The Best Villains in Movie History

All good movies have a villain & they can make you love or at least respect them. From Agent Smith to Michael Myers, here's the best movie villains of all time.

'Halloween'
Universal Pictures

Image via Universal Pictures

'Halloween'

Every good movie has a villain, some antagonists trying to keep our heroes from achieving greatness (or just, you know, surviving). From The Silence of the Lambs to Star Wars to Psycho, movie villains can be straight out of our worst nightmares, the serial killers and monsters who only plague our minds as we're trying to go to sleep. Whether you're haunted by Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Hannibal Lecter, or Darth Vader, the great villains of cinema history are the ones who stay with you long after the credits roll. 

A great villain can make you love—or at least respect—them, even while actively rooting for their defeat. Think about it; if you're a horror movie fan, you've likely had to give at least one or two villains their props, even as they're terrorizing the protagonist. Of course, sometimes movie villains turn out to be real-life villains, making their performances all the more harrowing. 

These are the best movie villains in film history. Don't forget to check under the bed tonight.

Pennywise

Tim Curry as Pennywise in 'It'

Chucky

Child's Play

The Wicked Witch of the West

best villians movie history margaret hamilton

Thanos

Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War

Norman Bates

best villians movie history anthony perkins

Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter

The Xenomorph

best villians movie history alien

Baby Jane Hudson

best villians movie history bette davis

Alex

best villians movie history malcolm mcdowell

Amy Dunne

Image via 20th Century Fox

Agent Smith

best villians movie history hugo weaving

Annie Wilkes

best villians movie history kathy bates

The Terminator

best villians movie history arnold schwarzenegger

Anton Chigurh

No Country For Old Men

Michael Myers

Halloween

Harry Powell

best villians movie history robert mitchum

Noah Cross

best villians movie history john huston

Freddy Krueger

best villians movie history robert englund

Darth Vader

best villians movie history darth vader

Colonel Hans Landa

Christoph

Keyser Söze

the usual suspects kevin spacey

Max Cady

best villians movie history robert deniro

Nurse Ratched

best villians movie history louise fletcher

Frank Booth

best villians movie history dennis hopper

T-1000

Terminator 2

Peter and Paul

best villians movie history frank giering

The Joker

Joker

John Doe

best villians movie history kevin spacey

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