From Vecna to Mr Burns: TV’s greatest ever villains

Javier Bardem biting off toes in Cape Fear, Richard Gadd stomping on heads in Half Man and nightmare neighbour David Morrissey whipping up mob violence in Tip Toe — TV villainy is everywhere. When compiling the list, children’s TV, reality pariahs and talent-show judges were set aside; the focus stayed squarely on comedy and drama, where fictional malice can be at its worst.

Honourable mentions include Glee’s Sue Sylvester, Lost’s Benjamin Linus, Outlander’s Black Jack Randall and Succession’s Logan Roy, all narrowly missing the cut. Several Star Wars and Marvel antagonists were also excluded, which is why names like Wilson Fisk (Daredevil), Kilgrave (Jessica Jones) and Dedra Meero (Andor) do not appear.

The resulting rogues’ gallery counts down the top 20 television baddies.

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