Do we like Scorpius?
A character from Farscape (1999-2004)
Our score: 3 out of 10. Brilliant, patient and tragic, but he tortures people to get what he wants. We'd admire his mind and still keep him well away from the crew.
Scorpius is introduced late in season one as the commander of a Peacekeeper base. He is the show's main antagonist from then on. Crichton is a human astronaut thrown across the galaxy, and he ends up carrying wormhole knowledge in his head. Scorpius spends the series chasing him for it.
He is a Scarran-Sebacean hybrid. He was one of the products of a Scarran breeding program and was mistreated as a child. He wears a cooling suit because his body overheats, and he speaks softly and politely. Only in extreme rage does he slip into a Scarran growl. His hatred of the Scarrans drives everything he does. That gives him a comprehensible motive, and it makes him one of the more interesting villains in sci-fi.
Our score is low because of the method. He is patient and intelligent, but he is also unspeakably cruel when he wants something. He puts Crichton through terrible things, including a neural clone planted in his head, and treats the crew as tools. The sympathetic backstory explains him but doesn't excuse him.
Over seasons three and four he shifts from straight villain to something closer to an uneasy anti-hero. He ends up working alongside the Moya crew, though Crichton never fully trusts him. That earns him a point or two, but not a place on our side.