Top 10 Once Upon a Time Villains
The T.V. series Once Upon a Time has had a myriad of bad villains, most of them skilled in magic. Ultimately, they are defeated, but they just keep on coming back. Some turn to good, while others seem stuck in the bad ways. Here are the baddest of the bad of fairy tales, myths, and legends.
A master manipulator and reportedly even more powerful than Rumpelstiltskin himself, Pan turned out to be Rumpelstiltskin's father. He used Emma and the other good guys as pawns in his nefarious game to gain the heart of the truest believer to extend his never-ending youth. Pan is ruthless and ripped out his best friend's heart to cast the Dark Curse. He even switched bodies with Henry so that Henry got trapped in Pandora's box. Pan proved to be one of the most cunning villains that the good guys ever faced, to defeat them, they had to win his mind games. Pan was reportedly killed after Rumpelstiltskin sacrificed himself, but the catchphrase "Peter Pan never fails" is too deadly to ignore.
Peter Pan is one of the most mischief and manipulative villains who almost always knows about people, who they are, their secrets, their weaknesses, and what they will do. He knows the card you will play and he already has his plan set and waiting. He was one of the most well developed characters in the series with the most interesting back story and the biggest shock that once upon a time has ever seen. Unlike the rest of the villains, he has power that is not needed, it is just wanted. He could get people to do as he please with out ripping their hearts out or torching in them, if he wanted.
Everyone says that Rumplestilskin or Regina is the most evil villain, but personally I believe it is Pan. He abandoned his own son for youth, then, causing Rumplestilskin to go off and start his journey down the dark road, which would not have happened if pan had not abandoned him. Pan then manipulated some of the most loved characters on the show to see darkness, to see what they got out of something, to see their side, to get it their way by doing as pan says. Pan can see things in people that they cannot see in themselves, he shows them what is preventing them from getting what they want, he shows them what is in the way of their happy ending then, digs a hole In their head that will torment them for years to come.
He's the father to Rumplestiltskin, one of the greatest villains to grace OUAT. He was willing to murder his own great grandson all for eternal youth and amazing eyebrows. If he's not the definition of pure evil, I don't know who is. Also, he kept the heroes constantly on their toes. There was no simple way to outwit him with magic; they used their wits. Even defeated, he was, in a way, victorious in the fact that he managed to separate them with another curse. And he even had Zelena scared. He's also a master manipulator, able to convince Henry into giving up his own heart...I could go on for ages on why I think that he is OUAT's best villain.

Easily the baddest of the bunch, the Dark One has remained a step ahead of most villains and has the luxury of foresight. He is described as the most powerful sorcerer in all the realms (though a lot of people come close to him). He has swayed between good and evil so many times, it's hard to tell which side he'll pick in the end. While he is incredibly powerful, he has been defeated and is currently working with the Queens of Darkness in Season 4 to regain his power which seems to be his true love. His power is quite good though, he has defeated Pan, Cora, Zelena, survived the Snow Queen's curse, and even overpowered the Queens of Darkness (Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella de Vil)
He reigned for centuries (as far as I can tell), revelled in the power and - and this is where is true master stroke comes in - he manipulated the entire history of The Enchanted Forest just so he could find his son again. That is where true power lies - not only in the magical side of things, but in the fact that, as Dark One, he twisted people to his will so much that they didn't realise that what they thought were their ideas were just threads in his plan to achieve his destiny.
I love his laugh and the way he talks as rumpelstiltskin in the enchanted forest. he's easily the most manipulative, and its great because most villains are completely incapable of love, whereas rumple is more powerful since he has both love and hate on his side! easily the worst villain. well, he did come back from the dead, defeat countless other villains and changed the fate of all the realms by creating the dark curse in the first place. if it wasn't for him I'm sure the entire story would have come out sooo much different and we have him to thank for being the most evil but quirky villain of all time!
He's my favourite hero and villain. I love him and hate him. He is hilarious and scary. I always hope he wins when he's good, but I also always hope he loses when he's evil.

While she is not a villain anymore, she definitely was one. She is a perfect example that evil is made, not born. She used to be the most wonderful and kindest woman in all the lands but because of her abusive mother, she lost her soul mate and happy ending, thus beginning her path of darkness. I hated her and loved her. Her sassiness and desire for power does make her a beautiful nightmare. While I loved it when she's good, I also liked it when she was evil, because Snow White did technically ruin her happy ending by not being able to keep a secret when she specifically begged her not to tell her mother, yet she did anyway. So seeing her get her vengeful moments with Sow were almost justified. She also has no problem with protecting the ones she loves, no matter the cost, whether it is by using dark magic or good. Even as Regina during the first curse, she made Snow White's counterpart's life a living hell, by even framing her and laughing in her face about it when she was in tears. ...more
The Evil Queen may not be the worst villain on the list; she is an example of how evil is made and not born. She is easily the most charismatic villain on the list, someone who seems to enjoy her badness so much, that you just have to love her, even when she's destroying people left and right. The Evil Queen is a formidable sorceress who has survived multiple villains, so she's quite powerful, having been tutored by Rumpelstiltskin himself. She is a master of dark magic, not to mention being also skilled in light magic.
Best character on the show. In season one and two you just loved to see her evil acts and even in 3,4,5 where she is no longer a villain she still has that sass and evil edge which no other character has on the show. Plus she's the only one (apart from Dark Swan in 5x05... ugh&alternate Rumple) who has used both light and dark magic which makes her even more dangerous.
I think she is the most evil because she sent her guards to slaughter villages full of children I mean seriously how more evil can you get?

Turns out wicked doesn't always win. Zelena may have not been the worst villain the good guys ever fought, she seemed too much of a green copycat of Regina. The Wicked Witch wind points for enslaving Rumpelstiltskin himself, something Cora couldn't even do. Zelena was reported to be even more powerful than Regina and one of the most skilled witches Rumpelstiltskin had ever seen. She even managed to break the laws of magic and turn numerous people into flying monkeys.
Zelena is by far the best character on the show. She is clearly one of the most powerful sorceresses that have every lived, surpassed by only Rumpelstiltskin and maybe Cora and Pan. She has cheated death twice, and has ruled an entire realm, something Regina can't say. And she is so deliciously wicked! Who else has her own army of winged monsters?
Zelena is wicked because she had a sorrowful past. She was abandoned by her birth mother Cora, she was jealous of Regina because she couldn't enjoy the luxuries which Regina had and she was not allowed to cast the curse by Rumplestiltskin. She is only Regina and everyone was on Regina's side now so they made her the next big bad
Zelena is relentless. She was willing to go without her magic, get latched to her "husband", and have a baby just to ruin Regina' s happiness. Cora is dead, and Regina and Rumplestiltskin are no longer villains, placing Zelena far above the rest.

When it comes down to ruthlessness, no one seems to match Cora, the Queen of Hearts and mother of Regina and Zelena. Her title literally came from her penchant for ripping out other peoples' hearts and controlling them, then disposing of them when they ceased to be of use to her. Regina and Rumpelstiltskin both feared her as Cora seemed to be one of Rumpelstiltskin's most skilled students in magic. Cora manipulated everyone around her in order to feed her ambition for power and came incredibly close to becoming the Dark One herself. She didn't even truly love her own daughter until she died, a result of Snow manipulating Regina.
Cora is being dramatically underrated. Let us not forget that she ripped out her own heart so that she wouldn't be able to feel love, not even for her own daughters, both of whom she used regularly. She was actually the cause for both of her daughters becoming evil. She managed to best Rumplestiltskin more than once, despite his power being far greater than her own. She was banished to Wonderland due to the combined efforts of Regina and Rumple, then managed to take power there, becoming the infamous Queen of Hearts. She then found multiple ways back to the Enchanted Forest (not an easy task, mind you) and then into Storybrooke (a very difficult task). She committed atrocities far greater than any other villain on the show, and still managed to look good while doing it.
Cora was useless, sending my poor baby hook to do all the work. >:( I don't think she was that interesting since a frail princess could take her out.
So powerful that she made two powerful daughters.

Man, it isn't fair. She would've been there for Elsa in the movie, Frozen back then before so Elsa wouldn't be lonely nor alone nor isolated nor even think she's the only one in the royal family of Aren-delle born with magic at all. She also would've been the real snow queen of either Aren-delle or better yet, the ice palace in the movie, Frozen back then before. She would've been there to meet her niece during Elsa's childbirth back then before in the movie, Frozen. Furthermore, she would've been there to raise Elsa in either the kingdom of Aren-delle or better yet, the ice palace in the movie, Frozen back then before. She especially would've been there to train Elsa how to control her powers in the movie, Frozen back then before so Elsa wouldn't have to have any trouble controlling her powers at all. She even would've been portrayed as a mother figure to Elsa in the movie, Frozen back then before. She would've been there to comfort Elsa in the movie, Frozen back then before. She ...more
The Snow Queen was certainly a deadly opponent, but she failed in her charisma for the fact that she cast another curse on Storybrooke, something Regina, Pan, and Zelena had already done, so the whole cursing the town thing is getting a little bit boring. But the Snow Queen's backstory was quite interesting, with her relationship with her sisters. The Snow Queen wins points for taking away memories of practically everyone in town and also wins brownie points as she sacrificed herself to save Storybrooke.
It's not fair nor right that Ingrid never ever even got any magical trainers nor any other magical trainers to train her how to control her powers at all in the fourth season of the show, Once Upon A Time like she deserves to get so far. It's also not fair nor right that Ingrid never ever even found out the real key to controlling powers either at all like she deserves to so far.
I think Igid was probably the strongest villan even over Peter Pan. Her entire presence she was in total control of the situation until she changed her mind and killed herself. She was a villan with a grey area because she was more tenacious than evil. She really wasn't evil at all she just did what she had to do in order to achieve her goals.

While from our perspective watching her past made it seem that she was a victim, she was actually being protected from her mother after she murdered her mother's three husbands, and then placed the blame on her mother. She then manipulates the Author into giving her powers so she can kill her mother too. After that, she skins her dogs and makes the infamous fur coat. She is without a doubt evil.
Out of the three Disney female villains she has to be the best. Wither it be visually, physically, or emotionally, Victoria Smurfit nailed the original, iconic, Disney vilian. I simply love how they kept the character so close to the original cartoon character. They even nailed her car! I only wish they gave her the iconic long cigar, like she had in the cartoon, to give her power a better connection to her. Never the less she has to be my favorite villain in the series.
Dark and utterly psychotic. She doesn't care about anything or anyone but herself.
This is one of the villains that just doesn't atone or anything. She is evil and has the sass and the looks to back this up. Even going as far as adjusting to the world. Or, maybe more accurately, adjusting the world around her to fit her needs.
The dogsnatcher may not be as scary in a cartoon, but it is reported that Cruella does have magic of her own. She herself kidnapped Belle from Rumpelstiltskin. She edges out of Ursula for sassing Rumpelstiltskin, so she's clearly not afraid of the Dark One. She ordered Ursula around and seems to be the brains of the Queens of Darkness.

The dark fairy sparred with Regina early on and it is reported that out of all the Queens of Darkness, she is the one the Evil Queen fears the most. She is capable of shapeshifting into a fearsome dragon or an undead zombie. However, her defeats are quite numerous, having been defeated by Aurora, Emma, and Regina. She ranks highest out of the Queens of Darkness for her skill in magic and the fact that she herself went up against Rumpelstiltskin first.
She taught Regina how to actually use fire and sleeping curses.
I want to see the REAL Ursula. Apparently, even the Little Mermaid version of "Ursula" believed she was named after the original Sea Witch so she became the next Ursula. I want to see the Ursula that frightened Regina! She's got so much potential but nope, we had to throw in cliche. I really hope in Season 7, she will pose a major threat to Henry, and whatever other characters who will be on his side. She could still be hunting for Poseidon's Trident and when she does, she becomes the ultimate boss battle.
The Sea Witch threatened Regina when Regina impersonated her and she remains a mystery to most. Hopefully Season 4 will shed some light on her backstory as Poseidon himself is her father, which means Ursula packs some serious firepower in magic. Rumpelstiltskin contacted her first in his quest to conscript the Queens of Darkness, which means she could be potentially the one who connects the other two.
Ursula is the best!
Hades is a powerful, devious and manipulative villain. He is good at finding someone weaknesses and use it for his own benefit. He even could threat Rumple, regardless both of them are mastermind. Plus, the way he talks to his enemy was bring such a chilling nuance.
Torturous, devious, manipulative, maniacal, almost like he and rumple are related
Would easily place her above Rumple and Peter Pan. Rumple had to use squid ink after he summoned her JUST TO TALK TO HER. He would not have used this if he did not think it was absolutely necessary to subdue her dark powers that surpass his own. Since Darkness and Light balance each other she is probably the "Original Dark Power" much like the Blue Fairy is the Original Light Power. They have to balance each other out. Also, even Rumple stated there were Dark Realms even he could not reach, and that this is where is mother lurked. He even described this place as having Immense dark power,where time runs differently, and ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Sounds immensely powerful to me
A pretty underrated Once Upon a Time villain. She basically created Dark Magic. She abandoned her own son, leaving him with a father who would eventually abandon him too, then tortures her grandson into creating him into a powerful villain. Also, she is very hot!
Fiona is rumples mum and she created all dark magic, eventually she was killed in the season 6 finale by rumple, though rumple is strong he had to trick her and get the strongest weapon in all the realms to kill her.
How can the ultimate villain not be rated the best villain? She was the best part of the 2-hour sixth season finale.
Hans was barely in Once Upon A Time and he was constantly bullied by his brothers and then frozen by the Snow Queen. Awful villain
He did something really very wrong but it doesn't make him a villain.
This guy wasn't even a villain... He was in the show for 2 minutes.
Why is this dunce even on this list?
The manipulating king of one the realms in the Enchanted Forest, he proved a cunning adversary for Charming and Snow White, cursing Snow so that she could never have children. He even destroyed the Mad Hatter's hat so Charming would be without family forever, but turns out his actions were meaningless as Snow and Emma returned to Storybrooke.
He may not be a villain entirely on this show, since he is now either an antihero or a hero but he definitely was a villain for some time. He stole a poor man's wife, tried to steal his son but then sold him to the evil Lost Boys, he backstabbed anyone to get what he wanted and is just such a total douchebag. He doesn't deserve Emma Swan. Regina deserves Emma Swan. Swan Queen for life!
He can be an ultimate villain. It was he who took away Milah from Rumple but later blames Rumple for everything. He should have been humble and not arrogant to Rumple in the first place. What more can we expect from this pirate now? Its wonderful that he is dead!
He can be the worst when he wants to. He did take milah from rumple making rumple want revenge for this. But he was making Milah happy.
He's one of my all time favourite characters and villains.
Who can argue with the fact he's devilishly handsome any way
He was the true antagonist of the fourth season and he was a villain more danger and powerful than Rumple and the Queens of darkness.Isaac is arguably the true main antagonist of the entire serie, as he is responsible for most if not all the events that happen in the story. He is also the one responsible for creating all of the evil villains our heroes have faced.
All hail the new dark one.. While it's true she isn't evil, YET, looking at the promo, she ripped out and crushed the heart of an innocent who offered her food and asked for her name!
All hail Emma, not the dark one, not the light/savior one, but the grey one!
She is a killer
Gothel is powerful being older than most of the fairy tale characters with the power of nature and title of "Mother Nature". She killed an entire civilization and vowed to destroy every human on the planet. She also abandoned her child Alice in her tower, poisoned alice and her father so they would never be together.
She's so irritating. There are certain villains that make us laugh and we love them... there are others like HER!
A villain no dought about it.
Jafar, born as the bastard of the Sultan of a city of Agrabah, wanted revenge as a young boy. He is a cruel, and manipulative villain who was brave enough to storm the palace, kill the Sultan's heir and imprison the Sultan. He even betrayed his sorcerers partner Amara by poisoning her into a serpent staff which he carries around. He is willing to betray and kill anyone who gets in his way. He was powerful enough to break the laws of magic temporarily and forces his father to love him, only to kill him shortly.
Ah, the side kick of pan, not evil just devoted to pan.
He was brainwashed by pan so he could never leave his side, even when he got promised a happy ending he refused in order to help pan.
Just a good friend, but brainwashed into being that.
At least died
How is henry a villain?!?!
Henry is not a villain!