What is it that draws us to bad guys in film and TV series? Is it that, since they’re usually the villain of a movie or show, we enjoy seeing them defeated? Or is it that we actually like them? After all, some of the most beloved fictional characters are bad guys: think of The Silence of the Lambs‘ Hannibal Lecter, Fight Club‘s Tyler Durden, Star Wars‘ Darth Vader… Or, thinking of recent releases, the Joker, Loki, and countless characters we love to hate. The truth is that, even though we know that what they do is wrong, there’s something liberating about watching them disregard the rules completely. On top of this, most of these characters are charismatic, and some of them even get their redemption by the end.
You don’t need to work at grademiners to understand why bad guys are so fascinating to analyze: they often undertake journeys that are just as complex as the hero’s one, and they come with backstories that usually help us see behind the facade they show to the world. Moreover, they are often unpredictable, which makes following their actions more exciting, and what they’re up to is often up to more interesting than whatever the good guy is trying to achieve. There are countless bad guys (and bad girls!) in TV series, but we made a list of 5 unforgettable villains that you’ll want to check out for different reasons. Read the list below, ranked from worst to best, and happy watching!
5. Logan Roy
Succession
One of the reasons why Succession is such a fantastic show is that most of its characters are bad guys. Not only that, but over the course of its four seasons, our sympathies keep switching from one character to the other. And just when we think we’ve found the one member of the family who isn’t so evil after all… We discover something about them that immediately makes us change our minds.
Succession starts from a simple premise: business magnate Logan Roy (Brian Cox), who owns the biggest news and entertainment empire in the world, has decided to retire and make his son Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) his successor. But when the time comes to step down, something happens that makes him change his mind, and this affects both his family – including his other sons Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Connor (Alan Ruck), his daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook), and her husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) – and most of the people working at Waystar Royco.
Succession has all kinds of shades of bad guys, from those we love to hate like the wonderfully volatile Kendall, to those we actually kind of like, like the not-so harmless but still relatable Kendall, his partner-in-crime Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) like Roman, and the ever-evolving Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun). Then there are those we’re not entirely sure about, like the manipulative Shiv and her husband Tom, and those those we quite simply despise, like media mogul Nan Pierce (Cherry Jones) and apathetic tech guy Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård).
We chose Logan Roy because he’s the one who started it all. Even though he may appear respectable at first, he’s the most ruthless person in the series. He’s a master manipulator who won’t hesitate to manipulate those closest to him and stab them in the back, and who’s not only incapable of love, but also not interested in it in the slightest. His lack of interest in his children is the most tragic thing about a series that is ultimately about legacy, which is why it’s such a paradox that it’s precisely through his legacy that his toxic behavior will live on.
4. Joffrey Baratheon
Game of Thrones
Ah, Game of Thrones. Another series where, just when you think you’ve met its most despicable character, another one comes along to take their place. Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) is the eithteen King to rule the Seven Kingdoms, the ultimate aim of the many families that are fighting against each other in the show. Joffrey, the son of the deceased King Robert (Mark Addy) and Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), seems to have inherited some traits from his manipulative, ruthless mother, so much so that, from the moment he appears on the screen, we can’t help but hate him.
Yet, at the same time, as depraved and sadistic as he is, Joffrey is also very young. Thanks to the combination of fantastic writing and superb acting from Jack Gleeson, we can also recognize that he’s quite simply a spoiled, immature boy who doesn’t know anything about the world. Compared to the other villains we’ll meet later in the series – here’s a great list of most hated characters in Game of Thrones! – he’s ultimately quite harmless. That said, it’s still immensely satisfying to witness his death in Season 4.
3. Moriarty
Sherlock
Honey, you should see him in a crown. Jim Moriarty (Adam Scott) is a completely different kind of bad guy. Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis is one of those villains we love even if we know that they are horrible people – or, perhaps, precisely because of it. It doesn’t matter how many people he threatens, including the show’s protagonists, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John Watson (Martin Freeman). Jim Moriarty demands our attention whenever he’s on screen, and he always delivers, giving us some of the most quotable lines in TV history and keeping us entertained with his wonderfully twisted, cunning plans.
We don’t fully understand what motivates Jim Moriarty, but that is one of the reason why he’s such a well-written character. The mystery around him makes him all the more charismatic, and Andrew Scott is phenomenal in a role he was born to play. Out of all the villains on this list, Moriarty is not only one of the most beloved ones, but also – surprisingly – the most harmless, as Sherlock has many more antagonists in store for us who end up being a bigger threat than he is.
2. Ben Linus
Lost
Remember Lost? The show became a worldwide phenomenon when it was released, back in 2004, and was one of the first series to acquire such a huge following in so little time. This show about the survivors of a plane crash teaming up to try and survive on a not-so-deserted island had us hooked from its very first episode, for one very simple reason: the mystery at its center. Something strange is happening on the island that we can’t quite explain, and it’s all so intriguing that it’s keeping us up all night.
When Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) first shows up, he pretends to be Henry Gale, from Minnesota, and to have also crashed on the island. But the real Henry Gale is soon found, and that’s when Ben’s days as a bad guy begin. He turns out to be the leader of the Others, a group of island natives, and that’s where his loyalties lie in seasons 2-4. But when he reappears, in later seasons… His role becomes more ambiguous and compelling. Is he really a villain or is he actually an ally to our resourceful Oceanic Flight 815 survivors? It’s up to you to find out, but you’re in for a treat.
1. Gustavo “Gus” Fring
Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul
Here’s another iconic show that we absolutely needed to mention, as its very protagonist turns out to be a bad guy himself. Breaking Bad revolves around a broke, cancer-ridden high school chemistry teacher from Albuquerque, New Mexico who becomes the baddest crime lord around when he realizes, with the help of his former student Jesse (Aaron Paul), that making mathamphetamine is actually not that hard. The show’s protagonist is Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a universally beloved “bad guy” who is actually a hero in the show, and whose motives and personality make him an incredibly likable antihero.
But we chose another character for this list: an actual drug lord named Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), who might look quite harmless on the surface due to his mild behavior and unpretentious appearance, but who’s actually very dangerous underneath it all. Though he only has a limited screen time in Breaking Bad, fans were thrilled to see him return in Better Call Saul, where Esposito got to “create a different kind of Gus,” as the actor told DiscussingFilm. And we’re so happy that he did, because Gus is the definition of an unforgettable bad guy: not only are we drawn to his charisma and wit, but we can’t help but root for him, which is why he earns the #1 spot on his list.
The 5 bad guys from TV shows listed above are all unforgettable for different reasons. You’ll find yourself drawn to all of them, whether because of their charm and charisma or of how much you despise them, and you’ll be entertained throughout. The 5 series above should give you plenty to binge watch, but if you need to discover even more characters, take a look at the lists below!
Unforgettable bad guys who aren’t all that bad:
- Crowley, Supernatural
- Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal
- J.R. Ewing, Dallas
- Kashigi Yabushige, Shogun
- Klaus Mikaelson, The Vampire Diaries & The Originals
- Lex Luthor, Smallville
- Lucifer, Supernatural
- Thomas Barrow, Downton Abbey
Unforgettable bad guys who are all terrible people:
- Black Jack Randall, Outlander
- Homelander, The Boys
- Killer BOB, Twin Peaks
- Livia Soprano, The Sopranos
- Marlo Stanfield, The Wire
- Ramsay Bolton, Game of Thrones
- Rowan Pope, Scandal
- The Trinity Killer, Dexter
- Vecna, Stranger Things
