Top 10 TV Villains Who Deserve Their Own Show

Leader of the mysterious island inhabitants known as the Others, Benjamin Linus is a highly intelligent and scheming villain, who always has a plan and whose machinations plagued the plane crash survivors for years. Ben’s Machiavellian attitude, cool exterior, and vile actions made him enormously entertaining, while his insecurities, dry wit, and personal tragedies made him relatable. Whether his show revolved around fleshing out his history on the island or his future there, we’d love to see more of this creepy, cunning character.

Arguably Dexter Morgan’s greatest opponent, Arthur Mitchell is a serial killer who has been ritualistically reliving the deaths of both his loved ones and aspects of himself by murdering people in cycles for decades. The process has left Arthur a damaged and highly dangerous individual, who can switch between acting like a doting family man, to a cold, malevolent killer in mere seconds. Arthur had a long life and hundreds of kills before he encountered Dexter, providing ample opportunity to explore the history of this fascinating character. That being said, it would be no small feat casting someone who can equal John Lithgow’s spectacular performance.

A genius scientist and psychopathic murderer, Alice Morgan is a recurring villain and, strangely, a friend of the titular detective. Charming and extremely narcissistic, Alice perpetrates a number of killings and other crimes, sometimes assisting Luther with work both illegal and legitimate. But her activities when not with him are intriguing as well, and we’d love to see some of the gaps filled in, such as her apparent marriage and murder of her husband, or her time in Mexico. Though her relationship with Luther has been a crucial part of his show, she has the sort of magnetic personality to carry a series of her own.

The leader of a local group of small town cultists, Patti Levin is ruthless in executing her group’s goal - to stop people from moving on after a large worldwide disappearance, which may or may not have been the Rapture. Patti wholly embodies this mission. She even appears to haunt the protagonist, Kevin Garvey, after she dies! Patti’s dry humor and tragic past make her sympathetic though, and while she’s a constant thorn in Kevin’s side, nearly driving him insane, we’d nonetheless enjoy seeing things more from her point of view.

A tyrannical warlord in the zombie apocalypse and the most formidable opponent our protagonists have ever faced, Negan is the kind of guy we hate to love and love to hate. Living by a brutal personal code that he enforces with his barbed wire bat, Lucille, Negan is, despite his many murders, an incredibly entertaining character. His irreverent sense of humor, juxtaposed with his horrific actions, makes Negan compelling in similar manner as Deadpool, albeit significantly less absurdist. Ironically, Negan has arguably breathed some life back into “The Walking Dead,” and his infinitely watchable character is one we’d love to see take center stage in a spin-off.

Best/worst guardian ever! A distant relative of the Baudelaire children and their onetime guardian, Count Olaf is a scheming, money hungry man who will stop at nothing to get their inheritance for himself, even if it means killing these orphaned children. Fond of absurd, theatrical disguises, Olaf is creepy and hilarious to watch - often stealing the show. Although he already drives a lot of the plot of this Netflix novel adaptation, a prequel series exploring his past and why he became so “unfortunately” terrible is definitely worth exploring in our books.

The arch-frenemy of the time traveling Doctor that gives the show its name, the Master is a fellow Time Lord (and sometimes Time Lady) with a wicked disposition. Another villain prone to elaborate plans and disguises, the Master is every bit the Doctor’s equal, both in terms of intellect and in personality. Given how long Time Lords live and their ability to change their appearance, a spin-off starring the Master traveling through time and space, committing villainy or helping people for the wrong reasons could be just as fun as the Doctor’s adventures.

The head scientist of Hawkins Lab, the place responsible for much of the bizarre occurrences in “Stranger Things,” Dr. Brenner is also the pseudo-father figure to Eleven. Seemingly devoid of a conscience, Brenner’s experiments on children in the name of science are indeed unconscionable. Even so, he has an undeniable presence about him and his relationship with Eleven is key part of the show’s backstory. We could definitely see a show featuring Brenner doing shady science for the government or investigating the supernatural ala “The X-Files” – ‘80s style. Speaking of which…

While we’re on the subject of shadowy government figures, why not talk about the one who embodies the archetype the best – the Smoking Man. A mysterious conspirator involved with aliens trying to colonize or take over Earth, in stark contrast to Mulder, the Smoking Man is determined to see that the truth never sees the light of day. However, he also believes that the many terrible acts he commits are all in the name of the greater good. While his history has been hinted at and possibilities have been explored, the Smoking Man’s long career in covert government secret-keeping offers plenty of material to build a show around.


Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:



Yvonne “Vee” Parker

“Orange is the New Black” (2013-)


Gaius Baltar

“Battlestar Galactica” (2003-09)



Jim Moriarty

“Sherlock” (2010-)

The apparent ultimate antagonist of “Game of Thrones”, the Night King is the leader, and the originator, of the icy White Walkers and their army of the dead. Although practically silent, the Night King’s actions speak volumes. Given that he’s thousands of years old, the Night King has plenty of history to mine for a show of his own, and given how little we still know about him, and the White Walkers in general, we’d relish the opportunity to have his character more fleshed out. We could even go all the way back to his time before receiving a dragonglass dagger to the chest!