Lord Voldemort is avowed as one of the greatest, most malicious villains in the wizardly world of Harry Potter. With his ghastly, skeletal appearance, the Dark Lord perfectly embodies the essence of cruelty that runs through his veins, making even the mightiest cower in front of him. But to the King of Horror, the formidable arch-villain isn’t nearly as chilling as the evil half-blood witch who, beneath her veil of pink and primness is nightmare incarnate.
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Dolores Umbridge Did What Lord Voldemort Coulnd’t
Lord Voldemort is the quintessential bad guy; a predator by nature with an outward appearance that screams terror, he fits the traditional sense of ‘scary’ in every way possible. This violent, inhuman air that he has about him is precisely why he makes for perhaps the deadliest antagonist in Harry Potter. But turns out, the Dark Lord isn’t frightening enough to spook Stephen King, Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) is.
At first look, Umbridge resembles a simpering and gentle old woman who happens to be obsessed with everything pink, a shade that accentuates her seemingly coy nature. In reality, however, she is anything but. Beneath her veneer of innocence, you’ll find nothing but ruthlessness, which she happens to have in spades.
From her cold and condescending aura to the blood-curdling punishments she doles out to her students, the British Ministry of Magic bureaucrat is by no means your typical villain, and that’s exactly what makes her ten times more terrifying. After all, she had the most celebrated author of the horror genre tout her as “the greatest make-believe villain to come along” after the sinister Hannibal Lecter, and that’s probably all the validation an antagonist could ever need.
Stephen King Hailed Her As the Best Harry Potter Villain
Back when the fifth Harry Potter book in the globally-famous series, Order of the Phoenix, came out, Entertainment Weekly asked The Shining writer for his two cents on it. Besides J. K. Rowling’s excessive utilization of adverbs, King, 75, was incredibly impressed by the novel, especially the infamous villain, Dolores Umbridge, who with her ingratiating smile and caustic soul made the book stand out the most.
“A great fantasy novel can’t exist without a great villain, and while You-Know-Who (hello, Dark Lord) is a little too far out in the supernatural ozone to qualify, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts does just fine in this regard.”
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“The gently smiling Dolores Umbridge, with her girlish voice, toad-like face, and clutching stubby fingers, is the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter.”
And King wasn’t the only one left speechless by just how much brilliantly villainous Umbridge’s character was. Even critics couldn’t help but acknowledge her as a force to be reckoned with, rendering her one of the most despised yet compelling antagonists in Harry Potter.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
