Agree. Unaccountable elected officials are the worst affect us.

1) Robert Stadler
2) Hank Reardon.

I list Hank as villainous because he continued to support the ungrateful, (family) even though he received NO value at all from them of any kind. His actions in keeping them around are the epitome of Altruism. Self Sacrifice for no personal gain or benefit.

Mooch

To begin with, while I might agree John Galt is the foremost protagonist, I would not use the word "hero" to describe him. A hero must make a life-altering decision in the course of the narrative. That applies, not to John Galt, but to Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden. John Galt is an anti-villain: "villain" because he is on a single-minded quest and stops at nothing, and "anti-" because he serves a just cause, not an evil one.

That said: you ask who is the foremost antagonist in Atlas Shrugged--the worst villain in every sense of the word.

True enough, John Galt identified Robert Stadler as the one man he condemned most of all. He gave away the idea that became the heart of Project X. But even if he hadn't given it away, Floyd Ferris might have stolen it. It would be in keeping with his character.

No, I say the foremost villain in this piece, the one who had the most dangerously spiteful motive, was James Taggart. We find out, in the torture scene, what drives him. He does not want to live. He wants others, who achieve more than he does, to die. This is his goal: to get one of those high achievers onto the rack and make him scream. And he finally realizes what a monster he is, at the end. The realization reduces him to a quivering mass of jelly.

Compared to him, Robert Stadler has it easy. He goes out to try to seize Project X, only to find someone else occupying it ahead of him. They fight, and the fight kills them both.

Wesley Mouch. An unaccountable bureaucrat who thinks he can manage an economy. He is the worst kind of scum. He also took Reardons money and showed no signs of loyalty.

I thought that I would be adding to others' point totals for the most villainous character in AS. It is hard to believe no one has nominated Floyd Ferris yet.

"We're after power, and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real
trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men."

Rearden is one of my favorites, too. But, he might be quick to agree that John built a philosophy that was priceless to him. ;)

Great points. Another reason I admire Rearden is his persistence in resolving the conflicts that tormented him, i.e. understanding the philosophical issues. He certainly had the intellectual horsepower as evidenced by his inventive, engineering and business skills. But dealing with the philosophical ideas was his biggest hurdle and he overcame that one too.

I initially thought of James Taggart, too, but then I kept thinking of others, which is why I made the post. Great comments

just my opinion. conscious ;^)

I also found Rearden the most admirable. He refused to be stopped by anyone, including Mr. Thompson. But in the end saw the truth of his battle.

I agree. He is another example of benign neglect of his morals. He just let it happen.

I agree he was the second to come to mind. For some reason I initially thought of James Taggart, but Robert like you said, 'he knew the difference'

Not enough customers or output power. Maybe in the sequel to AS it would be proven, but in AS it's not as accomplished as the Tesla car is today.

Good one.

I choose Mr. Thompson because of current events. When an honest man accepts a leadership role it entails a responsibility commensurate to the power of the office and to abuse that power is the crime that has haunted man throughout history. Mr. Thompson only cares for the power and knows that his actions will lead to a disaster for all mankind but only hopes that retribution will not come until after his death. That is the ultimate evil to me but unfortunately, very common.

Robert Stadler...he knew the difference.

Don't forget that Galt produced a power station in the Gulch that had a very discerning group of customers, many of which that could have produced their own power. So, his inventions scaled up to provide power for a town and an aerial defense screen.

It's much harder to build than to destroy. Galt is less a concrete figure of accomplishment, and more a quasi-religious (don't go crazy kh;^) figure but with logic and rational thought as his weapons.
Rearden earned my respect through production of something that exceeded all other similar inventions and beat the system that tried to destroy it (although Galt would argue Rearden helped support a system that looted from him.) Galt invented something astounding but since it wasn't ever subject to the scrutiny of the free market we must take it on respect of Dagny and Q.Daniels' knowledge of science and engineering that the motor can survive in the real world market. But neither Dagny nor Daniels are competent to establish that; only the market and application of it will prove the motor's worth.
What's the first question that most Gulchers ask when someone posts a new invention? "Is it practical?" or "Does it scale up to be practical?" While I respect Galt for his ethics, and his invention, Rearden proved his in the market at great cost, and yet he still views Galt's invention with delight and respect, and instead of being critical, Rearden immediately sees advantages, and applications for it. Rearden has the same respect for Ellis Wyatt because he has earned it.
Rearden is the hero figure that I admire most in AS, although each of the other Gulchers is admirable to a lesser extent.

Oh, and because he was a coward.

James Taggart, because he willingly sold out and prostituted TT to the looters. He was the lowest scum, because he was a toady and sycophant to keep his head out of the line of fire. He felt that he would be spared the unpleasantness that would follow because he betrayed Dangny, and therefore was absolved of any punishments being meted out by the moochers and looters headed up by Thompson.

Also, you have an excellent point about the bankers behind the scenes. I am convinced that they are pulling the strings.

Good corollary about Rearden, freedom. why do you admire Readen more?

The banksters that Ayn didn't include because they were invisible, even to her. They were there, manipulating events from behind the curtain, just as they do in real life.
I admire Rearden more than Galt.