Top 10 Movie Villains Who Want to Wipe Out Humanity

Loosely based on a historical Egyptian figure, Imhotep is a high priest that falls in love with the Pharaoh’s mistress and pays the ultimate price in return. When the Book of the Dead awakens Imhotep 3,000 years later, he sucks the life out of several humans to regain his strength. And the undead menace doesn’t stop there: he then turns people into brainwashed followers and unleashes ten plagues destined to create hell on Earth. Fortunately, Rick and company prevent this apocalypse, but it’s far from the final nail in the mummy’s sarcophagus. When Imhotep is resurrected again, he plans to seize control by commanding the Army of Anubis. And we’ll just say: having The Rock on his side doesn’t hurt.

Kneel before Zod… or don’t. Either way, he’s not going to show much mercy. After escaping from the Phantom Zone, the Kryptonian general and his soldiers travel to Earth – the same planet Kal-El has adopted as his own. Zod wishes to transform our world into Krypton 2.0 and Kal-El holds the key to making his vision a reality. While there are admittedly a few holes in Zod’s master plan, one thing’s for certain: terraforming Earth will leave behind vast wastelands of human skulls, which is kind of a deal-breaker for the Man of Steel. Fortunately, it’s nothing that a little neck snap can’t fix.

You’ll find throughout this list that Marvel villains in particular have an obsession with annihilating the human race. The oldest living being in Marvel comics, Galactus made his big screen debut in the sequel to “Fantastic Four.” Forcing the Silver Surfer to aid him, this cosmic entity devours entire planets to survive and Earth is up next on the menu. Lucky for us humans, the Surfer has a change of heart before Galactus can engulf our world, however, bringing his intergalactic binge eating to an end. Well, maybe Galactus will get another shot at obliterating humanity if he ever joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He could even team up with Dormammu, which brings us to our next entry.

This sorcerer ditched the Masters of the Mystic Arts to lead a rogue group of zealots. Kaecilius plans to make contact with Dormammu, a destructive entity that resides in the Dark Dimension. After attacking London, New York, and Hong Kong, Kaecilius comes this close to bringing the Dark Dimension to Earth, which will result in humanity’s downfall. Luckily, Doctor Strange manages to pull off a last-minute rescue, trapping Dormammu in a never-ending time loop. In exchange for his freedom, Dormammu agrees to spare mankind and make sure Kaecilius doesn’t conjure up any more trouble. Meh, there were too many sorcerers anyway.

This villain’s name alone should be enough to tell you that it’s bad news for humanity. The Great Evil, also known as Mr. Shadow, is a sentient planetoid that tries to eradicate Earth every 5,000 years. Wherever there is life, it brings death. Upon resurfacing in the 23rd century, the Great Evil enlists Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg to attain four elemental stones that prevented its previous attacks. The only thing standing in the way of this moon-sized cosmic force is the Fifth Element, which takes the form of a humanoid named Leeloo. Once the stones are returned to Leeloo, she’s able to stop the Great Evil once again, creating another moon in the process.

In a story that draws parallels to “Frankenstein,” Tony Stark develops Ultron to protect humanity. However, this global defense program ends up doing the opposite, deciding that our world needs a reboot. Assembling a robot army, the artificial intelligence sets out to exterminate human life and start fresh; a city falling from the sky should get the job done. Where Tony ironically creates Ultron, Ultron ironically creates the synthetic body that results in Vision’s genesis. Joining the Avengers, Vision dedicates his existence to preserving life. This naturally builds to a final confrontation between Vision and Ultron in which life triumphs over death. Thus concludes the Age of Ultron… well, more like the Couple Days of Ultron.

A word of advice: if Gozer asks if you’re a god, say “yes.” It’ll likely save you a lot of trouble in the long run. When the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster are brought together, this shapeshifting god is summoned to bring about Earth’s doom. Upon encountering the Ghostbusters, Gozer takes the form of the first thing that pops into Ray’s head. Suddenly, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man ain’t so cute and wholesome. Humankind is nearly eliminated in the most hilariously destructive way possible. By crossing the steams, however, the Ghostbusters are able to turn Stay Puft into marshmallow crème. If only Ray had thought about chocolate and graham crackers too.

Whereas most of the villains on this list are content with merely destroying our world, Nero casts an even wider net across the universe. Seeking retribution for the eradication of Romulus, the commander of the Narada aspires to decimate all of the Federation’s planets, including Earth. Nero does do some severe damage, most notably utilizing red matter to generate an artificial black hole in Vulcan’s core. But, although Spock’s homeworld meets its end, there’s still time to save humankind. Before the Narada can drill into Earth, the Enterprise crew uses the red matter against the enemy ship, resulting in the villain’s defeat. The Human Race: 1. Nero: 0.

In the original “Terminator,” we learn that this defense network gains consciousness and launches a nuclear holocaust. The survivors are left to fight off an army of machines, but resistance leader John Connor gives humanity a glimmer of hope. In retaliation, Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to assassinate John’s mother, Sarah. When that doesn’t pan out, another Terminator is sent to kill a younger version of John. With the aid of a reprogramed T-800, John and Sarah not only manage to defeat the T-1000, but also destroy the original Terminator’s arm and CPU. Cyberdyne Systems is now unable to reverse engineer the technology that would’ve created Skynet, thus preventing Judgment Day… for now.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Malekith
“Thor: The Dark World” (2013)

- Hugo Drax
“Moonraker” (1979)

When people think of aliens trying to destroy the world, the mothership from “Independence Day” usually comes to mind. The Harvesters certainly left an impression on audiences, forever burning the image of the White House exploding in our minds. These ruthless aliens make a habit of traveling to various planets, harvesting their natural resources. When the extraterrestrials arrived on Earth, though, they didn’t anticipate having to go up against Will Smith’s piloting skills, Jeff Goldblum’s computer viruses, and Bill Pullman’s epic speeches. While the Harvesters do a number on our planet, they’re no match for Randy Quaid and his noble sacrifice. Of course this doesn’t stop them from staging another attack 20 years later.