Malevolent Minifigures!
Posted by CapnRex101,
The announcement of 76199 Carnage provoked an intriguing discussion about which characters are appropriate for LEGO representation, based upon their heinous characterisation within each source material.
We have accordingly chosen several of the most detestable villains from various licensed themes, ranging from Star Wars and Harry Potter to Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings. Based upon the following evidence, minifigures demonstrate an extraordinary propensity for wickedness!
The characters we have chosen are not ranked, instead encompassing many examples of evil and representing different threats. Otherwise, this whole list would risk domination by galaxy or universe-spanning beings with similar objectives and abilities!
Star Wars
Darth Sidious represents the pinnacle of evil within the Star Wars universe, committing myriad atrocities. His malevolent actions include instigating a galaxy-wide war, ordering the massacre of the Jedi Order, establishing the tyrannical Galactic Empire and demonstrating absolutely no regard for life, all while delighting in his own villainy!
Despite his eventual redemption, Darth Vader is also responsible for numerous reprehensible actions. Betraying and slaughtering his Jedi colleagues is probably his most memorable such undertaking, especially because that entailed murdering children. Of course, the ruthless Sith Lord subsequently became Darth Sidious' leading agent, enforcing the Empire's cruel policies throughout the galaxy.
By contrast, Darth Maul proves incapable of redemption and instead embraces hatred which dominates his existence. After aiding Darth Sidious' nefarious scheme, Maul's obsession with revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi results in myriad atrocities, including numerous instances of executing innocent civilians during attempts to draw Kenobi's attention and controlling various criminal enterprises.
Many characters betrayed the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, although remarkably few possess the selfish motivations of Pong Krell. Already renowned for callously disregarding Clone Troopers' lives, Krell actively engineers friendly-fire between Republic soldiers and plans to pledge his loyalty to Count Dooku, desperate to join what he expects will be the winning side.
Tarkin demonstrates an unerring dedication to achieving galactic order, without regard to the methods necessary in accomplishing that goal. The villainous bureaucrat therefore proposes development of the Death Star and introduces the Tarkin Doctrine, intending to subjugate the galaxy and suppress potential rebellion through fear. Grand Moff Tarkin also exhibits ruthless disregard for fellow Imperial forces on Scarif, before subsequently destroying Alderaan!
DC Super Heroes
Darkseid was created to encapsulate evil within the DC universe, possessing every negative characteristic possible to contrast against the Justice League. Beyond leading Apokolips and actively seeking to cause despair within his subjects, Darkseid dedicates his life to finding the Anti-Life Equation with the intention of wiping free will from the whole universe. His unfaltering determination to find this equation has resulted in the deaths of millions.
Unlike characters from Star Wars, whose depictions seem consistent, comic book characters frequently change to suit the audience for different stories. Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker, exemplifies that variation. Sometimes the character's villainy involves attempting to become a champion surfer but his most serious depictions have committed countless murders, including many simply for his own amusement.
Scarecrow demonstrates similar variation. His cruellest incarnations have been responsible for human experimentation, kidnapping children and numerous murders which typically involve his deadly fear toxin. Matching many Batman villains, Jonathan Crane rarely exhibits any contrition for his numerous crimes, instead awaiting his opportunity to conduct further experiments.
Despite arguably lacking the sadism which the Joker and Scarecrow possess, Lex Luthor has proven himself to be an unrivalled manipulator on various occasions. The character commonly engineers disasters to attract Superman's attention or enhance his personal power, heartlessly endangering civilians in the process. Furthermore, most versions of Lex Luthor are responsible for the deaths of his parents and other family members.
Countless villains dedicate themselves to torturing and destroying certain individuals, usually taking pleasure in their vengeance. Black Manta seeks no enjoyment though, instead feeling rampant hatred towards Aquaman and employing any means necessary to achieve his goals. Slaughtering the Atlanteans and even suffocating Aquaman's son mean nothing to the Manta, beyond causing distress to his hated foe.
Marvel Super Heroes
Thanos successfully erases half of all life within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his comic counterpart enacts equal devastation to impress Mistress Death. While such actions alone are undoubtedly reprehensible, the Mad Titan's malevolence also extends to personal matters. The villain has murdered his own children on several occasions and destroyed his own home planet through nuclear bombardment.
Cletus Kasady was already a barbarous serial killer before becoming Carnage, murdering his grandmother and burning down an orphanage prior to adulthood. Subsequently, the deranged villain has committed copious violent murders, driven entirely by his own psychopathy which is shared with the Symbiote. Carnage is incapable of feeling remorse or empathy.
Differing from more maniacal characters, Ultron possesses heartless logic. The robotic villain accordingly plots to exterminate humanity and has destroyed whole cities on many occasions, massacring civilians in the process. Ultron's genocidal tendencies have also routinely reached outer space, sometimes assimilating alien species throughout the Marvel universe.
Throughout his whole life, Johann Schmidt demonstrates psychopathic traits and eventually dedicates himself to world domination. The contemptible Red Skull has committed countless odious actions in pursuit of that goal, routinely manipulating and murdering his opponents. Of course, the character's consistent association with Naziism further encapsulates his evil.
Doctor Doom controls the nation of Latveria through an authoritarian dictatorship, subjugating his people. However, the villain's megalomaniacal desires extend beyond his own country and Doom has successfully conquered Earth on two separate occasions! In addition, this character demonstrates an iron will to enhance his power, performing any deed to achieve that objective.
Harry Potter
The nefarious Lord Voldemort epitomises evil within the Wizarding World. After developing an obsession with bloody purity, Voldemort seeks to subjugate Muggles and any wizarding family without purely magical blood. This villain embraces the darkest magic while striving to achieve supremacy, famously including the creation of Horcruxes that necessitate multiple murders. In addition, Lord Voldemort is completely incapable of feeling empathy or love.
Voldemort's most passionate supporter is undoubtedly Bellatrix Lestrange, whose deranged dedication to his cause actually earns respect from the Dark Lord. Her sadistic temperament ensures that Bellatrix will commit any atrocity required to further Voldemort's agenda, notably including torture and murder. Unlike many Death Eaters whose loyalty originates from fear of Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix takes genuine pleasure in furthering his objectives.
Fenrir Greyback supports Lord Voldemort's destructive campaigns with unmatched savagery, disgusting even the Dark Lord himself! Greyback embraces his werewolf status, exploiting his resulting enhanced strength to commit numerous murders. Additionally, the werewolf achieves particular ignominy by targeting children during his attacks, memorably including Remus Lupin.
Despite never pledging loyalty to Lord Voldemort, Dolores Umbridge shares similar goals and perhaps even greater capacity for cruelty! During her period 'teaching' at Hogwarts, Umbridge demonstrates extraordinary ruthlessness and hatred towards both children and other teaching staff. Her deplorable activities include torturing children and subsequently persecuting Muggle-borns, following Lord Voldemort's ascension to power.
Long before Lord Voldemort's emergence, Gellert Grindelwald resolves that wizardkind must dominate Muggles. He demonstrates complete willingness to torture and murder anyone who opposes him and is disturbingly vulnerable to violent outbursts, nearly destroying Paris during one such rage. However, this character arguably lacks the outright sadism possessed by Lord Voldemort.
Additional Characters
Five wizards inhabit Middle-earth, charged with defending its residents against the menacing threat from Sauron. Saruman leads this order but defects to the enemy, seduced by potential power and his assumption that Sauron's strength is irresistible. These selfish actions contrast starkly with Gandalf's courage and generosity. Sauron would also appear on this list but never appeared in minifigure form, unfortunately.
Ursula schemes to overthrow King Triton and rule the ocean during The Little Mermaid, often employing deception and magical contracts to achieve her objective. Having already captured numerous merpeople, Ursula strikes an apparently generous deal with Ariel by granting her an opportunity to experience life on land. However, the Sea Witch's bargains can never be trusted as Ursula repeatedly sabotages Ariel's plans before finally attempting to kill her!
Following his accidental abandonment, Lotso becomes cruelly twisted and seizes control of Sunnyside Daycare. There, the menacing bear demands absolute obedience from other toys and rules with an iron fist, torturing or reprogramming any who disobey him. In addition, Lotso rejects his opportunity for partial redemption, abandoning Andy's toys to their apparent doom.
Indiana Jones encounters Mola Ram during Temple of Doom, discovering the brutal Thuggee cult has been revived under Ram's leadership. His malicious actions include practising human sacrifice and stealing a treasured Sankara Stone from the village of Mayapore, condemning its residents to famine and death. However, his cruellest atrocity was abducting and enslaving the children from Mayapore.
The Lone Ranger features several unpleasant characters, although none share the absolute wickedness of Butch Cavendish. This demented outlaw commits numerous abhorrent crimes, including several robberies and murders. However, his most disturbing trait is undoubtedly an alarming proclivity for cannibalism, distinguishing Cavendish from other villains.
The Doctor has encountered myriad enemies throughout his enormous lifespan, although few possess the Daleks' capacity for evil. These uncaring creatures are mercilessly devoted to the enslavement and eventual extermination of all other life. Their simple motivation is memorably frightening, described by the Doctor as the Daleks' honestly believing that every other species should die.
I do think it worth mentioning that certain characters, particularly those from comics, appear in various forms and with different intended audiences. LEGO has evidently not taken inspiration from the most monstrous versions of such characters, although I think the association remains in some cases.
Which evil characters would you have mentioned? Also, do you think any characters from the properties which LEGO has partnered with are too appalling for LEGO representation? Let us know in the comments.
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96 comments on this article
The article is interesting, but I think it would be interesting to look at the age rating of the source material.
Darth Vader orders the destruction of an entire planet, Hux/Kylo an entire galaxy, which would make them some of the worst offenders out of all Lego minifigures.
However Carnage and Joker have appeared in rather dark material far more explicit and sadistic than any Star Wars character.
Evil masterminds, maniacal aliens, stuffed plush bear
Which one does not belong...
Very interesting article! I like how you've summarized the villains' goals and actions.
I must say I was surprised they added Carnage as a bust, since, indeed, I thought he would've been a bit too much.
But, then again, so is the joker in several comic incarnations, and this is the case for many of those mentioned. So, I think, in the end, it depends on what source LEGO has used.
(hope that makes sense)
Regards,
Mitch
What timing.... I am not intentionally making evil characters, but as we speak I am looking at Lego characters that I can make into interesting Brickheadz.... Red skull is the latest, just completed Harley Quinn, and I already have a palpatene and as I car her "Evil Rey" (as in the dream / vision sequence were she has a red light saber). I also have a Saruman and Voldermort. Some of these are really rather unpleasant but in films and comics isnt that so we feel much better when they are defeated?
@Your_Future_President said:
"Evil masterminds, maniacal aliens, stuffed plush bear
Which one does not belong... "
I think Lotso performs considerable evil for a stuffed plush bear, who smells of strawberries! Becoming the tyrannical dictator of a daycare centre is good going, under his circumstances.
Additionally, he should receive bonus points for an excellent evil expression!
I hope Lego stop with these masks...so ugly
None of them could face up to Ogel
Mola Ram...one of my all time favorite villains, ever.
Be still my beating heart, after it’s been ceremoniously ripped from my chest.
I guess Deadpool, while not the most evil may be very non child-friendly. At least the movie version of him. Likewise with Heath Ledger's batman.
Also, wasn't one the the Lego Batman Movie CMF Jokers wearing a Hawaiian shirt that Joker only wears in The Killing Joke? Joker paralyses Barbara Gordon by shooting her through the stomach/spine, then forces her dad to view post-shooting naked photos of her.
Could you add pictures of the Lego minifigures alongside the comic art? It feels pretty weird to read a Brickset article and see only film stills and comic art, with no Lego in sight.
A distinction needs to be made between how evil the characters are in their respective fictional settings and how scary they look if one is to consider appropriateness for representation in LEGO form.
In terms of horrific appearance in LEGO, the Mutated Dr O’Neil minifigure from TMNT is hard to beat: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=tnt030&name=Mutated%20Dr.%20O%27Neil&category=%5BTeenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%5D T=S&O={"iconly":0}
Dolores Umbridge and Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear look totally innocuous.
In addition, we would do well not to forget the atrocities committed by the likes of Evil Ogel, Lord Sinister and Vladek.
This isn't just a licensed thing. There are plenty LEGO original characters that share a similar knack for manipulation and murder like Vader or Voldemort, or just have disgusting and gory designs like Carnage. Off the top of my head:
Makuta Teridax (BIONICLE)
Karzahni (BIONICLE)
Tren Krom (BIONICLE)
Annona (BIONICLE)
The Overlord (Ninjago)
Pythor P Chumsworth (Ninjago)
Master Chen (Ninjago)
The Preeminent (Ninjago)
The Omega (Ninjago)
The Maw (Hidden Side)
The Darkitech (LEGO Universe)
Alpha Draconis (UFO)
Hypaxxus-8 (Alien Conquest)
Lord Vampyre (Monster Fighters)
Core Hunter (Hero Factory)
Ogel (Alpha Team)
Vladek (Knights Kingdom II)
Monstrux (NEXO Knights)
Mecha-One (EXO Force)
Lord Vortech (Dimensions, other reality)
Lord Business (The LEGO Movie, other reality)
Rorrim (LEGO Legacy, other reality)
In addition according the the Clutch Powers film, the most deadly LEGO villains to be captured by the Space Police are Omega (Ninjago) Malloc the Malign (Fantasy Era) and Squidman (Space Police III)
Funnily enough, up until the introduction of The Maw, the character with the highest confirmed kill count was actually Nya from Ninjago.
The fact that most franchises have a few entries on this list whereas Saruman is the only representative of LOTR shows how much wasted opertunity was in the LEGO Middle earth lines, and how much more they could, and should have done with it.
@Brick_Belt said:
"The article is interesting, but I think it would be interesting to look at the age rating of the source material.
Darth Vader orders the destruction of an entire planet, Hux/Kylo an entire galaxy, which would make them some of the worst offenders out of all Lego minifigures.
However Carnage and Joker have appeared in rather dark material far more explicit and sadistic than any Star Wars character. "
Agree, not in favor of banning any figure but I am surprised at how they embrace them.
@GSR_MataNui said:
"This isn't just a licensed thing. There are plenty LEGO original characters that share a similar knack for manipulation and murder like Vader or Voldemort, or just have disgusting and gory designs like Carnage. Off the top of my head:
Makuta Teridax (BIONICLE)
...
"
No Makuta is interesting because he started as a more ambiguous villain, an almost philosophical statement on how Lego play has a duality of creation (Mata-Nui's representation) vs. destruction (Makuta's representation). The two are both sides of the same coin, great MOC's (creation) are born from loose bins of pieces (destruction) in Lego building. The original characterization of Makuta would have smiled at the Lego Master's episode where they were smashing up and exploding MOCs for fun. Then in Mask of Light Makuta seems to suggest his duty was to the Mask of Shadows and somehow his action of putting Mata-Nui to sleep was actually to protect the deity, perhaps suggesting there was a noble streak to Makuta's antagonistic actions.
But as the franchise went on, Makuta shifted to more pure evil. We see him as a tyrant, a murder, a backstabber, a kidnapper and usurper; until finally we learned in the expanded lore the Matoran already feared Makuta Teridax before the events of the main story because of the great Archives Massacre he conducted to force the Matoran Civil War to a close. The fact a Lego character exists who unambiguously plotted mass murder and genocide (look at how Makuta and his cohorts killed almost every Toa of Iron for example) and it really paints a grim picture of the character. Sure its bloodless cyborg killing so maybe not as twisted as Carnage or Joker, but it certainly would put Makuta up on this list as high as Palpatine at least in terms of plotting and ordering out attacks of mass casualties. But its strange because if we look at the Makuta of the first three years of the franchise he would certainly not be as darkly vile and feels much more like an old Saturday Morning Cartoon villain who lurks in the shadows and just sends his random minions to frustrate the heroes.
Heath Ledger Joker from the UCS Tumbler is quite sinister with his 'grin', and one of the darker and more sadistic representations of the character. Arguably the set is intended for adults though.
@ Antoine_23 I’m certainly not going to give you hate for suggesting Iron Man, but it’s certainly a confusing one. Didn’t Stark create a system for global defence and from that Ultron was formed? It’s not like Tony wanted Ultron to be created.
Also, Tony Stark saved plenty of people from danger throughout the movies, and even ultimately gave his life to save half the universe from Thanos! Hardly a ‘bad guy’ :-)
Kind of a silly article, who said lego is only for children? Why is lotso even on this list? I agree he is bad, but he is in a G rated movie for children.
I would like to point out that while a lot of these characters are evil, LEGO often tries to either make some cleaner versions of events for kids or adapt from source material where they’re pretty toned down. For example, when they were making Indiana Jones sets, they made a videogame that had much cleaner versions of the film’s events.
Also worth noting is that none of the characters LEGO adapts into minfigures have gone beyond a PG-13 rating. I’d argue older kids can view most of the material and still be fine, assuming they have proper guidance. In the case of Star Wars, things are kept pretty clean for the most part. If a character dies, it’s usually quick or even off screen. The only character that gives me some pause in this list is Mola Ram due to the whole “tear someone’s heart out on screen” deal.
But at the end of the day, heroes need a bad guy to fight. I think when LEGO does get a license, they usually do a good job at making it so a kid likely isn’t exposed to material they aren’t supposed to, or at least makes it clear who the good and bad guys are. Heck, I even argue LEGO DC sets present a good entry point to young kids who might be interested in superheroes but may not be ready for some of the heavier stuff.
I just want to remind you JOKER HAS A DUPLO FIGURE
Just to add - I LOVE lego version of Vader character.
@Bycougars said:
"Kind of a silly article, who said lego is only for children? Why is lotso even on this list? I agree he is bad, but he is in a G rated movie for children."
I think Lotso is a pretty stark contrast when compared to the other antagonists in Toy Story films.
The first one had Mr. Potato head sabotaging Buzz and Woody's efforts to get back. Then there was Sid, but he wasn't exactly evil. Sid was just a chaotic kid who likely didn't have much in the way of parental supervision.
2 had Al, an overweight manchild who is willing to steal from a child. All the toys are terrified of the goofy man in the chicken suit. Still, he's only focused on getting to that Tokyo toy museum, and isn't actively malicious towards our heroes. Al is pretty much the but of many jokes.
Then there's Gabby, whose motives are sympathetic but she's going about reaching her goals the completely wrong way. Still bad, but it's a kind of bad where it's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for them.
Lotso is a villain I would call evil without question, even if he has a sad background. He established a dictatorship where only he and his inner circle are able to life what's essentially a life of luxury, while all the other toys are disposable at best. He doesn't even let the others run around at night. He keeps them in baskets (basically cages), and keeps constant surveillance around the school to ensure they aren't going anywhere. He even tortured that one toy phone into talking, and was perfectly willing to let Woody and the gang die horribly in the dump's incinerator. Sure, he's a bear that smells like strawberries, but there's very little else comedic about Lotso aside form that.
@EvilTwin said:
"None of them could face up to Ogel"
Lotso could.
A missed opportunity that none of the pictures were actually minifigures...
Honestly, I've never bought into the "evil characters shouldn't be represented". They're antagonists, every story has them. Maybe the debate will have more of a place when Lego starts making Hitler minifigs, but even then, there's an historical aspect to it that nobody can deny.
Blacktron I... Those guys are not just baddies they have a smiley face implying they love the bad deeds they do...
seriously though. Not bad to have them, as how fun with be SW toys be if there were no imperials to fight? As long as your kids do not identity to the baddies more than the heroes....
@Phoenixio said:
"A missed opportunity that none of the pictures were actually minifigures...
Honestly, I've never bought into the "evil characters shouldn't be represented". They're antagonists, every story has them. Maybe the debate will have more of a place when Lego starts making Hitler minifigs, but even then, there's an historical aspect to it that nobody can deny."
I think that this isn't too different from playing something like Cops and Robbers. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun unless someone was the bad guy in the story.
What's more interesting? A knight trying to rescue a princess from an evil wizard, or everyone in the kingdom just casually working on a farm? Everyone knows who the bad guys and good guys are in most scenarios, so it's not like being villainous is presented in a good light by LEGO.
To everyone lamenting the absence of minifigure images, the article is about the characters in the source material, not their LEGO representations.
The minifigures themselves are not malevolent :)
27 photos in this article - only 1 contains LEGO elements... Interesting discussion but seems more appropriate for the forum section than the front page!
No Shredder? Me sad :(
@Huw said:
"To everyone lamenting the absence of minifigure images, the article is about the characters in the source material, not their LEGO representations.
The minifigures themselves are not malevolent :)"
I don't know. Half my minifigure collection went missing after I bought the Thanos Mech..
Think if anything this shows Legos hypocracy when it comes to what sets to make. As they keep saying they won't produce sets with more adult themes, yet as shown here, we've multiple characters who've done many, many different violent acts in their source material. Honestly they just need to give up the pretense of being 'family friendly', slap more age ratings on things and give us all the set's we've been wanting.
The Winchester for instance that got turned down for 'adult themes' anyone?
If this list was ranked, Sebulba would take the number one spot.
Also, a few notable omissions:
The fearsome Knights of Ren did.... something.... I think. I’m sure they committed many more atrocities than just being a disgrace to the Dark side.
The T-Rex from Jurassic Park ate a dude in the bathroom. There is a line you just don’t cross, and the T-Rex walked right past it.
Steve from Minecraft is an absolute menace. He is a literal mass murderer, as he mercilessly ends the lives of the inhabitants of the world.
In a seriousness, LEGO has produced its fair share of sets that would be totally unacceptable today, so I think that as long as villains like Carnage aren’t very frequent, they won’t really be a large source of controversy.
Grand Moff Tarkin is by far the most vile. He ordered instant genocide of untold millions with a single remorseless order, simply to make a point.
@GrizBe said:
"Think if anything this shows Legos hypocracy when it comes to what sets to make. As they keep saying they won't produce sets with more adult themes, yet as shown here, we've multiple characters who've done many, many different violent acts in their source material. Honestly they just need to give up the pretense of being 'family friendly', slap more age ratings on things and give us all the set's we've been wanting.
The Winchester for instance that got turned down for 'adult themes' anyone?"
The Winchester is probably not suitable for mass audiences, especially outside of the 18+ line, which didn’t exist when the project was proposed. I love Shaun of the Dead, but I don’t really think that a pub beset by gory zombies would be a great look for LEGO. Even though the violence is played for laughs, it’s still quite extreme. It’s not as graphic as Hot Fuzz, but still nothing to sneeze at. Also, the tone of the films is very important. Thanos is evil, and commits shocking atrocities, but in a 12A/ PG13 family film. Shaun of the Dead and the other Cornetto movies received 15/ R ratings. And you may not perceive LEGO as totally family-friendly, but many people do. It's a core part of their brand, being fun for all ages.
@SimonSez91 said:
"
Steve from Minecraft is an absolute menace. He is a literal mass murderer, as he mercilessly ends the lives of the inhabitants of the world.
In a seriousness, LEGO has produced its fair share of sets that would be totally unacceptable today, so I think that as long as villains like Carnage aren’t very frequent, they won’t really be a large source of controversy."
Steve is an interesting one. It is kind of up to you whether you just kill everything in sight or not in-game. And yeah, the company behind set 215 can’t exactly say it’s always been the most ethical company of all time.
See I’ve never really minded Lego making minifigs like this since, well, anyone young enough you’d not want them exposed to such malevolence isn’t going to understand it if you just present them with a minifig. They’re just going to know they have a baddie who’ll be as nasty or comedic as that child wants
Where's My Dad?
https://brickset.com/article/57248/random-set-of-the-day-my-dad
@GrizBe said:
"Think if anything this shows Legos hypocracy when it comes to what sets to make. As they keep saying they won't produce sets with more adult themes, yet as shown here, we've multiple characters who've done many, many different violent acts in their source material. Honestly they just need to give up the pretense of being 'family friendly', slap more age ratings on things and give us all the set's we've been wanting.
The Winchester for instance that got turned down for 'adult themes' anyone?"
I would argue that LEGO knows when and who to target certain lines to, and doesn't take themes that go too far.
Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and to a degree Overwatch are all relatively family-friendly properties that are more often than not optimistic in tone and hopeful for a better future. They may have some more mature elements, but at the end of the day they're usually a stories of good versus evil where the heroes often come out over the malevolent villains. They're fun stories and settings that can teach a lot about life and the world around someone. Sure, Thanos may have won in Infinity War, but that doesn't mean things can't improve later. Sauron may be an ultimate evil that is growing in power, but that evil can always be stopped. Star Wars emphasizes that anyone who wants to can still be redeemed, and DC has Superman who is often considered a great role model as to what a hero should be.
When LEGO gets licenses like Big Bang, Simpsons, or Friends, I get a bit miffed. That's mostly due to the sexual content within each show. Even then, those sets are usually made to be more display pieces targeted towards adults. Kids likely won't be interested in that, and the properties also don't go beyond what you could find in a PG-13 movie.
I'm only missing eight characters from this checklist (Krell, all the Marvel characters, Umbridge, and Cavendish).
@Brainslugged:
Vacation Joker is certainly an odd duck. Yes, ultimately that look is always inspired by The Killing Joke. However, it's been slipped in as an easter egg in many other places. The first time I can recall seeing it in LEGO form (excluding my own custom version) is one of the LEGO Batman video games, where it was a playable character you could unlock. The specific minifig you refer to is one that appears late in the end credits to TLBM, along with Vacation versions of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Alfred. In that context, it's easy to forget the origin of that outfit. It helps that it's pretty far off from the actual look (it also helps that he's wearing a more traditional Joker outfit on the cover), since he should be wearing purple gloves and fedora, and the color scheme of the shirt and shorts has changed considerably over the years. This minifig's shirt looks like a combination of the original design and a recolor from a few years ago. The pattern is a dead match for the TKJ outfit.
@PixelTheDragon:
Oh, that's not true at all. They released a Deadpool minifig, and the two movies that came out afterwards were both rated R. Wolverine has appeared multiple times, and his Logan movie is rated R. There are tons of minifigs of Batman, his team, and his rogues gallery, and there are now a lot of direct-to-video animated films, plus a few live-action theatrical films that are all rated R.
Where there's a distinction is that The LEGO Company doesn't release sets that are directly based on these R-rated adaptations. Since the first Deadpool movie came out, the only Deadpool minifigs they've produced were a Sheriff and a duck. Every Wolverine minifig has been in a traditional costume, where in Logan he's dressed as a civilian. None of the DC sets they've released have been based on any of the DC animated movies. There's nothing based on Birds of Prey, but there are sets based on Whedon's Justice League turkey, which is about to get an R-rated upgrade in a few days.
At this point, it's unclear if Venom 2 will be rated R or PG-13, though. If the Carnage "helmet" really is tied into that film, and it ends up landing an R rating, it'll be interesting to see how The LEGO Company reacts to that.
@PixelTheDragon:
Mr. Potato Head wasn't acting in an evil manner. Remember, at that point in the movie, all the other toys really thought that Woody had killed Buzz, and they were worried who he might take out next if he got in the truck with them. And Sid very much was an evil kid. He tormented his own sister by stealing her toys right out of her hands and destroying them. Al doesn't realize the toys are sentient, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was stealing toys.
@Mr__Thrawn:
They've done several zombies, though. That's not why Shaun of the Dead got rejected (or at least not the only reason). The project was specifically based on the Winchester, and they've put bars and booze on lists of banned subjects before, including for Ideas.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Mr__Thrawn:
They've done several zombies, though. That's not why Shaun of the Dead got rejected (or at least not the only reason). The project was specifically based on the Winchester, and they've put bars and booze on lists of banned subjects before, including for Ideas."
I agree that it was likely due to the alcohol. The zombies LEGO have done are definitely less gory than those in Shaun.
Lego has made depictions of fictional mass murderers and genociders like Darth Vader, but also real world mass-murderers, genociders, and rapists. There are Brickset users who army-build the Nazi minifigures from the Indiana Jones sets.
@PurpleDave said:
"I'm only missing eight characters from this checklist (Krell, all the Marvel characters, Umbridge, and Cavendish).
@Brainslugged:
Vacation Joker is certainly an odd duck. Yes, ultimately that look is always inspired by The Killing Joke. However, it's been slipped in as an easter egg in many other places. The first time I can recall seeing it in LEGO form (excluding my own custom version) is one of the LEGO Batman video games, where it was a playable character you could unlock. The specific minifig you refer to is one that appears late in the end credits to TLBM, along with Vacation versions of Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Alfred. In that context, it's easy to forget the origin of that outfit. It helps that it's pretty far off from the actual look (it also helps that he's wearing a more traditional Joker outfit on the cover), since he should be wearing purple gloves and fedora, and the color scheme of the shirt and shorts has changed considerably over the years. This minifig's shirt looks like a combination of the original design and a recolor from a few years ago. The pattern is a dead match for the TKJ outfit.
@PixelTheDragon:
Oh, that's not true at all. They released a Deadpool minifig, and the two movies that came out afterwards were both rated R. Wolverine has appeared multiple times, and his Logan movie is rated R. There are tons of minifigs of Batman, his team, and his rogues gallery, and there are now a lot of direct-to-video animated films, plus a few live-action theatrical films that are all rated R.
Where there's a distinction is that The LEGO Company doesn't release sets that are directly based on these R-rated adaptations. Since the first Deadpool movie came out, the only Deadpool minifigs they've produced were a Sheriff and a duck. Every Wolverine minifig has been in a traditional costume, where in Logan he's dressed as a civilian. None of the DC sets they've released have been based on any of the DC animated movies. There's nothing based on Birds of Prey, but there are sets based on Whedon's Justice League turkey, which is about to get an R-rated upgrade in a few days.
At this point, it's unclear if Venom 2 will be rated R or PG-13, though. If the Carnage "helmet" really is tied into that film, and it ends up landing an R rating, it'll be interesting to see how The LEGO Company reacts to that.
@PixelTheDragon:
Mr. Potato Head wasn't acting in an evil manner. Remember, at that point in the movie, all the other toys really thought that Woody had killed Buzz, and they were worried who he might take out next if he got in the truck with them. And Sid very much was an evil kid. He tormented his own sister by stealing her toys right out of her hands and destroying them. Al doesn't realize the toys are sentient, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was stealing toys."
Wolverine appeared in plenty of material that was fine for kids (notably many of the X-Men cartoons), and Logan came out well after Wolverine had already appeared. Deadpool is in a similar (but not to the same extent) boat as Wolverine. The set he was in came out before the films did, so he wasn't based on his appearance there. Deadpool also appeared in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon where he was pretty heavily toned down for obvious reasons. That, and his appearance in the LEGO Marvel game are likely what young fans will know him from the most until they're allowed to see the films.
As for Potato Head, I probably should've worded that better. I consider him more an antagonist than a villain.
Is there anything to back up why LEGO would include such characters in their products? I feel like that is very lacking in this article. Yes, everyone here is a bad person or thing, but what is the context for them being represented in LEGO form? And what about the source material would be too graphic to keep them from being made in minifigure form?
Darth Sidious: Yes, he is a bad guy, but, lightsabers are not real, and neither is shooting lightning out of your fingertips, it's very much not a possibility for a child to replicate the things he does on screen, and that kind of goes for most of what you see in Star Wars. He can give orders, but that it is on the people that are beneath him to carry those orders out.
Darth Vader: He has his redemption arc, but the worst we see from Vader is actually when he is actually from before he is even in his suit.
Darth Maul: Look, I'm biased, I love him, he's my favorite character, but from what we see in 1999, he gets a good shot in on Qui-Gon, and then is cut in half by Obi-Wan. It's not even until much later in early 2012 that he returned in Clone Wars and was given more character depth in much more widespread and accessible media to commit more heinous acts.
Pong Krell: Alright, not gonna lie, he's a pretty bad guy, but if you are going to make sets based off the Umbara Arc, his absence would be glaring.
Grand Moff Tarkin: He gives orders, we rarely ever actually see him in action. Again, it's the people he orders that take action. That doesn't absolve him of his behavior and mentality, but then everything in the Empire might as well be banned. His most heinous acts are approving the destruction of a few planets, and while yes that is bad, it’s hard to really grasp the weight of such a thing aside from the reactions of characters that see it, like Leia. Still it’s not easy to contemplate billions of lives dying, they just become a statistic, and it’s not very emotional when you really think about it until it is stated as one planet gets destroyed. Still, kids can’t actually destroy a planet.
In regards to Star Wars, as dark and heavy as some things may be at times, these stories are still made with kids in mind, but also in the instance of something like Clone Wars, the stories grow with the target audience, which is why Seasons 4 and 5 told stories with more weight and got darker in addition to how the Galaxy was getting at that point in time in the canon. LEGO already had the license and continues to maintain it from 1999 with contract renewals and it would take a lot for a character to be made that could not be represented in LEGO form unless that character was in a novel or comic; things much more niche in Star Wars media. If we are only looking at movies and shows, Clone Wars really is as dark as it gets, they're pretty creative in ending the lives of characters and showing it. The Sequels are something to consider, but we've got Kylo Ren minifigs, so it falls into the "kids can't actually replicate this" pile. I think it’s pretty fair to say that if you are a main character in a Star Wars story that is widely accessible, then you will likely be represented in minifigure form at least once, and really, why wouldn’t you represent the villains of a story if you have the license, there’s no point.
Darkseid: His main goal is to find the Anti-life Equation and end all life. That is such an abstract concept. Now I’m not as up to date on my DC knowledge, but as far as toys are concerned, Darkseid is one of the main villains that the Justice League encounters because he requires a team effort to defeat, and even then, it’s not easy. However, at the same time, Superman goes up against him alone at times. The most current DC media, that being the DCEU has been made with kids not really much in mind. Darkseid was released in a set that would have been taking inspiration from both comics and animated media, but I doubt that most kids actually know who Darkseid is as he is someone you just wouldn’t use too often. There was an episode of Teen Titans Go that had Darkseid voiced by Werid Al of al people, that’s about as exposed to him as most kids today are gonna get. The last time that wasn’t a direct to DVD animated movie would be the 2006 Justice League cartoon series. I mean, the real last time was the Harley Quinn cartoon show, which is great, but most definitely not for kids. He’ll be showing up in the Snydercut soon, but that is also not really marketed with kids in mind, practically anything by Zack Snyder is not made with kids in mind, it’s actually surprising that he made a Superman movie.
Joker: You do actually mention that he is essentially a wildcard, but he is Batman’s primary villain, to have him missing would be odd, as is the case for most of Batman’s rogues gallery because they are the most well known thanks to all the different iterations of him in cinema and television.
Scarecrow: He is more niche than some of Batman’s other villains, but still up there. It would be weird not to have a version of him, although if he was absent, I wouldn’t have noticed immediately. I want to say there was a version of him in the initial 2006-2008 Batman line, and that was heavily inspired by Batman: The Animated Series from 1992 because that would replicate well into LEGO. Serious, but still accessible for a kid. Maybe not the media specifically, but the depictions.
Lex Luthor: Superman’s biggest villain, it would be weird not to include him.
Black Manta: I’ll be honest, you’d have to find a kid with nerd parents to have them know who that is. Sure, he was in the Aquaman movie, but he barely did anything in that movie anyway. I don’t even recall him much in the Justice League show if he ever showed up because Aquaman was almost never present. He was present in Young Justice, but it was all part of a ploy by Aqualad, and that show was really more geared toward a teen audience. Whatever he has done in the comics is pretty much irrelevant for a toy.
Thanos: Thanks to the MCU, a lot of people know who he is, but he is significantly lower in power in the movies than he is in the comics. Again, wiping out half the life in the universe or destroying the whole universe by becoming the universe, I mean, these are just weird abstract concepts. He’s done a lot of bad, and we see how he commands troops in Infinity War and Endgame, but it’s all portrayed in a way that is not much worse than what you would see Star Wars.
Carnage: He falls into a bit of a similar scenario as Joker and Scarecrow. He’s not necessarily as well known as Spider-Man’s other villains, but he’s up there thanks to the event Maximum Carnage that dominated the Spider-Man comics in the 90s. And yeah, he’s a bad guy, I am actually surprised they made a bust for him, but at the same time, it just makes sense from a business perspective because about this time, he would have been in the sequel to 2018’s Venom. However, with the exception of say a movie coming out, I don’t think most kids will actually know who Carnage is specifically. They may be able to say he’s a Spider-Man villain and is related to Venom via symbiote spawning, but would they know he’s a serial killer and that in the latest comic book storyline featuring him, he went around capturing every symbiote and trying to kill everyone in an event called Infinite Carnage? Probably not. He’s just a cool looking image to most people, just like Ghost Rider.
Ultron: Well, the depictions we’ve gotten in movies isn’t even really Ultron. Maybe in a cartoon, the last I saw was Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, although I’m sure he’s also appraed in more recent cartoons, but given that information, what makes him much worse than some of the other characters already mentioned? How many kids actually know beyond the Age of Ultron movie, a movie that was named after a comic book event that bares no resemblance in the slightest beyond featuring Ultron as the main villain? He’s a threat to the Avengers, that’s really all the kids need to know. He’s a robot, he’s evil, he can make copies of himself, that’s really all kids need to know in order to make their own stories in play with marvel characters.
Red Skull: Okay, yeah, he’s a fascist, not really easy to defend. It’s one thing to base your villains off fascists like in Star Wars, it’s another to actually be aligned with real world fascists. My only excuse is that he was the main villain of Captain America’s first movie in the MCU and he was there as the guardian of the Soul Stone for Infinity War and Endgame, so he has familiarity in some capacity and is a logical choice for a LEGO set. The movies didn’t really use a lot of Captain America’s villains, really the most well known ones and they were Red Skull, Zola, Winter Soldier (who was reformed obviously), Crossbnes, The Leaper, and Zemo, and the only ones to actually get a lot of dedicated screentime and you actually knew who they were from the comics were Red Skull and Winter Soldier. Only know will we be getting a more accurate depiction of Zemo in the MCU with Falcon and Winter Soldier. The only other ones I can think off that Marvel teased at when announcing Phase 3 is the Serpent Society, and had they jumped on that when they had all their Ninjago molds still in use from 2012, maybe, but Red Skull is the main guy. Also a lot of Captain America’s villains really coincide more with just the Avengers. If a kid doesn’t know Red Skull is a fascist, he’s still a pretty clear badguy since he has a red skull for a face, what kid isn’t going to have their heroes punch that?
Doctor Doom: He’s one of the most well known villains in all of Marvel. He’s had terrible depiction in movies, but his name is literally Victor Von Doom, it’s obvious he’s a badguy, and that’s all kids are going to be concerned with. He’s a magic wielding dictator? Gee, wonder where we’ve had one of those as a minifigure before?
The “comics are for kids” mentality is not very prevalent these days. Kids are generally not reading comics. Comics are read by adults that read them as kids in the 80s and 90s, and even then, comics really weren’t for kids, some of the edgiest stories come from that era. Today, most media depicting these characters are in Movies, Shows, Cartoons, and Video Games. There will be varying results on how all of them are depicted, but unless you’re Punisher where your super power is just to grab a gun and start killing badguys indiscriminately, kids will understand that these characters are part of our modern mythology, and when they decide to play with these characters, many times it’s not reenacting them 100% faithfully. All that matters is that there are good guy and bad guys, and they fight with their various powers and gimmicks. I don’t want to undermine children, they’re smarter than that, but also, I don’t think they’re concerning themselves too much with the actions of these characters in their original source material because super heroes and villains lend themselves to so many different stories and they don’t have to be so hardcore or strict to a canon.
Harry Potter
Okay, haven’t read the books, but I find the movies solid, although I haven’t seen any Fantastic Beasts and therefore have not found any, but they are based on books for kids becoming young adults, any and all villains are fair game just like with Star Wars. They’re a little darker, but that’s just how it goes. LEGO has the license; it makes no sense not to include the villains of the stories. Also, kids cannot actually emulate magic as much as Universal’s themeparks make you feel you can. Oh, spells that cause death, that’s like, what all kids do anyway. Force Choke, Avadaca Dobra, Force Lightning, Incindio, it’s all the same thing. Give anything to any 5 year old boy and they will find a way to turn it into a gun, sword, or castration device. Give them a stick, and it now becomes a lightsaber or wand. Villains sometimes come with henchmen and goons, sounds like there’s a ton of them in Harry Potter, a few making their way into minifigure form is just fleshing out the play.
Saruman: Another evil wizard, nothing new to add.
Ursala: It’s been a minute since I’ve seen Little Mermaid, but you know, Disney version of the character, it can’t be that bad. When they make a Judge Frolo minifigure, then you be concerned.
Lotso: Hilarious, a kind old man revealed to be an evil mastermind? Never seen one of those as a minifigure before.
Mola Ram: You know, actually that’s a good pull. Temple of Doom is pretty dark and does push the line a bit for LEGO, but they had the license for Indiana Jones, and the most memorable stuff that translates well into a set would feel empty if it did not feature him.
Butch Cavandish: Ain’t seen no Lone Ranger, but if he’s the main villain, make sense since there were sets made. Also we’ve had Cannibals in LEGO before with Pirates of the Caribbean.
Daleks: Same argument with the comic characters. They’re well known. To have a Doctor Who set not include them would be suspicious.
I am actually quite surprised you didn’t mention Davy Jones. He makes deals with sailors for service on a ship that consumes them. He also just straight up suffocates a man with his tentacle beard by shoving it down through his sinuses and down his throat, and we get to see it all. Although again, not easy to emulate as a kid, although I’m sure you can find something to choke your friends with like a pool noodle or something.
Really I think the big thing here is what is necessary for the stories being told and whether or not LEGO has an issue with the characters in those stories. There are tons of other toy companies that have no problem using these characters in their products and if LEGO wants to compete, they have to as well. There’s also intended purpose with the characters being depicted. When it comes to the Carnage minifigure, it is simply to supply another badguy for the Marvel minifigs to battle against because really the Superheroes line exists to sell minifigures as the characters are the focus of the stories at play. With other properties, characters are still important, but their vehicles and locations play a big part in what happens in the story as well. When it comes to the Carnage bust, that has an older demographic targeted, so I don’t really see it as much of an issue. LEGO will still have its standards of what is and is not appropriate for them and their products. Depicting a character that has certain tendencies is different than depicting their actions. Where is the line and what would be deemed appropriate? Under what context is there to justify certain minifigures of characters existing and others not? I think there is a lot of nuance behind each character.
I highly doubt we’ll get a set that depicts Umbrage cursing Harry as he writes, it’s just not physically possible to do, and while LEGO would have had early warning by the book as it was out long before the move, how do they know what’s going to be in the movie? They depicted her office in one of the Hogwarts Castle sets, but you weren’t told what to do with that, it makes sense that she would have an office, no problem. Then you also have Anakin on his swoop bike with the Tusken Raiders from 2002. Yeah, that’s a bit problematic. I think they were given a bit more warning ahead of time because Lucasfilm was cooler before Disney bought them and everything had to be a secret, but at the same time, everyone saw Anakin on that Swoop Bike and that would be too cool not to turn into a set. Maybe LEGO was told that Anakin also has a run in with the Tusken Raiders, but not specifically to what degree. Then the movie comes out and that set takes on a wholly new context, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing that again.
There’s a set with Wolverine, and in that same set is Magneto. Wolverine uses his claws to kill all the time, but in cartoons, he’s usually censored and can’t do such a thing, so he’ll slash at the Sentinel Robots or any graphic violence will be off screen. Similarly Magneto is a Jewish man that survived the Holocaust and because he’s witnessed man at his worst, he has sworn vengeance at all men and mutants that tries to stop him from bringing about Mutant superiority. In a famous story, he rips the metal out of Wolverine’s body because his powers allow him to do so. They are in the same set together! But how many kids know all of this backstory? They know that Magneto is the badguy and the X-Men are the good guys, to what extent is something that is subjective. Many times Magneto and the X-Men have teamed up and sometimes members of the X-Men go bad.
I think all LEGO is really doing is supplying characters of demand that do not immediately outright violate their standards, and it is then up to the consumer to do with them as they will.
Thanos killed literally HALF THE UNIVERSE. Daleks once attempted to wipe out the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! ...and folks here are saying Lotso or Vader are the worst. Please. They don’t hold a candle to a villain bent on destroying life on a universe-wide scale.
Also, Cybermen should be on the list. (There was a Lego cyberman for Lego Dimensions. It counts!)
@MCLegoboy - I am not suggesting that LEGO should not be producing these characters and do not think it necessary to identify that they are fictional. I think @Brickalili is exactly correct, mentioning that children will interpret the minifigures as they see fit, often negating any actions of the original character.
I imagine we could have a long and enjoyable debate regarding Wilhuff Tarkin but I will leave that outside the comments section! Suffice to say, I consider him maybe the second most evil Star Wars character after Darth Sidious. Darth Vader and Darth Maul, for example, both have redeeming 'qualities' and experience circumstances which may partially excuse their actions. Tarkin possesses neither.
Plankton from Spongebob should’ve made this list, and Makuta Teridax from BIONICLE would’ve rounded it out with a LEGO original.
@xboxtravis7992
See that's what makes Makuta as a villain so interesting. While he's committed mass murder and genocide many times throughout the series, Greg Farsthey has confirmed he's a psychopath and by his descriptions may have schizophrenia. Teridax legitimately cares for the well being of the Matoran Universe and wants to see it prosper, but as a force of destruction the only way he can pull that off is to violently murder anyone who steps out of line. Even the fact that he shot Mata Nui into space instead of destroying him suggests he isn't as heartless as the Matoran make him out to be, he just doesn't know how to end conflicts peacefully.
@PixelTheDragon:
The third Wolverine minifig, from Mighty Micros, released in January 2017, just two months before Logan hit theaters. It's highly unlikely that they developed that without realizing it was going to land so closely to a violently R-rated movie about the same character. There's corporate policy, employee understanding of corporate policy, and employee willingness to abide by corporate policy. The rules for the entire run of Marvel Superheroes has been that Disney had to sign off on any licensing deals for Fox X-Men/FF movies, and Disney shut it all down once the MCU really took off as they basically waged a silent war against Fox for refusing to sell back their Marvel film rights. But the characters were never off-limits. So, you get a Wolverine minifig around the time Logan came out, like how you get a Harley Quinn minifig around the time Birds of Prey landed. They're not technically related to the films, but they absolutely capitalize off their success. What gets discussed at the design team level doesn't always filter up to the CEO. They may look at the impending release of a movie like Logan and realize that the character's popularity will be heightened, without considering if the company really wants to be associated, however tangentially, with the release of an R-rated movie.
And I don't think there was a single toy who didn't want Woody to get left behind at some point during the moving van chase. It wasn't until they found out Buzz was with him (and unharmed) that any of the toys were willing to try to help him. Hamm (who actually did make it into a LEGO set) is just as resistant to forgiving Woody. Their status as minor antagonists is entirely due to a misunderstanding, where Sid was actively trying to destroy them for kicks.
Pong Krell!? Who? the Hell is Pong Krell?
I thought I knew the SW universe pretty well, well at least the original trilogy and prequels, and the clone war stuff somewhat, though I have never heard of this character.
Too bad the article does not contain any links to Lego sets and minifigs. I would have loved to see all the various versions of all these characters in minifig form.
@TheBigLegoski said:
"Pong Krell!? Who? the Hell is Pong Krell?
I thought I knew the SW universe pretty well, well at least the original trilogy and prequels, and the clone war stuff somewhat, though I have never heard of this character.
Too bad the article does not contain any links to Lego sets and minifigs. I would have loved to see all the various versions of all these characters in minifig form. "
Clone Wars character, from the Umbara arc in season 4
@TheBigLegoski said:
"Pong Krell!? Who? the Hell is Pong Krell?
I thought I knew the SW universe pretty well, well at least the original trilogy and prequels, and the clone war stuff somewhat, though I have never heard of this character.
Too bad the article does not contain any links to Lego sets and minifigs. I would have loved to see all the various versions of all these characters in minifig form. "
He is the primary antagonist in Season 4 Episodes 7-10 (aka the “Umbara Arc”) of The Clone Wars series. Krell is one of the most disliked Star Wars villains, but he has a cool design and his appearance brings up some thought-provoking questions about war, loyalty, and individuality. You should really watch those episodes; it’s a toss-up between those and the final four episodes of the series (the “Siege of Mandalore Arc”) for the greatest arc in Star Wars: the Clone Wars.
@MCLegoboy:
The Anti-Life Equation doesn't end all life, though I once thought that as well. It makes every sentient being subservient to you. I'm pretty sure most kids who have any familiarity with DC characters know who Darkseid is. He's one of the main Superman/Justice League villains, and one of the most powerful characters in the DC universe. He has been in a ton of TV shows, movies, and video games, as well as being a major focus of all the discussion around the Snyder Cut. It's hard to imagine kids having more than a passing interest in DC and managing to be unaware of this character.
Scarecrow did have two appearances in the original Batman theme, in the Arkham set and one of the two sets that were released in 2007. None of the various minifigs of him have really been based on his three B:TAS appearances (the last of which looked like WWE's Undertaker with a noose around his neck). The closest they've come has probably been TLBM's Scarecrow, which finally ditched the HP witch hat. From the initial Batman theme, Joker, Harley, and Two-Face were the only three characters who were clearly based on their B:TAS likenesses.
Dr. Doom was actually the protagonist in Doom 2099, leading freedom fighters in rebellion against Latveria's dictator in that era. And then he waffled back and forth between being a villain and an anti-hero.
The Harry Potter stuff is pretty telling in the way things were released. The licensing deal was probably signed around or slightly before the fourth book was released, so there's no way they knew what the last three books had in store at that time. The first movie had 14 sets, the second had 10, the third 11, and then things dropped off with only four for the fourth, one for the fifth, and nothing at all for the next two. They had clearly decided that the HP movies were growing too dark for the kids they had originally been marketed to, without considering that those kids had grown up with the movies.
@TheBigLegoski:
Pong Krell appeared in a 4-episode S4 arc of The Clone Wars, which ran in 2011 from October 28 to November 18. He's easier to forget, I think, because that was his only appearance. He didn't show up in other seasons, or on other shows. If he'd appeared in multiple seasons, or even shown up in another series, he might be a little more memorable.
^ Pong Krell is from the Umbara arc of The Clone Wars, one of the best arcs of the show.
(Season 4 episodes: Darkness on Umbara, The General, Plan of Dissent, and Carnage of Krell)
Pirates are not known for being good guys, and back in their day were the (real) evil bad guys. I remember when some thought having a skeleton minifig was considered too scary for a children's toy, and that the Pirates theme was full of inappropriate characters. Imagine LEGO without them...
@kwickbrick:
For sure there'd be a lot of head-scratching over the 5-coin display case!
I think Jabba the Hutt belongs on this list. He may not have been responsible for as many deaths as Vader or Sidious, but in terms of the violence and cruelty we actually see on-screen, I think he is the worst. Tarkin is also quite sinister though, and more recent scenes in Rogue One and Rebels add to the evil character we get a brief glimpse of in the OT.
If we’re just talking about villains that could be frightening to children, orcs, gremlins, and the demogorgon from Stranger Things would all be worth mentioning, though none have evil motives because they are non-human.
I also thought about the German soldiers from Indiana Jones, but I don’t think those minifigures actually had anything to denote that they were Nazis. They could have just been conscripted German soldiers, who weren’t necessarily evil, although it still brings into question Lego’s policy on depictions of war.
@haldir:
There was almost nothing to denote anyone as Germans or Russians. 7198 had stickers of the Iron Cross, and both 7625 and 7626 had tiny "CCCP" stickers, but that was it. The minifigs themselves had no insignia. And interestingly enough, the four Iron Cross stickers went on the biplane that the Jones boys stole, while the fighter plane from that same set had no insignia on it besides a tail number. The Flying Wing from Raiders didn't even have that.
I’m not entirely sure that I understand how you made the list for Star Wars. Kylo Ren and Hux, while both ultimately redeeming themselves, should have been included on this list. I would argue that both are more evil than Maul. Other ommisions would be Dooku and Krennic. I’m alright with the omission of Snoke as I can imagine he had done some horrible things, but we never actually see him or even hear of him doing anything.
I would also argue that criminals such as Jabba and bounty hunters like Jengo, Boba, Bossk, and any IG units could have easily made the cut. Quite honestly, Din Djarin could be considered evil up until the point he rescues Baby Yoda, he had no issue with working for imperials, it was simply because he was saved by a force wielding baby that he had second thoughts about what he had done. Likewise Bo-Katan (who I know hasn’t become a minifigure) is driven by power and revenge, and was previously associated with Death Watch who are minifigures.
Of course there is mention in the comments of Lego being unwilling to portray alcohol or drinking, yet I think it would be safe to assume that at least one person at the Mos Eisley Cantina wasn’t drinking blue milk, and there are a handful of cantina sets as well as the UCS set.
To move away from Star Wars, I would say that I have no issues with having my kids become familiar with any of the Lego licenses with one exception, Indiana Jones. Now I’m not saying I would let my 4 year old, or even my seven year old, watch The Dark Knight, but there are plenty kid friendly versions of the Joker that they are very familiar with. However, there is a very big difference between a fictional character such as Tarkin committing genocide on a fictional planet, or even Thanos committing a fictional genocide here on earth (and elsewhere), from fictional characters who represent an actual organization that actually did commit genocide. It doesn’t matter that the generic German minifigures in Indiana Jones, or even Elsa Schneider, don’t have swastikas on their sleeves, they are still Nazis. Therefore I would say that the completely fictional Mola Ram is actually much less evil.
Also you completely forgot to mention the cute and hilarious Minions.
Even though it's extremely unlikely, I hope to see Frollo in the Disney CMFs eventually
@alfred_the_buttler:
They’ve been a bit inconsistent on the alcohol thing. The minifig bottle was created for PotC, and nobody who has seen those movies would ever assume Jack is drinking water out of those. S9 also had a waiter with a bottle that has grapes on the side, and I’ve never heard of a restaurant that serves grape juice by the bottle, in a tux no less. SW cantina is fine, as is the western tavern from TLM, but you won’t see a modern bar. It’s like the military, in that regard.
Also, the Minions are clearly a force for good. By seeking out the most dangerous villain around, and failing so spectacularly that said villain meets a premature demise, just think about how much safer they’ve made the world for ordinary citizens!
I have nothing against including minifigure representations of horribly evil characters.
Likewise, I have nothing against excluding from the product portfolio anything realistically militaristic.
But the two together at the same time is just hypocrisy.
*Choking sound*
I find your lack of Kylo Ren disturbing...
Maybe Two-Face as well? I know there hasn’t been a Dark Knight version on of him, but still...
@ Cinnamonbricks I’m not a Ninjago fan, so I could be wrong here, but can you kill a ghost? Isn’t a ghost already dead by definition?
@GeordiePaul said:
Philosophically, if the ghosts are self-aware, then yes, eliminating their ability to think and interact with the world would be the same as deleting a self-aware AI, or killing a sophisticated, self-aware, self-organising mass of organic chemicals (often referred to as human).
Or think about it from another angle, if the ghost of a beloved, dead relative returned, would you be mad at anyone who "killed" their ghost, even if the original person has already died once?
@PurpleDave said:
" @PixelTheDragon:
The third Wolverine minifig, from Mighty Micros, released in January 2017, just two months before Logan hit theaters. It's highly unlikely that they developed that without realizing it was going to land so closely to a violently R-rated movie about the same character. There's corporate policy, employee understanding of corporate policy, and employee willingness to abide by corporate policy. The rules for the entire run of Marvel Superheroes has been that Disney had to sign off on any licensing deals for Fox X-Men/FF movies, and Disney shut it all down once the MCU really took off as they basically waged a silent war against Fox for refusing to sell back their Marvel film rights. But the characters were never off-limits. So, you get a Wolverine minifig around the time Logan came out, like how you get a Harley Quinn minifig around the time Birds of Prey landed. They're not technically related to the films, but they absolutely capitalize off their success. What gets discussed at the design team level doesn't always filter up to the CEO. They may look at the impending release of a movie like Logan and realize that the character's popularity will be heightened, without considering if the company really wants to be associated, however tangentially, with the release of an R-rated movie.
And I don't think there was a single toy who didn't want Woody to get left behind at some point during the moving van chase. It wasn't until they found out Buzz was with him (and unharmed) that any of the toys were willing to try to help him. Hamm (who actually did make it into a LEGO set) is just as resistant to forgiving Woody. Their status as minor antagonists is entirely due to a misunderstanding, where Sid was actively trying to destroy them for kicks."
How can someone associate the mighty micros set with Logan? Logan is a more grounded, serious movie that doesn’t even let Wolverine get his costume. The Micros set has Wolverine and Magneto in comic-based attire along with goofy expressions driving go-karts. That about as finally distant from Logan as one can get. It’d be a stretch to say that was promoting the R-Rated film.
@alfred_the_buttler said:
"To move away from Star Wars, I would say that I have no issues with having my kids become familiar with any of the Lego licenses with one exception, Indiana Jones. Now I’m not saying I would let my 4 year old, or even my seven year old, watch The Dark Knight, but there are plenty kid friendly versions of the Joker that they are very familiar with. However, there is a very big difference between a fictional character such as Tarkin committing genocide on a fictional planet, or even Thanos committing a fictional genocide here on earth (and elsewhere), from fictional characters who represent an actual organization that actually did commit genocide. It doesn’t matter that the generic German minifigures in Indiana Jones, or even Elsa Schneider, don’t have swastikas on their sleeves, they are still Nazis."
While I understand your desire to keep your kids from playing with toys of wrong-doers who really existed, it isn't true that all military personnel that fought for Germany in WWII were Nazis. As @haldir pointed out above, there were ordinary Germans who were conscripted who didn't necessarily hold Nazi views. And we know that most members of the German armed forces during the War were not members of the Nazi Party. As it was not difficult to become a member of the party and it would not have done their military careers any harm (and may even have helped), we can reasonably assume that the aspects of Nazi ideology that we find repugnant are also ones with which many German soldiers/sailors/airmen disagreed.
When I was at university, one of the professors in the politics department was a former WWII fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe (German airforce). He certainly didn't harbour any Nazi views (and didn't seem like the kind of person to have ever harboured them). Of course, he is just a sample size of 1, but I believe he was broadly representative of German forces during the War in that regard.
SMAUG!
Come on, where is Smaug!?! Not a minifigure, but if you're going to include the Doctor Who robots...
LEGO should have had a BigFig balrog at the very least.
And what about the other Disney villains (Captain Hook / Syndrome / Maleficent / Jafar / Hades)?
What about Mr. Burns?
What about 10024 Red Baron? Despite not including the titular Baron, LEGO used Richthofen's name to add marketing pizazz when the set could be more accurately called "Fokker Dr. 1" after the type of plane in line with the Sopwith Camel set. Forget the Osprey, LEGO in this case not only sold a warplane but invoked its pilot whose claim to fame was having the most confirmed kills of any WW1 pilot (80).
@Norikins said:
"What about 10024 Red Baron? Despite not including the titular Baron, LEGO used Richthofen's name to add marketing pizazz when the set could be more accurately called "Fokker Dr. 1" after the type of plane in line with the Sopwith Camel set. Forget the Osprey, LEGO in this case not only sold a warplane but invoked its pilot whose claim to fame was having the most confirmed kills of any WW1 pilot (80)."
LEGO's approach concerning 10024 Red Baron and both renditions of the Sopwith Camel is apparently that those are considered 'historic aircraft' rather than overtly militaristic.
Personally, I find that somewhat dubious and I doubt such products would be released today. Of course 10226 Sopwith Camel was only produced during 2012 but that was a very different period for LEGO, in many respects, without the same degree of external judgement.
I mean, 10210 is clearly an explicit military vehicle, but few would consider it militaristic. It doesn't really feature war, though: Lego mythologizes the Age of Sail much like the Pirates of the Caribbean films do: as an era of independent, free-spirited pirates playing a game of cat-and-mouse with dour European authorities. This may not be historically accurate, but Star Wars is also not a realistic depiction of space exploration.
@GeordiePaul
Ninjago actually has three (at least) different afterlifes. The Underworld, the Cursed Realm, and the Departed Realm.
If someone dies in a way that is embarrassing or they cannot come to terms with they are sent to the Underworld and reborn as a Skulkin. If someone was hated and despised in life and/or was cursed by a magician and dies they are sent to the Cursed Realm where they become a ghost. If someone dies by any other means they're sent to the Departed Realm.
However, it's still possible to kill Skulkin and Ghosts. A Skulkin's soul is contained within it's bones. While simply dismembering a Skulkin would have no effect if you were to say grind it to powder or throw it in a volcano it's soul would finally move on to the Departed Realm.
Ghosts in Ninjago have a weakness to water, as their physiology treats solids as liquid and liquids as solid. Throwing water at a ghosts acts like pummeling it with rocks and will cause it to explode into ectoplasm. Lucky, if a Ghost is destroyed it's soul will just move back to the Cursed Realm where it becomes a new ghost. However at the end of Season 5 Nya destroyed the Cursed Realm, meaning that Ghosts can no longer "respawn" and their deaths are now permanent.
Since people can travel freely between the Underworld, Cursed Realm, and Ninjago even though Skulkin and Ghosts have died, they aren't actually dead yet, they're undead. The only way to truly kill someone in Ninjago is to send them to the Departed Realm, and Nya did that to just about every Ghost.
None of those guys is as evil as Makuta, who literally succeeds in taking over the Bionicle Universe.
Besides appearing in minifig form as the Necromancer, Sauron has also been represented as the Mouth of Sauron.
@darkstonegrey said:
"Besides appearing in minifig form as the Necromancer, Sauron has also been represented as the Mouth of Sauron."
The mouth of Sauron is never portrayed as Sauron himself. It is act believed that he is the last king of Gondor before the throne fell to the stewards. That king, who’s name escapes me, marched into Mordor, and was captured. It would explain his first line “Who of this rabble has authority to treat with me?” And the level of disrespect he shows for Aragorn. But I do agree that the necromancer should have been counted as Sauron in minifigure form.
@haldir said:
"I think Jabba the Hutt belongs on this list. He may not have been responsible for as many deaths as Vader or Sidious, but in terms of the violence and cruelty we actually see on-screen, I think he is the worst. Tarkin is also quite sinister though, and more recent scenes in Rogue One and Rebels add to the evil character we get a brief glimpse of in the OT.
If we’re just talking about villains that could be frightening to children, orcs, gremlins, and the demogorgon from Stranger Things would all be worth mentioning, though none have evil motives because they are non-human.
I also thought about the German soldiers from Indiana Jones, but I don’t think those minifigures actually had anything to denote that they were Nazis. They could have just been conscripted German soldiers, who weren’t necessarily evil, although it still brings into question Lego’s policy on depictions of war."
Usually the Nazis or Russians in Indiana Jones were just listed as “Enemy Soldier” or something along
those lines. It kinda gives off the same feeling as the Uncharted games in that you’re more or less having Indy up against generic armed mooks than people with specefic ideologies.
@PixelTheDragon :
It’s not a case where the set is a licensed tie-in to the movie, but that releasing a Wolverine set so close to a Wolverine movie seems like a clear attempt to ride the movie’s wake. When Deadpool hit theaters, many of us figured that was pretty much it, and the character would never appear in minifig form again (or at least not until they stopped making movies).
@Zander :
That’s true, and I’d considered raising that point, but ultimately they were soldiers fighting on behalf of the Nazi German government. That they were not all sworn Nazis was probably lost on the citizens of the countries they were sent to invade, and excluding the elite units that probably did require membership, the uniforms were all the same.
Anyways, a lot of WWII vets from both theaters have made peace with the soldiers that once bore arms against them, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to being okay with toys representing the enemy they fought against. I think we are lucky to have landed IJ sets when we did, but I won’t hold my breath for a repeat of the first four movies, and I suspect the chances of IJ5 sets has a lot to do with who the antagonists are. If it’s a modern military, they may just skip it.
@Norikins :
@CapnRex101 :
The matched pair of planes were LEGO Direct. They played a little fast and loose with certain rules, which is how we got a brown Lando during the yellow SW era. The subsequent Sopwith and mini Sopwith are a little trickier to explain.
@CCC :
*waits for an explanation for how Thomas the Tank Engine earned a spot on the Malevolent Minifig list...*
I have to say, hats off to putting the Lone Ranger and cannibalism in the same paragraph ;-)
I thought Saruman was in set 79005?
This article is better with actual pictures of the characters than with pictures of the minifigs. They look much more evil and represent better what evil source material has been captured in plastic. Plus the links still show all the minifigs.
Out of the Disney villains, I think Syndrome from The Incredibles is the most malevolent.
@Cooliocdawg said:
" @darkstonegrey said:
"Besides appearing in minifig form as the Necromancer, Sauron has also been represented as the Mouth of Sauron."
The mouth of Sauron is never portrayed as Sauron himself. It is act believed that he is the last king of Gondor before the throne fell to the stewards. That king, who’s name escapes me, marched into Mordor, and was captured. It would explain his first line “Who of this rabble has authority to treat with me?” And the level of disrespect he shows for Aragorn. But I do agree that the necromancer should have been counted as Sauron in minifigure form."
I've always had the impression that the physical creature sent out is just a meat puppet used by Sauron to speak thru regardless of who's body he was using, thus the given name 'Mouth of Sauron' and lending all the more weight to the statement 'authority to treat with me'. So a representation of Sauron, not the physical Sauron since at that point he was lacking the One Ring to retake physical form.
What about these two wicked characters?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHATSHxj3EI
Some of the non-licensed MFs could give the ones this list a run for their money - or are they just a bit too "cute"???
71013-4: Cute Little Devil
71010-11: Skeleton Guy
@darkstonegrey said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
" @darkstonegrey said:
"Besides appearing in minifig form as the Necromancer, Sauron has also been represented as the Mouth of Sauron."
The mouth of Sauron is never portrayed as Sauron himself. It is act believed that he is the last king of Gondor before the throne fell to the stewards. That king, who’s name escapes me, marched into Mordor, and was captured. It would explain his first line “Who of this rabble has authority to treat with me?” And the level of disrespect he shows for Aragorn. But I do agree that the necromancer should have been counted as Sauron in minifigure form."
I've always had the impression that the physical creature sent out is just a meat puppet used by Sauron to speak thru regardless of who's body he was using, thus the given name 'Mouth of Sauron' and lending all the more weight to the statement 'authority to treat with me'. So a representation of Sauron, not the physical Sauron since at that point he was lacking the One Ring to retake physical form."
Ok, I can see your point. That’s an interesting take on the character, and I kind of really like it! Also, on reflection, even if you were to say you that he’s not Sauron, he’s still one of the creepiest, vilest villains in the movies.
@Cooliocdawg:
Eärnur is who you're thinking of, but there are two lines of thought on this. One is that Eärnur marched into Mordor, was captured and subverted, and some 1000+ years later was somehow still flesh-and-blood alive (as compared to the Nazgûl, who were immortal wraiths) and serving as the Mouth of Sauron. The other is that Eärnur marched into Mordor, _perished_, never to be seen again, and that the Mouth of Sauron is a completely different guy. The original text appears to identify him as a Black Númenórean. The people of the island of Númenór split into two factions following the destruction of their island. The Black Númenóreans sided with Sauron, while the Elendili founded Arnor and Gondor. Eärnur was not a Black Númenórean, so it's impossible for both theories to be true.
@aid1977:
I think you're mistaking Saruman the White (a wizard) with Sauron the Dark Lord (a giant flaming eyeball). It's a common mistake. Saruman is on this list because he appears as a minifig, both in the set you cited, and in 10237.
@Squicman:
Syndrome, huh? Well, he does have Pennywise hair...
@wazzaworld:
The only official description of those characters is just a couple lines. The skeleton for sure is just a guy in a costume, because there's a string tied around the back of his head. The devil has a zipper, a yellow face, and a plastic jack-o-lantern for trick-or-treating, so that's also probably a costume.
@darkstonegrey:
Everything I'm finding on MoS suggests that he's a powerful lieutenant in Sauron's army, and may have learned magic. He's privy to Sauron's plans, though, so "meat puppet" is selling him short.
I should think Lobo would make it onto the DC list.
Well, despite who, or what the Mouth of Sauron is, he didn’t know how to get a-head, in life! ;)
Honestly it’s characters like the Simpsons who really chafe me.
@Zander said:
" @alfred_the_buttler said:
"To move away from Star Wars, I would say that I have no issues with having my kids become familiar with any of the Lego licenses with one exception, Indiana Jones. Now I’m not saying I would let my 4 year old, or even my seven year old, watch The Dark Knight, but there are plenty kid friendly versions of the Joker that they are very familiar with. However, there is a very big difference between a fictional character such as Tarkin committing genocide on a fictional planet, or even Thanos committing a fictional genocide here on earth (and elsewhere), from fictional characters who represent an actual organization that actually did commit genocide. It doesn’t matter that the generic German minifigures in Indiana Jones, or even Elsa Schneider, don’t have swastikas on their sleeves, they are still Nazis."
While I understand your desire to keep your kids from playing with toys of wrong-doers who really existed, it isn't true that all military personnel that fought for Germany in WWII were Nazis. As @haldir pointed out above, there were ordinary Germans who were conscripted who didn't necessarily hold Nazi views. And we know that most members of the German armed forces during the War were not members of the Nazi Party. As it was not difficult to become a member of the party and it would not have done their military careers any harm (and may even have helped), we can reasonably assume that the aspects of Nazi ideology that we find repugnant are also ones with which many German soldiers/sailors/airmen disagreed.
When I was at university, one of the professors in the politics department was a former WWII fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe (German airforce). He certainly didn't harbour any Nazi views (and didn't seem like the kind of person to have ever harboured them). Of course, he is just a sample size of 1, but I believe he was broadly representative of German forces during the War in that regard.
"
I understand where your coming from, yet Elsa Schneider was indeed a Nazi in the movie.
As for conscripted soldiers, obviously that is more complicated. The fact is that they knowingly fought for the Nazis, completely aware of at least some of the atrocities that were being committed. While it is possible that they may not have known what was going on inside the concentration camps, no doubt they were well aware of kristelnacht, Jewish ghettos, and many other Nazi policies.
Now you could argue that they feared for their own lives, and that I would certainly believe to be true. Yet, that does not justify their actions. There were heroes who risked their lives to help others throughout Europe. The only reason why the Nazis were able to do what they did is because the heroes were few and far between. Those who were complicit or simply kept silent are the reason why Nazis were able to do what they did.
I’m sure that the actions of your professor weighed heavily on him for the rest of his life. But he did have options. He could have surrrendered to allied forces. He could have escaped into the forests as many Jews were forced to do. He simply did what was easy.
@alfred_the_buttler:
Schneider and Donovan were certainly Nazi agents, but Schneider herself showed that she wasn't really onboard with the Nazi agenda during the book-burning scene in Berlin. I really got the impression that she saw them more as a means to an end, and an inevitable conclusion to the war. Donovan probably toed the party line more than Schneider. Vogel, on the other hand, absolutely was a card-carrying member, but he also never got a minifig.
The Cybermen from Dr. Who more than qualify for this list. They have committed such atrocities as that time [I think it was in the era of the Tenth Doctor] they took a bunch of people captive, cut them up, and transformed them into Cybermen. Robbing them of their free will in the process.