American Horror Story: 10 Most F**ked Up Characters (So Far)
4. Dr. Arthur Arden
Portrayed By: James Cromwell/John Cromwell
Season: 2 - Asylum/4 - Freak Show
The evil of Dr. Arthur Arden managed to span two whole seasons, outlasting most of the show's killers (in life) by several decades. The perpetrator of atrocities in WWII, it was Arden (under his real name Hans Gruber) who was responsible for the amputation of Elsa Mars's legs. Interestingly, the younger version of Arden was actually portrayed by James Cromwell's son, John.
After ditching his Nazi persona behind, Arden took up residence as the physician at Briafcliff Manor, which is where we first meet him time-wise. Arden's sick experiments and metamorphosis of patient Shelley are still uncomfortable to watch now. By the time it came to his end he was just a sad old man, but never forget the evil that was Arthur Arden.