Villains are something that I've blogged extensively about through the last year. And, as a celebration of the one year anniversary of this blog on July 15th, I've decided to make the first official Sultan of Television list. This time around, I will be counting down the best villains in television history, from The Borg to Windom Earle to Dr. Arthur Arden. These are the men and women that have terrorized our screens in the best way possible, either making us love them while hating them, scaring us, or just being fascinating.
However, before we delve into the list, I'd like to go over what exactly makes a villain eligible for this list. Anti-heroes are banned from the list, first of all. This would make it much less interesting, seeing as how men like Walter White, Al Swearengen, or Tony Soprano would be shoo-ins for the top spots. In addition, though they are villainous, characters like these are the protagonists as much as they are the antagonist. Thus, the entries in this list will be strictly for characters that either oppose the protagonist directly or are against what they stand for. For instance, in The Wire, Stringer Bell is eligible for the list, as he directly opposes McNulty, even though he is not necessarily an evil man.
Finally, note that this is strictly for television, not all entertainment. I'd love to include Hannibal Lecter and Randall Flagg, but that would be a list for another day.
So, without further adieu, enjoy the first true Sultan of Television countdown - The Top Fifty Television Villains of All Time!
50. John Wakefield
Played by: Callum Keith Rennie
Featured on: Harper's Island
"How stupid do you think I am?"
"Pretty stupid." - John Wakefield
Harper's Island was a bit of an underrated gem when it comes to TV miniseries. No, it wasn't a stroke of genius like Fargo, but not only was it actually unpredictable, it had a display of actors that made the so-so writing entertaining anyway. The big-bad of the show was the thought-to-be-dead serial killer, John Wakefield, a menacing, sadistic man. He murdered one of the members of the cast every episode in a different, creative way, and despite the shlockiness of the show, managed to be a terrifying enough man that even with the jokes and ridiculousness, Wakefield would still petrify viewers when he stepped onscreen. While the lack of character development and screentime prohibits Wakefield from getting any farther up the list, I believe he is a worthy and necessary addition to any list of notable TV antagonists.
49. Sister Mary Eunice
Played by: Lily Rabe
Featured on: American Horror Story: Asylum
"We all are going to be together in the dark watching "The Sign of the Cross." A movie filled with fire, sex, and the death of Christians... what fun!" - Sister Mary Eunice
Those who have read anything I've written about American Horror Story know that I believe the highlight of the show was Asylum. The collection of villains, eery setting, and ridiculous plotting made for the best viewing experience of the show. One of the highlights of that season was Sister Mary Eunice, the shy nun turned into Satan himself. At the start of the season, Eunice was a virgin, scared of the inmates of the Asylum, and petrified of her superiors there. However, once she was corrupted by the Devil himself, Lily Rabe's acting duties became a hell of a lot more fun (pun intended.) She began to wear a red dress, torture the inmates, and attempt to take control of the Asylum, even over the people far above her. For many episodes she terrified Briarcliff, eventually meeting her ultimate downfall. This downfall though, is what keeps Eunice up the list. In classic American Horror Story fashion, the plot went a bit off the rails at the end of the season, and Eunice, along with the majority of the other characters, made less and less sense before meeting a rather lame fate. However, during her height, there was no one more fun to watch torture the mentally ill.
48. Martin Keamy
Played by: Kevin Durand
Featured on: Lost
"Tell your Daddy goodbye." - Martin Keamy
In the fourth season of Lost, when the freighter showed up at the island, we knew things were about to go down. However, when Martin Keamy was introduced, a behemoth of a man with a heartless propensity for violence, we knew just how much was about to go down. Clad mostly in military garb, Keamy defined villainy. He enjoyed watching others suffer, pushing our protagonists to the edge, and was seemingly unstoppable. What keeps Keamy back from some of the other seasonal bads however, is that we never really knew him. While he was essentially evil-incarnate on the island (even including The Man in Black,) other than a pay-day from Charles Widmore, his aspirations were basically lost (ha) on us as viewers. Though not anywhere near the complexity of a villain like Ben Linus, Keamy provided a memorable season of fear and craziness in the tumultuous latter half of Lost. In addition, the scene in which Keamy killed Ben's daughter will go down as one of the harder to watch network moments.
47. Nathaniel Cole
Played by: Tom Noonan
Featured on: Hell on Wheels
"No one deserves forgiveness, brother. That's the beauty of grace." - Nathaniel Cole
In the Western epic of Hell on Wheels, the first two seasons featured an interesting arc for the psychopathic reverend of the train town. Introduced as a tired alcoholic, Nathaniel Cole's inner darkness didn't come out until the season one finale, when we learned he was a John Brown-esq abolitionist extremist. As the show went on, we learned that Cole had forced his daughter to watch he and his compatriots behead Southerners during the Civil War, and was one of the most violent men in the North. Then, after being goaded into action by the central antagonist of the show, Thor Gundersen, Cole took the entire train captive, threatening to execute all of those on board. In the end, his downfall came at the hands of his adopted Indian son, Joseph Black Moon. Though rather short lived and a bit of a side plot, this is the first addition on the list to have a nearly flawless characterization. A killer before the war, an alcoholic, and a sadly human death, even while being an antagonist, brought an excellent arc to Hell on Wheel's first and second seasons. Had it been more in the spotlight or more developed before the final showdown, Cole would skyrocket further up the list.
46. Blue Duck
Played by: Frederic Forrest
Featured on: Lonesome Dove
"I raped women, stole children, burned houses, shot men, run off with horses, killed cattle, and robbed who I pleased, all over your territory. You never even got a good look at me until today!" - Blue Duck
In 1989, one of the best and most successful miniseries of all time was released: Lonesome Dove, an adaptation of the famous Western novel. The four part masterpiece told the story of Augustus McRae and Woodrow F. Call, the dynamic duo of old Western heroes on one last journey. McRae's old enemy during the adventure is the nearly-demonic Blue Duck, an old Indian chief. Though only actually in the show for two episodes, Blue Duck was as memorable as anyone on the list. However, the ante was upped significantly when Blue Duck murdered July Johnson's children, along with the lovable Roscoe Brown. In the end, Blue Duck is hung, but sets in motion the events that lead to the death of McRae, ending the series on a rather heartbreaking note.
45. Truxton Spangler
Played by: Michael Cristofer
Featured on: Rubicon
"When you left the house this morning wearing that tie, perhaps your wife stopped you in the doorway. Perhaps she told you how good you looked in that tie. How handsome it was. Now, I'm sure you love your wife; might I suggest you have many reasons to distrust her judgement about that tie? Maybe she has a fond memory of another time your wore it, a sentimental attachment? Or perhaps she knows your tie collection, and she's simply glad you didn't choose one of the ties she dislikes. Perhaps she just sensed you were feeling a little fragile; she felt like bucking you up a bit. Now imagine for a minute that you sit down here with us, and I say to you how much admire that tie. Instantly you have another option, but you don't know me. There's nothing personal between us, we have no sartorial history, no emotional attachment. Who's judgement are you going to trust? Mine? Or you wife's? The gentlemen to my right is a remarkable intelligence analyst. He is skilled in pattern recognition, systems analysis, emergence theories... but - but in truth, his greatest asset, for you, is that you don't know him, and he doesn't know you. He doesn't care about you... or your feelings. He just knows what your tie looks like. And for that, you trust him." - Truxton Spangler
AMC made a mistake when they cancelled the political conspiracy drama, Rubicon. A puzzle-fueled, layers-deep mystery, the show had every ounce of intrigue one could ask for. However, due to low ratings, it was cancelled after only a season. However, at the helm of the entire conspiracy was Truxton Spangler, part of a four-person syndicate that seemed to run the world in the shadows. Though he came off as un-threatening, a man in suspenders and an ill-fitting suit, Spangler was as terrifying as he was rich. Ordering assassinations, using others as chess-pieces, and taking a step past Machiavellian theory all fed into the ultra-interesting character of Spangler. Had the show become a hit and gone on for many more seasons, explaining the mysteries that it started, Spangler would surely be much higher on this list. Unfortunately for him, as well as us as viewers, the catacombs of Rubicon were never explored, leaving another unsolved TV mystery.
44. Nina Myers
Played by: Sarah Clarke
Featured on: 24
"You will have to kill him, no mistakes. If he finds out I lied to him, my cover will be blown." - Nina Myers
Nina Myers was one of the times on 24 that I felt bamboozled. A major protagonist all through the first season, Nina was one of the last people we'd suspect to be a villain. However, when she finally turned to the dark side, what a villain she was! For shock value alone, Nina deserves a spot on this list. However, more than that, the effect she had on Jack Bauer and other characters is important. For the first real time on the show, an inner circle member of the "good guys" had been outed as a baddie. However, what keeps Nina out of one of the better spots on this list is her execution as a villain. Nina, other than the actress and the name, became an entirely new character after her turn. She retained almost zero qualities that she used to have, and suddenly became a psychopath, slitting people's throats with business cards. Whatever faults she may have had though, the shock and aww of Nina's turn and effect upon the overall show garners her a well-deserved spot.
43. Jim Moriarty
Played by: Andrew Scott
Featured on: Sherlock
"Well, here we are at last. You and me, Sherlock. And our problem. The final problem: "Staying Alive." So boring, isn't it? It's just... staying. All my life I've been searching for distractions, and you were the best distraction and now I don't even have you. Because I've beaten you. And you know what? In the end it was easy. It was easy. Now I've got to back to playing with ordinary people. And it turns out you're just... ordinary. Just like all of them. Oh well." - Jim Moriarty
The ultimate foil to Sherlock Holmes, Jim Moriarty is the Lex Luthor to Sherlock's Superman. He has a mind that works a mile and minute, and when he opposes our protagonist, it is not just a battle, but a game of minds. In the universe of Sherlock, there are few who can match wits with the leading man, making Moriarty the most necessary aspect of the show. No, as a character he is not ultra-developed, more being painted as a lunatic looking for someone to "play" against, but in terms of sheer entertainment value and smarts, there are few to parallel Moriarty. In the modern BBC Sherlock, Andrew Scott plays the character about as well as one can, standing like a looming shadow over London, only to be caught in an ostensible forever-war with Sherlock Holmes. He doesn't make it higher up on the list for lack of screentime and development, but such a fantastic villain is certainly in the conversation.
42. Spiro Vondopoulos
Played by: Paul Ben Victor
Featured on: The Wire
"He knows my name, but my name is not my name." - Spiro Vondopoulos
In the second season of The Wire, and briefly in the fourth and fifth, the man known by many names, but to us as Spiro Vondopoulos, loomed over Baltimore. The Greek mobster dealt in human and drug trafficking, making shady alliances with men like Proposition Joe and Marlo Stanfield. He was cool, calm, and collected, and even in the most dire circumstances, never broke his demeanor. And, by the end of the series, Spiro and his boss, The Greek, were never actually caught, only remaining in the dark corners of the city. What made Spiro such an interesting character was his terrifying calm, and his ferocity when needed. Think no further than the off-screen death of Frank Sobotka or the immediate uprooting from Baltimore when the going got tough for examples of this. Spiro was, in many ways, the ultimate mobster of The Wire. He never touched the streets like Stringer, Avon, Marlo, or Joe. He kept everything completely safe, such as in his dealings with the death of Joe. And, while most of the aforementioned characters ended up on their backs, Spiro managed to avoid even the possibility of jail. While again, too underdeveloped as a human to make it much further up the list, Paul Ben Victor's mysterious Greek was always a treasure when onscreen.
41. Tuco Salamanca
Played by: Raymond Cruz
Featured on: Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul
"So you're not saying that they're stupid... I don't understand - are you saying that I'm stupid?"
"Nah, come on Tuco, I'm just saying -"
"No! You're just speaking for me! Like I ain't got the goddamn sense to speak for myself. Is that what you're doing? Heisenberg says relax. I'm relaxed. I'm relaxed." *Beats henchman to death* - Tuco Salamanca
I debated whether or not Tuco Salamanca deserved a spot on this list, being that he is only actually in four episodes of Breaking Bad. However, with his appearance on Better Call Saul hopefully leading to another one, it felt impossible to deny him an entry. Tuco was a true character to behold, however brief he may have been. From the time we met him, snorting meth off of a huge knife, Tuco became ingrained in our memories. As I thought about whether he deserved an entry or not, more and more moments came to me, displaying that though time was a bit lacking, the sheer amount of memorable moments should garner a spot. He beat his henchman to death, he engaged in a shootoff with Hank, and his various quotes about respect and business gave one of the scariest, almost comical, and necessary portions of Breaking Bad. Tuco was Walter White's introduction to druglords, and with that level of insanity already established, the show had shown its level of severity when it came to villains. Here's to hopefully more appearances on Better Call Saul!
Labels: 24, American Horror Story, Andrew Scott, Callum Keith Rennie, Frederic Forrest, Kevin Durand, Lily Rabe, Lost, Michael Cristofer, Paul Ben Victor, Raymond Cruz, Samuel Roukin, Sarah Clarke, The Wire, Tom Noonan
