20 best movie villains of all time

Villains are usually portrayed as evil, ruthless, violent, and always seeking revenge. But for some reason, we always end up rooting for the bad guy, especially these iconic villains.

A villain is someone who is the antagonist of a story, the person who causes conflict for the protagonist. Depending on the story, they can be subtle and not necessarily a bad person, but the villains that truly leave a mark on us are the ones that are ruthless. We’re talking serial killers from slasher flicks, ice cold queens who are in control of everyone around them, and of course, wicked witches.

No matter how evil and power-hungry villains tend to be, we always seem to gravitate towards the villains. How many of us admit that, growing up, we loved Ursula more than Ariel, or Yzma more than Kuzco? And if you’re into classic horror films, you’re definitely watching A Nightmare on Elm Street for Freddy Krueger, because you can’t help but be fascinated by his psychopathic nature.

Whatever the reason is, we love a good villain. Throughout the years, so many iconic villains have graced our screen that choosing just 20 was a struggle. But here they are, the best villains, ranging from Disney cartoons, to slasher flicks, superhero franchises, and more.