Five Greatest Bad Guys Of All Time
Hello all. Mark here
Great heroes need great villains. A solid bad guy not only engages us in the journey but provides tension, dread and excitement. If you look at some of the highest grossing films of all time you will notice a trend. For example, The Avengers (Loki), Harry Potter (Voldemort), Dark Knight (Joker), Lord of the Rings (walking), Skyfall (Silva) and Toy Story 3 (that fluffy evil bear) all feature incredible baddies and made tons of money.
I’ve decided to compile a list in hopes of sparking discussion, debate and eventual realization that my bad guys are the best. Enjoy!
1. Stansfield. Gary Oldman/ The Professional
Scary, unpredictable and drugged out. Oldman’s performance set the bar for all other actors attempting to be insane drug addled bad guy cops. By the time he shoots Leon and gets blown up by grenades you are overcome with grief that this murderous turd got the better of the hero. Stansfield also delivered odd quotes that any villains would be jealous of:
“I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It’s like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin’ and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?”
2. 006 and Sean Miller/ Sean Bean Goldeneye/Patriot Games
What I like about Sean Bean as a bad guy is that he never seems outmatched. Instead of being some aloof villain he always puts up a great fight. Plus, he figured Bond out. These quotes prove it:
“I might as well ask you if all those vodka martinis ever silence the screams of all the men you’ve killed… or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women for all the dead ones you failed to protect. ”
“Back from the dead. No longer just an anonymous star on the memorial wall at MI6. What’s the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?”
The final fight scene in Goldeneye was incredible. The fast paced, evenly matched brawl took place on top of a satellite hanging over a large drainage dome. I remembered the prior Bond fights and they all paled in comparison In Patriot Games he had Harrison Ford on the run and could only be killed by being impaled on a boat then blown up via crashing into rocks. You can never count this guy out. You think he is dead in Goldeneye then he comes back and survives a massive fall and explosion. The only thing that can kill him is an exploding, million ton antenna. Badass!
3. Boba Fett/ Empire and Return
Vader, huge ships, stormtroopers could not catch Han Solo and his crew. However, Boba could. The dude rarely speaks and is always chilling next to Vader or Jabba. Fett is a mysterious villain (How long did it take him to design outfit) who gets the job done and is probably the only person who Vader would catch a beer with. I still defend his death scene because I think the only to kill him would be by total luck.
4. Magua/ Wes Studi/ Last of the Mohicans
Total, Uber, Badass (see above pic). You cannot escape this guy. The hunters from Butch Cassidy and Centurion could not have escaped Magua. The climatic scene with the soundtrack blaring while he fights and kills Uncas makes most humans burst out in tears. Sure he dies. But, could you defeat a very angry father with a large spiked weapon?
5. Hans Gruber/Sheriff of Nottingham/ Alan Rickman Die Hard/Robin Hood.
Smarmy, Intelligent, and funny. Nobody has the eurotrash villain down like Rickman. Many actors have tried to match this performance and most of them have failed. Whether threatening to cut people’s hearts out with spoons or telling his henchman to “shoot the glass” he is always thinking of unique ways to hurt people.
6. Special Mention: Inez/Rachel McAdams/Midnight in Paris.
Inez would convince Han he was just a subpar villain. She would scowl as Boba showed off his latest jetpack innovation. She pushed her writer boyfriend to mini panic attacks and wooed the pompous Michael Sheen. Inez and her family could push Angela Lansbury’s character in Manchurian Candidate to depression. Also, Inez sounds evil.
There are many honorable mentions. Gene Hackman from Unforgiven, Mr. Blonde, Bill the Butcher, Jaws, Aliens, Predators, Frank Booth, Dolph in Universal Soldier and Rocky 4, The bad guy in The Crow, Hal, Anton Chigurh, Michael Myers, Nickelback, Hannibal Lecter, Leatherface, the femme fatale from Double Indemnity…the list goes on and on.
That is the list! Let me know what you think. Make sure to leave a comment and tell me your 5 favorite bad guys.
Movies, Films & Flix 
In no particular order… hannibal lecter, darth vader, hans gruber, the joker(heath ledger version), the t1000
Very cool amigo,
You forgot the numero 1# bad guy…..
Matteo the cruncher!
good stuff.
peace
The cruncher is legit. I heard his kryptonite is Mark “The Shamrocker” Hofmeyer.
1. Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) from Inglourious Basterds
2. Regina George (Rachel McAdams) from Mean Girls
3. Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver) from Drag Me to Hell
4. Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) from Rebecca (Hitchcock Classic)
5. Scar from The Lion King
Honorable Mention
Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series & as Harry Waters in In Bruges & etc…this guy is a bad ass
Good call on Mean Girls and The Lion King’s Scar!
1. Dolph Lundgren in any movie
2. The anacondas from Anaconda: “There’s snakes out here dis big?”
3. Jason Lee as Syndrome in The Incredibles: What other villain has caught himself in his own monlogue?
4. Timothy Olyphant in Live Free or Die Hard: The best bad guys don’t have to be flamboyant assclowns
5. Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow in The Hangover: “So long, gay boys!”
Wile E Coyote- Cracks me up. He’s the world’s dumbest genious. How does a bad guy fail so much and still come back for more and more.
Darth Vader- This is just the classic bad guy. (Little K-dog’s pick also). Even the way he breaths is eeeeevil.
Hannibal Lector- A bad guy that actualy wins. He always freaks me out. I’ll never eat fava beans again. Of course I never did before.
Aaron Stampler- Primal Fear AKA Roy. How is it that this stuttering shy boy is actually a violent killer. I would have never guessed it.
Jigsaw-Saw movies- This guy is terrifying and brilliant at the same time. I can’t even solve a Rubic’s cube……
– Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare On Elm Street: Too iconic from childhood not to include
– The U.S. Government – JFK: If it’s all true, I’m getting the hell out of here, right Scoob?
– Frank Booth – Blue Velvet: ::shudders with willies::
– Reagan’s Demon – The Exorcist: It was really mean to everyone!
– Joker – The Dark Knight: It don’t get much better than this… or is it worse…
1. Darth Vader in The Star Wars Saga
2. Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men
3. Antonio Salieri in Amadeus
4. Michael Corleone in Godfather Part II – Just watch his face
5. The Joker in The Dark Knight
Honorable Mentions: Alonzo Harris, Jack Torrance, The Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched, Norman Bates, Col. Hans Landa, Bill from Kill Bill, Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life, The Shark in Jaws…. i could go on forever
I still have nightmares about John Lithgow in Footloose (as Rev. Shaw Moore), Cliffhanger (as Eric Qualen) and Shrek (Lord Farquad). The guy is terrifying in each role.
Top Five Bad Guys:
1. Mr. Hand/Fast Times at Ridgemont High——this man actually considered failing Jeff Spicoli and showed up to a student’s house (Spicoli again) to give a pop quiz. pure evil and paranoid to boot. He thought everyone was on dope. Those percentages just don’t exist.
2. Patrick Swayze/Point Break——- talk about a cool ass bad guy. This was the type of guy that would bang your girlfriend, use your car, and borrow money with no intention of paying it back and you’d still be like “this dude rules”. Plus you don’t see bank robber/surf god on many resumes.
3. Coach Riley and the whole Hawks organization/ The Mighty Ducks——-Between accusing Gordon Bombay of being a “never was” instead of just a plain old “has been” and ordering eight year olds to be purposely injured, Coach Riley and the Hawks ruled Minnesota Pee-Wee Hockey with iron talons. The look that he gives Bombay from the coaches box (when he pops his collar) is the single most smug move in movie history.
4. Ben Stiller/Tony Perkis Jr./Heavyweights——–no dinner, no lunch, no breakfast! How’s that grab you! Although he was actually following the job description perfectly (make fat kids lose weight at fat camp) dear old Uncle Tony was in his own world every minute of every day. Plus cancelling lunch purely based on lack of hustle is just plain mean.
5. Buffalo Bill/Silence of the Lambs——-the ol’ fake broken arm kidnap trick huh? well played William. Talk about major issues. This guy had a weiner but wanted a vagina, so he kidnapped, hosed, moisturized, and killed people to deal with it. All in all, not really that nice of a guy.
Evil Bruce Campbell/ Army of Darkness. Probably my favorite bad guy. He gets shot in the face with a shotgun point-blank and then hacked up with a chainsaw before being buried. He is then resurrected and pieced together. He then converts the innocent lady of interest into a cynical psycho and then gets the flesh burned off to the bare bone all before he is launched on a bag full of gun powder to his explosive downfall.
1. The Velociraptor (Jurassic Park) – No question the clear cut number one. Perfect killing machines and major douche bags.
2. Jason- (in Jason goes to hell) – FINALLY addresses what would happen if a bomb was dropped on Jason. He is an evil soul who’s heart is invincible. His soul transfers from body to body in only a way that makes perfect sense. He vomits his heart into his victims mouth. We also find out that only a family member can kill Jason. It was so obvious.
3. Kim Jung Il (Team America) – Funny, but scary because he is an actual person.
4. Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) – Maybe not a villain in some opinions, but I just hate the bitch.
5. Ed Rooney (Ferris Bueller’s day off) – A slimy principle trying to catch Ferris. I love the scene where he believes he is on the phone with Ferris impersonating his girlfriends father. Classic.
David Patrick Kelly/Luther/The Warriors
Equal parts intimidating (“Warriors, come out to play”), responsibility shirking (“It wasn’t me, it was the Warriors!”) and lacking in a clear motive.
Honorable mentions to Rutger Hauer as Roy in Blade Runner and Raul Julia as M. Bison.
Kaiser Soze – Usual suspects –
Lord Vego- Ghost busters 2
Pin Head – Hell Raiser
It the clown – It
American red necks – Deliverance
In no particular order:
1. Anton Chiqurh – No Country for Old Men
2. Mickey Knox – Natural Born Killers
3. Jules Winnfield – Pulp Fiction
4. Vincent Vega – Pulp Fiction
5. Tony Montana – Scarface
I definitely like your Magua pick. He’s totally badass in the Last of the Mohicans!
1. Ralph Fiennes
2. Dennis Hopper
3. Hal 9000
4. Al Pacino
5. Robert Di Nero
sorry it took me so long to get back to you on this one. hope you’re doing well, and keep up the good work!
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude! HAL! HAL is worse than any of them!
Jon Voight from Anaconda! Fearless portrayal of a man with a terrible accent.
Frollo–hunchback of notre dame
Bruno–strangers on a train
Phillip–rope
I’ve been creeped out by Ralph Fiennes ever since the first movie I saw him in…maid in manhattan.
Fiennes in Maid in Manhattan still seems surreal to me. I also love his creepy hug in the final Harry Potter.