The 10 Best Movie Villains of All Time, Ranked

Roger Ebert, a film critic, said more than 40 years ago, “Each movie is only as good as its villain.”He may not have been the first person to make this point, but Ebert knew what he was talking about when it came to movies, and it’s hard to argue with what he says here. Even before Ebert said this, and in the years since, there have been a lot of movies whose bad guys have become well-known.

The main bad guy gives the main good guys something to fight against and is often the main source of tension in a story. Conflict is always interesting, and often, the better or more interesting the villain, the more emotionally involved a watcher will feel. Because of this, a great villain is always something to celebrate. The villains below are some of the best in film history because they are evil, smart, stubborn, or sometimes even understandable/tragic. Here is the list of The 10 Best Movie Villains of All Time, Ranked from 10 to 1.

10’No Country for Old Men’ by Anton Chigurh, published in 2007

No Country for Old Men is a well-known neo-noir film that follows three main characters. One is about a man who stumbles upon the scene of a drug deal that went wrong and killed someone. He takes $2 million from the scene. One of them is an old sheriff who doesn’t know what’s going on. The third is a scary killer named Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, who will do anything to get back the money that was stolen from the place where the drug deal went wrong.

No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men

Chigurh is the most memorable figure in the movie, and one of the scariest bad guys of all time, thanks in large part to Bardem’s Oscar-winning performance. He seems as unstoppable as a Terminator and is just as ready to kill people who stand in his way. This makes him even scarier because he’s not a machine programmed to kill; he’s human.

Also, CheckAll Kevin Hart And The Rock Movies, Ranked Worst To Best

9. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) – HAL 9000

2001 is a famous science fiction book that has had a big impact on the genre. At least for the first two of its four main parts, A Space Odyssey doesn’t have a typical bad guy. The first part of the movie takes place in prehistoric times and shows how humans changed over time. The second part takes place in space and is about the finding of a strange object on the moon’s surface.

space odyssey
space odyssey

In the third part of the movie, the main bad guy, HAL 9000, comes into play. HAL 9000 is a supercomputer that is supposed to help the pilots on the same ship as it. However, it turns out that it has a sense of right and wrong that conflicts with the humans on board. HAL 9000 adds a whole new level of stress and fear to the movie by being a cold, calculated killing machine that doesn’t think it’s doing anything wrong. This makes it a very scary character.

8. Nurse Ratched in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975)

Jack Nicholson is known for playing bad guys, but in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, he played the main good guy. He plays Randle McMurphy, a new patient at a mental hospital who encourages other patients to rebel against the government. This makes Nurse Ratched, the head nurse at the hospital, want to get rid of McMurphy.

Nurse Ratched in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)
Nurse Ratched in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975)

Ratched is very bossy and strict, and because she is the exact opposite of McMurphy, she will do anything to control him. She is played by Louise Fletcher in her most famous role, which earned her an Oscar for Best Lead Actress.

7. Hans Landa’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ came out in 2009.

Quentin Tarantino has made some great crime/thriller movies, but Inglourious Basterds, which came out in 2009, showed that he could also make a great war movie. During World War II, it takes place in a part of France that the Nazis have taken over. Many different people fight against the Nazis in their own ways.

Hans Landa's 'Inglourious Basterds' came out in 2009
Hans Landa’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ came out in 2009

Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz, is the German character who gets the most screen time and has the biggest effect. Waltz is the right choice for the role, and he steals every scene he’s in as a mean, scary, and sometimes charismatic bad guy who, in the end, is only out for himself. Landa is the best character in the movie, and Waltz’s performance, which won him an Oscar, is a classic.

6. The Alien’s “Alien” (1979)

As far as unknown bad guys go, the alien from the 1979 movie Alien is the best. The plot of this acclaimed Ridley Scott movie is about as straightforward as it gets for a sci-fi/horror film. It’s about a crew on a spaceship trying to stay alive while a dangerous alien life form roams around the ship, trying to kill every human in the area one by one.

The Alien's Alien (1979)
The Alien’s Alien (1979)

It is the most frightening creature in any of the Alien movies. It is sometimes called the Nostromo Drone. It’s just a killing machine that can’t be talked to or even figured out. When you add that to the fact that the people in Alien are more helpless than in any other movie in the series, it’s clear that there aren’t many movie monsters scarier than this alien.

5. The Wicked Witch of the West from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)

The Wizard of Oz may be the most famous fairytale movie of all time. It came out in 1939, which was a big year for movies. It’s based on the well-known 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The special effects and technology were amazing for 1939, and they still hold up pretty well today.

_The Wicked Witch of the West from 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)
_The Wicked Witch of the West from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)

In the story, a young girl named Dorothy is stuck in a fantasy world and wants to get back to the real world. She goes on a quest to get back home, while the Wicked Witch of the West follows her. The Wicked Witch is probably the most famous witch in movie history, and the fact that she probably scared tens of millions of kids who watched the otherwise family-friendly movie is enough to make her one of the most famous baddies in film history.

4. Norman Bates in ‘Psycho’ (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock directed a lot of famous movies, so there are a lot of great bad guys in his resume. But Hitchcock’s most famous horror movie, Psycho (1960), also has the most dangerous villain: Norman Bates, the hotel owner with a dark secret.

Norman Bates in 'Psycho' (1960)
Norman Bates in ‘Psycho’ (1960)

Letterboxd has a list of the best horror movies of all time.

Bates doesn’t become a bad guy until the end of the movie, which makes him a much scarier figure to watch again. He is responsible for what might be the most traumatic murder scene in the history of movies, and the way he looks into the soul of the watcher at the end of the movie is chilling. He’s a great bad guy, and Anthony Perkins does a great job playing him.

3. Dr. Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

The only thing scarier than a big, strong bad guy is a smart, cruel one, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a great example of this. He always seems to be at least a few steps ahead of everyone else, especially in The Silence of the Lambs, where he is shown to be at his most evil, charming, and horrible.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
Dr. Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

There’s a reason why this is Anthony Hopkins’ most famous role: he shines every time he’s on screen, and it’s hard to imagine any other actor doing the same with this character (though Brian Cox and Mads Mikkelsen have also done a good job with Lecter). Hannibal Lecter is one of the most powerful movie baddies because he is smart, a psychiatrist, a serial killer, and a cannibal.

2. Joker from 2008’s “The Dark Knight”

Like Lecter, The Joker is a figure who has been played well by more than one actor on screen. Joaquin Phoenix, who got an Oscar for his role as the Joker in 2019’s Joker, Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in 1989’s Batman, and Mark Hamill, who has voiced the character many times to great effect, should also be mentioned.

Joker from 2008's The Dark Knight
Joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight

But Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight has given viewers the best version of the character so far. Heath Ledger, who sadly died before the movie came out, did a great job as the character. It’s not the actor’s only great role, but it’s the one that stands out the most. Heath Ledger gave the Joker a clearly chaotic energy, which is a big part of what makes The Dark Knight such an intense and gripping comic book movie.

1. Darth Vader in the first three “Star Wars” movies, from 1977 to 1983.

Emperor Palpatine may be in charge of the bad guys in the original Star Wars series, but Darth Vader is the most well-known bad guy from those movies. In 1977’s Star Wars, he seems like an invincible force. In 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, he is shown to have surprising ties to the hero Luke Skywalker. But in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, he redeems himself.

Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars movies
Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars movies

His story arc in these three movies is interesting and emotional, and in the Star Wars prequel series (1999–2005), we learn more about his past. Darth Vader is one of the best movie villains because of his famous look, his memorable voice, and the fact that he can beat almost anyone physically. His tragic past and ultimately redeeming death make him the most interesting villain in movie history.

Stay tuned to our website Usacharged.com for more latest updates.

Leave a Reply

You are currently viewing The 10 Best Movie Villains of All Time, Ranked
Best Movie Villains of All Time