Top 10 Most Evil Movie Villains of All Time

Those villains who are scariest because there are probably people out there who are just like them...
The Top Ten
1 The Joker - The Dark Knight

The Joker is a nihilist and anarchist, condemning life as a harsh, meaningless joke. Living such a life, to him, is "crazy", while the sane ones are really the normal people. In Batman #663, the Joker says, "The real joke is your stubborn, bone-deep conviction that somehow, somewhere, all of this makes sense! That's what cracks me up each time!" And during The Killing Joke, he goes as far as to call everyone's ideals and struggles in life a "monstrous, demented gag".

For his performance as The Joker, Heath Ledger has encompassed every previous Joker that had existed before. The Joker in Batman #1, the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's Batman. There's even a little bit of Cesar Romero in his Joker laugh. But while combining all the other Jokers, he still manages to bring something new, paying homage to the original renditions but still giving his own take as well. He's even based his portrayal of the Joker on Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange.

2 Darth Vader - Star Wars Darth Vader is a Star Wars character and the main antagonist of the first three original Star Wars films and the main protagonist of the Star Wars prequel trilogy under his original name Anakin Skywalker. He had been trained as a Jedi but defected to the Sith lord and Galactic Chancellor Palpatine... read more

Lord Vader is the ultimate villain of Star Wars to me, and my all-time favorite character! Vader was a master of all seven forms of lightsaber combat, a master Force-wielder, a brilliant strategist, a very wise, terrifying, evil, cold-hearted, bone-chilling Sith Lord. If Lucas's idea was never to make Anakin lose to Obi-wan on Mustafar, he would've become the most powerful and feared Sith Lord in history! Sidious would be nothing to him, and Vader would've killed him and then taken the galaxy for himself. But if that happened, Vader's story never would've been such a tragedy, and he wouldn't have worn the iconic badass armor suit and helmet that we love still today, and we would've never heard the iconic bone-chilling breathing.

3 The Emperor - Star Wars

Let's see here.

The Emperor possesses godlike powers of the dark side. He murdered his own master and engineered a civil war where billions were killed. Additionally, he turned a 25,000-year-old democratic republic into a brutal fascist dictatorship.

He butchered the entire Jedi Order, which was founded to preserve peace, including children, in cold blood. The Emperor slaughtered entire planets, eradicating cultures, religions, and billions of lives. He killed everyone who even had a second thought about him.

He appointed one man (who, by the way, is also a sadistic monster) to govern the entire Outer Rim. The Emperor betrayed everyone he knew just so he could come to power. He doesn't give a damn about his citizens and leaves them to wallow in poverty. Additionally, he cooperates with criminal organizations such as the Hutts.

He's evil. He's just evil.

4 Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character in a series of suspense novels by Thomas Harris. Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter is the greatest villain of all time. He should also be at the top of this list because there are real sociopaths out there who blend into society by being charming, intelligent, and charismatic, while secretly being sick, sadistic, and serial killers. You never know whether someone might be one of those people. Hannibal is the scariest villain. You just never know if that polite gentleman you met at the store might be a cannibal.

Hannibal Lecter was a very gross man, but I don't think he's as gross as Davy Jones. He did kill people. He didn't just kill people. He also ate other people. He ate everything you can ever think of on humans, and he did that to at least 20 people or more. He was a doctor who helped someone with their blood, but then he thought it smelled good and tasted good, so he decided to go around killing and eating other people because he liked the taste of their blood. He ate people's lungs, privates, hearts, brains... Ah, he was a pretty damn gross dude.

5 Lord Voldemort - Harry Potter Lord Voldemort is a fictional character and the central main antagonist in J. K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997.

When I think of the worst and most evil movie villains, I'd choose between Darth Vader, Sauron, or Voldemort. Why didn't I choose the Joker? Because it was Heath Ledger who portrayed a villain, but he was not "evil". He said, "I'm a dog that chases cars, I don't know what to do if I caught one" (or something like that). He was crazy and a villain, but to say evil like pure evil... Um, not in my perception.

Darth Vader was very close, and so was Emperor Palpatine, but Darth Vader turned out to be good in the end. He was forgiven and saved by his son. Sauron, he fits the evil part easily, but he is kind of abstract, always having others fight for him.

I forgot... Amon Goeth from Schindler's List was both a villain and evil, plus he was real. But it was the movie that portrayed him like that. When you think this character was real, you find it incredible that a person could be that evil. It was a close call with Voldemort (curiously portrayed by the same actor), but I choose Voldemort because he was evil, the villain, stopped at nothing to gain power and conquer all, and worst of all, he couldn't love.

6 Anton Chigurh - No Country for Old Men Anton Chigurh is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, "No Country for Old Men." In the 2007 film adaptation of the same name, he is portrayed by Javier Bardem.

I think he should be number 1 because, unlike the Joker who wants anarchy and chaos, Anton feels that he has to be anarchy and chaos. It's like there's no other choice for him. He thinks that if he doesn't do bad things, the world will never be thrown out of alignment. Kinda depressing for a character, huh?

There is no comparing Chigurh's ferocity and utter detachment from humanity to anyone else on this list. He should be #1 because his "evil," unlike everyone else on this list, isn't contingent upon motives. It's simply his nature.

7 Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare on Elm Street Fred "Freddy" Krueger is the main antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He first appeared in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Freddy Krueger was a creepy and evil man, deadly and far too horrible to exist on Earth. He is born and comes to life from people's nightmares. Some people died from their deadly nightmares. He didn't just kill people through deadly nightmares. In general, killing people became his favorite activity. He particularly enjoyed killing children. Krueger was smart and possessed evil magic, using it to inflict nightmare deaths. He was terrifying and Freddy Krueger was a creepily smart individual.

Even though Freddy Krueger may be regarded as one of the most terrifying characters in cinema history, Robert Englund (the actor who played Freddy) is considered extremely friendly in real life. He is very appreciative of his fans, many of whom admit that his portrayal of Krueger legitimately frightened them as children.

8 Frieza - Dragon Ball Z Freeza (Pronounced "Frieza" in the Funimation dub) is fictional character in the Dragon Ball series by Akira Toriyama as the primary antagonist of the Freeza Saga. He is a galactic tyrant who governs the Planet Trade Organization and is feared by the universe for his sadistic and brutal nature. He is... read more

The sinister Frieza. The most diabolical planet conqueror the universe has ever known. His reputation precedes him and is paralleled only by the fear that resonates from the mention of his very name.

He killed the whole population of hundreds of planets because he wanted to sell the planets. He also kills his soldiers just for fun, or not even for that. Frieza enjoys torturing people. He is a true monster.

The battle between Goku and Frieza was the longest fight ever measured in history. I could not even wait for the defeat of Frieza, but Goku was defeated too easily in some rounds. Finally, Frieza's disk that killed Goku totally backfired, slicing Frieza in half and leading to the destruction of Piccolo's home planet. And Goku is gone.

9 Thanos - Avengers: Infinity War

Lord Voldemort: Killed off a bunch of wizards.
Darth Vader: Killed a lot of people but had a history of doing good when he was a Jedi.
Thanos: Kills half of an entire planet and sacrifices his own daughter.

Many villains don't succeed, but this guy is an exception. He killed half of the universe. Despicable.

Killing half of all life will certainly place a villain very high on the list.

10 Amon Goeth - Schindler's List Amon Göeth, was most notorious for his portrayal by Ralph Fiennes (actor shown, that's not Amon) in the movie Schindler's List. A popular Grammy winning movie about Nazi Germany and more specifically the role of Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, a nazi who helped thousands of Jews escape their... read more

Every terrible trait a human being can have is incarnated into one person. Vader, Voldemort, and Freddy Krueger are evil, but Amon Goeth is just downright reprehensible. His final words of "Heil Hitler" show how deluded and uncaring this guy was about anything.

How can he actually keep a straight face when he is murdering hundreds of thousands of people, each worth a thousand times more than he is? He doesn't even care. I wish I could launch a nuclear bomb through my TV screen whenever I see him.

Amon Goeth is the greatest villain of all time. He is cruel, sadistic, crazy, and was a real person. Every evil deed, every act of pure cruelty he does in the movie, he did in real life. That is what makes him the best villain EVER.

The Contenders
11 Sauron - The Lord of the Rings Sauron is the title character and main antagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Originally a servant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Morgoth was later defeated and Sauron fled. He later came back to Middle Earth and took over as the new Dark Lord by using a Ring of Power. He was later... read more

Really? Really?! This guy is the ultimate evil! If Vader met him, he would just erase the Sith Lord from existence. If Voldemort met him, Voldemort would be crying like a little baby. He's almost conquered Middle-Earth (which, in my idea, is possibly a dimension, since you pretty much require magic to cross to other parts) twice! He's created the Witch King of Angmar (who also would whoop Vader's butt, by the way), corrupted Saruman, and held his ground against Galadriel, one of the three most powerful elves of all time, while at such a weakened state he cannot even fight! Just repeating his words twists your minds and cracks your lips! How is he not number one?

12 Hans Gruber - Die Hard Hans Gruber is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1988 action film Die Hard portrayed by Alan Rickman.
13 Scar - The Lion King Scar is the main antagonist of Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King. He was the second son of Ahadi and Uru — who were, at one time, King and Queen of the Pride Lands — the younger brother of Mufasa, and the uncle of Simba.

I know that a Disney character isn't supposed to bring fear, but if this were a person, you'd have second thoughts. He wanted power so badly that he killed his brother and blamed his nephew. He had some psycho hyenas trying to kill some kids, and in the end, he nearly achieved victory. Only Disney wrote this so that couldn't happen. Also, I wanted to vote for Count Olaf and It. Stephen King, you messed up, guy.

Scar is just PURE evil. I voted because he would just do anything for a crown.

I know there's just no competing with Voldemort and the others up there, but why is Scar so low on this list?!

14 Jigsaw - Saw Jigsaw is a character from the Saw series. He first appears in Saw as a man whose wife passed away. After that, he did lots of tests on people.

Honestly, how does Jigsaw not have a higher rank? He masterfully plans out all his traps and uses amazing strategy to plan out every single death of his victims. He is a psychopath that could double as a psychologist, given his extraordinary mind. He was an evil, villainous mastermind from when he survived a suicide car crash until he died. However, his legacy didn't die there. He pulled in a victim of his traps and convinced even her to make people "redeem themselves" the same way he made them do it. Brilliant, psychopathic, and truly evil, this villain is definitely the best.

15 Loki - The Avengers

He has the power of triple awesomeness that could defeat all the Avengers' awesomeness in like two seconds, or maybe one? Anyway, I don't know why he isn't on the first page. And another point: Tom Hiddleston plays him. That should definitely count for something, right?

I can't believe no one put Loki on the list! What's wrong with you people?! He's the most powerful villain, I think. And so cruel! I love it!

I love this villain and I love his new TV series. He is the GOAT when it comes to villains.

16 The Duke - Salò

Even though every other bad guy on this list is way cooler than the Duke, I still think he's the most evil. The Duke is sick in ways I can't begin to describe. The film Salò is number one on a lot of disturbing film lists. Arguably, the Duke is the most disgusting one in the movie. I'm not saying that the other villains on this list aren't sick, but this guy is just over the top gross.

What would you expect from the main villain of the most disturbing movie in existence? Not only this, but he isn't insane. He can control what he is doing and knows perfectly well that what he is doing is wrong, and he still does it.

17 Kylo Ren - Star Wars: The Force Awakens Kyle Ren, also known as Ben Solo, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Kylo Ren commands the First Order with a temper as fiery as his unconventional lightsaber. Ren first appeared in 2015's Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, was... read more

Why is he so low? He is more evil than Vader.

18 Captain Vidal - Pan's Labyrinth

Without a doubt, the most soulless, evil, contemptible movie character of all time. I'm disappointed that The Joker is number 1 here. He might be the most entertaining and memorable movie villain, but he's certainly not the most evil. Not even close. Captain Vidal takes the cake, followed by Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men) and Amon Goeth (Schindler's List).

Captain Vidal is not only evil. He is easily one of the most sadistic men seen on screen. He brutally murders countless people without even flinching.

19 Nurse Ratched - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This is truly one of the worst characters of all time. I saw both the movie and the play, and after both, I wanted to strangle her, and it brought me to tears.

Name any other villain who can truly make you feel physically sick to your stomach.

20 The Joker - Batman

The Joker was a bad guy who did so many illegal things. He killed quite a lot of people for no damn reason. He killed his own father and his girlfriend, totally without reason. He just didn't care what he did or who he killed. He was a very evil man. All he liked to do was to watch the whole Earth burn and bully the planet with his evil laughs. He mostly tried to kill Batman, but he also killed quite a lot of others. He wasn't a nice guy at all.

Joker never tried to kill Batman, not once. He always just toyed with the guy. The only way he would have wanted to kill Batman is if he were to die too, making it seem like an epic battle of good and evil. But for some reason, he didn't take his revenge against Batman for what he did to him. Rather, he continuously toyed with him. And he is the best villain in any movie, fairytale, anything. Hell, even Lucifer doesn't compete.

21 Norman Bates - Psycho Norman Bates is a character created by writer Robert Bloch as the main character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the primary antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock and its sequels.

He, along with Buffalo Bill and Leatherface, was based off a real serial killer.

Anthony Perkins does a phenomenal job as Norman Bates. He still gives me the creeps.

He's one of my favorite villains because of his mommy issues and ways to scare someone.

22 Cato - The Hunger Games

Cato was a complete thug and the one tribute hell-bent on killing off the so-called Star-Crossed Lovers of District 12.

A thuggish Tribute from District 12 who was considered Katniss' biggest threat.

The leader of the villainous Career pack (tributes from Districts 1 and 2).

23 Doctor Octopus - Spider-Man 2 Doctor Octopus, also known as Doc Ock, Doc Octopus, and the Superior Spider-Man, is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #3. In Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home, he was portrayed... read more
24 Michael Myers - Halloween Michael Myers is a character from the Halloween series of slasher films. He first appears in John Carpenter's Halloween as a young boy who murders his older sister, then fifteen years later returns home to murder more teenagers... read more

I honestly think that Michael Myers is scarier than Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. He's more realistic. When you get down to it, Freddy is scary, but as the films went on, he just became more annoying, corny, and dumb. And Jason is just a deformed man with no real motivation except killing campers because he never got to be one. How can a human being come back alive after being killed so many times?

Michael Myers has a motivation, and he's not like some magic fairy who keeps coming back to life after getting killed. This makes him a lot scarier because the things that happen to Freddy and Jason can't happen in real life.

But remember, this is just my opinion, and I'm glad to hear yours too.

25 The Terminator - The Terminator The Terminator (Known as the T-800, or Cyberdyne Systems Model 101) is the titular fictional autonomous cyborg from the Terminator franchise portrayed by both Arnold Schwarzenegger and numerous actor stand-ins digitally overlayed with Schwarzenegger's likeness... read more

The first is definitely the best, and I don't understand why a guy this cool is all the way down here. He should be number 1 or 2, not 22. This guy is the best, and you all should vote. And if you haven't seen the movies, watch them now.

The T-800 is a hard model skeleton with black red eyes. His body is complete metal with people tissue. The T-800 has aged over the years. His opponents are models T-1000 and T-X.

The Terminator T-800 is an endoskeleton with hard oil, a chip, and a good form. He can teleport to hard freeze. Tave.

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