We hate ‘em, but we love ‘em. We can’t stand them, but we also can’t get enough of them – double points when they’re attractive.
You know who we’re talking about. The moment you see them on the screen, you get the pang in your stomach, the fear of what they’ll do next, but for whatever reason you can’t seem to turn off the TV and allow yourself to escape from their villainous spell.
Here’s our list of the top ten TV villains.
10. Sue Sylvester, Glee
Oh, Sue. McKinley High’s ultimate drama-stirrer. She’s tried just about every creative way to get the Glee club shut down, worms her way into Mr. Schue’s personal life, and when all else fails, insults his beautiful hair. Though she temporarily left the show this season after taking the blame of brining a gun to school, don’t think you’ll be saying your goodbyes to this pest anytime soon.
9. Victoria Grayson, Revenge
The ever so cold-hearted socialite Victoria Grayson is deceitful, manipulative, and has a knack for lying to protect her reputation. The ice queen hides many dark secrets – and she’s guilty of a lot of things!
8. Mr. Burns, The Simpsons
Not to judge a book by it’s cover, but by the businessman smirk Mr. Burns always carries, he’s got something about him that just screams power hungry bad guy. He leads the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is the quintessential stereotype of corporate America. Always scheming something, Mr. Burns has no problem tormenting his employees and not even remembering Homer’s name.
7. Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
We were introduced to the rough around the edges punk-rock vamp Spike in the second season of Buffy. He strived to kill Buffy and grew angrier and angrier with each time he didn’t succeed because he had never failed at killing a slayer before. Though Spike has done a lot of terrible things, fans quickly grew to love his sarcastic banter, his knack for whining, and his pathetically adorable crush on none other than the Slayer herself.
6. Klaus, The Vampire Diaries
An original vampire, nothing frightens Klaus, not even death because technically, he can’t die. How do you stop a villain who can’t die? Well, we found one of his weaknesses this season, which happens to be the beautiful, young vampire Caroline Forbes. So although he can’t be killed, his heart sure can be broken.
5. The Governor The Walking Dead
Philip, “The Governor” Blake, was out to protect the people of small town Woodbury and they saw him as a kind leader. But between feeding his zombified daughter Penny, keeping a notebook of a list of names with tallys next to them, etc., he creates a community of brainwashed people that feed into his power hungry motives. Watch out – he’s set to return in season 4!
4. Joffrey Baratheon, Game of Thrones
Well, he’s definitely the youngest villain on the list, but definitely deserving. At age 13, he is the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, having claimed the Iron Throne. No one should mess with the snarky Joffery Baratheon – he will kill anyone who threatens him, or maybe even just for pleasure. Think back to season one when he killed Ned Stark, who was completely undeserving of his death. Joffrey has grown more complex, as he shifts from an evil kid to an evil man, who is power hungry, and frankly, for lack of a better word, a brat.
3. Joe Carroll, The Following
If only everyone had as good of persuasive skills as Mr. Carroll. (To do good things though, of course.) A former professor and lover of Edgar Allan Poe, Joe Carroll is known to inspire his students and people by making them feel “valuable.” He is a master serial killer and although behind bars, created an extensive group of followers from next-door neighbors to town sheriffs.
2. Sylar Heroes
Anyone else used to cringe at the name Sylar, or cover your eyes and ears when someone’s head was being sliced open? A former watch repairman, Gabriel Grey (aka Sylar) always wanted to be different. When he started picking up on ticking patterns of watches and studying the human brain, he found if he killed special people with powers, he could become the most powerful man on the planet. With a whole load of mommy issues, a knack for solving puzzles, and a fascination with killing, it was surprisingly sometimes even hard to hate this villain with his quick wit and funny eyebrows (we love you, Zach).
1. Tony Soprano, The Sopranos
Indeed a deeply flawed character, the notorious mobster cheats, steals, murders, and commits other haunting crimes. James Gandolfini presented the role of Tony in an honest way where, although he is a villain, it is impossible to dislike his rough nature. RIP James Gandolfini.