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Javier Bardem biting off toes in Cape Fear. Richard Gadd stomping on heads in Half Man. Nightmare neighbour David Morrissey whipping up mob violence in Tip Toe. Yes, TV villainy is everywhere. Which got us thinking about the biggest baddies in small-screen history.
When compiling our list, we discounted children’s TV, which is a whole separate category. We also omitted reality TV pariahs, from Nasty Nick to Lisa Vanderpump, as well as talent show judges such as Simon Cowell and Craig Revel Horwood. Instead, we concentrated on comedy or drama, where villainy is at its fictional worst.
Honourable mentions to Glee’s Sue Sylvester, Lost’s Benjamin Linus, Outlander’s Black Jack Randall and Succession’s Logan Roy, who narrowly missed the cut. So did several antagonists from Star Wars and Marvel spin-offs. This means no Wilson Fisk (Daredevil), Kilgrave (Jessica Jones) or Dedra Meero (Andor). Apologies to genre fans.
Here’s our rogues’ gallery of the all-time top 20 baddies, counting down to the ultimate TV villain. Hiss them, boo them and let us know your own choices in the comments box below.
20. Vecna (Stranger Things, 2022-2025)
The Duffer Brothers’ teen horror hit put two test subjects from the secret Hawkins Lab experiments on a collision course. In the good corner: telekinetic prodigy Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). In the bad corner: Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower), AKA One, AKA Vecna, AKA Mr Whatsit, who mentally tormented victims before crushing their bones. After murdering his own family, horrid Henry was flung into the Upside Down, where he became horribly disfigured and merged with the Mind Flayer. Conceived as a cross between Pinhead, Pennywise and Freddy Krueger, he was full nightmare fuel.
19. Tommy Lee Royce (Happy Valley, 2014-2023)
Sally Wainwright’s crime classic was essentially a western relocated to modern-day Yorkshire. If Sgt Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) was the swaggering sheriff, its most wanted baddie was Tommy Lee Royce (a star-making turn from James Norton). This gang member, multiple murderer, cop killer and career criminal somehow still saw himself as an innocent victim. As he built a twisted relationship with Catherine’s grandson Ryan – Royce was the boy’s biological father after raping Catherine’s late daughter – their epic three-series battle ended in a confrontation across the kitchen table. And with the flick of a lighter, he was gone.
18. Vee (Orange Is the New Black, 2014)
When the women’s prison dramedy became an early hit for Netflix, Yvonne “Vee” Parker was the street-tough antagonist of its second season, rising to power via mind games and brute force. Played with cold menace by Lorraine Toussaint, she was a Fagin-like gang matriarch who once used adopted children like Taystee as drug runners. Banged up in Litchfield penitentiary, she viciously assaulted rival Red and cruelly manipulated Crazy Eyes, before escaping through a drain pipe. Yet Vee’s freedom was short-lived and she was mown down in a van by the vengeful Miss Rosa. Don’t fear the reaper indeed.
17. The Trinity Killer (Dexter, 2009)
Actor John Lithgow chewed scenery and won an Emmy as seemingly mild-mannered family man Arthur Mitchell. By day, he was a church deacon and school teacher. By night, he was a prolific serial killer who was evil in ways that not even Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) could comprehend. Before Dexter exacted vigilante justice, Trinity pulled off one last fateful crime by slaying Dexter’s wife Rita (Julie Benz) and making their son Harrison watch, meaning the boy was “born in blood” like his father. Cue next-gen sequel New Blood.
16. Cigarette Smoking Man (The X-Files, 1993-2018)
For a quarter-century of sci-fi cases, FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) were outmanoeuvred by this craggy mastermind who chain-puffed Morleys (the screen stand-in for Marlboros) and pulled conspiracy strings at the highest levels of government. He and his shadowy Syndicate ruthlessly covered up the existence of aliens and prepared the planet for invasion. He was later revealed to have assassinated both JFK and MLK, not to mention being involved in the Roswell experiments and faking the Moon landing. The truth is out there but it’s shrouded in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
15. Sylar (Heroes, 2006-2010)
Save the cheerleader, save the world. The sprawling superhero saga was a big deal for a while in the 00s. Its terrifyingly psychopathic baddie was Sylar, the son of a watchmaker who was obsessed with being seen as “special”. This murderous metahuman (Zachary Quinto) ruthlessly targeted fellow mutants to steal their abilities – legend had it by eating their brains, which is nice.
14. The Master (Doctor Who, 1971-present)
The Doctor’s ultimate adversary is a fellow renegade Time Lord and former classmate at the Gallifreyan academy – except this one uses his genius for evil, not good. Portrayals have included Roger Delgado’s goatee-bearded devil, John Simm’s despotic PM, Sacha Dhawan’s terrorist and the first female incarnation in Missy, played with camp relish by Michelle Gomez. The aim is to become “the Master of all matter” and rule the universe. Making the Doctor suffer in the process would merely be a bonus. All of space and time isn’t big enough for both of them.
13. Jim Moriarty (Sherlock, 2010-2017)
As the Master is to the Doctor, master criminal Moriarty is to consulting detective Sherlock Holmes – an arch enemy and malevolent mirror image. In the blockbuster BBC update of Conan Doyle’s stories, Andrew Scott played the classic literary villain as a very modern psychopath, masterminding crimes partly to relieve his boredom. In the process, he developed a murderous obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes.
12. Max Cady (Cape Fear, 2026)
The bogeyman visits every three decades. In Apple TV’s new update of the southern gothic thriller, Javier Bardem proves a worthy successor to Robert Mitchum and Robert De Niro’s terrifying villains in the 1962 and 1991 film versions. As unrepentantly violent ex-con Cady, he’s hellbent on revenge for two married attorneys’ roles in his imprisonment 17 years ago. Cady’s intricate knowledge of the law, animal cunning and sheer unpredictability make him an elusive monster. Heavily tattooed Bardem (“I don’t know whether to look at him or read him”) plays him with different coloured eyes, hypnotic charm and manic mood swings. The stuff of nightmares and jump scares.
11. Homelander (The Boys, 2019-2026)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an utter scumbag. The superhero satire’s fifth and final season saw its power-crazed villain get his comeuppance at last. As leader of the corrupt “Seven”, John Gillman AKA Homelander (Antony Starr) is the most irredeemably diabolical “supe” of them all. The seemingly perfect poster boy allowed a plane full of passengers to crash, outed a lesbian on live TV, created a suped-up terrorist cell and dated an actual Nazi. The ultimate inversion of squeaky-clean caped crusaders and an absolute horror.
10. The Caddy (Line of Duty, 2012-2017)
Urgent exit required. Jed Mercurio’s twist-packed police thriller boasted a revolving cast of antagonists, but for the first three series its slippery string-puller was DI Matthew “Dot” Cottan (Craig Parkinson) – codenamed “The Caddy” since carrying a crime kingpin’s golf bags during his teens. Groomed to become gangland’s inside man on the force, he facilitated all manner of malfeasance until finally cornered by anti-corruption unit AC-12. Pretending to check his iCal mid-interrogation, Cottan instead sent that fateful text message and bullet-ridden hell broke loose. Mother of God, fella.
9. Richard Roper (The Night Manager, 2016-present)
Friends call him “Dickie”. MI6 call him “the worst man in the world”. Arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Hugh Laurie) made a formidable foe for spy Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) in the 2016 John le Carré adaptation. When it returned a decade later, Roper had been executed in Syria – only to rise from the grave, snarling: “When you’ve slain the dragon, always check its breath.” The sequel immediately caught fire as Roper masterminded a military coup, coldly killed his own son and left Pine badly wounded in the Colombian jungle. It’s left beautifully poised for the trilogy to be completed and Dickie to get his just deserts … Or not.
8. Killer BOB (Twin Peaks, 1990-1991)
Who killed Laura Palmer? This demonic dude. Long-haired, denim-clad Frank Silva was a set dresser on David Lynch’s seminal mystery drama until an accidental glimpse of him on camera inspired Lynch to create a truly terrifying character for him. Killer BOB was an evil interdimensional entity who possessed human bodies to commit sexual abuse and brutal murder, screaming and laughing as he fed on suffering. From the first shocking reveal to the haunting sightings in mirrors, he was the first great ghoul of the peak TV era.
7. Negan (The Walking Dead, 2016-2022)
It’s some achievement to be the standout villain in a zombie wasteland – David Morrissey’s tyrannical Governor and Jon Bernthal’s deranged deputy Shane were also contenders – but Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) came in swinging and shook up the whole show. This sociopathic gym teacher found his true calling in the apocalypse, wielding his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat (lovingly named “Lucille”) and becoming the totalitarian leader of the cult-like Saviors. Feared and loathed from the moment he killed Abraham and Glenn, Negan was charismatic, funny and disturbingly violent. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe …
6. Marlo Stanfield (The Wire, 2004-2008)
You knew Marlo was a stone-cold sociopath when he stole a lollipop from a convenience store. After a security guard tried to stop him, Marlo had him executed. David Simon’s Baltimore epic was populated by venal characters but none more ruthless than Marlo Stanfield (a performance of chilling stillness from Jamie Hector). His takeover of the westside drug trade was mercilessly calculating as his upstart crew ultimately usurped the Barksdale Organization. Kingpin Marlo demanded fear and respect, ordering the death of anyone who undermined his street cred. Homicide detective Vernon Holley (Brian Anthony Wilson) described him as “the spawn of the devil”. Hey, at least he was nice to his pigeons.
5. C Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons, 1989-present)
Ahoy-hoy. The cartoon personification of heartless capitalism is Homer Simpson’s plutocratic, 156-year-old nuclear power plant boss. Billionaire Mr Burns (voiced by Harry Shearer, as is his lovestruck underling Smithers) is so super-rich that he’s lost all touch with reality and worships only money. His devious schemes include blocking out the sun to increase profits, running for political office and literally trying to take candy from a baby. Release the hounds. Eeeexcellent.
4. Gus Fring (Breaking Bad, 2009-2011)
Don’t mess with the Chicken Man. Beneath his carefully maintained exterior as a legitimate businessman, Los Pollos Hermanos owner Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) was a brutal drug baron, ruling his New Mexico cocaine and meth empire with ruthless precision. Stoic, strategic and softly spoken but capable of pitiless violence, this buttoned-up criminal genius was the most formidable foe Walter White (Bryan Cranston) faced across five seasons. See his threat in the desert: “I will kill your wife, I will kill your son, I will kill your infant daughter.”
3. Aunt Lydia (The Handmaid’s Tale, 2017-2025)
The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s patriarchal hellscape happened to arrive a few months into Trump’s first presidency. What are the chances? Its embodiment of evil was the Bible-quoting, cattle-prodding Lydia Clements (Emmy winner Ann Dowd) – a dystopian Miss Trunchbull who oversaw handmaids in their subservient duties and “sexual re-education”. Anyone who stepped out of line was mutilated, tortured or executed under the auspices of “saving” them. Yet “Aunt Chlamydia” could also be caring to her charges and believed deeply in the Gileadean doctrine, lending her a righteous complexity. After six seasons, there were hints at redemption – a possibility explored further in the sequel, The Testaments.
2. JR Ewing (Dallas, 1978-1991)
“Who shot JR?” was the question that gripped the globe. It was a measure of the oil baron’s amorality that there were so many suspects. Played by Larry Hagman with a suit, a Stetson and a wolfish grin, JR was egocentric and manipulative, stopping at nothing to plunder the wealth of his business rivals and humiliate his foes. Such ruthlessness made him the perfect villain for the 1980s greed-is-good era. From Alexis Carrington to Dirty Den, Tanya Turner to Paul Robinson, all other soap villains are made in his image.
1. Joffrey Baratheon (Game of Thrones, 2011-2014)
Who was the absolute worst in Westeros? Ramsay Bolton and Cersei Lannister are right up there, but the spoilt, sneering boy king takes our crown. Played with punchable glee by Jack Gleeson – who promptly withdrew from acting – this blond, bullying spawn of incest was so universally loathed that millions cheered when he was poisoned at his own wedding and died, red-eyed and twitching. Joffrey set out his sadistic stall by having the show’s hero, Ned Stark (Sean Bean), beheaded in front of his daughter Sansa (and Joffrey’s own bride-to-be, the charmer). He proceeded to murder a woman with a crossbow, order a minstrel’s tongue to be ripped out, mock his uncle’s dwarfism and generally make Sansa’s life a misery. Joff wasn’t just cruel, he was also a coward, outsourcing his domestic violence and hiding during battles. It was an air punch moment when his grandfather Tywin lost patience and sent the little brat to his room. As Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) noted: “We’ve had vicious kings and we’ve had idiot kings. But I don’t know if we’ve ever been cursed with a vicious idiot for a king.”
