-A.M. Aguilar

Villains I’d Join to Conquer the World

My favorite book villains & villainess + my fair reasons for this 😉

I guess it is common knowledge that the part we, book lovers, enjoy the most from a Fantasy novel is the antagonist of the story. Those morally grey characters that usually have a fierceful and powerful idea to save the world and/or their people from danger but the execution of it usually involves death of millions or the destruction of the world as we know it so… yeah 😀 Not the means to get there my friends!

Most of you are probably interested in the title of this blog post 🙂 . Honestly though, I probably wouldn’t REALLY join a villain at conquering the world; in fact, it seems like a dangerous job to be part of. I’m not really THAT evil. I could die trying so not a choice I’d take… but 😀 I must say, some of these villains can be very persuasive and convincing so who knows if my morals can fail at the exact moment they propose their evil plans of conquering the Earth 😉 

On all seriousness, for me the villains are one of the most complex characters to write and one of the most interesting parts of a story. Especially in Fantasy novels. I think you need to write a character that doesn’t only have an evil plan and macabre powers to get there; but also a backstory, a personality and a feeling of real-ness to them. What I mean with this is that the reader can get to relate or empathize with the villain and feel guilty about it 😉 because most of their decisions aren’t 100% morally correct, and it is okay to understand them.

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you’re probably aware that my favorite genre of books is Fantasy or High Fantasy. Therefore, the villains I will be sharing with you guys today are from some of my favorite Fantasy book series. By the way, if you aren’t following me on my Instagram account yet, go ahead and do that!  @thebookssmuggler We are more than 1.4K book lovers already and I couldn’t be more grateful and happy to share this bookish experience with you guys.

Today we will be talking about the characters that give the storyline of a book the risk and evilness they need; our infamous and beloved villains. Plus, two villainess, because they have always been intriguing and captivating characters for me 😀 .

And yes! I will include the books they are all featured in, don’t worry; you will be able to add some of these to your TBR and meet this amazing villains yourself 😉 I’ll also include a spoiler warning if needed so keep that in mind. With nothing more to say, let’s get started…

Top 5 Favorite Villains

1. Aaron Warner from Shatter Me Trilogy

ft. Shatter Me, Unravel Me & Ignite Me

When I read book one in the trilogy I really hated Warner, like fully on hated him. He is the son of Supreme Commander Anderson and therefore the Chief Commander and Regent of Sector 45, where our main character Juliette is sent off to. He rules Sector 45 with an iron fist and can shoot a man dead without batting an eye; you can see why I would dislike him.

I added him to the list because through the series we learn more and more about his past and (SLIGHT SPOILER) how he is just biding his father’s orders by doing these deeds. Warner is really not that evil in the inside and if you read the books you will learn how complex and humble he can be. Though everything that happened in Shatter Me is still making him a villain 😉

Due to his violent upbringing, Warner knows little about showing affection, and his soldiers tend to see him as a sick, twisted psychopath. Warner comes off as cruel and calculated, meticulous and a perfectionist. Despite his reputation, Warner shows his humanitarian side in the books by showing concern for his people and trying to help them out, even if his father disapproves. He goes to great lengths to keep Juliette safe, and later proves to be an excellent teacher when he trains her.

Warner really is an incredible villain and the events in book two and three were the ones that made me say, yes! He is a villain that deserves more hype thanks to his backstory and dangerous abilities too. This is literally the “character A hates everyone in the world but would do anything for character B in a second.”

Though he appears confident and self-possessed, Warner lets his guard down around Juliette and revealing his secret insecurities about others hating him. Like please, how can you not love him 😀 Warner is first described by Juliette as beautiful, perfect, and flawless. He is 19 years of age, has blond hair and green eyes usually described as pale emerald. Excuse me while I go join his evil plans… 😉

2. Sebastian Morgenstern from The Mortal Instruments

ft. City of Glass, City of Lost Souls & City of Heavenly Fire

I know this is a controversial choice but hear me out first! Sebastian has always been my favorite villain because he scares me; like he literally SCARES the stuff out of me. I would be terrified to be near his presence. And I love the way Cassandra Clare was able to capture this feeling through her writing.

(SPOILERS FOR THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS AHEAD) As a result of experiments done on him by his father, Sebastian was a Shadowhunter born with demon blood. He is part demon basically so yeah… of course I’d be scared. Doesn’t mean I’d say no to his offer though 😉 He is tall and muscular and has a slightly slender frame, platinum blond hair, and very dark, black eyes. His plan to free the world from Downworlders and create a new bloodline of Shadowhunters is really clever and has a point to it; doesn’t mean it should happen though.

As a result of the demon blood experiments and his cruel upbringing, Sebastian grew to become a cold, heartless, and bloodthirsty psychopath. He is a master of manipulation and lies. He was trained to become an effective spy, even charismatic and charming when the situation warranted it. Despite this, he is still simply cruel, vindictive, and arrogant which makes him a perfect villain. And a psychopath. Yeah 😀

Though beneath the endless void of evil, there is an extremely lonely person who desired company and love, but had no idea that these things must be earned and not forced upon the person. Sebastian Morgenstern best villain out there, me says. His character is really fascinating to read and I really hope you can read The Mortal Instruments if you haven’t yet.

3. Maeve from Throne of Glass series

ft. Heir of Fire, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn and Kingdom of Ash 

BEWARE: this includes a character introduced in book three of the series, and she appears onward. So if you haven’t read the books and would like to, feel free to skip 😀

Maeve is really one of my favorite villainess. She is TERRIFYING and her power and authority really makes her intimidating. Maeve is the kind of person to pull strings from the shadows, with plans that are far reaching. She’s intelligent, vicious, deceptive, manipulative and extremely dangerous.

She seems to love toying with those she deems inferior to her. In Empire of Storms it is revealed that she is also very cruel, and has no qualms against very brutal punishments. Which we saw of glimpse of, if you know what I mean 🙁 (

When Celaena heads of to Wendlyn she meets Rowan Whitethorn who is searching for her and needs her to the immortal lands of Queen Maeve. Maeve has waited a long time to meet with her, and shows a special interest in Aelin’s powers. Maeve’s character is very complex, mostly because she always seems kind of evil but never really acts upon it though Heir of Fie; until the last few chapters, and from here onward we really see her be the villainess she is.  

She will never face her enemies in their full strength, but have them labored, broken, and drained from battling other forces. Maeve is depicted as a raven-haired beauty, who is regal and stunning. She has moon-white skin, long fingers, and long nails. She was originally thought to have black, depthless, obsidian eyes, but it was soon revealed that she has deep violet eyes.

She really is the queen she is described to be and I would join her legion for sure… I wouldn’t fight back at all. I want to live, thank you 😀 No crown adorns her head, and she does not need one, for she made sure all beings in every realm knew her as the Queen of the Fae.

4. Levana Blackburn from The Lunar Chronicles

ft. Cinder, Scarlet, Cress & Winter

I have something for villainess queens as you can see. Queen Levana is up next. Levana Blackburn is the main antagonist of the Lunar Chronicles, and if you’re into retellings and science fiction, THIS IS IT <3 Really recommend this series. Now back unto the villainess.

Levana Blackburn is the Lunar Queen. She is shown to have a cruel, power-hungry, manipulative, and vain personality, and I could really feel intimidated by her when she is described in the books. Her original intents were to rule Luna better than her sister Queen Channary, but her mind slowly became corrupted by power as the years passed. Her obsession with beauty and power make her a tyrant over the Lunars.

Levana is also very easily irritable and vindictive. Her suggestions were always extreme and she easily murdered anyone who defied her; so yeah if she offered me a chance of conquering the world with, the Earth actually, my life would be at stake. Levana is rather intelligent and not easily fooled. She is considered to be very calculative – always following up her actions with a reason.

Though her disturbing behavior was another, Levana was internally suffering in reality. (SLIGHT SPOIELR) She evidently had no confidence in herself or her looks, showing herself in public with either a veil to cover her.

With her glamour, she had long and curly auburn hair, onyx eyes, and extremely red lips. She could manipulate and trick people into siding with her, more reasons for me to say YES. It was said that nobody is more powerful than her, other than Princess Selene.

5. The Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy

ft. Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm & Ruin and Rising

WARNING: Spoilers for the ending of Shadow & Bone and the rest of the trilogy, ahead. You’ve been warned. I understand if you’d like to skip 😉

And of course I had to include the villain of the moment, our infamous Darkling. I read The Grisha trilogy back in May 2020 and if there was a character I grew to hate with all my soul it was The Darkling. Don’t get me wrong, I love this series and his character really gave the story the twist and depth it needed, but! I still hate him xD

He is plainly a villain and a genocide so yeah I strongly dislike him. I mean you may have good intentions wanting to save your people and Grisha from evil but boy, YOU ARE THE EVIL.

At the ending of Shadow and Bone it is revealed that The Darkling is an extremely dark and manipulative person. He is power-hungry and had created the Fold in order to use it against his enemies but in the process created the Volcra which prevented him from expanding it. Volcra who once where HUMANS with families to go back to and, NO. Won’t change my mind xD. He is a very well written villain, morally grey, entirely evil and ruthless; that’s why I included him. But he is the only villain I would fight and not join in conquering the world, HA!

He feels the loneliness of immortality, causing him to fixate on Alina because she had the capacity to be like him. Though he only manipulated her for her Sun Summoning powers; we all know he is incapable of loving after everything he’s done. However, he is shown to truly care for the Grisha, though the way to achieve this… isn’t by killing millions my dear 😀

The Darkling is a Shadow Summoner, the former Second in Command in all of Ravka, and the former leader of the Second Army. The Darkling is described as a tall handsome young man, appearing not much older than Alina despite his ancient age. He has ink-black hair, quartz gray eyes, and sharp, beautiful features. I can see why people like him 😉 but not me… still a great villain though!

What are your opinions on these villains? Do you spot any favorites here?

Please let me know about YOUR favorite villains and morally grey characters, don’t hesitate on sharing them down below!

If you liked this post, be sure to check out some similar to this like“Favorite Fictional Places I’d Love to Visit,” “Popular Books I’ve Never Read and Why,” or “How did I Read 100 Books in 2020” 😀 Please let me know your thoughts on this post and any ideas for other blog posts you’ll love to see later on, too. Any feedback is welcomed!

Stay tuned on Instagram, I’m always active there and my DMs are open for any suggestions or to just have a short chat 😀 I love talking to you guys and fangirling over our favorite books and series.

Thank you, my dear book lovers, for your support and for sticking with me <3 It is almost be a year since I created this blog and I definitely think it was the best decision I ever took 🙂

I hope you are all well and have a beautiful week ahead. Best of lucks in everything you do. Stay safe, stay healthy and spread love always dear book lovers!