Board 8 > Johnbobb ranks user-nominated Villain Songs: Requiem - The Ranking

(+) Yeah! (+)

javert my beloved

oh hey labour did better than I expected, yay

fun rankings, thanks johnbobb

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5f1187b1.jpg

43. Pussy Liquor
Source: Rob Zombie/House of 1000 Corpses
Villain: The Firefly Family
Nominator: Snake55555557 (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhrCkKX1-1I

Villainy: 9
Characterization: 3
Melody: 6
Total: 18/30

"One, two, three, who should I kill? / Every motherfucker running up the hill / One, two, three, what should I do? / Get fucked up and fuck up you"

Ya know normally I'm really into Rob Zombie, but I've always thought this song wasn't one of his best. I mean, it's great, but it's definitely no Black Sunshine or Thunder Kiss '65 or Dragula or Living Dead Girl. I like Sheri Moon Zombie's voice appearing in Rob's songs generally, partially because it's so wildly different from his own, but I've always felt like the rhythm of the chorus is a little off.

As far as the characters themselves go, I give it some points for directly naming the characters one by one with a very brief intro, although it doesn't really tell you much about the characters beyond the fact that they're crazy, violent and kinda gross. As far as villainy goes though, there's not much I can argue against. They like to get fucked up and kill people; that's quite literally the whole point of the song (and the movie, really).

man the fact that the song itself is age-restricted on Youtube without actually showing anything says a lot

Yeah I can agree with that regarding the characterization. Super catchy song though, 100% Halloween playlist staple. Sheri's supporting vocals are my favorite part!

Also I super dig that banner, good stuff!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c17c6ac8.jpg

42. When You're Evil
Source: Voltaire
Villain: Voltaire
Nominator: paulg235 (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWYCS6k1IOA

Villainy: 4
Characterization: 5
Melody: 9
Total: 18/30

"For Beelzebub has never seen a soldier quite like me / Not only does his job but does it happily"

I need to listen to more Voltaire, because every song I've heard from him is an absolute banger. Something about the gravelly voice paired with the violin -- what would you call this genre of music? I always personally refer to it as devil folk because songs I've heard with this sort of a sound usually have a grim or devilish theme. It's equal parts sinister and catchy and I just really dig it.

I kind of have to laugh at the general idea of the song though. The entire basis of the song is that the singer is evil; he says so several times over. So what makes him evil? Well he puts pebbles in your shoes, and makes you slip on banana peels, and steals candy from babies. Like, that is the definition of evil? Also, who is it singing the song? Like I listed Voltaire as the villain for lack of a more absolutely distinct one, but I kind of went back and forth between viewing it as a guy who just generally does awful things for a living vs an actual embodiment of evil/misfortune. Either way, I do think the outro does a lot for the characterization of the character, as he tries to fake out the listener by pretending to be lonely for who he is, only to be like lol nah being evil is fun. Oh Voltaire, you clever prankster!

Snake5555555555 posted...

Also I super dig that banner, good stuff!

Thank you!

Johnbobb posted...

Something about the gravelly voice paired with the violin -- what would you call this genre of music?

Dark cabaret but devil folk is a fun name!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/ebc625f3.jpg

41. The Game
Source: WWE
Villain: Triple H
Nominator: paulg236 (eliminated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYmm5YQSv2I

Villainy: 5
Characterization: 4
Melody: 9
Total: 18/30

"Look over your shoulder, ready to run / Like a good little bitch from a smoking gun / I am the game, and I make the rules / So move on out or you can die like a fool"

Sorry Paul, I really hate to drop your last two back to back, especially given that I really love both songs, but both fell here for essentially the same reasons. Also worth noting that Triple H falls a bit short of Randy Orton, who placed in 29th last time with Voices (although I prefer this song tbh).

When I was really into wrestling in the mid-2000s, Triple H was by far my favorite (I was also a big fan of Undertaker and Rey Mysterio). This stands out as one of the best WWE intros, largely because Motorhead is a blast to listen to any day (the Evolution Line In the Sand faction intro may actually be my #1).

Ultimately, while it's a great song, it's more mid-tier in terms of an actual villain song. It's aggressive, sure, but there's a pretty distinct difference between that and actively being evil. The line quoted above is probably the cruelest in the song, but it doesn't ever come across as "I want you to die" but instead "if you get in my way I'll fuck you up." It's mean, for sure, but on a very impersonal and self-aggrandizing level.

You don't really learn much about Triple H here beyond that though. He's aggressive, tough, not to be messed with, and clever enough on top of that to outsmart you if you do try something.

Johnbobb posted...

The Game

It should get a 10 in villainy just for its title. Dammit.

hombad why

Oh Stars fell as Lucifer fell. Yeah, I agree that he's not especially villainous, even in his song. An Anti-Villain at most. But I enjoy his characterization and song a lot so yeah I'm still glad I nominated it.

Funny how both of my wrestling noms ended up being my highest nom for each ranking.

I figured The Game would fall around here since there isn't a lot of points it could get for the first two categories. I did consider nominating King of Kings instead, but I think that would have done worse. And Line in the Sand didn't feel to me that it would do as well either.

As for When You're Evil, agreed that it doesn't rank high up in actual villainy in the way other songs do, but I thought it could've gotten a little higher in the characterization area. Guess not.

No problem with both songs falling at the same time, btw. That just happens.

paulg235 posted...

Funny how both of my wrestling noms ended up being my highest nom for each ranking.

I forgot you nominated Voices!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8896c427.jpg

40. The Annihilation of Monsteropolis/Airman
Source: The Megas (Mega Man)
Villain: Airman
Nominator: Fluttershy_Pony (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtUJeBURzOk

Villainy: 10
Characterization: 6
Melody: 3
Total: 19/30

"Lives on this earth I grow tired of / Death from above / The annihilation of everyone you know and love"

And we have our first perfect Villainy score! And I never would've thought of Airman as a 10/10 villain, but here we are. To be honest though, with the word "annihilation" in the title of the song, it was pretty clear where this would end up fairly quick. It almost makes Airman out to be a tragic figure; he's primarily doing what he was built to do, for he is quite literally a robot that can only blow people. But tragic figure status is thrown out the window pretty quick when you're directly saying "you are all insects and I'm going to slaughter every one of you and your loved ones."

Shame it's not a better song though, or this could've been a really top-tier contender. The Megas had one song nominated last time; it placed in 104th. Also with a 3/10 melody score! I just don't really care for The Megas I guess. The vocals aren't impressive, their sound overall is flat, it just really doesn't appeal to me at all.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7fd1e0f5.jpg

39. Tip the Scale
Source: Donkey Kong Country: Return to Krocodile Isle
Villain: King K. Rool
Nominator: Pirateking2002 (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3PGCKAwIOc

Villainy: 6
Characterization: 10
Melody: 3
Total: 19/30

"And what disgraceful prattle / while was off secluded / words of mutiny, ha / Id have you executed"

And we have another perfect characterization score! And it's for... King K. Rool? Is that right? Let me tell you I was shocked at the incredible lengths this song goes to to explain its antagonist. In one 5-minute song, you get:
1. who he is, his name, his rank
2. his relationship with his crew
3. his crew's relationship with each other
4. his relationship with the protagonist
5. his backstory
6. his intentions and specific plans to carry them out
7. his way of ruling
8. his brand of cruelty
And with all of that it still has time to include puns and a reprise of the protagonist's main theme. There is a handful of 10 characterization songs yet to come but Tip the Scale could frankly compete against each one of them.

Again, it's a shame it's not a better song. K. Rool definitely makes an effort here, and his inflections benefit the song a lot. With better instrumentals, better sound quality, a better vocal supporting cast, this song again could've been a top competitor, but what's there beyond K. Rool himself is largely a mess and didn't click with me as a whole, even if I am overall very impressed with it as a villain song specifically.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f0719922.png

38. What You Feel
Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Villain: Sweet
Nominator: CoolCly (eliminated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xh8duZ1-j0

Villainy: 8
Characterization: 6
Melody: 5
Total: 19/30

"You brought me down and doomed this town / So, when we blow this scene / Back we will go to my kingdom below and you will be my queen"

(just to clarify, the song nominated was What You Feel, so the Dawn's Ballet section at the beginning of the Youtube video isn't being considered, not that it would make a huge difference)

I really didn't care for Dawn's voice too much. I know she's not really the focus here, but it definitely knocked it down a point or so when her sections come through. Again, I generally like the big vocal juxtaposition in music (ex. most of my favorite White Stripes songs are the ones where Meg gets to throw some lines in) but here it didn't work for me. It's a shame too, because Sweet himself has some vocal range, the song as a whole just didn't really blow me away. I did enjoy it though!

Sweet's plan is pretty clearly evil though! Making the town sing and dance is sketchy in concept, as really anything that deals with mind control, even in a lighthearted way, kinda pushes the line. But then he refers to people potentially dancing so much they combust, and the evil scale shoots up. Still, there doesn't seem to be much malice behind what he's saying; he's more reckless than anything and doesn't really desire suffering. The exception here the cements him high in the category is Buffy, who he wants to see burn directly, and Dawn, who...

"What I mean / I'm fifteen / So, this queen thing's illegal"

ugh.

Yeah, the immortal demon doesn't really care about his queen being young. Though we don't know if he has any physical desire towards her. It's just how his deal works. You summon him, he comes to your town causes chaos and then takes you back as his new queen.

Air Man ain't fucking around

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5f000ee1.jpg

37. Look Who's Laughing Now
Source: Batman: Arkham Knight
Villain: The Joker
Nominator: hombad47 (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB6O-5obvu4

Villainy: 8
Characterization: 6
Melody: 5
Total: 19/30

"Barbara's dead and I'm laughing / Jason Todd's dead and I can't stop laughing / I'm even dead and I can't stop laughing / What else can I do?"

What's really weird is that I played all the Arkham games (except the VR one) and I don't remember this song in the game. I looked up clips of it to try and remember the context and I just can't recall it happening. But the context (spoilers for Arkham City) Joker is fucking dead and haunting Batman from beyond the grave. Although the difference between this and something like I'm Alive is that this isn't like an innocent lost life and the protagonist just being haunted by their own mental illness; everything Joker says is literal and haunting Batman's conscience was directly his intention in life.

I'll give props to Hamill here; the Joker voice really isn't one that translates well into music, but he doesn't his damnedest and makes something surprisingly listenable out of it. It's not like an incredible song, and it does the thing that happens sometimes in original vocal game music where it's still kind of meant to be a track playing in the background while you do other things, so it's enjoyable without being all that attention-grabbing.

And yeah, Joker is singing about all the murders he's committed and laughing about them; easy villain score here.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bc183bb1.jpg

36. I'm the Music Meister
Source: Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Villain: The Music Meister
Nominator: Jesse_Custer (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5vKwcz820s

Villainy: 7
Characterization: 6
Melody: 6
Total: 19/30

"Good guys or bad guys, it doesn't really matter / You are all just slaves to my hypnotic patter!"

Oh hey, two DC songs back to back, I swear that wasn't intentional.

It's also funny having this drop so close to Sweet's "What You Feel," as Music Meister and Sweet have pretty similar powers all in all. Just like Sweet, Music Meister mind controls people through making them sing and dance. Music Meister definitely feels a little less evil, although he's still plenty evil. I mean, anything involving making unwilling slaves is pretty unavoidably evil, although he never expresses the desire to do anything specific with it. Like Sweet has everyone dancing until they combust and taking an unwilling underage bride, while Music Meister wants to do vague generic evil schemes.

Fuckin Black Canary showing up to immediately try to one up everyone. I mean I get it given that her voice is literally her whole thing, but still, what a needless flex. Although to be fair, props to Black Manta too.

NPH is obviously a good singer, and while the song is inconsistent, it does better than much of its competition in having a listenable song during an action scene, and I'll give it credit for that. It even finds time to give Music Meister a little backstory, even if it is pretty simple.

Huh. I thought that one's clear villainy would put it over Backlight, but it looks like melody was its weak point. I admit that of my nominations this is the one I listen to the least and the remaining two are bangers

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fd560fef.jpg

35. Wait for It
Source: Hamilton
Villain: Aaron Burr
Nominator: Jesse_Custer (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulsLI029rH0

Villainy: 2
Characterization: 9
Melody: 8
Total: 19/30

"Love doesn't discriminate / Between the sinners and the saints / It takes and it takes and it takes"

Ya know, I was really surprised to see this song nominated as a villain song. I mean, Burr as a villain makes sense, even if it's not in an obvious way like King George. He's not outright evil by any stretch, but he is selfish and concerned with his own success more than the greater best interest of the country. He's certainly the main antagonist.

That being said, Wait for It as a villain song is a stretch. Like even giving it a 2 here for villainy feels generous, and if I didn't know his real intentions, I don't know if I would've ultimately gone that far. Like the line about "death doesn't descriminate between the sinners and the saints" I think portrays his willingness to do what is necessary for his own self interest compared to other more noble characters, as it doesn't really make a difference in the end the path you take to get where you end up. Just barely squeezes him into misguided. Also, ya know, the affair.

But the song itself is excellent. Leslie Odom Jr. kills it, and the Hamilton soundtrack as a whole is undeniably excellent. It's quiet and soft, almost sounding like a love song, before rising into a sort of anthem, and it works so well. It also does a really good job telling you just about everything you need to know about why Burr is the way he is, his relationship with Hamilton, his relationship to Theodosia, and his overall goal.

Yeah I know it might've been a bit of a stretch with nominating that song, but I just like it quite a bit and thought that it might somewhat fit.

(Btw I nominated that one)

Great_Paul posted...

Yeah I know it might've been a bit of a stretch with nominating that song, but I just like it quite a bit and thought that it might somewhat fit.

(Btw I nominated that one)

Whoops forgot to change that from Music Meister!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/ab3839ae.jpg

34. She'll Be Mine
Source: Galavant
Villain: King Richard
Nominator: Fluttershy_Pony (eliminated)

https://youtu.be/AfYyC2dsF0k

Villainy: 9
Characterization: 6
Melody: 5
Total: 20/30

"I'll get back to all my hobbies / Like raising taxes and tormenting the poor / Curse those poor"

This is the kind of song Prince John would've really benefited from! Although I don't know if Disney would've allowed for their animated lion to sing about starting a genocidal war. I think the only thing keeping this from being a straight up 10 for villainy is that fact that he's singing it primarily for love (or desire) of his wife. Like as far as his priorities go it's:

1. win back wife's affections
2. torture and murder Galavant
3. start a genocidal war
4. make the lives of his citizens terrible

So, like, that's almost something. He's up against hard competition here.

The song is pretty solidly good, but ultimately looking back at the list I found it to be a little forgettable all-in-all. It comes and goes very quick, and is a cheery little ditty even if it's not a whole lot more. King Richard is definitely not a great guy, from what we learn about him here, although he does come off as something of a characature (which I assume is intentional).

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8e4c8b9f.jpg

33. Goodbye Earl
Source: The Chicks
Villain: Earl
Nominator: Bane_of_Despair (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw7gNf_9njs

Villainy: 6
Characterization: 7
Melody: 7
Total: 20/30

"Well, she finally got the nerve to file for divorce / She let the law take it from there / But Earl walked right through that restraining order / And put her in intensive care"

Fun little find from the Wikipedia article:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2b9d8771.png

Ya know, I wasn't really expecting The Chicks to have such a major comeback a few years back, but I'm very glad it happened, as it got me to check out their stuff. I did listen to them much in late 90s/early 00s, as I wasn't really into country (still not really) and I was too young at the time to really notice their political impact, which looking back was pretty badass. Gaslighter was their first full album I listened through, largely because the title track came on the radio and was an absolute bop.

Best part of the song is easily Natalie Maine's gradually more and more exaggerated pronunciation of Earrrrrrrl.

Kind of like with no body, no crime, it's difficult to rank this one for difficulty, less so because there's mystery about what he did, but moreso because the song is 90% about killing Earl and 10% about what he did to deserve it (and yeah, he kinda did). He was an abusive asshole, but the main characterization of him comes from the story of Mary Anne and Wanda as they're killing him, hiding his body, lying to the police and moving on with their lives. Overall one of the more fun murder ballads out there.

Yea I figured Goodbye Earl would land roughly around where no body, no crime would of my noms. Gaslighter is so good. Big fan of them in general, they have a lot of fun songs. Goodbye Earl is a bop and yea Natalie kills it (heh) with the Earl

Johnbobb posted...

although he does come off as something of a characature (which I assume is intentional).

Very intentional

Galavant is a great show.

I still need to finish Galavant.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/15ca2479.jpg

32. Cotton Eye Joe
Source: Rednex
Villain: Cotton Eye Joe
Nominator: scarletspeed8 (eliminated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYZaiDZ7BM

Villainy: 6
Characterization: 4
Melody: 10
Total: 20/30

"He brought disaster wherever he went / The hearts of the girls was to hell broken sent / They all ran away so nobody would know / And left all the men 'cause of Cotton-Eyed Joe"

I was surprised to see Cotton Eye Joe, because it certainly doesn't sound like a villain song. I mean this is the kind of upbeat song every DJ plays at family friendly dances. I mean, it's just a silly song about a guy with a silly name!

Then you start to hear the line repeating throughout, "If it hadn't been for Cotton Eye Joe, I'd have been married a long time ago." That's strange. What did Joe do to ruin this singer's potential marriage? As it turns out, the answer is a bit more sinister than it seems. Cotton Eye Joe is a playboy, as it turns out, and though no one can agree on what "cotton-eyed" really means, it's clear that Joe was a man who strolled in to town, slept with every woman in the town, broke up every single relationship, and left the women so broken-hearted and ashamed (and in some interpretations, with STDs) that they all ran off.

Joe is a certained homewrecker, to be sure, but he's also an enigma, so it's hard to give him too high of characterization points here. But he did serve as inspiration for the cathiest and most beloved line dance of all time, so what are a few broken marriages left in his wake as a result?

I hate that song.

But that might just be because I went to school in rural Iowa. Played at every dance, event, wedding, etc.

It was played here at school in New York too. This song is an eternal constant.

I am sad to here that it is nationwide.

Yup its virtually everywhere in PA as well

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32. Look Into Me
Source: Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
Villain: Medusa
Nominator: azuarc (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giQl8sEWqpo

Villainy: 4
Characterization: 10
Melody: 6
Total: 20/30

"That thing you said before, you're right, it's true / Feels extra special doing something you can't undo!"

I mentioned that it's hard for any song to really compete with King K. Rool in terms of characterization, but man this is quite literally an entire story being told. I've tried avoiding any Stray Gods spoilers because I do really want to play it, but you really don't need much context for this song. It's literally all spelled out right there. Everything you'd need to know about the characters relationships to each other, to Athena, to what's happened prior. Hell, even the mental state is shown pretty clearly by the inflections of the singers, with Grace getting increasingly more desperate until it clicks in her that she does actually have a way to talk herself out of the situation.

The villainy is a little trickier, as Medusa wanting to petrify Grace and eat her is, yes, obviously villainous. But she doesn't actually do so, and by the end of the song comes across as more insecure than vicious, even if she did come close to doing something evil. Judging it for melody is tricky as well; it's a type of talk-singing I've never heard in a game before (or even most musicals) and while it's not like catchy or something I'd want to add to my playlist, I did still enjoy it. This is in no small part because Laura Bailey is a really good singer, but I also really dug the the weird sort of distorted background music.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/347331a7.png

31. Bad Guy
Source: Eminem
Villain: Matthew Mitchell
Nominator: Great_Paul (eliminated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQNiC9NguJ0

Villainy: 7
Characterization: 10
Melody: 4
Total: 21/30

""I'm the bad guy who makes fun of people that die" / And hey, here's a sequel to my Mathers LP just to try to get people to buy"

Stan placed in 4th place overall in the original villain song ranking, so it shouldn't be a big surprise that Bad Guy got nominated or did well. The big difference is that Stan is a good song! Seriously, I was half tempted to drop this to a 1 melody at times. I probably would've if it wasn't for Part 2. I fucking hate the sneaker squeak-ass beat for the first like 4 or so minutes of the song, and Sarah Jaffe's choruses were pretty weak. Eminem's a good rapper but I feel like he fell off hard about a decade ago and never really got it back imo, though to an extent that's also kind of what the song is about... sort of. Overall, easily one of his weaker songs for me.

So rating this as a villain song is particularly difficult because of that part 2. Because the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the song is sung from the POV of Matthew (the younger brother from Stan) plotting out a plan to violently kill Eminem as revenge for his brother's death. I mean, pretty easy 9-10 villainy range right there, probably a decent but not as high characterization score.

And then part 2 kicks in, where Eminem refers to Stan and Matthew both as just being metaphorical, and the rest of the song is a reflection on Eminem himself, hypocrisy, the cruelty he's shown toward women and gays (although he still calls them f*****s here, so), the amount of "comebacks" he's had, what the future holds for him. I mean, it does great things for the characterization in a way no other nominated song attempts, but it definitely takes some of that impact out of the "this is a song about a guy murdering another guy" theme that made it a villain song in the first place.

I'm not sure if I'm happy that I didn't nom a 4th track (because perfect), or sad (because perfect could mean a lot more.)

Nice that nothing has dropped, though!

Top 30! I hope at least one of my songs can make it to the Top 10.

Maniac64 posted...

I am sad to here that it is nationwide.

Make that worldwide, it's a constant here in the UK too!

TheArkOfTurus posted...

I'm not sure if I'm happy that I didn't nom a 4th track (because perfect), or sad (because perfect could mean a lot more.)

Nice that nothing has dropped, though!

I only gave 2 and the first just dropped here, but I'm perfectly happy with this.

Glad you enjoyed Stray Gods. I could have given you a song that's more spoiler-y in the name of villainy, but I thought this was the most interesting track I could have chosen. Plus, there's no song in the game that doesn't at least partially feature Grace interacting with the other parties, which means this was the closest we get to an unfiltered villain's monologue.

10% left club checking in

Pretty solid final 30 from what I know. Still some I don't too.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4b366a54.jpg

30. A Stranger I Remain
Source: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Villain: Mistral
Nominator: Murphiroth (eliminated)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTnuw77_vzw

Villainy: 7
Characterization: 6
Melody: 8
Total: 21/30

"I've finally found what I was looking for / A place where I can be without remorse / Because I am a stranger who has found an even stranger war"

I liked both Metal Gear songs nominated overall, but A Stranger I Remain was the clear winner of the two for me, even putting aside the character specifically. I recognized the voice pretty clearly but even after several listens couldn't place it. It wasn't until I was actually researching the song that I realized it was Free Dominguez, the lead singer of Kidneythieves! No wonder the song rocks so hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rclL_8Jf7w

Her voice with the typical Revengeance sound just works really well, but what about Mistral herself? The lyrics here are pretty short, so there's definitely some inferring necessary to really form a full idea of the character here, but the main focus is that Mistral is someone who is inherently violent but has no proper outlet for it and thus is left feeling empty, until the events of Revengeance in which her mission with Senator Armstrong gives her purpose. Again, a lot of that is inferring from what is just implied, and it's hard to go too villainous given that the violence referred to is pretty vague, but it's still pretty clear that she is more than willing to resort to violence for her own benefit.

only the one write-up tonight, as I've been pretty short on free time lately, but I do intend to pick this up more later this week

I expect my final nom to drop any time now. But thats fine i nominated based on what I wanted ranked rather than expecting to place high

That Metal Gear song sounds pretty cool, didn't expect it to sound like that.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d4292626.jpg

29. The Spider and the Lamps
Source: Razia's Shadow
Villain: Barayas the Spider and Ahrima
Nominator: FFDragon (2 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP8lR4lChJw

Villainy: 7
Characterization: 6
Melody: 8
Total: 21/30

"They don't understand / This is their last chance / No more idle hands / I'll destroy the lamps"

Sorry FFD, you had to drop one at some point! This is a tough one to judge on the villainy angle, as I've seen multiple interpretations of what actually happened toward the end of the song. Essentially, Ahrima creates Lamps to give to the people of a new world (in this story, Ahrima seems to be an allegory for Lucifer) but after not being shown appreciation for the gift he gave the world by O (God) Barayas the Spider convinces him to destroy the lamps, which he does, causing firey chaos in his wake. But that's where it gets up for interpretation. Did he harm anyone in the fires? It says "their creation was burning" but "their creation" could refer to the lamps, the earth, or everything. It's hard to quantify exactly how much damage was done, and while it's clear that Ahrima acted out of anger (and Barayas' chaotic influence) it doesn't come across like his intention was to hurt people.

I do enjoy the song quite a bit though. As I've said before, I love a good back and forth in which the parties are both competent singers while still embodying their characters. I'm also a decently big Say Anything fan (fun fact, they were my first concert, I didn't know them much but a girl I liked in high school was into them so I listened to their three albums [they only had three at the time] on repeat until I had them all memorized before the concert). I'm ALSO a big fan of concept albums, and I'm definitely intrigued to check out all of Razia's Shadow

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e39e6e08.png

28. Mother Knows Best
Source: Tangled
Villain: Mother Gothel
Nominator: Raka_Putra (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7jWt3JvJto

Villainy: 7
Characterization: 8
Melody: 6
Total: 21/30

"Gullible, nave, positively grubby / Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague / Plus, I believe, gettin' kinda chubby / I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you"

So the tricky thing here is how much I can fairly take into context the, well, context. On the absolute surface level, this song sounds like an overbearing and overprotective mother trying to stop her daughter from leaving, and being really needlessly mean and critical along the way. But it's also pretty clearly got sinister undertones, given the cold way she commands "Don't ever ask to leave this tower again." The full context is that she's not her mother, she's just some old woman who kidnapped her as a baby to use Rapunzel's magic hair and keep herself forever young.

Kinda fucked up when you lay it out like that. I think in full fairness, I can say that this song depicts Mother Gothel as a serially gaslighting woman holding Rapunzel against her will (and again, insulting her) even if her full evil plans aren't laid out here, and that's still enough for a pretty high villainy score. It also does a great job depicting the relationship between the two, and particularly outlining Gothel's intentionally overdramatic personality.

The song itself never blew me away like it seemed to for some Disney fans, but I do definitely enjoy it, and it only really gets catchier over time.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/947a124f.jpg

27. Backlight
Source: One Piece Film: RED
Villain: Uta
Nominator: hombad49 (1 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5PofRQAGLc

Villainy: 6
Characterization: 7
Melody: 8
Total: 21/30

"Let's run wild! Release your rage / Let the winds of wrath blow them away / Not gonna live in compliance-iance-iance / I'm not playin' the victim, no more / Time to go rage"

How is is that this sounds more like a Persona 5 song than the actual Persona 5 song you nominated? I mean that opening guitar line feels like it was ripped straight out of the game. It certainly doesn't make me think One Piece, but admittedly I haven't really watchted One Piece outside of the Netflix show. All that being said, this song kinda kicks ass. Best moment is easily the first pre-chorus, but honestly I don't really have complaints here.

Trying to find context on the song specifically was tricky, so I tried reading up some on Uta herself just to get an idea of who she was, although this is One Piece, so of course there's way more text there than I'd ever have the patience to fully parse through and understand. The song does a pretty solid job of portraying Uta though, and it definitely has that vibe of being more tragic than outright evil. She's primarily motivated here by hate and revenge toward Luffy and company, though she seems to at this point have pushed everyone away. Her actual plan beyond "punishing them for the their love" isn't entirely clear within the song itself, but it certainly sounds violent.