Top 20 Scariest Characters of All Time

“Breaking Bad” (2008-13) Gus is the successful owner of Los Pollos Hermanos chicken restaurants, a savvy businessman, and a philanthropist. His seemingly good qualities, however, are a front for his involvement in methamphetamine trafficking. That isn’t what makes him scary. What makes him scary is the fact that he remains cool, calm, and collected while performing the most hideous acts of violence. He applies his professional demeanor to all undertakings, whether good or bad. He runs his chicken empire with expert precision, yet threatens to kill Walter White’s entire family with the same robotic stoicism and directness. Imagine your boss being a secret drug kingpin and brutally murdering in his/her spare time.

#19: Ramsay Bolton

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“Game of Thrones” franchise (1996-) Ramsay Bolton is an all-around terrible person. He is conniving, scheming, and ruthlessly murderous. What makes him frightening is the sheer amusement he seems to take from torturing his captives. In a memorable sequence, Bolton tortures the captured Theon Greyjoy, removing his, ahem, member. He then casually sits by the newly made eunuch, eating sausages. He heartlessly takes advantage of Sansa Stark, and sets his bloodthirsty hounds loose on anyone who has the courage to go against his wishes. His nonchalant, bemused attitude throughout his endeavors make him a truly unsettling character, and we can’t say we were disappointed when he met his much-deserved end.

“Nosferatu” (1922) When someone mentions “horror,” one of the first images the mind conjures is that of Count Orlok in the 1922 silent film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.” The character was portrayed by German actor Max Schreck, in a film that was greatly influenced by Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Orlok does not have the aristocratic, debonnaire appearance of Stoker’s vampire. He’s more of a folkloric creature, reminiscent of rats and more visually demonic. His movements are closed and rapid, and his “sneaking” style is almost cartoonish. His eyes seem constantly wide, and his fingernails are more akin to talons. It really adds to his scary profile that the film is old and silent, as the inevitable rapid movements and creepy music provide more profound scares.

#17: Patrick Bateman

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“American Psycho” franchise (1991-) The protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel “American Psycho” is far more sinister and grotesque in the source material. However, in an effort to keep things kosher, let’s focus on the film version of Patrick Bateman. Bateman is a stereotypical 1980s Wall Street investment banker by day, but a gruesome serial killer by night. After a day of business luncheons and materialistic behavior with his pretentious friends, Bateman goes home to practice his sinister habits: mistreating prostitutes, feeding his hunger for violence, and the taking of lives. What brings Bateman to our list is his success in leading this double life, and his cool demeanor upon going to work following an evening of raging homicide.

#16: The Colossal Titan

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“Attack on Titan” (2009-) “Attack on Titan” depicts a frightening world in and of itself: humans must live in walled-off cities in order to protect themselves from gigantic creatures called Titans, out to attack and eat them. The walls are basically impenetrable until breached by the Colossal Titan. He is the largest of the Titans and is known for his powerful emission of steam, which is used as a defense mechanism against anyone trying to come near the Titan by burning them (and we all know steam burns are the worst kind). If that wasn’t unsettling enough, he looks like an enormous skinned humanoid, whose muscle mass diminishes with use of his power, until all that remains are bones.

#15: The Martians

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“The War of the Worlds” franchise (1897-) H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” is one of the original alien invasion stories. The “Martians” invading Earth are described by a first-person narrator, thus leaving some to the imagination of the reader. Though the book does describe them in greater detail, the gist of it is as such: a four-foot head, from which emerge 2 “arms” branching out in 8 tentacle-like appendages and a bird-like beakish mouth. They feed off the blood of animals and humans and wish only to claim Earth for themselves. They are said to possibly be the result of humanoid ancestry, reduced to a simple large head or brain, and 2 arms. The reader can make his/her own image of the Martians, adding to the potential horror factor.

#14: No-Face

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“Spirited Away” (2001) “No-Face” is a lonely, wandering spirit, known for swallowing other beings, and absorbing their personalities and physical attributes. It is influenced by these traits, thus becoming negative and belligerent at times. “No-Face” essentially has no gender, and is a long, tubular black figure with a stoic white mask. There’s something about an expressionless mask that adds to the creepiness factor of a character… Its initial appearance is not particularly scary, but is made so by its actions and enigmatic motivations. It feels like an ominous creature, and that never leads to anything good.

#13: The Weeping Angels

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“Doctor Who” (1963-89; 2005-) “Doctor Who” is home to many scary creatures and characters. One of the scariest, however, has got to be the Weeping Angel. The Weeping Angels are “quantum-locked,” which in laymen’s terms means they freeze when observed and can only move when out of sight. Hence the unfortunate human affliction of blinking is a problem when being potentially attacked by one. If they touch you, they can send you back to another point in time, leaving the potential energy you would have spent living your life up for grabs - and that is what they feed off of. Oh, and they are born of stone statues, therefore they look like those cemetery angels, wings and all, as if their actions weren’t scary enough.

“Resident Evil 4” (2005) The “Regeneradores” are biological weapons created by Los Iluminados. They are human bodies, injected with enough parasites to lead to mutation, and the ability to regenerate damaged or lost body parts. They can also super-stretch their limbs in order to pull in enemies to bite them and slither across floors at accelerated speeds. Yikes. Their heavy, labored breathing and monstrous growling also add to the sheer anxiety of encountering these things in-game. If that wasn’t enough, players report up to 77 knife slashes required to kill a Regenerador, so get your thumbs in shape if you plan on taking on these guys.

#11: Annabelle

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“The Conjuring” franchise (2013-) Dolls are inherently creepy. They are humanoid imitations of life, and at some point in time contained reusable parts of deceased children. If that isn’t enough, some are believed to be cursed or haunted. Enter Annabelle. The original toy was basically a Raggedy Ann doll, believed to be possessed and investigated then owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren, 1970s demonologists and paranormal investigators. In more recent years, the lore of Annabelle has been used in “The Conjuring” film series, which depicts the Warren investigations. Annabelle has a new look, reminiscent of a ventriloquist dummy, and grotesquely grins in her exaggerated make-up.

“Batman” franchise (1939-) The Joker is one of the most iconic comic book villains and was created decades ago, in 1940. His design was based on the character Gwynplaine in the 1928 film “The Man Who Laughs,” who himself is an unsettling sight. The Joker has undergone quite the transformation in the comic realm, from simply jokester to complete psychopath. To say he is Batman’s archenemy is somewhat of an understatement: he is completely obsessed with the destruction of the hero’s world. Everything he does or lets happen to him is all part of a scheme. For example, he allows himself to be caught in order to enter Arkham Asylum to meet The Dollmaker, who surgically removes his face in order to hang it and announce his rebirth.

“The Ring” franchise (1991-) Remember that little girl who climbs out of the television set in “The Ring” movies? Don’t we all… She actually has quite an elaborate backstory. The gist of it is that she was conceived violently, considered to be a demonic personification, nearly drowned by her birth mother, and eventually actually drowned by her adoptive mother. She has supernatural powers, basically manifested in psychologically affecting those she targets. Her adoptive mother trapped her in a well, in which she drowned after 7 days of struggling to live. She’s a young girl with hair covering her face, wearing a white nightgown, and climbing out of a well in that creepy stop-motion kind of camera work. All the ingredients for horror casserole.

“The Exorcist” franchise (1973-) Would anyone like some pea soup? William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” features the demon Pazuzu as its main adversary. Blatty basically adopted the lore of the Assyrian and Babylonian myth, in which Pazuzu was considered a king of demons. There are actual statue depictions of the character in existence. For our viewing pleasure, however, we were witness to the possession of Regan Macneil by the nasty demon, and it is forever imprinted in our nightmares. The film spawned many exorcism horror tropes, such as the head-spinning, projectile vomiting, and other such visual delights. The fact that an essentially non-visible demon could do all that to a young girl is scary enough.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise (1974-) Out of all the famous horror franchise faces, Leatherface is perhaps the most unsettling. He wears a mask of human skin and essentially does the bidding of his sadistic, cannibalistic family. He appears to be somewhat afraid of his siblings, and thus commits murder to appease them, and get human flesh for their diets and cooking competitions. It would be sad if it wasn’t utterly horrifying. Leatherface and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” films were heavily influenced by the notorious real-life serial killer Ed Gein, who himself actually wore a mask made of human skin, among other heinous things. Leatherface uses the titular chainsaw to chase down and brutally exterminate his prey, then brings the remains to his sinister family for their sinister activities.

“It” franchise (1986-) The second clown on our list, Pennywise of “It” fame is spectacularly creepy. In creating the character, author Stephen King asked himself what would terrify children more than anything else, and the answer he came up with for his novel is clowns. He was right. First portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990s television mini-series, and more recently by Bill Skarsgård, the character has become somewhat of an icon where scary clowns are concerned. “It” has been around for centuries, according to lore, and used to feed off of native tribes. He re-emerges to reign terror every 27 years. The more recent incarnation of Pennywise is particularly disconcerting thanks to Mr. Skarsgård’s heinous grin, higher-pitched voice, and glowing eyes.

#5: Jason Voorhees

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“Friday the 13th” franchise (1980-) When one thinks of horror serial killers, the first image that comes to mind is often that of Jason Voorhees. Jason appears as a secondary, flashback character in the first “Friday the 13th” franchise film. Pamela Voorhees’ son Jason drowned at the camp, and she blames the negligence of the counselors, thus stalking and killing them in an effort to keep the camp from opening. She is killed and Jason, somehow still alive and now grown, continues her legacy of defending the campgrounds. He doesn’t quite do it in the nicest way, however. The iconic hockey mask came about only in the 3rd film in the franchise, in which Jason takes it off one of his victims and uses it to hide his face.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise (1984-) Freddy is the literal “stuff of nightmares.” In his life, he was the “Springwood Slasher,” serial killer of young children. He was caught and burned alive by the mourning parents of his victims. He died, of course, yet went on to attack his prey from within their dreams. In dreamland, Freddy is basically unstoppable and all-powerful. He reigns over the realm of dreams by feeding off of the memories and fears the town’s residents retain of his horrible real-life crimes. In life as well as in dreams, he uses a glove laden with knives and blades in order to kill, a device he built himself in his creepy boiler room lair. His face is severely burnt, owing to his aforementioned demise.

“Hannibal Lecter” franchise (1981-) Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a talented and highly intellectual psychiatrist. We wouldn’t recommend his services, however, as he is also an avid cannibal. The double life he leads is reminiscent of Patrick Bateman, as he goes widely undetected by his peers. The thing that makes Lecter such a scary character is his Michelin-star-chef attention to detail when it comes to cooking his favorite meal. This is very much focussed on in the TV adaptation of the character, played to perfection by Mads Mikkelsen. Contrary to the “savage” cannibals of old, Lecter is (for lack of a better word) a refined cannibal. He has organized recipes, the best of cooking utensils, and the rarest, most palatable ingredients.

“Alien” franchise (1979-) The aliens from the “Alien” films are some of the most memorable cinematic characters of all time. The creators of the films’ creatures basically aimed for a sexual, yet predatorial race. The Xenomorphs are motivated by 2 things: propagation of their own species and extermination of others. The creatures were visually designed by Swiss artist H. R. Giger, whose own works focus primarily on a strange sort of marriage between the human and the machine. He suffered from night terrors and took his artistic inspiration from the other-worldly beings his mind conjured during these episodes. It definitely adds to the fear factor that these creatures are in essence something that haunted this man in real life. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Frank Booth, “Blue Velvet” (1986) Violent Drug Dealer / Oxygen Enthusiast Max Cady, “Cape Fear” franchise (1957-) The Ultimate Stalker The Peacock Family, “The X-Files” (1993-2002; 2016-18) Generations of Inbreeding Carnage, “Spider-Man” franchise (1962-) The Psychopathic Alien Symbiote The Thing, “The Thing” franchise (1938-) A Terrifying Monstrosity

“Halloween” franchise (1978-) Michael Myers is a deeply disturbed individual. At the age of 6, Myers killed his teenage sister and was placed in an asylum. He escaped 15 years later and went after Laurie Strode and anyone surrounding her. John Carpenter took his inspiration for Michael from a college class trip to an institution. There he observed a young boy, around 12, and noted the cold, vacant stare and true darkness in his eyes. Michael is made more disturbing by his white, painted mask. It removes any and all emotion from his face, and truly shows the coldness of his actions. He is also somewhat superhuman, getting shot several times, set on fire, etc. Yet he always comes back.