Top 20 Scariest TV Psychopaths

“Ripley” (2024)

In 2024, Netflix had a go at “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” which had previously been adapted as a movie in 1999 starring Matt Damon. While Damon’s iteration was still sociopathic, he was a bit warmer than Andrew Scott. This version of Ripley is truer to the book - much colder, distant, largely unemotional, and totally psychotic. He’s a dedicated con man through and through, not caring who he hurts or victimizes. His crimes include the likes of forgery, fraud, identity theft, and yes, even murder. Multiple murders. This Tom Ripley is not afraid to get what he wants, and if you have something that he wants, he certainly isn’t afraid to kill you for it.

“24” (2001-10; 2014)

We’re still mad about what Nina did to Jack. “24” pulled off a fantastic twist in its first season, revealing that Nina was a traitor selling powerful government intel to terrorists. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she also personally killed Jack’s wife Teri by tying her to a chair and shooting her in the chest. Nina operates with deceptive charm, seducing and eliminating her targets seemingly without a second thought - not to mention betraying friends and murdering those who get in her way. Plus, you know, there’s the whole “collaborating with terrorists” thing. Driven entirely by violent self-interest, Nina is a true psychopath.

“Jessica Jones” (2015-19)

This series is much darker than other entries in the MCU, containing many serious themes and a general storyline centered around trauma. At the heart of it all is Kilgrave, who has a very disturbing past with Jessica Jones. Kilgrave is able to manipulate anyone he wants thanks to his mind-control powers, and if they fight back or break free, he simply kills them. His past with Jessica is filled with abuse, he destroys people’s lives by making them do what he wants, and he even has people maim and kill themselves for his own personal amusement. This guy gives Thanos a run for his money in the psychopathy department.

“Bad Girls” (1999-2006)

It’s all right there in the title - these are bad girls, the inmates of a South London prison called Larkhall. The series has a huge cast of characters, all of whom land in different places of the moral spectrum. Some are good people, some are iffy, and some are outright evil. Enter Natalie Buxton, the baddest of them all. Natalie is a human trafficker who uses a school as a front - and often makes the children a subject of her horrific crimes. Her past is so terrible that she becomes the target of the other inmates, but that doesn’t stop her from becoming the local prison mastermind, making crystal meth and blackmailing guards to get away with it.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)

Like a more extreme “Seinfeld,” this show follows some not-so-nice and incredibly selfish people. But Dennis Reynolds makes them all look like saints. Like a true psychopath, Dennis appears relatively normal on the outside, even handsome and charismatic. He dresses well, and tries his best to be cool and seductive. But he can barely conceal the intense hatred he has for humanity. Dennis has delusions of grandeur and is extremely narcissistic, but that’s the least of it. It’s heavily implied that Dennis is a predator, his D.E.N.N.I.S. system is all about stalking and harassing women, and he may be a murderer. Maybe even a serial killer. Yes, this show is a comedy.

“Lost” (2004-10)

This show is all about moral ambiguity, with many of the characters having both good and bad traits. But not Martin Keamy. This guy is all evil, all the time. Despite his limited screen time, Keamy certainly made an impression on the fans and is now regarded as the series’ most despicable villain. He’s so disgusting that he even made us feel bad for Ben, and that’s no easy feat! Keamy is nothing but a paid mass murderer, being hired by Charles Widmore to raid the island and kill everyone who occupies it. He has a job to do and he sets out to do it, even if that includes executing teenagers in cold blood.

“The Sopranos” (1999-2007)

When even a gang of murderous criminals call you psychotic, you know you’re not right in the head. Joe Pantoliano was born to play bad guys, and he won an Emmy for his performance as the deranged Ralph Cifaretto. Ralph is a sadomasochistic gangster, driven by nothing but self-interest, money, and power. While he seems to care about his children, Ralph doesn’t have much regard for other lives, having beaten a pregnant woman and maybe burning a horse alive. His actions are so deplorable that they slowly erode Tony’s psyche, and he eventually beats Ralph to death for just generally being a d-bag.

“Killing Eve” (2018-22)

By their very natures, assassins hold some degree of psychopathy, being paid to take human lives. That’s the case with Villanelle, a Russian hitwoman who works for a shadowy organization called The Twelve. Villanelle is a psychopath to a t, being both a mass murderer and a master manipulator. Whether it’s mimicking accents or toying with her victims, Villanelle only displays what she wants people to see - and then usually just kills them anyway. She killed dozens of people throughout the series, and often in horrifically brutal ways. These aren’t quick shots to the head - no, these kills are personal, bloody, and wickedly disturbing.

“Squid Game” (2021-)

The Korean show that took the world by storm, “Squid Game” is an interesting examination of class, desperation, and moral quandaries. The series features a type of villain we don’t often see - an old man nearing the end of his life and not really caring what he does with the time he has left. This is Oh Il-nam, the creator of the Squid Games who poses as a frail old man within them. Il-nam is personally responsible for thousands of deaths, and his death games were created for no other reason than his own sick amusement. He’s also a terrific manipulator, having hidden in plain sight with the people he planned to kill and garnering their sympathy along the way.

“Dexter” (2006-13)

While Dexter himself started out as a psychopath, he arguably overcame those tendencies by the series’ end. But not Oliver Saxon. Dexter himself refers to Saxon as “a perfect psychopath,” being highly manipulative, completely devoid of empathy, and a perfect mimic of ordinary human emotions. But inside, Saxon is utterly empty. He feels nothing and is a highly successful serial killer, having murdered sixteen people, including his own girlfriend and mother, not to mention Dexter’s adoptive sister Debra.

“Breaking Bad” (2008-13)

There are a few characters throughout “Breaking Bad” who could be considered psychopaths, but even the most hardened villains display some degree of humanity. Not Todd. Todd is utterly devoid of compassion and doesn’t seem to love or even care for a single soul. Other than himself, of course. Todd seems nice enough on the outside, but he’s a complete psychopath with a very itchy trigger finger. He kills Drew Sharp after the train robbery, keeps Jesse prisoner, and later executes Andrea, leaving Brock an orphan. Don’t let the quiet and polite exterior fool you - this guy is sadistic.

“Sherlock” (2010-17)

Another Andrew Scott character, another psychopath! The guy is good at being cold. In “Sherlock,” he portrays one of the most famous villains in literary history and Sherlock’s arch-nemesis, Jim Moriarty. He is one of those villains who cause havoc and pain simply for the fun of it, and he makes it his personal goal to torment (and eventually kill) Sherlock Holmes. It’s implied that Moriarty has always been a psychopath, having killed Carl Powers as a boy and going on to live a life of general anarchy. Scott’s boyish good looks and smooth talking suggest otherwise, but Moriarty is evil incarnate, and Sherlock stops at nothing to bring him down.

“Bates Motel” (2013-17)

This show asks how a psychopath is born, and whether they’re affliction is a result of nature or nurture. The Norman Bates we see in “Psycho” is in the throes of his madness, being a successful serial killer and often playing his deceased mother. “Bates Motel” is his origin story, showing how a troubled but polite young boy becomes the Norman Bates we all know. Freddie Highmore is terrific in the role, at first being mildly sympathetic before falling into total madness. While he is a tragic character to some degree, he is also a serial killer who takes the life of his own mother and hides her corpse at the motel. Let’s not forget that.

“The Wire” (2002-08)

Considered one of the greatest shows ever made, “The Wire” is a complex examination of urban society, ranging from high-ranking government officials all the way down to street-level drug dealers. One of the main antagonists is Marlo Stanfield, a cunning drug kingpin who runs the seedy streets of Baltimore. He values nothing but money and power and sees his subordinates as mere pawns to be controlled and manipulated. He is also indirectly responsible for mass murder, with his crew systematically eliminating those of Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. Marlo even hides his corpses in vacant homes, just to add a further degree of nastiness to the violent proceedings.

“Better Call Saul” (2015-22)

The prequel to “Breaking Bad” was much calmer than its parent show, but it introduced the most psychotic character in the fictional universe. This is Lalo Salamanca, cousin of the barbarous Tuco. The psychopath gene seems to run in the family, but Tuco punching a dude to death looks like child’s play next to what Lalo gets up to. Lalo is much smarter than his brasher cousin, using charisma as a tool and displaying an extraordinary degree of intelligence and manipulation. But he’s also just as violent and takes dozens of lives throughout the series, including that of the completely innocent Howard Hamlin. We asked how Jimmy McGill became Saul Goodman - the answer, mostly, is Lalo Salamanca.

“Game of Thrones” (2011-19)

We could have put Ramsay Bolton here, but we have to give this spot to the bratty child that everyone hates - Mr. Joffrey Baratheon himself. Of course, Joffrey isn’t just a bratty child. He’s a genuine sadist, making all the other villains throughout this show look as noble and likable as Ned Stark. Joffrey really has no redeeming qualities - he’s violent, spoiled, abusive, and completely without empathy. Or even a capacity to love. Joffrey takes great delight in tormenting his victims, whether it’s belittling Tyrion or killing Ros just for the fun of it. He’s also a terrible and uncaring ruler, as evident throughout much of the second season when he lets King’s Landing fall into chaos.

“Fargo” (2014-)

We don’t care how psychotic Lorne Malvo is - we just can’t get over that haircut. Expertly played by Billy Bob Thornton, Malvo is a harbinger of chaos, arriving in the small town of Bemidji and stirring up the hornet’s nest. Malvo is a total enigma, as we know very little about his personal life, motivations, and morals (or lack thereof). He just wants to sow discontent, cause anarchy, and kill people, and that’s exactly what he does. The first season contains many Biblical allusions, and Malvo is often compared to Satan himself. It’s not hard to see why. This guy is pure evil through and through, a walking metaphor for death more than a human being.

“The Boys” (2019-)

A brilliant, hilarious, but ultimately brutal subversion of the superhero genre, “The Boys” has enjoyed incredible popularity, and Homelander is the breakout star. Everyone loves a good villain. Despite his heroic veneer, Homelander is an out-of-control psychopath, obsessed with his own self-image and engaging in some of the most deplorable violence ever seen on television. Wanton murder aside, Homelander is also just a disgusting individual, being unabashedly narcissistic and holding supremacist beliefs, believing that non-supes are “mud people.” He’s an unrepentant psychopath, the complete opposite of a hero.

“House of Cards” (2013-18)

The first scene starring Frank Underwood sees him killing a dog, and it only gets worse from there. There have been many duplicitous politicians on TV, but none like this. Stopping at nothing to become President of the United States, Frank will do anything in his power if it means attaining more power. Lying, conniving, and deceiving are the least of his crimes - he’s also personally committed murder on two occasions and has allowed many more to die through political scheming. He is the ultimate Machiavellian, a symbol of political corruption made incarnate. We can only shake our heads and gape at the lows to which Frank Underwood digs.

“Hannibal” (2013-15)

One of the most famous fictional psychopaths in history, Hannibal Lecter is a monster of a man and has long been regarded for his dreadful behavior. Mads Mikkelsen does a tremendous job taking the reins from Anthony Hopkins, which was certainly no easy feat. This iteration of Hannibal is much colder than the one portrayed by Hopkins, offering little in the way of outward charisma. He’s an unemotional robot, utterly devoid of love or adoration and focused on little more than twisting Will’s psyche. Of course, Hannibal is also a seasoned killer, and his many grotesque crimes are captured in vivid detail throughout the course of the series. And yes, that includes many instances of… eating.