A great movie hero needs a great villain. These villains give beloved protagonists a reason to exist, to entertain, to go above and beyond in the pursuit of justice.
Oftentimes audiences find themselves drawn to these characters – on occasion preferring them to whomever the movie’s “good guys” are. Villains can be intriguing, as in the case of the Joker, who gained renewed popularity after being portrayed by Heath Ledger in 2008’s ��The Dark Knight.” Sometimes they’re funny, like Biff from “Back to the Future”. Other times they’re simply so perfectly evil that they command respect, like Hannibal Lecter.
To determine the most popular movie villains of all time, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed metrics such as public online rankings, Wikipedia search volume, and film popularity.
Click here to see the 50 most popular villains of all time.
Many of the most popular villains appear in blockbuster film franchises. Darth Vader, while far from the only villain in the Star Wars universe, is both the most iconic and most popular antagonist in the series. Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter films also appears on the list. His popularity is buoyed by the widespread adoration for the film series. While these villains no doubt contribute to the overall popularity of their respective franchises, the huge success of the films feeds back into the public’s attraction to the characters.
A large portion of these villains also come from the popular genre of superhero movies. Seven are from the Batman universe, with others originating in franchises such as X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy. The creators of these characters seem to go to extra lengths to develop captivating villains so that the many stories starring their heroes do not begin to feel stale.
A third category consists of villains who gained a fan following after a single, influential film appearance. Jack Nicholson’s role as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is one such example. Similarly is Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men.” Both characters were originally conceptualized by novelists before being brought to the silver screen by master filmmakers.
To determine the most popular villains of all time, 24/7 Wall St. created an index based on both positive and negative user votes on rating website Ranker.com, Wikipedia page views over the last two years, and the number of user votes for each villain’s most popular film on the Internet Movie Database. The Wikipedia page views were given less weight in the index to compensate for not every villain having their own page.
50. Kylo Ren
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
> Portrayed by: Adam Driver
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,356,026
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49. Magneto
> Most popular film: X-Men: Days of Future Past
> Portrayed by: Ian McKellen
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 868,075
48. Elle Driver
> Most popular film: Kill Bill: Vol. 1
> Portrayed by: Daryl Hannah
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
47. Bill
> Most popular film: Kill Bill: Vol. 1
> Portrayed by: David Carradine
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 20,306
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46. Norman Stansfield
> Most popular film: Léon: The Professional
> Portrayed by: Gary Oldman
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 69,551
45. Anton Chigurh
> Most popular film: No Country for Old Men
> Portrayed by: Javier Bardem
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 308,724
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44. Jack Torrance
> Most popular film: The Shining
> Portrayed by: Jack Nicholson
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 114,914
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43. Tommy DeVito
> Most popular film: Goodfellas
> Portrayed by: Joe Pesci
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
42. Biff Tannen
> Most popular film: Back to the Future
> Portrayed by: Thomas F. Wilson
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 152,988
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41. Hans Gruber
> Most popular film: Die Hard
> Portrayed by: Alan Rickman
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 38,922
40. Lord Voldemort
> Most popular film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
> Portrayed by: Ralph Fiennes
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,361,624
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39. Keyser Söze
> Most popular film: The Usual Suspects
> Portrayed by: Kevin Spacey
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 454,189
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38. Xenomorph
> Most popular film: Alien
> Portrayed by: Bolaji Badejo
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,016,865
37. King Edward I
> Most popular film: Braveheart
> Portrayed by: Patrick McGoohan
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,368,888
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36. Hector Barbossa
> Most popular film: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
> Portrayed by: Geoffrey Rush
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 324,455
35. T-1000
> Most popular film: Terminator 2
> Portrayed by: Robert Patrick
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 185,685
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34. Frank Costello
> Most popular film: The Departed
> Portrayed by: Jack Nicholson
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
33. Amon Goeth
> Most popular film: Schindler’s List
> Portrayed by: Ralph Fiennes
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 670,562
32. Terminator
> Most popular film: Terminator 2
> Portrayed by: Arnold Schwarzenegger
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 86,783
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31. Thanos
> Most popular film: Guardians of the Galaxy
> Portrayed by: Josh Brolin
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,021,486
30. Boba Fett
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
> Portrayed by: Jeremy Bulloch
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 470,834
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29. Grand Moff Tarkin
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Portrayed by: Peter Cushing
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 766,117
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28. Scar
> Most popular film: The Lion King
> Portrayed by: Jeremy Irons
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 135,485
27. Jabba the Hutt
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Portrayed by: Declan Mulholland
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 413,221
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26. Calvin Candie
> Most popular film: Django Unchained
> Portrayed by: Leonardo DiCaprio
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
25. Commodus
> Most popular film: Gladiator
> Portrayed by: Joaquin Phoenix
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
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24. Scarecrow
> Most popular film: Batman Begins
> Portrayed by: Cillian Murphy
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 523,681
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23. Hans Landa
> Most popular film: Inglourious Basterds
> Portrayed by: Christoph Waltz
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 209,936
22. John Doe
> Most popular film: Se7en
> Portrayed by: Kevin Spacey
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
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21. Talia al Ghul
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight Rises
> Portrayed by: Marion Cotillard
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 567,086
20. Catwoman
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight Rises
> Portrayed by: Anne Hathaway
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,069,113
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19. Michael Corleone
> Most popular film: The Godfather
> Portrayed by: Al Pacino
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 431,197
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18. Palpatine
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
> Portrayed by: Ian McDiarmid
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 824,837
17. Balrog
> Most popular film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Portrayed by: N/A
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 71,231
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16. Vito Corleone
> Most popular film: The Godfather
> Portrayed by: Marlon Brando
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 614,894
15. Ra’s al Ghul
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight Rises
> Portrayed by: Liam Neeson
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 851,165
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14. Witch-king of Angmar
> Most popular film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Portrayed by: Brent McIntyre
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 167,768
13. Loki
> Most popular film: The Avengers
> Portrayed by: Tom Hiddleston
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 761,405
12. Saruman
> Most popular film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Portrayed by: Christopher Lee
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 228,546
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11. Vincent Vega
> Most popular film: Pulp Fiction
> Portrayed by: John Travolta
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
10. Gollum
> Most popular film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Portrayed by: Andy Serkis
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 607,606
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9. Agent Smith
> Most popular film: The Matrix
> Portrayed by: Hugo Weaving
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 151,670
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8. Tyler Durden
> Most popular film: Fight Club
> Portrayed by: Brad Pitt
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 86,389
7. Bane
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight Rises
> Portrayed by: Tom Hardy
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 613,915
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6. Sauron
> Most popular film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
> Portrayed by: Sala Baker
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 829,011
5. Hannibal Lecter
> Most popular film: The Silence of the Lambs
> Portrayed by: Anthony Hopkins
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,221,918
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4. Warden Norton
> Most popular film: The Shawshank Redemption
> Portrayed by: Bob Gunton
> Annual Wikipedia page views: N/A
3. Two-Face
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight
> Portrayed by: Aaron Eckhart
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 570,687
2. Joker
> Most popular film: The Dark Knight
> Portrayed by: Heath Ledger
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,396,277
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1. Darth Vader
> Most popular film: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Portrayed by: David Prowse
> Annual Wikipedia page views: 26,463,128
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