10 TV Villains Who Stole The Show
The best worst villains on the telly.
Much like in real life, on TV it’s more fun to be the bad guy. As the hero of a TV series, you’re responsible for driving the narrative forward, doing what’s right, and saving the day. It’s hard work, and quite frankly not always all that rewarding.
As the villain? Well, the world is your oyster. You get the cooler clothes, the better dialogue, sometimes a lair or an evil laugh. You don’t have to take anyone else’s feelings or concerns into consideration - you can do what you want, basically.
Sure, in due course you’ll be bested by the stalwart hero and likely either imprisoned or jailed (or in some instances you’ll learn the error of your ways and embark on a redemptive arc). But while it lasts, it’s a blast.
The best baddies can quite easily become the main reason we watch a TV show. Whether we’re directly rooting for them or just enjoying their evil deeds before they get their inevitable comeuppance, long form telly has become the medium of the villain, whether we’re gaining an insight into their behaviour, or simply getting a kick out of them.
10. Cartman (South Park)
When we first meet Eric Cartman, he’s a foul mouthed little fat kid with big dreams and delusions of grandeur. He’s crass and annoying, spoiled and demanding, but he’s not a villain. He has redemptive qualities and mitigating circumstances, too: his home life is hardly the happiest, and on occasion has saved the world.
Something changed around season five - specifically, the classic episode Scott Tenorman Must Die. Cartman enters into a feud with the titular older kid, and as the prank war escalates, Cartman takes the nuclear option of murdering Tenorman’s parents and feeding them to him. From there, Cartman is a vessel of limitless darkness. He attempts genocide, he infects his friend with AIDS, he carries out further murders, all the while remaining in the body of a small child.
This of course served only to make Cartman a more beloved comic creation, and his status in South Park is that of an astonishingly accomplished super villain. He’s sometimes described as the show’s antihero, but really he’s a full fledged monster, and all the funnier for it.