I'm gonna try to resist the obvious Darth Vader because it's sort of a thread killer.
I'm going with the Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator from Terminator (1984) and runner up I would probably go Agent Smith from the Matrix (1999)
How about y'alls out there
Gotta go with either Jack Nicholson's Joker or Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lechter Female villianess it's gotta be Louise Fletcher as Nurse Rached or Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery
@Papi that would be lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes
Hans Gruber in Die Hard
There could be a category by itself for Bond Villains
Auric Goldfinger is the most memorable even though Blofeld might be more “villainous”
SJG
I have 2 off the wall:
Denzel Washington in TRAINING DAY.
The bad guy in the movie EQUALIZER also with Denzel Washington. His name is Marton Csokas.
Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight Helena Bonham Carter when she played Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter movies
Agree with the Training Day and Cookoo Nest characters already mentioned as well
The remorseless Killing of your own henchmen is of course de riguer. See Bane, Joker, Zorin, and just about every batman/007 villain going.
Ayn Rand
Jack Nicholson as the Joker was so bad ass.
Did anybody ever watch season 2 of Fargo? Mike Flanagan played by Bokeem Woodbine was fucking awesome.
Christopher Walken has a really short appearance in Quentin Tarantino's best movie (TRUE ROMANCE), but he was fantastic.
I liked Shailynn's reference of Denzel in Training Day. Along those same lines, I gotta go with Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen. Dude went full psycho on everyone involved in his family's death.
tommy lee jones in under siege.
the head bank robber in killing zoe.
the maniac killer in boondock saints.
chains in stone cold (brian bosworth movie).
bryan cranston in breaking bad.
malcolm mcdowell in a clockwork orange.
michael chiklis in the shield.
al pacino scarface.
Hopkins as Hannibal Lechter for men. Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction for best female villain.
Pennywise the clown (V1)
Not sure I co
Can a lack of an edit button count as a villain??
Not sure I could pick just one.
Heath Ledger as the Joker Javier Bardem's character in No Country for Old Men Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter Cathy Bates in Misery Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger Malcolm McDowell's character in A Clockwork Orange Denzel Washington in Training Day
Anton from No Country For Old Men.
I'll go with Indio character in spaghetti western "For A few Dollars More", played by Jean Marie Volante.( yes, that's his name). Lee Van Cleef plays the good guy dressed in black, teaming up with Clint Eastwood to catch Indio. So many good scenes in that one, with the final duel being a classic.
I'll give Christopher Walken honorable mention for his role in "True Romance", and as Bond Villian in "View To A Kill."
thought of two more - like kilgoretrout12 mentioned, when these characters killed their own henchmen, they are on another level of crazy - and both these characters did that:
Gary Oldman in Leon: The Professional
Tchéky Karyo in Kiss the Dragon
both these guys were playing corrupt cops, go figure!
Some really good ones so far. I’ll add:
Ramsey Bolton (made Theon Greyjoy the good guy) Phil Leotardo John Malkovich’s character in In the Line of Fire
Laurence Olivier as a Nazi dentist in Marathon Man. That scene still haunts me twice a year when I get my cleanings.
Most of the movies listed are fiction, not sure if we can include biopics. But if so, I'm gonna say Laurence Fishburne's portrayal of Ike Turner in What's Love got to do with it. Damn, he played that role so well it was hard to see him as a good guy in any movie after that.
Been thinking about this some more, really good call on Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.
Gotta add Kevin Space in The Usual Suspects and Se7en.
Edward Longshanks - Braveheart
Everybody not played by Michael Douglas in Falling Down (he's the good guy, damn it!)
The Irish priest in either season 3 or 4 of Peaky Blinders. That dude was ruthless.
Another really good villain: time.
I get the feeling a lot of people haven't seen a movie called "Buried". That...is a mistake.
VADER Joker Thanos
Thanos
Other great villains
Joker Magneto Vader The Monstars
Charles Davis - he played Scorpio - the Villain in Dirty Harry - Most realistic psycho. Maureen McCormack who plays Rhoda in the original version of The Bad Seed - you know a character is evil when an entire movie theater applauds when a nine year old girl finally dies at the end. This is an old black and white movie and the character is evil personified; push an old lady down the stairs, lock the handyman in the basement and burn him alive etc.
Kevin Spacey as John Doe in Seven The Tim Curry bad guy in Criminal Minds also as Richelieu in 3 Musketeers Norman Bates in Psycho
I agree with Kevin Spacey in Seven, Denzel in Training Day, Arnold in The Terminator - all great performances as villains!
I also agree with Kathy Bates in Misery.
I have been watching the early seasons of a streaming series called Outlander - and there is a character Black Jack Randall - and the actor who plays the role is excellent in creating a character who appears to be a brutal sadist - and who is also a homosexual.
There was a character in 8 mm who I remember as just awful - and who acted as though he enjoyed the act of killing the girls at the end of the snuff films.
Wait...nobody has mentioned the wicked witch? Go ahead and kill all the people you want. But threaten the "little dog, too", and it's on you ugly green mole-y bitch.
Talk about a bad guy how about Tony Soprano, his true colors revealed when he killed Tony Blundetto, and if that wasn't enough how about the cold blooded he killed his nephew Christopher in that car wreck.
Tim Roth’s character in the movie Rob Roy was a really interesting, detestable and believable villain
I don't think ppl like Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad or Al Pacino from Scarface should count, they're main protagonists.
Actually, I'll put Breaking Bad's antagonist villain Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) as a great villain.
For me Snidely Whiplash has the best villain look.
From Breaking Bad I think I the villain was that bitch of a wife. Holy cow I hated that character.
This might be a bit obscure - but there was a movie with Kevin Bacon called Murder in the First. The prison warden was played by Gary Oldman and he is a true miserable villain. Some scenes from that movie are painful to watch.
@JustintoLook - that dentist in the movie Marathon Man haunted me for years! “Is it safe?” Then hearing the dental drill! Omg!!
Oldman was just sadistic. Think Cool Hand Luke warden pms’ing
sjg is the worst villain of tuscl
I always thought Clancy Brown was great as The Kurgan in the original Highlander. That was a great villain.
3131 If it was the creepiest villain - SJG would get more than enough votes.
His photos of TJ girls show how disturbed he has become. I’m sure he’s jerking off to the photos he posts.
@Nina Gus was a cold as villain! Nigga was just untouchable. Well, until Walt finally got him.
Rutger Hauer in the 1986 movie "The Hitcher" starring C Thomas Howel
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. No redeeming qualities.
That is a really scary and disturbing movie!
SJG
"I don't think ppl like Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad or Al Pacino from Scarface should count, they're main protagonists."
@NinaBambina, I agree, but...
Michael Corleone ordering a hit on his own brother in Godfather 2? That is some cold blooded shit right there.
Alright one more how about Aguirre in Aguirre the Wrath of God. Some Werner Herzog movie. Klaus Klinski being a lunatic in real life I think really adds a realness to it.
Yosemite Sam
Kevin Spacey carries the added qualification of not actually needing to be in front of a camera to be a bad guy.
How about Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen?
eli wallach in the good. the bad and the ugly played a real good scuzzbag.
female villian - glenn close fatal attraction
@misterorange I can see you haven't read the previous comments. But obviously I agree lol.
Kaiser Soze (kills his own family to make a point) Hanibal Lecter (just super creepy)
my wifes boyfriend is a really mean villan.
I'm going with the villains you cheer for:
Heisenberg aka Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Det. Vic Mackey (The Shield)
Honorable mentions:
Jackson Teller (Sons of Anarchy)
Thanos (MCEU), because Josh Brolin portrayed him brilliantly as both the sympathetic visionary who sought to save the universe by killing half of it and sacrificing his own daughter in Infinity War, and an earlier version of the same character as the bloodthirsty narcissist who sought the same end without the sacrifice by remaking reality in his own image in Endgame.
Let's make believe there is an edit button, and overwrite my previous answers with the two most insidious villains of all time: Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
Wile E. Coyote!
^ WTF? Wile E. Coyote was the good guy. That arrogant, taunting roadrunner was the real prick. That, and Acme and it's neverending list of failing products.
^yeah, I always cheered for Wile E. Coyote and Tom from Tom & Jerry.
Can't believe nobody has mentioned Daniel Larusso. What a horrible human being.
"Michael Corleone ordering a hit on his own brother in Godfather 2? That is some cold blooded shit right there."
The fact that his bro set up a failed hit on him made his choice for revenge a little easier.
Anyway I scanned through this thread pretty quickly and Lecter's been mentioned a few times but at least he was charming and refined. I don't think that his fan Buffalo Bill who was just plain creepy was mentioned.
Also re: Lecter, his other fan in the Michael Mann film Manhunter was pretty vile in his own right.
loped - Pesci in Goodfellas was a good villain - but he had a redeeming quality - he was funny !
Speaking of the Road Runner - and Wyle E. Coyote. I still avoid shopping at Acme stores! If that company couldn’t get its explosives to work properly - I’m not taking a chance with anything they sell!
Most of the good ones are taken, so I’ll add that twat Prince/King Geoffrey in Game of Thrones.
And as an aside, best roadrunner episode: “Wile E Coyote, Super Genius. I like the sound of that. Wile E Coyote, Sooopperr Genius.”
Used tmoviesh movies more back-in-the-day but can't say I was necessarily a huge-movie-buff
One that comes to mind is the old-guy with the mustache in the old Clint Eastwood westerns