[tar-ancalime]

Tee-hee...

I haven't read the Pullman series, and as I was reading through this thread (before clicking on the list), I thought you were talking about Ann Coulter!

Anyway, from the list I'd have to go with Napoleon. From Tolkien, though, I'd have to say the willow. It's vague, it's rotten through and through, and it has an incredible evil power, right in the middle of Bombadil's land. Also it has no "real" reason for wanting to ensnare the hobbits. It doesn't want the Ring, it's not working for Sauron; it's just bad news through and through.

Also the episode takes place in my favorite part of the story--the very time-consuming meandering before they get to Bree and things really start moving fast. I love the slow pace of the exposition and the trying-on of villains, as though Tolkien doesn't want to tip his hand yet: what kind of story is this going to be, anyway? By the time the hobbits get to Bree, they've already encountered Lobelia, the Black Riders, the Willow, and the Barrow-Wight, while Gandalf is already dealing with Saruman (though the reader doesn't know it yet). It's not clear yet where the real menace is, and Tolkien makes it very plain that the whole quest could just as easily be derailed by one of these "minor" baddies as by Sauron himself.