Top 25 Movie Villains
The Top Big-Screen Bad Guys (and Gals)
They're the men and women we love to hate. And really, what would a good guy be without a baddie to threaten virtue, menace the innocent and foil the best-laid plans?
So here's to the black hats, our list of the 25 hissable heavies who are the ultimate bad seeds. --By Tom Johnson
Everett Collection(4)
25. Agent Smith, 'The Matrix' (1999)
Played by: Hugo Weaving
Agent Smith, voice dripping with disdain, eyes covered with his trademark shades, is the "muscle" of the Matrix and Neo's (Keanu Reeves) indefatigable foe. Intent on erasing Neo and obliterating the Zion warriors, Smith can replicate himself into the hundreds and thousands -- a virtual army with superhuman martial arts skills to boot.
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Warner Bros.
24. Khan Noonien Singh, 'Star Trek: Wrath of Khan' (1982)
Played by: Ricardo Montalban
A vestige of Earth's late 20th-century eugenics wars, superman Khan has a super ego to match. Banished to a deserted planet in an episode of the 'Star Trek' TV series, Khan seeks revenge on the man who imprisoned him, his nemesis: Capt. James T. Kirk.
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Everett Collection
23. Frank Booth, 'Blue Velvet' (1986)
Played by: Dennis Hopper
Crime kingpin of Lumberton, N.C., Booth never met a form of depravity that he didn't like. His kinky sexual affinities include huffing gas, erotic asphyxiation, sadomasochism ... and those are just the ones we can print. Throw in mutilation, kidnapping and murder and you've got one well-rounded (if not well-grounded) sociopath.
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Everett Collection
22. Cruella de Vil, '101 Dalmatians' (1961)
Voiced by: Betty Lou Gerson
Her name (an amalgam of cruel and devil) sums up this crazed old bag who steals puppies with an eye to weaving their fur into ... gulp! ... coats. A monstrous fashionista, Cruella looms large in the pantheon of animated villains. As the song goes: "Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil, if she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will."
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Everett Collection
21. Alonzo Harris, 'Training Day' (2001)
Played by: Denzel Washington
Over the course of a single day, rogue narcotics agent Harris "evaluates" a rookie (Ethan Hawke) and subjects him to a litany of depredations and humiliations that end in extortion and murder. Washington won a Best Actor Oscar in the role of a streetwise cop on the make who can't distinguish between good and evil anymore.
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Warner Bros.
20. Lex Luthor, 'Superman' (1978)
Played by: Gene Hackman
"Greatest Criminal Mind of Our Time" Luthor plans an uber real-estate swindle when he purchases thousands of miles of worthless Nevada desert intending to detonate a nuke in California's San Andreas Fault and voila! ... instant invaluable "coastline." Hackman's peevish, droll turn as the ultimate robber baron is hilarious.
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Everett Collection
19. Joan Crawford, 'Mommie Dearest' (1981)
Played by: Faye Dunaway
Dunaway chews more scenery than Secretariat ("No. More. Wire. Hangers!" ring a bell?) and keeps daughter Christina in such a state of abject terror in this camp classic that it's hard to believe the angelic child ever had the strength, years later, to write a dishy, tell-all memoir. Talk about payback.
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Everett Collection
18. T-1000, 'Terminator 2' (1991)
Played by: Robert Patrick
Ah-nuld's original Terminator gets all the glory, but it's Patrick's T-1000, a prototype model made of shape-shifting liquid metal, that truly terrorizes. This homicidal robot is the ultimate hit man who won't stop until his mission (to kill resistance leader John Connor) is completed or he ends up on the scrap heap -- whichever comes first.
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Everett Collection
17. Dr. Christian Szell, 'Marathon Man' (1976)
Played by: Laurence Olivier
Ex-Nazi concentration camp dentist Szell (in a role inspired by the infamous Dr. Mengele) uses a variety of drills, probes and picks to get to the, um, root of the matter when torturing Dustin Hoffman on whether "it's safe" to retrieve his horde of diamonds at a Manhattan bank. Pass the Novocaine, please.
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Everett Collection
Reader Comments (826)
Suraj C. at 4:31PM on Jul 10th 2008
you need to change the top 3
while all were evil in a sense
they didn't have the realism of evil that scared like hanninbel did
i mean everyone ik was and is terrified of lector
and plus you forgot quite a few "villains"
most notably nurse ratched from one flew over the cookoo nest and norman bates from psycho
benaloo at 3:42PM on Jul 10th 2008
How can you leave out David Prowse from the list of actors who brought Vader to life? It was his physicality and the voice of James Earl Jones that makes Vader what he is...not Christensen and his crappy acting.
richard at 9:54AM on Jun 28th 2009
i totally agree with u
starwarsfan212 at 4:41PM on Jul 10th 2008
Note: the facts about Vader are a little messed up. There are actually 4 people who deserve the credit for playing Vader: 1) David Prowse (the man in the suit in the original trilogy), 2) James Earl Jones (voice), 3) Sebastian Shaw (who is technically not Vader anymore, but Anakin once more at the end of "Return of the Jedi"), and 4) Hayden Christensen (Vader without a suit until the end of "Revenge of the Sith").
P.S. The story isn't "eons in the future". Remember? "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."
Katelynn at 7:24PM on Oct 12th 2009
even though he did not do a good job, he still should be added. Jake Llyod did play the child Anakin Skywalker. So 5 people should be mentioned under who portrayed Darth Vader
Neil at 9:32AM on Jul 11th 2008
Norman Bates, the creepy murderer of Psycho really needs to be on this list. In fact, Hitchcock villains were really overlooked. . .
Judge at 11:03PM on Jul 10th 2008
will harry potter ever die? I can't believe of all candidates, Voldemort got first. someone is being paid off to make this list.
christian sassano at 6:35PM on Jul 10th 2008
lord voldemort doesnt belong on this list.
sure he's evil, but he is not up to par in the movies...
and what about Amon Goeth in Schnidler's list??
he isnt even on here!
dulse at 6:38PM on Jul 10th 2008
Being a huge Harry Potter fan and a slytherin fan, I'm glad The Dark Lord was crowned #1 villian..
Brett at 7:10PM on Apr 4th 2009
This was overall good.... but lord volermort come on my left nut is more scary then him! darth vader and the joker though are good choices for the top 5
Thad MacFarlane at 1:14AM on Jul 15th 2008
i can't believe anyone would place Voldemort, a guy without a nose, who barely ever shows up, and always gets his butt kicked by a bunch of pre-teens without a clue, on ANY list of top villains.
Carols Ray at 6:55PM on Jul 10th 2008
All those villains, man thats crazyness!!!
molinathemexican at 10:18AM on Jul 16th 2008
Alot of these villians should be in here, but HOW DO YOU LEAVE OUT JASON? friday the 13th is one of the biggest horror franchises ever. if i was in an alley and one path is jason, and the other path is hannibal...im running towards hannibal!
Adam at 7:04PM on Jul 10th 2008
This list totally sucked.
mudcatman at 8:39AM on Jul 11th 2008
I agree with molinathemexican: Before i even open number 25. I was thinking Jason the whole time would be number 1. I guess his latter movies spoiled his scariness much like the Krueger movies. But those movies were intense up till number three of the seires.
Abe at 7:47PM on Jul 10th 2008
Scion rebels? What the fuck. It's ZION. If you're going to the trouble of writing an article like this, at least know what you're talking about...
general chs at 7:41PM on Jul 14th 2008
it isnt in the future for star wars.
its a long long time ago!
fuck offs
LN at 8:01PM on Jul 10th 2008
Where on earth is norman bates? You guys forgetting him made this list a piece of trash in my eyes I mean seriously voldemort? Good god
thisisanoutrage! at 8:07PM on Jul 10th 2008
this is so horrible!
how can hannibal the cannibal get 4th and the wicked witch of the west get 3rd!
and "lord voldamort"
who wrote this and what are they smoking???
yes, a guy in a black robe with a pointed stick who fights pre-pubescent boys is the scariest villian ive ever seen (sarcasm)
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