The Best Villains of All Time — 23 Vile and Vicious Evildoers

List of the best villains

23. Fletcher

Fletcher in Whiplash is concrete proof that a movie villain doesn’t need to be outright violent and murderous in order to be intensely threatening. Unlike most of the villains on this list, Fletcher has never killed anyone (at least, not that we know of), but that doesn’t stop him from being one of the most memorable villains of the past decade. Much is owed to J.K. Simmons’ performance as this extreme music teacher.

With the character recently rebooted in the 2021 Candyman, it’s the perfect time to revisit the original 1992 film or to check it out for the first time. The titular Candyman, or Daniel Robitaille to call him by his real name, is played to perfection by Tony Todd. His large frame, deep voice, long coat, hook hand, and exposed ribcage full of bees all culminate in one seriously imposing figure. Think twice before saying his name five times into a mirror.

The Brazilian epic City of God is a gangster film like no other. With a story that spans many years, we get to see several of the characters at different stages in their lives, including the main villain. As a child he goes by Li’l Dice, before changing his name to Li’l Ze years later.

Though he remains contemptible all throughout, this character is at his most villainous early on while still going as Li’l Dice. This psychotic child became a mass-murderer while still in single-digits, and the scariest part is how much fun he has doing it.

Annie Wilkes is the obsessed fan who holds her favorite author captive in Misery. Wilkes is easily one of horror maestro Stephen King’s most frightening characters. Kathy Bates was so chilling in this role that she walked away with the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for her efforts. The hobbling scene alone would be enough to land this character on the list.

The Joker in his many portrayals and permutations must be one of the most iconic and imitated villains ever created. Whether it be Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, Joaquin Phoenix's take in Joker, or Mark Hamill’s voice-over work in the role, the Joker frequently makes for a grade-A villain. The Joker is one comic-book villain that even manages to overshadow his heroic counterpart on occasion.

The Nazis remain many of history’s worst real-life villains, and there have been many deplorable Nazi characters throughout cinema. In Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Hans Landa stands out from other Nazi characters in a multitude of ways. His cunning, exceptional intelligence, mastery of multiple languages, and more all make him both despicable and magnetic. Christoph Waltz won a much-deserved Oscar for his performance.

Dracula is one of the all-time classic movie monsters. Similar to the Joker, there are more compelling portrayals of Dracula than you can shake a stick at. You can go with Christopher Lee in the Hammer films. Or with Bela Lugosi in the original Universal classic. With Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola’s take on the gothic tale. Or Claes Bang for a refreshingly different spin on the character in the recent Dracula mini-series on the BBC. Maybe Klaus Kinksi for Werner Herzog’s unique take on the mythos in Nosferatu the Vampyre. Or you can go all the way back to Max Schreck for the original Nosferatu that first brought the character to the silver screen. All are great options.

Casting a young and wholesome Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates is just one of many strokes of genius in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Before Bates, horror films were populated with monsters, literally. Abominable creatures from unfathomable places can certainly give audiences a thrill. But the idea that a murderous psychopath could be the "boy next door" is far more unsettling.

With Norman Bates, Hitchcock brought horror into your neighborhood. Of course, real-life murderers and psychopaths existed before Bates. Ed Gein, on whom Norman was based, committed unspeakable atrocities. But it wasn't until we saw him on-screen, ironically, that those threats became real. 

A third Hans finds himself on the list alongside Hans Gruber and Hans Landa. He might not be the most recognizable name of the bunch, but he just might be the most disturbed and tormented. Hans Beckert, as played brilliantly by Peter Lorre, is a murderer of young children who stalks the streets of a German city. M, from pioneering director Fritz Lang, was released in 1931 during the early days of sound, but already delivered one of cinema’s best villains.

The enigmatic Anton Chigurh is the villain of No Country For Old Men, and is arguably the single best element in an all-around masterful film. Javier Bardem’s performance is pitch-perfect for this elusive, impossible to pin down character. Part of Chigurh’s allure is how unrelatable and alien he seems, as if he’s something more or something less than a mortal man.

From his very first appearance on-screen, Darth Vader commands your attention. He is an imposing figure, soundtracked with one of the most iconic leitmotifs in film history. As the Skywalker series unfolded, he also became a truly tragic character lured away from the light and into the dark.

Are there more complicated villains? Can we point to more evil villains? Has there been more charismatic villains? Yes, yes, and yes. But there is something primal and universal about Darth Vader's villainy.

His voice, his power, his aura of mystery all add up to a textbook villain to which all others are compared.