# THE SDMB Top 50 Movie villains List **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804 "2003-06-05T12:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/21 "2003-06-05T17:42:25Z")
1. Vader 2. Shark 3. Hannibal 4. Imotep 5. Velociraptors and Nazis, give 'em both a half-vote. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/22 "2003-06-05T18:17:04Z")
1. Scrappy Doo. The moment he came online you couldn’t help but hate him. Plus he wasn’t a puppy at all. He had a glandular problem. 2. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Elpheba was a biproduct of political conspiracy and was framed. Evil Dorothy killed the first person she happened upon and then teamed up with three complete strangers in order to kill again. Wicked Dorothy indeed! 3. Voltan (Jack Palance’s character in Hawk the Slayer). There were so many things wickedly wrong with him from the fact that he looked at least 20 years older than his aging father whom he killed to his relentless pursuits of Hawk for the use of his birthright for ornery purposes to the fact that Jack Palance fell mightily when he took this role. 🙂 Great movie for its pure cheesiness factor. 4. FranknFurter (Rocky Horror) He had all the best lines, all the best songs, and he was twisted enough to take in two true blue American kids and turn them into sexbots. Janet the slut and Brad the bisexual. I wish I were a sweet transvestite from the planet Transexual as well. Boomchicka Boomchicka Boomchicka Boom. I see you quiver in antici… 5. Ashram the dark knight (Record of the Lodoss war). This is the first real 3 dimensional villain I have seen. It isn’t exactly a movie but oh well. Ashram has believable motivation (rather than to simply be evil) and is very easily related to once you learn his motivation. It makes sense and all villains should be as fleshed out as he is. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/23 "2003-06-05T18:29:25Z")
1. **Keyser Soze** , because he’s evil itself and just so smooth. 2. **Darth Vader** , for being a powerful giant who breathes while he talks. For years, the sound of Vader breathing meant “bad guy”. 3. **Michael Myers** , the original unstoppable killing machine. Created slasher horror. 4. **Dracula**. I doubt any character has been more widely used as a vehicle for villainy. 5. **Dawg Brown** , from the biggest money-loser of all time, **Cutthroat Island**. Frank Langella plays Dawg perfectly, as a crazed pirate captain who’ll slit your throat as soon as look at ya. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/24 "2003-06-05T18:39:45Z")
1. **Hannibal Lecter** 2. **Darth Vader**. 3. **Jack Wilson** (Jack Palance) in **Shane**. He’s not just evil. He’s Eeeeeviiilllll. 4. **Michael Myers**. 5. **Bruce Dern** ’s character in **The Cowboys**. (Good call, **plnnr**.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/25 "2003-06-05T18:44:32Z")
Oh, now, he’s only done _three_ Austen Powers movies! [Yes, I know.] ---
**Author:** ![Elethiomel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Elethiomel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elethiomel)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/26 "2003-06-05T19:41:01Z")
1. **Keyser Soze.** It helps that I’m a fan of the actor. 2. **Hannibal Lecter.** Also already mentioned. Masterful. 3. **Zorg** from _The Fifth Element_. I can’t believe no one has mentioned Zorg. He’s evil and avaricious. He blows up anyone working under him that he finds stupid. He knows and admits he’s a monster. He’s got the wickedest haircut ever. Okay, “Mr. Shadow” was the ‘big bad’, but Zorg was _human_. You could try to relate to the guy. 4. Bela Lugosi’s **Dracula.** “I never drink … wine.” “To die… To be really dead… That must be glorious.” “There are far worse things … awaiting man, than death.” “The children of th night … what music they make!” I mean, honestly, how can this character _not_ be in the top five, not to mention in the top fifty? 5. **The Alien** from _Alien_. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/27 "2003-06-05T19:45:16Z")
A couple already covered… **Tony Montana** - Scarface **Nurse Ratchet** - One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest _and_ **Reverend Harry Powell** - The Night of the Hunter. A chilling charismatic predator. The tattoo speach is one of the all time great movie scenes. **Harry Lime** - The Third Man A man totally without a conscience. **Mr. Blonde** - Resevoir Dogs “I don’t give a good fuck what you know or don’t know, I’m going to torture you anyway.” ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/28 "2003-06-05T20:44:36Z")
No mention of **Plankton** “F is for fire that burns down the whole town. U is for uranium, BOMBS! N is for no survivors…” - How many of you have played musical instruments before? Do instruments of torture count? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/29 "2003-06-05T23:08:14Z")
1. HAL, _2001 : A Space Odyssey_ 2. Nurse Ratched, _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_ - (Please, try to spell her name right, I’m afraid we might upset her.) 3. Harry Lime, _The Third Man_ - the friend you wish you never knew. 4. Franz Becker (Peter Lorre’s character), _M_ 5. Darth Vader, _Star Wars_ - Did he scare you as much as he scared me? Hon. mentions : Lady Kaede (_Ran_), Evil (_Time Bandits_), Jaws (metalmouthed man of James Bond), Jaws (the shark). ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/30 "2003-06-05T23:09:13Z")
Why did the only two people I wanted to mention get taken already…curse my tardiness. Anyway, futile second votes go to **Bricktop** from Snatch and **Mr. Blonde** from Reservoir Dogs. And I’ll thorw in some votes for **Zed and Maynard** from Pulp Fiction, they’re pretty evil. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/31 "2003-06-06T00:02:04Z")
**The Sheriff of Nottingham** , Alan Rickman, from _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_. I am a big Robin Hood fan, but the sheriff is the only reason to watch this movie. I had to pick him over Hans Gruber, because I think he’s just more psycho in this role. **The Terminator**. “It can’t be bargained with! It can’t be reasoned with! It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!” **Magneto** from X2. Well, probably from X-Men as well, but moreso from X2. After all he came thisclose to wiping out humanity. **Belloq** from _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. He’s suave and charming enough to make people forget that he has a black heart. **The Bug** from _Men in Black_. “Imagine a giant cockroach, with unlimited strength, a massive inferiority complex, and a real short temper, is tear-assing around Manhattan in a brand-new Edgar suit. That sound like fun to you?” Normal cockroaches are evil enough already, who needs one that’s about 8 feet tall. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/32 "2003-06-06T01:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > \*\*Belloq from _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. He’s suave and charming enough to make people forget that he has a black heart. \*\* And even worse, he’s _French_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/33 "2003-06-06T02:31:31Z")
1. **Hannibal Lecter** - Just terrifying the first time I saw the film. Trumps Vader and others because I prefer my villains human. Pure evil. 2. **Jake Heke** - From the New Zealand film Once Were Warriors. Truly the scariest man on the planet. Played by Temuera Morrison in one of the best performances I have seen in a long time. Wins the award for the film character I would least want to offend. 3. **Bruno Anthony** - From Strangers on a Train. Just plain creepy. Check on the tennis scene where he remains still as the spectators heads move back and forth watching the action. Hitchcock’s greatest villian, Psycho be damned. 4. **Harry Powell** - Night of the Hunter. A classic film with Mitchum’s stunning performance. 5. **Nurse Ratched** - Louise Fletcher deserved a better career than she had. She outshone the rest of a great cast in Cuckoo’s Nest. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/34 "2003-06-06T03:41:00Z")
1. **Darth Vader** from _Star Wars_ and _Empire Strikes Back_ - for the reasons stated above. 2. **Bernie Birnbaum** from _Miller’s Crossing_ - The Dane was menacing, but in the end it turns out he was right all along. Johnny Caspar was psycho, but basically had a ethical code, however twisted. But the Schmatta Kid is a smarmy, unctious, two-timing, back-stabbing, snivelling little bastard with absolutely no redeeming values. Brilliant performance by John Tuturro. 3. **Count Orlok** from _Nosferatu_ (the original) - the movie itself is comical nowadays, but that image of the vampire is horrifying on its own. I’ll never forget it. 4. **Bill Lumbergh** from _Office Space_ - great smarmy performance from Gary Cole, and the sex scene is one of the funniest scenes of any movie. One of the best villains because he’s one of those completely frustrating, noxious people we’re all more likely to have to deal with than vampires and Imperial overloads. 5. **Wicked Witch of the West** from _The Wizard of Oz_ - as others have explained. Flying monkeys can’t be beat. I _didn’t_ pick Hannibal Lecter, even though _Silence of the Lambs_ is one of my favorite movies ever, because Jame Gumb is the real villain in that story. Lecter is just “supporting villain.” ---
**Author:** ![Phelan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Phelan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phelan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/35 "2003-06-06T07:24:49Z")
1. **Mr. Potter** from \* It’s a Wonderful Life\* - He’s just a “warped, frustrated, old man”. 2. The villain from the movie _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ - I can remember being freaked out by this villain, and intimidated especially in the parade scene. 3. **Hans Gruber** from \* Die Hard\* - “Now I have a machine gun. HO HO HO!!” 4. **The Terminator** from \* Terminator\* - That scene where he jumps on the hood of the car, and punches through the windsheild, especially sticks out for me. 5. The Admiral from \* Star Wars\* - He controlled Darth Vader!!! ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/36 "2003-06-06T13:31:51Z")
No votes yet for Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate? That was one cold, cold bitch. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/37 "2003-06-06T14:03:45Z")
**Hannibal Lecter** , from Silence of The Lambs, as well as The Red Dragon, was the first to come to mind when I read the title of the thread. **Hans Gruber** was the second. I love Alan Rickman! **Annie Wilkes** Shudder! The scariest thing about her is that psycho fan/murderers are all too plausible! Surprised no one has mentioned **Pennywise** from It. With lines like “They taste so much better when they’re scared!” to, “Down here, we aaalllll float!”, all done in the tres-creepy voice of Tim Curry, yikes! **The Six-Fingered Man** from The Princess Bride (he can share the title with Prince Humperdinck, if you’d like). To kill aman in front of his young son, slash the son, and leave. . .well, I loved the movie, and believe that he is the best _comic_ villain ever! ---
**Author:** ![Calladair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Calladair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calladair)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/38 "2003-06-06T14:15:33Z")
**Max Cady** - _Cape Fear_ (De Niro, remake) Crafty evil. Personal. Sexual. Avenging. **Jake LaMotta** - _Raging Bull_ Cruelty fueled by insecurity. Pathetic. **Nurse Ratched** - _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_ A classic evil authority figure. **Alex Forrest** - _Fatal Attraction_ Suddenly, the cute girl in the next cublicle doesn’t seem so tempting, does she? **Annie Wilkes** - _Misery_ But she was nice sometimes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/39 "2003-06-06T15:29:15Z")
OK, I’ll play. 1. **Amon Goeth** from _Schindler’s List_: I can’t believe no one has mentioned him yet. Knocks all other screen villains into touch, simply 'cause _he really was that bad_. 2. **The Wicked Witch of the West** from _The Wizard of Oz_: she’ll get you, my prettys, and your little dogs too. 3. **The Toecutter** from _Mad Max_: would just as soon kill you as look at you; in fact, would much rather kill you than look at you. 4. **Begby** from _Trainspotting_: poster boy for Drunken Racist Louts, Ltd. 5. **Godzilla** : Ohhh, Ohhh, there goes Tokyo… ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804/40 "2003-06-06T16:29:07Z")
While none of these equal Hannibal, Darth, et al, I didn’t just want to repeat them again: 1. Karen (Nadine) and Manu from _Baise Moi_ 2. Derek (Edward Norton) in _American History X_ 3. Alex, _A Clockwork Orange_ 4. Mr. Blonde, _Reservoir Dogs_ 5. Ian McKellen, _Apt Pupil_ Honourable Mention: Sam Rockwell in _The Green Mile_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-top-50-movie-villains-list/179804.md?page=3)