Certain TV characters transcend their roles, morphing into true villains we relish despising long after the series concludes. A recent digital discourse saw individuals passionately voicing their opinions on the most malevolent TV antagonists. Here, we unveil 13 of their standout selections.
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Hannibal
You might know Hannibal Lecter from the movie, Silence of the Lambs, which featured Anthony Hopkins and Jodi Foster. But the TV show that ran from 2013 to 2015 was equally terrifying.
As one online poster said, “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful and terrible at the same time. And when you watch the show you realize how unbelievably intentional it is. The most horrific scenes are by far and away the most beautiful.”
Livia Soprano
Any fan of The Sopranos knows that Tony didn’t think of his mom as the bastion of motherhood. She did try to have him whacked after all.
“That woman was a black hole of anything and everything that remotely resembled happiness. It’s so realistic how she portrayed this miserable woman who only got her kicks off of making other people miserable. And not just anybody, but her own family, the only people left who cared about her,” notes one person.
Miserable is one word to describe her.
Walter White
Breaking Bad was a hugely popular show. Walter White, the antihero protagonist might seem like an odd choice, but some commenters argued he was a true villain.
One person said, “It’s probably not a popular choice but Walter white destroyed many lives both directly and indirectly for what essentially amounts to his own greed.”
Their sentiment is certainly up for debate.
Yvonne Parker
Sociopath goes hand in hand with evil. That was definitely the case with Vee from Orange is the New Black. She had quite the way the manipulate situations to ensure she wouldn’t be caught for her criminal mastermind.
“I’ve recently been rewatching Orange Is The New Black, and Vee is one of my most hated tv characters. I had forgotten how truly awful she was,” says one person.
Perhaps it was fitting that her post-Litchfield hours were so few.
Vernon Schillinger
Playing the role of leader of The Aryan Brotherhood takes a special actor. JK Simmons pulled it off in spades in Oz. He played it so well that you wanted to hate the character.
One online commenter agrees, stating, “I had to scroll way too far for this answer. It can’t be anyone but Schillinger. It might have been up for debate until he literally arranges for a child to be murdered.
JK Simmons is a great actor, but even when he’s playing the most wholesome character imaginable, all I can think of is the stuff that Schillinger does in Oz.”
JK Simmons is a good actor, but Schillinger is pure evil.
Tywin Lannister
Another Game of Thrones villain, Tywin Lannister, has a greatly narrow view of family. It’s everything, but he has his limits.
“A complete and utterly hypocrite who goes on and on about legacy and family whilst also being horrible to his children. To him, they’re just pawns in his game to gain power. When Jaime tries to distance himself from him, he disowns him. Cersei is just a way to ensure alliances. And his treatment of Tyrion is despicable beyond measure,” comments one person.
The man tried to have his son killed at least once, and that doesn’t begin to touch his treatment of him most times. Pure evil indeed.
Angelica Pickles
We’ve avoided Rugrats in our home, but I know many greatly dislike the anti-hero Angelica. One online commenter says, “But in terms of pure, unflinching evil…I say Angelica Pickles from Rugrats is second to none. She is selfish, shallow, cruel, and manipulative. She literally once told Chuckie that the world would be better off without him. How do you top evil like that?”
From faking a broken leg to be pampered to tormenting Chuckie, it’s easy to see why she is viewed as evil.
Gul Dukat
The Star Trek universe has its share of villains. Few are disliked as much as Gul Dukat. While in a small number of episodes, relatively speaking, he left a mark.
“Fascist overlord of an oppressed population who slaughtered innocents, sexually preyed on women, joined sides with the Dominion until he went mad, got captured, and eventually made deals with literal demons from Bajoran myth. And all the way up until that madness he genuinely expected the Bajorans to be thankful to him. He believed he had done what was right, and that the Bajorans were wrong to demonize him. Arrogance, cruelty, ambition, ruthlessness, exploitative… just the worst,” adds one person.
Cruel, ruthless, and ruthless, that’s evil indeed.
J.R. Ewing
Some TV characters become part of the culture. That describes J.R. Ewing from Dallas. Larry Hagman played his role so well, not to mention convincing.
“J.R. Ewing springs to mind,” says one person. Another adds “He wasn’t a sociopath he just straight up got rid of anyone in his way.”
Anyone in his way stood no chance. He was pure antagonist.
Mr. Krabs
Mr. Krabs isn’t pure evil, like other characters, but Plankton filled the true role of villain on SpongeBob.
One person disagrees, saying, “This cheapskate sociopath is slaving his employees regardless of their personal time, pays them the bare minimum (if any), will not hesitate to make others suffer for his greed (as seen in many episodes), stomp and humiliate anyone who stands in his path even for small change and play with your emotions to come out on top. He had deliberately hurt helpless animals for profit, caused other businesses to crash and burn, tortured his own employees, friends and family for self satisfaction, he is a hypocrite, insane and the worst thing- he almost never pays for his crimes!”
I’m just glad my children are out of the SpongeBob phase.
Wendy Byrde
There are numerous characters you can classify as evil on Ozark. However, Wendy Byrde takes the cake, and Laura Linney played the role so well. And, she posed the greatest threat to her family throughout the series.
From showing little fear to a reign of terror, Byrde was unflinchingly evil. She cared little how it impacted her business interests, or her family.
Jim Moriarty
Andrew Scott has made his rounds in acting, but one that really sticks out is his portrayal of Jim Moriarty on BBC’s Sherlock.
“Andrew Scott is such a good actor that I can’t see him in anything else without assuming that his character is actually hiding the fact that he’s an evil mastermind who will BURN you. shudder,” says one person.
Moriarty is a conniving and evil criminal mastermind, making him a good adversary for Holmes.
Ramsey Bolton
Game of Thrones wasn’t the most popular show on TV for years for no reason. It’s compelling cast included multiple villains we loved to hate.
One of those was without a doubt, Ramsey Bolton. He was a rapist, sadistic torturer, killed his own infant brother and was cruel to dogs, turning them, in to vicious killers. As one person said online, “…he was 100% worse than Joffrey IMO.”
We agree.
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This thread inspired this post.
I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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