10 Most Irredeemably Evil Villains In TV History
6. Moriarty - Sherlock
Classically portrayed as the darker side of the Sherlock Holmes coin, Professor Moriarty was reinvented as an altogether darker nemesis for the literary detective in the recent BBC adaptation.
James "Jim" Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is introduced as a "consulting criminal", and seems to be driven purely by boredom or a desire to upset the established order. Though he respects Sherlock's great intellect, he is also obsessed with bringing him down, and employs many ruthless, sadistic Machiavellian methods to do so.
It's revealed that Moriarty had been killing since a very young age before his criminal mastermind tendencies led him to his chosen career path, and it's implied he's murdered or arranged the murder of countless others over the years. When he's finally bested by Holmes he chooses suicide over providing the information the detective needs to solve his final problem.
Never showing a single ounce of empathy or remorse, Moriarty actually revels in the misery and chaos he causes, which is why it's this chilling new incarnation of the character that appears on this list.