Evil. It is everywhere.
Usually we readers enjoy a novel’s great evil. After all, our heroes need something to fight against. We root for our heroes while we revile the evil, wondering how the protagonist can overcome such terrible odds.
But what if we readers needed to have evil on our side in order to win a fight?
Today’s poll deals with that questions. Below is a list of some of Terry’s most terrible baddies. And then there is you, in need of help to win a fight. Which evil would you pick to be on your side? It is not an easy question. Do you go for sheer power? Do you go for the creature least likely to turn on you after the fight? How would you gauge such a thing?
Hope to see you vote below and then post your answer and why you chose it below in the comments field!
Happy Friday!
57 responses to “Poll: Which Evil Entity Would You Want By Your Side In A Fight?”
I chose Mord Wraith. Wraiths can go through walls/buildings to attack. They are Awesome.
Findo Gask by a country mile. Masterminding the end of the modern world is no small feat. Arguably the most successful of the evils.
He’s probably one of if not the most powerful of the listed bad guys. He’s also certain to stab you in the back as soon as he does not need to. The Ilse Witch might just have enough integrity to let you walk away from your common cause once the objective was reached.
Jachyra! If it can kill Allanon, I want it on my side!
Would it turn on you though after the fight? 😉
That’s my thought on pretty much all of them. Trying to decide which is the least dangerous if it turns on me.
Shawn would you rather have Richard with Arondight or say Logan a knight of the word by your side in a fight?
I also picked Jachyra. It killed Allanon and Garret Jaxx (Although Jaxx kill it, the damage it inflected on Jaxx, was too much to recover from in the end).
To quote a movie.. Mess with the Best, Die like the rest! 🙂
The Speakman!
He wasn’t a villain, and was totally worthless in a fight.
Without knowing it, I went with the trend. As you may have already found out, I am a big fan of Grianne so of course the Ilse Witch, cold and powerful in a raw way. No tricks, no master minds, nothing of that sort, just pure power and a determination that crushes rocks!
I chose Grianne. I wouldn’t want any of the others “At my side”. Plus, eye candy, already!
The Ilse witch. The wishsong is the most powerful weapon.
The Jachyra. As long as you had Garet Jax to keep it in line.
Arcannen, because he’s smart, cunning and always has a plan. He’s also not afraid to do what’s needed. Awesome, awesome villain.
I choose The Illdact. This is an evil that was part of The Word. This created The Warlock Lord, Mord Wraiths, and in some ways was part of the magic that created the Forbidding. With The Illdact, nothing would stand against me (except Brin Ohmsford of course).
Are you willing to risk corruption as a side-effect?
I’d say a fallen knight of the Word because A) it would be interesting to see what their subverted powers were like B) maybe there could be redemption at the end via sacrifice and I wouldn’t have to worry about him/her turning on me
So I went with the Ildatch. I feel like if you want you go ultimate. The Ildatch is the epitome of evil. No one was ever able to handle the Ildatch without succumbing to its power. But I was surprised to not see Antrax though. But I guess when you think about it, a computer program is just following a set of instructions so not technically evil.
Ildatch all the way, it was the source of evil and vast in power !
I chose Findo Gask simply because he is the most intelligent and hardest to kill. It took the elf stones and a knights staff to bring him down.
This is tough, Shawn! I can’t decide, so I voted for Rimmer Dall. I love the concept of the Shadowen, and was literally scared of him the first time reading “Heritage”. I think it was his calm, friendly approach… but you knew Par just shouldn’t trust him!!
I’ll have to read all the books again.
Antrax scared me the most out of all of them though. I know it is a AI but it did some nasty stuff to the voyagers.
It might make a better ally, though IF you could figure out how to reprogram it. The major flaw there was the initial programmer wording his instructions extremely badly.
Isle Witch.
If any of the other evil entities were on my side, I would have serious questions about my goals. The Isle Witch at least has demonstrated her capacity for nobility.
for the sheer ability to kill, you’d have to pick the reaper. kills a whole garrison of elves? fearless? kills things for fun? check check and check
I chose the Isle Witch. Grianne has always been one of my favourite Shannara characters. As the Isle Witch she had great power and the will to use it. Even though she did evil deeds she did not see herself as truly evil. She saw her cause as righteous until she was shown the true nature of her deeds. This is why I chose her,because deep down even as the Isle Witch,she had a streak of nobility which would make her somewhat more trustworthy than the other evil entities,and lets not forget she was a real badass as the Isle Witch! A good complement to the light in the battle with other evil entities.
Before or after the Tanequil brought her back?
Changeling. Hide in plain sight. Do my evil deed and Change again.
I chose Changeling for pretty much the same reasons as Wyoming Gal. Also, I have always been fascinated by those with shapeshifting abilities. It would be fun to watch them in action.
Ilse Witch. Hands down. First of all, she definitely has the power. Lot’s of it. Secondly I believe, especially if you played your cards right, she would be the least likely to turn on you. The problems with creatures like the Ildatch, Furies, Shadowen, and the Demons is that their goal would literally be to corrupt and/or destroy you in the end because that is their nature. However the only way I can think of to get some Furies to help you is if you were mind controlling them somehow, so maybe Furies would be best? Heh heh. 🙂
Ilse Witch: Beauty, Power, and Nobility; Least likely to turn; Most powerful with the Will to use it; Grianne Ohmsford can be the only proper choice.
I’d go for the jachyra because it’s the only thing to ever beat allanon and well in my book that’s badass
I surely would want such foes on the other side. Give me a fellow Knight of the Word, the Lady and some heavy artillery. Oh, and a half dozen veteran Druids of Paranor… Maybe even a moor cat and a talisman to top off the black staff of our order!!!!
The Reaper! It was close between it and the Changeling, but a cold-blooded killer has no doubts about its next move. I might be inviting my own demise afterwards, though, if it feels so inclined. Do I get a pouch of Elfstones with this deal?
The Warlock Lord. The only thing that could stop him was the Sword of Shannara in the right hands. So he was unbeatable. Of course he’d kill you afterwards but at least you’d win.
I’ll go with The Speakman as well. Shawn, I missed this one… Were you granted this honor by Mr. Brooks and had a character after you or merely coincidence? I’m sure I read this someplace, but as I am re-reading all the books I am now on Wards of Farie and just got to The Speakman.
Just wondering.
Gratitude.
Ilse Witch, practically the only one of the poll options who’s still kicking.
Have to be The jachyra,awesome evil !!!
I think they would all turn on me unless I had the wishsong to keep them at bay, and even then, it would just bounce off the Dagda Mor, Findo Gask, and Tael Riverine. So I voted for Rogue Druid, as long as I could keep it away long enough to run when the fight ended.
Tael Riverine. He’s powerful, but mortal and susceptible to more than one weapon, which makes him marginally more killable than most of the things on the above list. He has relatively comprehensible aims (ie: Rule all I survey) which means predicting his goals will be easier than for something like, say, the Ildatch.
Also, unlike some (again, the Ildatch; also the Shadowen) he does not destroy everything around him.
He might even (possibly) keep his word, which would save having to hope that I could defeat him after we’d both defeated whatever was so awful allying with him was necessary.
Just wondering why everyone assumes they would have to fight said “evil entity” after said “team up”, personally I’d ask them if they wanted to go have a pint to celebrate our victory!
Great point Luke, this is fantasy after all. And since it’s just for fun I’ll be saddling up on my pet war shrike after a hard day and heading home to Morag and Mallenroh, where I’m sure they’ll be anxiously waiting.(they love it when I call them M n M) Hmm.. I should stop and pick up some stem pretzels. Those girls just love to make chocolate covered stick men. Maybe I’ll swing by the Changelings and see if he and Big Daddy Dagda are up for some charades and a pint. After I appease the twins of course, they can be awfully jealous…
Crap! I almost forgot. I can’t do any of this today, I have to take Jachyra to the vet! That’s the last time I let MnM talk me into a pet because they’re “lonely”.
Ooh, who do you know who treats Jachyra? I’ve been looking for a vet who is good with unusual animals.
I highly recommend Dr. Speakman, Jessica. He’s had to deal with Brook’s syndrome as well as rabbid fans for years, and he can almost tolerate a light hearted joke. Me and mine love him.
Probably because none of them is really known for loyalty and oath-keeping. Even the Isle Witch killed her spies when she felt it necessary
Ha Ha! There ya go Kinsler, that’s the spirit! Thanks for the all the inside info on some of my favorite villains. I also heard the Warlock Lord is a heckuva poker player!
don’t let him fool you luke. He and the skull bearers play a good game, but it’s only candy land and go fish. What u have to worry about with Brona is he likes to wait until Hungry Hungry hippos is getting tight and then grab the board and throw it across the room…M n M start to cry, then the cops show up….it’s a mess!
I went Jachyra. It is a primal animalistic evil. It hunts on instinct. It grows stronger as pain is inflicted upon it. It is a killing machine by design. And why do I have to worry about it turning on me after the fight? The one that killed Allanon was brought forth for that purpose. It laid in wait for him. It didn’t wander off and slaughter some farmer’s cattle. That implies intelligence and understanding of purpose. So if I’m taking one into a fight I can assume that I am the one calling it forth. I can then further assume I am the one giving it its purpose and that purpose is to destroy my enemy not me.
I’d go with Rimmer Dall.
Versatile abilities. Shape-changing, body-snatching, powerful defensive and offensive abilities. Had command over a vast network of Shadowen, soldiers, assassins, spies and holds a key government position as the head of a specialized enforcement unit while his nature and organizations real purpose remains hidden.
REAPER
It just seems like the Reaper is a pure killing machine that can take a lot of punishment. It took hits from the Elfstones and kept coming, only a direct hit to the face stopped it. If it was on your side taking orders from you and you had the Elfstones or magic like Allanon that would be a tough combo.
Would not on your side imply that you yourself are evil, so I would therefore choose the Void in general
Ilse Witch, for sure. Vast power, ruthless, but still has some honor and nobility. Never seemed TRULY evil, and it’s plain to see why now.
The Ilse Witch without a doubt. I just wonder with her abilities, when the Ellcrys starts to fail again, if she, with the demon and monster hordes at her command, escape their imprisonment, what havoc would she bring upon the four lands (and beyond)? And even more, would the Druids be able to defeat her?
The obvious answer of Ilse Witch for sheer power is problematic for me, because you can’t anticipate what she would do: call you friend, sacrifice you to the enemy during the fight to facilitate her own win, turn on you after all was said and done, you never know.
But Rimmer Dall was the essence of self-control. His plans took years to come to fruition, demonstrating patience and focus to keep his goals in mind, yet he was willing to alter his tactics to accommodate changes in real-world events. Combined with the power of a Shadown-Lord, he would make the perfect anti-ally.