Best Characters The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time  

Ranker Community
Originally by Ranker Community
907.5k votes 61.6k voters 1M views 1,272 items

While some of us tend to despise movie villains, plenty of movie-goers favor some of these antagonists. Whether that's due to a cool accent or an intimidating disposition, some villains just stand out. For instance, who doesn't have some type of fondness for Hannibal Lecter? How about the evil Darth Vader for that matter? Who are the greatest villains of all time? These movie bad guys are the scourge of the movie universe and you can now vote on the meanest villain ever to appear on film. Rank your favorites or add whoever (or whatever) you think should be considered among the best villains.

These are the greatest, most vile movie characters we love to hate, ranked by the wisdom of the crowd. Anyone can contribute to this list of great villains, which makes this ranking an accurate, real-time reflection of the crowd's collective opinion.

list ordered by

1
27,493 8,640
Joker is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Batman, The Dark Knight The Joker is a fictional supervillain who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger, and Bob Kane, and first appeared in ...more

2
26,671 5,214
Darth Vader is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Star Wars universe Darth Vader is a fictional character. He appears in the original trilogy as a pivotal figure, as well as the prequel trilogy as a central figure. The character was created by George Lucas and ...more

3
14,395 6,027
Hannibal Lecter is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Silence of the Lambs Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character in a series of suspense novels by Thomas Harris. Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a forensic psychiatrist.

4
11,334 9,378
Lord Voldemort is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Harry Potter universe Lord Voldemort is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997. Voldemort ...more

5
8,222 6,439
Jack Torrance is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Shining John Daniel "Jack" Torrance is a fictional character in the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King. He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 movie adaptation of the novel, and by ...more

6
8,099 7,599
Freddy Krueger is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
A Nightmare on Elm Street universe Fred "Freddy" Krueger is the main antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He first appeared in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a burnt serial killer who uses ...more

7
9,001 6,732
Magneto is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
X-Men universe Magneto is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. He has been the primary villain in the X-Men comics, ...more

8
8,337 5,906
Terminator is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Terminator In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier, infiltrator and assassin. James Cameron ...more

9
8,480 6,122
Agent Smith is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Matrix universe Agent Smith is a fictional character in the The Matrix franchise. He is portrayed by Hugo Weaving in the films and voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in The Matrix: Path of Neo. In 2008, Agent ...more

10
9,961 5,398
Palpatine is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Star Wars universe Sheev Palpatine is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Star Wars franchise, primarily portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In the original trilogy, he is depicted as the aged, pale-faced ...more

11
9,027 4,814
Scar is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Lion King Scar (formerly Prince Taka) was the main antagonist of the Lion King franchise. He was Simba's uncle, Mufasa's younger brother, and Ahadi's second and youngest son. In a deleted scene from The ...more

12
7,478 4,980
Hans Gruber is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Die Hard Hans Gruber is a fictional character from the 1988 film Die Hard.

13
5,669 4,998
Norman Bates is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Psycho Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the main character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the primary antagonist of the 1960 film of the ...more

14
8,685 4,609
Sauron is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Necromancer is a fictional character from the 2013 film The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

15
7,157 4,633
Hans Landa is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Inglourious Basterds Colonel Hans Landa is a fictional character in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. He is portrayed by German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. For his performance, Waltz won the ...more

16
6,024 4,056
Michael Myers is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Halloween II, Halloween 6, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Michael Myers is a fictional character from the Halloween series of slasher films. He first appears in John Carpenter's Halloween as a young boy who goes takes his older sister's life, then ...more

17
6,217 4,456
Anton Chigurh is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
No Country for Old Men Anton Chigurh is a fictional character in No Country for Old Men.

18
8,637 3,860
Loki is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Thor, Thor: The Dark World, The Avengers Loki is a fictional character that appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the adoptive brother and archenemy of Thor. He is based on the being of the same name from ...more

19
8,254 4,246
Bane is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
The Dark Knight Rises, Justice League: Doom Bane is a supervillain, often antihero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character's origin was in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1, and was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, ...more

20
6,747 3,009
Pennywise the Dancing Clown is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Krazy88 added It Pennywise the Dancing Clown is a fictional character from the 1990 film and TV series It.

21
6,176 3,795
Xenomorph is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Alien universe   The "Alien" is a fictional endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species that is the eponymous antagonist of the Alien film series. The species made its debut in the film Alien, and ...more

22
5,869 4,147
T-1000 is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Terminator 2: Judgment Day The T-1000, also known as a Series 1000 Terminator, is a fictional shapeshifting robot assassin and the primary antagonist in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator Genisys, as well as a ...more

23
4,335 2,640
Predator is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
AVP: Alien vs. Predator The Predator is a fictional character from the 1987 movie Predator.

24
5,191 3,303
Jason Voorhees is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Friday the 13th, Freddy vs. Jason, Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series. He first appeared in Friday the 13th as the young son of camp cook, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari ...more

25
4,970 3,535
John Doe is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Greatest Movie Villains of All Time
Seven John Doe is a fictional character from the 1995 film Seven.