I know that I'm not eloquent. In a way , I am not all that well versed in litterature & vocabulary, making it hard for me to coherently explain my opinions . As for my fanfic , I'm still writing but I go slowly since I crave for coherency & want it to be somewhat decent .(& also that 2 people actually bother to read whatever I do & for that they have No Idea How Friggin Grateful I am for their patience & appreciation...)
Now this poster is a way to illustrate a Top 20. I'm giving the x-men villains that I a) Love or really like b) am interested in using c) will resurrect with a new plan in mind (rewriting the same stuff with them would be boring...) d) deserve more love & respect rather than the spite & hack writing most of them have been subjected to lately.(like being jobbed to make some A_hole look better instead of an epic send-off.
Just so you know kids, I'm kinda in hurry right now . So in short the villain , theme song(the one I thought 'd be fitting , open for debate of course), I'll explain the positions later (it'd help if you ask , pleeeeeaaaase......)

20 Sugar-Man [link]
Being from an alternate reality was never a valid argument to hate a character. Case in point this fine gentleman deserves being used in horror driven stories. I mean take a good look at the damn thing ! 2 meters tall, a hundred teeth with the size of bananas & a tongue as sharp as a spear. He's quite knowledgeable in genetics & core reactor & a size-changing cannibal. With the right artist, I'm convinced this guy can be shit-your-pants sort of scary as well as a formidable. Of course they forget about that....
I chose this theme since his appearance in AOA was just that damn creepy, besides he can smell fear !

19Lady Deathstrike
Now, while her reasons to chase Logan can be quite weird, Yuriko can be 2 kinds of adversary: the one that chases tirelessly for a vengeance or because , well , she was paid to. Other than that, she kills for self-defense (not that strange considering her line of work),& can sell you any cybernetic body part you want for a price & , if personnal, will fight you on even ground.

18Sauron
Dr Lykos looks like a flying pteranodon that eats energy through his palms, that's really comic book idea here people. Add to that the flair to the dramatic & Dr Doomesque rants, Sauron is always fun to read loudly. His stint with weapon X should end with regaining all of his intelligence to have his rightful place as a villain that is truly resilient to be a threat to a team. I aim to do that...

17Shadow King
Ahmal Farouk seems to get tired rather quickly , but there's still his malevolent hedonist side that makes him worthwile. The king is a man that can attack through mafia connections or your soul if you ever encounter him. These possessions have to be tweaked in the right way to keep their flavour...

16Arcade [link]
Ya know, seemingly ridiculous killers are sort of of rare these days. The theme I chose is not random at all because 1) they're blue-eyed redheads 2) Killing is their jobs except that our present friend is paid to do so 3) they look harmless but definitely aren't, which is an advantage. People definitely need to remember how frightening a mercenary that also bets his own life can be .And by that , I don't mean turning him into J. Dahmer, but to let you know that his attraction parks , corny as they can be, are made to kill... with style.

15Mesmero
Seriously , why is he that omitted in top lists? In his first appearances he managed to own the whole original+ & Polaris, & later Excalibur (with a no pushover roster either..). His weapon X agent run is whatgrants him his place & the way he uses them what makes him relatable is that we ALL WOULD DO WHAT HE DOES !( well nearly all of it..)

14 Omega Red
A soviet serial killer turned super soldier . Then once reprogrammed , became a kingpin with ambition... say what you will but Arkady deserves better than being the punchbag villain in that month's issue! For fuck sake people, No normal person would survive long enough within this guy 's range (death factor being a reason for starters) & to boot, he's skilled in brawling & killing! Such a formidable opponent still has untapped fuel in him, the cartoon already touched a particular trait that can be expanded with this particular quote "Do you know how painful it is to be a weapon, and spend the rest of your life unused ?", food for thought ain't it?

13Emplate [link]
I know what you're gonna say " come on, a Gen X villain?", YES, I've always believed the Gen X & X-force deserved to be the new x-men rather than be the rookies (which is why you always see me insisting on that point. My disgust for how they keep pulling them from their true badassery to just make them canon fodder knows no bound...). Marius has the greed & scary look to be enough of a nightmare inducing creature. He is glutton enough to take on many enemies powers at a time.Besides , he's the Michael Myers to Monet's Laurie...

12Exodus
GAAAh! How to speak of DuParis without getting unnerved at how stupidly writers hold the crusader back. What's wrong with Exodus ? He does have a fanatical & focused mind , yet does have enough honor to look badass rather than a single-minded killer (remember, he thinks he's indebted to Magneto... & YET THEY RARELY TRY USING THEM BOTH IN A TEAM-UP.) Anyhow, he can be a godsend when fighting a common threat & a true problem when you are on his way. Maybe they should have gone with the heir of Magneto plan after all...

11 Goblin Queen [link]
You'd have seen by now that while not being what I call a villainess per say, Maddie is still a formidable foe that needs a reestablishment. Let's see this, she's been hurt by Scott's depression & had her sanity broken to a thousand pieces by her "father".
I genuinely see that she should be used sparringly & for tragic horror driven stories (what would a broken mother do to restart her life from zero, why take it from someone else of course! By ...ANY...mean necessary...) . Being a clone is actually a valid enough motivation to go coockoo , especially when you've been thrown away in the trash... & as for the theme song , well , her "dad" looks like Rob Zombie when you look closer at it, & she " has blood on her skin dripping with sin" & I'll bring her back from the dead !


10Sebastian Shaw
Here's the thing , Shaw never seemed all that motivated by an ideology. He's more of " it's business, don't take it personally" kind of villainy, which doesn't make him less ruthless. The idea of the egotistical & successful businessman as a foe to the x-men is quite good, that's the Shaw i enjoy reading about. (& the lech they shat out later or the movie version? He 's neither a telepath nor a nazi for god sake...)

9Dark Beast [link]
I know that there's another mad scientist in this list but this one is a particular specimen. By Mad , I mean the doctor who would melt you in a protein goo for the sake of playing with your genes to see what we'll happen next FOR SCIENCE. Seriously reread AOA & you'll see why the beast earned this nickname . They really made him too tame... Let's give Hank a bit of a makeover, & by that I mean the right place to exploit his talents to the max. Where would guinea pigs mutants hide to be easily picked ?

8Selene [link]

The one word that should come to mind when talking anout the black queen herself is "predator". By all meaning of the words people, whatever they are , are her food. In the sack, she 's a praying mantis & in a fight she's a demoness, a super-powered Elizabeth Batory. Not only does she master her mutant gift to the perfection as well as mystical knowledge to organise her hunts. Thought to be a goddess by her people but seen as a devil by her foes. Was I clear enough about my appreciation here?

7Magneto [link]
Surprised that he'd be below the top 5? Be even more surprised that the ones below have more fuel as villains than the master of magnetism. No , he is not the X-men greatest foe,he's their mentor's greatest rival!I don't know why they always make him the star - he is NOT the most ideologically-enduring villain, not by a long shot.Nowadays he's whatever a writer makes of him & , while not always a bad thing, it goes sometimes beyond the boundaries of good taste. There's mustache twirling & large ham Stan Lee version; the tormented, ruthless yet principled , almost heroic version of Claremont (close to the TAS version); the frightening,violent , methodical & clever Lobdell/Nicieza one (close to the evolution version) & the (it must be said ) dull,idiotic, vulgar,pedophiliac ,drugged up, borderline retarded Magneto of Morrison (evil isn't necessarily stupidity, ya baldheaded junkie, the plan is... oh I'll develop another time.) ; and the (sorry) just plain dull washed up, cleaned of his sins ,poodle to the new Gary Stu in charge current version (one of the reason my fanarts & fic s are being made).
While tragic , his origin has dulled due to how many times he goes on & on & on & on about it. Mainly on this list because of the good stories that have been written with him (last one being ... well take a guess !)

6Mystique [link]
The femme fatale of the rogues gallery. While she does love Rogue like daughter & Irene like ... a lover (yeah , I'm not that well spoken, sorry), she dumped Kurt off a cliff after shagging the german baron (because I SAID SO!) & killed Graydon Creed the son she had with Sabretooth ( guess Vic's sperm has the power to pierce condoms!). Raven's biggest strength is that she's a spy first & foremost, both cartoons used her quiet well (although my preference leans towards the evolution version since he had a better place to antagonise the heroes.)

5Weapon X
To keep this short, I'm more interested in an organization that uses mutants & mutates while trying to get rid of rebellious elements rather than the whole Giant trash cans that KILL MUTANTS while cusing more collateral than said dangerous mutants (face it folks , the only convincing sentinel were a) the rare evolution version b)the OZT humansized Bastion led ones, & even those don't do much for me...). Besides, Trask , Stryker Sublime & Colcord pale in comparison with Jackson who's a really nuanced & cool backstabber & that knows how to pull people chains.

4Stryfe [link]
I always hear on forums "boring, whiny , Liefeld stuff , blah blah blah..." about this guy.To that I call BULLSHIT. Now if you look at him with open eyes , Stryfe actually has a lot of different cards to play as an antagonist. Think of him as a mixture of Souther from HNK & Annie Wilkes versatility with a flavour of shakespearesque ranting & you're close to the mark. He takes pettiness & turns it into a form of art, he conceived a plague to get to his brother & parents , causing a lot of people to get caught in between. We're talking about a kid who in well-spoken brattiness managed to create an army to follow him & making them think that he cared for them while he didn't give a damn. He should definitely be used as a larger scale threat rather than an anxilliary villain...

3Sabretooth
[link]
Kids, I am honestly disappointed at how many of you have forgotten what an amazing monster Victor Creed has always been. Some say that Logan can do without him, but I'd say the opposite is far closer to the truth. Sabes is the Hannibal Lecter +Freddy of x-men villains not only Wolverine. The whole savage animal brawling style & brutish appearance are a mask to an extremely clever, ruthless & manipulative bastard. Without any power or whatsoever , Victor loves mind screw that turn his victim into a psychotic mess since he'll deduce their shortcomings or if they have skeletons in the closet... THE GUY OWNED FRIGGIN XAVIER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Just by getting close to make Prof X admitting his failures.
And about Wolverine, well, without the supporting characters blike Jubilee or Enemies like Victor allow me to tell you that he becomes nothing more than a shell to stamp on covers. Yes kids, Wolvie needs Sabes , not the other way around!

2Mr Sinister [link]
One of the greatest mad scientists in comics & the embodiment of the tragic concept of thirst for knowledge being the ruin of the soul. Dr Essex does transcend the whole good/ Evil dichotomy, he's only interested in how the species shall improve over period of time. While his experiments have ruined countless lives, the man still believes in his mission for the sake of science & a better world; He's not concerned about human/mutant farrago, which already makes him beyond the racist A-holes.
In short, Nathaniel has never been one-note & a golden character whose relevance is equal to that of science & the ethical questions revolving around it.
Which is why this super-powered non-nazi Mengele is worthy of praise...

1 Apocalypse [link]
YOU HEARD RIGHT! This guy is not only oosing with potential but has the ingredients to be used in alot of stories, unlike Magneto who only has an on-off switch button when it comes to being the antagonist. En Sabah Nur on the other hand has a lot more going for him & deserves to have all the sides of his personality to be explored. He is actually polydimensional & compelling;
_ His survival of the fittest mantra is neither good nor evil. He is nothing more than the harbinger of The Strong - he's all-but the living incarnation of natural selection. His motives are amongst the most sincere of all, whilst at the same time are perhaps the most brutal. Apocalypse's overwhelming power has obviously not seen him win out - although at least in Cable's dystopian future he had- its the incredibly patient and utterly complex mind behind his actions that are most impressive. I would challenge pretty much any of the geniuses in the marvelverse to better Apocalypse on a good day. His enemity with Nathan & Sinister was really really underrated & unexplored.
_He has a tragic past. No make that lives through tragedy! He's the posterchild of rejected feared & hated because of his appearance, yet he never let that keep him down. The few people who loved were either killed or ended up betraying him. But Apoc DOESN't Bitch & moan about it! Give him credit for that! 5000 years of rejection & only earning fear & spite (I mean Archangel is really an ungrateful child isn't he?)
_The A buckle isn't more ridiculous than the guys wearing speedos on their trousers plus it means awesome for him & assholes to his enemies or the marvel writers that dare insult his greatness!
_ As for the whole " he does the same thing over & over", it's wrong. His goal is consistent, but the methods to achieve them are endless ! Hell in the cartoons (TAS & Evolution) Anytime he appeared he always did something different! Why Comic writers just don't see the depth & multifaceted potential of an egyptian ancient megamorph is just fucking beyond me ! It's really up to those goddamn hacks to do so!
So Say whatever you will , but Apocalypse is an amazing being that never has been appreciated for his true glorious epicness & keeps getting it denied from him while he's in fact far more interesting & deeper than what most people think !


Article over people, NOW PLEASE COMMENT ON WHO I OMITTED OR WHY YOU'D DISAGREE !

with thanks to youtube posters BrandonHexx
xavierprotocols & Deavi783 for their help !