knight rider online

Good stories almost always have good villains. Here are my top 5 favorite villains from Knight Rider '08:
5. KARR, Knight to King’s Pawn

I intentionally put KARR at the bottom of my list of favorites as a form of protest: they screwed up by not creating an interesting character. Instead of having KARR be an integral part of the storyline, they essentially gave him a monologue in the middle of an action sequence in the last 10 minutes to explain everything that was going on. Still, I can’t argue with a transforming killer robot and the battle sequence was pretty cool.

4. Esteban Bahia, Fly by Knight

He held a kid hostage and used him as a human shield? Well that’s just mean. I know people get upset if I call Knight Rider a “children’s show”, so let’s just say KR is often best when it is “kid inclusive”. And one of the best ways to let kids relate to the show is to put young characters in the middle of the action. You have to be careful not to put children in TOO much jeopardy, but by putting Danny in danger it created a good bond between him and Mike.

3. Alex Torres, series regular

Wait a minute... isn’t he one of the good guys? Well, sort of. Internal conflict makes for interesting characters (see: Jennifer Knight) and I really liked the dynamic between Torres and Graiman. I sort of think of them as being the two sides of Wilton Knight; Graiman is the heart and Torres was the “making my own rules” guy. The team always mistrusted him and he certainly had a dark side. Not only did he unleash KARR, but he also had a guy’s thumb cut-off. Pretty cold.

2. Walt Cooperton, Knight of the Hunter

Mark Pelligrino is simply a great actor. (The producers of Lost seemed to think so.) He’s a little mysterious, a little creepy and just might be a little crazy. Those are the traits I look for in a bad guy.

1. Christopher Stevens, Don’t Stop the Knight & Day Turns Into Knight

All TV villains should be this fun. Arrogant, sarcastic, wise-cracking... We usually expect our heroes to deliver all the best one-liners but Christopher was throwing out zingers and knocking the team down a few notches each time. An awful lot happened in the two-parter (this was the beginning of the series reboot) and Christopher was right there in the middle of it all.

Good post and I agree. I would add that when it comes to good storytelling, a villain tends to be smarter than the hero only to the extent of what he does has purpose without boundries - the hero has to learn how to recognize their purpose and boundries in order to overcome the villain. The more sinister and calculated the plan, the greater the threat to the hero. A good villain doesn't just kill without reason or rely on weapons - a good villain strives to take the hero to his/her limits for as long as it takes - mentally, physically, and emotionally - before they move in for the final kill. K.A.R.R. had no time to plan, therefore no substance to really define anything overly memorable - unlike KARR in KITT vs. KARR who had time to configure a clear plan and executed it to the letter, save for the anamoly of KITT having the ability to deflect a laser.

Christopher Stevens (Rick) was fantastic, very much like The Joker was in The Dark Knight. Memorable, intelligent, and one of those characters where you really didn't know what the true intent was until the final curtain. Chris caused Mike to think outside the box in order to overcome the challenge of the "speed" test and even then, it was just one facet of his larger agenda.

I'm also pleased to see Torres listed, I would in no way classify him as a hero but more "playing the hero" to execute a greater sinister agenda. Deception at its core. The way he wrote off Mike, Charles, and KITT showed his true colors before his demise. In typical storytelling fashion though - even the best villains make the mistake of getting too overconfident with their handiwork and in the end, it's their greatest downfall.

=VK=

excellent thread! i agree with all. christopher stevens did bring a rare character depth int the show and the 2-parter was excecuted well. i still think karr would have been much better had it been a 2-parter...

i agree with the number 2 villain, because he was a man obsessed with an ideology. When you have someone who is obsessed like that with a particular belief, they are nearly unstoppable because you cannot reason with them.

Victor Kros wrote:The more sinister and calculated the plan, the greater the threat to the hero. A good villain doesn't just kill without reason or rely on weapons...

Absolutely. Expanding on that, it's all about "motivation". What was the original KARR's motivation? He didn't want to go back to the slammer. It was simple and we understood all of his actions throughout the entire episode. With the new KARR, we really didn't know what was going on until the very end, that KARR wanted to merge with Mike. That's just weird. But if they explained it at the beginning of the episode, and KARR spent the hour trying to get back with his original driver, then we would have had a real character with real motivation.

Actually, i kind of liked Galt, from the finale- i HATED Christopher stevens, and not in a good way.

"All TV villains should be this fun. Arrogant, sarcastic, wise-cracking... We usually expect our heroes to deliver all the best one-liners but Christopher was throwing out zingers and knocking the team down a few notches each time."

The role that should have been given to KARR.

Irony wrote:The role that should have been given to KARR.

Absolutely, positively, 100% in agreement. I am perfectly fine with their concept of KARR as a killer robot, but they completely messed up the character. And ultimately, it's the character that's more important.

I still can't believe they got Peter Cullen to voice KARR. Not that I can't believe they wanted him but that he actually did it...but then again Val Kilmer was KI3T, another name not to be taken lightly.

I wish too that the KARR episode was a "two parter" That would have made more time to explain KARR and Mike's past, and even could've had the Hoff in the second part of the ep...... I kinda wish that KRO ep on TKR had two parts as well......something extra to give more detail to the story.....

I agree, I wanted to see more of that flashback scene where Mike asks KARR what he did and they show people on the ground. I wanted to see how and why KARR changed his programming and killed 7 people and why he was built in the first place.

Biggest villian in this series.
N.B.C. !!

K.A.R.R. (09) wrote:I agree, I wanted to see more of that flashback scene where Mike asks KARR what he did and they show people on the ground. I wanted to see how and why KARR changed his programming and killed 7 people and why he was built in the first place.

I always wondered about that myself, that very brief flashback just wasn't enough for my liking, but i definetly agree that it would have been a good idea to go more in depth with that whole story angle,KARR just seemed very one track minded in the 08 series, even more so than he was in trust doesn't rust.