When itcomes to great television shows, no story is ever complete without some obstacle or adversity for the hero to conquer. Often, this comes in the form of a diabolically evil villain at odds with the protagonist and their goal.
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These characters are compelling and shocking due to their layers, morals, unpredictability, and often complicated character arcs. A truly great villain will make your blood boil and compel you to yell at the screen. Villains come in all different forms, and there have been some fantastically despicable and deranged ones over the years.
Joffrey Baratheon (‘Game of Thrones’)
One of the most loathsome television characters of all time, Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), is easy to hate. The young king was the bastard son of brother and sister Cersei and Jaime Lannister (Lena HeadeyandNikolaj Coster-Waldau) inGame of Thrones.
Joffrey is a sadist who enjoys and thrives on cruelty, torturing, and killing innocent people. One of his most horrifying moments was the execution of Ned Stark (Sean Bean) under his order, a moment, amongst many others, that led viewers to rejoice at his eventual death.
Logan Roy (‘Succession’)
It can be argued that every member of the Roy family inSuccessionis not a particularly good or ethical person. However, no one is quite ascalculated and ruthless as the family patriarch, Logan Roy (Brian Cox).
Logan is a fierce defender of his media empire and isn’t afraid to ruin or take down anyone who threatens it, including his children. He may say that he loves them, but he was willing to send his son to prison to cover up his crimes. Indeed not the father of the year.
The Evil Queen/Regina Mills (‘Once Upon a Time’)
Who is eviler than The Evil Queen herself?Once Upon a Timeput a spin on classic fairy tales, withLana Parrillaas the Queen and her modern-day alter ego, Regina Mills. This version of the infamous villain is given a backstory and isn’t simply “bad,” making her much more interesting.
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Regina is filled with hatred and dark magic as the Queen, doing anything and everything to prevent Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) from happiness. As Regina Mills, she wants to protect her son and even tries to become a better person throughout the series.
Perry Wright (‘Big Little Lies’)
A villain doesn’t necessarily have to have formidable powers or be superhuman to be scary — and Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgård) fromBig Little Liesis a prime example. He appears to be the perfect husband and father but is anything but.
Perry is physically and emotionally abusive to his wife Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and is controlling and jealous of her life outside their family. Scenes displaying his abusive behavior are tough to watch, especially those in front of their kids. Skarsgård is so chilling in the role that it’s hard to separate the actor from the character.
Villanelle (‘Killing Eve’)
No one can pull off being a cold-blooded killer and style icon simultaneously quite like Villanelle (Jodie Comer) fromKilling Eve. The Russian assassin lacks empathy and relishes in her brutal kills, usually in exotic locations.
Despite Villanelle’s murderous streak, she has a twisted charm to her, and even though audiences may hate her, they can’t help but like her at the same time. She certainly isn’t your typical serial killer between her affection for Eve (Sandra Oh), fabulous outfits, and dark humor.
Nathan Shelley (‘Ted Lasso’)
If you had just started watchingTed Lassoand were told that shy and awkward Nate “The Great” (Nick Mohammed) would eventually be included on a TV villain’s list, you wouldn’t believe it. However, the former kit man has now become the show’s most hated character.
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After a gradual buildup over season two, Nate starts to crave power and wants to “be the boss,” causing him to leak Ted’s (Jason Sudeikis) panic attack to the press and defect to West Ham United, the rival team owned by Rebecca’s (Hannah Waddingham) ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head).
Bryce Walker (‘13 Reasons Why’)
Before13 Reasons Whycompletely diverted from its source material and became a ridiculous Riverdale-esque mess, it was a controversial yet impactful series dealing with serious issues teens face. Its main antagonist was Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice).
Coming from a wealthy family, adored by his peers and the most popular athlete at school, Bryce abused his power by taking advantage of girls and raping Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), among his many other heinous acts. He’s a terrifying character, and even more so with the knowledge that many boys like Bryce exist.
Oswald Mosley (‘Peaky Blinders’)
Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) hasfaced his fair share of foesthroughoutPeaky Blinders— The Russians, The Mafia, The Billy Boys, and more — but certainly met his match in the politician and fascist Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin).
Based on the real-life historical figure, Mosley formed the British Union of Fascists and had heavy influence due to his ranks within the government. He uses his intellect rather than first-hand violence as a weapon and provokes and manipulates Tommy. His ideology makes him a huge threat, and it’s frightening to think this man held power in real life.
While Walter White (Bryan Cranston) arguably becomes the villain ofBreaking Bad, he is much less of a threat when compared to drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Gus owns Los Pollos Hermanos, a restaurant front for his drug distribution enterprise.
Behind the polite and professional businessman lies a cold and calculating monster. While he’s not afraid to kill, he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, seen after he casually slits a man’s throat with a box cutter knife and proceeds to carefully remove his clothes and wash the blood off his hands.
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