They say a story is only ever as good as its villain, so this week we’ve decided to celebrate those whose moral compass doesn’t align with our own.
That’s right, we’re talking about TV bad guys.
TV fanatics will already know that television has had its fair share of fabulous fiends and marvellous monsters.
We’re thinking of characters like The Governor from The Walking Dead, Ralph Cifaretto from The Sopranos, or Bob from Twin Peaks -all of whom you’d cross the road to avoid.
Metro readers have their say
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But we wanted to know who you think is the worst of the worst, so we asked Metro readers to share their favourite TV villains, and they didn’t disappoint.
You chose some of the best (or should that be worst?) small screen scoundrels of all time.
The Master – Doctor Who
Roy Arnold kicked things off by choosing The Master from Doctor Who as his favourite villain, specifically the Robert DelGado incarnation, who battled the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) in the 1970s.
First introduced in ‘Terror of the Autons,’ Delgado’s Master was as suave as he was psychopathic, and he quickly became a fan favourite.
His version of The Master would go on to appear in seven more stories during Pertwee’s run, which established the tyrannical Time Lord as one of The Doctor’s most iconic and fearsome enemies.
Known for his melgomania, love of disguises, and natty little beard, the character was eventually retired after Delgado’s tragic death in 1973. Yet, The Master had left such an impression on the British public that they were reintroduced during the Fourth Doctor’s (Tom Baker) era, and they’ve been a fixture of the series ever since.
Still, while The Master may have changed their face several times since their introduction, the character retains several traits introduced by Delgado.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
Gus Fring – Breaking Bad
Meanwhile, Cy Brandow said Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) from Breaking Bad was his favourite villain.
Seemingly a mild-mannered chicken shop owner, Gus is introduced during Breaking Bad’s second season as the mastermind behind the Albuquerque drug trade.
On the surface, Gus seems like a polite, punctual, and soft-spoken man, yet he uses this mask of civility to hide his ruthlessness and cold-blooded cruelty.
To make matters worse, unlike other Breaking Bad antagonists, Gus is every bit as intelligent as Walt and manages to stay ahead of our hero (although we use that word reluctantly in Walt’s case) for the majority of the series.
Eventually, the bell tolls for Gus (if you know you know), but such was his popularity that he’d return in the Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul.
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are available to stream now on Netflix.
Mr Burns – The Simpsons
Ben Leslie chose the ‘wicked’ Mr Burns from The Simpsons, and it may seem silly to include Mr Burns on a list like this at first.
Afterall, he’s a cartoon character on a list that includes drug barons, tyrants, and cannibals.
Honestly, though, if we were listing their individual crimes, Charles Montgomery Burns’ litany of wrongdoing would shock you.
Off the top of my head, he sold bombs to the Nazis during World War 2 (and ‘his worked goddamn it’), stole a trillion dollars from the US government, dumped nuclear waste in public water, tried to block out the Sun, had his parents killed, tried to kill Bart, planned on turning puppies into a coat, and he plotted to steal candy from a baby.
Need we go on?
The Simpsons is available to stream now on Disney Plus.
Ed Gein – Monster
Nyssa Lowney, meanwhile, chose a much more contemporary villain. She nominated Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam) from the Monster season 3, admitting that watching him made her feel ‘nauseous’.
Honestly, Nyssa, I’m with you on that. Monster’s a tough watch at times, and doesn’t shy away from showing the barbaric violence that Gein was capable of.
Arguably beyond the gore, though, what makes Gein in Monster so frightening isn’t Hunnam’s performance.
It’s knowing at the back of your mind that this is based on a true story, and the debauched things you see Gein do on screen haven’t been imagined by some writer; they’re very real.
Monster season 3 is available to stream now on Netflix.
Hannibal Lecter – Hannibal
Suz LM thinks that Mads Mikkelsen’s take on the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter also deserves a mention.
Mikkelsen, of course, played the titular lead in the TV show, which serves as a sort of prequel (but not really) to the events of The Silence of the Lambs.
A cult hit, Hannibal was praised for its sinister tone and well-constructed plot, yet it was Mikkelsen’s performance that won the show its dedicated fan base.
Described by fans as an ‘impeccable’ performance, Mikkelson makes Lecter every bit as refined and reteched as Anthony Hopkins.
Hannibal can be streamed on Amazon Prime if you subscribe to the Studio Canal Presents package.
Zebediah Killgrave – Jessica Jones
The TV editor Sabrina Barr and I were very happy to see Killgrave (David Tennant) get so much love when we asked for your favourite TV villains. We’re big fans of Jessica Jones’s purple nemesis, and Alex Thomas Muth perhaps put it best.
‘Kilgrave was a genuine threat,’ he wrote. ‘Just one sniff of him and you’re his. He’s so petty, he’ll snuff you out for no reason.’
Alex is spot on about what makes Kilgrave so terrifying. Yes, he can control people with his mind, but it’s his small-mindedness and vindictive streak that make him so terrifying.
He doesn’t want to take over the world or anything so grand; he just wants to indulge his own selfish desires. It’s horrifying because, unlike other villains on this list, that callousness and self-interest are things we all see every day.
Couple all that with one of Tennant’s most underrated performances ever, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the best Marvel and TV villains of all time.
Jessica Jones is available to stream now on Disney Plus.
Cersei Lannister – Game of Thrones
Honestly, we could have put almost every Game of Thrones villain on here. The Night King, The Boltons, Joffrey, and The Mountain all got nominated, and we considered each and every one of them.
Yet ultimately, we agreed with Paul Kevin Wiffen, who branded Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) the most evil of them all.
Bitter, cunning and incredibly dangerous, Cersei began the series as a cold and ruthless but ultimately sympathetic character who evolves over the course of eight seasons into an unrepentant monster.
At her worst, Cersei is willing to betray anyone and everyone, and too blinded by her own ego to realise she’s not half as smart as she thinks she is. Basically, she’s a character you love to hate.
Game of Thrones is available to stream now on NOW.
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