15 Most Monstrous Villains In Television
12. J.R. Ewing (Dallas)
Heir to the independent oil company Ewing Oil, John Ross Ewing Jnr., nicknamed J.R., is the bast*rd’s bast*rd: an amoral, almost sociopathic oil baron with narcissistic tendencies, constantly scheming to make himself richer and his enemies (which pretty much count as everyone else in the show) poorer.
And by ‘poorer’, I mean ‘destroyed’. J.R. doesn’t just steal or plunder his opponents: he wipes them out, never fully satisfied until their lives are a strip-mined, burned-out wasteland. Played with a cavalier cowboy swagger by the criminally underrated Larry Hagman, J.R. Ewing was at one point - and for over a decade - simply the most repellent villain on primetime television.
His plotting and duplicity knew no bounds; he’d have rivals arrested, deported, and outright murdered if necessary. That killer instinct extended to every relationship - he always knew exactly what to say to hurt someone the most, even (especially) the people he loved.
J.R.’s vindictive attitude would sometimes backfire on him, when ruining someone came to be more important than winning. However, he always seemed to come out on top in the end. After well over a decade of thoroughgoing Machiavellian evil, the Dallas finale saw his power appear neutered, his influence crippled. But, true to devilish form, when Dallas was brought back to TV, resurrected, so was J.R. Ewing; tyrannical king of the castle once again.