Top Ten Movie Villains

<< 20-11

10. COLONEL HANS LANDA

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (2009)

While Inglourious Basterds was a flawed movie, this brilliant scene ensures its villain is one of the best I’ve seen.  A Nazi officer tasked with hunting down Jews, Landa is extraordinarily crafty.  He has a sixth sense when it comes to finding people.  Despite this, he harbors no personal hatred for his quarry.  He likes to do what he’s good at regardless of the morality.  In addition to his subtle wit, he can also display brutality, like when he strangled Bridget.

9. PALPATINE

Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars

Shitty Sheev outsmarted the whole galaxy while charismatically yukking it up the whole time.  Good thing no terrible movie cheated him back to life. 

 8. VICE-CARDINAL FERDINAND DAXUS

Nick Chinlund, Ultraviolet (2006)

This may seem surprising considering how cheesy a movie this is, but then again I find the idea of a medical police state increasingly relevant.  The idea that medical authorities should be deciding the basic morality over life and death because they have a skill set that gives some power over it is remarkably similar to the logic of a military dictatorship.  The medical community seems to have been infected by cold-hearted utilitarianism pure fucking evil, and Daxus seems to be a disturbingly accurate depiction of a modern bioethicist.  Even though he looks like the Jason Bateman's estranged brother, Nick Chinlund also gives a good performance, and I love his voice. 

 7. T-800 MODEL 101

Anrold Scharzenegger, The Terminator (1984)

Completely cold and emotionless.  Single-mindedly focused on one goal: to kill its target.  Nearly unstoppable killing machine in the form of a human.  Especially memorable for the classic “I’ll be back” line.  I also like the creepy effect of the stop-motion endoskeleton at the end.

 6. SCAR

Jeremy Irons, The Lion King (1994)

Scar (real name Taka) may be shamelessly coded, but he’s one of the most effective villains in Disney canon.  He’s charismatic enough to get the hyenas on his side while tricking his own family.  Thoroughly consumed by evil, he’s willing to murder his own brother and young nephew to secure power for himself.  Watch the scene where he tells a grieving Simba he’s responsible for his father’s death; he clearly has no soul.  In addition to all this, he sings the best song in Disney history.  The hyenas may have understandable motivation to overthrow Mufasa, but there’s a relevant lesson this movie teaches is us. Just because you feel disenfranchised, it’s not justification to blindly follow some ruddy sociopath who makes crazy promises he has no intention of keeping.   

 5. JACOBIM MUGATU

Will Ferrell, Zoolander (2001)

Not only is Mugatu (real name Jacob Moogberg) one of the funniest villains ever, he has the “goods” of any great villain.  He has a flamboyant sense of style, is a well-organized tactician, and he has truly evil goals.  He is planning to murder a world leader in order to maintain practice of child labor for cheap fashion goods.  His backstory and brainwashing of Derek are some of the funniest sequences I’ve seen in a movie.  Even the disappointing sequel reinforces his status as an evil genius.

 4. LORD SHEN

Gary Oldman, Kung Fu Panda 2, (2011)

A power-hungry villain who’s tortured by his own villainy as well as his parents’ rejection of him.  Shen feels he’s destined to rule and believes he’s gone too deep into depravity to turn back on his goals.  He shows warmth toward his family’s soothsayer (he pulled a knife on Po when he insulted her), but he has no mercy for anyone else in his way.  He's  a witty foe and a pragmatic fighter.  On top of that, he has a great character design; who would have thought a peacock would have made such a great villain?

 3. MALEFICENT

Eleanor Audley, Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Maleficent is willing to curse a child to death and intimidates everyone with her immense magical power.  She’s a classic villain, and her sardonic demeanor makes her even more endearing.  As if that’s not enough, she TURNS INTO A DRAGON.  The less that’s said about the awful 2014 film, the better.

 2. THE JOKER

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (2008)

Darkly humorous, stylish, and unpredictably brilliant, the Joker is one the best interpretations of the Clown Prince of Crime, if not the best.  Heath Ledger’s performance was amazing.  The character is gritty and down-to-earth in his tactics, but he’s true to the spirit of the character.  What’s more, he actually has a point about human nature.  We may have the ability to civilize ourselves, but we are savage animals at heart. 

 1. DARTH VADER

David Prowse, v. James Earl Jones, The Star Wars Trilogy (1977-83)

The obvious choice.  A tortured, yet terrifying villain with the best character design of all time.  Enough has been said about this character’s appeal, but I have a few additions.  Despite his viciousness and doubt, he genuinely believes he’s a good guy fighting for order.  His reaction to Princess Leia’s lying to him on the Tantive IV reminds me of my own annoyance when people are disingenuous with me.  I also don’t think he gets enough credit for sass.  He can have a deadpan wit which people ignore due to his intimidating presence.  

 << 20-11

Favorite Movie Villains, Pt 4

<< 30-21   Top Ten >>

20. ZIRA

Suzanne Pleshette, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998)

Exiled with many other lions for being Scar’s most loyal follower, Zira feels that she’s being punished for that loyalty.  She grooms Kovu (Jason Marsden) to usurp Simba’s rule, and even decides to use his feelings toward Kiara to her advantage.  The whole time she’s been relatively dismissive toward her weaker, but more loyal son Nuka (Andy Dick).  When Kovu’s hesitation prompts Nuka to sacrifice his life, she feels both grief for her loss and guilt for her treatment of him.  In addition to being surprisingly complex and effective for a Disney direct-to-video villain, she also sings a pretty good song in the form of a twisted lullaby.  

 19. JUDGE CLAUDE FROLLO

Tony Jay, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Adapted from a conflicted priest in the book, Frollo is still a very effective villain.  Certainly one of the more vile Disney foes, he’s a self-righteous authoritarian whose penchant for cruelty, torture, and malice is only slightly tempered by his devout Catholicism.  He would have murdered an infant Quasimodo had the archdeacon (David Ogden Stiers) not shamed him out of it (and then moronically tasked him with caring for the child).  He then raises Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) in isolation and psychologically abuses him to indulge his desire for control.  In a bold move for Disney, he nurses a sexual attraction to Esmeralda (Demi Moore) which culminates in a desire to kill her if he cannot have her.  He expresses this with a twisted prayer that’s also one of the better songs in Disney canon. 

 18. COMMODUS

Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator (2000)

Commodus is a murderous, power-hungry, and devious supervillain enhanced by a great performance from Phoenix (who deserved an Oscar far more than Russell Crowe).  His vileness is exemplified by his willingness to have children murdered and his incestuous lust for his sister.  He effectively uses all this to threaten Lucilla (Connie Nielson) into betraying Maximus.  The only serious villain on this list based on a real person, he’s arguably far more evil than the real Commodus.  Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus was certainly a violent and unhinged megalomaniac, but he was also more weak-willed, delusional, and impulsive than the movie depiction.  If you were a Christian, his reign was certainly an improvement over that of Marcus Aurelius.

 17. MOK SWAGGER

Don Francks (singing voices: Lou Reed and Iggy Pop), Rock & Rule (1983)

Despite being a painfully obvious parody of Mick Jagger in name and appearance, Mok is a pretty fun villain.  So egotistical he flies into a rage when his concert is one seat short of selling out, he resorts to conjuring an apocalyptic demon to enhance his influence and power.  He’s a very charismatic villain, charming Angel (Susan Roman) so he can use her voice to summon this monstrosity.  When Omar (Greg Salata/Paul Le Mat) is rude to him, his reaction of suppressed rage is one of the more amusing parts of the movie.  One has to credit animator Robin Budd for bringing one of the more intentionally grotesque characters of this movie to life with such expressiveness.  Props also go to voice actor Don Francks.  Mok has style and also has a pretty good villain song.    

 16. KRONK PEPIKRANKENITZ

Patrick Warburton, The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

Kronk is a lovably buffoonish henchman with a heart of gold.  His chemistry with Yzma (Eartha Kitt) is amusing, and he’s one of my favorite comedic villains, even if he’s not particularly evil.

 15. AGENT SMITH

Hugo Weaving, The Matrix (1999)

Agent Smith is actually a relatively relatable villain.  He’s not a power-hungry sadist, but rather a man with a job to do who, like most of us, doesn’t particularly care for having to work.  In an interesting inversion of this trope, Smith, a sapient computer program, finds the sensory environment we use to interact with the world frustrating and annoying.  Like many normal people he’s motivated to get the job done just so he can go home at the end of the day and not have to worry about it.  That doesn’t, however, stop him from being very good at what he does while maintaining a stoic demeanor most of the time.  Weaving’s distinctive performance complements the G-Man motif of this character.  Unfortunately, Smith’s forced resurrection in the sequels negates his more identifiable elements and reduces him to some sort of philosophical boogeyman.  

 14. SHAN YU

Miguel Ferrer, Mulan (1998)

Unlike most Disney villains, Shan Yu isn’t flamboyant or weak.  He’s a strong, intelligent military leader who presents a constant, ominous threat to China and its people.  He even murders children with glee.  Despite Doug Walker’s absurd assertion to the contrary, he has some of the best lines ever uttered by a Disney villain.  Joking about murder with a surprisingly sharp wit makes him cringeworthy  in a good way.

13. RAOUL SILVA

Javier Bardem, Skyfall (2012)

An undeservedly awesome strawman version of Julian Assange, Silva (real name Tiago Rodriguez) has no qualms about endangering UK’s finest by spreading classified information about them to terrorists.  His story is suspiciously similar to Trevelyan’s, but his motivation makes far more sense.  While he was operating outside his brief as an MI6 agent, he still got royally screwed over by M, and the suffering he went through justifies his vendetta against her, if not his actions.  The experience also left him with a distinctive disfigurement.  A charismatic villain, he tries to use M’s failures to convert Bond, whom he sees as a potential kindred spirit.  While he fails at this secondary goal, he ultimately succeeds in what he truly wanted to do: humiliate M and kill her.  In other words, he’s a rare villain who wins.  Bond only succeeds in preventing him from fully savoring his victory; he seems more annoyed by his mortal wound than disturbed by it.  Javier Bardem has a lot of fun with this role, and his performance, while somewhat hammy, is truly entertaining.  My only complaints about this character are his slightly derivative nature in relation to Trevelyan and his use of Hollywood hacking.  Unfortunately, the inferior Spectre tried to make an unconvincing attempt to retcon him into a rather unreliable underling to Blofeld. 

12. CLERIC ANDREW BRANDT

Taye Diggs, Equilibrium (2002)

While Preston stars out as an honest authority figure who believes in the system, Brandt seems to be a corrupt peon who uses it for his own gain.  When the former begins to have doubts about his role, Brandt suspects and watches him like a hawk.  He often toys with Preston in the most devious and sadistic ways, clearly enjoying watching our hero squirm as he tries to talk his way out of situations without fighting.  He takes particular joy in watching Preston stand by as innocents are murdered.  At the end of the movie, when he and Preston finally face off in an honest fight, he smugly taunts his enemy only to be instantly and humiliatingly defeated.  In almost any other movie, I would find this to be crushingly anticlimactic (I’m looking at you, Shane), but Brandt is the kind of villain that makes such a death so satisfying.  Taye Diggs has a great performance, and I love the tense rivalry between the two characters that defines the movie’s tone.

 11. MADAME MIM

Martha Wentworth, The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Mim may be one of the more understandable Disney villains in her motivation.  While she is definitely evil as she is willing to murder a child, she only does so because he’s Merlin’s follower.  Heck, she even expresses momentary regret with what she “has” to do.  Seriously, Merlin is pretty shady.  His motivation is trying to groom a child to become king (against his will) so he can rule the country through him.  With this in mind, Mim almost comes off like a very immoral anti-heroine.  It also helps that turns into a fat dragoness.

<< 30-21   Top Ten >>

Favorite Movie Villains, Pt 3

<< 40-31    20-11 >> 

30. HADES

James Woods, Hercules (1997)

Though I’m not that big a fan of this movie, I love this character.  Woods interpreted the dark lord of the Underworld as a fast-talking schmoozer who still had an explosive temper and a genuinely evil motive.  I also like the design.  I just wish he had a song.

 29. R.K. CHESTER ROYALTON

Roger Allam, Speed Racer (2008)

I seem to be one of the few people who love this movie, and Royalton is one of my favorite parts of it.  A shrewd and powerful businessman who knows how to come off as friendly and charming until he’s defied.  When a potential business partner doesn’t cooperate, he shows his true colors.  He ruthlessly uses criminals to fix races to go his way and maximize his own profits.  His motivations are summed up by an amusingly loquacious speech in which he deconstructs Speed’s simple idealism.  I also love Roger Allam’s scene-chewing performance.  Wish I could see more of him. 

 28. URSULA

Pat Carroll, The Little Mermaid (1989)

Ursula can come off inviting and nonthreatening when talking Ariel into selling her voice, but she uses her new prize to trick Ariel out of her crush and steal King Triton’s powers.  When she does so, she becomes truly terrifying.  Her plan ultimate control of the ocean is brilliant and effective until Eric intervenes.  She also sings a great song.

 27. DOLORES JANE UMBRIDGE

Imelda Staunton, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Like many people I find Umbridge even more vile the Voldemort himself.  She exercises control over the children, stunting their ability to defend themselves, and even torturing them all while under the guise of a simpering moral guardian.  When Voldemort takes over the Ministry of Magic, she’s perfectly happy to persecute the Muggleborns for him.  It's a shame we never get to see her comeuppance at the end of the series.

 26. GOLLUM

Andy Serkis, The Lord of the Rings (2001-3)

In addition to being a groundbreaking use of great acting in a motion capture CGI character (thanks to Andy Serkis and a great effects team), Gollum is also a conflicted and pathetic villain.  Corrupted by the Ring, he’ll do anything to get it back from the hobbits until he is show some kindness from Frodo.  This inspires conflict between his two split personalities (Gollum and Smeagol, his original identity), that is cleverly displayed with a one-person conversation shot at different angles.  Although the Rankin-Bass version isn’t as well-executed, I love his design in it.   

 25. MAJOR ARNOLD ERNST TOHT

Ronald Lacey, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

He’s not a particularly potent villain, mind you.  He’s weak, cowardly and he dresses inappropriately for the desert.  Still, he’s as evil as it gets.  He tortures people for the Gestapo and is an obvious sadist.  His creepy demeanor makes him one of the better Peter Lorre wannabes.  I also like how he’s the skeptic of the group.  He acts sardonically dismissive of the Ark mission he’s been assigned to until he finally sees the power of God…right before it kills him.    

 24. GENERAL M. BISON

Raul Julia, Street Fighter (1994)

Street Fighter may be a cheesy movie, but Bison is a flamboyant and fun antagonist.  When Chun-Li confronts him over the death of her father, Bison utters a line that’s become synonymous with this trope.  It would be a better scene if she wasn’t describing a humiliating defeat of his.  Must happen to him a lot.  He’s still a stylish and amusingly campy megalomaniac.    

 23. HANNIBAL LECTER

Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

I’m not sure there’s much I can contribute to this one.  Hes a classically sophisticated, yet savage, killer.

 22. HANS GRUBER

Alan Rickman, Die Hard (1988)

Another great sophisticated villain that doesn’t need much explanation.  RIP, Alan Rickman.

 21. HARRY LIME

Orson Welles, The Third Man (1949)

The protagonist thinks he’s a small-time con-man, but Lime’s fraud has denied multiple children life-saving medicine.  He cleverly fakes his death to get the authorities of his back.  He expresses his complete disregard for human life on the ferris wheel and justifies his evil by short-selling Switzerland’s contribution to human culture.

 << 40-31    20-11 >>