10 TV Villains You Didn't Realise Actually Won
3. Adelai Niska - Firefly
Now in total fairness, Firefly's entire planned storytelling trajectory was thrown off by its cancellation after just 14 episodes, but all the same, the sci-fi Western series' overarching villain never ended up getting his.
We're talking of course about Adelai Niska (Michael Fairman), a violent, psychopathic crime boss with a penchant for torturing folks who cause him even the most minor of inconveniences.
Though Niska only appeared in two of the series' episodes, he certainly made a distinct impression, even if his fate was left infuriatingly unresolved.
In the tenth episode, "War Stories," Niska targets Mal (Nathan Fillion) and his crew, and though Mal eventually manages to get free and attack Niska, Niska manages to slip away when his torturer intervenes.
The end of the episode, when Inara (Morena Baccarin) tells Mal, "I just wish you'd killed that old bastard," it certainly suggests that Joss Whedon intended to catch up with Niska later down the line, yet he's never seen again.
And when Whedon got the opportunity to make a movie follow-up, Serenity, there wasn't even a passing mention of Niska's fate. Boo.
As such, it's fair to assume that Niska's still out there somewhere torturing people for the fun of it, totally unimpeded, while the crew of Serenity ended up losing two of its number - Wash (Alan Tudyk) and Book (Ron Glass). Talk about unfair.