No matter the medium, most stories are only as good as their villains. Whether its an intergalactic entity bent on obliterating existence, or an ornery teacher with a penchant for punishment, a great antagonist is there to constantly provide friction between our heroes and their ultimate goals. But the best villains carry a sort of gravity to them that makes it impossible for us to look away.
Here are 11 of the villains we love hating the most.
BioShock is one of the defining games of the past decade, and Andrew Ryan’s incredible presence is no small part of that. The founder of his “paradise” known as Rapture, Ryan’s voice in the player’s ear acts as the carrot on the stick that propels each and every action you take. His selfish actions ultimately led to the downfall of the city, and the brutal demise of all of its citizens. But Ryan’s lasting legacy comes in the revelations during the final moments of his life. When both Jack, the character you control, as well as the players themselves come to the realization that we’re all just pawns in a much larger scheme, the phrases “Would you kindly?” and “A man chooses, a slave obeys,” became forever etched in video game history. -- Marty Sliva
There are few characters who were as universally despicable as Joffrey Baratheon in the world of Game of Thrones. While Ramsay Bolton might be more pure evil and Cersei Lannister is someone we alternately root for and want to see fall, it’s Joffrey who rose up through the ranks as the villain we could watch be smacked over, and over, and over, and over and somehow still never got tired of detesting. Maybe it was Jack Gleeson’s perfect sneer or maybe it was just Joffrey’s spiteful nature, but from the moment we first met him in the premiere of Game of Thrones, we couldn’t help but hate him. -- Terri Schwartz
He’s a murderer. He’s a cannibal. And wow, do people love to see him kill and eat people. Hannibal Lecter was a fascinating presence in Thomas Harris’ novels, but it was Anthony Hopkins’ Academy Award-winning portrayal that made him iconic. Cultured, witty, calculated and incredibly dangerous, Lecter is terrifying and charismatic all at once. Mads Mikkelsen’s take on the character in the Hannibal TV series only expanded his popularity, as we saw the not-so-good Doctor do oh-so many vile things, and yet couldn’t help but feel as mesmerized by him as poor Will Graham was. And while, sure, he may be eating human flesh, have you seen what a great cook this guy is!? -- Eric Goldman
"Cruella de Vil, Cruella de Vil. If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will..." Although originally a literary character, Cruella de Vil -- her name a clear play on both "cruel" and "devil" -- is best known for Disney's animated and later live-action incarnations. A wealthy heiress whose glamour belies her craziness, Cruella orders stolen almost all of a young couple's titular Dalmatian pups in order to skin them and turn their fur into coats. Puppies' fur is so much softer, you see, and -- SHE SKINS PUPPIES FOR GOD'S SAKE! That's reason enough to make any list of despicable villains! That Cruella de Vil has stood the test of time as one of Disney's most iconic villains shows how much people love dogs and love to hate those who would do them harm. It doesn't hurt that Cruella rocks such a striking, signature look to boot. -- Jim Vejvoda
On the surface, Dolores Umbridge didn’t have the qualities that seem to typically signal a detestable villain -- a love of cats and an affinity for the color pink, to name a couple. But with her cruel nature, sadistic tendencies and the fact she supported You-Know-Who, Umbridge quickly became one of the most hateable villains in all of the Harry Potter universe. People like Voldemort and Snape at least had a more sympathetic backstory even if they went to the dark side, but Umbridge thrived in making people miserable and didn’t have any element to her personality that humanized her -- not even the cats. -- Terri Schwartz
The Purple Man had been around for a long time in Marvel comics before Brian Michael Bendis used him as the main antagonist in the comic book Alias, but never before had his abilities been truly explored in such a terribly realistic way. If an amoral person could make you do anything he wanted, what he’d use that for would be awful, as Jessica Jones tragically discovered. Purple Man’s use (under the name Kilgrave) in the Jessica Jones TV series helped cement his place in infamy, via David Tennant’s excellent performance as this notably powerful, detestable villain. As though under the sway of his power, you couldn’t keep your eyes off him, all while hoping to finally see Jessica take him down. -- Eric Goldman
Handsome Jack is the very definition of a villain we love to hate. His incredible writing by Anthony Burch and fantastic performance by Dameon Clarke make it impossible to look away from his actions, even when they’re absolutely abhorrent. The joy he gets from the pain and misery of others, even his own daughter, made him a villain that we should never have had an ounce of sympathy for. And yet once Tales From the Borderlands came out, Gearbox and Telltale did the impossible, and made us actually share a handful of real and honest moments with this complete monster.
Oh Annie. You love your Misery so much... and we love you so much, if only because we get it. We totally get that crazy fandom that can drive you to extremes. But you know, waiting on line all night to get into a Comic-Con panel is one thing. Kidnapping your favorite author and hobbling him with a sledgehammer so he has no choice but to stay in your house and write your fan-fic for you… Well, that may be going a bit too far. And let’s not even get started on the whole nursing career gone wrong issue. But hey, it’s a cockadoodie world out there. Like we said, we get it, Annie. And misery does love company. -- Scott Collura
The Clown Prince of Crime is beloved by fans for how deliciously devious he can be. Every version of the character (and there are many) finds a unique way to get under our skin by utterly devastating Batman, and one need look no further than Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s instant classic comic book run to see just how ruthless he can be. Whether he was snapping the necks of GCPD officers with his bare hands, splintering the Bat-family with a psychotically brilliant scheme, or infecting the citizens of Gotham with his unique brand of insanity, the Joker always managed to strike at Batman in the most demoralizing and damaging way possible. Reading his stories are a lesson in frustration because it’s hard to imagine a way to stop a villain whose only goal isn’t money or power but chaos. It is perhaps the Joker’s most disturbing quality that while we want to see Batman take him down, we also hope he gets away so we can see what he’ll do next. -- Joshua Yehl
It took quite a bit to create a villain with enough depth for us to truly love to hate them during the 16-bit era, but that’s exactly what Square did with Kefka in Final Fantasy VI. Kefka Palazzo broke the mold for JRPG antagonists by being loud, brash, and completely maniacal. His intense hatred and iconic laughter only strengthened horrific moments, like when he poisoned a river, killing every innocent citizen in the kingdom. This all came to a culmination with Kefka destroying the world, and your party engaging in an incredible final boss battle where the manic clown transforms into a terrifying god. RPGs are known for their incredible villains, and Kefka just might be at the top. -- Marty Sliva
We started out rooting for Light Yagami in Deathnote, but we were actively cheering for his demise by the end. Bestowed with a supernatural notebook that will bring about the death of whoever’s name is written inside, Light first went after a few criminals that seemingly deserved to die. But like the old adage says, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and it wasn’t long before he was executing huge numbers of people he deemed guilty and began to think of himself as a god named Kira. That caught the attention of master oddball sleuth L and thus began a mind-boggling investigation, a tragic friendship, and a poignant morality play. The more we started to like L, the more we hated Light, and it was their dueling shadow game of cat and mouse that drove the story forward and resulted in a bittersweet end. -- Joshua Yehl
So those are 11 of the villains we love hating the most. Let us know which villains you can't take your eyes off of!
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