Randall Flagg

"You expected Charles Manson at the very least, didn't ya?"

- Randall Flagg

The most recurring and without a doubt, the most important villain of the entire Stephen King mythos, Randall Flagg is following King's own words, the best villain he created, whom he had in mind since he began writing. Randall Flagg goes by many aliases including Walter O'Dim, and Marten Broadcloak, but his real name is Walter Padick.

Randall Flagg is a demonic being that has appeared in multiple works, always as a powerful and charismatic embodiment of evil. It was also implied that another Stephen King villain known as the unholy demon He Who Walks Behind the Rows in Children of Corn, was an avatar for Flagg, who shares similarities with the biblical demon Legion. Flagg was first introduced in The Stand, where he represented the concept of evil and stood in opposition to Mother Abagail, who represented good: the two fought for control over the survivors of a world plagued by disease.

Flagg's main purpose seems to be the bring about the end of civilizations by spreading destruction and sowing conflict and he has many supernatural powers by which to achieve his goals: such as necromancy, prophecy and the ability to look into the predatory nature of man and beast.

Appearances in other media
Randall Flagg appears as the the main antagonist of the 1994 TV miniseries The Stand based on a Stephen King novel of the same name while his enemy Mother Abagail also appeared. He was portrayed by Jamey Sheridan.

Randall Flagg who also can take form of a raven, was present when the Captain Trips flu, a deadly virus began and swept across the United States and soon the entire Earth in a matter of weeks, eliminating 99.4% of the planet's human populace.

He later chosen and raped his new "bride", Nadine Cross, whom he has been visiting in her nightmares. She soon turned on Randall while having remaining feelings for the man named Larry she met in New York. She committed suicide by taking a jump off the balcony of Flagg's penthouse in Las Vegas, killing not only herself, but also Randall Flagg's unborn child she was pregnant with, not long she replied her final words to the monster, "your seed is cold".

Quotes
"Wait a minute, son. Wait a minute. You ain't seen nothin' yet." "Hope you guessed my name. Oh. Nothing. Just a little classical reference. Actually, my name is Flagg, Randall Flagg."

Trivia

 * Randall Flagg is regarded as Stephen King's most popular villain. As such, King himself regards him as the greatest villain he ever wrote.
 * It is implied that He Who Walks Behind the Rows might be another demonic form of Flagg.
 * Randall Flagg's own name is an alias of one of the Outer Gods known as Nyarlathotep from the works of author H.P. Lovecraft (from whom Stephen King takes heavy inspiration from).