Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the shows mentioned.There are more fantastic TV villains from TV series than we can count, some of the most iconic being Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal, Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones, and Homelander from The Boys. Then there are those classic anti-heroes fans love, even though they do horrible things, like Dexter Morgan from Dexter and Walter White from Breaking Bad.
Every show with heroes and villains has someone who fits each classification from one season to the next. Some shows introduce a new villain for a season, after which they depart. But even the best one-season villains leave their mark in a short period of time.
10
Choi Su-bong “Thanos”
‘Squid Game’ – Season 2 (2024)
While Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) was a surprise villain in season one of Squid Game, revealed at the end to have been one of the architects of the game, Thanos (T.O.P.) from Season 2 was arguably an even bigger villain. He was unhinged, erratic, and selfish, taking drugs while competing and making moves that directly harmed others, feeling no remorse when he did so. Because he was fearless, largely a product of the drugs he was taking, Thanos was one of the most, if not the most, dangerous players. He didn’t only make moves in the most terrifying Squid Game levels that put others in danger so he could save himself, he made moves that put even himself in danger.
Thanos was a stereotypical narcissistic villain, focused on his reputation as a famous rapper and the adoration of others above everything else. His arrogant attitude wound up costing him his life.
9
Yvonne “Vee” Parker
‘Orange is the New Black’ – Season 2 (2014)
As the main antagonist of Season 2 of Orange is the New Black, Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) arrived at Litchfield, already a familiar face to some of the female inmates. This includes Taystee (Danielle Brooks), who Vee used to help her sell drugs prior to their incarceration, posing as a mother figure to the lost young girl. While she came across as charismatic and smart, she was also manipulative, fitting the definition of a psychopath. Engaging in criminal activities that put all the ladies at risk, her ultimate goal was to gain power, influence, money, and control. She pitted the ladies against one another, then sat back and enjoyed the show. Even those who thought they were her friends quickly learned that Vee only used people to her advantage, then discarded them when they could no longer serve her.
It’s when Vee tries to attack Red (Kate Mulgrew) that the women rally against her. She manages to escape, but she encounters Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat), who is doing the same. Her former fellow inmates purposely swerve off the road to run Vee over with the prison van she has stolen, and she succeeds, leaving Vee for dead.
8
Gyp Rosetti
‘Boardwalk Empire’ – Season 3 (2012)
Portrayed beautifully by Bobby Cannavale, Gyp Rosetti from Boardwalk Empire is a New York City gangster who has a penchant for extreme violence. His impulsive nature means even those who he calls friends and allies fear him. The first scene proves just how horrendous he is when he beats a good Samaritan to death who tried to help him because of a single off-hand comment.
It’s when Gyp tries to overtake Nucky’s (Steve Buscemi) territory, however, that his storyline becomes interesting. Filled with rage, unpredictable, and downright terrifying, Gyp ends up being taken down by his own right-hand man once he has had enough of Gyp’s reign of terror.
7
Stormfront
‘The Boys’ – Season 2 (2020)
Stormfront (Aya Cash) from The Boys not only manipulates Homelander (Antony Starr) and the American people, she’s also a closeted Nazi who has spread hate and vitriol for more than a century. A proponent of white supremacy, she tries to hide her true feelings. But it’s evident that she not only wants to eliminate all non-Whites from America, but also takes great pleasure in killing them herself. She even uses a racial slur when addressing Kenji (Abraham Lim).
While Stormfront, one of the best villains in The Boys, technically appears in the third season of The Boys as well, she is a shell of her former self by this time, on life support and burned to a crisp. Even then, however, she begs Homelander to help her by building an army of super-powered Nazis. He declines, but the request itself proves that she was awful, through and through.
6
Commander Gabriel Wharton
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – Season 6 (2025)
Mentioned previously but only seen in the final sixth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, Commander Gabriel Wharton (Josh Charles) was the worst type of villain. He masked his villainy with sweetness and kindness. He put on a front, making Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) fall right into the trap of believing that he was different than the others, that he wanted to build a new Gilead that was different from the old one. He put Serena on a pedestal, so she felt that he respected women and their role in the world.
However, the glimpses of conversations he had with Nick (Max Minghella) and the complete 180 he pulled in attitude after his wedding proved that Gabriel was a wolf trying to wear sheep’s clothing. From wanting a handmaid in their home despite Serena’s insistence she didn’t agree with the idea anymore (not to mention she was clearly able to get pregnant) to attempting to hang Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), June (Elisabeth Moss), and the other handmaids, and asserting his presence to Serena, he was downright awful. Gabriel was one character who got on that plane that fans were not sad to see go.
5
Viserys Targaryen
‘Game of Thrones’ – Season 1 (2011)
Before Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) emerged as the Mother of Dragons and Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, she was a less confident young woman. She was dominated by her brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd), an overly confident, arrogant young man who felt that he had a stake of claim to the Iron Throne and Daenerys was merely a tool to help him get there.
He was so focused on becoming king, in fact, that he was happy to force his sister into marriage to a warlord, effectively selling her in exchange for thousands of warriors to help his cause. When Dany refuses, Viserys told her he would happily allow her to be raped by all those warriors if it meant he would get his throne back. In a sweet sense of justice, however, Viserys’ greed and complete disregard for his sister are his ultimate downfall once she begins to embrace her own power, and he becomes the disregarded one. His death in Game of Thrones is brutal and painful, yet fans were OK with him getting the “crown” he felt he deserved.
4
Mayor Richard Wilkins III
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ – Season 3 (1999)
In the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Richard Wilkins III (Harry Groener), the mayor of Sunnyvale, took a turn for the worst when he decided to make deals with demons and vampires. All of a sudden, the man tasked with protecting his city becomes someone in power working against it.
Through an entire school year, he secretly plots against Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the others by sending supernatural threats their way, even trying to convince Faith (Eliza Dushku), a new slayer, to go against her own friends. His bitter end involved turning into a giant reptile and dying, but not before the battle resulted in the school being destroyed. He was an unlikely but manipulative and awful villain.
3
Shane Walsh
‘The Walking Dead’ – Season 2 (2011)
While Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) was in The Walking Dead from its short, first season, it wasn’t until Season 2 that his villainous nature began to show. He left his best friend and former police partner Rick (Andrew Lincoln) for dead in a coma, insisting that he thought there was no way he would be able to get both himself and Rick out alive. Then, he took up with Rick’s wife, believing Rick to be gone and lying to Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) that he was.
But in The Walking Dead Season 2, when Rick miraculously shows up, it’s a battle for power between the two men. Shane proves to have no moral code, killing with ease and desperate to lead with brute force and no mercy. When he sacrifices Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) to save himself, it’s a turning point for the character who goes on to attempt to kill his best friend. Rick kills Shane first, however, and in a sense of poetic justice, Shane is shot in the head after turning by a young Carl (Chandler Riggs).
2
Todd Alquist
‘Breaking Bad’ – Season 5 (2012–2013)
Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons) in Breaking Bad proved to be the most vicious, psychopathic killer that Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and the others came across. The gangster by night, former exterminator by day, proved just how heartless he was when he killed an innocent young kid who happened upon their criminal activities while riding his bike in the desert.
Todd went on to commit more heinous acts, most notably executing Jesse’s (Aaron Paul) girlfriend Andrea (Emily Rios) right in front of him, leaving her son Brock (Ian Posada) an orphan. The character returned in the sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. But Jesse finally got his revenge, and Todd was eliminated before he could hurt anyone else.
1
Arthur Mitchell (Trinity Killer)
‘Dexter’ – Season 4 (2009)
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Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow) was a large part of why Season 4 of Dexter was arguably the best season of the show. He portrayed a ritualistic serial killer who hid his activities behind the guise of traveling across the U.S., helping to build homes for people in need. His troubled childhood, however, left him killing in fours: he buries a 10-year-old boy, murders a woman in a bathtub, causes a woman to fall to her death, and bludgeons a father of two.
The cat and mouse chase between Arthur and Dexter (Michael C. Hall,) once both men figure out who the other is, is electric, their first meeting in Dexter’s office in the well-loved “Hello, Dexter Morgan” episode creating nail-biting tension. Mitchell’s final act before dying changes the trajectory of the show, and Dexter’s life, forever. There has never since been a single-season villain so beautifully portrayed, so malicious behind the mask of servitude, and so downright evil.
