The Search for the Greatest Villain of All Time
The villain, the antagonist, the bad guy, whatever you want to call them, is easily the most important part of any good vs. evil story. There can be a villain without a hero, but there can’t be a hero without a villain. After all, the events and substance of the story are driven by the actions of the villain, and the more intriguing they are, the better. That’s why they can’t just be an average criminal with a bad attitude; there’s an art to creating good villain. The darkness of their backstory, the complexity of their morals, the legitimacy of their motivation, the forcefulness of their will & power. Villains like Thanos excel in these categories: morally complex to the point of killing his own daughter for the sake of achieving his goal, his backstory and motivation tied together with the collapse of his home world, and power so great that, even without the infinity stones, the Avengers could not stop him. Truly a great character.
HOWEVER, I firmly believe that when judging the greatness of a villain, it’s the villainy that matters most—not just whether they’re a well-written character. Being complex or compelling is important, sure, but it should never outweigh their effectiveness as an actual villain. Their skill in the “villainous arts” is what truly sets them apart. I’m talking about the scope of their evil deeds, the weight of their reputation, and the psychological layers behind their actions. What drives them? Are their actions truly evil—or just perceived that way? And perhaps most importantly, do they know they’re doing evil? Just because a character is the antagonist in a beloved story doesn’t automatically make them a great villain.
And that is the criteria for my search. No anti-heroes justifying their actions as necessary evils. No self-righteous zealots blinded by divine delusion. And definitely no unhinged geniuses who suddenly see the light after a heartfelt pep talk from the hero. This is an exclusive selection reserved for true villains—those who knowingly, deliberately commit evil for selfish reasons, and who remain unapologetically devoted to their dark path from beginning to end.
View all Greatest Villain picks.
To kick things off, here are some famous villains that will actually NOT be making the cut:
Thanos (MCU version)
As much praise as I gave him earlier, I also said he’s a great character, not necessarily a great villain. But, as noted, I’m only referring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, not his far more brutal comic book counterpart. The issue with MCU Thanos lies in the nature of his evil. While his methods are extreme, his intentions are arguably noble—solving resource scarcity on a galactic scale. We don’t just understand his motives; we empathize with them to the point where some might even agree with his logic.
Like many of history’s real-world tyrants, Thanos genuinely believes his horrific actions are justified by a greater good. That kind of moral conviction makes for a fascinating character, but it also softens the edge of true villainy. He’s not evil for evil’s sake—he’s evil in service of what he sees as righteousness. And for this list, that’s just not enough.
Darth Vader
Easily one of the most overrated and unproven villains in pop culture history. I genuinely don’t understand how he consistently ends up at the top of “greatest villains of all time” lists. Not only does he redeem himself in the end, but he hardly does anything truly evil throughout the original trilogy. His reputation is built almost entirely on his intimidating presence and iconic aesthetic—he feels like a threat, but rarely acts like one. Yes, people fear him because of his power, but that power is barely exercised. Across three films, his most notable act of villainy is killing Obi-Wan Kenobi—and even that moment is undercut by the fact that Obi-Wan essentially lets it happen. Vader isn’t the mastermind; he’s the muscle. Everyone knows he’s just a pawn of Emperor Palpatine, including Vader himself.
And honestly, it always seems like he wants to be the hero. In The Empire Strikes Back, he tries to recruit Luke to overthrow the Emperor—an offer that sounds more like a desperate plea for connection than a conquest for power. Then, in Return of the Jedi, Palpatine literally invites Luke to kill Vader and take his place right in front of Vader. It’s only when he sees his son suffering that Vader finally acts, killing the Emperor and, in doing so, fulfilling his long-harbored desire for redemption.
So let’s recap: he does minimal evil, kills the real villain, turns good at the end—and yet, he’s hailed as one of the greatest villains ever? Make it make sense.
…But hey, at least we’ll always have that Rogue One hallway scene.
Magneto
This one was a genuinely tough call. Magneto is, without question, one of the most compelling villains in all of fiction. Few antagonists strike such a perfect balance between being feared and deeply sympathized with. But ultimately, what holds him back in my selection is his motivation—he’s simply not selfish enough. In fact, it can legitimately be hard to see Magneto as a villain at times. A survivor of Auschwitz, Magneto carries the trauma of witnessing humanity’s cruelty toward those deemed “different.” That early suffering shaped his worldview: he believes mutants will suffer a similar fate unless they fight back—aggressively, if necessary. In his eyes, he’s not waging war; he’s defending his people from extinction.
On that note, X-Men started out as an allegory for the Civil Rights Movement. Professor X represents Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of peaceful coexistence, while Magneto mirrors Malcolm X’s stance of achieving justice by any means necessary. Both want the same thing—acceptance and safety for mutants—but take very different paths to get there.
That said, Magneto has absolutely crossed the line into outright villainy more than once. He’s not above extreme violence to make his point. He once killed a doctor by threading a paperclip through her body using magnetic force. When provoked by the Soviet Union, he sank a nuclear submarine and triggered a volcanic eruption beneath a city. He’s unleashed a planet-wide EMP, throwing the world into darkness, and famously ripped the Adamantium straight from Wolverine’s skeleton. So while it’s often easy to understand where Magneto is coming from—and even root for him—it’s also impossible to ignore the brutal lengths he’s willing to go to. A complex and iconic character, yes. But on this list, he falls just short.
