My Favorite Villains of All Time
The best villains of all time aren’t necessarily my favorite. Thanos? A bit of a crybaby who failed his intro to economics class. The Joker? Ugh. When you compare him to the rest of Batman’s colorful rogue gallery, he’s the weakest of the group.
For me, what makes a villain compelling is their motivations and how deep their intentions to fulfill said motivations go. I recently wrote an article about this for my friend Elodie’s “We Heart It” series about villains, but my favorite villains usually aren’t the ones who cause chaos for the sake of chaos. They’re hurting deeply over something or they’re on a self-proclaimed mission to save the world according to their own morals. Above all, these villains have a personality beyond “I’m here to cause evil because someone has to”.
So here are some of my favorite villains of all time. The obscure, the super famous, and the unexpected are all here. Let me know what your favorites are in the comments.
Barty Crouch Jr. from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
I’ve talked about this before in a YouTube video where I ranked all of the Harry Potter villains, but Barty Crouch Jr. should’ve been the real villain for Harry Potter. He successfully incapacitated a well-known and accomplished auror, escaped Azkaban prison without detection, infiltrated Hogwarts (which at the time was the safest haven in the wizarding world), single-handedly took over and influenced a magical tournament despite the numerous magical safeguards placed over it, and still managed to get Harry Potter alone long enough to nearly kill the Boy Who Lived by himself. The only thing that stopped this villain from taking over the wizarding world with one hand tied behind his back was J.K. Rowling nerfing him so she could continue her false narrative that Voldemort was the truest baddie wizard of them all but c’mon. If you’re keeping score at home, Barty accomplished more in one book than what Voldemort did over seven. That bald nose-less freak was useless and I wish Barty realized that before somehow getting himself re-captured despite everything. He deserved a primary antagonist billing.
Elizabeth from the Spellcaster Trilogy by Claudia Gray
Has a fictional villain ever been so terrifying that they gave you three stress nightmares in a row and forced you to stop reading the book? That’s Elizabeth from the Spellcaster trilogy for me. While these YA books about a young witch’s trouble in a small New England town are a little on the underrated side (even among the author’s fans), the primary antagonist is not. Elizabeth is a 19th century witch turned immortal who unapologetically practices dark magic and serves The One Beneath, aka Satan. Her evil knows no bounds and her ruthless actions creates havoc for our morally conflicted protagonists. Even with snippets of the tale told through her perspective, there was no telling what this villain had up her sleeve to accomplish her quest for power. I was enthralled with her through all three books and was actually disappointed her demise was so underwhelming. She gave me three stress nightmares for crying out loud. She deserved an ending as fantastic as her dastardly deeds.
Sweet Tooth from Starkid’s “Holy Musical B@man”
Listen. I love Team Starkid and I love Batman. The fact Starkid made a musical about the Dark Knight and it absolutely bangs sparks immense joy in me. While they created great homages to existing Batman villains, they also created an original villain to serve as the primary antagonist for their parody. Sweet Tooth is a candy themed villain that is as kooky and as terrifying as the Caped Crusader’s usual lineup of rogues. The actor, Jeff Blim, does an amazing job portraying him and really invokes the possibility that Batman can’t defeat the villain, a hard gambit to pull when Batman barely loses a fight these days. His costume design is great, his songs bop, and Sweet Tooth really would fit into the Batman canon if DC allowed him in it. Which they won’t because they’re cowards who haven’t gotten the Dark Knight right since Michael Keaton THERE I SAID IT. FIGHT ME.
Darth Vader from Star Wars
The OG Villain of all time himself, Darth Freakin’ Vader. I love this guy so much that his theme song, the Imperial March, was my walk-up song for my final two years of high school softball. He’s intimidating, unapologetic in assisting the Empire’s quest to take over the universe, and knows exactly how much power he holds over everyone. Even his redemption arc was well done, perfectly poetic and a natural occurrence. Plus, have you seen the hallway scene from Rogue One? How can you watch that scene and not feel a shiver about the baddest Villain in a galaxy far, far away? He’s the OG and Kylo Ren only wishes he were half the villain the Emperor’s right hand was.
Guzma from Pokemon Sun/Moon
So Giovanni steals a few Pokemon, runs a criminal organization, and thinks he’s some sort of Pokemon gangster? Big deal. The real question is does he have the obvious style and confidence of Guzma, the Team Skull leader who dares to use Bug-type Pokemon in his quest to destroy the Alolan league in Pokemon Sun/Moon? No. He does not. The best about Guzma is that he’s a sympathetic villain. Yes he causes a headache for all of the trainers, but he’s got a heart underneath his stylish form of villan-y and even his eventual defeat is endearing. Out of all the grunt leaders Pokemon has generated over the years, Guzma is my favorite if only for his impeccable charm and ridiculous posing in spite of his low abilities as a trainer. I wish I was half the Pokemon master he was, honestly.
Yzma from Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove
Disney villains overall are pretty well done, but is every Disney villain gifted with Eartha Kitt’s glorious voice? No they’re not. While Eartha Kitt is definitely the primary selling point for my appreciation of the Emperor’s New Groove villain, Yzma herself is a pretty legendary villain. Her quest to become the empress in place of the current incompetent leader is pretty standard for Disney villain motives (Jafar, Ursula, Scar, etc), but the personality she attaches to her motivation is undeniably memorable. She’s witty, confident, and willing to do whatever it takes to claim the throne, even if it’s absolutely ridiculous in concept. Her sidekick, Kronk, is also hilariously dim-witted with a kind heart that softens her blows as a villain and it works really, really well together. I loved watching her fail, but would enjoy a world where she succeeded as well. And also she was voiced by Eartha Kitt, a legendary queen in her own right. Did I mention that already? I love Eartha Kitt.
Melissa Morbeck from Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl is a Marvel superhero who is literally unbeatable and is also my favorite superhero of all time (sorry Batman). She’s gone against notable Marvel baddies such as Dr. Doom, Thanos, Galactus, MODOK, and many more and not only lived to tell the tale, but also returned with a proud victory over the supposed undefeatable villains. It’s hard to pit her against anyone because any good Squirrel Girl fan knows she’ll win eventually, but Melissa Morbeck is probably my favorite attempt at a notable foe for the unbeatable hero. She’s a badass self-made entrepreneur who gets jealous of Squirrel Girl’s natural ability to communicate with squirrels and works impossibly hard to neutralize the hero as a threat. She’s smart, powerful, and the only Squirrel Girl villain that actually made me fear for the titular hero. Not even Squirrel Girl’s evil clone could invoke such a reaction from me in her standalone issue. Melissa Morbeck is cruel and unapologetic in her work and is the perfect antithesis for the ever-optimistic and ever-loveable Squirrel Girl.
Honorable Mention: Papa Palpatine & Sith Lord Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars
They’re not necessarily real villains, but my love for these Star Wars memes makes me happy. I’m 110% on board with the Darth Jar Jar theory and referring to the nefarious Emperor as “Papa Palpatine” invokes such a feel-good feeling in the pit of my heart that I can almost forget that he’s a ruthless, all powerful dictator who has enslaved the galaxy multiple times in his quest for control rather than a misunderstood grandpa. It’s the little things like this that make me love Star Wars and all of the characters in it so much, but Papa Palpatine and Darth Jar Jar are my favorite not-really villains of all time.
Need more of my thoughts about villains in your life? Check out my article on We Heart It or my video all about Harry Potter villains. I also have a video all about how to be evil, but I made it literally half a decade ago and it’s turned into a big meme by now so please don’t watch it. It would make you evil if you did.