10 Most Underrated TV Villains, Ranked

5 days ago 6
Villains

3

Sign in to your Collider account

10-Most-Underrated-TV-Villains Image by Jefferson Chacon

Deep down, everybody loves a great antagonist who is oh so good at being bad, a nefarious and unscrupulous evil who is worth hating with a passion. With the rampant rise of television entertainment as a prestigious storytelling form, such antagonists on the small screen have become commonplace, be they utterly detestable cretins like Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) or charismatic psychopaths like Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan from The Walking Dead.

While there have been many small-screen villains that have come to define their respective shows and, to some extent, become icons of television as a medium, there have also been plenty whose rambunctious roguishness has been overlooked by the masses. From sadistic serial killers to supremely skilled and sinister assassins, these underrated antagonists are truly among the very best that television has ever presented.

10 Kilgrave

'Jessica Jones' (2015-2019)

Jessica Jones

Not only the most underrated villain from Netflix’s Marvel series, but possibly the most underappreciated antagonist in the superhero genre on the screen of late, Kilgrave (David Tennant) is an ever-transfixing figure throughout the first season of Jessica Jones. He is the most cruel and vile villain the Marvel Cinematic Universe has featured, with his history with Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) seeing him use his mind-control abilities to keep her captive as his sex slave for an extended period of time.

Developing a grotesque and deeply disturbing obsession with Jones, Kilgrave begins manipulating people to get close to Jones as he strives to destroy her life as a private investigator and drive her back to him. Not only is he among the most heinous villains superhero cinema has seen, but Tennant imbues him with a certain menace and magnetism that only makes him all the more powerful to audiences.

Jessica Jones Poster

Jessica Jones

Release Date November 20, 2015

Seasons 3

9 Carl Elias

'Person of Interest' (2011-2016)

Person of Interest Image via CBS

Running with an intriguing high-concept premise, Person of Interest ran for five seasons, following a mysterious reclusive billionaire and an ex-CIA agent as they join forces to prevent catastrophes using a device known as “the Machine” that could predict future terrorist attacks and provide the identity of the attackers. Throughout the series, the duo come up against many vile characters, with Carl Elias (Enrico Colantoni) always presenting as the most intriguing and developed.

A new crime boss with great ambition and intelligence, he is initially a touch unassuming, even building something of a mutual respect with John Reese (Jim Caviezel). However, when he was forced to use his menace and might, Elias proved just how ruthless a character he was. Ultimately, he excels as a mighty villain, but not a completely amoral one, with his unique code and his developing respect for Reese making him one of the most compelling characters in the series and one of the most underrated antagonists of early 2010s television.

Person of Interest TV Poster

Person of Interest

Release Date September 22, 2011

Seasons 5

Network CBS

8 Glory

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997-2003)

A strawberry blonde woman with blue eyes is depicted wearing red and sitting in a red patterned chair, looking out into something off-screen Image via 20th Century Fox

Villainy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a certain knack of seeping into pop-culture circles, especially when the series was running through the late 90s and early 2000s. While antagonists like Angelus (David Boreanaz), Richard Wilkins III aka The Mayor (Harry Groener), and even Spike (James Marsters) with his villain-to-hero arc have come to be universally known as bastions of the series’ villainy, Clare Kramer’s Glory remains somewhat overlooked.

Short for Glorificus, Glory is a god from a hell dimension who is ousted by her two equals who feared she would seize control for herself. Banished to Earth, she becomes the primary antagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s fifth season. While she is perhaps underestimated on account of her having the personality of a ditzy teenage girl, Glory is imbued with ferocious power. It makes her pursuit of Dawn (Joyce Harris) all the more intense. This, along with her wickedly entertaining screen presence and Kramer’s effervescent and scene-stealing performance, makes Glory arguably the best villain of the series and one of the most underrated antagonists in fantasy television history.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Poster

Release Date March 10, 1997

Cast Sarah Michelle Gellar , Nicholas Brendon , Alyson Hannigan , Anthony Stewart Head , James Marsters , Emma Caulfield Ford , Michelle Trachtenberg , Charisma Carpenter , David Boreanaz , Kristine Sutherland , Amber Benson , Seth Green , Marc Blucas , Danny Strong , Tom Lenk , Eliza Dushku , Armin Shimerman , Juliet Landau , Adam Busch , Robia LaMorte , Mercedes McNab , Harry Groener , Charlie Weber , D.B. Woodside , Iyari Limon , Clare Kramer , Bailey Chase , Leonard Roberts , Sarah Hagan , Lindsay Crouse

Seasons 7

Network The WB

7 Robert Quarles

'Justified' (2010-2015)

Justified Image via FX

Following trigger-happy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) as he is sent to his hometown of Kentucky’s Harlan County and focusing on the criminals he encounters along the way, Justified has a tendency to be as good as the central villain of any given time allows it to be. When Walton Goggins’ Boyd Crowder takes center stage, it’s a fun and engaging thrill. When Season 5 sees the Crowe family serving as the major antagonist, it loses steam. In this regard, Season 3’s Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough) is nothing short of sensational.

McDonough has become something of a television icon himself in recent years for his prolific and ever-magnificent work across a vast range of television series. Justified is perhaps the series that most enables him to chew the scenery as a nefarious villain. Representing a major crime family in Detroit, he plans to infiltrate Kentucky and forge documents that would make him a legal supplier of OxyCONTIN. Carrying out his goals with such fervor and effervescence, Quarles becomes an almost lovable character of Season 3, and remains one of the most infectiously brilliant seasonal villains television has ever seen.

Justified TV Poster

Release Date March 16, 2010

Seasons 6

6 Villanelle

'Killing Eve' (2018-2022)

Jodie Comer as Villanelle in Killing Eve Image via BBC Network

An engrossing spy thriller series that made an instant impression with a relentlessly suspenseful and magnetic first season, Killing Eve is a wickedly entertaining spectacle of deadly stakes and a complex rivalry. Sandra Oh stars as Eve Polastri, the newest member of a covert MI6 tasked with locating and apprehending Villanelle (Jodie Comer), an elusive master assassin working for a secret international organization known as The Twelve.

Killing Eve is defined by the quality of its two central characters, with Comer truly exceptional as the ruthless Villanelle, a psychotic and disturbed assassin who develops a powerful and complicated obsession with Eve. A brutal murderer with a deadly skillset who is enriched by the series’ focus on the precarious mutual allure between her and Eve, Villanelle is among the greatest female antagonists television has ever seen. Even when the series dropped off in later seasons, Comer remained as captivating a screen presence as ever.

killing-eve-poster.jpg

Release Date April 8, 2018

Cast Adrian Scarborough , Sandra Oh , Nina Sosanya , Edward Bluemel , Kirby Howell-Baptiste , Danny Sapani , Fiona Shaw , Kim Bodnia , Harriet Walter , Steve Pemberton , Sean Delaney , Henry Lloyd-Hughes , David Haig , Jodie Comer , turlough convery , Raj Bajaj , Gemma Whelan , Camille Cottin , Owen McDonnell

Seasons 4

Network BBC

5 Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall

'Outlander' (2014-)

Outlander Image via Starz

One of the most vile and contemptible figures the small screen has ever seen, “Black Jack” Randall (Tobias Menzies) is a villain of immense notoriety to fans of Outlander, but he has had surprisingly little impact beyond the series’ fanbase despite the extent of his villainy. The historical drama fantasy series follows Claire (Caitríona Balfe) as she finds herself sent back 200 years into the past to 1743 Scotland, where she meets and falls in love with Jamie Fraser (Sam Hughen), a Highland warrior. She also crosses paths with Black Jack Randall, an English soldier and the ancestor of her fiancé in 1945.

While presenting as the distinguished son of a nobleman, Randall is actually a ruthless sadist who commands through fear and harbors a despicable infatuation for sexual violence and imparting immense physical and psychological trauma to his victims. Brutish, domineering, and lacking any semblance of morality or remorse, Randall is a figure of profound menace, one that Menzies brings to the screen with exceptional presence to ensure he lingers on the mind of viewers with both spite and terror.

Outlander Season 7 Poster

Release Date August 9, 2014

Cast Caitriona Balfe , Sam Heughan , Sophie Skelton , Richard Rankin , John Bell , Duncan Lacroix , Tobias Menzies , César Domboy , Caitlin O'Ryan , Lauren Lyle , Grant O'Rourke , Graham McTavish , Paul Gorman , Charles Vandervaart , Stephen Walters , David Berry , Sarah Collier

Seasons 7

4 V. M. Varga

'Fargo' (2014-2024)

Fargo Image via FX

A loosely connected anthology series following different stories of temptation, travesty, and crime in the area of Fargo, Minnesota, Fargo is ultimately defined by its excessive range of incredible yet quirky characters. Many of the best of these come in the form of the series’ villains, with the likes of Season 1’s Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and Season 4’s Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley) particular standouts. However, one antagonist that has flown under the radar is David Thewlis’ V. M. Varga from Season 3.

Infiltrating his way into Emmit Stussy’s (Ewan McGregor) business, Varga is a conniving and excessively articulate criminal mastermind who, despite presenting himself as a humble servant, is always the most powerful figure in the room. Also suffering from bulimia, speculating on conspiracy theories, expressing a certain admiration for Joseph Stalin, and living a life of scrubby minimalism despite his wealth, Varga is one of the most enigmatic and compelling villains Fargo has presented, and one of the most overlooked television has ever seen.

3 Leone Busker / The Shadow King

'Legion' (2017-2019)

Lenny Busker (Aubrey Plaza) sitting down and taking notes in FX's Legion. Image via FX

Such is the scarcity of great female villains that when one comes around they tend to be celebrated far and wide. One that has mysteriously not been showered in the universal praise she so deserves is Aubrey Plaza’s portrayal of the Shadow King aka Amahl Farouk in FX’s Legion. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, it follows a schizophrenic man as he discovers the voices in his head and the visions he sees are actually a byproduct of an immensely powerful parasite he must live with.

While Plaza first appears as Leone Busker, a woman whose history of alcohol and substance abuse has had no impact on her relentless optimism, the character dies in the first episode. However, she then presents as the main embodiment of the Shadow King, a malignant figment of the parasite in David Haller’s (Dan Stevens) mind, the lecherous entity that siphons David’s abilities while manipulating his behavior until it is powerful enough to thrive on its own.

LegionTagPage

Release Date February 8, 2017

Seasons 3

2 Francis Dolarhyde

'Hannibal' (2013-2015)

Hannibal Image via NBC

A crime series of exceptional decadence and gruesome creativity, Hannibal thrives as arguably the most lavish and stylized display of villainy the small screen has ever seen. Mads Mikkelsen obviously commands the series in his supporting role as the titular Hannibal Lecter, but it includes several other magnificent recurring villains, like Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard) and Mason Verger (Michael Pitt). Among the most underrated of these characters is Richard Armitage’s Francis Dolahyde, perhaps more commonly known as “The Tooth Fairy”.

He is likely so overlooked because he emerged in the show’s lackluster third season, but Dolarhyde is one of the most disturbing figures in the series. His split personality disorder gives rise to an alter-ego he refers to as “The Great Red Dragon”. Under this persona, Dolarhyde carries out horrific mass murders on entire families with tactical precision and his sheer physical strength. He lacks the polished gleam that some of Hannibal’s other villains are presented with, but therein lies his excellence. It makes him a cold, violent, and deeply unsettling serial killer who strikes fear into audiences with his sporadic behavioral shifts and his penchant for brutality.

Hannibal TV Series Poster

Release Date April 4, 2013

Seasons 3

Network NBC

1 Thor "The Swede" Gunderson

'Hell on Wheels' (2011-2016)

Christopher Heyerdahl as The Swede on 'Hell on Wheels' Image via AMC

Christopher Heyerdahl is one of television’s best and most underrated actors, especially when it comes to portraying effective and memorable villains. It would be easy to argue that his best work comes in Hell on Wheels, a historical Western drama from AMC that follows Civil War soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) as his quest to avenge the murder of his family leads him to the Union Pacific Railroad. Hired as the foreman of the railroad, Bohannon clashes with many of the laborers, surveyors, mercenaries, and prostitutes who follow its expansion towards a new future.

Among the most callous and unnerving figures he comes across is Heyerdahl’s Thor Gunderson, aka The Swede, the clinical yet psychotic head of security of the railroad who quickly develops a spiteful animosity towards Bohannon. Wickedly conniving, murderously insane, and even twisted and sadistic when afforded the chance, Gunderson is a spectacular antagonist, one that both riles up the audience while making their blood run cold and, on occasion, even amusing them with his unsettling peculiarities. Given his ferocious vendetta against Bohannon, his unrivaled resourcefulness, and his calculated brutality, the Swede is not only the single most underrated villain on television, but one of the very best the medium has ever seen as well.

hell-on-wheels-tv-show-poster.jpg

Release Date August 12, 2012

Cast Anson Mount , Colm Meaney , Robin McLeavy , Christopher Heyerdahl , Phil Burke , Common , Dohn Norwood , Kasha Kropinski , Ben Esler , Jennifer Ferrin , Dominique McElligott , Tom Noonan , Tim Guinee , Duncan Ollerenshaw , Jake Weber , Angela Zhou , Byron Mann , Tayden Marks , MacKenzie Porter , April Telek , Eddie Spears , David Wilson Barnes

Seasons 5

Creator(s) Joe Gayton , Tony Gayton

NEXT: The 10 Most Underrated TV Shows of 2024, Ranked

Read Entire Article