When it comes to the 90s, there is a sense of nostalgia that we all seem to have. Especially in the world of entertainment. The decade, defined by the rise of the World Wide Web, grunge music, and iconic scandals, had some genre-influencing television moments and series. It wasn’t a time when we could sit by our screens and binge a series in one sitting. No, we had to tune in week after week so we could ensure we had something to talk about at the watercooler the next day.
With the concept of weekly viewing often came the idea of the bad guy of the week —those characters who would face off against our protagonists. Some were slated as one-off appearances, while others emerged as recurring villains that we love to hate. In the 90s, every genre had a bad guy. The raunchy nighttime soaps, the classic cartoons, the enthralling mystery thrillers. Even the sitcoms had some villains! We’re here to talk about the worst of the worst. Not that they were bad characters, but their actions made them menacing, evil, and bona fide villains.
10
Valerie Malone (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen)
‘Beverly Hills, 90210’
The 70s and 80s had Dallas and Dynasty. The 90s had Beverly Hills, 90210. For ten seasons, the hit drama followed the lives of a group of friends as they went from high schoolers to adults in the world’s most famous zip code. The show was known for tackling an array of hot-button topics that plagued teens, but like any juicy soap, it needed some drama. For Season 5, Valerie Malone was introduced.
Taken in by the Walsh family, Valerie may have had a sweet disposition, but deep down, there was a manipulative cynic eager to make her mark on Beverly Hills. Nicknamed the Vampiress, she had a reputation for being a bad girl and a gold digger. She found herself sexually entangled with many of the men and at odds with most of the girls. Cheating? Not a bad thing in her eyes! But, like a good villain, her backstory added to her character. Having been sexually molested by her father, it caused her difficulty finding trust, alienating nearly everyone. Portrayed by Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Valerie brought new life into the series, appearing on the show until the end.
- Release Date
-
1990 – 1999
- Network
-
FOX
- Showrunner
-
Darren Star
- Directors
-
Darren Star
9
Angelica Pickles (Cheryl Chase)
‘Rugrats’
If you were a child of the 90s, Nickelodeon had a stronghold on you. Saturday morning cartoons could be found on many networks, but the daily post-school viewing of iconic cartoons rested solely on Nick. From a lovelorn kid to an anthropomorphic wallaby, with a trio of monsters and a football-headed kid in between, Nickelodeon animation dominated children’s viewing. But, perhaps, no show was more influential than the cartoon about cartoon babies.
Rugrats followed the antics of a quartet of toddlers, going on adventures through their imagination. All the while being tormented by a 3-year-old spoiled brat, Angelica Pickles. Often accompanied by her beloved doll, Cynthia, Angelica was often put in charge of watching the other kids. At 3 years old, mind you. She was manipulative, dishonest, and conniving, but being the only kid to be able to talk to the adults, Angelica was always seen as the little angel. Voiced by Cheryl Chase, Angelica Pickles is one of the most legendary cartoon characters because of how much we just love to loathe her!
8
Newman (Wayne Knight)
‘Seinfeld’
When you think of 90s sitcoms, you think of the funny moments that made you laugh at the hilarious antics our protagonists found themselves in. But every so often, there was an atypical villain that would emerge. Seinfeld was a unique show in the sense that the quartet of main characters were really not the best people. As seen in the series finale, karma caught up to them. But even they needed a foil. Played by the hilarious Wayne Knight, Newman was Jerry’s (Jerry Seinfeld) arch-nemesis and Kramer’s (Michael Richards) friend.
An employee of the United States Postal Service, he used his position to one-up the characters. For a show about nothing, the animosity Jerry and Newman had for one another was never revealed. Nevertheless, they feuded nonstop. As a nemesis, he was often engaged in convoluted schemes, paired with his comically sinister tone and nuance, Newman was a cartoon character in human form. One moment, he could be breaking the mailman’s creed of not going out because of the rain. Next, he’s fantasizing about cannibalism. The caricature that was formed made the character a welcome addition, somehow managing to minimize the pettiness of the main characters. Knight’s ability to portray a bombastic and verbose antagonist helped define him as an exceptional character actor of the decade.
7
Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear)
‘Melrose Place’
When you find success, you’re eager to capitalize on it. Thanks to the massive influence and profound success stemming from Beverly Hills, 90210, creator Darren Star and executive producer Aaron Spelling launched another series in the same universe: Melrose Place. Following the lives of young adults living in the same apartment complex, the series brought the same amount of juicy drama as its predecessor.
Though ambitious and merciless, Amanda Woodward has been considered one of television’s nastiest villains. There’s a reason why FOX adopted “Mondays are a b***h” tagline when Heather Locklear‘s character was officially introduced. She loved to stir up controversy and drama as the ad boss, notorious for being mean. If she found an attractive man she liked, it didn’t matter if they were taken or not, she would make them hers. She was conniving and completely untrustworthy. Her complexity as a character, married with the brilliant portrayal by Locklier, catapulted her into the villain hall of fame.
- Release Date
-
1992 – 1999-00-00
- Network
-
FOX
- Directors
-
Charles Correll, Chip Chalmers, Richard Lang, Jefferson Kibbee, Victoria Hochberg, Anson Williams, Nancy Malone, Paul Lazarus, Bethany Rooney, Janet Greek, Thomas Calabro, James Frawley, Charles Braverman, Scott Paulin, Parker Stevenson, James Darren, John Nicolella, Rob Estes, Jeff Melman, Steve Dubin, Steven Robman, James Whitmore Jr., Jack Wagner, Howard Deutch
- Writers
-
Dee Johnson, James Kahn, Chip Hayes, Jule Selbo, Neil Landau, Robert Guza Jr., Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin
6
Angelus (David Boreanaz)
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
When Joss Whedon‘s Buffy the Vampire Slayer debuted on television, no one quite knew how much it would take off and become the cult classic it is today. Following the titular character in her battle against slaying vampires and defeating high school, the teen action series is widely considered one of the greatest series of all time. In a story of good and evil, David Boreanaz got to flirt with both.
His character Angel had an evil side, Angelus. Angel was Buffy’s love interest, yet one of the most evil vampires ever known. As one of the primary antagonists in the Buffyverse, Angelus was ruthless. He murdered his own family. He was no stranger to being a menace of massacre. But when Angel felt a mere pure moment of happiness, Angelus would emerge. He was a terror to Buffy and her friends. Boreanaz’s Angel was so beloved that he earned his own spin-off, Angel, and thus, Angelus followed. He was an unpredictable villain, but a villain who became a heartthrob.
5
Puck Rainey
‘The Real World’
Reality television was essentially born when MTV debuted The Real World in 1992. Depicting the lives of seven strangers, picked to live in a house and have their lives taped, the series became a phenomenon that was simply ahead of its time. Tackling the issues of the day through a documentary lens in weekly format, The Real World gave young adults’ visibility. In the early days of the show, casting was all about ensuring a diverse mixture of individuals that represented a landscape of America. And in doing so, it ensured conversations would be had and conflict would arise.
Though some may point back to a season earlier as the show’s first villain, The Real World: San Francisco had the series’ most notorious bad guy: David “Puck” Rainey. If Pedro Zamora, the openly gay, HIV-positive roommate, was the hero, Puck was absolutely the villain. He was obnoxious, constantly pushing everyone’s buttons. His feuds and confrontations reached a breaking point when his unsanitary actions, including using his fingers to take peanut butter out of his roommate’s jar, caused the house to vote kick him out when Pedro forced them with an ultimatum. Though he would return years later on The Challenge, Puck was the definition of a bad roommate.
4
Mr. Burns (Harry Shearer)
‘The Simpsons’
The Simpsons forever changed the climate of adult cartoons. Matt Groening‘s revolutionary animated sitcom about a dysfunctional family has had an incredible influence on American pop culture. While the titular family is at the center of the action, they have been met with some infamous antagonists and villains over the 36-season-plus run.
Perhaps the most notorious of the show’s bad guys is Mr. Burns. Evil, devious, and greedy, he is the owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer Simpson’s boss. Intended as a dastardly villain, he has wreaked havoc on the main character’s lives as the stereotypical representative of corporate America. If you see someone in real life merge their hands at the fingertips and mutter, “Excellent…” then maybe you should be worried! He is tyrannical nd corrupt with an ego that knows no bounds. Mr. Burns has a laundry list of bad deeds that make him the most notorious villain of the series.
3
The Borg
‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’
Sometimes, when a one-off villain takes off so well, you have to make them recurring. For Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was always an intention to generate new villains rather than recycling a series of previous monsters of the week. Thus, The Borg were developed. Considered some of the most fearsome foes in the Star Trek universe, they began their tenure during the show’s second season.
They had a quest for complete and total domination that made them formidable and frightening opponents. Their ability to co-opt the technology and knowledge of other alien races into their hive mind, “The Collective,” allowed their cyborg presence to become a frightful recurring antagonist. They were not just subjected to the 90s series as they also appeared in other Star Trek universe features and series, including Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and Picard.
2
Leland Palmer (Ray Wise)
‘Twin Peaks’
Nothing has ever matched the twisted thriller like David Lynch‘s spellbinding Twin Peaks. Pushing the boundaries of what a typical network drama could be, Twin Peaks has continued to keep fans engaged in conversation over elements of the show. What made the series so beloved was the complexity of the characters created and crafted on screen. Some were diabolical and fantastical, while others were rooted deeply in reality. And, for this particular show, they were the worst among the seedy characters living in this fictional Washington town.
The complexity of Leland Palmer was made even more frightening through his portrayal by Ray Wise. Though Leland Palmer begins the series as a well-respected lawyer, mourning the murder of his daughter, Laura Palmer, his foundations slowly unravel to reveal a treasure trove of extreme psychological instability. Of course, it’s revealed that Leland was being possessed and manipulated by the evil spirit BOB (Frank Silva). Leland Palmer was an enticing character because he was simply terrifying. And it was simply terrifying to watch, at first, a rooted human fall into utter chaos.
1
The Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis)
‘The X-Files’
Imagine being such a villainous power that you’re simply referred to by your descriptor? Such was the case for The X-Files‘ The Cigarette Smoking Man. Played by William B. Davis, he was a mysterious operative working with the FBI and the Pentagon while working with the Syndicate to hide the truth from the public. As the prime antagonist of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the chain-smoking villain is no stranger to conspiracy, murder, and never truly dying.
Originally meant to be a background player, the character expanded to be the most influential villain of the series and the decade. His ability to manipulate from the shadows and thwart the plans of our dynamic duo, his ability to emerge as a deviously cunning mastermind willing to commit brutal acts, helped make The X-Files groundbreaking.