# Name the most evil (but non violent) TV characters you can think of. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274 "2014-09-02T18:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/41 "2014-09-03T06:26:32Z")
> [@pseudograph](#): > > Pretty sure pushing someone in front of a subway train constitutes violence. That was a one off thing and is in no way characteristic of Frank Underwood. (BTW, you just gave away a major spoiler for people who haven’t watch S2 yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/42 "2014-09-03T09:53:18Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > _Sherlock’s_ Charles Augustus Magnussen made a career out of ruining lives. As far as they portrayed, he never resorted to violence. He had John Watson kidnapped, but claimed that he would never have let him be actually harmed. That’s a pretty good one. He delighted in wielding his personal power accorded by his blackmail material to do disgusting things to people. Pissing in Holmes’ fireplace and licking the face of that senior government official were given as run of the mill examples of his dastardliness. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > President Roslin. NuBSG. She’s not evil. Sure, she’s determined, and she makes some rough choices, even takes some bad actions in the name of good. But she’s not evil. Even Admiral Helena Cain wasn’t evil, and she was much closer than Roslin ever got. Now Tom Zarek, I might give you evil for him. Of course, he sanctions the elimination of cylon sympathizers by secret trials, so violence is in his methods. John Cavill is pretty evil, but cylons are fond of violence. > [@LawMonkey](#): > > If it’s fair to compartmentalize specific interactions, the various spies in The Americans could fit. I’m thinking about their treatment of the closeted spec ops fella from last season. The short-lived original handlers, then Philip and Elizabeth, each blackmailed him with the threat of exposing his orientation and ruining his career into betraying his country. I don’t know that I would call them evil. Manipulative to further their anti-American goals, but not evil. Plus, they’re not above violence. Like blackmailing the cleaning lady to plant a bug on the Secretary of State by poisoning her son, or abducting a former Soviet Jew to use his knowledge. Abducting a former Soviet spy who defected to the US was particularly violent. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/43 "2014-09-03T10:43:47Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Was Dr. Smith on _Lost in Space_ ever really violent? He certainly tried to be evil, he just wasn’t very good at it. He was absolutely evil in the pilot episode. In fact, I think you can hear the trace of an accent in his limited dialog because he was clearly supposed to be a future Cold War spy. And he tried to sabotage the ship to not just go off course (i.e. be ‘Lost in Space’) but to self-destruct! He just didn’t leave himself enough time to escape. Any of this of course only applies to the first B&W season. Once the show switched to color he just became a mincing buffoon. Comedy relief rather than a real villain (actually this started towards the end of the first season). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/44 "2014-09-03T12:10:30Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > How so? It’s not on me to prove that she isn’t evil, unless you subscribe to a theory that all women are inherently evil by possessing a vagina or something. You are the one that has to demonstrate that she **is** evil, and you haven’t done so. Not even close. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/45 "2014-09-03T13:54:17Z")
In the first few minutes of this ep of NewsRadio, Dave resolves to become [Pure Evil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCeH2yLsZI). ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/46 "2014-09-03T15:06:46Z")
You mentioned Dave Foley, which brought to mind [Simon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rADdKqPNdaM). ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/47 "2014-09-03T15:09:31Z")
Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) on _Taxi_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/48 "2014-09-03T17:25:34Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) on _Taxi_. More evil than Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) on _It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia_? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/49 "2014-09-03T18:07:47Z")
Christian Troy on _Nip/Tuck_. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/50 "2014-09-03T18:13:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > More evil than Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) on _It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia_? Frank is pretty violent, though. He carries a gun everywhere and isn’t afraid to use it. He shot that promising football player in the leg, sucker punched his old boxing nemesis (and inadvertently paralyzed his daughter), just to name a few things. For the purposes of this thread, I’m considering Veridian Dynamics from _Better off Ted_ as a character, as the show frequently treats “the company” as a sentient, malevolent force. Failing that, the high up manager Chet is pretty evil (though it’s implied he once beat someone with a golf club, it’s never shown on screen). ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/51 "2014-09-03T19:37:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It’s not on me to prove that she isn’t evil, unless you subscribe to a theory that all women are inherently evil by possessing a vagina or something. You are the one that has to demonstrate that she **is** evil, and you haven’t done so. Not even close. True, you don’t have to prove anything, because as you point out it’s my assertion, my burden of proof. I was just curious of your opinion. And since I don’t really want to argue or debate over a silly tv show, I’ll say you’re right. She’s not evil. Still terrible though. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/52 "2014-09-03T20:41:28Z")
Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban) from the pilot and first half-season of Fantasy Island. His character was supposed to be the devil, before they turned him into a benevolent lesson-giver. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/53 "2014-09-03T21:15:38Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > Disagree. All that could describe Sheldon and he can be supportive and occasionally complimentary of his friend. The mom, OTOH, goes beyond merely neglectful and into cruel and mean. Indeed, when mentioning his siblings, Leonard has related that they’ve gotten love and support and praise etc. It just seems that she goes out of her way to destroy Leonard’s ego, literally since birth. I have a pet theory that his whole life is an experiment by his mother to see what would happen to a child raised without love. Agree with Barking Dog. I think Leonard’s mother is the most evil character on tv. She is a sociopath smart enough to masquerade as a real human being, worse than any of the serial killers, because she can carry out her tortures in plain sight, and even pass them off as mothering. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to have a freezer full of the corpses of her students and admirers of her books in a meat locker somewhere. That character is so repugnant, I can’t even watch the actress in other parts anymore, and I used to like Christine Baranski. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/54 "2014-09-03T21:19:02Z")
Jane Wyman’s character on Falcon Crest. It was 30 years ago, and I can’t even remember the character’s name (Angela Channing, apparently), but I still remember her as the epitome of pure evil. There was one scene in which she told her injured nephew that his mother was dead that felt to me like the cruelest thing I had ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/55 "2014-09-03T23:49:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > **Mary’s** mother was evil?!? :dubious: 😕 I think you must be confusing her with Rhoda’s kvetchy mother, who wasn’t WASPy by any stretch of the imagination! OK, kvetchy Jewish mom (Rhoda’s) is not evil, just annoying. (Maybe Mary’s mother wasn’t evil, per se.) But it seems to me with all the REAL evil mothers in the world, the REAL abusive assholes, it seems to be the pearls- and- little -designer- suit (with long bangs and a blunt cut highlighted bobbed hairstyle), who just SCREAM “W.A.S.P.”, that are regarded by their kids as the Devil incarnate. Their worse characteristics seem to be drinking too many martinis or passive-aggressively insulting their offspring. “Oh, MOTHER! You are driving me CRAZY!” “Now, dear, if only you would lose a few pounds and date that nice Smith boy…” ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/56 "2014-09-04T00:19:45Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > What do you mean “once”? More than never, less than twice. It’s a pretty common word, though I suppose if one was a native Spanish speaker he might confuse it for 11 when written. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/57 "2014-09-04T00:27:27Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Agree with Barking Dog. I think Leonard’s mother is the most evil character on tv. She is a sociopath smart enough to masquerade as a real human being, worse than any of the serial killers, because she can carry out her tortures in plain sight, and even pass them off as mothering. I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to have a freezer full of the corpses of her students and admirers of her books in a meat locker somewhere. That character is so repugnant, I can’t even watch the actress in other parts anymore, and I used to like Christine Baranski. She’s a lot like Sheldon, isn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/58 "2014-09-04T00:31:55Z")
I know it’s a literary series too, but still, Nellie on Little House on the Prairie was pure evil. Not sure if evil qualifies, but Q from ST:TNG lacked any human qualities associated with good. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/59 "2014-09-04T00:32:49Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Carmella Soprano. She turned a blind eye to her husband’s Mafia connections, all the while acting like the good Christian housewife. She enjoyed the nice house, and cars, and suburban life, knowing full well that it was blood money. And she failed in her most basic duty to protect her children from bad people. This is an excellent one. The scene where she goes to the psychiatrist wanting to moan about how hard her life is, and the shrink basically tells her to go fuck herself and her blood money and her indulgent self-pity, is fantastic. Carmella acts as an essential support for her murderous husband, and she knows she does so, and she does it for money. I’d almost disqualify her for violence by proxy, since she enables her husband so, but not quite. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274/60 "2014-09-04T00:33:43Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > True, you don’t have to prove anything, because as you point out it’s my assertion, my burden of proof. I was just curious of your opinion. > > **And since I don’t really want to argue or debate over a silly tv show** , I’ll say you’re right. She’s not evil. Still terrible though. Oh, you’re no fun at all. 😛 I agree that she’s a terrible person, and not one I’d want in my family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-most-evil-but-non-violent-tv-characters-you-can-think-of/697274.md?page=4)