The Villainydome: The Greater of 67 Evils

[Johnny Unusual]

Woo! It's evil time! Time to get NAAAAAASTY as we pit some of our favourite villain songs against each other. Here's the bracket! 24 hours to vote per match, unless something gives you more time.

Now it's also the first day of the prelim so I'll take it easy and only do ONE match up today but to make up for it, feel free to also post ONE song that you wish you could have included in your list but for some reason didn't.

PRELIM
Match 1
The first one we have @Kirin going with Shiny from Moana, with Jemaine Clement doing a Bowie impression as the evil Tamatoa. Tamatoa is a sinister giant crustacean that hordes all things shiny in the name of his own vanity and in a way parallels the hero Maui in their motivations are to be scene, though Maui does it with heroic acts (though may not truly understand heroism at this point. Against it is @Kishi's pick Possum Kingdom by the Toadies. The song is a sequel to the band's previous song I Burn and involves a sinister suicide cult. One of the cultist's spirit arrives in Possum Kingdom Lake in Fort Worth, hoping to find someone to join him.
Shiny - Tamatoa​

Possum Kingdom - Smoke Ghost Thing


As for what I wish I could have added was the catchy Oingo Boingo theme (and it's sequel Hol Horse-Boingo Combi), about one of the more comically inept Jojo villain duos; a boy with a comic book that tells the future 100% that is impossible to alter, and his burly protector, a master of disguise. Of course, the catch of the future telling comic is that while what you see is what you get, you might not know what you've really seen till it's too late.​

 

[Torzelbaum]

Shiny

One song I am kicking myself for not even remembering is this:
Four Fiends of the Elements - Hyadain

 

[SpoonyBard]

Your granny lied!

Shiny.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Shiny

 

[Exposition Owl]

Shiny. Let’s be bad guys.

 

[Issun]

Possum Kingdom is the better overall song, but Shiny is the better villain song so Shiny it is.

 

[Kishi]

Possum Kingdom

I'm disregarding all that Lore, though~

 

[Violentvixen]

Possum Kingdom

 

[Olli]

Shiny

 

[Daikaiju]

 

[Kirin]

Voting for my own nom 'cause it's so shiny.

But speaking of critters like possums and such, one amazing song that came to my attention too late to nominate is The Secret of Survival from... the 1996 live-action version of The Wind in the Willows?? Which is a baffling thing to exist? But anyway the number is amazing, and it's the theme for a villainous bunch of weasels.

 

[WildcatJF]

Shiny

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Tamatoa claws his way to the top with Shiny. Today, by what I swear is a total coincidence, the last two matches are @ThornGhost vs. @Kishi picks. I swear, the only thing I changed on the randomly generated list is someone started round one with their picks against each other, so I shifted it a bit.

Match 2

First, Thornghost brings us to the Room Where It Happens where a secret meeting with plans to create the new capital as Burr and Hamilton find themselves at odds again and this time Hamilton gets the upper hand... as Burr doesn't get an invite to this special meeting. Burr says there should be more transparency but he clearly wants to be a play maker, while Hamilton mocks him for having no actual values. Thornghost claims everyone is the villain in this one and that's the world of politics for you. Meanwhile, Kishi gives us The Monster by the Berlin based duo Stereo Total. The song is about a woman who flees from an ugly monster who puts a chain around every woman he loves. But something happens and she reciprocates... but it doesn't necessarily sound like a happy ending since it reiterates the "every girl he loves" fate at the end.

The Room Where it Happens - Hamilton, Burr and Various Leaders

The Monster - The Monster

Match 3
Then our last (?) ThornGhost/Kishi match up begins with Hamilton again (Thornghost went with a theme) with You'll Be Back by King George (Jonathan Groff), one of Hamiliton's goofier songs. There are lots of people of questionable intent in Hamilton but while many are players and manipulators, King George is a murderous tyrant and a big baby of a man, as detailed in this "kiss off" song. Meanwhile, we have our first video game theme! It's A Stranger I Remain by Free Dominguez from the heavily memed madness of Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance. No, it's not about that one hulking senator, it's about the cyborg super-assassin Mistral. I didn't read too much because I might play though the Metal Gear series one day (I've only played Solid 2) and also I suspect it might be a bit dense. All I let myself know is it's the song of the perfect killer who found killing dull until she found the right cause. If I have the details wrong, someone can correct me.

You'll Be Back - King George

A Stranger I Remain - Mistral

 

[Issun]

I finally saw Hamilton last year, and it was entertaining but it's also like yeah, this definitely from the brain of a neoliberal theater kid. However, The Room Where It Happens is a banger so this is my second vote in a row for a LMM penned song.

However, even he can't compete with the over-the-top nonsense of Metal Gear Rising, so my second vote goes to A Stranger I Remain.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Monster Be Back

 

[SpoonyBard]

Hamhamiltonilton

 

[Johnny Unusual]

OOPS, I made a mistake! The second song should be You'll Be Back. What'd I Miss will be down the line, though.

@SpoonyBard @Issun if you want to vote again.

 

[Torzelbaum]

A Stranger I Remain to The Room Where It Happens

Today, by what I swear is a total coincidence, the last two matches are @ThornGhost vs. @Kishi picks. I swear, the only thing I changed on the randomly generated list is someone started round one with their picks against each other, so I shifted it a bit.

So then why are all of the prelim winners going up against my picks?

 

[Violentvixen]

Hamilton

 

[Olli]

Hamilton

 

[Kishi]

The Monster and A Stranger I Remain.

 

[SpoonyBard]

OOPS, I made a mistake! The second song should be You'll Be Back. What'd I Miss will be down the line, though.

@SpoonyBard @Issun if you want to vote again.

Nah, my vote is unchanged.

 

[Kirin]

The Monster Be Back

 

[Daikaiju]

You'll be Back in the Room where It Happens

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Well, both Kishi picks got a decent showing but Hamilton still won the the day!

OK, the prelims are out of the way! Now the tourney begins for realsies! Let’s do it!

Round 1
Match 4

For are first match up are songs by goliath monstrosities who like to put some stank on it. Now we start with @Torzelbaum's own pick Mean Green Mother from Outer Space, the climactic musical number from Little Shop of Horrors. Audrey II (Levi Stubbs) finally reveals to Seymour that it isn’t just hungry for flesh, it’s planning global conquest (which he fails at or succeeds at depending on which version of the film you see. In all honesty, I think I like both endings, even they are polar opposite in tone). Against it is @Kirin's Shiny again, by Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement), mocking his underpowered foes while celebrating his glam. Fun fact, Tamatoa could be a coconut crab, which are also called “Robber crabs” and “palm thieves” and like shiny objects.

Mean Green Mother from Outer Space – Audrey II

Shiny - Tamatoa

Match 5

Next, @Kirin has another villain lined up for us, Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. In “Brand New Day”, Dr. Horrible, already backed into a corner when he’s told to kill, makes the decision about exactly who his victim will be. Against it is @Kishi's pick of In the Dark of the Night from 1997’s Anatasia, the Don Bluth/Gary Goldman film that loosely adapts the 1956 film based on the 1954 play. It’s a loose adaptation but really what they needed was an undead lich, especially one with such a rousing theme. Though Christopher Lloyd played Rasputin, his singing voice was Jim Cummings.

Brand New Day – Dr. Horrible

In the Dark of the Night – Grigori Rasputin​

 

[Torzelbaum]

Mean Green Mother
and
Brand New Day

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Issun]

 

[Kishi]

Jemaine Clement's David Bowie impression and In the Dark of the Night.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Oof that first match is rough. Both are great songs, but one is just a little better as a Villain Song.

In the Dark of Outer Space