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Who doesn’t love a villain? Whether discussing classic movie foes like Darth Vader, Hannibal Lector, or the Wicked Witch of the West, audiences tend to gravitate towards the primary antagonist in any standout film, either for their personality, their appearance, or their cutting-edge plan to bend others to their will.
While certain villains tend to leave a more long-lasting impression among audience members, dozens of other cinematic baddies have found themselves relegated to marginal obscurity. From corrupt Roman emperors to sociopathic Western gunslingers, these underrated villains deserve more recognition from mainstream viewers.
Commodus (Gladiator)
A corrupt Roman emperor who lied, cheated, and murdered his way to power, Commudus’s crimes know no bounds, from murdering his father in cold blood to seeking a romantic relationship with his own sister. Jealous, petty, and desperate to garner as much power as he can, Joaquin Phoenix’s tyrannical Roman ruler features little to no redeeming qualities, tormenting his family and his subjects for his own perverse enjoyment.
Count Dooku (Star Wars)
George Lucas’s Prequel Trilogy has no shortage of underutilized villains minimized to mere supporting roles (including Grand Moff Tarkin, Jango Fett, and Darth Maul). While he received further exploration in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Christopher Lee’s original iteration of Count Dooku falls into this same category. Wonderfully played by the iconic Lee, Dooku makes for a thrilling stand-in for his master, Darth Sidious, his regal authority and aristocratic charm juxtaposing with the imposing appearances of Maul and Vader. Talk about one of the most underrated villains!
Frank (Once Upon a Time in the West)
In 1968, director Sergio Leone recruited Hollywood legend Henry Fonda for his masterful 1966 Spaghetti Western, Once Upon a Time in the West. Cast against type as the steel-eyed, sadistic gunslinger Frank, Fonda subverts every expectation viewers might expect from his performance. In contrast to the diplomatic everyman-type characters he’d played in 12 Angry Men or The Grapes of Wrath, Frank handles his duties driving ranchers away from potential railroad land with machine-like efficiency and merciless satisfaction, gunning down men, women, and children with a twisted smirk on his face.
Daisy Domergue (The Hateful Eight)
In reality, any of Quentin Tarantino’s colorful antagonists could have earned a spot on this list, from Leonardo DiCaprio’s spoiled plantation owner, Calvin Candie, to David Carradine’s charismatic kung fu master, Bill. Yet even by Tarantino’s standards, The Hateful Eight’s scheming outlaw, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), establishes makes herself out as one bad apple. Taking vicious beatings from her captor and plotting her grand revenge once freed, Domergue proves herself every bit as cunning and ruthless as the other members of the Domergue Gang, if not more so.
Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Having cultivated a reputation for his manic yet likable protagonists over the years, Jim Carrey makes a habit of shocking audiences with his somewhat darker roles, including this entry in underrated villains of the movies. Case in point with 2004’s brilliant “family film,” Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Portraying the adopted guardian of the unfortunate orphaned Baudelaires, Carrey’s Count Olaf schemes his way towards inheriting his wards’ vast fortune, using a multitude of ploys and disguises to see his plans through.
Captain Vidal (Pan’s Labyrinth)
The most chilling character audiences have seen in a Guillermo del Toro film yet, Captain Vidal (Sergi López) acts as the personification of fascist authority in 1940s Spain. The stepfather to the 10-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and a flagrant psychopath through and through, Vidal uses his authority in Franco’s military regime to terrorize the locals in his area. Obsessing over his father’s death and longing to go out in his own blaze of glory, viewers can’t help but squeal in delight as they watch this narcissistic tyrant get his just deserts.
Billy (Black Christmas)
One of the earliest slasher villains in the genre’s history, audiences exit Black Christmas knowing just as much about the movie’s main antagonist–the homicidal maniac, “Billy” (Nick Mancuso)–as they did at the start. Unlike hulking giants like Michael Myers or Jason Voorthees, Billy possesses no element of mysticism or abnormal powers; the producers barely show him on-screen. As a result, audiences are left with an obscured, rage-filled murderer whose motivations remain a complete mystery, making him that much more realistic (and terrifying) a slasher…not to mention yet another entry in Hollywood’s underrated villains.
Koba (Planet of the Apes)
The breakout villain of the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, Koba (Toby Kebbell) establishes himself not just as one of the most unsettling villains in the Planet remakes, but in the entire series. Experimented upon by humans for most of his life, Koba holds a deep-seated grudge towards all of humanity. Waging a war against mankind for supremacy over the planet, Koba wants nothing more than to exterminate as many humans as possible–even if it means his entire tribe of apes dies in the process.
Hopper (A Bug’s Life)
In essence, any one of Pixar’s villains might have earned a place on this list, from the aged adventurer Charles Muntz to the hilarious Darth Vader rip-off, Emperor Zurg. However, one needn’t look further than the vicious Hopper (Kevin Spacey) when discussing the most cold-hearted Pixar villain imaginable.
A roguish grasshopper with a cold, calculating, logistical mind, Hopper’s goal is to subjugate lesser insects for his own gain, forcing them to supply his gang supplies even if it means their starvation. With a bug this bad, viewers will think twice the next time they see a grasshopper springing through their backyard.
Professor Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective)
Disney has no shortage of underrated villains, from comic relief antagonists like Yzma and Kronk to unscrupulous big game hunters like Clayton. Yet even by Disney’s standards, viewers have a difficult time finding a more layered adversary than Professor Ratigan (Vincent Price). The arch-enemy of Basil of Baker Street, this Professor Moriarty stand-in takes on a variety of guises throughout The Great Mouse Detective. Jovial and humorous one moment and fiery-tempered in the next, Ratigan proves every bit as intelligent as his law-abiding counterpart.
Charlie Prince (3:10 to Yuma)
The right-hand man to Western outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), infamous gunslinger Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) spends the bulk of 3:10 to Yuma attempting to free Wade from the clutches of the law. Harboring unrequited (and secretive) homosexual feelings for Wade, Charlie uses every tactic he can to reunite with his gang leader, leaving a lifeless trail of innocent bystanders and hapless lawmen in his wake.
Rose the Hat (Doctor Sleep)
On the surface, Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) doesn’t resemble a traditional Stephen King villain. Dressed like she just finished a shopping spree in PacSun, Rose looks more akin to a Woodstock attendee than a domineering cult leader who drains the life out of children. Perhaps this discrepancy between outward appearance and inward psychopathy makes her such a fascinating villain. The demented leader of the nomadic True Knot, Rose ranks as one of the most demonic characters King has ever penned, and one of his most underrated villains.
Lieutenant Briggs (Magnum Force)
While Harry Callahan’s original arch-enemy, the deranged serial killer Scorpio, earns standout praise, our vote for the most formidable foe Dirty Harry antagonist goes to Magnum Force’s Lieutenant Neil Briggs (Hal Holbrook). A mild-mannered and respected police officer on the surface, Briggs organizes the movie’s eponymous death squad vigilante group that operates outside the law in San Francisco.
A self-righteous fascist, what makes Briggs stand apart from other criminals Callahan has dealt with over the years involves his abundant similarities to Eastwood’s character in the first place. Tired of the corruption and bureaucratic anarchy of the judicial system, Briggs carries out his own brand of justice, challenging Callahan’s own cynical view of law enforcement in modern society.
Colonel Strickland (The Shape of Water)
Guillermo del Toro had always envisioned Agent Rick Strickland (Michael Shannon) as the star of his own ‘50s horror movie, a leading man who killed the monster, saved the girl, and won the day for the U.S.A. Subverting these expectations, Strickland acts almost as the equivalent to Disney’s Gaston, an egotistical U.S. army colonel who makes it his personal mission to save his country from the sinister forces of amphibian men and the Soviet Union.
Judge Doom (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
A villain who scarred an entire generation of children, Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) rules over the animated precinct of Los Angeles with an iron fist. A mysterious cartoon character masquerading as a gaunt, corpse-like judge, Doom plans on acquiring Toontown to demolish it, using the land as the basis for his sinister freeway. Whether towering over his human counterparts or revealing his true Toon self, Doom’s mere presence can unnerve even the bravest viewers in the audience.
Mrs. Carmody (The Mist)
Stephen King has penned a variety of remarkable villains over the years, the likes of which include Randall Flagg, Kurt Barlow, and Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Less well-known among King’s rogue’s gallery, Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) uses her religious fanaticism to rally The Mist’s survivors to her cause. Believing the mist an act of God meant to purge the unholy from the earth, Carmody takes to persecuting her fellow survivors, sacrificing them to the otherworldly creatures outside. A hypocritical, holier-than-thou cult leader, Carmody stands apart as one of the most loathsome figures in King’s filmography, even when compared to Flagg or Pennywise.
Ozymandias (Watchmen)
More of an anti-villain than a mere antagonist alone, Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) strives to make the world a better place in Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation of Watchmen. Staying true to the movie’s source material, Ozymandias uses his vast intelligence to stage an intergalactic threat from beyond the stars, uniting the opposing world powers and putting a formal end to the Cold War. To carry out his noble intentions, Ozymandias frames his fellow superheroes, stages his own assassination, and kills millions of people, all for the sake of world peace.
Burke (Aliens)
While the titular Xenomorphs remain the overarching antagonist of the Alien franchise, a number of non-extraterrestrial villains have cropped up time and time again in Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi series. As fascinating as malevolent androids like David or Ash turn out, Burke takes the cake for the slimiest antagonist in the Alien saga.
A smug, arrogant businessman who values profit margins over human life, Paul Reiser’s high-ranking bureaucrat sacrificed an entire colony of settlers to lure out a Xenomorph hive. In the end, he’s somehow even less human than David, Ash, or the Xenomorphs combined.
Ra’s al Ghul (Batman Begins)
When looking at Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy, fans tend to single out Heath Ledger’s immortal portrayal of the Joker or Tom Hardy’s charismatic interpretation of Bane as the series’ breakout characters. However, one shouldn’t last past the appeal of Bruce Wayne’s mentor, Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson). The shadowy leader of the League of Shadows, Ra’s al Ghul equips Bruce with everything he needs to become the savior of Gotham City, even if his dramatic betrayal undermined his pivotal role in training the future Caped Crusader.
Magua (Last of the Mohicans)
A character every bit as underrated as the film he appears within, Wes Studi’s Magua remains one of the most interesting characters in the entirety of the historical film. Having lost his family to the British Army under Colonel Munro, Magua pledges a vengeful oath to not only kill Munro, but to literally wipe out the Gray Hair’s entire family, forever removing the Munro bloodline from the earth. Compared to most other underrated villains, few have a vendetta as this merciless Huron war chief.
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