Sylar's racked up A LOT of kills, but he's not that creepy. He was better when he kept to the shadows.
Sylar- creepiest TV villian ever?
- Thread starter JediKnightButler
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When Ben Linus first showed up on Lost he was pretty creepy. Beyond that, I'd agree Scorpius could be pretty creepy as well.
My wife was pregnant back in the first season and kept having nightmares about Sylar coming in and taking the babies.
Dexter Morgan is far, far, faaaar creepier. 
Sylar is a very interesting and watchable character but depending on how far along you are in the show, he's also very ambiguous and also kind of pathetic and weak. Which I think is the root cause for all the complaints about how he's been developed - people who liked the freakily unstoppable boogieman in S1 don't want to see this guy's needy, pathetic side.
Dexter never asks anyone to feel the tiniest bit sorry for him. He's never a victim and always in charge of his fate. The fact that he's so unapologetic makes him inhuman and scary in a way Sylar really isn't. Sylar is very human by comparison. Dexter is the most convincing un-human character I've ever seen on TV, even counting all the aliens.
More votes for creepy characters: the alien replicants played by William Fitchner and Elizabeth Moss on Invasion. They've both gone on to other roles, in Prison Break and Mad Men, but I really wanted to see them develop those roles, darnit.
Speaking of Prison Break, T-Bag certainly warrants a mention.
And let's not forget Ray Wise as Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks and Satan Himself on Reaper.
And no, they're not fighting over a woman.
Sylar is a very interesting and watchable character but depending on how far along you are in the show, he's also very ambiguous and also kind of pathetic and weak. Which I think is the root cause for all the complaints about how he's been developed - people who liked the freakily unstoppable boogieman in S1 don't want to see this guy's needy, pathetic side. Dexter never asks anyone to feel the tiniest bit sorry for him. He's never a victim and always in charge of his fate. The fact that he's so unapologetic makes him inhuman and scary in a way Sylar really isn't. Sylar is very human by comparison. Dexter is the most convincing un-human character I've ever seen on TV, even counting all the aliens.
More votes for creepy characters: the alien replicants played by William Fitchner and Elizabeth Moss on Invasion. They've both gone on to other roles, in Prison Break and Mad Men, but I really wanted to see them develop those roles, darnit.
Speaking of Prison Break, T-Bag certainly warrants a mention.
And let's not forget Ray Wise as Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks and Satan Himself on Reaper.
I'm sure we'll see all sorts of stuff from those two, including plenty of fighting. They've been given the classic motive for fighting in S3, well one of the classics, there are a lot of motives to choose from when setting up antagonistic characters, but they've gone for one that is both non-obvious and almost a cliche. I won't say what cuz you should go in unspoiled.
And no, they're not fighting over a woman.
That guy has got to be at least an unintentional inspiration for Sylar.
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i dont think he's creepy at all... fairly generic comic book villain turned hero is what he is...
there are b-plot criminals from "The Shield" that are actually creepy and disturbing.
Deadwood has a couple creepy 'villains' as well. Cy Tolliver is way more scary or creepy (remember what happened to Kristen Bell? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gicn24zfsDY ). George Hearst is more scary... these are characters that break the will of people, then may or may not kill them or the ones they love to further break other peoples will.
there are b-plot criminals from "The Shield" that are actually creepy and disturbing.
Deadwood has a couple creepy 'villains' as well. Cy Tolliver is way more scary or creepy (remember what happened to Kristen Bell? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gicn24zfsDY ). George Hearst is more scary... these are characters that break the will of people, then may or may not kill them or the ones they love to further break other peoples will.
BOB from Twin Peaks - scariest TV villian of all time hands down no contest
Scorpius on Farscape was pretty creepy when he was first introduced, as was the Sheriff on Invasion.
Sylar? Creepiest ever? No, gotta respectfully disagree with that. Sylar's been neutered, "understood" and woobified beyond any degree of being scary now. He's not even scary to me in retrospect from season one anymore.
My first choice would be the "death fetishist" from X-Files, Donald whatshisname who'd make his victims sit in a tub of cold water until they died and then cut off their hair and fingernails. That dead voice of his gave me nightmares. A close second--the yellow eyed demon Azazel from Supernatural, possessing the boy's father as he bleeds out his first born son. That was visceral. Who'd have thought Denny from Grey's Anatomy could be so menacing?
daddy murders you, and your girlfriend, too
Sylar couldn't hope to be that scary. Oh, but what a fantasy to have Noah talk to Claire that way--much less bleed her out through her stomach. Ahhhhhh.....sweet. Of course he'd have to do it during an eclipse.
But the thought is lovely.
My first choice would be the "death fetishist" from X-Files, Donald whatshisname who'd make his victims sit in a tub of cold water until they died and then cut off their hair and fingernails. That dead voice of his gave me nightmares. A close second--the yellow eyed demon Azazel from Supernatural, possessing the boy's father as he bleeds out his first born son. That was visceral. Who'd have thought Denny from Grey's Anatomy could be so menacing?
daddy murders you, and your girlfriend, too
Sylar couldn't hope to be that scary. Oh, but what a fantasy to have Noah talk to Claire that way--much less bleed her out through her stomach. Ahhhhhh.....sweet. Of course he'd have to do it during an eclipse.
But the thought is lovely.Ben Sisko3 said:
I Wiki-ed the X-Files episode to confirm "Home" was the episode I was thinking of, then saw your post.
That was one screwed-up bunch.
For the curious, this is the Wiki entry:
"Home" is the second episode of season four of The X-Files. A newborn's corpse with a large number of birth defects is found in a shallow grave . Mulder and Scully travel to the rustic small town of Home, Pennsylvania, where they find evidence of an unspeakable crime. Three brothers who live on their family farm are the products of a century of constant inbreeding by their family in an attempt to remain 'pure'. The mother, who lost her limbs in a car accident, continues to try and breed with her sons in an attempt to keep the family line going. In the end, two of the sons are killed while the third escapes with his mother. The final scene, along with a voiceover of the mother, emphasizes that despite all that has happened, the son and mother will continue trying to rebuild the Peacock family.
- After its original airing, Fox Network chose not to air the episode again due to the disturbing theme. It was re-aired only once, on October 31, 1999 as a special Halloween showing. On its re-airing, it featured a TV-MA rating, the only X-Files episode to be rated as such.
Are we still worried about spoilers? Because it's hard to discuss this character without em, particularly given recent developments which severely impact this very topic.
It's hard to maintain creepiness when you're trying to extend a character's useful life over several seasons, which they obviously are trying to do with Sylar/Gabriel, to very mixed effect.
And lately they're threatening not just the character's creep factor, which is pretty much gone by this point, but also his logic, by giving him a way to quench "the hunger" without killing. So now he just stands next to his "victims" to absorb their powers? Yeah, scary.
There is a way to salvage poor Sylar. He appeared to be changing both Claire and Elle's powers by absorbing them. Maybe he always does that, it's just that we've never realized it before now because they've never survived.
So that raises the possibility that he's always had the power to alter the powers of others, either intensifying them (Claire), diminishing them (Elle) or maybe altering them in other ways. Which could be a very dangerous and scary power and a nice extension of Arthur's power as well. Arthur can steal powers but not alter them. It's possible that he was deliberately trying to produce a son who would be an improvement on his own powers, so it would tie things together nicely if Gabriel turned out to be a successful "experiment."
And lately they're threatening not just the character's creep factor, which is pretty much gone by this point, but also his logic, by giving him a way to quench "the hunger" without killing. So now he just stands next to his "victims" to absorb their powers? Yeah, scary.
There is a way to salvage poor Sylar. He appeared to be changing both Claire and Elle's powers by absorbing them. Maybe he always does that, it's just that we've never realized it before now because they've never survived.
So that raises the possibility that he's always had the power to alter the powers of others, either intensifying them (Claire), diminishing them (Elle) or maybe altering them in other ways. Which could be a very dangerous and scary power and a nice extension of Arthur's power as well. Arthur can steal powers but not alter them. It's possible that he was deliberately trying to produce a son who would be an improvement on his own powers, so it would tie things together nicely if Gabriel turned out to be a successful "experiment."
You know, there are different kinds of creepy. On Heroes, I think the cold way that Stephen Tobolowsky's Bob treated Elle was creepier than Sylar. Gabriel's snowglobe scene was the creepiest Sylar ever got but that scene also had pathos.
And in Dexter, Rita's mom, played by JoBeth Williams, was one of the creepiest mothers ever written for television. That woman was the creepiest kind of evil, the kind that convinces itself it is just being moral.
And in Dexter, Rita's mom, played by JoBeth Williams, was one of the creepiest mothers ever written for television. That woman was the creepiest kind of evil, the kind that convinces itself it is just being moral.
The OP requested no spoilers but I dunno if he's reading this anymore.
I wasn't suggesting Gabriel was that kind of "experiment" - a breeding experiment perhaps.
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