Nine TV Villains

You can’t have a good hero without a strong villain. Since the popularity of the cable series, television villains are now surpassing their movie counterparts. Here are some villains that can give you nightmares.

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Ben Diamond,  “Magic City”

Ben Diamond is one of the scariest mob bosses to appear in TV or Film .  “The Butcher” is a murderous psychopath who is also a man of wealth and taste. Both  narcissistic and  voyeur  brute and effeminate. There has never been as complicated a villain in television history.

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 Joe Carroll, ” The Following”

Joe Carroll is the TV Villain that the media has been trying to invent since it’s inception . The literate persuasive serial killer  Sexy charismatic and ready to change plot lines on a dime.  As if Charles Manson were willing to let Batman fight another day.  He is pure invention of a woman’s bad boy sex fantasy.

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The Trinity Killer,  “Dexter”

Trinity is the scariest kind of serial killer – the kind you see in the news when the neighbors next door realize that quiet family guy is really a psychotic murderer. Trinity is so good at what he does that Dexter starts to look up to him as a serial killer role model. He has it all – killing and a family life. The character has a twisted origin story who takes no pleasure in killings afterwards and punishes himself for his crimes. This just adds another layer to a great TV killer who was able to stay ahead of Dexter long enough to murder his wife.

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Benjamin Linus, “Lost”

A great villain and an even better liar. The thing that was so great about Ben Linus on “Lost” is that you could never tell if he was telling the truth. Most of time he wasn’t and the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 would fall into his plans. Linus could be so calm and calculating that he was one TV’s most eloquent villains. His demeanor also made him that more frightening when he did lose it and get angry. Linus let loved ones die, he plotted huge revenge plans and had only one love in his life, that island. He is the type of villain that makes you scream at the TV for someone to kill him when they had the chance.

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Gyp Rosetti, “Boardwalk Empire”

Gyp Roestti is the one person you don’t want to disrespect. Any little thing can set Gyp off, especially if he thinks your insulting his intelligence. Gyp’s the type of guy who will smile at you before he bashes your friends head in with a shovel and act like nothing happened. The man’s inner demons shows thru his love for S&M and violent acts.  (Start at 2:15)

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Gus Fring, “Breaking Bad”

Walter Whites premiere nemesis in the award-winning series ‘Breaking Bad’, Gustavo ‘Gus’ Fring is the mild mannered owner of the Mexican fast food chain, Los Pollos Hermanos. Oh, and he’s also the biggest supplier of crystal meth in the southwest. Hiding behind his soft-spoken demeanor and somewhat nerdy appearance, Fring is one of the most ruthless villains ever seen on television. Despite having no qualms about brutally murdering his competition and sometimes, his own employees, Fring is a fan favorite on the show, with viewers actually rooting for him when he’s in trouble. It’s hard not cheer on a guy who helps out in the community and donates to the policeman’s ball, just don’t cross him while he’s holding a box cutter.

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President Charles Logan, “24”

Theirs no doubt where the inspiration came from in creating the corrupt, smarmy president from 24. Charles Logan shares every characteristic with the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon, aside from his name. Behind every smile and reassuring handshake was another cold, calculated move that would swing the situation his way. A good president is supposed to intimidate people and make tough decisions. Logan couldn’t even do those things while selling nerve gas to terrorists and ordering diplomatic plane to be shot down that was already landing. It was tough enough for Jack Bauer to save the country from terrorists without having to take on the leader of the free world.

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Marlo Stanfield,  “The Wire”

First showing up in season 3 of HBO’s The Wire, Marlo brought a brutalness to the streets of Baltimore that shocked everyone. There was none of the charisma of the Barksdale crew, only a hunger for money and the corners of Baltimore. He did whatever he wanted and was smart about it. He became the ultimate prize for Omar and he went to war with everyone, and won.

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The Cigarette Smoking Man, “X-Files”

Throughout the long run of the X-Files, there was one man who was the bane of Agent Mulder, one person who connected everything – the mysterious Cigarette Smoking Man. He seemed to be behind every conspiracy, lurking in the shadows. He was the boogey man of the show, except he was real.

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