This article contains references to gratuitous violence and sexual assault.
Fantasy TV is having a great decade, with a shocking number of incredible shows coming out in the 2020s, and some of them featuring the perfect villain. Villainy suits the fantasy genre particularly well. From TV's best historical fantasy to dark, satirical fantasy, this genre understands that there's something inherently cartoonish about an evil demon lord taking over the world, which is often the underlying premise of a fantasy villain. World domination seems to be at the top of many villains' agendas, whether they are Demon Lords or not.
The best fantasy villain of all time, in any format, is probably the eponymous Sauron from The Lord of the Ringsbut their influence has echoed in books and films since 1954. Some of the most powerful fantasy characters are otherworldly villains with supernatural powers, capable of inflicting enormous damage on their enemies and the world in which they live. TV villains were on low fantasy shows like Lostthat took strange events and placed them in the real world. The best of the best had one thing in common: truly cowardly acts.
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Thordak
The Legend of Vox Machina
Thordak is an excellent villain to grace TV screens in what is easily one of the Dungeons and Dragons' best releases. The dragon was extremely powerful and difficult to defeat, but it was extremely cold and tyrannical during its reign of terror. Lance Reddick voiced the evil dragon until The Legend of Vox Machina Season 3, but the veteran American actor tragically passed away in 2023.
Reddick's stellar performance is a posthumous masterpiece and "one of the last things he did,"according to Dungeon Master Matt Mercer (Radio times). The Legend of Vox Machina season 4 could reveal a "In memory"title card paying homage to Reddick's stellar performance as the acerbic Thordak. Thordak was great and secretly allied himself with someone close to Vox Machina - his intelligence and strength almost realized his dream of a world ruled by dragons.
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Marisa Coulter
Your dark materials
Mrs. Coulter was one of the best villains in YA literature and went on to be an extraordinary villain in every season of Your dark materials. Living in an alternative version of the real world, Marisa Coulter was a leader of the religious Magisterium. She directed experiments to separate children from their demon familiars to rid them of the accumulation of cosmic dust, which she believed to be sinful. This compensation left her children practically dead, proving Marisa's relentless religious fervor.
Despite her horrific capacity for torture, her feminist stature was undeniable.
Mrs. Coulter's secret, murderous experiments were reminiscent of Nazi scientists during World War II, bringing to mind those willing to do anything and trample on anyone for their misguided ideals. Mrs. Coulter's religious indoctrination conflicted with her love for her daughter throughout the series. Despite her horrific capacity for torture, her feminist stature was undeniable. Donating the baby and leading a life of science in a world of men, Marisa was only able to reconcile motherhood with ambition at the end of the series.
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Black Jack Randall
Outlander
Jonathan"black jack"Randall was a bloodthirsty and violent fanatic in Outlander. This old fantasy TV show featured one of fantasy's best villains, Randall, who was almost perfectly evil. Tobias Menzies brought a strange amount of nuance to a murdering rapist and torturer. Mostly, Menzies' Randall was extremely hatefulbut he had moments when he evoked a strange kind of sympathy.
Among Black Jack's worst acts were his sexual attacks on Claire when he first met her and her lover, Jamie. He also physically attacked his own brother's corpse and ran a terribly corrupt facility at Wentworth Prison. This one-of-a-kind sexual predator in a period drama had a frightening timelessnessrecalling modern demons from crime thrillers. He was without a doubt one of the most brutal villains on TV.
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Skeleton
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Skeletor is the exaggerated and fantastical villain of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe which set a standard for the arrogance of villains across the world. No list related to perfect villains would be complete without a mention of Skeletorthe biggest threat on Eternia. Battling He-Man since 1983, Skeletor has been the model for countless other fantasy and science fiction villains over the years.
Skeletor is pure evil and a classic villain, seeking to dominate the world. It contrasts complex evil like Marisa Coulter and even some of Marvel and DC's most complicated villains, typically those who are more contemporary than He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. In the era of the villain's sympathetic origin story, can sometimes seem like a deficit of classic villains like Skeletor. The world needs pantomime villains as much as it needs tragic villains.
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The Corinthian
The Sandman
Like Agent Smith from The Matrixthe Corinthian is a supernatural villain of biblical proportions. Defeating Corinthian seemed impossible, so their defeat was satisfying. Boyd Holbrook played this epic evil fantasywith small mouths for eyes, each with small rows of teeth. This villain was a literal nightmare, freed from the Dream, the realm ruled by the Dream.
The Sandman can be streamed on Netflix in the US
There was nothing good about Corinthian - he was the guest of honor at a serial killer convention. This hilariously dark storyline said it all about Corinthian. As an antagonist in The Sandman season 1, he was a perfect monster and provided frightening parallels to the real world. This charming and charismatic businessman was exactly the American psychopath of The Sandman darker imaginations.
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Ben Linus
Lost
Ben Linus was the main villain of Lostthe iconic JJ Abrams show that defined science fiction and low fantasy in the 2000s. Michael Emerson played the scheming Ben Linus in what must have been one of the greatest TV mysteries of all time. Initially known as Henry Gale to plane crash survivors Ben was a lying, murderous manipulator with a minimum of scruples.
Growing up in the DHARMA Initiative, Ben went on to lead a troubled and secretive program on the remote island that Lost has been activated. Emerson's ability to play Ben as a deadpan deceiver is what made the character. His difficult childhood gave weight to his silent, insidious crueltymaking it unpredictable. Ben was prone to the jealous petulance that made his character believable and human, making his redemption more powerful when it finally began to take effect.
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Homelander
The boys
The Magnificent by Eric Kripke The boys gave the world Homelander, one of fantasy TV's best villains. The boys explores Kripke's strengths in supernatural drama to create this satirical examination of superhero stories. Homelander is the ultimate superhero parodycaricaturing Superman and Captain America. Disturbed and driven by his desire for supers to reign supreme, Homelander kills indiscriminately to achieve his goal. His laser vision in terrible hands, blasting holes in everything or whoever he chooses.
Behind it all, as is the case with many villains, is an abused child lashing out at the world in revenge and compensatory rage. Homelander is as disturbed as the scientists who created himwhich was proven in one of the The boys Season 3's most horrific torture scenes. Homelander visited the laboratory where he grew up and eliminated his childhood captors one by one, exemplifying the ruthless cruelty that has made him one of the most brilliant TV villains of recent years.
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The Dark
Shadow and bone
Ben Barnes could not have been more perfectly cast as General Kirrigan, the villain of Shadow and Bone, also known as the Darkling. Alina's love interest was a charismatic presence at first, but soon showed her true colors. Ancient, ruthless and dangerously powerful, the Darkling harbored selfish goals and used Alina from the beginning, no matter what her feelings were.
The Darkling represents what happens when power gradually becomes the end rather than a means to a better end.
The Darkling was a perfect romantic villain, strangely alluring in his aura of mysterious, meditative power in dark clothing. He was also incredibly sympathetic and complex, aiming for a righteous goal – the reunification of a divided kingdom. However, the Darkling represents what happens when power gradually becomes the end rather than a means to a better end. A corrupt man who lost his way, the Darkling remains a fascinating fantasy TV villain.
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Sauron
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Played by two actors on Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerSauron may be the greatest villain of all time. Charlie Vickers is the Australian star who carries the vast majority of Sauron's performance. From Season 1's Halbrand to Season 2's Annatar, Vickers gave Sauron multiple terrifying personalitiesall of them strangely captivating. Sauron tricked Galadriel and the audience into believing he was a mortal king in season one, proving the power of Vickers' performance.
While Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings films portrayed the Third Age, Vickers showed Sauron in Lord of the Rings' Second Age. Adding even more layers to the complex villain, Jack Lowden played the shape-shifting demon in a flashback to the First Age. Lowden played a sarcastic and hateful bureaucrat, creating yet another version of Sauron to hate. Sauron is campaigning for total, tyrannical control of Middle-earth in Rings of Power and lying his way into important relationships to get there, bringing war in his wake.
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Joffrey Baratheon
Game of Thrones
Joffrey Baratheon may very well be the best fantasy villain to ever haunt TV screens. The brat king had all the rights of a poorly raised noble and all the cruelty of a child. This dangerous combination formed the most toxic young character any fantasy TV show has ever seen. Joffrey executed Ned Stark, starting the war that would continue throughout the seriesand he continued to perpetrate unnecessary and sadistic acts of violence.
This included having Ned's daughter Sansa look at Ned's head on a spear. Joffrey's grim engagement to Sansa was hard to watchand his misogynistic aggression got worse and worse. Fortunately, that's what ended up killing him. When the time came for Margaery Tyrell to face marriage to Joffrey, her grandmother couldn't bear it. Joffrey was poisoned to death by Margaery's grandmother, meeting a fate horrific enough to fit his crimes and sealing his epic fate as fantasy The best villain on TV.
Source: Radio times