Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Let’s leave Harry Potter behind and get back to the world of slasher films. Freddy Krueger is one of the most iconic slasher villains in history, and for good reason. He first appeared on the big screen in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Krueger was a bad person before he died, and became an even worse person in his death. He was known as the “Springwood Slasher,” a serial killer who murdered local children and managed to get off on a technicality. The parents of the victims weren’t going to let him off so easily, so they burned him alive. But… he didn’t die, coming back as a Dream Demon instead, and he’s able to carry out his revenge on the people who wronged him.
The serial killer starts going after the living children of the people who burned him alive, and he preys on them when they were most vulnerable: in their sleep. There’s nothing scarier than a demon who can kill you in your dreams when you’re completely defenseless. Getting killed in the Dream World also causes their death in the physical world — and then Freddy absorbs their souls to top it all off.
Krueger is characterized by his severely burned skin (from being burned alive), the razor-sharp knives attached to the fingers on his right hand, and a red and green striped sweater. He might be one of the most terrifying villains on this entire list.
He brutally kills teenagers in their dreams, solely for revenge on their families who took the law into their own hands after the justice system failed them. If he had just been sent to jail, the entire story probably would not have happened.