*Note: Spoiler Alert for all of the movies mentioned*
25. Ben Stiller as White Goodman in Dodgeball
While White Goodman isn’t as cold blooded as many of the people on this list, he’s a huge dick. Goodman is a typical villain in a David vs. Goliath film. He has the bigger gym, the more polished crew, and flashier uniforms. Goodman was mean, and watching his demise in the finals and getting fat was so sweet to see.
24. Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs in Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc. is one of my favorite animated flicks of all-time because it was a staple of my childhood. While Waternoose is the real villain of the film, Randall is his conniving, sleaze ball henchman that tries to execute the Scream Extractor. He tried to kill Sully, but later was beaten to a pulp by two trailer hicks.
23. Robin Williams as Walter Finch in Insomnia
What draws me to Walter Finch is his softness as a villain. Finch is an academic and writer with a soft spot, but he as a very dark side to him. He seemed to have no real remorse for killing Kay Connell. In the instances where Finch snaps, he’s a menacing human that drives Al Pacino to the brink of insanity.
22. Bolo Yeung as Chong Li in Bloodsport
“You break my record…I break you.” Chong Li really solidified himself as a great villain when he killed a man in the semi-finals of the Kumite to strike fear into Frank Dux. He’s a fighting machine and, even when he did kill, he was pissed that people shamed him. Just cold-blooded.
21. Christoph Waltz as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre
The Bond flicks are packed with awesome villains but, of the Daniel Craig era, my favorite is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He orchestrated terrorist attacks across the globe and holds a grudge better than anyone. Blofeld wants Bond dead because the two were brothers for a short time when his father adopted Bond. When he noticed his father’s love for Bond, he killed his father and went off the grid. That’s villainous as hell.
20. Matthew Goode as Ozymandias in Watchmen
Watchmen is a great movie because it portrays superheroes in a poor light. Ozymandias is seemingly the only one portrayed in a nice manner because he (supposedly) left that life behind to become a businessman. In reality, he was working against his former partners to make Dr. Manhattan a common enemy. He triggered a nuclear blast that only Manhattan would be capable of, which led to Manhattan being exiled to another galaxy.
19. Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl
I hated Amy Dunne. Absolutely despised her. However, I also appreciate how great of a villain she was. The scene where she comes home to Nick Dunne and he has to act happy to see her after knowing what she’s done is painful because you sympathize with Nick. She may be one of the smartest villains on this list because of the way that she disappeared and framed her husband.
18. Josh Brolin as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos snapping his finger is the single greatest moment in superhero movie history. I find that the Marvel Universe struggles with developing villains because it’s usually just an overpowering person who wants to destroy the world. However, Thanos has legitimate reasoning as to why he thinks the world should be completely balanced.
17. Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV
“I will break you.” That is such an iconic line in film history and while the Rocky movies feature a cavalcade of great villains like Clubber Lang and Apollo Creed, but no one stands up to Drago. He’s a gut punching machine that showed no emotion whatsoever. Very stoic. In every sports movie I’ve seen, I think Drago is the greatest villain ever created.
16. Bob Gunton as Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption
Warden Norton is an all-time, underrated villain in a tremendous film. He gets washed out by how great Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are, but you can’t forget his sinister nature. Norton has Tommy killed, made Andy launder money, and when Andy threatened him he threw him in solitary confinement. “I’ll pull you out of that one-bunk Hilton and cast you down with the sodomites. You’ll think you got f*cked by a train.”
15. Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goth in Schindler’s List
The storyline of Schindler’s List is truly heartbreaking and Amon Goth plays a huge part in making you cry. He orchestrates the liquidation of a ghetto killing thousands of jews and transporting thousands to a concentration camp. Fiennes did a fabulous job portraying Goth and outlining his heinous actions in World War Two.
14. Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger in Goldfinger
Your first introduction to Goldfinger is him cheating in cards and then his villainous antics only ramp up. The way he kills Jill by covering her in gold paint is wild and at this time was a tactic no one had seen before. My all-time favorite Bond scene is when Goldfinger gets caught cheating in golf and has to sit there and acknowledge it. He’s my favorite Bond villain of all time.
13. Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs
You want to talk evil? Let’s discuss Hannibal Lecter. I believe he’s the only cannibal on the list, which is psychotic enough to land you in the top fifteen, but he’s also a genius. Watching him manipulate Clarice Starling was thrilling, and when you see him kill the guard and escape, you really get goosebumps. His closing line of how he’s “having an old friend for dinner” was truly sinister.
12. Kevin Spacey as Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects
When I saw Keyser Soze walk straight and Agent Kujan drop his coffee, my jaw dropped. While he’s not a traditional villain because he’s initially perceived as weak and a “gimp,” he’s maniacal. When you come to the realization that he lied about the story he told, you are left dumbfounded. Soze orchestrated the death of over 25 people on the ship and no one suspected a thing from him.
11. Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises
As much as I’m a Christian Bale sycophant, there is NO WAY that Batman could beat Bane. Bane is a mountain of a man with brute strength and athleticism. He repeatedly kicked the living crap out of Batman in multiple fight scenes, but somehow Bruce Wayne wins the final battle. I simply don’t comprehend that because Bane’s such an intimidating figure.
10. Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrence in The Shining
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Seeing how Torrence changed through The Shining was wild. I say this because even before he plummeted into complete insanity, he still had disdain for his wife and child. He then slipped into utter madness as he screamed at his wife and later attempted to kill the two of them. His academic snobbiness coupled with lunacy is fun to watch.
9. Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds
What I enjoy most about watching Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa is how he doesn’t seem evil all the time. He’ll laugh, joke around, and then execute an entire family. Even up until the end, Landa was greedy and looking out for only himself, but did succumb to Lt. Aldo Raine. All around just a heartless and cold individual with little regard to human life.
8. Kevin Spacey as John Doe in Se7en
In 1995, Kevin Spacey portrayed two of my all-time favorite villains as Keyser Soze and John Doe. The reason I have John Doe over Soze is because of the details of his killings. I found his killing of the child molester (the “Sloth” killing) to be the most gruesome because he kept him alive for a long while before letting him die of shock. In addition, he forced Detective Mills to execute the two final sins by chopping off Gwyneth Paltrow’s head. He’s evil, but provides reason for his doings, which adds more depth to him.
7. Leonardo DiCaprio as Clavin Candie in Django Unchained
I really admire Leo taking this role when he did because playing an old and evil racist could have killed some careers. When you first lay eyes on him as he’s watching two slaves battle to the death, you can see through his smiling exterior and see an evil man. The layers to Candie are so deep and you see that with how he got Samuel L. Jackson’s character to worship the ground he walks on.
6. Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange
Someway, somehow, Stanley Kubrick made you feel sympathetic for DeLarge. DeLarge is a rapist, abuser, and down right despicable person, but when he gets released from the hospital and beaten by his former friends, you feel bad for him. There are scenes where DeLarge as the ring leader conducts actions that are tough to watch and he’ll show no remorse.
5. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men
What I adore so much about the Anton Chigurh character is he almost has an alien characteristic to him. You really have no clue where he’s from and the Coen Brothers do a beautiful thing by not providing a backstory for him. He’s ruthless in the fact that he decides an individuals faith from the flip of a coin and his weapon of choice is a captive bolt stunner. The way he kills is gruesome and he has NO REMORSE.
4. James Earl Jones as Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back
Darth Vader is the villain that villains aspire to be. He’s the OG slayer of men with disregard for human life. In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader became obsessed with finding Luke and launched an entire attack on the planet of Hoth. He also drops the devastating bombshell on Luke that he is his father which is an all-time iconic movie quote.
3. J.K. Simmons as Terrence Fletcher in Whiplash
“Not quite my tempo.” While a lot of the great villains on this list use their physical attributes to dominate their victims, Fletcher uses his words and mental warfare. The way in which he mentally crippled Andrew Neiman and drove him away from music was evil. From start to finish, he works to break his students with unkind words and shouting. A true villain.
2. Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood
“Now my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I drink your milkshake.” Daniel Plainview is a villain because he was way more advanced than the rubes he was ripping off. Plainview had the gift of gab and would convince derelict families to sell him their land for essentially nothing and would then drill for oil and make millions. While the scene where he murders Eli or mocks his son are memorable, his most ruthless action was beating up Eli and rubbing his face in mud. His tact as a businessman with his pitiless interior made him a true menace.
1. Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight
Taking the number one spot is, of course, the Joker. His maniacal ambiance coupled with elite level execution gives him the top spot as my favorite villain. While the opening bank robbery scene is outstanding, you see his real power when he takes over the meeting of mob bosses and gets them to accept his offer to kill Batman. He’s the perfect mix of having a scary exterior and evil thoughts while offering a sympathetic side as his outcast of a person. “Kill you? I don’t wanna kill you.”
