Fantasy shows take the audience into unique worlds with a variety of characters, both heroes and villains, and some have stood out for having great and memorable villains. Various fantasy shows can be found among the best TV shows of all time, thanks to their story, characters, development, production value, and more, making them a must-watch.

However, there are many other fantasy shows that, even though they don’t always show up on the list of best fantasy shows of all time, are worth watching. Some, in particular, stand out for their great villains, who, in some cases, stole the show from the heroes. Others became popular for how evil and despicable they are, but that was key to the success of their shows.

10

Shadow and Bone

Two Seasons

Shadow and Bone is a fantasy TV series developed by Eric Heisserer and based on Leigh Bardugo’s novels Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. In the world of Shadow and Bone are a group of people known as Grisha, who are magic users who can manipulate matter at the molecular level.

Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) is an orphaned mapmaker and a Grisha with the power of a Sun Summoner, which makes her key to destroying a barrier filled with monsters called the Shadow Fold. Alina comes across General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), the Shadow Summoner and a dark Grisha, who wants to control her powers.

The Shadow and Bone TV show humanized Kirigan, exploring his motivations and portraying him as a leader fighting for his people. Kirigan is a complex villain, and there’s a lot more to him than being the counterpart of Alina, and the added bonus is Ben Barnes’ natural charm and excellent performance.

9

The Witcher

Preparing Its Fifth Season

Created by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s novel series of the same name, The Witcher takes its audience into a world with monsters, mages, elves, and more. The Witcher tells the story of the title witcher Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill and Liam Hemsworth), sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra), and Princess Ciri (Freya Allan).

Half the Continent is going after Ciri due to her magical abilities and a prophecy that claims she will be either a savior or a destroyer of worlds. Geralt and Yennefer must protect Ciri, and in the process, they come across a variety of threats. So far, Netflix’s The Witcher has had a couple of villains that didn’t last long, but it finally has two villains to fear: Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu) and Leo Bonhart (Sharlto Copley).

Vilgefortz is a powerful mage who knows no limits when it comes to getting what he wants and will kill, manipulate, and torture anyone who stands in his way. Bonhart is a bounty hunter, and one of the cruelest, most evil people on the Continent, who has killed many witchers and killed the Rats in front of Ciri. It’s to be seen how The Witcher season 5 will continue their stories, but they are some of the show’s biggest strengths so far.

8

The Sandman

Two Seasons

The Sandman is a fantasy drama TV show based on Neil Gaiman’s comic book of the same name. The Sandman follows Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), one of the seven Endless, the ruler of the Dreaming, and the personification of dreams and nightmares. After being held captive for over a century, Morpheus escapes in 2022 and sets out to restore order to his realm.

The main villain in The Sandman is The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), a nightmare that escaped The Dreaming, who is now a serial killer who consumes the eyes of his victims. The Corinthian is, quite literally, a living nightmare, with unbelievable charisma that he uses to manipulate people, and he truly enjoys torturing and killing people. The Netflix show added depth to The Corinthian, making him more complex, fascinating, and terrifying.

7

The Boys

Five Seasons

The Boys is a satirical superhero TV series developed by Eric Kripke and based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book series of the same name. The Boys takes place in a world where superpowered people are recognized as heroes and work for the powerful corporation Vought International, which markets and monetizes them. In reality, the Supes are corrupt, selfish, and reckless, but it’s Vought’s job to keep their public image clean.

The vigilante group known as The Boys is on a mission to bring down Vought, the Supes, and expose them, but tension and conflict between both groups only increases more and more. Although The Boys has various villains, the one who stands out is Homelander (Anthony Starr), the leader of The Seven who, behind his heroic public image, is a murderous, narcissistic, cruel, predatory, and sadistic man.

What makes Homelander terrifying is that, despite his superpowers, he’s a realistic villain who reflects many issues from the real world. Homelander is unpredictable, evil, and complex, and a key part of the popularity of The Boys.

6

Outlander

Eight Seasons

Outlander is a historical fantasy TV show based on Diana Gabaldon’s book series of the same name. Outlander goes back to 1945 to follow Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a former World War II military nurse, who, while on vacation in Scotland with her husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies), ends up traveling back in time to 1743 Scotland.

There she meets Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), with whom she falls in love, but Claire and Jamie are caught in the Jacobite rising and other conflicts. On top of that, Claire is caught between her old life in the 20th century and her new one in the 18th century. Although Claire and Jamie come across various threats, the main villain is Jack Randall (Menzies), a sadistic, unpredictable, predatory, and cruel captain.

Related

Outlander’s Full Timeline & Time Travel Explained

From the moment Claire slipped through the stones of Craigh na Dun, Outlander’s timeline got pretty complicated. Of course, that was only the start.

Jack Randall is one of the most realistic and thus terrifying villains in fantasy TV, who knows no limits when it comes to the horrific actions and crimes he commits. Randall was a consistently complex and evil villain in Outlander, made even better by the performance of Menzies.

5

The Legend of Korra

Four Seasons

The Legend of Korra is an animated fantasy action drama TV show created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and it’s a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Legend of Korra is the story of Korra (voiced by Janet Varney), the rebellious Avatar after Aang, who must master her powers and protect Republic City.

The Legend of Korra has different villains, all of them complex characters with ideological motivations who look for the best for their people, even if those ideas aren’t actually the best or beneficial. These villains also complement Korra and her journey by challenging her and pushing her to be better, leading to character development and growth.

4

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Three Seasons

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated fantasy action TV show created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Set in a world where some people can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements through the practice of “bending”, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows Aang (voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen), the Avatar, as he can bend all four elements. As such, he’s responsible for keeping harmony among the world’s nations.

Avatar: The Last Airbender has various villains, who are one of the most praised elements of the show, as they are brilliantly written, deep, complex characters. The show’s villains are a key part of its exploration of themes like grief, politics, loss, and more, delving deep into their stories and motivations, and even giving some of them well-developed and compelling redemption arcs.

3

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Seven Seasons

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a supernatural horror drama TV series created by Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer centers on Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a succession of young women chosen by fate and known as “Vampire Slayers.” As the Slayer, Buffy’s mission is to battle vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness.

As such, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a variety of villains, some of them one-episode threats and others with bigger and more complex arcs. Some of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s best villains are the Master, Glory, Caleb, and Angelus, the latter the soulless version of Buffy’s biggest love interest, Angel (David Boreanaz).

The villains in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are metaphors for the changes and issues Buffy goes through in every season, and some, like Angelus, have a deep personal connection to her. This makes their conflict and confrontations more complex and unpredictable, as Buffy has to face her deepest fears and issues in order to defeat them.

2

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Two Seasons So Far

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is part of the Lord of the Rings franchise, though set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit. The Rings of Power explores the major events of Middle-earth’s Second Age, most notably the forging of the Rings of Power and the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron (Charlie Vickers).

Sauron is already one of the best villains of all time, but Rings of Power makes him even more interesting, complex, and fascinating by exploring his backstory and his deceiving, manipulating, evil ways and different forms.

1

Game of Thrones

Seven Seasons

Of course, one of the best fantasy shows of all time has some of the best villains. Based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, Game of Thrones takes viewers to a fictional world where different noble families look to take control of the Iron Throne. This makes way for a variety of villains, most of them driven by a thirst for power and control, with political motivations, and some who are just naturally cruel and evil.

Villains like Joffrey Barathan and Ramsay Bolton are known for their cruelty, sadism, and unpredictability, while others are villains in less “traditional” ways, instead being categorized as such for their actions as a result of trauma. Game of Thrones has some of the most complex, terrifying, but also fascinating villains, who were key to the success of the show.

Release Date

2011 – 2019-00-00

Showrunner

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Directors

David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff