Cruella de Vil, Voldemort and the 25 greatest movie villains of all-time

12. Sauron

For much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sauron was nothing more than an all-seeing eye, bent on destruction and chaos. And yet, there is so much more to this character than being a flaming eye over the land. (But we also have to give Sauron credit for being an epic villain considering he was basically an eyeball of flames for a really long time and still managed to be evil.)

At one point in the movies, we do see Sauron as more than just a flaming eye, as he is also portrayed as a towering knight in black with a giant mace in his hands. And he is even known as The Necromancer, although that is only mentioned once in the trilogy, although it is a bigger part of his character in The Hobbit book and movies.

Ultimately, what makes Sauron one of the greatest villains in the movies is the fact that he is actually a competent bad guy (eye). He is immensely powerful and he knows how to wield the power he possesses.

Here is a villain who was able to corrupt others and use trickery to get people to do his bidding. He lied to people all in the pursuit of power and he destroyed more than just those who he used, but every living thing around him.

It is as much the fact that he is an evil being, as it is his fall from grace and his ability to corrupt so many others that makes him one of the great villains. And the fact that he can do all of this while just being a flaming eyeball on the top of a tower makes him seem even larger than life than he already is.