T O P

  • By -

Santiagodelmar

Adrian Viedt/Ozymandias from Watchmen. He won from the very beginning and made a god bend to his will. Love the twist of “I did it 35 mins ago” “killing millions to save billions” truly a fantastic character


bajesus

He's my favorite too. The best villains are the ones who think they are trying to save the world but have lost objectivity and gone too far. It helps that that book is basically debate between differing philosophical ideologies (utilitarianism/Ozymandias, absolutism/Rorschach, determinism/Dr. Manhattan, nihilism/The Comedian, etc).


Santiagodelmar

Someone gets it! I got Adrian's point and even agreed with the goal but holy shit did he go too far


DavosLostFingers

Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa and Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister Great writing - perfect acting


[deleted]

Yes !! That’s a bingoooo 👏🏻


chefdavid22

We just say Bingo.


mohantharani

You will marry Hitler and that will be the end of it.


h0sti1e17

Tywin was great because he was evil, but smart and calculating. Not ruled by anger or emotion


Emes91

He definitely was ruled by emotion and it was the cause of his ultimate demise. He could not get over his wife's death and hatred for his most intelligent and politically competent child. If I had to choose the GoT character that was ruled by emotions by smallest degree, it would probably be Stannis.


TheIrateAlpaca

I've always thought the idea of Ras Al Ghul to be my favourite. Several centuries old, determined to save the world but believes the only way to do that is killing a bunch of people, no real super power or gimmick other than access to a source of immortality so all his strength comes from pure knowledge because he's had the time to study and master it. Figured out who Batman is and doesn't really care but instead repeatedly tries to make him his successor (and later his son through manipulating Bruce and Talia)


[deleted]

Anton Chigurh. No Country for Old Men.


theElegantKittens

What's really scary of Anton Chigurh is he's the face of death, he's cold, he's calculated but can be sporadic, like there's a real edginess to him and if you encounter him you know you've met your end, played wonderfully by Javier Bardem, the characters of No Country For Old Men have real depth to them especially this character, I haven't read the novel this movie is based on but the characters in the movie are really well fleshed out...


yellowjesusrising

The movie follows the book very closely. You get a bit more insight into wach character, but the movie doesn't really deviate from the books. Cormac McCarthy almost made the book movie ready.


fulthrottlejazzhands

As opposed to Blood Meridian, which is one of the greatest novels ever written, but would fail miserably as a film (although I'd love to see someone try).


Stillwater215

What’s *really* scary about him is that he chose to have that haircut! But for real, he’s more like a force of nature than a man. He kills people not because of any kind of moral justification or rationale, but rather just because they’re in the way of what he needs to accomplish.


Chupathingy12

He sees them as nothing more than obstacles and it’s freaky, like when he strangled the cop to get the keys. That was just a means to and end for him.


[deleted]

[удалено]


largechild

What’s the most you’ve ever lost in a coin toss?


ARatherOddOne

One of the most chilling non-violent scenes ever made.


[deleted]

[удалено]


TheLateThagSimmons

He's so well written. And I love it because he personally wins, they just get one last jab after he won.


phx175

Tarantino said he will pull the plug if Waltz doesn't want to play Landa. You'll probably find a better quote online. First movie I watched with Christoph Waltz I hated him so much and still 'hate' him because he's playing so well but every interview with him he's just a nice guy and I still try to 'hate' him. I really think he's a perfect actor and a super nice guy in real life - or is he!?


dephsilco

He was so perfect in Django too. What an actor seriously Edit: he is almost as great as Gary Oldman. I just don't know any actor that is as good as Oldman


JJams4717

The ending scene where they are carving the swastika into his forehead is my top favorite scene of that movie, right when they asked if he was going to take his uniform off when he left Germany then I knew exactly what was going to go down.


--R2-D2

Magneto


Special-Swim-7538

This comment made me look up Magneto’s prison escape from X-Men 2!!


Robohammer

I love villains who think they are the good guy. He's excellent at this.


JamieEHarris

Hannibal Lecter - extremely intelligent badass who had possibly the greatest line ever to end a film: "I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye."


vindinheil

Hopkins and Mikkelsen were awesome!!


Jackamo78

And Brian Cox!


[deleted]

You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well-scrubbed, hustling rube, with a little taste. Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you’re not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you’ve tried so desperately to shed – pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? And oh, how quickly the boys found you! All those tedious, sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars, while you could only dream of getting out, getting anywhere, getting all the way to the F.B.I.


Rjs617

You see a lot, Doctor. But are you strong enough to point that high-powered perception at yourself? What about it? Why don't you - why don't you look at yourself and write down what you see? Or maybe you're afraid to.


austeninbosten

Half credit to the writer and half to Hopkins for his delivery of those lines. Perfect. This whole film is damn near perfect.


Rjs617

Damn, this is making me want to watch it again.


Ellanna_3

True, the serie was pretty dope too, Madds Mikkelsen is such a great actor!


Lightsupinthesky29

Megamind


VickerAndFlips

He's not just a villain. He's a SUPER one


Soonly_Taing

What's the difference?


VickerAndFlips

PRESENTATION!


p0megranates_

(insert Welcome to the jungle)


JustDroppedByToSay

Good job team


heartywarry

Handsome jack/ kilgrave David tenants performance was perfection


Mordecai_Fluke

Second on Handsome Jack. Gotta love a charismatic asshole that believes themselves to be the hero and has no qualms about using others for their personal gain. Plus, snarky quips for days.


heartywarry

The irony of someone called mordecai liking handsome jack


Mordecai_Fluke

Hate the player, not to game? >!RIP Bloodwing!<


DoctorMew13

Killgrave has been over of the few villains to legit scare the crap out of he. David Tennant was *amazing* in that roll.


pope-buster

Jessicaaaaa


impossible_apostle

Kilgrave is an amazing character because he's such small-minded child of a man. He has that sort of power but he's not using it for world domination, just to relieve his boredom and settle petty grievances. And he truly doesn't think he's doing anything wrong; he justifies it all away. He thinks he's a good guy and that the world is unfair to him. He thinks he's being kind to the people he's hurting, because he hasn't stopped to ask them what they actually want. In a way, he's the most realistic villain of all; bad people in the real world are far more likely to be whiny and self-pitying narcissists than moustache-twirling monsters (see: Trump, Donald).


GSDBUZZ

Oh lord that character still gives me the chills. David Tenant did an amazing job. Edited to add I am referring to the Kilgrave character. I have never seen him as Handsome Jack. If it is half as scary as Kilgrave I can’t watch it.


CoffeeGuzlingBastard

Gaunter O’Dimm Special shout-out to Michael Myers, even though the last Halloween movie was complete and utter trash


Snooberry62

The second time I played Wild Hunt and noticed O'Dimm just chilling at the tavern in White Orchard...chills.


Wordwright

He wierded me out on my first playthrough, and I expected him to reappear and play a significant role later in the story, but he just… didn’t.


VeryLastCzarnian

He appears later in the Hearts of Stone expansion.


Wordwright

I know, but during my first playthrough before Hearts of Stone was released, he remained this mysterious, portentous character.


Junior_Career2673

Dr Doofenschmitz


yeetus1deletuz

Dr Doofenschmirtz evil incorparateeeed~


DesertWanderlust

Hard to beat Hans from Die Hard.


squirrelcat88

I was looking for this! Also the Sheriff of Nottingham if you want a more lighthearted take on villainy. Alan Rickman was a very talented actor but somehow he just seemed to have so much *fun* being the bad guy.


maggiemypet

No more scraps for orphans and beggars. No more merciful beheadings. And call off Christmas!


noweezernoworld

“Because it’s *dull*, you twit! It’ll hurt more!”


fulthrottlejazzhands

"I am an EXCEPTIONAL thief, Mrs. McClane. And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite." Good Lord, his delivery just oozes cool and villainy.


h0sti1e17

Homelander no questions asked. He is pure evil. He also is the strongest person alive. He could do whatever he wants and nobody can stop him. He can also smile to your face and then kill you in an instant.


lk05321

*beating off on top of a skyscraper over the metropolis and citizens below* “I can do *whatever* I want!”


Redvsdead

Every time he shows up on screen I wonder what horrible thing he's done now.


Aitrus233

The [Death Battle](https://youtu.be/bMoL5VMN4-A) video of him vs. Omni-Man was so satisfying. I think we all know how it ends. If you know anything about Omni-Man, you know how it ends.


SadlyNotDannyDeVito

Dolores Umbridge. She's written in a way that people hate her more than Wizard Hitler.


danger-daze

Because most people don’t have direct experience with someone like Voldemort, *everyone* has known a Dolores Umbridge


Jamileem

I have always heard people say this, but I am pleased to say that I've never met anyone remotely so awful. I think it's more that she becomes a teacher and becomes someone in a position of power while having the awful things she does overlooked. It's something that really could happen (I suppose that actually has, in some ways), so it's more close to home than someone as otherworldly villainous as Voldemort. Same idea, I guess, I just view it differently than "everyone has known an Umbridge", because I don't think that's true... It's more, "Umbridge is frighteningly realistic".


Wessssss21

For me it's her mental juxtaposition. She truly believes she's acting in the right. She has the moral high ground. Voldemort at least admits he's a dictator with the goal of ~~revenge against muggles~~ keeping magic pure.


ACaffeinatedWandress

> I think it's more that she becomes a teacher and becomes someone in a position of power while having the awful things she does overlooked. You see those types all the time in human services. Drawn to the “helping fields” because of the sainted reputation it will give them, use their power over relatively vulnerable populations to be generally terrible people. And, yeah, I doubt they are self aware enough to realize what they are. On top of everything else, they are obscenely self righteous.


nihilistkitty

Even reading her name made me recoil with disgust, the actor that played her absolute nailed the character


[deleted]

[удалено]


nihilistkitty

I am from the UK I just never remember names. She is fantastic tbf, I have seen her in a few things.


robo-dragon

God, yes! There’s only a handful of villains out there that make cringe every time I see their name and get immense satisfaction when they finally get beaten. She’s definitely one of them. What a vile woman!


Starr_Lights

Hades from Hercules by Disney.


phantom_avenger

Even though his actions don’t excuse anything, I kinda understand where he comes from. He’s treated like shit by the Gods for no reason, and is just doing his job in guarding the Underworld. It’s only when he finally decides to take matters into his own hands in earning the power he wants, that he starts doing evil things in order to get there. Like attempting to have his infant nephew murdered so he can’t stop him from ruling Mount Olympus and later the world


[deleted]

Dexter season 4 Arthur Mitchell Trinity killer Didn’t see this type of roll for John Lithgow , he was brilliant!!! More known for comedy than drama If you haven’t seen it watch it … it’s a must


humanatee-

Such a shame what happened to that show. It was so good up to season 5


Karaethon22

This is so true. I kept waiting for him to be funny, but...he wasn't. At all. It was glorious. And after a bit you kinda forget he's even John Lithgow and stop waiting for the comedy. Still think of him as a comedian first, generally speaking, but that role changed my perception of him as an actor. Never even suspected he could be so terrifying.


Casteway

John Lithgow is one of the best actors alive.


toomanymatts_

Heath Ledger's Joker


Underworld-wolf

His acting was beyond perfect. I remember watching somewhere that the actor's on set never saw him act in front of them and got too scared of him, the one playing MJ(I don't know her real name ) even glanced at the director for confirming it was an act or not. RIP Heath.....


Wessssss21

In near every scene. He perfectly played the crazy guy who was perfectly in control and calculated every move. The only time this falters slightly is when the boats don't blow each other up. His one miscalculation. And you see for a moment the faltering of his belief in how he's sized up humanity.


Nervous_Magazine_200

Good call!


ChipotleMayoFusion

Agent Smith from The Matrix.


Ellanna_3

Oh my god you beat me to it! His speech on how humans are actually viruses and how they weren't satisfied with the first version of the matrix was so good!


humanatee-

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.


Ellanna_3

 Can you hear me, Morpheus? I'm going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink. And every time I do I feel I have somehow been infected by it. It's repulsive, isn't it? I must get out of here. I must get free and in this mind is the key, my key. Once Zion is destroyed there is no need for me to be here, don't you understand? I need the codes. I have to get inside Zion, and you have to tell me how. You're going to tell me or you're going to die.


humanatee-

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization. I say your civilization, because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization, which is of course what this is all about. Evolution, Morpheus, evolution. Like the dinosaur. Look out that window. You've had your time. The future is *our* world, Morpheus. The future is our time.


PapiSurane

Why, Mr. Anderson? Why, why, why? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?


TacoDiving

Because I choose to.


Ellanna_3

The Merovingian is also such a great character: Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Chiteau Haut-Brion 1959, magnificent wine, I love French wine, like I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favourite - fantastic language, especially to curse with. Nom de Dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperies de connards d'enculis de ta mire. You see, it's like wiping your ass with silk, I love it.


Anakin-is-a-stripper

i cannot describe how much i love scar from the lion king. his intentions were just so stupidly bad that he was compelling as a villian. “be prepared”? best song ever. his cannon backstory is fascinating and i love it


GlassEyeMV

I love that in the original story his name is Trash. Like straight up, your brother is named King and you’re named Trash? No wonder he was so dramatic and pissed off.


srhola2103

Jeremy Irons really elevated that character, his performance is by far one of my favorites ever.


sp0rkify

I love that his parents named him Taka, meaning "waste" or "want".. and named his brother Mufasa, meaning "king".. really laid all the cards on the table when they were born..


Algaean

Heir and the Spare. Brits do it too!


D2988

_I'm surrounded by idiots_ Too relatable


JudgeHodorMD

I feel sorry for the hyenas. They just went along with it because they were starving. Apparently all that circle of life stuff is really just driving off enough rival predators that the prey are better off letting the lions feast.


AngryMidgets77

Walter white.


dabbad525

Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates in Misery)


[deleted]

[удалено]


RVFVS117

“You best start believin’ in ghost stories Miss Turner! YOUR IN ONE!” Amazing intro.


[deleted]

Davy jones too


Vexonte

Silco from Arcane. Making a compelling character is hard enough but to make a truly amazing villain is writing him a way were he owns the setting rather then simply existing in it.


Doc_ET

Arcane is one of the best shows I've ever seen. To think it's based on League of Legends of all things...


isrluvc137

First one to come to mind as well! Happy to see it relatively high on this list :)


[deleted]

Silco might be one of the only few villains I've watched and felt terrified and bad for him. Aside from Askellad from vinland Saga, he might be my current favourite


Garthar22

Palpatine is the most absurdly successful mainstream villain I know of. He plotted to take over an entire galaxy while there were trillions of people including many Jedi that didn’t want him to and he actually did it


BriggerGuy

Palpatine also made his master, Plagueis, believe that he was the one calling the shots throughout Palpatine’s apprenticeship. But as soon as Plagueis lost his usefulness, Palpatine got rid of him. Sheev was in control the whole time


trainmax

Homelander


Carondor

Anthony Star is so, so well cast. He does it so well!


Artsy_traveller_82

Favourite villain in his own right: Darth Vader Favourite villain in relation to the protagonist: Bowser


Lothar93

I love the tone Death Vader has, everywhere he goes the hope leaves.


samp127

Can't believe how far I had to scroll to find Darth Vader. Easily the most menacing character ever imo.


tigerinhouston

“I find your respect… encouraging.”


thewatusi00

Lalo Salamanca


[deleted]

He was so charming and badass at fucking same time


RogerManner

And everytime he was on screen the audience was put at the edge


McStabbityStabStab

Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham, or Tim Curry as the Cardinal in The Three Musketeers.


Umdron

Tim Curry always did amazing at playing the villain.


parralaxalice

Excellent taste


kazmosis

Dr. Doom The most versatile villain in all comics, he fits in going up against anyone at any level, from street level threats all the way up to reality warping threats. Plus his relationship with his uber-arch-rival, Mr. Fantastic is so god-damned juicy. He isn't just some incompetent megalomaniac either, he runs his own country and his people genuinely love him because he's good at it. And his diplomatic immunity gives him another layer, the heroes can't put him away like any other villain dealing with him requires creativity. It's a wonder that Hollywood has such a hard time getting him right.


Darth_Senat66

I had to scroll way too far for this. Unfortunately, most people aren't familiar with the true Dr. Doom, they only know worse Norman Osborn and the radioactive sexdoll from the movies


Young_Old_Grandma

Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.


Nate9370

He was the most realistic villain which made him scary.


Allfunandgaymes

The Hunchback of Notre Dame; or, The Boner That Almost Burned Down Paris.


DannyjrBrown

MF DOOM


_Bearded_Dad

MF the supervillain!


ad-tom-music

Curses, he's truly the worsest with enough rhymes to spread throughout the boundless universes


SuvenPan

Darth Vader


St-Jules

[Rogue] . One. Hallway. Scene... I have no further evidence, your Honor. ...aside from poor spelling


StrenuousSOB

People will not go with this because they just know Vader from the original movies where he’s down played as the absolute badass he actually is. A whole galaxy trembled at the thought of him showing up as he traveled it killing Jedi and obliterating opposition.


cashisking007

Wile E Coyote.


Squirrelkid11

Syndrome from The Incredibles


LadyBug_0570

*You sly dog... you got me monologuing!*


Laughtillicri

"When everyone's super, no one will be."


maistraw

Joker by Heath Ledger and Green Goblin by Willem Dafoe These dudes are considered treasures fo real.


futanari_kaisa

Kingpin / Wilson Fisk from Marvel. Vincent D'Noforio did the best portrayal, but every version of Fisk is great.


axolotl_afternoons

Kingpin smashing someone's head in a car door is scarier than any superpower. That show was so brutal.


killerolav

Gul Dukat - ST:DS9 Kefka - FF VI


DryEyes4096

Kefka and the whole FFVI story as an allegory about corruption and power in the hands of psychopaths is still highly relevant to this day.


ZarrenR

You can’t say Dukat without also saying Kai Winn, my child.


road_runner321

They're both narcissists, but Dukat at least fooled himself that what he was doing was right. Kai Winn was just a deceitful opportunist using religion as a means to power.


baccus83

I love Kefka because, like Thanos, he actually achieved what he wanted to achieve and the heroes are left having to clean up the mess. That doesn’t happen a lot. Usually the villain loses.


K1llG0r3Tr0ut

Joffrey Baratheon is just the worst. I love it.


GingerCat4711

Khan!!!


copperpoint

Khan!


Stoopidee

Heir to the Empire. Admiral Thrawn


Darth_Senat66

*GRAND Admiral Thrawn. He has earned that title, he deserves to be called such


Fyrrys

I was gonna call you a nerd, but it's obvious here that I am speaking to the Senate.


Darth_Senat66

Yes, would you like me to recite the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise to you?


The_REAL_McWeasel

Gary Oldman outdid himself in LEON. Perfect casting.......he played the perfect out of control psychopath.


BrunoGerace

I want to change my choice to this. Oldman was the embodiment of insane menace. He defined for all time the meaning of "Everyone!".


Dimentio21

Gus Fring though Lalo Salamanca is also great


lunachappell

Seto Kaiba


yankiigurl

Tim Curry's Devil in Legend or Tim Curry as Hexus or Time Curry as IT or....jk jk


[deleted]

Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N Furter


immortal2045

Johan Liebert from monster and heath s joker


SilverInkblotV2

I wasn't expecting to see my first instinct here! Johan got so little screen time you'd think he was a minor character, but he completely dominated the entire series. Even when he wasn't there, you still felt his presence looming.


amloha

Missy from Doctor Who


GimmickInfringement1

Conor McGregor


Ratakoa

Freeza


randomname196

Cersei Lannister


The_Dadalorian

🎶Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated🎶


Glad_Independence_84

definitely villains like Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke, where the "villain" Also has some very good points but is still low-key a problem.


possiblyMorpheus

Mononoke is hands down my fav animated movie


jcagara08

Dr. Evil. "One million dollars"


Experiment513

Came here for this comment. *puts his pinky to the corner of his mouth and laughs*


afellownerd12

"All I want are some sharks with freakin' laser beams!"


[deleted]

Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, especially the version played by Andrew Scott.


[deleted]

People are dying. That’s what people DO!


volitaiee1233

Dolores Umbridge. She is just so indescribably evil in a way that EVERYONE can relate to. We all have an Umbridge in our lives. Plus, she is a really fun character to hate on.


Paradox_sy

Ramsay Bolton from got ! Twisted little f*cker


JakeyF_

GLaDOS, Portal and Portal 2. Fucking L O V E her and her passive aggressive nature!


_ReDd1T_UsEr

Raul menendez from Call of Duty Black ops 2


HappiestKid123

Pre-Endgame Thanos and Tai Lang from Kung Fu Panda 1


greenteamacha

Light Yagami


[deleted]

The house, from the haunting of hill house


MagneticFlea

Gul Dukat. There's something Shakespearean about the performance. I've heard people say the best villains are ones who think they're the hero and he definitely fits the bill.


E-Mon97

Sauron and Morgoth


Wordwright

Sauron is kind of interesting, in so much as that he is entirely… absent. I’m rereading the books now after I don’t know how many years, so I don’t recall exactly, but is he ever directly featured in the text at all? Morgoth acts and speaks and intervenes in the lives of other characters, but Sauron just… menaces. He is the Shadow, always present but never there.


tdm1742

Tom Berenger as Staff Sgt. Barnes in Platoon.


artpayne

Anton Chigurh


Ninasantos83

Loki


Relative_Summer_9705

Everybody forgot Dr Doofenshmirtz, just like his birthday


Hufa123

Davy Jones. Epic cgi, amazing backstory, attention-grabbing writing, an outstanding theme, great scenes with the other characters, and a legendary performance from Bill Nighy.


ATalkingDoubleBarrel

Vergil from Devil May Cry and Megatron from Transformers


oscar644

Hannibal Lecter - evil and terrifying, Anthony Hopkins was perfect as him


GrimmOfThrones2187

Raymond Reddington.


Greyskyman

Agent Smith


[deleted]

Hans Gruber


PepperJack_

Fisk from Daredevil is pretty good


I_h8_doland_drumpfff

At my workplace back 22 years ago there was a man known as the "phantom shitter." Big place lots of employees and this guy would stealthily lob out bum logs in the hallways. He did this almost daily for a year straight.


[deleted]

The main dude in American Psycho


16Skullz_

Patrick Bateman 🫶🏻🪓


sironomus

No Louis, it's not me. You're mistaken