There are a few things you need to be a villain; psychotic tendencies help, money to buy weapons is useful, a troubled past is a must and zero concern for other human life may come in handy – but it’s a healthy mix of all this and so much more that lands these ten villains on our list.
10 – Biff Tannen
His ability to be constantly outsmarted by Marty McFly and never being able to remember how a saying goes, means he only just makes the list. The main reason he’s here is due to his participation in some of the most ridiculous chase scenes in movie history, highlighted by McFly’s use of a hover-board to elude him yet again. He always tried hard but unfortunately for Biff when it came to being a bad guy, he was about as useful as a screen door on a battleship.
9 – Lord Voldemort
If people are so scared of you they are even afraid to say your name, then you must be a pretty good villain. From living on the back of another man’s head, to having a servant cut off his own had to make him powerful again, Voldemort does some pretty messed up things. But anyone who kills Robert Pattinson is okay with us.
8 – Norman Bates
Before there was CGI and special effects in movies, all the drama and fear had to be created through suspense, all beautiful executed in Psycho. It may be the music and shower scene that is most remembered about the movie, but the man behind the knife and wig was Norman Bates, a very sick individual who liked to talk to his mothers decomposing body and dress up in her clothes – Psycho indeed.
7 – Darth Vader
There are a number of reason’s Darth Vader makes our top ten Villain’s, but there is just one moment that elevates him to one of the best villains ever. In one of the biggest movie twists of all time Luke discovers who is father is, but it’s Darth Vader’s audacity to cut his own sons hand of and then offer him a job on the dark side that is really twisted. ‘No worries dad, I’ll just get this gaping hole in my arm looked at and then see you at the office first thing Monday’.
6 – Keyser Soze
The only character on our list that may not actually exist, Keyser Soze may be a fearsome criminal mastermind, or he may be a myth told to strike fear into the hearts of men. Whatever the truth the mere saying of his name throughout the movie terrifies people, and as Verbal (played by Kevin Spacey) says, “The only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze”.
5 – Jaws / Odd Job / Dr No / Goldfinger – (James Bond)
So many good villains they could almost fill our whole list, but we’ve decided to list them all together. From Jaws and Oddjob, to Goldfinger and of course Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond villains have defined and influenced so many other movies.
4 – Patrick Bateman
Not such a bad guy really, just a clean eating, neat dressing, womanising business man who loves his music. That is until he invites you into his house for a few drinks, only to chase you with a chainsaw. I’m sure there is some sort of deep message about America’s excessive culture in this movie, but let’s face it, we are all just watching to see Jared Leto cop an axe to the face.
3 – Hannibal Lecter
Although he spent the movie trying to assist in the capture of another serial killer, Hannibal Lecter’s past definitely places him in the villain category. He enjoys playing mind games with Clarice Starling, which isn’t overly villainous in itself, but if you kill people and eat them it’s going to be hard to shake the bad guy image.
2 – William Poole – AKA Bill ‘the Butcher’ Cutting
Butcher by name and by nature, all brought to life by the incredible acting of Daniel Day-Lewis. Killing Priests, Sheriffs and anyone who stood in his way as he fought for the streets of New York, Bill Cutting was a special kind of psychopath. Living by his own moral code and strange sense of honour, even cutting his own eye out to atone for looking away from a man about to kill him, but his good deeds are far outweighed by his brutal actions.
1 – The Joker
All villains need to be at least a little psychotic, but I’m not sure the Joker has ever had a sane thought in his life. Brilliantly played by Jack Nicolson, but its Heath Ledgers portrayal that pushes the character to the top of our list and had he not passed away, would probably have taken the character up another notch in the following movie. It’s not often you will sit through a movie and see an actor disappear into a character, but Ledger completely lost himself inside this one.
