Truly Terrible Television Villains

Everyone loves a good villain.  Without a good villain, the good guy or girl is just a guy or girl – there’s nothing special about them, nor will there ever be.  Not only that, but writing someone so incredibly evil isn’t easy – you have to take yourself to a dark place, a dark place that some writers daren’t even consider going to.  It also takes a very talented actor to be able to find the darkness of those characters within themselves, and to portray it (and scare the shit out of everyone).  So, to celebrate the talent that it takes to create a truly terrible television villain, I give you this very list!

Charles Hoyt/The Surgeon, Rizzoli and Isles

It’s one thing to murder someone, but to target happily married couples, tie the husband up, rape the woman whilst the husband is watching, then kill them both, is another form of twisted entirely.  He also terrorises one of the show’s protagonists, Detective Jane Rizzoli, having some sort of bizarre (and incredibly creepy) infatuation with her.  He attacked and attempted to kill her several times, but thankfully he never succeeded.

Jim Fenner, Bad Girls

Jim Fenner used his power as a “screw” (prison warden) to manipulate inmates and colleagues alike.  He got people fired, then took advantage of his power, using it for his own gain rather than to help rehabilitate the inmates.  He was responsible for the death of Yvonne Atkins, leaving her to starve/suffocate in an underground hanging cell that was no longer used.  He also tried to pimp inmate Shell Dockley out, and when she refused, got her baby taken away and Shell sent to a mental institute.  He framed a fellow staff member for a hit and run that he committed, and, even after he was murdered, continued to haunt Larkhall and its inmates.

Psycho Derek/Ian Banks, One Tree Hill

Stalking is scary enough on its own, but it’s even creepier when you pretend to be someone’s long lost brother in order to get close to them because you’re secretly a stalker obsessed with them because she looks like your dead ex-girlfriend.  That’s exactly what happened to Peyton.  When he real brother turned up, he and Lucas pushed him out of a window from the first storey.  Psycho Derek fell and ran away.  When he reappeared, he tied Peyton up (on prom night, which is even worse) in her basement, trying to kiss her and get her to kill her best frenemie, Brooke.  It was only when Peyton and Brooke put their boy troubles aside and teamed up that he was finally defeated.  Ah, girl power.

Dan Scott, One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill really likes its villains.  Dan Scott was the very first villain of Tree Hill, and he haunted it for a very long time.  He bullied one son, ignored the other, constantly threatened his wife, shot his brother and burnt down his diner.  And that’s just the things he did to his family members.  It was only towards the very end that he received any form of repentance, and he’s one of our only villains that does.

Gaius, Spartacus

Without Gaius, there would be no Spartacus.  He separated Spartacus from his beloved wife Sura, forcing both her and Spartacus into a life of slavery.  He tried to kill Spartacus over and over, becoming increasingly mad with rage when he failed.  He showed just how evil he could be when he killed his wife’s father so that she did not divorce him, only keeping her alive because she was carrying his baby.

Ashur, Spartacus

From the moment you first meet Ashur there’s something about him that seems untrustworthy, and he is definitely that.  His main goal was to become rich and powerful, and he didn’t care how he becomes so.  He was responsible for the separation of Naevia and Crixus, after he found out of their affections and told ludus owners Batiatus and Lucretia of them.  When Batiatus died, he saved Lucretia and forced her into a sexual relationship with him.  He lied, he stole, he played both sides without being a part of either, he stabbed people in the back and because of his talent for manipulating people was very seldom caught.

The Lannisters, Game of Thrones

Joffrey is a brat.  He’s a brat because his mother is a brat, and his mother is a brat because she was bought up in a house of privilege that used anyone that wasn’t a Lannister as a doormat.  Joffrey was responsible for the murder of Ned Stark, causing a war to erupt between the seven kingdoms, and his uncle Jamie is a know-it-all who let the fact that he killed the Mad King go to his head.  The family patriarch is controlling, highly intelligent and selfish, but he’s also played by Charles Dance, which almost makes him likeable.  The only Lannister with any redeeming qualities is affectionately referred to as “The Imp”, and is mostly ignored or disliked by the rest of his family.

Rumpelstiltskin/Mr Gold, Once Upon A Time

Robert Carlyle plays a harrowing and downright scary looking version of Rumpelstiltskin in Once Upon A Time, tricking each of the inhabitants of Storybrooke into doing as he wishes by any means possible.  He’s manipulative, he’s scheming, and he’s got the creepiest smile television has ever seen.

Morgana, Merlin

Corrupted by her half sister, Morgana turns against those who have cared for and looked after her, insisting that the throne of Camelot belongs to her.  She sacrifices her sister in order to help her to gain the kingdom, and reinforces Uther’s view that all magic is evil by using it to try and take over Camelot, causing this view to be transferred to Arthur, making it impossible for Merlin to ever tell Arthur his secret.

Aoife/Saskia, Lost Girl

She claimed to be a succubus called Saskia in order to get close to her daughter, Bo, and whilst the succubus part was true, the rest was a lie.  She only wanted to get close to her long lost daughter so that they could work together to start a war between the Light and Dark Fae.  She also used her powers to control men and use them as her sexy slaves.

Oh, and “Aoife” is pronounced “Ee-fa”, just in case you were wondering.

Yellow Eyes/Azazeal, Supernatural

Having yellow eyes is creepy enough, but giving a bunch of kids supernatural powers on their six month birthday then killing their mothers on their bedroom ceiling, just above their cot, is even worse.  Twenty two years later, he then transported each of those children, in groups of six, to a ghost town, where he would wait for them to kill each other off, and the “winner” would be the one that was still alive, and a part of his dastardly plan to release the demons from hell.

The Source, Charmed

He wasn’t the source of just anything.  His name of “The Source” was short for “The Source of All Evil”, meaning that he was pretty damn evil.  He only had half a face courtesy of a battle several hundred years before, and he was determined to do anything in his power to defeat the Charmed Ones, coming close when his assassin, Shax, killed eldest sister Prue.  However, estranged sister Paige came along, foiled his plans, and he ended up in the Underworld with the rest of the demons.

Shax, Charmed

Shax was The Source’s assassin, and will forever be hated by Charmed fans for killing Prue.  He was also the reason that the sisters got exposed as witches and Phoebe found herself trapped in the Underworld.  Check out just how eerie he is for yourself:

Image Credits:
TV Fanatic
Tout Le Cine
Buddy TV
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Charmed Wiki
Open Book Society
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