Top 10 Revenge Movie Villains

Top 10 Revenge Movie Villains

The revenge tale is as old as literature. Audiences cannot help but get caught up in a plot where the hero is pursuing a villain who wronged him. The following list of revenge movie villains is organized by evilest and, therefore, most satisfying to see brought down by the hero. These are all great movies to revisit when you feel taken advantage of, when someone anger you or whenever you feel mad.

No. 10 Col. Hans Landa

Movie: Inglourious Basterds
Evil deeds: Nazi officer, assists in genocide.

Christoph Waltz won an Academy Award for playing “The Jew Hunter.” Some readers may be surprised that this Nazi isn’t higher on the list. Obviously he’s a horrible villain who did unspeakable things, however, he’s damn charismatic and it’s hard for viewers to truly hate him. Plus, he does come around to the right side in the end, even if it is just because he’s losing.


No.9 Cyril Kinnear

Movie: Get Carter
Evil deeds: British crime boss, kills innocent men and forces innocent girls into prostitution.

British crime films in the 1970s were dark and without happy endings. Kinnear is a disgusting human who leads a violent crime ring, forces innocent girls into making porn films and murders those threatening to expose him. Too bad he messes with Jack Carter’s family and gets worked over. Still, Kinnear continues to get final jabs in at the end.


No.8 Bucho

Movie: Desperado

Evil deeds: Mexican drug lord, kills his brother’s lover and tries to kill his little brother.


Bucho rules his area of Mexico with drug money and fear, allowing no one to get in his way. El Mariachi searches for revenge against Bucho for murdering his lover. Bucho ups his security and kills anyone suspicious, but “the man in black” still finds him. We learn that they were brothers the whole time.

No.7 Warden Norton

Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Evil deeds: Allows violent prison corruption, steals government money and ruins men’s lives for his own gain.

Norton preaches Christianity to the inmates at Shawshank State Penitentiary, yet allows prison guards to violently beat helpless men and steals money meant for the establishment. He helps Andy only when it’s advantageous for him, but screws him over when it’s clear Andy could be innocent of murdering his wife. In the end, he’s weak and detestable.

No.6 Fernand Mondego

Movie: The Count of Monte Cristo
Evil deeds: Ruins his best friend’s life out of jealousy, frames him for a crime and steals his fiancee.

Guy Pearce did an excellent job playing one of literature’s best revenge villains in the 2002 film. Mondego and his friend Edmond Dantes are officers on a French trading ship. When Dantes begins to excel in life, Mondego frames his friend for treason, injures him so he cannot escape and steals his fiancee. Mondego goes on to live an extravagant life he cannot afford with Dantes’ would-be wife, making Dantes’ revenge even sweeter.

No.5 Frank

Movie: Once Upon a Time in the West
Evil deeds: Cold-blooded killer, murders innocent people for a railroad tycoon, double-crosses his employer, and rapes the widow of a man he killed.

It is too bad Henry Fonda usually played the good guy, because he makes an excellent villain in this Spaghetti Western. He’s hired to intimidate a family off their land so a railroad can be built. He just murders them, rapes the wife and forces her to sign over the land to him. By the film’s end, Frank has so many enemies, his enemies have to protect him just to have the privilege to kill him.


No.4 Judge Turpin

Movie: Sweeney Todd
Evil deeds: Crooked judge, sentences Benjamin Barker to life for a false crime, rapes his wife, and steals his daughter.

Turpin lusts after the barber’s wife, so he simply sentences him to life imprisonment in Australia. Barker’s wife is so grief-stricken after being raped by Turpin, she commits suicide. No matter, Turpin just goes for the daughter instead.  However, when she rejects his marriage proposal, he sends her to an insane asylum. This all turns Barker (now Sweeney Todd) into an insane killer.


No.3 Alonzo

Movie: Training Day
Evil deeds: A crooked cop, he murders, steals, attempts to frame his new partner, and gets him murdered.

Denzel Washington plays such an amazing bad guy, viewers feel like they’re being tricked along with the hero. When Alonzo’s new partner Jake arrives, he tricks him into taking drugs just so he can frame him with a blood test later. Jake proves to be incorruptible when Alonzo tries to give him drug money. He also proves to be crafty when Alonzo abandons him in a dangerous gang neighborhood and exposes Alonzo’s true colors.


No.2 Bill

Movie: Kill Bill: Vol. 1& 2
Evil deeds: Leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, double-crosses his agent and lover, and then shoots her after she tells him she’s pregnant with his baby.

Quentin Tarantino casting David Carradine as Bill was nothing short of genius. He is a perfect kung-fu villain. Bill turns his death squad against The Bride when she tries to leave for the health of her unborn baby. In the end, we learn that he’s saved their daughter after putting The Bride in a coma, but still tries to murder her again.


No.1 Commodus

Movie: Gladiator
Evil deeds: Murders his father to claim the Roman throne, orders the killing of Maximus and his family, and becomes a corrupt leader.

When Commodus learns that his father, the king, is going to appoint Maximus as the leader instead of him, he murders him. Maximus is the only one who sees through the evil son’s ploy, so Commodus orders him and his family killed. Maximus escapes, but his wife and child aren’t so lucky. After Romans become dissatisfied with Commodus’s leadership, he attempts to appease them with gladiator fights. It kills many men, but gives Maximus a chance for revenge.