10 Truly Hateful Movie Characters Who Made Your Skin Crawl

3. Emperor Commodus (Gladiator)

Joaquin Phoenix has now developed a reputation as one of the most versatile and uncompromising performers in American cinema, but for a couple of years after his breakthrough performance in Gladiator, all anyone could see when they looked at the young actor was the evil Emperor Commodus. A scrupulously hateful character from beginning to end, Commodus becomes more difficult to look at the longer Gladiator goes on. With a pallid complexion and dark rings around his eyes, there's a deathly demeanor about Phoenix's character, carried by a sneer that reeks of putrid arrogance. Cold and calculating, Emperor Commodus remains one of the most heinous characters ever seen in a swords and sandals flick - and that really is saying something.