They say it’s good to be bad — but which TV villains are the very best at being bad?
Below, TVLine has compiled an updated list of small-screen foes who made an indelible impression with their evil plots and wicked ways. These memorable enemies, from shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arrow, Once Upon a Time and Supernatural, range from crafty opponents to downright despicable human beings. And lest you think only genre shows breed troublemakers, we’ve also included some classic villainesses from Dynasty, Falcon Crest and Melrose Place.
Plus, we’ve selected a handful of characters who are currently delivering dastardly performances on The Boys, Evil and The Walking Dead universe. Our refreshed rankings also feature baddies from Doctor Who, Succession, Smallville, Sons of Anarchy and more shows!
Note: We limited our picks to just one villain per series/franchise, which certainly wasn’t an easy task when it came to the plentiful options in the Vampire Diaries and Arrow universes or on Game of Thrones. That said, one actor is so good at being bad that he appears on our ranking twice, for two very different roles!
So who’s the best of the worst? Review our list, then hit the comments with any evildoers who missed the cut!
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Shame Wizard, Big Mouth
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix There’s plenty of sexual deviance on Big Mouth, and luckily for Nick and Andrew, the Shame Wizard was around to keep them in line! (We’re kidding.) But we did get many laughs from watching him spread embarrassment and cause manic spirals throughout. Whenever we saw the kids squirming, we were always tickled by the Wizard’s ghoulish havoc-wreaking. This is one evildoer we can get behind.
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Blaine DeBeers, iZombie
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW Former drug peddler Blaine DeBeers is best known as the guy who turned heroine Liv into a zombie. He ran an underground and very illegal brain delivery service, which sourced its inventory by killing street kids, fueling the fear between zombies and the general public. His love for money was only topped by his love for creating chaos. After being cured, he faked amnesia to stay close to Peyton, proving one doesn’t have to be a zombie to be a slimeball!
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Rumplestiltskin, Once Upon a Time
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Regina may have been the queen of mean, but the Dark One was a sinister, slithery piece of work. Plus, where Regina was for so long laser-focused on making Savior Emma’s life hell, Rumple had his scaly green fingers in multiple pies, battling Miss Swan as well as Hook, Peter Pan, Zelena, Mother Goethel and others.
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Wo Fat, Hawaii Five-0
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS If something smelled rotten in the Aloha State, chances are that Wo Fat was involved. Off and on during the CBS reboot’s first four-and-a-half seasons, the criminal mastermind (played by Mark Dacascos) would dog top cop Steve McGarrett, going from framing him for the assassination of the Hawaii governor to, with his dying breath, revealing that Steve’s mother Doris veritably adopted him as a youth. Oh, brother!
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Boyd Crowder, Justified
Image Credit: Courtesy of FX Sure, he’s a lifelong criminal with some problematic views and a nasty violent streak. But Boyd Crowder was a charmer as well, thanks to Walton Goggins’ charismatic performance, and he proved to be a very worthy adversary (“friend-versary,” even?) to Timothy Olphant’s deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Boyd may have been a thief and a liar, but just like Raylan, we can’t quite bring ourselves to hate him.
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Madam Satan, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Evil, glamorous and campy as hell, Sabrina Spellman’s nemesis-turned-mentor is among the Netflix series’ most spellbinding personalities, whether she’s taking the form of mousy teacher Ms. Wardwell or wicked seductress Madam Satan. As for her being two-faced, we think this photo speaks for itself.
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Angela Channing, Falcon Crest
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lorimar Television Join us, won’t you, in raising a glass of sour grapes to Jane Wyman’s queen of mean, whose age and Little Orphan Annie hairdo gave the entirely false first impression that she was a sweet old lady. So frosty was the First Lady of Tuscany Valley, she could kill a nemesis’ crop just by fixing it with her withering gaze.
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Abby Cunningham, Knots Landing
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lorimar Television The Dallas spinoff’s answer to J.R. Ewing had hair as big as her ambitions, dramatic bedroom eyes and absolutely no s–ts to give. Time and time again, Donna Mills’ sardonic supervixen proved that she thought of other women as mere hot plates: something to keep their husbands warm until she had a craving for one of ’em.
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Fiona Goode, American Horror Story: Coven
Image Credit: Courtesy of FX When it comes to Jessica Lange’s femmes fatales on the FX anthology series, the wicked witch that she played in Season 3 reigns Supreme. The lethal beauty was living proof that vanity kills. Yet, despite her misdeeds, she stood on the right side of history, tasking former slave owner Delphine with serving a Black enchantress as she remarked, “There’s nothing I hate more than a racist.” You go, bad girl!
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Number Six, Battlestar Galactica
Image Credit: Courtesy of Syfy When a character snaps an innocent infant’s neck as if it were a dandelion stem, you know that character is someone to fear. But Tricia Helfer’s character at the start of the sci-fi reboot was more than that: infinitely interesting, slinkily intimidating and coldly capable of taking out an entire civilization without mussing a hair on her Cylon head.
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Arthur Mitchell/Trinity Killer, Dexter
Image Credit: Courtesy of Showtime In a lesser actor’s hands, Dexter‘s most famous serial killer could’ve come across as a silly cartoon. But John Lithgow’s ability to infuse Arthur with flashes of humanity made the character all the more terrifying. And for a man in his 60s, Arthur possessed the kind of super-human strength that could make anyone’s hair stand on end.
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Sarah O’Brien, Downton Abbey
Image Credit: Courtesy of PBS Had Siobhan Finneran’s miserable maid merely been a mean-spirited gossip, we could’ve written it off as a side effect of her station in life. But Thomas’ fearsome frenemy was anything but all talk: She not only tried to get dear Carson arrested, she tried to do the same to Thomas! And don’t even get us started on the soap incident that caused Cora to miscarry.
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Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, Prison Break
Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Television A white supremacist, rapist and pedophile? T-Bag was so vile he made our skin crawl. But he was fascinating, too, as he used his cunning to blackmail Michael and shoehorn himself into their big break. We’ve got to hand it to actor Robert Knepper, whose certain je ne sais quoi kept us glued to our screens as we watched this sickening madman’s reign of terror unfold.
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Joe Carroll, The Following
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox Was it any wonder that Joe had no problem rallying minions to his serial-killing cause? The Edgar Allan Poe-obsessed literature professor was so damn charming that his followers voluntarily gouged out their own eyeballs — and did far worse to others — at his say-so. And the mind games he played with FBI agent Ryan Hardy for years? Just bloody icing on the icky cake.
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The Carver, Nip/Tuck
Image Credit: Courtesy of FX Here’s the thing, we don’t totally disagree with The Carver’s mantra — beauty is kind of a curse on the world! — but we also don’t approve of how the serial stabber went about teaching that lesson to their victims. Say it with us: We. Do. Not. Cut. Up. People’s. Faces.
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Pelant, Bones
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox The computer hacker/serial killer tormented Brennan, Booth & Co. for seasons with his almost omniscient-like technological skills, draining Hodgins’ bank account and leaving behind haunting clues for Bones. Somehow, Pelant always seemed to be one step ahead of the Jeffersonian team, making him a worthy foe for the intellectual squints.
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Alice Morgan, Luther
Image Credit: Courtesy of BBC London detective John Luther more than met his match in this evil genius, played by an icy Ruth Wilson. Alice was a coldblooded killer, and a good one, using her considerable smarts and ruthless cunning to avoid getting caught. She and Luther engaged in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that stretched over several seasons as Alice worked her way into Luther’s psyche, Hannibal Lecter-style. Luther took on other cases, but none were as bloody thrilling as Alice Morgan.
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Rachel Duncan, Orphan Black
Image Credit: Courtesy of BBC America Calculating, manipulative, and oh-so cold-hearted, Rachel was raised to be a cutthroat clone who made savage decisions that benefitted an evil corporation’s agenda rather than her own sestras. She only feigned empathy when it seemed to benefit her, making her motives and allegiances permanently gray areas. The power-hungry clone even kidnapped sweet little Kira! Though she eventually turned around to help Sarah and the others, we never, ever fully trusted her.
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Sylar, Heroes
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC Zachary Quinto’s Big Bad wasn’t just a soulless serial killer. He was a soulless serial killer who could manifest anyone’s super powers and use them for evil. Scary combination!
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The Weeping Angels, Doctor Who
Image Credit: Max screenshots With all due respect to the Master/Missy, these are the Who devils that really make our skin crawl. The quantum-locked Angels are creepy but impassive stone statues…when you’re looking. When you’re not, they attack with terrifying speed, flinging victims back in time, where they essentially live to death. Give these lonely assassins fifty points for originality and Gothic horror vibes, plus a million for nightmare fuel. Don’t. Blink.
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Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal
Image Credit: Courtesy of NBC On one hand, he’s an esteemed psychiatrist with a refined palate, interesting fashion sense and a seductive manner of speaking. On the other hand, he kills people and eats them. So while we certainly have a healthy fear of Hannibal’s dark side, we do admit we developed a taste for him over three seasons. (From a safe distance, of course.)
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Patti Levin, The Leftovers
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO Honestly, any member of the HBO drama’s chain-smoking Guilty Remnant could’ve earned a spot on this list, so appallingly indifferent was the cult to humanity. But Ann Dowd’s unfeeling leader of Mapleton’s chapter was particularly vile and terrifying, what with a commitment that ran so deep, she slit her own throat just to ensure that tormented Kevin couldn’t get in the last word.
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Yvonne “Vee” Parker, Orange Is the New Black
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Who among us didn’t cheer when Miss Rosa purposely struck and killed Vee with the prison van? (“Always so rude, that one!”) Lorraine Toussaint’s sociopathic alter ego wasn’t necessarily the most vicious villain in OITNB‘s storied run, but she was easily the most ruthless (and most frightening) antagonist due to her uncanny ability to manipulate and deceive those she took under her wing, including Suzanne, Poussey and Taystee.
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Evelyn Poole, Penny Dreadful
Image Credit: Courtesy of Showtime Like a cat toying with a mouse before going for the kill, Helen McCrory’s seductive rhymes-with-bitch delighted in messing with our protagonists — literally, in the case of besotted patsy Sir Malcolm. (Ahem.) But, despite her considerable powers and warped creativity, the leader of the Nightcomers never could quite get under her thumb daughter Hecate, who set up Mommie Dearest to be werewolf Ethan’s scratching post.
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Sue Sylvester, Glee
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox Before revealing herself to be a total softie in the musical comedy’s final season, Sue was a living nightmare for the students at McKinley High, stopping at nothing to destroy the lives of anyone associated with its precious glee club. Should we really be surprised that she eventually became a conservative news correspondent before getting elected Vice President of the United States?
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Lucretia, Spartacus
Image Credit: Courtesy of Starz When Lucy Lawless’ Roman spitfire wasn’t acting as an accessory to her wretched husband Batiatus’ many war crimes, she was perpetrating diabolical acts of evil herself. In fact, she has more murderous notches on her belt than any other female character in the series.
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“A,” Pretty Little Liars
Image Credit: Courtesy of Freeform Rosewood’s textual terrorist was so frightening, it took but a single letter to send a chill down the spine of any liar, pretty or otherwise. And while a number of beautiful sociopaths assumed the dreaded moniker over the course of the show’s seven-season run, “A” was very much an entity unto itself — and it was a bitch.
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Logan Roy, Succession
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO The billionaire corporate titan played by Brian Cox loomed over every frame of HBO’s Emmy-winning drama, ruling his sprawling media empire with an iron fist. He belittled his children, scoffed at any genuine display of human emotion and dismissed all those who challenged him with a gruff “F—k off.” He was so formidable, we didn’t even believe it at first when he suddenly passed away midway through the final season. If anyone could cheat death, it’s Logan Roy.
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Arvin Sloane, Alias
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Avuncular on the outside and a Rambaldi zealot on the inside, Sydney’s SD-6 boss spent half his time trying to kill her (and a not-inconsiderable amount of time gunning for people she loved… R.I.P, Danny). His fervor for chasing down Rambaldi’s secret to immortality made him merciless, but karma got him in the end: After achieving eternal life, he was trapped in a cavern, doomed to spend the rest of time alone and underground.
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Dr. Kimberly Shaw, Melrose Place
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox A master of seduction, infidelity, kidnapping and, of course, returning from the “dead,” this killer queen wouldn’t just blow up your life, she’d blow up your entire apartment complex — and she’d do it with a smile on her face.
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Lucifer, Supernatural
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW When first introduced, the fallen archangel was far from what the Winchesters and viewers were expecting. The baddie was almost soft-spoken and contemplative — but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have an agenda that he wouldn’t stop at anything to achieve. And even after Sam sacrificed himself to trap Lucifer, Lucy still found his way back to Earth, eventually even spawning a Nephilim son (who, thankfully, turned out to not be like his bio dad).
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Clay Morrow, Sons of Anarchy
Image Credit: Courtesy of FX Of all the characters you didn’t want to cross on FX’s biker drama, you really didn’t want to cross Clay. Ron Perlman brought an unnerving intensity to SAMCRO’s onetime president, who shifted the energy of a room just by walking into it. During Sons of Anarchy‘s early seasons, Clay had a formidable amount of influence over the club and its allies — but what made him truly terrifying was his casual penchant for violence, from which no one was safe until Clay’s demise in Season 6.
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Negan, The Walking Dead
Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC The Saviors’ former leader may have been rebranded as a lovable antihero before being spun off onto Dead City, but we’re as likely to forget his past villainy as his “wives.” How could we when we still have nightmares about the time Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Chatty Cathy forced Carl to sing? (Shudder.) What? Did you think we were gonna say the time he “struck out” Abraham and Glenn? Did you hear Carl sing?
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Samaritan, Person of Interest
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS Whereas the super-A.I. known as The Machine was out to do good (by dispensing Social Security numbers that could help stop forecast crime), its “evil twin,” Samaritan, was out for Greer and the other Decima goons — while going to any lengths necessary in the name of self-preservation. Samaritan saw everything and knew everything, making for a nearly inescapable adversary.
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Mr. Burns, The Simpsons
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox Easily the most hated man in Springfield, this crusty, coldblooded billionaire takes great pleasure in making others miserable, whether he’s squeezing every last penny out of the less fortunate or releasing his hounds to maul any trespassers. He even tried to blot out the sun at one point! It’s no wonder that, when he was shot back in Season 6, nearly everyone in town was a suspect.
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Dr. Leland Townsend, Evil
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS We decided early on that Leland was a wicked, manipulative and dangerous psychological mastermind — and that was before he maneuvered himself into the role of father to Kristin’s lost embryo, now gestating in his oblivious pawn. Though he provides plenty of comic relief, don’t be deceived: Leland is a monster, and we’re absolutely terrified to find out what else he’s capable of.
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Cigarette Smoking Man, The X-Files
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox We’ll be the first to admit that Cigarette Smoking Man, aka Cancer Man, aka C.G.B. Spender, lost a little of his creepiness as the seasons went on. (A jacked-up, retconned backstory will do that to a bad guy.) But think back to when he was the silent, shadowy figure lighting up in the corner of Blevins’ office in the pilot, and we defy you not to shiver.
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Dan Scott, One Tree Hill
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television The deeply flawed husband and father seemed to have no limit when it came to despicable behavior: He physically and psychologically abused his sons, tormented his ex-wife Deb so much that she turned to booze and pills, and, worst of all, killed his own brother. So when a dog ate his donor heart, it felt like karmic payback.
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Kilgrave, Marvel’s Jessica Jones
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix How can you possibly defeat someone who has the power to control others’ minds? In the first season of Netflix’s comic book drama, even Jessica Jones — who doesn’t fear much of anything — was tormented by the very thought of Kilgrave, who once kept Jessica under his thumb for months and convinced her to do awful things. Kilgrave’s ability to turn even innocuous actions into torturous punishments, like ordering a man to turn and face a fence forever, made him an especially chilling baddie, and David Tennant’s deliciously twisted take on the role kept us fixated on our screens — no persuasion needed.
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Phillip Stroh, The Closer/Major Crimes
Image Credit: Courtesy of TNT The super-slithery serial rapist/sometime killer, played so well (meaning detestably) by Billy Burke, taunted not only The Closer‘s Brenda Leigh, but also her teenage would-be ward Rusty, in the procedural’s Major Crimes offshoot. Any time Stroh showed up, you got a chill sensing that something was about to go very, very wrong.
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Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, Arrow
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW Take Slade Wilson — a badass with a legitimate beef — and jack him up on Mirakuru, and you get the most formidable, and personal, of foes for Oliver Queen. The way that one-eyed Slade slid back into Oliver’s life still gives us chills, while his brutal kills (not Moira!) made us double over, as Oliver did, in anguish.
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Commander Waterford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hulu As if it weren’t bad enough that Fred Waterford participated in state-sanctioned, ritual rape every month — and it was so, so bad — Gilead’s merry misogynist had the audacity to play humiliating mind games with his handmaid and chop off his own wife’s finger when she dared step out of line. At least he eventually got what was coming to him, courtesy of his victim, June, and a bloodthirsty band of former handmaids who’d had enough.
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Nina Myers, 24
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox Nina Myers was 24‘s most twisted bad guy. Originally second in command at CTU: L.A., she had everyone fooled with her deep cover and lies… us included! The mole sold classified government information right under everyone’s noses, and attempted to buy and sell a deadly virus after already receiving a presidential pardon. Plus, she killed Teri Bauer! Jack Bauer fought heaps of terrorists over the course of his career, but this one was painstakingly personal.
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The Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount Domestic Television The best Star Trek baddies since the original Klingons, this collective of alien cyborgs were a terrifying vision of A.I. run amok, with a relentless drive to ‘assimilate” any and all beings they encountered. Their hyper intelligence and lack of human emotion made them formidable enemies, and if you dared to stand in their way? Even Jean-Luc Picard learned that “resistance is futile.”
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Villanelle, Killing Eve
Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC Few villains in TV history were as flat-out fun to watch as the stylish assassin played to perfection by Jodie Comer. We shouldn’t have liked Villanelle: She was a bloodthirsty psychopath who delighted in making people suffer. And yet we did, because she turned killing into an art form, bringing a playful flair to her grim calling. She was always the bad guy… but she was just so damn good at it.
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Lex Luthor, Smallville
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television/Everett Collection There’s been many portrayals of Lex Luthor over the decades, but watching his Smallville journey from Clark Kent’s friend to Superman’s nemesis, with all its complicated relationships and shady moves, made for an especially gripping villain story. And because he started out as Clark’s pal, that made all the terrible things that Lex would go on to do all the more awful and painful.
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Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan, Dynasty
Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Television Joan Collins’ scheming, acid-tongued antagonist was as groundbreaking as she was popular; the character’s dramatic arrival in the Season 2 premiere gave the initially ratings-challenged ABC soap a much-needed shot in the arm, propelling it to the top of the Nielsens and paving the way for generations of primetime female evildoers to come.
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Ramsay Bolton, Game of Thrones
Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO Picking just one villain from HBO’s fantasy drama was a daunting task on its own. But for us, Ramsay tops ’em all — even the snot-nosed Joffrey and menacing Night King — because he reached levels of diabolical we didn’t even know existed. Even worse? He absolutely relished each one. To be clear, we don’t approve of the way Ramsay endlessly tortured Theon, or his utterly despicable treatment of Sansa. But of Thrones‘ many adversaries, Ramsay will forever stick out as the most sadistic and dread-inducing; not even a literal army of the undead could scare us as much.
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Klaus Mikaelson, The Vampire Diaries
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW The first of his kind, this vampire-werewolf hybrid’s unspeakable reputation preceded him, making Klaus an imposing presence long before finally appearing at the end of the show’s sophomore season. And even though he received a thorough redemption arc — along with a five-season spinoff to further explore his demons — he’ll always be remembered as one of the most fearsome beasts to walk the streets of New Orleans. (We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention Kai Parker — we immediately loved to hate Chris Wood’s snarky psychopath — be we’re keeping this list to one baddie per show/franchise.)
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Homelander, The Boys
Image Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video The Seven’s twisted leader fights super villains, and yet, he’s as far from the definition of “hero” as you can get. Devoid of empathy and capable of squishing a skull in seconds, Homelander is an unpredictable, narcissistic sociopath with serious mommy issues, making him one of the most dangerous (and complex) supes on the series.
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Ben Linus, Lost
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Sure, the Smoke Monster had moves (and made that discomfiting rattling-chain noise), but Ben as a mortal among humans was a more tangible threat to Jack, Kate et al. First introduced as meek Henry Gale, Ben was soon revealed to be the leader of the Others, setting in motion a domino chain of dastardly reveals. In the end, he was good, but when he was bad, he was awful.
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Diana, V
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Television As diabolical as she was gorgeous, the most vicious of Earth’s Visitors would stop at nothing to hasten her rise to power. (And it showed — she eventually became Supreme Commander.) But the scene that will always stay with us — and no, therapy hasn’t helped — is the one in which we caught our first glimpse of the secret lizard lady unhinging her jaw and swallowing a guinea pig whole.
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Veronica Harrington, The Haves and the Have Nots
Image Credit: Courtesy of OWN If David’s psychotic ex-wife ever challenged you to call her a simple bitch, you obviously didn’t do it. Not because Angela Robinson’s character was really all that complicated, but because you’re still breathing to read this. Veronica was as crazy as they come: a homophobic thirst trap who shot first, asked questions never, and once drove her long-suffering gay son to stab her in the breast implant. In. The. Breast. Implant.
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Batman‘s Core Four
Image Credit: Everett Collection (2) Sure, the likes of Mr. Freeze, Ma Parker and Egghead had their campy, Caped Crusader-vexing charms, but the recurring threats posed by Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Riddler (Frank Gorshin is our pick), Joker (Cesar Romero with that painted ‘stache) and Catwoman (let’s go with Eartha Kitt) is what kept us tuned into that same Bat Channel every Bat Time.
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Moriarty, Sherlock
Image Credit: Courtesy of PBS Long before he romanced Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag‘s “Hot Priest,” Andrew Scott terrorized Benedict Cumberbatch as the Big Bad Moriarty. The legendary villain was a psychopath, yes, but he was a brilliant, clever, eccentric, unpredictable lunatic. And there was nothing he wouldn’t do to destroy his longtime nemesis, including shooting himself in the head in order to compel Holmes to take his own life.
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Bob, Twin Peaks
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lynch/Frost Productions The demonic “possessing spirit” spent most of his time inhabiting other bodies, but it was in his true form — that of a long-haired vagrant played to creepy perfection by the late Frank Silva — that he was the most terrifying. He was a literal nightmare come to life.
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Gus Fring, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul
Image Credit: Courtesy of AMC Walter White may have been the one to break bad… but no one was badder than Gus Fring. Played with chilling precision by Giancarlo Esposito, Gus was an unassuming drug lord, so mild-mannered that he could double as the manager of a fast food chicken joint and no one would look at him twice. But underneath that calm demeanor was a stone-cold killer who used his keen intellect to rule the local meth trade and crush his enemies with ruthless efficiency. We’re glad Better Call Saul brought him back: Even though we already knew his fate, we still wanted more Gus.
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J.R. Ewing, Dallas
Image Credit: Courtesy of Lorimar Television The fact that the late, great Larry Hagman appeared to take such delight in playing Dallas‘ iconic scoundrel put J.R. in a class by himself, making the character alternately charming and despicable. Hagman also never let the audience lose sight of the fact that J.R.’s treachery was driven by his love of family, however misguided that love often was.
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‘Black’ Jack Randall, Outlander
Image Credit: Courtesy of Starz The Redcoat captain may have looked exactly like Claire’s gentle husband, but that’s where the similarities ended. The 18th-century sadist received way too much pleasure from endangering the lives of Jamie Fraser and his British bride — and that’s way before the abominable assault that happened at Wentworth Prison near the end of Season 1.
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Angelus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Television When Buffy’s boyfriend experienced a moment of true happiness and lost his soul, he went truly evil, snarking about his and Buffy’s night of passion and, worse yet, tormenting her loved ones with almost sadistic zeal. After Angelus eagerly snapped Jenny Calendar’s neck in a tragic twist we’re still not over, it became abundantly clear the show had done the unthinkable: turned its romantic lead into its most formidable enemy.