We all love a great hero to root for. Whether it’s Tony Stark sacrificing his life at the end of Avengers: Endgame, John McClane defeating terrorists at the end of Die Hard or watching Simba take what’s rightfully his at the end of The Lion King. Heroes are great and they give us a great sense of adventure and heroic moments. On the other hand of a great hero is a great villain. The one that gives our hero drive and motivation. Some might say that a great villain makes a movie even more special and serves as a great duality between the villain and the hero. There’s something about a great villain that has a more magnetic draw and how much they steal the scene, even if it’s one that they share with our hero. That’s what this list will be. This list will rank Hollywood’s most infamous villains that have ever been on screen, per my opinion. Some of these movies that get mentioned might not be the best movies ever made, but the villain will stand out, despite weak material. Let’s get into it!
#10 Freddy Krueger
When thinking of the most caniving serial killers, Freddy Krueger might be the best of the bunch. Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers might give Freddy and run for his money, but what Freddy has that the other serial killers don’t have is that Freddy is most brutal when our characters are asleep, which is the most comfortable position that one endures. Freddy Krueger is so lethal is that he has the ability to harm you in the confinement of your own dreams. I mean, it doesn’t get any more terrifying than that and to top it all off, Robert Englund completely dominates this character by creating a terrifying sense of humor and a great sense of dementedness to him.
#9 Alien
Maybe the single greatest design for an alien in all of Hollywood. The Alien from Alien and Aliens completely redefined the capability of what one you can do with this type of “character.” Particularly, with the first Alien movie directed by Ridley Scott, the dreariness, the isolation and claustrophobia of that movie comes from savagery and terror that the Alien has. It’s essentially a silent and a destructive killer that destroys everything in it’s path. The best thing said about the Alien can all be summed up with one line from the character of Ash: “The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility… A survivor; unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.”
#8 Gollum
Sauron might be the more iconic and the main villain of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Gollum is the one the has made the longer impression with audiences. Gollum is a villain (like others that will be mentioned down the road) that can be viewed with a strong level of sympathy, especially more than the character of Sauron. All of this has to be credited to the beautiful and memorable performance that Andy Serkis gave as this lovable and insanely damaged and creepy character, who lost everything and was corrupted by the one ring. He’s such a wonderful villain that you can’t trust anything he says, no matter how sorry you feel for him.
#7 The Wicked Witch of the West
I think villains that have followed The Wicked Witch of the West, played tremendously by Margaret Hamilton, need to owe her a lot of thanks and praise. The Wicked Witch embodies everything about witches that makes our blood run cold and the hair on the back of our necks stand up. The mannerisms, the voice and the menacing and haunting laugh make this villain stand out. Margaret Hamilton’s performances as The Wicked Witch has stood the test of time for generation after generation, more so than almost any other villain in history.
#6 Pennywise (2017)
The reboot of Stephen King‘s It got everyone buzzing from the moment that first teaser trailer dropped and broke all kinds of records, generating 197 million views in it’s first 24 hours. For a horror movie, that’s incredibly unheard of but people were dying to get their first look at the dancing clown, known as Pennywise. Played by Bill Skarsgård, the modernization to this villain had something that the great Tim Curry didn’t have, despite how great he was as the character, and that’s the notion of how authentic and organic the villain felt. Bill Skarsgård makes this villain more iconic based the haunting character design and makeup.
#5 Davy Jones
When looking at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there’s really only two villains that come to mind. Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). Rush’s Captain Barbossa might be the better villain, until they made him into a hero with our main characters with Jack, Will and Elizabeth. But once we got into Dead Man’s Chest, we were introduced to maybe the most underrated cinematic villain in Hollywood and on this list. Aside from the groundbreaking special effects, Davy Jones has a fascinating arc with Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End. He starts off this absolute monster in Dead Man’s Chest but when it came to At World’s End, you learn so much about him as a character with the tragedy of his lost love and how he became the “fish man” that we know him as now.
#4 Anton Chigurh
Anton Chigurh is our generations Michael Myers. Not to say he’s stood the test of time longer than Michael Myers has had, however, the unsettling and unforgettable vibes of this character evoke so much of the psychological effects that come within great villains. The story of No Country For Old Men can basically be summed up as a cat and mouse chase. Only in this movie, Anton Chigurh is this bloodthirsty panther that kills without remorse. Javier Bardem’s performance has been lauded by many critics and it even gave him an Oscar in his mantle, and for good reason.
#3 Scar
Scar is Disney’s best villain. There’s no competition. Ursula, Captain Hook, Gaston and even Cruella de Vil are terrific villains in Disney’s pantheon. The only one that might have Scar a chance is Maleficent herself. Nevertheless, whether it’s the voice of Jeremy Irons or the voice of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Scar is a psychotic and mangled character that just wants absolute power and will do what ever it takes to be a king. He kills his own brother, he frames his nephew and lets his kingdom rot while the rest of his people starve to death. Disney villains don’t get better than this.
#2 Joker
Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker in The Dark Knight is the performance of a lifetime. It’s the type of performance that will be studied in film classes and will give actors drive to replicate that in any given away. It’s the only performance from a comic book movie to only earn a nomination but take home a win for best supporting actor, and deservedly so. On top of all that, this villain is one that rivals any villain before it and any villain post the release of The Dark Knight. It’s sad that Heath Ledger is no longer with us, but with this role, we will continue to cherish a performance that not only encapsulates everything about the character of the Joker, but for a crazy and sinister villains.
#1 Darth Vader
You all knew this would happen and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Darth Vader is the greatest villain in cinematic history. His introduction in A New Hope says it all. This is without a doubt one if the best villains where the motivation and the development of this character is so perfectly sought out all the way to the end of Return of the Jedi. But it’s when we saw him in Rogue One where they show him as the monster and the absolute devil that is when we see him ignite that lightsaber before he slashed through a bunch of rebel soldiers like it was nothing. All villains most bow down to Darth Vader because he is the GOAT.
Zane's take at the Cinema's 