10 Most Twisted Characters in American Horror Story

4. Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) 'Asylum'

James Cromwell stole the hearts of millions as the loveable farmer Hoggett from 'Babe', but it is in 'Asylum' that he scares us witless as sadistic Nazi Dr. Arthur Arden. For the first half of the season he and Sister Jude duke it out for supremacy over Briarcliffe, ultimately with just one of them coming out on top. Much as Dr. Montgomery was in 'Murder House,' Arden was this season's Dr. Frankenstein, with his genetic experiments and creatures in the woods stemming from his crimes as a war criminal at Auschwitz.

He hacked off the legs of Chloe Sevigny's nymphomaniac character Shelley and turned her into his pet project, but this wasn't his creepiest moment. A Freudian wet dream, he had an odd obsession with Sister Mary Eunice's purity, so one night forces a lady of the night to dress as a nun before sexually abusing her. When Anne Frank (yes THE Anne Frank) arrives at the asylum it appears his web of lies might be coming undone, but a shot to the leg doesn't stop Arden and it gives him the opportunity to seize Briarcliffe from Jude.

After the loss of Mary Eunice he is overcome by grief, seeing no need to live anymore. Unfortunately for Arden his redemption comes a little too late €“ seeking forgiveness for all his crimes, he throws himself into the crematorium with her body. His storyline of the monsters fizzled out mid-season and his disappearance is never fully explored, which is a sad end for a truly menacing character.