20 Most Beloved Hollywood Movie Villains of the 20th Century

What does it take to make, not just a good, but a great villain? Since the dawn of cinema, there have been memorable depictions of evil that have somehow, despite their villainy, made their way into our hearts and become imprinted on our minds. Their malice extends beyond the boundaries of the scripts that give them life, and in many cases, has become more memorable than the films themselves.

The viewers’ fascination with the characters has transcended the films’ themes as well. It doesn’t even matter if the villains are cold-blooded killers — if they’re interesting, people will celebrate them. After all, a good film is defined by how well its villain is written.

Cosplaying is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to loving villains, as the best ones have become part of pop culture, proving the broad fascination with characters that are truly evil. But they’re loved, beloved, and without them, we wouldn’t have our favorite films.

This list took a dive into the bins and shelves of the 20th century to compile the most beloved Hollywood villains that have left a mark on the history of cinema and will always go down as the wicked and lovable antagonists that proved the bad guys could sometimes win, and we’d still applaud.

The following list contains major spoilers

20 Hannibal Lecter — The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Jonathan Demme’s classic thriller The Silence of the Lambs tells the story of an FBI special agent who gets assigned to interrogate an institutionalized criminal who could help the force find an active serial killer called Bufallo Bill. Hannibal Lecter is a brilliant and terrifying psychologist, imprisoned after he indulged in murder — and cannibalism.

At first, Agent Clarice Starling is creeped out by the man’s ability to read her too well, but then they form a kind of symbiotic relationship that, yes, will help her catch the killer, but it will also help Lecter escape prison, set free to continue his horrific murder spree.

A Legacy that Speaks for Itself

Without question one of Hollywood’s finest and freshest villains. Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a classic figure of antagonism that people love because he’s simply unlike any other bad guy. In fact, some would say he’s not a villain, because he’s technically not the film’s main antagonist.

But Lecter is evil enough to make you turn on the lights when you go to sleep, as you think of his sordid nature and chef-like skills at cooking human flesh. He was played by Anthony Hopkins in the film (and in most of the adaptations of Thomas Harris’ work), a role that would garner him an Oscar in the category of Best Actor, even though he was only on screen for 16 minutes. Now that’s a powerful performance.

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19 Joker — Batman (1989)

You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman tells the story of the caped vigilante as he tries to deal with a chaotic version of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne by day, and Batman by night, the superhero with no powers but a very powerful belt and tools, faces the city’s greatest threat in the film that started an unstoppable trend.

The Joker, formerly known as Jack Napier, is on a rampage of pure revenge to install himself as Gotham’s new crime boss, but Batman thinks otherwise.

The Perfect Balance of Comedy and Horror

The Joker is, by far, Batman’s most important villain. And as good as Heath Ledger’s work was in The Dark Knight, Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the sociopath with an eternal smile is much more appealing from an entertainment perspective.

In Burton’s film, the Joker is an ever-laughing psychopath with a very elaborate plan that includes silly costumes, balloons, and nerve gas. He’s one of the few picks on this list that audiences dreamed of seeing again in a sequel, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately, we’ll always have Nicholson’s eerie way of making us laugh as he thinks of exterminating all of Gotham.

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18 The Wicked Witch of the West — The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Technicolor masterpiece The Wizard of Oz tells the story of teenager Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto as a tornado hits the farm they live on and transports them to the Land of Oz.

Keen on going back to Kansas, Dorothy seeks the help of the Emerald City, where the Wizard lives and will potentially help her return home. However, Dorothy also faces the threat of the Wicked Witch of the West, whose only goal is to get her hands on Dorothy’s ruby slippers..

Much More Horrific than You Remember

Played to perfection by Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West is a classic villain that people remember as strongly as they remember this classical Hollywood film (it’s also memorable because of a great horror element present in the performance).

Hamilton’s performance is excellent, and with only a few minutes of screen time, she was able to embody a great design of the witch trope that’s still alive to this day. As great as she was, it feels only appropriate to mention her makeup was copper-based and very poisonous, causing her to be ill for most of the shooting. Her classic line, “I’ll get you, my pretty— and your little dog, too!” is one of Hollywood’s greatest quotes.

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17 Norman Bates — Psycho (1960)

We all go a little mad sometimes.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s horror thriller Psycho, Marion Crane has decided to give her life a fresh start. Unfortunately, it’s not a very honorable start. She gets a hold of a large amount of cash and decides to run away, planning to meet her boyfriend at some point.

Crane drives away from town, but a rainstorm forces her to pull over at a shady motel. The manager is Norman Bates, and there are no other guests checked in.

Related: 20 Surprisingly Attractive Movie Villains

The One That Tricked Everyone

The extremely successful film by Hitchcock bent the rules of horror by getting rid of the formula and making a few changes to what people were used to. From killing its star halfway through the film to shooting a complex murder scene unlike anything we have ever seen to this day, villain rules were also changed, as Hitchcock provided audiences with a kind young man who audiences would never associate with an unspeakable act.

In fact, even after the murder takes place, we have become so enamored with his innocence that we don’t think of him as the main antagonist. Even in the film’s underrated sequel, when we know what he actually did, the legacy of his character allows us to think maybe it’s time to let bygones be bygones.

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16 Betel Geuse Jr. — Beetlejuice (1988)

Ah. Well. I attended Juilliard. I’m a graduate of Harvard Business School. I traveled quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and I had a pretty good time during that. I’ve seen The Exorcist about 167 times! And it keeps getting funnier EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT! NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEAD GUY! NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK?! You think I’m qualified?

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice tells the story of Adam and Barbara Maitland, a young couple who sadly perish when driving off a bridge in their small town. However, they don’t accept they’re dead, and they remain in what can only be referred to as a twisted version of the afterlife.

Their home is sold, and obnoxious city people move in. The Maitlands have no choice but to seek the help of a bio-exorcist, the ghost with the most, Beetlejuice himself.

A Wonderful Approach to Tim Burton’s Concept

This fantasy horror comedy about ghosts having an effect on our realm through Harry Belafonte tunes is as unique as it was, at the time, unprecedented. And yes, the character of Beetlejuice (who’s “real” name is Betel Geuse Jr.) is reason enough to get on the Beetlejuice train.

With under 20 minutes of screen time, Beetlejuice manages to absolutely steal the show. He’s hilarious, blasphemous, rotten (literally), and thinks The Exorcist is peak cinema. Honestly, you won’t find a funnier villain than this one on the list.

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15 Chucky — Child’s Play (1988)

Child’s Play tells the story of Karen Barclay and her six-year-old son Andy, who has become fascinated with a toy called the Good Guy doll. Karen is a widow and doesn’t have the time or money to buy the doll for Andy as a birthday present.

However, she manages to get one from a homeless man, but as it turns out, the spirit of a serial killer has been transferred into it. When Andy opens the box and bodies start dropping, it becomes obvious that the spirit Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray is alive and kicking, and aims to possess Andy, so he can get a real body.

As Adorable as a Doll

The premise of Child’s Play isn’t very complex, and it is actually repeated throughout the entire franchise. But Chucky, the killer doll, has been instilled in pop culture as a wonderful villain who always has punchlines to deliver and an insane strength to wield knives to kill humans who are much bigger than him.

His legacy as a foul-mouthed doll who needs no batteries to run is still very much alive, thanks to a new TV series that brought him back to modern audiences for their enjoyment. Among the slashers, it’s hard to imagine a world without Chucky.

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14 Darth Vader — The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.

Debuting in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Darth Vader was the overlord of the Galactic Empire, who always frustrated the plans of the rebellion to defeat their ruthless rulers. However, in the franchise’s best film, The Empire Strikes Back, Vader gets meaner, badder, and more complex.

Vader starts as a typical villain, the mad dog on the leash of the Emperor. But then, with one of the most famous twists in cinema history, he reveals that he is Luke’s father. Instead of joining the Dark Side of the Force, as Vader requests, Luke decides to throw himself into the void.

A Shocking Cinematic Reveal

The first film is the introduction. In Empire, after he captures a frozen Han Solo and reveals his true identity to Luke, we ask ourselves, “How could he be worse?” But in Return of the Jedi, Vader becomes an ambiguous villain who can’t bring himself to kill his own son.

Sometimes, the best villains are not simply and straightforwardly evil. Darth Vader is a beloved villain, one of the most iconic of all time, who didn’t have to extend beyond a mask and an imposing figure to make us understand why Jedis are noble and powerful, regardless of which side of the force they listen to. His backstory in the prequels was never necessary to cement him as one of the greatest and most beloved villains of all time.

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13 Annie Wilkes — Misery (1990)

Based on the book of the same name by Stephen King, Misery is the story of romance novelist Paul Sheldon. Right when he finishes his latest work, one in which he decides to kill off his most popular character by the name of Misery, Sheldon has a horrible car accident.

Fortunately, Annie Wilkes picks him up and takes care of him. What Sheldon doesn’t know is that Wilkes his absolute biggest fan, and won’t be very happy when he tells her what he’s decided to do with Misery. This is, by far, one of the best horror films of the 1990s.

The Dark Side of Fandom

Not much has been said about what inspired King to write the character of Wilkes, but it’s pretty obvious. The inspiration is key, but it’s Kathy Bates’ performance as the maniac whose obsession will go too far that made her a memorable villain everyone loves to remember.

Wilkes was unstable before Sheldon showed up. It’s strongly hinted in the film that she has killed many times before, when she was a nurse, and keeps a scrap journal to remember each time. Having Sheldon at her mercy reveals her twisted psychopathy more than any previous killing, and he has to be more clever than he’s ever been before to escape her.

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12 Nurse Mildred Ratched — One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of Randle McMurphy, a young man who cheats the justice system to escape a conviction for a highly problematic crime. Instead of being put in prison, McMurphy gets sent to a mental institution where he thinks he will have a better time.

Unfortunately, the head nurse Mildred Ratched won’t let him get off that easy. Ratched is a creature so vile, that even a TV series was made based on her character and her ways.

Related: 10 Movies Where the Hero and Villain Are Related

The Perfect Definition of Antagonism

Ratched is, without question, one of the best villains in cinema history. With a character motivation that’s basically non-existent, Ratched finds satisfaction in the suffering of everyone in the ward. McMurphy is the piece that tilts her over the scale and makes her stable world crumble, but her agenda is much stronger than his spirit, as the film reveals with its heartbreaking third act.

Nurse Ratched is well-remembered by everyone who likes to think of the most hateful movie characters, and it wouldn’t have been the same without Louise Fletcher’s performance, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is one of the three films that have won the Big Five awards (with Silence of the Lambs, also on this list, being another).

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11 Biff Tannen — Back to the Future (1985)

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly has a very strange friendship with Doc Brown. He’s a guitar-playing teenager with a good-looking girlfriend who likes to skate everywhere, and he’s friends with a crazy scientist who likes to experiment and invent things. Doc Brown even manages to invent time travel, but when Marty ends up in the ’50s, he causes a disruption in time and threatening his own existence when he interrupts his parents meeting.

The Many Iterations of a Well-Played Villain

Thomas F. Wilson played all the iterations of Biff Tannen throughout the different eras and movies, even his great-grandfather Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen in the third film of the franchise. Biff is always a bully and jock in each iteration, who complies with every rule in the book when it comes to bad guys.

The character was so compelling, especially in Part II, that he became such a valued element of the franchise that it couldn’t exist without him. Not even going through the same ridiculous situation three times made us lose our love for a very unfortunate dude who simply got greedy.

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10 The T-1000 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day tells the story of John Connor, Sarah’s son who’s living in present-day Los Angeles, when suddenly a police officer starts chasing after him. Luckily, a huge stranger on a motorcycle shows up to defend him from a creature that’s able to morph into metal objects. In fact, the two of them are androids, sent back in time by John himself, as he needs to guarantee his existence in order to fight machines when they rebel in the future.

When Special Effects Enhance a Character

T2 is the best Terminator movie. That’s a fact. And Robert Patrick’s characterization of the evil liquid metal robot, model T-1000 of the machines, is a huge reason why. The special effects, which still look good to this day, are a big part of what makes him so menacing, but it’s also Patrick’s perfect rendering of a cold killing machine that makes it so iconic.

It even surpassed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popularity as the villain in the first film. We may not have gotten a sequel with the T-1000, but he actually showed in Wayne’s World 2 for a couple of seconds, elevating that movie beyond its silly premise.

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9 Margaret White — Carrie (1976)

Another Stephen King film, Carrie is Brian De Palma’s take on King’s first novel. In the film, poor Carrie White is constantly attacked and harassed by her fellow students. The socially awkward girl doesn’t know how to fit in at her school, and things are even worse at home.

Carrie’s extremely religious mother, Margaret White, is worse than any of her bullies, and brutally abuses her whenever Carrie shows up and simply speaks. When Carrie gets asked to the prom, she finds her chance at revenge, as her bullies plan the ultimate attack, without knowing Carrie has developed a power stronger than any of them.

The Real Villain

Yes, Carrie could be seen as the villain in the film, and it’s pretty obvious why. After all, she’s the one who wreaks havoc in the town, kills half the school students and faculty, and burns her home to ashes. But her mother Margaret ups the ante with her antiquated views of the world and how this affects the poor teenager.

It becomes very clear who the real villain is in the film, when she decides to commit the most heinous act a mother could think of. She was perfectly played by Piper Laurie, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and would always remain in our minds as the perfect villain who happened to be a ruthless mother.

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8 Dr. Evil — Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

I’m going to place them in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.

Austin Powers had already appeared in the present day from the groovy ’60s for the first time to fight Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. In part two of the franchise, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the whole period theme of the franchise is discarded when Powers discovers Vanessa had been a fembot all along, and Dr. Evil is back again.

But the reckless and silly villain is not alone now. He commissioned his team to make a clone, but technology only allowed a portion of him to be reproduced, and Evil introduces Mini-Me as part of the franchise. In the sequel, Powers tries to find his mojo, which Dr. Evil has stolen, and for this, he has to go to the past and meet CIA agent Felicity Shagwell.

A Hilarious Villain More Loved Than the Hero

The Austin Powers films are extremely silly comedies that poke fun at spy thriller film tropes, featuring Mike Myers’ uncanny ability to morph into characters as easily as changing a pair of socks. In the second film of the franchise, he does three, when Fat Bastard joins the plot as another not-so-clever villain.

But it’s Dr. Evil, with all his charisma, who makes the films as compelling and funny as they are. He’s the reason why it became an actual trilogy, and he’s the only one who’s been brought back for a cameo in recent times.

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7 Freddy Krueger — A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

In A Nightmare on Elm Street, poor Nancy Thompson is going through trauma, as her friends and her boyfriend have been slashed to death while sleeping. And they don’t just die in their sleep — they are physically harmed in the most illogical of ways.

Nancy’s nightmares star a playful demon by the name of Freddy Krueger, who has a glove with sharp blades, and he’s always trying to catch and kill Nancy. Krueger is seeking revenge on the town for what Nancy’s parents and other grown-ups did to him decades ago.

The Very Definition of a Nightmare

Freddy Krueger is one of those examples of a villain that grows on you throughout the years, as he finds new tones to explore in countless sequels. However, we’d rather stay with the serious version of Freddy, the one that had a real reason to be in everyone’s nightmares and kill them in creative ways.

When it comes to the group of slashers that had their prime in the ’80s, Krueger is the most original, the most infallible, and the one that people were terrified of the most because of his ability to bend the rules of reality. There’s substance to his character, which is a bit restraining, because he couldn’t be brought back as Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers were.

But in the end it paid off, because he became the face of ’80s horror that people were fascinated with. Imagine purchasing a lunchbox, a board game, and even bedsheets (tempting fate) featuring your favorite villain. Freddy Krueger was the classic ’80s pick.

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6 Jack Torrance — The Shining (1980)

Wendy? Darling? Light of my life. I’m not gonna hurt ya. You didn’t let me finish my sentence. I said, I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just going to bash your brains in!

Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s book The Shining takes viewers to the Overlook Hotel in a remote mountainous location. The hotel has closed for the winter season, and Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny are the seasonal caretakers of the huge, empty hotel.

Danny realizes he has a psychic ability, called the “shining,” that allows him to detect a dark presence lurking in the hotel that’s also slowly taking over his dad’s body. In the halls of the Overlook lie the remains of angry ghosts that find a perfect vessel in the twisted family leader to carry out havoc.

A Life-Changing Role

Stephen King has never been a fan of the film, and he will consider this blasphemy, but Jack Nicholson completely remodeled Jack Torrance into an unforgettable villain. It’s a matter of expression and interpretation of another Jack Torrance that’s entirely different than the father in the book, whose “illness” is simply something else than just possession by ghosts.

The transformation from abusive father and husband to evil ghoul is a staple of Nicholson’s career, and his role in The Shining is the most iconic performance he ever gave. As malignant and scary as Torrance is, there’s no collection of memorable and beloved villains without him.

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5 Hans Gruber — Die Hard (1988)

That’s a very nice suit, Mr. Takagi. It would be a shame to ruin it.

1998’s action ride Die Hard took viewers to Nakatomi Plaza, a high-rise executive building where a Christmas party is being held. New York City Detective John McClane is invited by his wife to attend the party, where McClane suddenly finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation.

A German terrorist by the name of Hans Gruber has taken over. But all he wants is to steal a huge amount of money hidden in the building. Of course, McClane steps up and begins a very successful action franchise whose legacy is unquestionable.

Related: 10 Times TV Show Villains Turned Out To Be Right

The Legacy of Alan Rickman

There are many villains on this list that are instantly associated with the performers behind the masks and the expressions. It’s the only way they became the icons they are today. Hans Gruber, played by the late Alan Rickman, is not a very flamboyant and brash villain.

But, in the hands of an actor such as Rickman, he came out as an elegant and memorable figure that had no scruples. Every word spoken by Gruber is part of Rickman’s attitude toward portraying a bad guy without the same old tropes of villains that expose their motives constantly. It’s hard not to believe in Gruber and his drive to get rid of his obstacles.

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4 Count Dracula — Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

I am the monster that breathing men would kill. I am Dracula.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a Gothic horror film based on the classic 1897 novel. In the original story, Count Dracula is visited by a solicitor who will help him get his documents in order. Jonathan Harker is set to be married soon to Mina Murray, and when the Count sees her photo, he’s struck by her beauty.

She’s actually a reincarnation of his loved one, lost to suicide 400 years ago when he renounced God and became a vampire. Dracula kidnaps Harker and travels over to London, where he will use his irresistible charm to seduce Mina and make her fall in love with him.

Oldman’s Finest Performance

Gary Oldman gives life to Dracula in the film, in what’s undeniably his best performance to date. Forget Léon: The Professional, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Mank, and Darkest Hour. This is the English actor at his best, with a full and honest rendering of a monster hiding under layers of makeup but with an expression that outshines every other element in the film.

It’s also, of course, the best Dracula to ever on the big screen, and the film’s romantic tone calls for range beyond the horror layer. Count Dracula is in love and will always be in love, and Oldman’s interpretation of the classic villain of Gothic horror makes room for viewers to actually believe it.

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3 Emperor Palpatine — Return of the Jedi (1983)

The Alliance will die. As will your friends. Good, I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!

In Return of the Jedi, the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, the rebels are trying to fight the mighty Galactic Empire. Darth Vader is still one of the leaders of the Empire, and they’re trying to build a second Death Star to exterminate the Alliance, but Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids have other plans.

They land on Endor, while Luke surrenders in order to gain access to Vader, so he can defeat his father once and for all. The problem is that Emperor Palpatine will try to influence him to join his father on the Dark Side of the Force.

The Root of All Evil

While he appeared first in The Empire Strikes Back, it was a minor role. In Return of the Jedi, the Emperor reveals his true nature and his leverage when controlling the Empire and Vader. Arguably the scariest character of the Star Wars franchise, Palpatine is the puppet master controlling Vader, and the villain that the film needed in order to balance things out when Vader shows a bit of a soft side toward his son.

Palpatine has the ability to actually shoot lightning from his fingers, wreaking havoc on the weak Jedis who dared face him. He’s actually a bit underrated because his screen time is short, but through the prequel trilogy, we come to discover why he was the way he was and, most importantly, why he had so much darkness in his heart.

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2 Agent Smith — The Matrix (1999)

“Tell me, Mr. Anderson… what good is a phone call if you’re unable to speak?”

The Wachowskis’ sci-fi action thriller The Matrix was a mind-bending film from 1999 that blended sci-fi with existential questions and philosophy in a bold and daring new style.

Humans are trapped in a virtual reality know as the “Matrix.” Human rebels living outside of it get a hold of Neo, a young hacker living inside the Matrix. He is recruited and disconnected from the mainframe, and becomes humanity’s last hope to take down the virtual reality world where humans are treated as batteries for the machine’s consumption.

A Chilling Nemesis

Agent Smith is the most vocal of the agents after Neo, who all also have the ability to bend the rules in the Matrix. They’re actually sentient programs, code that can materialize as police (and basically anything else) in the virtual world. Their goal is to stop the rebels, and keep humans controlled and oblivious.

Smith is their leader, and becomes obsessed with Neo. His tone of voice is chilling and hides a strange and cold motivation that deepens the horror of the film’s premise: Imagine Skynet on steroids in a virtual setting, where reality can be anything the machines want it to be.

Fun fact: Jean Reno was supposed to play Agent Smith, but he wasn’t comfortable moving to Australia for the shoot, so Hugo Weaving took over and delivered one of the most memorable villain performances in modern cinema.

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1 Michael Myers — Halloween (1978)

In John Carpenter’s Halloween, it all starts when six-year-old Michael Myers puts on his clown costume and repeatedly stabs his own sister until she dies. Right after, Michael enters a state of catatonia for fifteen years.

Then, on Halloween night in 1978, Michael escapes the mental institution and comes back to Haddonfield, where he will hunt promiscuous babysitters that remind him of his late sister. He also hunts down Laurie Strode, who won’t go down without a fight.

The One That Didn’t Need Motivation

Of all slasher films, it’s hard to come up with one that cleverly introduces its motiveless villain like Halloween does. Michael is referred to as The Shape, the boogeyman, a faceless killer with an insane thirst for violence and blood who doesn’t seem to follow a certain agenda.

It all has to do with his past, of course, but ultimately his doctor, Sam Loomis, is the one who seems to hold the definite answer about what made him tick:

I met him 15 years ago. I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding in even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this… six-year-old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and… the blackest eyes — the Devil’s eyes.

Michael would then evolve into different versions, with different motivations. However, audiences would always follow his pace, regardless of how bizarre the Halloween franchise gets.

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To stay in tune with the previous list, here’s a video about the best villain performances ever: