Every Star Trek Movie Villain Ranked From Worst To Best

At this point it seems as though any Trek villain ranking should stop at #2, as the top spot seems to be solely dedicated to Ricardo Montalban's most famous role. The truly exceptional thing about this performance is that, almost forty years after his last appearance in Star Trek, he is still the most compelling and dangerous villain in the franchise.

Khan evolved over the years, from his first appearance in the Original Series' episode Space Seed. There, he was a megalomaniac, bent on conquest and the removal of all people he deemed unworthy from existence. Bested Kirk and abandoned to Ceti Alpha V, he was forced to overcome the impossible when the planet was thrown into a new orbit, devastating the surface.

Once he and his remaining followers are found by the USS Reliant, there follows some of the tensest scenes in Star Trek, along with what is arguably still the greatest sacrifice that the franchise has ever seen. Khan chews every bit of scenery in all of his scenes, though still manages to keep it from becoming caricature. He is not simply an angry man, bitter at the ills that Kirk has dealt him. He is a stone-cold genius, driven completely mad by the injustices of his universe.

It costs him everything to hunt Kirk down and, in his attempt to destroy his nemesis, he manages to take the thing that means the most from him. He may be bad, but this man makes it look so bloody good while doing it.