Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1962215-20140317132636/@comment-24780348-20140502224317

Ruby Red Hood wrote: Peter Pan then Rumple.

Peter was just so evil for the reasons people have listed above. He didn't have as good a reason as everyone else for being evil.

And yes, I do find Rumple more evil than Cora (shock horror!) because he was THE DARK ONE. People just seem to forget about all his previous actions. He began to skin Robin before Belle saved him, he turned a man into a snail then stood on him. Yes, Cora was evil, but I think just being the dark one made him more evil.

Actually I'd like to make the case that Rumplestiltskin wasn't really all that evil, just crazy. He was so paranoid and out of it that he percieved the kind of threat to his kid that utterly wasn't there. The less control he has, the more threat he percieves, the crazier he acts. No one has ever actually owned his dagger until recently, and he goes completely wonkers.

My serious tabulation includes Jafar just after Midas, not because of what he wanted, but because he murdered his own teacher just to get a little bit more powerful more quickly. That kind of impatient betrayal, aimed at someone who only ever tried to help you, is something far beyond what any others in the series are capable of. Regina was actually thoroughly wronged. Cora killed people in her way, not people who only assisted her... And she even (it looks like) gave Snow White a chance to change alignment and presumably (if she stood on Cora's side) inherit the kingdom she was supposed to inherit.

As far as Peter Pan? Selfish child. No more villainous than any other selfish child, just a bit more magically capable. Does not even belong on the list.

Midas

Jafar

Regina

Zelena

Cora

Rumplestiltskin

Why do I put Regina before Cora? Regina has an interest in torture and revenge. To me it looks like Cora will do whatever it takes, but is more self-interested. Rumplestiltskin belongs at the bottom. Though truly a villain because of his actual actions, they play up the coward and survivalist theme. He's evil the way an animal in a corner is evil. He gets a few points for clearly overreacting to almost entirely imaginary danger, but he loses most of them again because he's nuts and truly percieves that there is that danger.