MTV.com held a “Harry Potter World Cup” to determine the best Potter character ever, and here’s the result:
Yes, Severus Snape beat out Ron Weasley in the finals. And in a big NextMovie.com poll, readers picked Lestrange as best villain, Dobby as best “magical creature,” McGonagall and Lupin in a tie for best Hogwarts teacher, Dumbledore’s death as most unforgettable moment, and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as favorite movie thus far.
I have no horse in these particular races, but I’m not nearly the Harry Potter fanatic that you might be. So, you know what to do: Pick your Potter favorites — best character, best villain, best movie, best anything — and post ’em in the comments. Let’s compare notes while waiting to see Part 2.
The interview with Alan Rickman referenced Potter Puppet Pals, which I somehow missed entirely when they first came out. Quite amusing! How did I never hear about them before now?
fave character: Tonks
Fave villain: Barty Crouch Jr., Peter Pettigrew, Lucius Malfoy
Fave movie: Prisoner of Askaban
Fave teacher: All of them, hard to pick one out.
Fave Book: Sorcerer’s stone
Fave part of the whole Harry Potter thing: Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis and Robert Patterson (just in the one movie not twilight, ugly in twilight but goblet so hot.)
My favorite character in the books was Snape and finding out he was going to be played by Rickman is the only thing that convinced me to see the movies.
Snape was the reason I read the books in the first place.
Luna is next on my list.
Best Movie – Half Blood Prince.
Hi Perry, Sorry to be nit picky, but the Harry Potter World Cup was done by MTV Movies Blog on mtv.com, not mtv.com itself. I know those guys worked super hard on it, so I wanted to make sure they got the credit they deserve.
Thanks!
The way Ron was portrayed in the films was disappointing. He just seemed to be the goofy side-kick that always got himself into a new kind of disaster and his character barely developed. He just suddenly seemed to be this pretty fiercely loyal guy (Deathly Hallows pt1 being the exception, though he did come back!) who could kick a bit of ass. Perhaps the masses just LIKE the goofy side-kick.
Dumbledore and Snape are in a lot of ways very much the same. From the very beginning Harry has no doubt in his mind that Dumbledore wants what’s best for him and that Snape is trying to bring him down. (Whether it’s subtracting House Points or trying to get him killed a la Goblet of Fire.) Yet we come to learn, as does our hero, that all along, both were conspiring to force Harry into the perfect position to get things done. Dumbledore did it elegantly, but alone he couldn’t have done so well. If it wasn’t for Snape’s unique position in Harry’s life, things wouldn’t have worked out half as well.
The thing I love most about the Harry Potter franchise is that all of the main characters are necessary in this way. Harry’s world acts so much like our own that it becomes nearly believable. In that way, it’s so difficult to choose ONE character as a favorite. I can’t even give the “Most Impact On The Course Of Events” award to just one character!
As it were, I find Snape’s and Lupin’s stories the most intriguing because one is fleshed out fairly well and the other…not so much. (Of course, this could be said about just about any of the character’s in the Marauder’s era.)
I just hope the Harry Potter legacy doesn’t die out too quickly. I’d hate to have to see my future children’s grimaces while I recount the epic story of my youth. =)
I have to agree with Snape as the best character (although it is a toug call). My bias comes from a slight crush on Mr. Alan Rickman, however. =)
If the picks were based on the books, then I’d agree with the top 2 hands down, though I’d be slightly more in favor of Ron! In the books, Ron goes through a more significant character arc then the films where he’s mostly reduced to comic relief/sidekick until Movie 7, Part 1. But Snape steals the show when you dive into his backstory.
Best villain: Dolores Umbridge – so creepily frightening in the book and the movie (I shall not tell lies!)
Best Book: Prisoner of Azkaban – the story really starts picking up, delving more into the past of Harry’s parents and giving us Lupin, Sirius, and Wormtail, and it’s much darker, growing in maturity as the kids do. It really disappoints me that the movie was so awful.
Best Movie: Deathly Hallows Part 1 – other than Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone, it’s the only movie that sticks to the original narrative without feeling like the editor chopped the whole thing up. Unfortunately, the previous movies didn’t make it easy to follow along once you get to Book 7.
Character: Tonks
Villain: Lestrange
Movie: Azkaban
Teacher: Lupin
Neville (he’s just great)
Are we voting best on the books or the movies? Best character is definitely Severus Snape, and that is because the 7th book completely defines all 7 years we see him and the perspective we saw him with. It would be tough for me to vote against him as best actor in the series. 2nd best actor in the movies is the woman that plays Delores Umbridge. She nailed that role and character perfectly.
Dobby is the best “magical” creature with a story. Hedwig is the best creature with a story. However the horses that pull the carriages that you can only see if you have seen death are my favorite, because it was suddenly, “Whoa! They weren’t just pulled by magic?”
Best professor has to be Barty Crouch Jr. as Allistair Moody. Not only did he teach the kids a lot in that one year, he taught defense against the dark arts while being a dark wizard! He was actually teaching the students how to defend against him!
Best villain is tough. How do you vote against a wizard that figured out how to continue his reign of terror by coming back from the dead? And not just once, but 7 different possibilities!
Best movie so far is NOT Deathly Hallows Part 1. That was a setup movie, and while good, not the best. Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire are definitely better. Half-Blood Prince might be better too.
Most unforgettable moment is Dobby’s death. I knew Dumbledore’s death was coming for awhile. Dobby’s death was not only sad and surprising, but heroic.
I’m not surprise that Snape won best character and I’m not surprised it was left between him and Ron. They’re both two amazing characters and they’re beloved by everyone. Personally, my favorite character is Remus Lupin who knew how to love and accept everyone except himself.
My favorite villain Umbridge because she makes my skin crawl. It used to be Bellatrix until she killed Dobby and now I refuse to make her my favorite anything. That witch can go to hell.
My favortie badass is Neville Longbottom because who else has basically told Voldemort to go to hell and lived to tell the tale? You saw what happened to Regulus right? Second to him I’d pick Molly Weasley being a BAMF mom espeically with that whole “Not my daughter you bitch!” thing.
My favorite teacher is McGonagall because who doesn’t love a sarcastic, snarky, old lady teacher.
Dobby is everyone’s favorite creature. If you don’t love Dobby you have no soul, basically.
Seirously? Ron Weasley is the second best character? Ron was almost exclusively comedic relief and in the first two films, for the most part, hinders rather than helps. During the series he goes on a very flat emotional curve.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, is both a wise man and a bad ass. At no point do you doubt he knows what he’s doing and you always feel safe around him. That safety is, in fact, one of the major axioms the story is based upon. Without that safety Harry wouldn’t feel at home in Hogwarts.
Although I agree completely with the choice of Snape.