One of the best things about a television series is that characters can be carefully explored over the life of the show. This is especially important for antagonists because if there’s not a lot of time to develop them, such as in most movies, they can become cardboard villains. Even if a character is simply rotten all the way through, it’s nice to see why and how he or she become that way.
Since I’m not generally a fan of golden-hero type characters, it was hard to narrow this list down to my top five favorite television antagonists. Many more could be added to this list, so please let me know in the comments your favorites as well.
Mira (Christine Adams) from Terra Nova – She’s a tough ex-con who leads a group of bad guys called Sixers. Their mission is to take over Terra Nova so that the natural resources of a clean world can be used to profit greedy villains from the future. Mira is smart, courageous, a great survivalist and she’s trying to do the right thing for her young daughter. She’s on the wrong side, but she’s doing it for a good reason.
Olivia Godfrey (Famke Janssen) from Hemlock Grove – This woman’s evil knows no bounds. Usually I prefer a more sympathetic villain, one with at least some redeeming qualities, but Olivia is so much fun to watch because she’s so rotten. Her self-centeredness and lies are amusing to the viewer, but truly awful for the characters unlucky enough to cross her path in the series.
Janos Skorzeny (Chuck Connors) from Werewolf – Another all round bad guy, the charismatic Janos was often a scene stealer. He was definitely a big bad wolf who loved his wild side.
Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) from Robin Hood – Guy is the villain you can’t help loving. He’s violent and nasty, but part of him wants to be good. Unfortunately he can’t control his inner demons and though he strives to do what’s right, some might argue that one or two of his deeds are so evil that he can’t be redeemed.
Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) from Farscape – A hybrid with a horrific past, Scorpius rose to become a military leader. He has no qualms about using his power and position to seek revenge on his enemies–most of whom deserve it. Scorpius is single-minded and arguably amoral rather than immoral. Either way, he’s not a guy whose path you’d want to cross. He’s not only in my top five favorite television antagonists, but in my top five all-time favorite fictional characters.