The top 10 villains in fiction

Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) was born in Wexford on the South-East coast of Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father (an elementary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama teacher). After leaving school he got his degree from Dublin university and qualified as a primary school teacher, returning to work in Wexford. In 2001 the first Artemis Fowl book was published and he was able to resign from teaching and concentrate fully on writing.

Colfer's latest book is The Reluctant Assassin, the first in his new W.A.R.P. series.

One of the author's top 10 villains in fiction, as told to the Guardian:

John Silver - Treasure Island

The silver-tongued devil who won Jim's affections before he betrayed him. The pirate who made peg-legs fashionable. This is such a famous villain that he had kids all over the world screwing up their faces and growling "arrrr, Jim lad". A beautifully written skinful of nastiness.

Read about another book on the list.

Treasure Island also appears on Charlie Fletcher's top ten list of swashbuckling tales of derring-do, Robert McCrum's list of the ten best first lines in fiction, John Mullan's list of ten of the best pirates in fiction, and among Mal Peet's top ten books to read aloud, Philip Pullman's six best books, and Eoin Colfer's six favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue