Who is Enid's worst villain?

[IceMaiden]

Inspired by the 'who fooled you' thread I thought it'd be fun to see who others considered to be the ultimate Blyton Bad Guy!

There are so many excellent villainous characters in the books it's really difficult to pick just one, I'm struggling already .

[GloomyGraham]

I'm re-reading the Secret Sevens at the moment and I was thinking after reading 'Shock for the Secret Seven', that the villain in that had to be one of the worst.

It was the fact that he was a really nice guy, liked and trusted by all the villagers (and their dogs) and interacted with them most days, that made him so evil (especially to animal lovers). The sorrow of Matt the Shepherd also made dog-stealing seem more evil an act than smuggling, counterfeiting or other type of crime.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Good question.


**Spoiler Warning for The Rubadub Mystery and Five Go Off in a Caravan.**



Mr. Marvel (The Rubadub Mystery) for me as he's so manipulative and the most unlikely characters fall under his spell. We feel the hurt caused by his actions because a much-loved character is directly affected - though of course Mr. Marvel is also involved in a plot to bring about widespread damage and suffering.

Lou and Tiger Dan in Five Go Off in a Caravan always frightened me too as they're so brutal.

[John Pickup]

Mr Marvel for me, too. What a nasty, evil piece of work. Jo-Jo in Island of Adventure because he was utterly ruthless, prepared to sacrifice the lives of Jack and Philip to further his aims.

[Katharine]

I think Mr Marvel is definitely a contender for the worst villain.

However, I think Aunt Margaret from Hollow Tree House is possibly the nastiest person I've ever come across.

[Barnard]

He may not have been the worst villain, but Lady Candling’s gardener Tupping was quite nasty, framing Luke for stealing Dark Queen. He was just as horrible to Bets, pulling up the plants that Luke had given her, and threatening her. It may be only a story but I really hated him.

[pete9012S]

[Daisy]

Good one Pete.

[John Pickup]

I've got to agree with you there, Pete.

[pete9012S]

Thank you Daisy - And John for not mentioning BM too!!!

[Lucky Star]

I too hated Mr Tupping. I suppose he's hardly the worst villain in the Blyton canon but he's got to be the most dislikeable character she ever created.

As to worst villain I agree with Anita that Mr Marvel is seriously nasty as is Jo-Jo.

[Barnard]

Of course, Tupping also got friendly with Mr Goon. What a surprise!

[Courtenay]

Definitely Bruno Vincent, if only Enid had known about him!! Mind you, weren't the more recent "Famous Five for grown-ups" books written by a different author? I remember we were having a discussion about them elsewhere and that came up — although as one reviewer somewhere said, they all read as though they'd been written by a low-grade computing algorithm.

As for actual Blytonian villains, I'd definitely pick Mr Marvel and Jo-Jo as among the worst, as others have suggested. The climax of The Island of Adventure, when I first read it a few years ago, just about chilled me to the core — I don't think I'd ever read another Enid Blyton book where the chief villain was prepared to actually kill the children while making his own escape. That would have terrified me if I'd read it as a child!!

[dsr]

In Five on Kirren Island Again, didn't the villain plan to blow up the tunnel with Uncle Quentin and George trapped in it? I can't remember his name, but he was a bad, bad man.

The Sticks as kidnappers of a small child are high on the list as well. We don't know whether they would have killed her, do we?

What a gruesome set of thoughts!

[tix]

Just for the record ...... who are 'Mr. Marvel' and 'Bruno Vincent?
Is the former connected with one of the circus books?