A Filmmaker's Review of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time

Villains are everywhere in film and there are several different types of them and what we're going to cover is who these villains are that make the greatest characters in film history. Let's first go through what a villain is:

According to the dictionary a villain is:

"...a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot."

This means that the character must be: evil, one of the main characters AND have motives that change the plot. Therefore, we can assume that the evil character will be either opposite some sort of heroic character or be a main character all by themselves. Another thing we can assume is that a villainous character and an antagonist are very similar, if not the same, archetype. And remember, a villain can be a main character as well, in which the film revolves around their actions and story.

When we look at superhero villains, we will look at separate Jokers because of the fact every single one is so different to the last. And when we look at films that have been remade, again we'll look at separate portrayals of characters.

We will write it as:

(Character) portrayed by (Actor's Name) in (Film), (Year)

So, without further introduction, I present to you my personal opinion of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time:

100-91

100. Terry Benedict portrayed by Andy Garcia in Ocean's 11 (2001)

99. Esther portrayed by Isabelle Fuhrman in Orphan (2009)

98. Dr. Strangelove portrayed by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)

97. Captain Renault portrayed by Claude Rains in Casablanca (1942)

96. Hans Beckert portrayed by Peter Lorre in M (1931)

95. Christof portrayed by Ed Harris in The Truman Show (1998)

94. Frank Booth portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet (1986)

93. Silas portrayed by Paul Bettany in The Da Vinci Code (2006)

92. Isaac Chroner portrayed by John Franklin in Children of the Corn (1984)

91. Frank Lucas portrayed by Denzel Washington in American Gangster (2007)

90-81

90. The Child Catcher portrayed by Robert Helpmann in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

89. Jordan Belfort portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

88. Brick Top portrayed by Alan Ford in Snatch (2000)

87. Percy Whitmore portrayed by Doug Hutchison in The Green Mile (1999)

86. Carmine Falcone portrayed by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins (2005)

85. Yubaba voiced by Suzanne Pleshette in Spirited Away (2001)

84. John Milton portrayed by Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate (1997)

83. Marcellus Wallace portrayed by Ving Rhames in Pulp Fiction (1994)

82. Killmonger portrayed by Michael B Jordan in Black Panther (2018)

81. Col. Quaritch portrayed by Stephen Lang in Avatar (2009)

80-71

80. Kurtz portrayed by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now (1979)

79. Ed Rooney portrayed by Jeffrey Jones in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

78. Caledon Hockley portrayed by Billy Zane in Titanic (1997)

77. Richard Vernon portrayed by Paul Gleason in The Breakfast Club (1985)

76. The Winter Soldier portrayed by Sebastian Stan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

75. Miranda portrayed by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

74. Carrie White portrayed by Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)

73. Frank N Furter portrayed by Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

72. Raoul Silva portrayed by Javier Bardem in Skyfall (2012)

71. Le Chiffre portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale (2007)

70-61

70. Vincent Vega portrayed by John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994)

69. Castor Troy portrayed by Nicholas Cage in Face/Off (1997)

68. Jackson Rippner portrayed by Cillian Murphy in Red Eye (2005)

67. Jean-Baptiste portrayed by Ben Whishaw in Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006)

66. Talia portrayed by Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

65. Hartman portrayed by R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket (1987)

64. Col. Jessep portrayed by Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)

63. Angel Eyes portrayed by Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)

62. Max Cady portrayed by Robert De Niro in Cape Fear (1991)

61. Calvin Candie portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained (2013)

60-51

60. Tyler Durden portrayed by Brad Pitt in Fight Club (1999)

59. Moriarty portrayed by Jared Harris in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

58. Lucius Malfoy portrayed by Jason Isaacs in Harry Potter (2001-2011)

57. Sweeney Todd portrayed by Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd (2008)

56. Stansfield portrayed by Gary Oldman in Leon: The Professional (1994)

55. Warden portrayed by Bob Gunton in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

54. The Possessed Reagan McNeill portrayed by Linda Blair in The Exorcist (1972)

53. Mr. Blonde portrayed by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs (1992)

52. Frank Costello portrayed by Jack Nicholson in The Departed (2006)

51. Commodus portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator (2000)

50-41

50. Bellatrix Lestrange portrayed by Helena Bonham-Carter in Harry Potter (2007-2011)

49. The Sheriff portrayed by Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

48. Scarecrow/Dr. Crane portrayed by Cillian Murphy in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012)

47. Leatherface portrayed by Gunnar Hansen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

46. Tommy DeVito portrayed by Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)

45. Beetlejuice portrayed by Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice (1988)

44. Buffalo Bill portrayed by Ted Levine in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

43. Harvey Dent/Two-Face portrayed by Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight (2008)

42. Patrick Bateman portrayed by Christian Bale in American Psycho (2000)

41. Bill Cutting portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York (2002)

40-31

40. Hans Landa portrayed by Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Bastards (2009)

39. Jigsaw portrayed by Tobin Bell in the Saw Films (2004-2017)

38. Jason Vorhees portrayed by Ari Lehman in Friday the 13th (1980)

37. Pennywise portrayed by Tim Curry in It (1990)

36. Bane portrayed by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

35. Magneto portrayed by Ian McKellan in X-Men (2000)

34. Terminator portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator (1984)

33. Anton Chigurh portrayed by Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men (2007)

32. Gollum portrayed by Andy Serkis in Lord of the Rings (2001-2014)

31. Baby Jane Hudson portrayed by Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962)

30-21

30. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker portrayed by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

29. Alonzo Harris portrayed by Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)

28. Palpatine portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in Star Wars (1983-2005)

27. Lord Voldemort portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Harry Potter 4-8 (2005-2011)

26. Angier portrayed by Hugh Jackman in The Prestige (2006)

25. Sauron portrayed by Alan Howard (voice) in Lord of the Rings (2001-2014)

24. Agent Smith portrayed by Hugo Weaving in The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2003)

23. Michael Meyers portrayed by Nick Castle in Halloween (1978)

22. Roger Kint portrayed by Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (1995)

21. Vito Corleone portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)

20-11

20. Alex DeLarge portrayed by Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange (1972)

19. Amon Goeth portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List (1993)

18. Jack Torrance portrayed by Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980)

17. Travis Bickle portrayed by Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver (1976)

16. Count Dracula portrayed by Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931)

15. Eleanor Iselin portrayed by Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

14. The Wicked Witch of the West portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

13. Freddy Kruger portrayed by Robert Englund in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

12. Annie Wilkes portrayed by Kathy Bates in Misery (1990)

11. Gordon Gekko portrayed by Michael Douglas in Wall Street (1987)

10-1

10. Count Orlok portrayed by Max Schrek in Nosferatu (1922)

9. Hans Gruber portrayed by Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988)

8. John Doe portrayed by Kevin Spacey in Seven (1995)

7. Nurse Ratched portrayed by Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

6. Norman Bates portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Psycho (1960)

5. Hannibal Lecter portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

4. The Joker portrayed by Jack Nicholson in Batman (1989)

3. Michael Corleone portrayed by Al Pacino in The Godfather I-III (1972-1990)

2. The Joker portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)

1. Daniel Plainview portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)