Ridley (Metroid)
Throughout the history of the "Metroid" series, Ridley has received positive reception as the series antagonist. He is widely considered one of the most renowned and best Nintendo villains of all time and is regarded as a favorite amongst both the "Metroid" fandom and the series's developers. Nintendo Power listed him as their sixth favorite Nintendo villain, citing both his involvement in the death of Samus's parents as well as his determination, dying at Samus' hands many times yet always coming back. Computer and Video Games editor Mike Jackson described Ridley as a "fan favorite." GameDaily called him the 16th greatest Nintendo character, commenting that he "beats Mother Brain by a mile as the coolest Metroid villain." IGN editor Jesse Schedeen called Ridley the real villain of the "Metroid" series, commenting that he would have to be included in a "Metroid" film if one were made due to him being too important to leave out. 1UP.com editor Nadia Oxford described the Nintendo Comics System version of Ridley as being more of a "squashed bug" than a "fearsome reptile." WatchMojo.com ranked Ridley at #3 in their Top 10 Nintendo Villains list. The 1UP.com staff listed the battle with Ridley in "Super Metroid" as among the most iconic in Nintendo history. They stated that his appearance in "Super Metroid" is more memorable than any other appearance in the "Metroid" series, and that his return from the original game added some familiarity to "Metroid" fans. GamesRadar listed him third on their list of video game villains who will never stay dead, calling him Samus's "great white whale" that, even while he has tormented her throughout her life, she just cannot seem to kill. Gaming Nexus criticized the lack of fellow "Metroid" villain Kraid in "", but stated that the developers made up for it by adding the best Ridley battle in the series's history. IGN editors Phil Pirrello and Richard George listed Ridley as the second most deserving Nintendo character for inclusion in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", stating that Samus was the only playable character in the game to represent the "Metroid" series (despite it being one of Nintendo's most famous and revered), and that the inclusion of Ridley would broaden the series's range. Overall, he is seen as one of the best Nintendo characters in general. In 2018, Watchmojo.com ranked him #1 on their "Top 10 Most Anticipated New Characters In Smash Ultimate" list.
Solo (Boyd novel)
The primary antagonist of the novel is Kobus Breed, a mercenary with a disfigured face and a permanently weeping eye who had previously served with the Rhodesian Light Infantry in Matabeleland; Olen Steinhauer, writing in "The New York Times" thinks the scarred villain to be "an obligatory nod toward the requirements of the Bond formula". Some writers are unimpressed with Breed; Robert Crampton of "The Sunday Times" thinks that the character "feels more like a henchman than a proper power-crazed villain. He has menace, but no ambition. You wait for the evil genius to turn up—but he never does", while David Sexton in the "London Evening Standard" thinks the character "lacks charisma", and David Connett in the "Sunday Express" considers him "a colourless character in comparison with factual and fictional counterparts". The journalist Geoffrey Wansell in the "Daily Mail" disagreed and Breed, along with a second villain, millionaire Hulbert Linck, were as strong as some of Fleming's villains; Steinhauer also thought that the novel's villains were realistic, "motivated by simple greed yet clever enough to be legitimately dangerous". There are two main female characters in "Solo"—a horror film actress, Bryce Fitzjohn and the local MI6 contact Efua Blessing Ogilvy-Grant; rather like many of Fleming's female characters, both are "determined females who are not to be patronised by Bond".