Tomorrow begins the month-long 30 Days of Madness literary extravaganza. That means between battling the Day Job Dragon, being a parent to DMFRHs, and reinstating my war with Tony Horton and Shaun T, I’m completing a 100-page script through Scriptfrenzy, writing a 50,000 word novel AAANNNNDDD participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge, blogging for the next 30 days about villains.

And that’s what this post is about. Villains. Antagonists. The bad guys. The best part, to me, of any story.

See, as much as we identify with and extoll the virtues of our heroes and heroines, it is the villain that is the source of the conflict. The villain makes the story. Who would Harry Potter be without Voldemort? Some poor, emotionally fragile, mentally abused kid living under the stairs. who learns magic and becomes a non-descript student at Hogwarts. At best. Not even as noteworthy as Neville.

If there’s no Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker would have just been some kid—if he existed at all—fighting with his uncle about moisture farming IN THE FREAKING DESERT. Think about it: Chief Brody wouldn’t need a bigger boat, Ripley would have made it home on time, and we never would have heard Captain Kirk scream Khan’s name throughout the galaxy. Villains make the story.

So, for the month of April, we’re gonna take a little tour, you and I. We’re going to look at of some of the best villains I’ve found, pick apart their wicked little ways, and see what makes them tick. And along the way, I get to hop of some other blogs and introduce you to some new voices here. Should be fun.

And here are your 2012 Celebration of Wickedness winners!

Alien
Incredible Hulk
Cruella DeVille
Dracula
Venom
Freddy Krueger
Godzilla
The Clown from It
The House in Amityville Horror
Dr. Claw
Jaws
Joker
Lucifer
Megatron
Lex Luthor
Khan Noonien Singh
Overlook Hotel
Poltergeist
Evil Queen
Voldemort
Scar
Hannibal Lecter
Clubber Lang
Kyzer Soze
Darth Vader
Wicked Witch of the West
Magneto
Teddy Ruxpin
Ernst Blofeld
General Zod