The 10 Worst Things Done By Movie Villains on Christmas

Everybody loves Christmas in the movies. Well, everybody except the characters that don't. Most films set during the holidays (both the good and the horrifically bad ones) are filled with the requisite amount of cheer to draw in audiences and then send them giddily back out into the shopping malls, but there are a few exceptions.

We have always wondered why people don't loot stores on Christmas—when people aren't paying attention—and a surprising number of movie villains also figure the yuletide is just the right time for heinous deeds. Some satisfy personal vendettas while others engage in next-level mischief, but all of them got it done while you were chilling on your couch talking to your grandparents and eating pie.

Here is a rogues gallery of the liars, cheaters, and generally bad guys who decided that Christmas cheer wasn't going to work for them or anybody else who crossed their path. Here are the 10 Worst Things Done by Movie Villains on Christmas.

RELATED: The 25 Worst Christmas Movies of All Time
RELATED: The 25 Most Ridiculous Holiday Children's Books
RELATED: The 10 Best Anti-Holiday Movies

Written by Brenden Gallagher (@muddycreekU)

Movie: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Villain: Granville Sawyer
Played by: Porter Hall

Psychiatrists ruin everything in movies. They're always trying to find out whether characters are "insane" or a "a danger to themselves and others." What a downer. It's Christmas after all. Who cares if some dude believes he's Santa Claus or hears voices in his head?

Luckily, Christmas cheer wins out over mental health concerns in Miracle on 34th Street, and Santa is set loose from an asylum to roam the streets again. For all of his effort to, you know, do his job, Sawyer is fired by Macy's.

Apparently, in the world of this film, Macy's has an on-site therapist to conduct psychological evaluations. Anyone who's been to the labyrinthine, overwhelming Herald Square Macy's knows that it probably would have been a good idea to hold on to the shrink for use by those unfortunate enough to be the store's customers.

Movie: Bad Santa (2003)
Villains: Willie T. Stokes and Marcus
Played by: Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox

Perhaps it's obvious from the film's title, but Willie T. Stokes (Thornton) does some terrible stuff in this movie, despite being the protagonist. Technically he's not the film's villain, but prior to the events of Bad Santa, he's annually spent Christmas Eve/early Christmas morning burglarizing shopping malls.

He pulls off the capers by working as a mall Santa with his dwarf partner Marcus (Cox), who plays an elf. Once the mall shuts down for Christmas Eve, they disable the security system and go on a looting spree. This pair would prompt most villains to ask, "C'mon. Couldn't you wait until the 26th?"

Movie: It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Villain: Harry F. Potter
Played by: Lionel Barrymore

George F. Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) is the ultimate good dude, constantly putting the needs of others before his own. The Laws of Movie Physics tell us that for every good dude there is an equal and opposite bad dude. Cue Mr. Potter.

Potter spends much of his adult life trying to undermine George while lining his pockets with that sweet sweet Bedford Falls real estate cash. After Uncle Billy, one of George's employees (never hire family, kids) taunts Potter, he accidentally leaves almost $10,000 in Potter's hands. What does Potter do? Sometimes, the worst thing you can do is nothing. He lays low, letting Bailey take the heat, nearly driving him to suicide. That's cold, bro.

Movie: Home Alone (1990)
Villains: Harry Lime and Marv Merchants (a.k.a. The Wet Bandits)
Played by: Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern

In the face of all of the slapstick comedy of Home Alone, it is easy to forget that these criminals were some bad dudes. Not only did they burglarize vacant homes, but they also flooded them afterwards. Is it really worth forcing your victims to make two separate insurance claims just so you can call yourselves "The Wet Bandits"?

Also, let's talk for a second about what "revenge" they were going to exact on young Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) if they were able to dodge the booby trap paint cans and blow torches and catch the kid. Let's just say that this could have easily been a much darker film. But, then, maybe we would have been spared three sequels and a TV movie, which is perhaps the greatest horror of all.

Movie: Batman Returns (1992)
Villain: The Penguin
Played by: Danny DeVito

Sure, the previous incarnation of the Batman franchise was high-key and even kitschy, but there were some dark moments. The Ice Princess (Cristi Conway), the beauty queen chosen to light up Gotham for Christmas, gets a bit more than she bargained for when the Penguin and latex-clad Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) get involved with the festivities.

There is a great moment of irony when she falls to her doom. She does ultimately push the button to light up the tree, but not in the way she intended. As far as the Penguin goes, yes, we acknowledge that he was a dastardly villain, but growing up in the sewers (or being married to Rhea Perlman all those years) would take a toll on anyone.

Movie: Reindeer Games (2000)
Villain: Gabriel
Played by: Gary Sinise

We know what you're thinking. You're thinking, well, if you are going to rob a place on Christmas, it might as well be a casino. We respectfully disagree. There are only three sanctuaries of refuge for the lonely men who've alienated their family on Christmas: the casino, the bar, and the strip club. Don't you think these men have suffered enough?

Sure, that suffering likely stemmed from their own actions, but do you have to rob a casino while these men are drowning their sorrows in the slot machines? And while dressed like Santa Claus? Instead of volunteering at a soup kitchen or partaking in your annual watching of Reindeer Games this Christmas, why not volunteer at your local casino? And, yes, for the record, we believe the film would have been much better if it was about robbing a strip club.

Movie: Black Christmas (2006)
Villain: Billy Lenz
Played by: Robert Mann

The only negative of being a group of beautiful, cleavage-popping sorority girls is that you are going to be a target for serial killers. Sorority girls have had such a hard time on film, it is surprising that cinematic fathers still let their daughters pledge these fictional sisterhoods.

Of course, in the remake of Bob Clark's anti-holiday classic, Billy Lenz escapes from his insane asylum on Christmas Eve (you have to figure staffing is light over the holiday). Billy proceeds to do exactly what a yellow-skinned boy who killed his mother and disfigured his sister would do. Yup, it was time to hunt down some hotties.

Movie: Gremlins (1984)
Villain: Stripe
Played by: Frank Welker

When playing Secret Santa, we are often tempted to buy our gift at antique shops in Chinatown. Whenever the compulsion to run down to Canal Street seizes upon us, though, we remember Gremlins.

Mogwai behave the same way kittens do. They are really cute, but if you don't train them right and keep them away from bright light, water, and food after midnight, they will make your life a living hell. The kitten will just rip up your loafers while the Gremlins spawned by your Mogwai will take over your town and shred it with decidedly non-seasonal cheer, but the principles are the same.

To recap: Lesson one, don't spoil your pets, and two, always choose the local Wal-Mart instead of shopping in some shady antique spot.

Movie: Die Hard (1988)
Villain: Hans Gruber
Played by: Alan Rickman

Feel guilty about succumbing to materialism on Christmas? Take solace in the fact that you are not Hans Gruber. The guy plays his terrorist takeover of a tower off as a socio-political statement, but Hans is just after that cheddar. $640 million in bonds are in the vault and Gruber doesn't care what he has to do to get it, even if it means ruining some peoples' Christmas, and we're not just talking about interrupting the annual Christmas Eve party.

Gruber was a smart guy. He seemed to plan for everything, except for an alcoholic detective who crashed an office Christmas party in hopes of winning back his wife. Yippee-kai-yay, motherfucker, and to all a good night!

Movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Villain: The Grinch
Played by: Boris Karloff

This list boasts some of the worst villains ever to hit the big screen, from greedy bankers and international super criminals. Most of them committed dastardly deeds on Christmas, they didn't to anything to Christmas. Only the green man had the cojones to launch a full-scale assault the holiday itself. In 26 minutes, the Grinch commits more acts against the yuletide spirit than most devious villains can muster in entire full-length films.

He eventually learns his lesson, but that doesn't take away from how much of a badass he was before his heart grew multiple sizes. The Grinch and his tiny-ass heart set the standard for holiday villainy that still remains unmatched to this day, and he did it all by rhyming, which should definitely earn him some villainous bonus points.