The scariest Forsaken

[Alanna]

Okay, so I'm not talking about which of the Forsaken has been the most successful villain or done the most damage or been the smartest, cleverest, etc. Just which one do you find the most frightening, from a reader's POV? I first read the books when I was pretty young and proabably still afraid of the dark to some extent So this is something I remember. Here are mine:

 

Semirhage - She, to me, is by far the scariest, always has been and still is, for me. Even before we ever see her, the other Forsaken are always going on about how she likes to cause pain just for the pleasure of it. Which we then see, the first time we see her, when she's very methodicaly torturing that Aes Sedai (is it Cabriana? I can't remember, haven't gotten there in my reread yet). I remember finding her just as creepy as I had imagined. And then she continues to be the way through the whole series. A lot of the Forsaken start out pretty impressive and then just utterly fail after a while, but Semi never really does. There is that one moment when Cadsuane takes her over her knee and humiliates her - which is awesome - but shortly after that, you get her POV again and she is still just as frightening. She's vengeful and angry, and she certainly come out swinging when she gets free.

 

I remember finding Lanfear and Moghedian pretty scary the first time I read the books, though not so much anymore. Lanfear, especially, I just find kind of funny now, but the first time I read the books, she was scary - I think because she's really one of the first Forsaken we meet.

 

Moghedian is another one I don't really think of as scary at all anymore - she's fallen pretty far - but I just reread TSR and FOH, and she's pretty creepy and scary in those books. When she first comes on in TSR and uses Compulsion on Elayne and Nynaeve, and they tell her everything...when she's sneaking around the Liandrin and co. and they don't even realize it...super creepy. She seems to go down a notch when Nynaeve beats her at the end of TSR, but she gets pretty scary again in FOH when she nearly kills Nynaeve and Birgitte in T'A'R. I think the fact that Nynaeve spends a while being utterly terrified of her is part of what makes me, as a reader, afraid of her in those books.

 

Of the men, I'd say Demandred scares me the most, probably because the fact that we have don't know what he's up makes him sort of mysterious and creepy. I was talking about this with my sister the other day, and when I mentioned Demandred as scary, she was like 'Really? He hasn't done much." And I was like "Exactly! He could be anywhere. That's creepy!"

 

So. Anyone else?

[TootThatHorn]

Moggy seemed pretty freaky to me; messing around with dreams sounds pretty terrifying to me, just thinking about the potential of it, with the more we learned about TAR really just made the potential of what she could do scary. May also have to do with me currently watching Nightmare on Elm Street 3 lol.

[ThorkinBarrimore]

The Ishamael/Belza'man thing freaked me out intially because, for the longest time, I couldn't figure out if he was

the Dark One (being present in all those Portal Stone worlds and being able to view the Pattern so well) or not.

Semirhage is kinda cool and kinky but, I'd have to say that Demandred is awesome because we don't know who he

is due to just entering the picture in the 11th book and beyond.

[Alanna]

Oh, I forgot about the rat thing. Yeah that was pretty scary. Ishamael gets less scary for me, I think, because as you go on, the more you realize he's just totally off his rocker insane.

[Darksmoon]

I would go with Semirhage. That first scene when she is torturing the Aes Sedai and her thoughts about it are very warped.

[Mulk]

If you're being held prisoner, Semirhage is the one who would strike the most fear. In the broader aspect of things, Ishamael is far the worst, imo. He uses the premise that evil must win and that good has no ultimate hope to justify attempting to end reality. He lost hope, in effect. As cruel as Semirhage is, she doesn't want to end all existence. Or so it seems to me.

 

I continue to wonder how many of the Forsaken would have cast their lot with the Shadow if they knew as Ishamael does that what the Dark One intends is not forever ruling the world, but the destruction of everyone, including themselves.

 

/two cents

[A Rant Lord]

Too bad he died before his time, I think Be'lal was pretty scary dude from what we've read about him.

[Barid Bel Medar]

There are different types of fears, and a Forsaken to go with them

 

Semirhage: Pure fear if you were a prisoner. However, if you aren't antagonizing her, she is pretty cool and not really all that scary. It is her reputation that brings fear, and the possibility of her actions.

 

Graendal: She is just creepy, what with her keeping all her pets under compulsion. Just thinking about her strange actions makes her creepy, but at the same time, you wouldn't fear pain from her as much as Semirhage.

 

Demandred: The guy is dominating. Sheer power and intensity would overwhelm you. You wouldn't want to face him on the battlefield, and you wouldn't want him to get angry at you. You would rather fight Semirhage and Graendal over Demandred. However, he isn't as weird as Graendal or Semirhage. He does not delight in cruelty or sick pleasures. If you got in his way, he would simply kill you, or find the quickest way to get what he wants, not torture you to insanity.

 

Moridin: In my opinion, he is the most scary overall. He dominates, he is very powerful and very dangerous. he is totally insane, and not afraid to risk his own life and sanity. He is working to destroy the world and find obilvion. Death and destruction are nothing to him, he doesn't care one bit about the world or people. The others want to rule over the world, to show they are the greatest, to enjoy any pleasure or to freely explore their interest. Moridin wants everything gone, destroyed, so balefire and destroying things on a massive scale does not phase him, and makes him dangerous. Lastly, he is one cruel bastard. Semirhage has an obscure fetish, but her reasons are somewhat understandable. Moridin knows what he does is evil and he revels in it. He enjoys destroying random rats with the True Power. Semirhage at least has a purpose, and she doesn't kill on a whim.

[Elgee]

On the surface Semi would seem the scariest to me, but when I dig deeper, it's Aginor. He's the guy who created the Shadowspawn, and apparently did several other experiments on humans and animals.

 

 

During the War of Power Aginor creates the Shadowspawn. He tests over a hundred Myrddraal to destruction but cannot learn how they travel in shadows. (LoC,Ch6)

 

 

It's difficult to comprehend the nature of their evil, but if you think of Aginor as, for instance, Joseph Mengele, it becomes clearer. I would think that RJ based his Forsaken on people like that.

[Sid]

Lanfear. Hell has no wrath...

 

That scene on the docks, wow. She didn't have a plan. She just flipped out. Rand was far from alone, but it didn't even matter. She was killing everybody, and taking him away. Only an incredibly heroic effort by someone who knew in advance (and even that was pretty much by accident) what was going to happen kept her from doing just that. She heard a rumor that the man she wanted slept with another woman so she came within a hair's breadth of ending the hopes of all humanity for an age. That's scary.

[YourNewDragonAndGod]

Ismael/Baalzamon is easoly the scariest. While Lanfear is the most laughable and useless of the forsaken

[fuzz1717]

On the surface Semi would seem the scariest to me, but when I dig deeper, it's Aginor. He's the guy who created the Shadowspawn, and apparently did several other experiments on humans and animals.

 

 

During the War of Power Aginor creates the Shadowspawn. He tests over a hundred Myrddraal to destruction but cannot learn how they travel in shadows. (LoC,Ch6)

 

 

It's difficult to comprehend the nature of their evil, but if you think of Aginor as, for instance, Joseph Mengele, it becomes clearer. I would think that RJ based his Forsaken on people like that.

 

I agree. In general, Aginor committed the biggest atrocity (i think he killed like thousands if not millions of ppl in the aol making and feeding shadowspawn). In the current age he doesnt do much until he is reborn, so only looking at what was done in the current age i think it would be semi. Only her and ishy managed to severely hurt Rand, and Semi was ultimately the one who pushed Rand to Darth Rand with the whole dominion band thing

[hypmatt]

Lanfear. Hell has no wrath...

 

That scene on the docks, wow. She didn't have a plan. She just flipped out. Rand was far from alone, but it didn't even matter. She was killing everybody, and taking him away. Only an incredibly heroic effort by someone who knew in advance (and even that was pretty much by accident) what was going to happen kept her from doing just that. She heard a rumor that the man she wanted slept with another woman so she came within a hair's breadth of ending the hopes of all humanity for an age. That's scary.

 

Pretty much sums up my thoughts, her complete irrationality is what's scary.

 

Other than her I'd have to say moridin as feels like he would destroy you in a heartbeat.

[Elgee]

Lanfear. Hell has no wrath...

 

That scene on the docks, wow. She didn't have a plan. She just flipped out. Rand was far from alone, but it didn't even matter. She was killing everybody, and taking him away. Only an incredibly heroic effort by someone who knew in advance (and even that was pretty much by accident) what was going to happen kept her from doing just that. She heard a rumor that the man she wanted slept with another woman so she came within a hair's breadth of ending the hopes of all humanity for an age. That's scary.

 

PMS is a beatch :P

[TristanWebb]

In EotW, either Aginor or Bethamal, the one who wore a mask and just laughed. If you saw that coming for you with a fist of trollocs behind him you would run scared.

[makaveli422]

Lanfear was pretty scary for me too. I think because she just won't take no for an answer. She really reminds me of a girl that used to stalk me in high school. At times she is ok to talk to and others she is just off of her rocker bats**t crazy. Then you realize that talking to her at all is just encouragement to keep trying.

[Luckers]

Semirhage in terms of aboslute worst nightmare running into her in a dark alley. Graendal because she was the smartest and most dangerous from a political level.

[avernite]

If I had to share my eternity with Semirhage's gentle attention I'd like the world to end, too.

 

So, Semirhage it is.

 

Though Ishy is scary in the 'he kinda makes sense in his twisted way but still wants the world to end' since it means, unlike with Semmy, you can't just see from who he was and is just HOW scary he is.

[Maleshub]

Semirhage by a mile. Just look at her handiwork in Seandar. When she does a job she usually does it very well. And she easily broke Rand. She had him begging her in less than 2 minutes. A very scary woman!

[fuzz1717]

PMS is a beatch :P

 

Rofl, that was such a win.

[skyfirex]

Moridin, and this scene was the clincher for me:

 

He seized the True Power without thought, the saa billowing black across his sight. His fingers tightened in the wrought-iron grille across the window; the metal groaned, twisting, not from his grip but from the tendrils of the True Power, drawn from the Great Lord himself, that wreathed around the grillework, flexing as he flexed his hand in anger. The Great Lord would not be pleased. He had strained from his prison to touch the world enough to fix the seasons in place. He was impatient to touch the world more, to shatter the void that contained him, and he would not be pleased. Rage enveloped Moridin, blood pounding in his ears. A moment past, he had not cared where those women went, but now . . . .

 

Abruptly he heard something other than the thundering drumbeat of his own fury. A bubbling sound. He looked at Madic curiously, and stepped back from the spreading puddle on the floor. It seemed that in his anger he had seized at more than the wrought-iron screen with the True Power. Remarkable how much blood could be squeezedfrom a human body.

[MarkDiLillo]

Moridin, and this scene was the clincher for me:

 

He seized the True Power without thought, the saa billowing black across his sight. His fingers tightened in the wrought-iron grille across the window; the metal groaned, twisting, not from his grip but from the tendrils of the True Power, drawn from the Great Lord himself, that wreathed around the grillework, flexing as he flexed his hand in anger. The Great Lord would not be pleased. He had strained from his prison to touch the world enough to fix the seasons in place. He was impatient to touch the world more, to shatter the void that contained him, and he would not be pleased. Rage enveloped Moridin, blood pounding in his ears. A moment past, he had not cared where those women went, but now . . . .

 

Abruptly he heard something other than the thundering drumbeat of his own fury. A bubbling sound. He looked at Madic curiously, and stepped back from the spreading puddle on the floor. It seemed that in his anger he had seized at more than the wrought-iron screen with the True Power. Remarkable how much blood could be squeezedfrom a human body.

 

Ya, damn...that is masterful writing imo. Just awesome on every level.

 

I'd say Moridin is the scariest as well. I would also credit him as being the smartest of the bunch (unless Demandred really surprises us) because he has figured out the end game of the DO and his manipulation skills seem unreal over the last 3000 years. Graendal is definitely intelligent, but most of her intelligence seems to revolve mental manipulation. She seems to lack in other areas and be relatively idiotic.

[safwd]

I have three that are scary for different reasons.

 

Moridin- Sure he is bat shit crazy but that isnt the reason, he just doesnt care anymore. He is the only forsaken who truely knows what will happen if the DO wins (how the others have not figured it out is beyond reason) and he just doesnt care. He is ready for it all to be over. That is truely scary.

 

Semi- She will do anything (and probably has) to a human body just to see what the end result is. Sadistic to the extreme and does it with no emotion what so ever. Scary.

 

Aginor- The stuff that he was doing with genetic research back in the day was disturbing, and he did it for fun.

[Entreri]

Semirhage by far, very likely the vilest 'human' being to have ever lived. Imagine if she captured you!

 

The deadliest to face in combat would obviously be Ishamael.

[Hagazussa]

I do not find the Forsaken that scary, off course if I had ever met a 3000 year old mage with more powers than your average Marvel superhero team and a morality that would make half the same company's villains cringe then I would probably soil myself, but as they are written I must admit that I rather go cool than thinking they are scary. It is about the same as with Dracula or Transformers, I do not find the villains scary, yes in real life if I met a lovesick, 500 year old vampire or a 10 meter tall, armed to the teeth alien killer robot with a bad temper then I would probably start to pray for the Gods to save me, but in the fiction these characters are just not presented in a scary way. If I had to choose however I would probably say Rahvin, he is a sly one and turn his enemies against their own friends and that is a pretty scary concept.