While some TV villains are memorable because they’re tragic, complex, charismatic, or influential, others linger in viewers’ brains simply because they are really, really evil.
Over the past 25 years, a handful of series antagonists have etched their names in television infamy, not just for their on-screen misdeeds, but for their complete absence of remorse, empathy, or moral compass. These TV villains aren’t just cruel — they’re totally irredeemable.
Two standout examples hail from HBO’s Game of Thrones: the spoiled and sadistic boy-king Joffrey Baratheon, and the monstrous Ramsay Bolton. Both high fantasy bad guys gleefully relish in torture (both physical and psychological), brutality, and their flagrant abuses of power, making them some of the most hated antagonists on a TV show stacked with great villains.
READ MORE: 10 Great Movies Where the Villain Is the Hero
In Amazon’s The Boys, Homelander takes villainy to terrifying new heights as a corrupt, narcissistic, and mega-powerful superhero with a serious god complex and zero regard for human life. Speaking of superheroes and their foes, there’s also Kilgrave from Netflix’s Jessica Jones, a charming, mind-controlling predator who uses others as his puppets without a shred of conscience.
What makes these TV characters especially wicked is their lack of contrition, enjoyment of others’ suffering, and total resistance to change or character growth. They aren’t misunderstood, tragic, or broken — they’re unapologetic monsters shaped by cruelty, power, and choice. And they’re pure evil.
The Most Evil TV Villains of the Last 25 Years
From superpowered sociopaths to ruthless tyrants and demonic inter-dimensional beings, these are the least redeemable, most wickedly evil TV villains of the last 25 years (2000-2024).
Gallery Credit: Erica Russell
