: An editor from a publishing company and Dan Gallagher’s mistress. What is she from: “Fatal Attraction.” What has she done: Wouldn’t be ignored! I.e. she tried to kill Dan, terrorized his family, and boiled that rabbit. Intelligence: Very shrewd and clever in her maneuvers against Dan. She always knew just what buttons to push. Power: Doesn’t have much power in the power but does have some over Dan. Vileness: Kidnapping his daughter, boiling their rabbit, and staging her "pregnancy" went way too far, even for an "ex." Sway: Dan's paranoia grew exponentially as Alex terrorized his family, and she was unrelenting in a very scary way. Purity: Does love Dan and has a reason to resent him, but she did take things too far. Physical Prowess: Not physically strong, relying on her mysterious phone calls and handy kitchen knives to do more damage; though, that heavy black mascara and frizzy hair can be seen as scary. Name Coolness: “Alex Forrest” is an average name. Created by: James Dearden. Portrayed by: Glenn Close, who in 2008 as said, "Men still come up to me and say, 'You scared the shit out of me.' Sometimes they say, 'You saved my marriage.'" Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a successful, happily married New York attorney living in Manhattan when he meets Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), an editor from a publishing company, through business. While his wife Beth (Anne Archer) and his daughter Ellen (Ellen Hamilton Latzen) are out of town for the weekend, Dan has a brief affair with Alex. What Dan thought would be a simple fling turns into a dangerous sequence of events when Alex begins to cling to him obsessively. Alex Forrest's mental instability initially surfaces when she attempts suicide after Dan explains to her that he must go home and get on with his life. Dan thinks the affair is forgotten, but Alex begins to show up at various places to see him. She is waiting for him at his office one day to apologize and invite him to an opera of Madame Butterfly with her, but he turns her down. She then begins to call Dan's office until he tells his secretary he will no longer take her calls. When he confronts her about her actions, she replies, "Well, what am I supposed to do? You won't answer my calls, you change your number, I'm not going to be ignored, Dan!" Alex starts calling Dan's home and then informs Dan that she is pregnant and planning to keep the baby. Although Dan wants nothing to do with her, she argues that he must take responsibility. Dan moves his family to the New York village of Mount Kisco, but Alex continues to stalk him. She has a voice recording delivered to Dan and follows him home one night to spy on him, Beth, and Ellen from the bushes in his yard; the sight of their family life literally makes her sick to her stomach. Alex's obsession, which grows stronger as time goes on, eventually turns into madness. At one point, while the Gallaghers are away from home, Alex even kills Dan's daughter Ellen's pet rabbit and puts it on their stove to boil. Dan tells Beth of the affair and Alex's pregnancy, and after getting over the initial shock and anger, she forgives him. Then Beth warns Alex over the phone that if she persists, she will kill her. Alex goes on to kidnap Ellen from school one day, though she brings Ellen home unharmed (after taking her to a park and buying her ice cream). Meanwhile, Beth is injured in a car accident while searching for her child in a panic. Finally, Alex becomes determined to eliminate what she sees as her main obstacle: Dan's wife. While Beth is in the bathroom, Alex's reflection appears in the mirror. As she attacks Beth with a butcher knife, Dan hears the screaming and runs in, wrestling Alex into the bathtub and drowning her... or so he thinks. She suddenly emerges from the water, swinging her knife at him. Beth, who had gone in search of Dan's recently-purchased gun, appears in the doorway and shoots her in the chest instantly killing her. Ah, love. A many splendor thing. People do crazy things for love. Hell, a few of the villains on this list committed their horrible deeds for love. But, those didn’t go as crazy as Alex Forrest did. Hell, she has been the subject of discussion by psychiatrists and film experts alike and used as a famous film example of Borderline personality disorder. She highlights the emotional instability of the disorder and the frantic attempts to avoid abandonment. However, both cases show a person more aggressive to others than to herself; the latter is a more usual outcome in these situations. She is definitely devoted to Dan, so devoted that, for the rest of her time on the mortal plane, she devotes her life to trying to keep him all to herself. Alex does a number of things to hold onto Dan: attempting suicide, riddling him with constant phone calls, showing up at his office. You know, the usual psycho ex-girlfriend kinda stuff, but it doesn’t work. So, she took it up a notch: kidnapping his daughter, faking a pregnancy, attacking his wife, and boiling the family rabbit. However, Alex is sort of sympathetic and can be seen as a victim. I mean, she is justified in her actions to a point. Dan is a married man with a nice wife and kid. He has a good life with a wonderful job. He has it made. But, Dan wants to have his cake and eat it, too. So, he has an affair with Alex. But, Alex is crazy and stalks him. However, it serves Dan right for cheating on his wife. Yet, Alex does take things too far. She redefines the term "mental illness" with her inability to simply let go when there was no going back. It eventually escalates to where she believes that the only way she can have Dan is to kill his wife Beth. This builds to a climatic scene in which Alex tries to kill Beth and Dan stops her and drowns her in a bathtub, which she survives but is later shot by Beth. Alex Forrest is one of the scariest villains ever, especially for the "horny married man." So, to all you guys who are thinking about cheating on your wives: just rent this movie. Those urges will die a quick and painless death.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Jun 7, 2008 14:14:42 GMT -5
I think one of them is the Green Goblin
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 7, 2008 15:17:41 GMT -5
34. The Green Goblin Who is he: Industrialist turned supervillain. What is he from: Marvel Comics, most notably the Spider-Man comics and lately Thunderbolts. What has he done: Tormented Spider-Man and is partially responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy. Intelligence: An accomplished scientist and industrialist, usually has ingenious plans. Power: Is currently the head of the Thunderbolts. Vileness: Doesn’t just want to kill his foes but also wants to watch them slowly degrade before his eyes. Sway: Can be pretty scary. Purity: His darker side controlled the sympathetic, friendly father buried inside; it soon became difficult to tell the Goblin from Osborn. Physical Prowess: His super-human strength, intellect, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes provided a great challenge for the web-slinger; his regenerative healing and various weapons and glider help. Name Coolness: “Green Goblin” is pretty cool with a nice alliteration sound to it. Created by: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Portrayed by: Len Carlson voice The Green Goblin in the 1960s Spider-Man animated series. Neil Ross did the Goblin’s voice in the 1980s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends series and the 1990s Spider-Man animated series. James Crescenzo did the voice of Green Goblin in Spider-Man Unlimited. Alan Rachins voices Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in the current Spectacular Spider-Man series. In the 2002 “Spider-Man” movie, Willem Dafoe played Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Comics: The original Goblin is Norman Osborn, the son of industrialist Ambrose Osborn, born in Hartford, Connecticut. Although he is a brilliant student in the fields of science, his alcoholic father loses control of his company, and turns on his family. Traumatized, the young Osborn kills the family dog, considering it another mouth to feed. In college, wherein he studies chemistry and electrical engineering, Norman Osborn meets his sweetheart Emily, gets married, and eventually has a son, Harry. In his adulthood, he co-founds a major firm with Dr. Mendel Stromm, Osborn Industries, of which he is owner and president. Osborn finds that Stromm is embezzling from the company and then searches his possessions, discovering an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula. While he is researching his work, Emily becomes ill and dies. This tragedy pushes Osborn to work harder, and he barely has time for Harry. Unbeknownst to Norman, Harry has tampered with the formula beforehand, so when Osborn attempts to create the serum, it turns green and explodes in his face. The accident greatly increases his intelligence and strength, but also drives him insane. Osborn adopts the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based on a monster he feared in his childhood, with the goal of becoming the boss of the city's organized crime. He intends to cement his position in the city by defeating Spider-Man in order to enhance his reputation. To this end, he creates a personal flying device, which starts in a broomstick-like shape and evolves into his Goblin Glider. He also develops hand grenade-like explosive weapons resembling pumpkins, sharp shuriken-like Razor-Bats, and gloves which fire energy blasts from the finger tips. Thus equipped, the Green Goblin then sets out to achieve his twin goals. Osborn hires the Enforcers to kill Spider-Man at a bogus New Mexico movie set. The Enforcers fail, but the Goblin defeats Spider-Man in battle. The Green Goblin then fights Spider-Man and the Human Torch to a standstill. The Green Goblin continues to try to carry out his goals, only to be thwarted at every turn by Spider-Man. Frustrated, the Goblin decides to lie low until he is sure his enemy's guard is down. When he is ready, he arranges to have Spider-Man exposed to a special gas designed to suppress his spider sense. With that done, Goblin shadows him until he learns he was really Peter Parker, a classmate of his son Harry. After capturing him, Osborn in turn reveals his own identity to Peter and rants about his origin and his intentions of killing his greatest enemy, before releasing Peter to do battle. Peter defeats Osborn, who loses his memory and has his costume destroyed by Spider-Man to eliminate this menace. For a long while, the Goblin personality periodically re-emerges in Osborn to bedevil Spider-Man, only to be forced down in turn when he is defeated. Finally, the Goblin takes control one final time and threatens the love of Spider-Man's life, Gwen Stacy, by kidnapping her and taking her to the top of a bridge in New York City. During the resulting battle, the Goblin commits one of his most brutal crimes: pushing Gwen from the bridge. Spider-Man's attempt to save her fails, and Gwen is killed. With blood in his eyes, Spider-Man pursues the Green Goblin for revenge, but manages to control himself after defeating him in battle. In a final attempt to kill him, the Goblin tries to spear Spider-Man with his remote control glider, only to be himself impaled by the jet-glider's sharp points when Spider-Man avoids the attack. Norman Osborn was presumed dead. Harry later becomes owner and president of Osborn Industries. Unknown to Peter, Harry has secretly witnessed their fight. After Spider-Man leaves the scene, Harry removes his father's costume before the authorities arrive. He later bribes the coroner into faking Norman's autopsy so no one will find traces of the Goblin formula in Norman's blood. However Norman's "death" is not what it seemed. The Goblin formula has given Norman a healing factor which re-grows his internal organs and reanimates him. Norman wakes up in the morgue and covers his trail by replacing his body with that of a drifter (who he murdered) of the same build and facial features. After arriving in time to watch Harry vow vengeance on Spider-Man, Norman allows the Goblin legacy to pass to his son and escapes unnoticed into Europe. While in Europe Norman takes over an international criminal organization named the Cabal of the Scrier. He sends one of his agents to Peter's professor, Miles Warren, and offers to help him with his cloning project which eventually results in the clones of Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. For seven years, Norman keeps tabs on Peter and watches him from the shadows. After Harry dies from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum, Norman returns to the States and, from behind the scenes, begins engineering the series of events that came to be known as the Clone Saga. He does this in an attempt to drive Peter into despair by convincing him that he is the clone, while the real clone, Ben Reilly, is believed to be the original. While his primary motivation is his hatred of Spider-Man, the death of his son Harry was also a factor, as he actually cared for Harry despite his constant failure to express that feeling. After this plot fails, Osborn reveals himself to Peter and subsequently kills Reilly. He also apparently killed Peter's newborn daughter, although the full extent of this is unclear to this day. Norman later loses control of the Scriers and creates a smaller organization left over from the cabal called the Order of the Goblin, where he is given the title of "Goblin Lord." Upon his return, Osborn comes up with a carefully contrived story to explain his absence and regains control of his business. For a while, a genetic construct that had once been a human being acts as the fifth Green Goblin following Norman's orders, so that he (Norman) will not be suspected as the Green Goblin (despite having admitted in public that he is Norman Osborn, and while wearing the costume). He also buys the Daily Bugle so that he can control and edit out any bad publicity, such as the frequent editorials by Ben Urich. Later, when Norman is driven mad by the Order of the Goblin's mystic ceremony going wrong, the genetic construct seeks out Osborn's original formula to stabilize itself and discovers who it truly is. Unfortunately for the construct, its effort comes too late, and in front of Spider-Man's eyes, it melts into a puddle of goo and dies. (The construct was originally intended by Glenn Greenberg to be Phil Urich, as revenge by Norman for using the gear in the first place, but this was subsequently vetoed by the Spider-Man editor at the time.) After the fifth Goblin dies, the Green Goblin develops a new plan for Spider-Man: he wants Parker to become his new heir. His first move in this game is drugging Parker into flying around in the Goblin's costume and attacking his friends. Norman then takes Peter to the old Osborn estate to try to convince him to take up Norman's mantle on his own free will, subjecting him to various psychological tortures in an attempt make him accept the darkness rather than the light. After days of physical and psychological torture, Peter cracks under the stress, but still refuses Norman at the last minute, throwing his serum in his face and fighting with him. Norman nevertheless departs, commenting that he has still won because he managed to break Peter, no matter how briefly, and adds that, in the end, he has always known that one of them would kill the other eventually. Norman's next plan involves using a drunk Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, where Peter works. The accident causes Flash to suffer major brain damage and enrages Peter enough to decide to finish his feud with Norman once and for all. At the end of the fight, which takes place in one of Norman's chemical plants, Spider-Man comes close to killing the Goblin, but relents at the last second. Peter tells Norman that if he gave in to his hatred for the Goblin, the last piece of Gwen would die as he would have succumbed to his hatred, and that he does not need to kill Norman anyway, as simply being himself is punishment enough. Parker leaves, telling Norman that he is tired of fighting him, and declares a truce. The Green Goblin's true identity is revealed to the public by a dedicated investigation by the Daily Bugle after he murders one of their reporters. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage that spans the length of Manhattan, he is arrested and sent to prison for the first time in the character's 40-year history. As expected, however, Osborn does not stay in prison for long. Even behind bars, Osborn masterminds a plot to get Spider-Man himself to help him escape, which the web-slinger ultimately does, as payment for releasing Aunt May from Mac Gargan, The Scorpion, a kidnapper in Osborn's pay; a promise that Osborn later breaks. Spider-Man battles with the Sinister Twelve, a group of his greatest enemies led by Osborn as the Green Goblin, who reveals that he had a hand in financing many of these villains' origins. The Goblin slips away in the heat of the battle and abducts Mary Jane Watson, taking her to the George Washington Bridge, but Spider-Man manages to rescue her. The Green Goblin then finds himself grappling with a deranged Doctor Octopus, still drugged from being held in police custody. A bolt of lightning sends the two villains plunging into the river. Doctor Octopus is eventually recovered alive and well, and Peter later receives a letter from Osborn, mailed before the fight. It was recently revealed in a controversial storyline that, prior to Gwen Stacy's death, Osborn had engaged in an affair with her, resulting in twins. After Stacy's death, Osborn takes the children into his care during his sabbatical in Europe. The children, named Gabriel and Sarah, age and mature rapidly within only a few years (due to inheriting Norman's enhanced DNA). The twins emerge after Osborn's takedown and confront Spider-Man, whom they believe to be their real father, and who they believe has murdered their mother. After a series of confrontations, Gabriel and Sarah discover their real father's identity after Peter digs up Gwen's grave for a DNA sample. Sarah rejects Osborn's vendetta, but Gabriel assumes the mantle of the sixth Green Goblin, or "Grey Goblin". Gabriel, deranged and amnesiac after a battle with Spider-Man, disappears along with Sarah, although she later reappears in Paris. This explains a great deal to Peter: why the Goblin has killed Gwen, why Mary Jane Watson avoided Peter for a long time, having known the secret, and why Osborn wanted Peter as his 'heir' ("So that we could be One Big Happy Goblin Family"). After escaping to Paris, Osborn is apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and taken into their custody. While in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Osborn watches in shock as Spider-Man publicly reveals his identity as Peter Parker (also confirming Osborn's identity as the Goblin and his role in Gwen's death in the process), railing that Peter "broke the rules!" He is then approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are seeking his aid. The Goblin confronts and attacks Ben Urich in an alley, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nano-machines cause him to stop, involuntarily making him collapse and foam at the mouth. Later he makes a deal with a shadowy figure who gives him a serum to override the control nano-machines implanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. In the next two issues, Osborn attacks a group of Atlanteans in his Goblin gear, killing and wounding many. Later, when one Atlantean ambassador attempts to give a speech, Norman appears and shoots at him, wounding but not killing him. As he is being taken away by security, Norman says he is 'sick' and is not in control of his actions. While being interrogated by two officers, Norman becomes increasingly agitated when they question who gave Norman access to the press conference and assisted in smuggling a weapon there. At first, Norman gets angry, threatening to kill the two officers' families, then he becomes more and more afraid until the shadowy figure arrives at which point Norman begs the officers not to let him go, even promising to reveal all he knows to them. Norman Osborn is now the government's appointed new director of the Thunderbolts and has been prescribed medication to stabilize his personality. He remains unbalanced, however, mainly due to the fact that Thunderbolt Moonstone has influenced attendants to switch his medication with placebos on alternate days so as to get him fired and take his place. While searching through his desk for his medications, he finds the mask of the Green Goblin and appears shocked and sweating. Since then, Norman has experienced a mental break as pushed by telepathic prisoners in Thunderbolts Mountain, responding to the Swordsman going rogue by donning the costume of the Green Goblin and brutally assaulting him personally. After crucifying Swordsman to the wall with throwing razors, Osborn has now decided to kill everyone in Thunderbolt Mountain. As a result of the events of the One More Day storyline, the timeline has been altered to an undetermined degree so as such Norman's son, Harry, is now alive and no-one knows Spider-Man's secret identity. He no longer possesses knowledge of Peter being Spider-man. Norman is stated to return to the Amazing Spider-Man title in a storyline entitled New Ways to Die that will address these alterations to his memory. Captain Marvel, revealed to be a Skrull sleeper agent, attacks Thunderbolt Mountain, but he can't bring himself to kill, due to the heroic personality of the original Mar-Vell suppressing his own. Norman Osborn offers him a chance to explain himself, speaking with him in private. In interviews for Secret Invasion, it has been mentioned that Green Goblin will fight Captain Marvel at some point. Other Goblins: While Norman is assumed to be dead, several villains and one hero take up the mantle of the Green Goblin: Nels Van Adder: In a retcon established in 1997, it is revealed that soon after Norman had Stromm arrested for embezzlement, he had found only a portion of the notes detailing his partner's serum (he would find the rest later). Norman tests the incomplete version of the serum on an Oscorp employee named Nels Van Adder, exposure to which, drives Van Adder slowly insane and begins transforming him into a red, demon-like being known as the "Proto-Goblin". Killing several people and blaming Norman for what has happened to him, Adder proceeds to harass and later attempts to kill him before being knocked out a window in Oscorp by Arthur and George Stacy and fleeing into the wild. In order to escape conviction for what he had done to Van Adder, Norman convinces the police that Van Adder had been experimenting on himself, and that he had secretly been trying to help him. Van Adder's current fate remains unrevealed. As well as endowing Adder with super strength and agility, the goblin serum also gave him large claws, talons, fangs, glowing green eyes which granted night vision and near impenetrable skin (capable of withstanding several close range bullet shots). Harry Osborn: Harry, Norman's son, becomes the 2nd Green Goblin. Wanting to protect his father's identity, he stripped Norman's body of the Green Goblin costume and hid it. Blaming Spider-Man for his father's "murder," Harry swore vengeance. Having inherited his father's company, Harry managed to get the business back in shape as he planned his revenge. One day, to his shock, he found a Spider-Man costume in Peter's apartment, and realized that his best friend was the man he blamed for his father's death. Using his father's old equipment, Harry confronted Peter as the new Green Goblin. Not wanting to hurt Harry, Peter avoided fighting his old friend. Eventually Harry was knocked unconscious and taken into police custody. There he raved that he was the true Green Goblin and Peter Parker was Spider-Man, but was dismissed as a lunatic. He was put in the care of criminal psychologist Dr. Bart Hamilton, who extracted the secrets of the Green Goblin from Harry through hypnosis, and buried the knowledge deep with Harry's mind. However, this was not altruistic on Hamilton's part - he then raided one of Harry's hideouts and became the third Green Goblin, hoping to become the new boss of the underworld. However, his power was no match for his enthusiasm - he never even bothered to use the strength-enhancing formulas on himself, seemingly believing that just being the Green Goblin would enable him to defeat Spider-Man, and, despite an elaborate plot to kill Silvermane, the power-mad psychologist was killed by a bomb he had planted for Spider-Man. Although he suffered a brief setback during the confrontation with Hamilton, Harry was released and considered cured, sustaining a concussion that made him forget his knowledge of Spider-Man's identity, and he and Peter rekindled their friendship. For a while, Harry's life seemed back on track; His company began turning profits once more, and he developed a romance with Liz Allan, whom he met at the wedding of Betty Brant and Ned Leeds. Not long after, the two were married, and eventually they had a son, whom Harry named Normie in memory of the boy's grandfather. Harry also gave his blessing to the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane. However, Harry started regaining his memories when he was being blackmailed by the original Hobgoblin, who mailed him a package which contained evidence that his father was the original Green Goblin. When the Hobgoblin learned he had raided all of Norman's hideouts, he left Harry alone, knowing he had nothing more to offer him. Later Harry was forced to act as the Green Goblin a few times, once to defeat Jason Macendale, the second Hobgoblin. Macendale sought the Goblin formula that gave the Green Goblin superhuman strength; Harry was able to defeat Macendale by doubling back during an aerial chase and emptying his entire supply of pumpkin bombs onto the Hobgoblin. Harry even wondered if he could use the Goblin persona for a career as a superhero, but Peter convinced him that the Goblin had too much baggage for such a role, and Harry buried the Goblin menace within his mind once more, and focused on his business and family. This tranquility was shattered when the aftereffects of the Inferno crisis sundered the barrier between Harry's conscious and subconscious minds. Once again, he remembered being the Green Goblin and his irrational hatred of Spider-Man (Harry had now convinced himself that Peter resented the Osborns' 'stable family life' due to never having been wanted by his own parents or guardians, when in fact it was the complete opposite). His sanity shattered, he declared that their next confrontation would be their final one, and only one of them would be alive at the end. To ensure that he was the victor, Harry researched his father's chemical notes, hoping to recreate the original Goblin's superhuman strength. Harry made his own modifications to the formula, and upon ingesting it, it proved better than he had dreamed. The Green Goblin II Formula had made him stronger than both Spider-Man and his father. Now a physical match for Spider-Man, Harry planned his final revenge. Harry took to stalking Peter Parker on his Goblin Glider, claiming that there was no law against just soaring around town in a colorful costume, and taunting Peter that someday he would destroy him, but he relished keeping Peter in suspense in the meantime. After weeks of this, Peter finally lost his nerve and struck at Harry, only to be sent flying when Harry hit back, demonstrating his new strength. He then rocketed away, taunting Spider-Man's inability to stop him. Not long after, Harry held a prestigious dinner at his townhouse, inviting many of his father's old business associates. However, it was actually a trap, and Harry had planted explosives throughout the townhouse, which he planned to detonate, thus destroying everybody who had slighted the Osborns. Spider-Man, worrying the most, dropped in to investigate, only to be confronted by Harry as the Goblin. The two former friends engaged in a dangerous battle, which ended when Harry injected Peter with a drug that left him immobile but still alive. However, even as he celebrated over his victory, he realized that Mary Jane and his son Normie were also in the townhouse, and that the explosives would detonate in thirty seconds. Despite protestations that he was not a hero, Peter convinced Harry to use his damaged glider to get the two to safety. After rescuing Normie and Mary Jane, Harry finally returns to his senses and realized that he had left Peter to die. Harry rescued Peter from the explosion just in time. However, as his friends thanked him, he suddenly collapsed. The Goblin Formula was damaged by the explosion, and while it had increased his strength, it was also lethally poisoning him. Paramedics were called, but Harry died en route to the hospital. With his final words, he apologized to Peter, and confirmed that despite everything, they were still, and would always be, best friends. Bart Hamilton: Dr. Barton "Bart" Hamilton was a psychologist, born in Scarsdale, New York. Before his death, Harry is put under the medical care of Dr. Hamilton, who manages to make Harry bury his vendetta and identity as the Goblin in his subconscious. Unfortunately, Dr. Hamilton wants to use Harry's secrets to become the third Green Goblin. Eventually, the underpowered amateur is confronted by Harry Osborn who has resumed the Goblin identity to stop him. They battle and Hamilton is accidentally killed by a bomb with which he meant to kill Spider-Man and Harry becomes amnesiac. Years later there was speculation that Hamilton was the Hobgoblin but this is disproved. Hobgoblin: Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer, finds information that leads him to one of Norman's many abandoned Goblin caches, full of equipment that he alters and takes up the mantle of the Hobgoblin, looking to become an Underworld leader. He resorts to brainwashing and framing Ned Leeds, a friend of Spider-Man's. He goes into hiding, and another Hobgoblin comes forth. This one is killed by Kingsley years later. Demogoblin: Jason Macendale assumed the role of the Hobgoblin, and when he became trapped in Limbo, it was there that his essence became infused with an unnamed demon. After a battle with Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch) and Johnny Blaze, Jason realized that he needed to expel the demon from within him. Doing so let loose the being know as Demogoblin who would seek revenge against his former host, Macendale. He later joined forces with Carnage and other villains in an effort to take over Manhattan, which ended in failure. Eventually, Demogoblin meets his death during a battle with Hobgoblin. He is later seen in the nightmares and hallucinations of Phil Urich. Phil Urich: Harry's insanity relapses and he becomes the Green Goblin again on numerous occasions, until he dies from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum. His equipment and the identity of the Green Goblin are then briefly used by Philip Benjamin "Phil" Urich (nephew of Ben Urich of the Daily Bugle), who tries to gain a reputation as a superhero, although he is sometimes seen as being as maniacal as his villainous predecessors. When his equipment is damaged during a battle against a Sentinel in the Onslaught crossover, Phil is unable to repair or replace it and the fourth Green Goblin thereafter retires. He later forms the team Excelsior. In the MC2 alternate future, he resumes his career as the Green Goblin. Gabriel Stacy: Gabriel, Norman's and Gwen Stacy's son, became the 6th Green Goblin known as the Grey Goblin. Born after Osborn's enhancements Gabriel already had improved physical abilities and aged rapidly. After taking a dose of Goblin serum, Gabriel's physical abilities improved further but he went insane and became the Grey Goblin. After crash landing in a battle with Spider-Man and his twin sister, Gabriel suffered severe amnesia. His sister, Sarah, took Gabriel to Paris but he soon escaped and is still on the loose. Menace: As of yet, an unknown supervillain using Goblin technology. Spider-Man (1967): Green Goblin appears in the 1960s animated television series. Although the Goblin here is depicted as a dimwitted robber who is obsessed with magic and the supernatural, fields of expertise that Norman Osborn in the comics is never interested in (save for one incident in the late 1990s), preferring to use technology to commit crimes. He appears in the episodes "The Witching Hour" and "To Catch a Spider". Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: Green Goblin appears in the 1980s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon show, which depicts Norman Osborn, as something closer to The Lizard, with a serious medical problem of physically and uncontrollably changing into the Green Goblin, voiced by Dennis Marks. This version of the character has a niece by the name of Mona Osborn, who had no knowledge of her uncle's double identity. He appears in the episodes "Triumph Of The Green Goblin" and "Quest Of The Red Skull". The solo Spider-Man series' version, which ran around the same time, is truer to the original comic book (in which Osborn suffered from amnesia and wore a Goblin costume instead of physically transforming into the Goblin), with the Goblin appearing in "Revenge of the Green Goblin". Spider-Man: The Animated Series: The Green Goblin appears in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Unlike his comic counterpart, Norman Osborn here is not an insane version of himself, and has instead developed a multiple personality disorder. His other side is the Green Goblin, who acts on destroying everyone who has hurt Osborn throughout his life, thus, Osborn is never truly responsible for his actions. However, in later episodes Osborn accepts the Goblin persona and they become 'one', determined to destroy everyone who has hurt him. In this incarnation, Osborn is a responsible father, inventor, though ruthless businessman, who gets caught up in the Kingpin's affairs. Also, unlike the comic book version, who considers his son Harry weak, Norman Osborn here deeply cares for Harry with his life. In the Goblin's debut episode, "Enter the Green Goblin", Norman Osborn is exposed to a gas that greatly increases his physical strength but also drives him insane, becoming the Green Goblin who kidnaps various Oscorp stockholders that had tormented Norman. In "Goblin War!", Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin again, defeating the Hobgoblin and steals his Time Dilation Accelerator, a machine capable of generating portals. In the next episode "Turning Point", the Green Goblin finds out Spider-Man's secret identity, kidnapping Mary Jane, and fights Spider-Man atop the George Washington Bridge. In the end, the Goblin gets stuck in anot her dimension, after his glider pushes him through a portal. In "The Return of the Green Goblin", the Green Goblin appears to Harry Osborn, and lures him into becoming the new Green Goblin. In "The Wedding", Green Goblin appears again to convince Harry Osborn to become the Green Goblin again when he hears that Peter Parker and Mary Jane are going to get married, but Liz Allan in the end convinces Harry that his real friends are Mary Jane and Peter, not the Green Goblin. With his connection to Harry broken, Norman Osborn remains trapped in limbo. The Green Goblin makes his final appearance in "I Really, Really Hate Clones", the first part of the two-part series finale, in which he is working for Spider-Carnage and the Kingpin in an alternate reality. Spider-Man Unlimited: A Counter Earth version of the Green Goblin appears in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series voiced by James Crescenzo. This version is actually a hero instead of a villain, mistaking Spider-Man for a villain during their first encounter. Instead of a glider, he wields a backpack that sprouts wings. By the end of his first appearance, after saving Naoko and Shayne Yamada-Jones from one of Venom and Carnage's plans with the help of Spider-Man and after the Goblin lets Naoko and Shayne go, he whispers to himself about calling Naoko his love. It is revealed in the next episode, which the Goblin himself doesn't appear in, that Naoko has a jealous ex-husband who works for the rebellion against the High Evolutionary. Naoko's ex-husband, who is standing in the shadows by the end of the episode, reveals that he is jealous, suspecting that Naoko and Peter Parker, the man who pays the rent while living at Naoko's home, are having an affair. He punches a wall that bricks fall down thus confirming the Goblin, who has super-strength is indeed Naoko's ex-husband. The Goblin's next appears when he finds out that both Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same person. He also learns that Spider-Man is from the original Earth, and his intentions on Counter-Earth are to rescue John Jameson. But since Jameson, who is working with the rebels against the High Evolutionary, doesn't agree to come and lets Spider-Man go off on his own, the Goblin decides to help by getting a ship the High Evolutionary has, which was originally Spider-Man's. Spider-Man and the Goblin team up with the Rejects, a group of Beastials that the High Evolutionary gotten rid of since they proved useless, and they get to Solaris II, the ship Spider-Man once had. But Spider-Man has more heart and has Solaris II crash into one of the High Evolutionary's towers, which presumably kills the Goblin in the explosion. However, by the series finale, it is revealed he survived the explosion and joined the Rejects. But he leaves them to help Spider-Man and the rebels fight against the High Evolutionary. By the end of the episode, he is one of the characters who run off when thousands of symbiotes spring to Counter-Earth according to Venom and Carnage's plans. Spider-Man: The New Animated Series: Harry Osborn is a main character in this series, which supposedly follows the same canon as the Spider-Man films. Norman Osborn was mentioned in the show on a number of occasions. The Spectacular Spider-Man: Norman Osborn appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man as the charismatic yet pompous spirited CEO of OsCorp. He expresses disapproval at his son Harry for his not getting offered for the ESU lab job and telling him to man up to get what he wants. Bent on being the number one in weapons tech, Norman embezzled the designs of Adrian Toomes and then tipped Big Man on the technology created by TRI-CORP on shipment. As a result, Norman considers Big Man's deal, with him receiving guinea pigs for his illegal experiments in return for the created supervillains to distract Spider-Man from Big Man's operations. Osborn may be deceitful and rude with a dash of ungratefulness; he does show concern for those close to him. In the 7th episode "Catalysts", the Green Goblin mysteriously appears and attempted in vain to overthrow the Big Man before Spider-Man intervened. After the Goblin caused the accident that warped Octavius's mind, Norman was suspected by both Spider-Man and the Big Man for being the Green Goblin due to the fact that all the Goblin's actions were somewhat beneficial to him: overthrowing the Big Man (Norman would not have to conduct more experiments) and creating Dr. Octopus in order to obtain the silence of the timid scientist. Bent on finding out the truth after learning the "Globulin Green" vial is missing and tied to the his "benefactor", Norman tells Hammerhead he is determined to unmask the Goblin at any cost. However, when it is revealed to Spider-Man that Green Goblin is actually Norman's son Harry, Norman is grieved by the mess Harry has become and pleads Spider-Man not to take him to the authorities. The next day, Norman embarks on a tour to Europe with Harry so he can relax and forget about his addiction to the formula. The Spider-Man films: The Green Goblin's first live action appearance (beyond a 1982 television commercial for the Atari video game) was in the blockbuster feature film “Spider-Man” (2002). Dr. Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) is a brilliant scientist and businessman/industrialist who is known for his contributions to nanotechnology. His son, Harry, resents his father's apparent favoritism toward his friend Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire), who is a science whiz. He takes an immediate liking to Peter when he is informed that Parker can understand his work, and later admires Parker's desire to make his own way in the world, rather than accepting Osborn's help. He is the head of Oscorp, a company contracted by the United States military to create a new super-soldier. Osborn's colleague, Dr. Mendel Stromm, feels it important to reveal to the military official overseeing the project that some of the test subjects have gone insane. Hearing this, Osborn is threatened with a tight deadline. Needing to prove his formula can succeed, Osborn experiments on himself and becomes the Green Goblin. The process drives him insane however, and he kills Stromm. The military decides to give the super-soldier contract to another company, Quest Aerospace, and in revenge, the Green Goblin kills several high-ranking military officers and Quest scientists who were present at the test. Although Quest Aerospace's prototype was destroyed, the company decides to expand and, in doing so, assumes control of Oscorp on the condition that Norman Osborn step down as CEO. In retaliation, the Goblin kills the board of directors during a festival in Times Square, thus removing the last threat to his takeover of Oscorp, and inadvertently almost killing Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). His appearance at the festival also marks the beginning of his animosity towards Spider-Man. Instead of hating his new enemy, however, Norman views Spider-Man as the son that he always wanted, strong and intelligent, and attempts to recruit him to his side. The Goblin next leads an attack at the Daily Bugle to question J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) for the identity of the photographer who takes pictures of Spider-Man. Peter is at the office during the attack and soon shows up as Spider-Man. The Goblin gasses him and takes him to a rooftop, where he offers Spider-Man a partnership and belittles his choice to become a hero, warning that eventually the city will turn against him. This starts to become true when the Bugle in response to the attack prints a story claiming the Goblin and Spider-Man are allies. A few days later the Goblin baits Spider-Man into a burning building and asks him if he's decided to join him. When Spider-Man refuses, the Goblin attempts to kill him with razor bats and eventually slips away. Norman finds out Spider-Man's identity when, while visiting his son Harry (who is Peter's roommate) for Thanksgiving Day, he discovers that Peter has an identical wound to one he had inflicted on Spider-Man in the earlier fight. After deducing Spider-Man's identity, he decides to leave though Harry tries to stop him. Norman tells Harry to do what he wants with Mary Jane and then dump her fast, as he believes she is only interested in his money as his own wife was. After hallucinating that his other persona informs him to attack Spider-Man's heart, he attacks and seriously injures Aunt May, then kidnaps Mary Jane and tells Spider-Man that he must choose either to save her or to save a group of children in a cable car. Both are thrown off the Queensboro Bridge, yet Spider-Man manages to save both the children and Mary Jane (a marked difference from the source story, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", which ended in the death of Spider-Man's sweetheart). After saving the children and Mary Jane, Spider-Man is lured into an abandoned building. Goblin then throws a pumpkin bomb and it explodes in Spider-Man's face, sending him through a brick wall. As the Goblin brutally beats on Spider-Man, he tells him how he will kill M.J. slowly, saying that "M.J. and I, we're going to have a hell of a time" while drawing a trident. In a rage, Spider-Man attacks him, and gains the upper hand. After being defeated in their final battle and with his own personality apparently resurfaced, Norman removes his Goblin helmet to reveal himself to Spider-Man, and asks Spidey to forgive him and protect him from the Goblin persona. At the same time however, Norman (with the Goblin still controlling him) secretly directs his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Norman states he was like a father to him and begs him to be a son to him, to whom Peter retorts that he had a father: Benjamin Parker. The Goblin responds by launching his glider. Spider-Man senses the attack with his spider-sense and dodges, and the machine kills the Green Goblin by impaling him. Just before dying, Norman pleads Spider-Man not to tell his son about his second identity. When Spider-Man takes Norman's corpse back to his mansion, Harry sees him placing his father’s dead body on a bed. Not knowing that his father was the Green Goblin, Harry holds Spider Man responsible for his death. At the funeral, Harry swears revenge on Spider-Man. In the film, the Green Goblin pilots a high-tech Goblin Glider, armed with seeking missiles and machine guns. He also wears green armor that cybernetically connects him to his glider and weapons. He is seen using three varieties of his signature "pumpkin bombs": one which is a simple explosive; one that releases a bright, radioactive flash which reduces people to skeletons; and one that splits into flying, razor-bat blades. Rather than carrying a shoulder "bag of tricks", the weapons are contained in the glider and are ejected individually out of their storage compartment when desired. His suit is armed with knockout gas that is released from the wrists. His suit is also linked to the Goblin Glider, allowing him to control it remotely. In “Spider-Man 2,” obsessed with defeating Spider-Man, Harry forms a brief alliance with Doctor Octopus, which leads him to the discovery of Peter's secret identity. Harry subsequently hallucinates that his father is speaking to him from inside of a mirror, demanding that Harry avenge his death. When Harry shatters the mirror, he discovers his father's hidden Goblin lair. In “Spider-Man 3,” Harry Osborn, still obsessed with taking revenge on Spider-Man, has finally taken up the mantle of the Green Goblin. When Harry suffers from amnesia and briefly forgets his vendetta, a brief vision of Norman returns in a successful attempt to sway him back to destroying Peter/Spider-Man by one purpose: "Attack his heart." In the second issue of the comic book The Pulse, there is a scene where Norman Osborne is being interviewed by Terri Kidder. During the interview, Terri casually slips in a question about several Oscorp employees who have “turned up missing.” There is a pause. Then, Norman quickly grabs Terri and strangles her to death. This one scene shows us just who Norman Osborne, aka the Green Goblin, is. On the surface, he is Norman, a brilliant scientist and industrialist who started Oscorp Industries and turned it into a profitably organization. However, thanks to a green exploding in his face, he becomes the Green Goblin. Now, underneath Norman is the Goblin, a vicious killer and psychopath. He uses the Goblin to carry out his goals, but Spider-Man always thwarted him. So, the Goblin turned his attention to Spider-Man and became so obsessed with Spider-Man’s destruction that he eventually became Spidey’s archrival. This rivalry eventually led to Goblin learning that he is Peter Parker. Now knowing who he is, Osborne struck at Peter where it hurt the most: his girlfriend Gwen Stacy. He kidnapped Gwen and took her to the Queensboro Bridge. Spider-Man found them, and, during the fight, Goblin pushed Gwen off the bridge. Spider-Man tried to save her, but the attempt ended up killing her. Though he didn’t technically kill Gwen Stacy, the Green Goblin is pretty much responsible. And, now, he has struck hurt Spider-Man emotionally as well as physically. However, the Goblin ended up impaling himself with his own glider in the battle. Norman was believed to be dead for years. During that time, many took up the mantle of the Green Goblin, but few could live up to Norman’s time as the Goblin. The only one who came close was Norman’s own son Harry, who displayed the same insanity, viciousness, and obsession with Spider-Man that his father possessed. Harry also let the obsession get the better of him, resulting in his death. However, Norman returned and set out to make Peter’s life a living hell. The Goblin has always been there as a thorn in Peter’s side. He even torments Peter without having to attack. A notable example would be the emotional pain Peter goes through when he learns that Norman had an affair with Gwen many years ago that resulted in a pair of twins. And, if Norman knew that Peter knew, he would relish in this because he loves to emotional torment his enemies as well as kill them. He wants to make the hurt he inflicts last and for that maniacal laugh of his to haunt his enemies until the day they die. This makes him a dangerous. And, he is very dangerous today as he is the leader of the Thunderbolts and plans to sick them onto Spider-Man. However, it is not the Green Goblin costume that makes Norman Osborne so evil; it is Norman Osborne himself. Norman Osborne looks like a nice guy, but that hides the evil Green Goblin underneath.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 7, 2008 16:24:10 GMT -5
33. Iago Who is he: Othello’s trusted advisor. What is he from: Othello. What has he done: Manipulates Othello into killing his own wife Desdemona, kills his wife Emilia to cover up his crime. Intelligence: As Othello’s trusted advisor, he is quite smart. Power: Othello is his boss, but he does have his own subordinates Vileness: Kills his own wife to cover his tracks. Sway: Manipulates Othello into a murderous rage. Purity: Cares about moving up in rank and that’s about it. Physical Prowess: As a soldier, he must have a good build. Name Coolness: “Iago” is very cool. Created by: William Shakespeare. Portrayed by: Several actors have played Iago over the years: Giuseppe Ciccimarra (as Jago in the first performance of Rossini’s opera Otello), Victor Maurel (in the first performance of Verdi’s opera Otello), Nmon Ford (in some performances of the opera Otello), Saif Ali Khan (as Langda Thyagi in a 2006 Bollywood adaptation called “Omkara”), Micheál MacLiammóir (in Orson Welles’s 1952 adaptation of Othello), Edwin Booth (a legendary Shakespearean actor and brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin), Kenneth Branagh (in the 1995 adaptation), Richard Burton (in the 1956 adaptation), Richard Dreyfuss, Colm Feore, José Ferrer, Frank Finlay (in the 1965 adaptation), Bob Hoskins (in Jonathan Miller’s BBC production of the play), Henry Irving, Emrys James, Ian McDiarmid, Tim McInnerny, Ian McKellen, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Liev Schreiber, Andy Serkis, Christopher Walken, Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett (as Hugo in the 2001 loose adaptation of the play “O”), and Christopher Eccleston (as Ben Jago in the 2002 modern day version). In looser adaptations of Othello, the "Iago" character is typically given a different name, but has been more or less the same as Shakespeare's, like Christopher Eccleston as "Ben Jago" (a corrupt police detective) in a 2002 adaptation set in a London police department, Josh Hartnett as "Hugo" (a steroid-addicted teenager) in 2001's O, which sets the play in a contemporary high school, and Saif Ali Khan as Langda "Tyagi" in Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, set in U.P., India. The play opens with Roderigo, a rich and foolish gentleman, complaining to Iago, a high-ranking soldier, that Iago has not told him about the secret marriage between Desdemona, the daughter of a Senator named Brabantio, and Othello, a black general of the Venetian army. He is upset by this development because he loves Desdemona and has previously asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago is upset with Othello for promoting a younger man named Michael Cassio above him, and tells Roderigo that he (Iago) is simply using Othello for his own advantage. Iago's argument against Cassio is that he is a scholarly tactician and has no real battle experience from which he can draw strategy. By emphasizing this point, and his dissatisfaction with serving under Othello, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughter's marriage. After Roderigo rouses Brabantio, Iago says aside that he has heard rumors that Othello has had an affair with his wife, Emilia. This acts as the second explicit motive for Iago's actions. Later, Iago tells Othello that he overheard Roderigo telling Brabantio about the marriage and that he (Iago) was angry because the development was meant to be secret. This is the first time in the play that we see Iago blatantly lying. News arrives in the Senate that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus; therefore Othello is summoned to advise. Brabantio arrives and accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft, but Othello defends himself successfully before an assembled Senate, explaining that Desdemona became enamored of him for the stories he told of his early life. By order of the Duke, Othello leaves Venice to command the Venetian armies against invading Turks on the island of Cyprus, accompanied by his new wife, his new lieutenant Cassio, his ensign Iago, and Iago's wife Emilia, who works as a maid to Desdemona. When they arrive, they find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet, and all break out in celebration. Iago, who resents Othello for favoring Cassio, takes the opportunity of Othello's absence from home to manipulate his superiors and make Othello think that his wife has been unfaithful. He persuades Roderigo to engage Cassio in a fight, then gets Cassio drunk. When Othello discovers Cassio drunk and in a fight, he strips him of his rank and confers it upon Iago, which in turn strips Iago of one of his two stated reasons to exact revenge on Othello. After Cassio sobers, Iago persuades Cassio to have Desdemona act as an intermediary between himself and Othello, hoping that she will persuade the Moor to reinstate Cassio. It is of some note that throughout the text, Othello and other characters refer to Iago as "good" and "honest". Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Desdemona and Cassio. As it happens, Cassio is courting a woman named Bianca, who is a seamstress and prostitute. Desdemona drops a handkerchief that was Othello's first gift to her and which he has stated holds great significance to him in the context of their relationship; Emilia obtains this for Iago, who has asked her to steal it, having decided to plant it in Cassio's lodgings as evidence of Cassio and Desdemona's affair. Emilia is unaware of what Iago plans to do with the handkerchief. After he has planted the handkerchief, Iago tells Othello to stand apart and watch Cassio's reactions while Iago questions him about the handkerchief. He goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca; because Othello cannot hear what they are saying, Othello thinks that Cassio is referring to Desdemona. Bianca, on discovering the handkerchief, chastises Cassio. Enraged and hurt, Othello decides to kill his wife and orders Iago to kill Cassio. Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio because Cassio has just been appointed in Othello's place, whereas if Cassio lives to take office, Othello and Desdemona will leave Cyprus, thwarting Roderigo's plans to win Desdemona. Roderigo attacks Cassio in the street after Cassio leaves Bianca's lodgings and they fight. Both are wounded. Passers-by arrive to help; Iago joins them, pretending to help Cassio. Iago secretly stabs Roderigo to stop him talking and accuses Bianca of conspiracy to kill Cassio. In the night, Othello confronts Desdemona, and then kills her by smothering her in bed, before Iago's wife, Emilia, arrives. At Emilia's distress, Othello tries to explain himself, justifying his actions by accusing Desdemona of adultery. Emilia calls for help. The Governor arrives, with Iago and others, and Emilia begins to explain the situation. When Othello mentions the handkerchief (distinctively embroidered) as proof, Emilia realizes what Iago has done; she exposes him, whereupon Iago kills her. Othello, realizing Desdemona's innocence, attacks Iago but does not kill him, saying that he would rather have Iago live the rest of his life in pain. Lodovico, a Venetian nobleman, apprehends both Iago and Othello, but Othello commits suicide with a dagger, holding his wife's body in his arms, before they can take him into custody. At the end, it can be assumed, Iago is taken off to be tortured and possibly executed. Long before there were any of the villains on this list, there was Iago. Iago is one of Shakespeare's most sinister villains. Hell, he may even be the most sinister. Iago is generally regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most malevolent creations. A. C. Bradley, a renowned critic of Shakespeare, claimed that "evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the evil character of Iago." The main reason Iago is seen as such an evil character is because of the unique trust that Othello places in him, which he betrays while maintaining his reputation of honesty and dedication. Shakespeare contrasts Iago and his deceptive ways with Othello's nobility and integrity. Iago is often referred to as "honest Iago," displaying his skill at deceiving other characters so that not only do they not suspect him, but they count on him as the person most likely to be truthful. He is a master manipulator. Throughout the play, he clouds Othello’s mind, making him believe that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He manages to manipulate Othello into such a jealous rage that he eventually kills Desdemona. Iago is also willing to do anything to cover his tracks, even killing his own wife Emilia when she figures out that he manipulated Othello. And, when Othello learns what Iago has done, he attacks Iago but lets him live with the pain for the rest of his life. Then, Othello commits suicide. In particular, the mystery surrounding Iago’s actual motives has continued to intrigue readers and fuel scholarly debate. One of the interesting things about Iago is that motives are quite mysterious. Iago has been described as a "motiveless malignity" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This reading would seem to suggest that Iago, much like Don John in Much Ado About Nothing or Aaron in Titus Andronicus, wreaks havoc on the other characters' lives for no ulterior purpose. Over the years, there have been many possible analyzed motives: failure to be promoted (the man he says had an affair with Desdemona is Cassio, the man Othello promoted over Iago), racism (Othello is African moor who is married to Desdemona, a white woman), jealousy (of Emilia, of Desdemona or of Othello), Othello's rumoured infidelity with Emilia, insecurity, supreme intellect unregulated by empathy or conscience (psychopathy), sadism, and unacknowledged homosexual feelings for Othello. In the exposition scene in Act 1, scene 1, Iago himself states that his prime motivation is bitterness at having been passed for promotion to the top post, his racist disgust at seeing "a black ram tupping" a "white ewe", and his supreme confidence in his ability to destroy Othello and escape detection all present potential motives. In a later soliloquy, it is revealed that Iago suspects his wife of infidelity with both Othello and Cassio. Ultimately, none of these motives are identified as primary, so it is impossible to determine conclusively which applies, if indeed any of them do in isolation, or which is most important among them. He remains famously reticent when pressed for an explanation of his actions: “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know./From this time forth I never will speak word”. Andy Serkis, who portrayed Iago at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in 2002, wrote in his memoir Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic, that: "There are a million theories to Iago's motivations, but I believed that Iago was once a good soldier, a great man's man to have around, a bit of a laugh, who feels betrayed, gets jealous of his friend, wants to mess it up for him, enjoys causing him pain, makes a choice to channel all his creative energy into the destruction of this human being, and becomes completely addicted to the power he wields over him. I didn't want to play him as initially malevolent. He's not the devil. He's you or me feeling jealous and not being able to control our feelings." Iago only reveals his true nature in his soliloquies, and in occasional asides. Elsewhere, he is charismatic and friendly, and the advice he offers to both Cassio and Othello is superficially sound; as Iago himself remarks: 'And what's he then that says I play the Villain?' (II.iii.310) It is the dramatic irony, that drives the play. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter what his motive was. The fact remains that three people are dead because him and his evil deceptions. However, he is later taken to prison for torture and presumably execution. But, it is of little solace to the audience because Iago pretty much got what he wanted.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
Crow T. Robot
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 7, 2008 16:28:19 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 32-29. Here are the hints:
They can open doors, he shares the same name as a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem, he came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum but is all out of bubblegum, and he's not an ordinary thief but an exceptional thief.
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Post by Smokey McTrees on Jun 7, 2008 19:19:31 GMT -5
Roddy Piper and Ozymandias!
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
Crow T. Robot
Give me back my Doritos!
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 8, 2008 13:22:46 GMT -5
It's time for some more villains. The countdown continues with number 32: 32. The Velociraptors What are they: Dinosaurs. What are they from: Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and the Jurassic Park trilogy. What have they done: Killed and ate some humans. Intelligence: Smarter than dolphins, whales, and some primates; they even outsmart a few humans. Power: They’re animals, but they can kill humans very easily. Vileness: They have no mercy when they kill. Sway: Fear and intimidation. Purity: Care for their own kind. Physical Prowess: About the size of a human but much stronger; dinosaur body with sharp teeth, sharp claws (especially on the feet), and long tail. Name Coolness: “Velociraptor” is very cool; usually shortened to “raptor,” which is also cool; and “raptor” means “bird of prey,” which is also cool. Created by: Michael Crichton. Portrayed by: No one, really. They were special effects created by Stan Winston (animatronics) and Mark Dippe & Steve Williams (CGI animation). Though, for the attack on Robert Muldoon, the raptors were played by men in suits. Jurassic Park (novel): In its introduction the novel is presented as a report on the consequences of "The InGen Incident", which occurred in August 1989. This "fiction as fact" presentation had been used by Crichton before, in Eaters of the Dead and The Andromeda Strain, and is used again in Rising Sun. The narrative begins by slowly tying together a series of incidents involving strange animal attacks in Costa Rica and on Isla Nublar, the main setting for the story. After paleontologist Alan Grant and his paleobotanist graduate student Ellie Sattler enter the sequence of queried experts they are abruptly whisked away by billionaire John Hammond (founder and CEO of International Genetic Technologies, or InGen) for a weekend visit to a "zoological preserve" he has established on an island 120 miles west off the coast of Costa Rica. Recent events have spooked Hammond's considerable investors and, to placate them, he means for Grant and Sattler to act as fresh consultants. They stand in counterbalance to a well-known mathematician and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm and a lawyer representing the investors, Donald Gennaro. Both are pessimistic, but Malcolm, having been consulted before the park's creation, is emphatic in his prediction that the park will collapse, as it is an unsustainably simple structure bluntly forced upon a complex system. Upon arrival the park is revealed to contain cloned dinosaurs, which have been recreated using damaged dinosaur DNA (found in mosquitoes that sucked Saurian blood and were then trapped and preserved in amber). Gaps in the genetic code have been filled in with reptilian, avian, or amphibian DNA. To control the population, all specimens on the island are bred to be female as well as lysine-deficient. Hammond proudly showcases InGen's advances in genetic engineering and shows his guests through the island's vast array of automated systems. Countering Malcolm's dire predictions with youthful energy, Hammond groups the consultants with his grandchildren, Tim and Alexis "Lex" Murphy. While touring the park with the children, Grant finds an eggshell, which seems to prove Malcolm's earlier assertion that the dinosaurs have been breeding against the geneticists' design (the population graphs proudly introduced earlier were naturally distributed, reflecting a breeding population, rather than displaying the distinct pattern that a population reared in batches ought to display). Malcolm suggests a flaw in their method of analyzing dinosaur populations, in that motion detectors were set to search only for the expected number of creatures in the park and not for any higher number. The park's controllers are reluctant to admit that the park has long been operating beyond their constraints. Malcolm also points out the height distribution of the Procompsognathus forms a Gaussian distribution, the curve of a breeding population. In the midst of this, the chief programmer of Jurassic Park's controlling software, Dennis Nedry, attempts corporate espionage for Lewis Dodgson, a geneticist and agent of InGen's archrival, Biosyn. By activating a back door he wrote into the system, Nedry manages to shut down the park's security systems and quickly steal 15 frozen embryos. He then attempts to smuggle them out to a contact waiting at the auxiliary dock deep in the park. But his plan goes awry: during a sudden tropical storm Nedry becomes lost and stops his stolen jeep at a dead end. He exits the jeep to determine his location. A Dilophosaurus approaches him from afar and blinds him with its poison saliva. Nedry's plan called for him to secretly deliver the embryos and return to the park's control room within fifteen minutes, but, without him to quietly patch the system, the park's security is left off, leaving the electrified fences deactivated. Without the barriers to contain them, dinosaurs begin to escape. The adult and juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex attack the guests on tour, destroying the vehicles, killing InGen public relations manager Ed Regis, and leaving Grant and the children lost in the park. Ian Malcolm is gravely injured during the incident but is soon found by Gennaro and park game warden Robert Muldoon and spends the remainder of the novel slowly dying as, in between lucid lectures and morphine-induced rants, he tries to help those in the main compound understand their predicament and survive. The park's upper management, engineer and park supervisor John Arnold, chief geneticist Henry Wu, Muldoon, and Hammond, struggle to return power to the park. For a time they manage to get the park largely back in order. But a series of errors on their part plunge the park into greater disarray. The viciously intelligent Velociraptors finally escape and pick off Wu and Arnold. Finally, Grant and the kids slowly make their way back to the central compound, carrying news that several young raptors, bred and raised in the island's wilds, were onboard the Anne B, the island's supply ship, when it departed for the mainland. With no social order left, the survivors organize themselves and eventually secure their own lives. Just when the crisis is largely over, Hammond, furious at being ignored and determined to restore the park to its original state, becomes injured and is killed and eaten by a pack of compys. Gennaro tries to order the island destroyed as a dangerous asset but Grant rejects his authority, claiming that even though they cannot control the island they have a responsibility to understand just what happened and how many dinosaurs have already escaped to the mainland. Finally Grant, Sattler, Muldoon, and Gennaro set out into the park to find the wild raptor nests and compare hatched eggs with the island's revised population tally. Cautious and nonviolent, they emerge unharmed. Word soon reaches them that the crew of the Anne B had discovered and killed the raptor stowaways. In the end the island is suddenly and violently razed by the fictional Costa Rican Air Force. The survivors are told that Malcolm has succumbed to his injuries and died (Although he is shown to have survived in the sequel The Lost World). Survivors of the incident are indefinitely detained by the United States and Costa Rican governments. However, reports have surfaced from a Costa Rican doctor that an unknown pack of animals has been killing livestock and eating crops as they migrate toward the Costa Rican jungle. The Lost World (novel): Six years after surviving the disaster on Jurassic Park, eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm and spoiled, rich genius Richard Levine are researching InGen's mysterious Site B, and its exact location, after learning of its existence. The island, named Isla Sorna, was the secret "production factory" for Jurassic Park, where dinosaur stock were hatched and grown, before shipment to Isla Nublar. Levine mysteriously disappears, and Malcolm fears he might have discovered the location of "Site B", and in his impatience already set out for it without letting Malcolm know. Custom field vehicle Doc Thorne and his assistant, Eddie Carr, who have provided much of Levine's equipment, deduces the location of Site B with help from Malcom and Levine's schoolkid helpers, computer whizz R.B "Arby" Benton and Kelly Curtis, his friend . They organize a rescue operation and take with them two highly customized RV's modified for scientific purposes, as well as a solar powered Ford Explorer, Motorcycle and an observation platform called a 'high hide'. Stowed away with them are Arby and Kelly, who plan to rescue Levine as well. At the same time, Lewis Dodgson, geneticist at Biosyn, InGen's archrival, and two colleagues head to Isla Sorna with the intention to steal dinosaur eggs for their own company. Sarah Harding, a wildlife observer who had a previous relationship with Malcolm, accompanies them to the island, and eventually meets up with Malcolm's team. Dodgson's team throws Sarah overboard, thinking she will drown, and continues with their plan. Dodgson locates a nest of the T-rexs and walks right up to the eggs with a mysterious box in his hand that makes ultrasonic frequencies, fending the grown T-rex away. He brings with him two others from his company, named George Basleton and Howard King, and tells them to grab the eggs while he holds the T-rex off with the box, but Basleton freezes in fright once he sees the parents. Dodgson is forced to do it himself. While walking closer to the eggs, he steps on a hatched T-rex, breaking its leg and the power cord for the box falls out. It takes the T-rexs a while to notice that its stopped, but they move cautiously forward and grab Basleton and kill him. Dodgson makes a run for it to the SUV, but one T-rex pushes the SUV part way off the hill before he and King can drive away. Dodgson falls out of the vehicle but survives. Coming across the baby tyrannosaurus rex, Eddie brings it back to the base camp where Malcolm and Harding fix its broken leg. Unfortunately the absence of the infant is noted by its parents, who track their offspring down by smell, leading them directly to the base camp. The group escapes, however they run into a pack of Velociraptors, which they also escape when they find an abandoned gas station set up by InGen for the island's workers when the island was still in use. The group hides there for the night. Dodgson's plans fail when his two colleagues are killed, and is later pushed into the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex by Harding as revenge. He is taken to the Tyrannosaur nesting site whereupon his leg is broken and he is left for the babies to eat. As with the first book, the characters have to fend off attacks from Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors, as well as Carnotaurus, which are described as having chameleon-like abilities. Throughout the novel, Malcolm and Levine talk about various evolutionary and extinction theories, as well as the nature of modern science and the homogenizing and destructive nature of humanity. The book also discusses the role of prions in brain diseases, which has been at the root of concerns over Mad Cow Disease. “Jurassic Park” (movie): On Isla Nublar, an InGen employee is attacked while releasing a velociraptor into a specially built enclosure, prompting a lawsuit from his family. CEO John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is pressured by his investors to allow a safety investigation by experts before opening the park. He invites paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and his investors' attorney Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) to perform the inspection. The group meets a brachiosaurus when they set off into the park. At the park, they learn that InGen created the dinosaurs by cloning genetic material found in mosquitoes that fed on dinosaur blood, preserved in Dominican amber. The DNA from these samples was spliced with DNA from frogs to fill in gaps. Only female dinosaurs are created to prevent breeding. The team is also shown the enclosure of the velociraptors, dubbed "raptors", intelligent and ferocious predators. Malcolm and Sattler are worried, but Grant remains neutral. They meet Hammond's grandchildren, Tim and Alexis "Lex" Murphy (Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards), and go on a vehicular tour of the park. Ellie leaves the tour to take care of a sick triceratops. A tropical storm hits the island and most InGen employees leave, except for Hammond, game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck), chief engineer Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson), and leading computer programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight). Commissioned by a rival businessman, Nedry takes an opportunity to shut down the park's security system so he can steal dinosaur embryos and deliver them to an auxiliary dock. As a result, the tyrannosaurus breaks through the deactivated electric fence surrounding its pen, devouring Gennaro, attacking Tim and Lex hiding in the car, and wounding Malcolm. The children and Grant only narrowly avoid being killed and eaten. Just after they flee the wreckage, Ellie and Muldoon arrive. At first, they believe the only survivor of the attack is Malcolm, but upon further investigation they find two footprints: one is Grant's and one belongs to one of the kids. Just then, the T.rex returns, and Malcolm, Muldoon, and Ellie barely escape her in their jeep. Meanwhile, Nedry crashes his car, and after trying to fix it, he is killed by a dilophosaurus. Grant, Tim, and Lex spend the night in a tree. While hiking to safety the next morning, they discover hatched eggs, which means that the dinosaurs are actually breeding. Grant realizes that the frog DNA is responsible: some species of frog are known to spontaneously change sex in a single-sex environment. Arnold tries to hack Nedry's computer to turn the power back on but fails, so he does a full system restart, which requires the circuit breakers to be manually reset from the utility shed. When he does not return, Ellie and Muldoon follow and discover the raptors have escaped. Muldoon realized that they are near and tells Ellie to go to the utility shed herself and turn the power back on while he tries to hunt them down. Muldoon is attacked and killed by a lurking raptor while Ellie escapes from another after discovering Arnold's remains. After managing to turn on the power and escaping the raptor, she meets Grant, and they both go back to Malcolm and Hammond at the main building. Lex and Tim narrowly escape two of the raptors in the kitchen, and Lex is finally able to restore the Park's computer systems in order to call Hammond to request a helicopter rescue of the survivors. Grant and Ellie hold off a raptor trying to open the door to the computer room, until the power is restored and the electromagnetic locks begin working. With the door secure, the team climbs up into the ceiling crawlspace and arrives at the Visitors Center skeleton display. After a scuffle on top of the fossil exhibits where the raptors block their escape route, help comes from an unlikely source when the tyrannosaurus suddenly appears and kills both raptors, saving Grant, Ellie, Lex, and Tim in the process. Grant, Ellie, Lex, and Tim climb into Hammond and Malcolm's jeep and leave. Grant says he will not endorse the park, a choice with which Hammond concurs. As all fly away in the helicopter, the children fall asleep beside Grant, who contemplatively watches the birds flying nearby, the surviving relatives of the dinosaurs they escaped. “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (movie): Four years have passed since the disaster at Jurassic Park, and John Hammond (Attenborough) has lost control of InGen to his ruthless nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard). Despite having signed a non-disclosure agreement about the events of the first film, Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) goes public with his story. Unfortunately for him, his stories are not widely believed, threats of legal action prevent him from producing any evidence, and his academic reputation is destroyed. Ludlow plans to create a Jurassic Park arena in San Diego, using captured dinosaurs from Isla Sorna. These dinosaurs are from Site B, an auxiliary facility used to hatch eggs before the dinosaurs were transferred to the main Jurassic Park facility at Isla Nublar. The island was abandoned after the failure of the park and after a hurricane wiped out most of the facilities, and the creatures have been living in the wild ever since. Hammond requests Malcolm's help in stopping Ludlow and preserving the dinosaur's natural habitat. He initially refuses, but after learning that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is already on the island, he goes along but instead for a rescue mission. The team consists of Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff), the engineer who built the solar-powered Mercedes SUVs and the mobile laboratory trailer the team will use, and wildlife documentary producer Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn). Shortly after arriving on the island, they find Sarah and escape a Stegosaurus herd. When they return to camp, they find Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester), Malcolm's daughter, stowed away on the trailer. He tries to contact the boat to take them home, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the InGen team. Using their custom vehicles and equipment, the rival team quickly captures several species, including Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Gallimimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, and a swarm of Compsognathus. At night fall, Nick reveals an alternate mission: free any captured dinosaurs. He and Sarah sneak into the InGen camp to free the dinosaurs and cut the fuel lines on their jeeps. The freed dinosaurs cause a huge commotion, compounded by the exploding vehicles. Meanwhile, Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), the leader of the InGen team, is hunting for his prize trophy, a male Tyrannosaurus, using a T.rex baby to lure in its parents. When he returns to the camp, Nick frees the baby T.rex, taking it back to their trailer so Sarah can set its broken leg. Eddie and Kelly hide in a tree stand, while Malcolm returns to the trailer. As Tembo intended, the T.rex parents come searching for their son, and after getting it from Sarah and Nick, throw one half of the hinged trailer over a cliff in the process, with Malcolm, Nick, and Sarah inside. Eddie throws down a rope and tries to pull the trailer back up using one of the SUVs, but is killed when the T. rex returned. The trailer falls, but its occupants survive by holding on to the rope and are helped up by the InGen team. With all of the communications equipment destroyed in the attacks, both groups team up to reach the old InGen compound's radio station, right through a Velociraptor nesting site, while Dr. Harding suspects the T.rex parents will continue pursuing them. On the way, Dieter Stark, Tembo's second in command, is eaten by Compsognathus. Just before reaching the InGen compound, a large number of the InGen team are attacked and eaten by Velociraptors and the Tyrannosaurus', mostly due to the fact that Van Owen disabled Tembo's rifle so that he was unable to stop the dinosaur until after most of the team had been killed. Oddly, Van Owen's action is portrayed in a positive light (he takes the bullet he stole from Tembo's gun out of his pocket at the end of the film and smiles at Sarah). Malcolm and his friends pass through the field unharmed, but are attacked by Velociraptors and go into hiding. All three raptors are either killed or distracted, and the team makes a run for the building, where they contact a rescue helicopter. As they fly away, they see that Tembo has finally caught an adult male Tyrannosaurus, preparing to ship it and the baby back to the mainland. When the ship carrying the dinosaurs arrives in San Diego, it crashes into the dock. A boarding party then finds out the gruesome reason why there was no one to slow it down. The entire crew is dead and eaten, which is largely unexplainable, seeing that the only dinosaur on the ship was a T-Rex, and therefore much too large to fit into intact human-sized quarters, though other dinosaurs may have snuck onboard. While searching for survivors, a guard opens the cargo hold and unleashes the Tyrannosaurus, who storms into the city. Malcolm and Sarah rush to the Jurassic Park arena to get the baby T.rex, who was brought separately by plane. As the adult runs through the city, causing immense damage, they bait it with its baby, luring it back into the ship's cargo hold. Ludlow, after all this still believing that a dinosaur park will work, attempts to take the baby out of the cargo hold. When Malcolm and Sarah close the dinosaurs in, Ludlow is trapped as well and eaten. As Malcolm, Sarah, and Kelly watch TV at home, the ship sails back to the Island. John Hammond says in an interview that the island must be preserved to allow the dinosaurs to survive. “Jurassic Park III”: Four years after the second film, The Lost World, Drs. Alan Grant (Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Dern) have continued their paleontological careers but are working independently now; Ellie is married with two children, and Grant is still digging with his protégé Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola). He is approached by Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Téa Leoni), saying they are wealthy thrill-seekers who want Grant to be their guide on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna. Grant is reluctant at first, but the Kirbys' promise of funding his dig gets the better of him. Grant suspects that something is not quite right when the plane carrying him, Billy, the Kirbys, and some mercenaries lands. After Amanda uses a megaphone to try to call out to someone in the jungle, they are attacked by a Spinosaurus. As they attempt to escape in the plane, they accidentally run into the Spinosaurus and crash, resulting in the deaths of two of the mercenaries, and stranding them on the island. The group then runs into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which follows them into the forest and they run into the Spinosaurus, and the two predators engage in battle, with the Spinosaurus killing the Tyrannosaurus by snapping its neck. Grant finds out that the Kirbys are actually searching for their son, Eric (Trevor Morgan), who was stranded on the island along with family friend Ben Hilderbrand in a paragliding accident. He decides to lead them to the coast, increasing their chances of getting rescued. Along the way, they discover the paraglider as well as Ben's skeletal remains. Billy salvages the paraglider, and the Kirbys discover several nearby nests of Velociraptor eggs. The group then explores the abandoned InGen compound, where they are attacked by a Velociraptor. When they flee, they are ambushed by its raptor inhabitants, resulting in the death of the final mercenary. When Grant becomes separated, he is rescued from several raptors by young Eric Kirby, who has been living on the island for 8 weeks in the back of an abandoned supply truck. Eric has taken supplies and food from inside the truck. When the group reunites, they are attacked again by the Spinosaurus. After they find shelter in another building, Grant finds out that Billy has stolen two Velociraptor eggs, which provoked the earlier attack. Appalled, Grant tells Billy he is "no better than the people that built this place." To reach a boat docked in a nearby river, the group must pass through a massive aviary where they are attacked by numerous Pteranodons. Using the paraglider he salvaged, Billy tries to rescue Eric from a nest of Pteranodon infants, but is attacked by several adults, seemingly killing him. Amanda and Eric fail to lock the Pteranodons inside. Grant and the Kirbys board the boat, and while floating down river, they hear a phone ringing, finding several mounds of dung containing a satellite phone the Spinosaurus had eaten from the plane. Grant attempts to contact Ellie, but only gets out "The river... Site B! The river!" as they are, yet again, attacked by the Spinosaurus. Paul is briefly thought to have been killed in the attack but manages to survive, and the Spinosaurus finally flees. The group is close to the shore when the raptors reappear, wanting their eggs back. Grant manages to alleviate the situation by imitating a Velociraptor call for help, which almost causes some of the raptors to attack in order to silence him. Suddenly, a helicopter can be heard overhead. The eggs are given back to the raptors, and they retreat. The group arrives at the beach to see a United States Marine Corps detachment, no doubt sent by Ellie's diplomat husband. As they board a helicopter, Grant finds Billy, badly injured during the Pteranodon attack but still alive. He tells Grant that he has "rescued" his hat, to which Grant jokingly replies "that's the important thing." As the helicopter flies off, three Pteranodons fly into the distance. You know, I could have picked any dinosaur from Jurassic Park to put on this list, or I could have put all of them on the list. However, it just didn’t feel right. To me, there was only one type of dinosaur that was truly badass: the velociraptors. They may not have been the biggest dinosaurs or most well before the movies and books came out, but they were the ones that truly stood out (though T.rex is pretty close to the raptors). The raptors have this certain look to them. I mean, those sharp claws and teeth look scary; and their mouths have this weird devilish grin to it. They just look evil. Plus, they were the most dangerous. Just ask that cow or that guy who got eaten in the first scene of the first movie. Not only could those claws rip through a man like he was butter but the raptors also were very smart. I mean, they outsmarted Muldoon and killed him in the first movie, and they knew Billy had their eggs in the third. Plus, they can open doors! And, I don’t mean that they break through them; they can turn the doorknobs. One of the few things that separate us from animals and the raptors can do it. I think the one thing that makes the raptors more villainous than the other dinosaurs in the movie is that scene in which they stalk the children in the kitchen. It is a very scary scene, especially considering that you have children in danger of being ripped apart and eaten. It is kind of hard to explain, but they just had this je ne se qua to them. I can’t put my finger on it, but I just know the Velociraptors were good villains.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 8, 2008 14:33:19 GMT -5
31. Ozymandias Who is he: A costumed vigilante turned CEO. What is he from: Watchmen. What has he done: Faked an alien attack that killed millions of people. Intelligence: Very smart; in fact, he is known at the “Smartest Man In The World.” Power: CEO of his own company. Vileness: He’s not that vile; while he did kill a lot of people, it was to unite the world and stop a nuclear war. Sway: His good looks and calm voice could talk a nun into a one night stand. Purity: Was a vigilante who protected people and does his deeds to bring about world peace. Physical Prowess: The pinnacle of human physical ability; hell, he can catch a bullet. Name Coolness: “Ozymandias” is pretty cool, with a literary and historical quality to it. Created by: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, though he was based on the Charlton Comics character Thunderbolt. Portrayed by: Matthew Goode will play Ozymandias in the upcoming Watchmen film. During earlier pre-production and attempts to make the film, Tom Cruise and Jude Law (a fan of the comic) both expressed interest in playing the role, but they left the project after several delays and budget costs. The son of rich immigrant parents, Adrian Veidt was found to be incredibly intelligent. After his parents and his teachers became suspicious of his grades, he successfully hid his intelligence by deliberately achieving average grades. After his parents' deaths, he inherited their substantial fortune at age 17, but chose to give it all to charity. Veidt then embarked on a vision quest, following the route of Alexander the Great, a childhood idol, throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and former ancient Persia. It was during this journey that he consumed a ball of hashish and decided to become a superhero. Returning to America, he named himself "Ozymandias" and became a costumed vigilante, focusing particularly on organized crime and earning a reputation as "the smartest man on the planet." However, his own cases robbed him of the idealistic belief that battling crime would truly lessen evil and suffering in the world. This was brought to a head when an abortive attempt to organize a new superhero team was disrupted by the Comedian, who noted in his brutally apt way exactly how petty the doings of the costumed heroes were in a world where the threat of nuclear war hung overhead, and how powerless they were to stop it. Veidt was inspired to do just that. In 1975, two years before vigilante crimefighters (superheroes) are banned by the "Keene Act," he retires from superheroism, marketing his image for money. This helps bankroll his scheme of creating a catastrophic event and deceive the world into uniting against a common enemy: in Veidt's case, a horrific alien invasion. To that end, he employed geneticists to clone the stolen brain of a murdered psychic and use it to create such a creature with a group of artists and creative personnel to help create the illusion, and invents a limited form of teleportation based in part on the studies of (and studies by) Doctor Manhattan. Upon completion, he arranged the murder of all of his accomplices to maintain the illusion. To prevent Doctor Manhattan from interfering, he hired old associates of the superhero and secretly exposed them to radiation to induce terminal cancer in them, then engineered a rumor that Manhattan was responsible, causing Manhattan to exile himself to Mars. When the Comedian inadvertently learned of Veidt's plans, Veidt murdered him as well. The story of Watchmen begins several hours after the killing, with police detectives investigating the crime. The death of the Comedian caught the attention of Rorschach, who investigated the crime and mistakenly theorized that there existed a conspiracy to murder masked adventurers. Although Veidt arranged an assassination attempt on himself to throw off suspicion, he framed the wanted investigator on a murder charge to get him out of the way. Unknown to him, the current Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre grew to believe that Rorschach's investigation had merit and sprung him from prison to investigate the matter. In addition, Manhattan took Silk Spectre to Mars where she convinced him to return to Earth. Meanwhile, Rorschach and Nite-Owl figured out that Veidt might be involved in their conspiracy theory and traveled to his compound in Antarctica. Once there, Nite-Owl and Rorschach tried to subdue Ozymandias, but he got the better of the two heroes. Then, Veidt explains his plan to bring about world peace by faking an alien attack on New York. When Nite-Owl and Rorschach say that they will stop him, he tells the superheroes that they are unable to stop the fulfillment of Veidt's scheme as he already implemented it before they got there. The fake alien built by Veidt and his people is teleported to New York and causes the deaths of over three million people in New York City. The world governments fall for the ruse, and agree to a union to oppose this new menace. Seeing as how Veidt's plot had the desired effect of uniting the nations of the world and averting a possible nuclear war, Doctor Manhattan, Nite-Owl, and Silk Spectre agree to keep silent about what they know, as it would only plunge the world back to the brink of disaster. Rorschach refuses to keep silent, telling Doctor Manhattan that he must kill Rorschach before he can tell anybody what he knows, which Manhattan does. When Veidt asks the precognitive Manhattan for verification that he did the "right" thing and that his plans "worked out in the end", Manhattan can only reply that nothing ever ends, leaving Veidt once again in doubt as to whether or not his plan was successful. Many, hell, pretty much all of the villains on this list can be labeled as evil. However, if you were to ask the villains themselves (if they really existed or, in some cases, could speak), they would say that they aren’t evil. Most villains don’t see themselves as evil. In fact, a few of them would say that the things they do is for the greater good. Ozymandias is one of them. His actions are done to bring about world peace in a world where the USA and USSR have nuclear missiles pointed at each other and are ready to fire them at any minute. And, he believes the best way to do that is to unite them against a common enemy: aliens. He has many people create an alien by cloning the stolen brain of a murdered psychic to create the creature, has a group of artists and creative personnel to help create the illusion, and invents a limited form of teleportation based in part on the studies of (and studies by) Doctor Manhattan to teleport it into New York. To keep the conspiracy going, he kills all the people involved in the alien’s creation, kills The Comedian when he learns of his plans, and fabricates a cancer scare caused by Doctor Manhattan, figuring correctly that Manhattan will exile himself from Earth. Then, he implements his plan, which kills millions of people in New York. The man is responsible for the deaths of many people, but his plan works. The world is united in peace. Ozymandias has created the utopia he set out to create, but it still doesn’t excuse the fact that he killed many people to do it. He is also quite smart. To come up with this scheme shows a great deal of intellect. Plus, he brilliantly put a hit out on himself to through off suspicion. And, he doesn’t wait until after the heroes show up in his lair to push the button and start his evil plan; he does it 35 minutes before Rorschach and Nite-Owl and tells them so, saying “Dan, I’m not a republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I’d explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?” Also, he is a great fighter, pretty much beating up Rorschach and Nite-Owl and catches the bullet from Silk Spectre’s gun after she shot at him. However, these actions and his intelligence and athletic ability aren’t the only thing that makes Ozymandias a great villain. His cool collectiveness is also a major factor. Most villains are loud and preachy, with the shouting, shooting, and/or strangling. But, the best way for a villain to be unsettling is when he or she is very calm as he or she delivers his or her unspeakable evil. That is what defines Adrian Veidt. Just look at the scene when he tells Rorschach and Nite-Owl of his plan: he delivers the speech as if he’s ordering a meal at a fancy restaurant. It isn’t just the fact that he killed so many people or that he’s super smart and athletic that makes Ozymandias a great villain: it’s the fact that he can do such evil things in the name of good and be so calm about it.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 8, 2008 15:16:55 GMT -5
30. Rowdy Roddy Piper Who is he: Profession wrestler. What is he from: WWF/E, also was a heel in the NWA and Los Angeles. What has he done: Menaced Hulk Hogan, pushed down Cyndi Lauper, smashed a coconut on Jimmy Snuka’s head, attacked Mr. T, pulled the prosthetic leg off of Zach Gowen. Intelligence: Very cunning and quick-witted, knows just which buttons to push on a person. Power: Sometimes a loner, sometimes has some help with him, most notably “Cowboy” Bob Orton, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff, and Sean O’Haire. Vileness: Quite enjoyed the dastardly deeds he did. Sway: Can get into people’s head very easily. Purity: Has turned face several times. Physical Prowess: Athletic build. Name Coolness: “Rowdy Roddy Piper” is pretty cool, as is his nicknames “Hot Rod,” “Hot Scot,” and “The Rowdy One.” Created by: Roderick Toombs. Portrayed by: Roderick Toombs. I should point out, just like “Vince McMahon,” this is the “Rowdy Roddy Piper” gimmick and not the actual person. Early Life And Career: After being expelled from junior high and having a falling out with his father, Piper hit the road and stayed in youth hostels wherever he could find them. By the age of 16, he was the youngest wrestler in the history of professional wrestling and he made his pro debut in Winnipeg, against Larry Hennig. Piper lost the match in ten seconds. He was a boxer and an amateur wrestler before he started to become a pro wrestler. He won the Golden Gloves boxing championship. He was awarded a Black Belt in Judo from American Judo champion, instructor, stuntman, and professional wrestler, Gene LeBell. He has held more than 38 professional wrestling titles and has won more than 7,000 professional matches. AWA (1973-1975): From 1973-1975 Piper was a jobber in the AWA, Kansas City, the Maritimes, and Texas working for Paul Boesch's NWA Houston Wrestling promotion and in Dallas working for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Wrestling. While in Texas, Piper impressed many of the guys including Red Bastien who arranged for him to go to Portland, Oregon. However, what was supposed to be a brief run in California turned out to be a long term stint as booker Leo Garibaldi and publicist Jeff Walton were impressed with Piper and saw the money making possibilities he had as a heel. NWA (1975-1980): By late 1975 and early 1976, Piper was a top heel for Mike & Gene LeBell's NWA Hollywood Wrestling. In 77-78, he also started to work for Roy Shire's NWA San Francisco Wrestling in addition to remaining with the L.A. office. Los Angeles was where Piper developed his Rowdy Character and became one of the most hated heels in Los Angeles since the days of Classy Freddy Blassie. One of his most notorious doings was the continuous insults directed at the area's Mexican community; he later promised to amend by playing the Mexican national anthem on his bagpipes only to anger the fans further by playing "La Cucaracha" instead. Piper also served as manager for several heels in Los Angeles and worked as a referee from time to time. Piper feuded with all the faces in the area and had a long and bloody feud with Chavo Guerrero. As part of the L.A. storyline, Roddy Piper feuded with Chavo and the whole Guerrero family for about 3 years in the L.A. territory. The feud started innocently enough during a TV bout in early 1976 where Chavo was defending the Jules Strongbow Memorial Scientific Trophy against Piper. Late in this match, Gory Guerrero (who had been in Chavo's corner giving him advice throughout the match) was slapped by Piper. Chavo "lost his cool" and starting punching Piper, getting DQ'ed and losing the Scientific Trophy for "breaking the rules". A short time later, Piper then defeated Chavo for the Americas Heavyweight Title and these two competed in the top feud in Los Angeles for the better part of three years. They main evented against each other often during this era (1976 through 1978). The hair match gimmick was one of the top stipulations between these two, resulting in Piper getting his head shaved. Another top stipulation was when Chavo beat Piper in a "loser leave town" match and Piper immediately reappeared as The Masked Canadian. In his first televised match as The Masked Canadian, Piper actually teamed with Chavo to battle the heel Americas Tag Team Champions (Gordman and Goliath) and Piper turned on Chavo late in the match, causing Chavo to get pinned. Piper wrestled as The Masked Canadian for several months until he was unmasked by Hector Guerrero. By 1979, he left the California promotions for even more fame in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest Territory where he teamed with Killer Tim Brooks, Rick Martel, and Mike Popovich to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Title. Piper went on to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title with victories over both Lord Jonathan Boyd and "Playboy" Buddy Rose. Mid-Atlantic (1980-1983): In late 1980, Piper ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory where he grew to achieve even bigger fame. He beat Jack Brisco for the Mid-Atlantic title and Ric Flair for the US belt which turned into a huge feud. In 1981, Piper started with the Georgia territory as an antagonistic heel commentator. This is where he started to get worldwide attention. In 1982, due to showing up late for a match, he was fired and reportedly blackballed. Piper maintains this in his book, but others dispute this. He did receive an offer from Gary Hart to go to World Class Championship Wrestling but the money was not good enough. Instead, he went to Puerto Rico for a month or so and was able to get booked again by Jim Crockett shortly thereafter. It was in Crockett's promotion that Piper turned face to save broadcast partner Gordon Solie from an attack. In Wrestling to Rasslin', Gerald W. Morton and George M. O'Brien described the transformation: "the drama finally played itself out on television when one of his [Piper's] hired assassins, Don Muraco, suddenly attacked the commentator Gordon Solie. Seeing Solie hurt, Piper unleashed his Scottish fury on Muraco. In the week that followed, like Achilles avenging Patroklas, he slaughtered villain after villain.... In the arenas fans chanted his name throughout his matches." As a face, Piper feuded with Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair, and more notably Greg Valentine. Piper's feud with Valentine culminated in a famous dog collar match at the first StarrCade. Valentine damaged the eardrum in Piper's left ear with the collar's chain leaving Piper with permanent hearing loss. World Wrestling Federation: Around this time WWF owner Vince McMahon contacted Piper, who however insisted on serving out his contract with Jim Crockett. Piper started in the WWF in late 1983 and at the same time fulfilled dates with Crockett. On his way out of Crockett's promotion he turned heel which set the stage for his WWF run in 1984. He started as a manager at first, due to the injuries he sustained during his dog collar match with Greg Valentine, but soon started wrestling full-time. Piper came in as the manager for Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff, and soon began to wrestle with Orndorff as well. Later that year, he was given his own interview segment called Piper's Pit, in which he talked to other superstars, and which frequently ended in a fight between Piper and his guest. The Piper's Pit segments were very popular and helped create the feuds Piper had with other wrestlers. He even went as far as insulting superstars, such as André the Giant, Mr. T, and preliminary wrestler (jobber) Frank Williams. According to Piper's autobiography, Piper's Pit was completely unscripted, and was in fact so popular that it was taken on the road. In addition to pleasing many of his fans who wanted to see the Pit in person, it accomplished other things: it gave Piper the opportunity to heal some nagging injuries while still retaining his heat with the fans. In one infamous Piper's Pit, Piper had an interview with Jimmy Snuka. Piper started insulting Snuka's Polynesian heritage by bringing out pineapples, bananas, and dropping coconuts onto the table; this was to make Snuka "feel at home" in an act of "remorse" after Snuka was not given much time to speak the previous times he was on Piper's Pit. Snuka took offense to this and Piper then attacked Snuka by smashing him over the head with a coconut and shoving a banana in his face. He followed this up by whipping Snuka with his belt. Snuka was legitimately knocked woozy allowing Piper to leave before Snuka, now seriously enraged, could fight back. This incident led to a long feud between the two. Another feud, this time between Piper and Hulk Hogan erupted soon after, and became what was at the time the highest-profile feud in wrestling history, thanks to the involvement of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, where Piper kicked Lauper in the head- and even attacked Captain Lou Albano- with Hogan seeking revenge as a result. In 1985, MTV broadcast The War To Settle The Score, featuring a main-event matchup between Piper and Hogan, who was accompanied to the ring by Lou Albano, Cyndi Lauper, and Mr T. This event set up the very first WrestleMania, which pitted Piper and Paul Orndorff against Hogan and Mr. T. Mr. Wonderful was pinned by Hogan when Piper's bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton interfered and mistakenly struck Orndorff instead of Hogan with his trademark "injured" arm covered in a plaster cast. Later in 1985, Piper paid tribute to Portland promoter Don Owen, who first set him on the road to superstardom, by making a special appearance at the PNW 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza on May 21 in Portland. Although he was competing as a heel in the WWF at the time, Piper played the face role in his match at the PNW supercard as he defeated Buddy Rose. In Born to Controversy, Piper recalled how he had to keep Mr. T busy with tie-ups and other shoot wrestling moves to keep Mr. T's lack of wrestling ability from being seen by the fans, thus ruining the match. From this situation, Piper and Mr. T's real-life relationship became hostile, leading to the inevitable conclusion that they be put into a feud with one another. Piper once again faced Mr. T, this time alone, in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Piper lost the match by disqualification after bodyslamming Mr. T. In Born to Controversy, Piper admits that he is embarrassed looking back upon this match and wishes he had just taken Mr. T out in the first place. After that match, Piper took a hiatus from the WWF to film the movie “They Live.” When he returned in 1987, he was a face and remained a face for several years, with sporadic tenures in the WWF and WCW. He would become a heel again in 2003. At WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, Washington, Piper ran in during the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon bloodbath, and made his second WWE heel run by attacking Hogan with a steel pipe. He brought back Piper's Pit on the April 10 edition of SmackDown!, and after aligning with Sean O'Haire, Piper smashed a coconut over the head of Rikishi, a relative of Snuka. At Backlash that month, Rikishi returned the favor to Piper. Piper was then put in a program against "Mr. America". The storyline was Hulk Hogan had been bought off WWE television forever by the evil Vince McMahon. Hulk Hogan returned "incognito" although the joke was that everybody knew who he really was, which infuriated Vince McMahon. At this point, Piper and O'Haire were portrayed as McMahon's lackeys attempting to unmask Mr. America. Around the same time on Monday Night RAW, Chris Jericho started The Highlight Reel, a show similar to Piper's Pit. The two even verbally sparred on TV, with Jericho calling Piper fat and telling him to call him "when he lost some weight"; Piper's retorted, "I have seen Chris Jericho wrestle. I have heard Chris Jericho talk. I have even heard Chris Jericho sing. So I'll make you a deal: I promise you that when I lose some weight, I'll call you. And when you get some talent, you call me." At Judgment Day, the two met again, with Jericho telling Piper he made a wrong turn and missed the senior's home and alluding to the incident where Piper ripped off a fan's (later revealed to be Zach Gowen) leg and used it as a weapon, mentioning there were some midgets and lepers he could thrash, and while patting Piper's stomach, asked if he ate the leg. Piper responded by blasting him for ripping off the Piper's Pit idea and drilling it into the ground and called Jericho's birth an "accident". In June 2003, WWE decided to stop using Piper (who was working without a contract at the time) after a controversial interview with HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in which Piper discussed the darker side of the wrestling business. On his 2006 DVD, Piper claimed that HBO took parts of his interviews out of context to make wrestling look worse. However, Piper has returned to WWE TV over the past few years, though as a face. In the mid 1980s, the WWF was doing great business thanks to Hulk Hogan. Hulkamania was sweeping the nation as wrestling was becoming mainstream. Hulk Hogan was seen as the number 1 good guy in wrestling and, hell, probably the whole country. But, in order for people to fully accept him as a hero, Hogan needed a villain, and not just any villain, he needed a damn good. He needed a heel that could get lots of heat by doing very little. And, Rowdy Roddy Piper was that villain. He proved his mantle as a villain in various territories, most notably Mike and Gene LeBell’s Hollywood Wrestling in Los Angeles. There, he developed the Rowdy character and become the most hated heel in the promotion since Classy Freddie Blassie. He got a lot of heat by making negative comments about L.A.’s Mexican community and got into a huge feud with Chavo Guerrero. However, it was in the WWF during the Hulkamania period that his best known dastardly deeds took place. With Piper’s Pit, he was able to generate a lot of heat just by talking and insulting the crowds. And, he and his running buddies “Cowboy” Bob Orton and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff usually got the better of people, i.e. they kicked their asses. I mean, just look at all the things Piper did during that time: he attacked Frank Williams during an interview, cut off Andre the Giant’s hair, smashed a coconut over “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka’s head, attacked Captain Lou Albano and shoved Cyndi Lauper to the mat, cut off The Haiti Kid’s hair, and attacked Mr. T. The man was a menace during that time, and he enjoyed it. You can watch those incidents and obviously see the enjoyment he gets out of beating people up and humiliating them. He was the perfect rival to the clean-cut Hulk Hogan. And, while Hogan went on to feud with other heels and Piper turned face, if he hadn’t been so bad and such a great villain for Hogan when Hulkamania was taking off, the wrestling world would be a lot different. That’s how great a villain Rowdy Roddy Piper was.
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 8, 2008 15:56:37 GMT -5
29. Hans Gruber Who is he: German terrorist turned thief. What is he from: “Die Hard.” What has he done: Held the Nakatomi building and the people inside hostage in order to rob $640 million in bearer bonds from the building's vault, killed some hostages. Intelligence: Whether it's dealing with hostages or acting like one, he knows just buttons to push and always stays in charge; plus, his plan to make the robbery look like a terrorist crisis was quite brilliant. Power: He is the head honcho. Vileness: The lives of hostages mean nothing to a man hoping to use their explosive demise for his own getaway. Sway: Uses intimidation, scare tactics, even humor to get what he wants. Purity: Terrorist? Thief? No matter what the label is, he is a murderous felon. Physical Prowess: Average physical ability, good with a gun, and is cool, calm, and has a collected delivery of every word he says. Name Coolness: “Hans Gruber” has got a cool foreign quality to it. Created by: Roderick Thorp, who wrote the novel Nothing Lasts Forever that the movie is based on, though he was called Anton “Tony” Gruber; Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, who wrote the screenplay and changed his name to Hans. Portrayed by: Alan Rickman. “Die Hard” was his first movie role and led to him being typecast as a villain in Hollywood for a while. John McClane (Bruce Willis), a detective (based on real live hard man Nathaniel Lordan) with the New York City Police Department, arrives in Los Angeles to attempt a Christmas reunion with his estranged wife Holly. He is taken by limousine driver Argyle (De'voreaux White) to her workplace, the high-rise Nakatomi Plaza. While Argyle waits in the building's parking garage, McClane joins the Nakatomi Christmas party where he finds Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) and they get into an argument over her use of her maiden name Gennero. Holly leaves McClane in a small room near the party. A gang of men led by German terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) invade the building, under the pretense of gaining the release of various terrorist operatives. The party-goers are subdued and it is revealed that the group is actually thieves; they plan to use the false terrorist crisis to cover their looting of $640 million in bearer bonds from the building's vault. Theo (Clarence Gilyard Jr.), the group's technical mastermind, begins disabling the vault locks, warning Gruber that the final electromagnetic lock is uncrackable. McClane slips away during the party round-up, and his attempt to summon help brings him into confrontation with gang member Tony (Andreas Wisniewski). Tony is killed, prompting the man's brother, Karl (Alexander Godunov), to lead a hunt for the police officer through the building. McClane convinces a Los Angeles Police Department radio operator to send a patrol unit to Nakatomi, and then secures the attention of responding Officer Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) by dropping one of the terrorists onto the patrol car's hood. He also takes C4 explosives and detonators off the body of another terrorist. The LAPD responds in force, but this only accelerates Gruber's timetable. The LAPD attempts to take over the building by sending a SWAT team and then an armored vehicle, but both are repelled by Gruber's men. When Gruber ignores McClane's request to back down, McClane retaliates by bombing an entire floor of the building with the rest of the C4 in McClane's possession. Holly's coworker Ellis (Hart Bochner) reveals McClane's identity to Gruber and is murdered when McClane does not return the detonators. While checking on the explosives set beneath the roof, Gruber finds himself in an unplanned face-to-face meeting with McClane and attempts to pass himself off as a hostage. Karl and his men interrupt the conversation and McClane loses the detonators as he flees. As he tends his wounds, Powell tells him via radio how he had shot a youth "armed" with a toy gun and became a desk sergeant afterwards. The FBI arrives on the scene and orders the building's power cut. This merely deactivates the final lock on the vault, and Gruber "negotiates" with the FBI to release the hostages on the rooftop via helicopter. The FBI agents (Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush) plan to double cross the "terrorists" with a surprise gunship attack, even if it means losing some of the hostages, but Gruber has wired the top of the building with the C4 and plans to blow it up to cover his escape. Just as McClane discovers the primed C4, he is attacked by Karl. After a vicious battle, McClane leaves him for dead. Outside the building, a TV reporter named Richard Thornburg (William Atherton) finds McClane's children and interviews them. Gruber realizes that Holly is McClane's wife and takes her aside as a special hostage. Theo goes to the parking garage to prepare the group's getaway ambulance. Argyle, who has been watching the situation on his limo's TV, rams the vehicle and punches Theo unconscious. McClane drives the hostages back down to safety, but the FBI fires at him and Gruber proceeds with the C4 detonation. The resulting explosion destroys the FBI helicopter. McClane escapes the blast by jumping over the side of the building with a fire hose tied around his waist. McClane confronts Gruber as Gruber holds Holly at gunpoint. McClane tricks Gruber with a false surrender and shoots him, knocking the man out a shattered window and dropping him thirty stories to his death. As McClane and his wife leave the building, Karl reappears one last time, only to be gunned down by Powell. Thornburg approaches the couple for an interview, but Holly punches him in the face and couple departs the scene in Argyle's battered limo. Hans Gruber is quite the mastermind. He assembles a team capable of breaking through a number of high-level security measures to infiltrate the main vault in search of hundreds of millions of dollars of negotiable bearer bonds, and he makes it all seem like this is just a terrorist plot to hold people hostage in order to get some other terrorists freed. Not only does he not care that they are freed but he doesn’t even really know them. Hell, he got some of their names out of Time magazine. On the way, he personally killed Joseph Takagi, the company CEO, and was deft enough to keep both the hostages and his own crew together while distractions like McClane were running around the building screwing things up for him. He also threatened killed another hostage in order to get McClane to give up the detonators he stole. McClane didn’t, and Hans coldly shot the man. At one point, Hans would find himself on the wrong side of the building, coming face-to-face with McClane himself and pretending to be a company employee. It wasn't entirely believable, but it was strong enough to buy himself the opportunity to get back with his German compadres and learn just who this John McClane is and what makes him tick. He anticipated the FBI shutting down the building's power, thereby allowing his gang to open the vault. He who told his right-hand man Karl to "shoot the glass," inflicting further injury to McClane. And he discovered McClane's wife was among the hostages, setting up a showdown between the thief and the cop with her caught in the middle. Unfortunately, McClane figured out what Hans was doing, foiled his plans, shot him, and dropped him out a window, ending his felonous plans, and setting up a little revenge story we like to call Die Hard with a Vengeance. But, if McClane hadn’t been there, Hans Gruber would have succeeded. Like he said, he’s an exceptional thief, and he would have one if one man hadn’t been there.
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Hulkshi Tanahashi
Crow T. Robot
Give me back my Doritos!
Posts: 46,948
Member is Online
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Post by Hulkshi Tanahashi on Jun 8, 2008 15:58:57 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 28 and 27. Here are the hints:
In space, no one can hear you scream...except them, and he blew up an entire planet.
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Post by Smokey McTrees on Jun 8, 2008 17:00:21 GMT -5
Hulk, your love of great villians and ritish Classic Rock has seduced me to being in love with you. This list is starting to rule over all, and I am impressed with the level of detail you put into it.
Oh, and I'm guessing Giger's Aliens, and Grand Moff Tarkin...
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Vengeance Of War
Bubba Ho-Tep
You say you want everyone happy? Well...we're not laughing.
Posts: 619
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Post by Vengeance Of War on Jun 8, 2008 17:11:37 GMT -5
If Mrs. Carmody isn't on this list, I riot.
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JMA
Hank Scorpio
Down With Capitalism!
Posts: 6,880
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Post by JMA on Jun 8, 2008 20:24:03 GMT -5
Good to see Big Brother get some "love." As you can tell by my signature, I'm a big Orwell fan.
Also, nice overview of Ozymandias. Definitely my favorite WATCHMEN character.
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