Silmaril Awards 2026 Voting Form
60 Nefarious Villains descended on my home over the past week.
Thanks for that.
I am currently hiding in my closet, trying not to make much noise. These people are bad news, friends, and when they ask for seconds, they don’t just raise their dishes and say something like, “Please, mum, can I have some more?” No. They threaten torture and painful deaths and all my loved ones.
It’s a good thing this isn’t my actual house. No way was I going to have all those villainous characters anywhere near my family. No! Instead, we’ve rented this lovely AirBnB and, knowing whom we would be hosting, it has all the best of everything: a large pool, tennis courts, foosball, air hockey, an enormous kitchen, and enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own… okay, that last bit was achieved by magic… you’re right, 60 bedrooms is not something you can normally find in the listings. But Dylanna and her sisters were very helpful in that respect. Dalmir pitched in a lot, too.
Anyway, you’re not here to listen to me complain about death threats. You want to know who made the top 5 in the Most Nefarious Villain category!
It was a tough fight to the finish, but though we had a 3-way tie, it was for 3rd, 4th, and 5th place, so I didn’t need to be a tie-breaker. (Phew, I don’t think I’d be able to handle dealing with that particular issue if the villains had caught wind that I might have to do that particular duty)!
1. Lady Gisela from Keeper of the Lost Cities - Narcissistic, malicious, and NOT a good mother by any stretch of the imagination, this woman is pretty awful. My kids say I can’t say much more due to spoilers, but trust me, she’s awful.
2. Captain Hook from Peter Pan - Ah, the evil pirate who haunted many of our childhoods. With a vendetta against Peter that knows no bounds, this hooked menace will stop at nothing to rid Neverland of his arch nemesis.
3. Sir Devin from Dragons in Our Midst - A ruthless dragon-slayer who believes all dragons can only be evil and hates them with ever fibre of his being.
4. The Horned King from the Chronicles of Prydain - A mighty and much-feared war-leader, the Horned King is bent on defying the sons of Don and ruling Prydain. He takes joy in acts of death and fear, and is an exceedingly cruel warrior.
5. Uun from the Turrim Archive - Uun is a clever and cunning enemy, willing to sacrifice people by the thousands in order to achieve his own ends. A puppet master who often works from the shadows, using others to achieve his own ends. He delights in the idea of taking his rightful place on the throne of Turrim and ruling with an iron hand.
And those are your 2026 Most Nefarious Villains who have made the finalist list!
To vote, click on the button below, which will take you to the voting form. Here is the link in case the button doesn’t work for any reason: https://www.silmarilawards.com/vote/
All 10 categories (and 50 finalists) are on the voting form in this one delightful place. If you don’t know some of the characters on the list, you can read about them more at the various host blogs! Maybe you will find some ideas for new books to read in the coming year!