If you grew up in the 1990s or otherwise remember the decade as a golden age of TV, chances are you’ll no doubt have a thought or two about this list. This particular era was full of great TV shows, and many of them were filled to the brim with fun and creepy villains. That’s why it’s incredibly challenging to come up with a “best of” list that’s an accurate and fair representation of the amazing antagonists of the ’90s.
But hey, sometimes hard decisions need to be made. The following 15 villains all made a massive impact on their respective shows, and the series they terrorized in their own ways all rank among the most iconic of the decade. Because of this, they all make our list of best antagonist characters of the ’90s. If you think we missed someone, be sure to let us know in the comments.
15. Valerie Malone (Beverly Hills, 90210)
What an inspired choice it was to cast Tiffani Thiessen as the resident bad girl of the ’90s’ finest teen drama. Thiessen was already known as popular girl and Zack Morris’ (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) love interest Kelly Kapowski from “Saved by the Bell,” so audiences were wildly unprepared for her as Valerie Malone when she entered the “Beverly Hills, 90210” mix.
At the very beginning, Valerie is telegraphed as a slight remix of Thiessen’s “Saved by the Bell” role, but we almost immediately find out what a truly wicked presence she is. Val isn’t fully villainous, and she has a tragic backstory that more than explains much of her behavior. Even so, the show treats her as a bona fide antagonist often enough for her to count as the iconic postal code’s resident troublemaker.
Dark, complex, and endlessly scheming, Val is a character you love to hate — but someone you’re also more than prepared to understand on the occasions where we get a glimpse of the real person behind the manipulative facade.
14. Alfred Bester (Babylon 5)
Ensign Pavel Chekov on “Star Trek: The Original Series” is the late Walter Koenig’s most famous sci-fi role, but it’s far from the only one. After “Star Trek,” Koenig was part of Gene Roddenberry’s follow-up project, “The Questor Tapes.” He also found the time to play one of the best TV villains of the 1990s: Alfred Bester, the devious telepath antagonist on “Babylon 5.”
The widely feared Psi Corps operative isn’t the central villain of J. Michael Straczynski’s seminal space opera — that honor goes to the ominous Shadows and their assorted servants. However, the likes of Mr. Morden (Ed Wasser) can’t hold a torch to the chilling sensation of seeing Bester arrive on one of his many missions to the titular space station. Bester views himself as the hero cop who’s simply trying to complete his mission, and on paper, that’s exactly what he is. Unfortunately, he’s also a black-clad, emotionless, deeply manipulative, and openly antagonistic figure who’s more than willing to get into conflicts with Babylon 5 crew members.
To his credit, Bester isn’t completely evil. He might be a soulless and cruel misanthrope, but he’s completely able to join forces with the protagonists if their causes happen to align. He’s a multi-layered, ruthless figure who’s generally the most powerful and intelligent person in the room, and it’s hardly a wonder that Koenig considered Bester his favorite role.
13. Amanda Woodward (Melrose Place)
Every once in a while, a show comes up with a character who’s simply too powerful to resist. Perennial “Melrose Place” Special Guest Star Heather Locklear embodied precisely such a figure in Amanda Woodward, the show’s resident villain and saving grace.
That’s not hyperbole, either. Amanda isn’t just a random character. Her introduction was a desperately needed shot in the arm that outright saved “Melrose Place” from being canceled, and it’s easy to see why. The character serves as the series’ primary mean girl from the point of her arrival, and continues to steal scene after scene throughout her tenure. Like many of the best villains, Amanda isn’t always wholly antagonistic, and she tends to retain just enough positive traits to stay interesting. But whenever it’s time to get down and dirty, count on Amanda to dive in with the best of them.
12. Rita Repulsa (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
No list of compelling villains is complete without a total, cackling maniac, and no 1990s show can offer a better example of this particular type of evildoer than “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” In 1993, Fox Kids launched the Japanese-inspired series that would become a nearly 1,000-episode franchise. Over the course of the years and seasons, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” would feature a plethora of different antagonists, but not even the mightiest villain could hold a torch over Rita Repulsa (primarily portrayed by Machiko Soga and Carla Perez, and voiced by Barbara Goodson).
From the very first moment she’s released from her prison container on the moon and set upon the unwary world, Rita is the bane of the Power Rangers — and vice versa. A classic diabolical overlady type who primarily fights through her minions, Rita might not be the most powerful villain in the franchise … but she’s the one who remains the most iconic. Lord Zedd who?
11. Callisto (Xena: Warrior Princess)
Renaissance Pictures/Universal Television
“Xena: Warrior Princess” features countless memorable antagonists, but none quite as effective as Callisto of Cirra. Portrayed by Hudson Leick, the villain starts out as an admirable foil to Lucy Lawless’ Xena, relentlessly working to defeat the warrior princess in order to avenge Xena’s ransacking of her home village.
There are two things working in Callisto’s favor on this list. First of all, Leick plays her with the exact amount of manic grins and over-the-top energy that this particular franchise needs. Secondly, she just … keeps … coming. No matter how you defeat her, Callisto will return, always slightly more powerful and deranged than she was before. Callisto consistently levels up as various goddess, demon, and angel incarnations, some more hostile than others. At one point, she possesses Xena herself. At another, her soul reincarnates into Xena’s own daughter. That’s dedication.
Callisto’s incredible resilience alone would be more than enough to land her a place on the list. Leick’s eerie, grinning, constantly amused portrayal of the villain is the icing on the 1990s antagonist cake, making sure that no Xena fan could ever hope to forget the sheer tenacity that Callisto of Cirra represents.
10. Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
A TV villain list from virtually any recent decade could easily be filled with anime antagonists from top to bottom. However, with only 15 slots across all types of shows, Gendo Ikari will have to represent the whole genre. Fortunately, he’s the right guy for the job.
The head of NERV on “Neon Genesis Evangelion” is a deeply flawed, corrupted riff on of the authority figures we’re used to seeing at the head of world-protecting agencies. Sure, as the head of the organization that’s tasked with fighting the destructive Angels, he’s technically humanity’s greatest champion. However, his plans have layers upon layers, and it’s really saying something that one of the more transparent layers involves the use of child soldiers — including his own chronically downtrodden son.
There are very few lines that Gendo won’t cross to pursue his own hidden agenda. And honestly, the sheer amount of guys you see pushing up their glasses the exact way he does is testament to the fact that sometimes, being cool is more than enough to make up for all that neglect and willingness to ignore collateral damage.
9. Gul Dukat (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Since the Borg are a collective and their Borg Queen is more of an overarching franchise presence than a seminal 1990s villain, Marc Alaimo’s “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” bad guy Gul Dukat is quite comfortably the decade’s greatest Star Trek antagonist. The Cardassian is definitely one of the most complex villains in the franchise’s history, too.
As the Prefect of Bajor, he once held the command of Deep Space Nine and tormented the Bajorans — while fully viewing himself as a fair and benevolent master by virtue of not being quite as awful as the last guy on the job — before the Federation took over. As such, he already has a bit of a chip on his shoulder when he enters the fray as a liaison between his people and the Federation. Over the course of the series, he’s both on the giving and receiving end of numerous hurts and defeats, sometimes coming across as sympathetic and other times outright monstrous. His likeable traits and numerous personal losses often manage to add shades of grey to his character, but “Deep Space Nine” ultimately makes it very clear that Dukat is a fittingly black mirror to the messianic Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks).
8. Ling Woo (Ally McBeal)
Growling, glaring, and frequently accompanied by the Wicked Witch of the West theme from “The Wizard of Oz,” Lucy Liu’s stylish and cold Ling Woo is easily the greatest villain character on “Ally McBeal.” Ling was a rare prominent Asian-American TV character at the time, and became the subject of much discourse about the stereotypical nature of her portrayal.
It’s not hard to see the questionable Dragon Lady aspects of the character, especially from a modern point of view. Still, Ling was a trailblazer, and a far more complex figure than she initially seemed to be. Liu’s pitch-perfect portrayal made her the kind of scene stealer who was always destined to play a more nuanced role than mere one-note villainy. Before long, she became a respected (if not always well-liked) member of the Cage & Fish law firm, but during her late-1990s villainous heyday, she was one of the most entertaining antagonistic figures in television.
7. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has a laundry list of excellent villains, so it seems like a travesty to focus on just one. Even then, some would probably put Spike’s sire Drusilla (Juliet Landau) or Angelus — the evil version of David Boreanaz’s Angel — on this list instead of Spike himself. Yet, at the end of the day, it’s virtually impossible to think of “Buffy” antagonists without the mental image of James Marsters’ slick blond hairdo popping in your head.
The show is always fond of playing with character alignments, and a great number of “Buffy” characters serve as both heroes and villains over time. Spike, too, wears many metaphorical hats over the course of the show. Marsters is a capable performer who could play Spike as ominous, evil, funny, dashing, or a combination of all those flavors. Yet, his initial role as a devious, vaguely rock star-themed villain remains the gold standard of this specific type of “Buffy” evil … which is saying something, considering the amount of competition the show has in the category of wicked vampire villains.
6. Newman (Seinfeld)
Hello, Newman.
The genius aspect of Wayne Knight’s antagonistic postal office worker on “Seinfeld” is that the origins of his villainy are never really explained. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) simply considers him a sworn enemy — which, come to think of it, should technically make Newman a good guy, considering how awful Jerry himself is. What’s more, Newman seems to be on decent terms with most main characters, and is arguably a closer friend to Kramer (Michael Richards) than Jerry himself.
But, of course, Newman is not a good man. He’s a lazy, self-serving piece of work who largely exists to make Jerry’s life miserable to whatever extent any given episode requires him to. Newman is relentlessly entertaining, relatable, and has potential to genuine friendliness. Yet, he demonstrates the worst traits of this or any other universe’s postal workers, gleefully skipping work on bad weather days and throwing mail away when he feels like it. No one asked for a villain like Newman, but “Seinfeld” gave us one anyway — and the world of TV is all the more amusing for it.
5. Vern Schillinger (Oz)
J.K. Simmons’ big breakout role was as vile as human beings can possibly get: an abusive, unrepentant white supremacist who manages to stand out as the most disgusting major character in his show — which is saying something when the series in question is “Oz,” on which the vast majority of notable characters are vicious criminals.
Vern Schillinger takes all of a single episode to establish himself as the absolute worst thing that Emerald City has to offer. His treatment of new arrival Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) in the pilot episode is the foundation for an enemy dynamic that’s brutal even by HBO standards. Simmons pours all of his signature intensity into the role, and even manages to infuse Schillinger with some complex human traits. The character is sometimes charming but never good — yet, even in a cast full of villains, few others can steal a scene like he can.
4. The Joker (Batman: The Animated Series)
Some might say that Luke Skywalker is Mark Hamill’s defining role, and when it comes to live action, that may very well be the case. However, when it comes to Hamill’s illustrious voice acting career, there’s only one possible choice for his best role.
The Joker on “Batman: The Animated Series” wasn’t Hamill’s first DC Comics villain with a distinctive laugh, but he is without doubt the most iconic. Scary, funny, manic, dangerously charming, and gloriously insane, the Clown Prince of Crime is one of the definitive takes on the supervillain — and Hamill does such a good job voicing him that he could tell a whole story by subtle changes in the Joker’s laughter alone. The end result is one of the definitive 1990s animated TV villains, and perhaps the greatest cartoon supervillain ever.
3. C. Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons)
Oh, Mr. Burns. Harry Shearer’s eccentric, out of touch, and nigh-invariably hostile billionaire is the perfect antagonist for a show that revels in absurdity as much as “The Simpsons.” Yet, the animation juggernaut’s resident Bad Rich Person is much more than his money and his literally cartoonish evil.
The devil is in the details here, and “The Simpsons” cleverly gives Monty Burns occasionally sympathetic traits that elevate him beyond one-note evil. His old-timey cluelessness, his extreme physical frailty, and his ability to inspire love and respect (largely just in Waylon Smithers, but still) all add layers to his character. As a result, Burns’ inevitable decision to release the hounds comes from a nuanced antagonist instead of a one-dimensional villain … without taking away from the fact that said nuanced antagonist is still a card-carrying monster who used to be a member of the Nazi SS troops.
2. Cigarette Smoking Man (The X-Files)
“The X-Files” is always at its best when it manages to keep things genuinely mysterious, and few things are better examples of this than the show’s treatment of William B. Davis’ Cigarette Smoking Man. Chris Carter’s series eventually gave us the guy’s full backstory and name — which, honestly, we don’t even care enough about to mention here. This is because mystery is his whole thing and the currency he deals in.
For a long time, the Cigarette Smoking Man remained an ominous force looming in the shadows; the holder of the exact secrets David Duchovny’s Fox Mulder tried so hard to uncover. The show ultimately went a touch too hard on many fronts, and the Cigarette Smoking Man was just one of the many victims of this. Your mileage may vary on just where the show jumps the shark on the character; maybe it’s his assorted near deaths and facial prosthetics, or perhaps the revelation that he’s Mulder’s real dad.
Yet, at its best, “The X-Files” was arguably the best mystery show that 1990s television had to offer. And at his best, Cigarette Smoking Man was all its mysteries personified: A jaded, perennially unimpressed man who knows it all, whose cigarettes were a surefire sign of his hostile presence, and whom the audience gets to know nearly nothing about. This tenure in the character’s rollercoaster path is more than enough to land him at the second spot on this list.
1. BOB (Twin Peaks)
A stellar example of David Lynch’s ability to go with the flow, “Twin Peaks” big bad BOB was famously the result of set dresser Frank Silva getting trapped in a bedroom set. Recognizing a good thing when he saw it, Lynch filmed some footage that he later decided to use. The end result? Only the best and most nightmarish TV villain in a decade chock full of them.
A combination of a terrible stranger lurking at the foot of your bed when you least expect it and an ancient demonic entity who’s responsible for incomprehensible evil, BOB is both the evil that men do and the thing that goes bump in the night. Silva’s ominous and utterly inhuman portrayal of the grinning and grimacing BOB borders on vaudevillian, but that’s exactly the point. This is an entity that feeds on pain and suffering, and he cares little of what you think of his exaggerated expressions and ratty denim jacket … as long as you and your loved ones hurt for his precious garmonbozia.
