What makes a great villain? A great entrance helps as does a homicidal streak. These villains are as beloved as many of their kinder foils and most of the characters on this list were so imposing and intimidating that they kept audiences coming back for a slew of increasingly weaker sequels. Most of these villains are made not born and it is the interest in who they are and why they do the awful things that they do that is so riveting.
Most of these villains are men though that certainly isn’t a requirement, neither is being human or being real as there is one alien life form and one cartoon on the list. What these characters are is entertaining, they confound the heroes at every turn and keep audiences coming back for more misbehaving. If these bad dudes have remorse it is well hidden and doesn’t surface for a few films if at all. Many of these characters are so iconic that their name or a signature line is enough to define their ‘beautiful wickedness.’
Darth Vader - Star Wars (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Nobody enters a room like Darth Vader, head to toe black, taller than the average man, and with a great swishing cloak. Darth Vader, the villain in now four of the Star Wars films may be all Anakin on the inside, but on the outside he is one bad man. Voiced to perfection by James Earl Jones it is difficult to think of a more iconic or influential bad guy.
Dr. Hanibal Lecter - The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001)
Anthony Hopkins scared the heck out of moviegoers on his way to an Oscar for his creepy portrayal of this doctor turned psychopath Hannibal the Cannibal. What was scariest, his creepy demeanor, his calm while describing unimaginable brutalities, his relish of pain and destruction? Or was it simply that he knew he was the smartest one in the room and every audience member knew it too.
Michael Corleone - The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Godfather: Part III (1990)
He may have started out as a straight laced military boy but his involvement in the family business turned him into a ruthless monster. Was the Don protecting his youngest son from the evils of the business or was he protecting the family from the brutality of his son? Michael may have started out trying to help his family, but he ended up destroying it completely and that makes him the most heartless of all of the family. Al Pacino had memorable performances in three films showing how a man can devolve into a monster.
Norman Bates - Psycho (1960), Psycho II (1982), Psycho III (1983)
Mild mannered yokel or homicidal maniac? Hitchcock holds off until the end to determine that but Bates is the creepiest hotel purveyor in perhaps the most disturbing of horror stories. Don’t stray off of the beaten path or it could lead to the Bates Motel. Anthony Perkins made quite a career of playing Norman Bates though the scripts got weaker and weaker.
The Alien - Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
There have been a lot of films about alien creatures who pick off an isolated team one by one. However, they don’t usually announce their presence by bursting out of a man’s chest during dinner or dripping battery acid instead of ooze. The alien is probably the most frightening creation, a giant insect with a head fill of sharp teeth (and that creepy little head), a mean disposition, and a significant intelligence. Human beings don’t stand a chance.
Maleficent - Sleeping Beauty (1959)
This one could have been a tossup between the evil queen in Snow White and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, but only Maleficent turns into a giant scary dragon to vanquish her foes. Both cartoon villains show that what it means to be evil has nothing to do with how you look on the outside or how important you are. It is all about evil intentions and the length to which your cruelty can go.
Frank Booth - Blue Velvet (1986)
Not a legendary character but Frank Booth from the cult classic Blue Velvet is certainly one of the most despicable. The audience is just as uncomfortable as Jeffrey when they watch from the closet while Frank takes his anger out on a helpless Dorothy in a truly vicious fashion. David Lynch provided a look at the cesspool of life that lives just below the surface of a seemingly normal home town and Frank was the embodiment of all of the evil that men are capable of.
Count Dracula - Dracula (1931)
Dracula is one of the classic villains who started the whole universal monster movie stable. At his height Dracula is less about violence and more about an unhealthy seduction he may kill, but his victims, young girls, go willingly to the slaughter and it is this and the iconic images of Bela Lugosi in his Transylvanian finest that make Dracula so frightful and so timeless.
Wicked Witch of the West - The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Wicked Witch of the West is exactly what she is billed to be, the prototypical witch from every child’s nightmare. With her green skin and her hooked nose and her broomstick the Wicked Witch of the West epitomized the look of evil in the fairytale world of Oz. That she would be so fragile and easily destroyed just added to the mystique that appearances can be deceiving.
Freddie Krueger - A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), New Nightmare (1994), Freddy Vs. Jason (2003)
Robert Englund didn’t really have a face cut out for being a lead actor. That is ok since he has made his career playing the heavily prostheticed Freddy Krueger, the bad guy from the slasher flick franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy sports a gruesome visage, a red striped shirt, and that horrific hand full of knives and appears in teenagers’ nightmares to kill them while they sleep.
Also:
Gordon Gecko, Leatherface, Nurse Ratched
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