Men may be the more traditional villains in movies, but women have been some of the best. The kind of characters we just love to hate, played by some of the greatest actresses of all time. Here is our list of some of the best female villains in film history.
Nurse Ratched – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Louise Fletcher’s performance as the manipulative Nurse Ratched is one of the most chilling to grace the silver screen. Her iron-fisted rule over McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) and the rest of the patients is quietly evil, making it way more effective and terrifying than an over-the-top style of villain.
Wicked Witch Of The West – The Wizard Of Oz
There may be no more recognizable villain, male or female, to movie fans than the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard Of Oz. The Margaret Hamilton character has been scaring kids (in the best way) for almost a century. The role is so iconic that when we think of a generic “witch,” we almost always picture the Wicked Witch of the West.
Alex Forrest – Fatal Attraction
You know we couldn’t make this list without the absolutely unhinged Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction. Close’s performance of the jilted lover is consistently ranked among the great villains of all time and it’s easy to see why. The movie keeps viewers on the edge of their seats as she gets more and more detached from reality, leaving us all terrified of what could come next.
Madeline “Ma-Ma” Madrigal – Dredd
Madeline “Ma-Ma” Madrigal (Lena Headey), the gang boss in 2012’s Dredd, is among the most ruthless criminals on film in recent years. Her control over the housing block Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is trying to police is fanatical and all-encompassing. Ma-Ma doesn’t seem to have – or want – friends or advisors, just soldiers in her battle for control.
Mary Lee Johnston – Precious
A lot of the villains on this list are traditional movie villains. Mary Lee Johnston (Mo’Nique) in Precious is not traditional. She’s also the “realest” villain on this list. So real, it’s horrifying, making Precious being a great movie that you almost never want to watch ever again. She’s so evil it’s really hard to watch. Mo’Nique is fantastic, bringing this wicked character to life on the screen.
Phyllis Dietrichson – Double Indemnity
Female villains are nothing new, of course. One of the all-time classic examples is Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity from 1944. Barbara Stanwyck plays the traitorous wife who takes advantage of an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) by dragging him into her diabolical plan to off her husband and collect on his life insurance.
Kathryn Merteuil – Cruel Intentions
High school bullies make great villains. They make especially great villains when they are as manipulative as Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in Cruel Intentions. Kathryn has no morals and no ethics, she only cares about herself and doesn’t care who she hurts. That’s why watching her get caught in the end is so satisfying. It’s also maybe the best use of music in the movies.
Pamela Voorhees – Friday The 13th
In the history of horror movies, one of the most iconic has to be the original Friday The 13th. While Jason Voorhees is on the Mount Rushmore of slasher film villains after countless sequels and spinoffs in the franchise, it’s his mother who is the real villain in the original and that’s why she, Pamala Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), deserves to be on this list.
Mystique – X-Men
Magneto may the “big bad” in most of the X-Men movies, but he wouldn’t be nearly as threatening without his right-hand woman, Mystique. Played by both Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence in the movies, the shapeshifting mutant does a lot of Magneto’s dirty work.
Elektra King – The World Is Not Enough
Given James Bond‘s history with women, you might expect more of his villains to be women. While there are plenty of henchmen, there are not a lot of women who played Bond villains. One great exception is the diabolical Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) in The World Is Not Enough. King, wasn’t born evil, but she definitely turned that way, perhaps even more extreme than the man who made her that way.
Regina George – Mean Girls
Ruining Regina George’s life might not have made Cady (Lindsay Lohan) happy in Mean Girls, but it sure was satisfying to watch! George, played by the great Rachel McAdams, is one of the all-time great girl-bullies in movie history. The manipulative popular girl gets what’s coming to her in the end, after proving how awful she can be to even her closest friends.
Bellatrix Lestrange – Harry Potter
It’s impossible to see anyone other than Helena Bonham Carter in the role of the Harry Potter Bellatrix Lestrange. She plays the role of the villain perfectly in the series. Most of Potter and Co.’s enemies are male, of course, but one of the scariest has to be Lestrange.
Cassandra Nova – Deadpool And Wolverine
The MCU has a handful of female villains and for the most part, they are among the most powerful of all the villains. Take Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) in Deadpool And Wolverine, for example. She’s just as powerful as her brother, Charles Xavier, but she’s pure evil. That’s a terrifying combination.
Annie Wilkes – Misery
This list would certainly not be complete without one of the meanest villains of the ’90s, or any other decade in film history. Annie Wilkes, played by Kathy Bates in an Oscar-winning performance. She completely stole the show in one of the greatest horror movies of all time and earned a place on the Mount Rushmore of movie villains.
Mama Fratelli – The Goonies
Big-time fame came late to Anne Ramsey. The actress had built a solid career in Hollywood as a character actor, but she really hit the big time after playing the villainous Mama Fratelli, matriarch of a hapless, yet very mean family, in The Goonies. Tragically, she died just three years later of cancer at age 59.
Amy Dunne – Gone Girl
Is there anything as scary as a cold, calculating villain like Amy Dunne in Gone Girl? Amy, played by Rosamund Pike, is certainly justified in her beef with her cheating husband, put her method of revenge is pure evil. It’s also darn impressive, and in the end, she “wins,” so she deserves to be on this list.
Miranda Priestly – The Devil Wears Prada
Everyone has had bad bosses, but no one has had a boss quite as awful as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl Streep’s performance as the ultimate boss from hell is one of the best of her amazing career and a rare example of the actress playing a true villain.
Cruella DeVille – One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Disney has a long history of great female villains, and close to the top of the greatest ones has to be Cruella DeVille. The One Hundred and One Dalmatians baddie knows exactly how to tear out viewers’ hearts in everything she does, to say nothing of making coats from puppies.
Aileen Wuornos – Monster
Charlize Theron plays one of the rare real people on this list, serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Monster is the perfect description of her, too. While her unbelievably terrible life that led to her murders is something no one would wish on their worst enemy, what Wuornos became is pure evil in every way. Theron won an Oscar for her performance as Wuornos, who was executed in prison a year before the movie was released.
Hela – Thor: Ragnorak
Some of the most powerful villains in the MCU are women and Hela in Thor: Ragnorak certainly qualifies here. Cate Blanchett’s chameleon-like performance is just so great and Hela looks so cool, that you almost want to root for her.
Maleficent – Sleeping Beauty
When you’re such a good villain that they start making spin-offs about you, you absolutely belong on this list. Maleficent is one of the all-time great villains in Disney history and we love to hate her so much that she even got two films all her own in the 2010s, starring Angelina Jolie as the diabolical fairy, where we learn she’s maybe not as evil as it seems.
Harley Quinn – Suicide Squad
Of all the villains on this list, Harley Quinn is the most fun. Yeah, she’s a psychopath, sure, but she’s a fun psychopath! That’s really all she wants to do, have fun and create chaos and that makes her pretty endearing in a lot of ways, as does Margot Robbie’s awesome performance as the manic pixie dream psycho in the Suicide Squad movies.
Veronica – Heathers
On the surface, you may argue that Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) is the villain in Heathers. Like Regina George, Chandler is the alpha mean girl in the crew of Heathers. But really, it’s Veronica (Winona Ryder) and her boyfriend J.D. (Christian Slater), who are the real baddies here. They’re the ones committing the murders, after all.
Elle Driver – Kill Bill
Daryl Hannah was mostly known for rom-coms and more “innocent” characters before she was brilliantly cast by Quentin Tarantino as Elle Driver in Kill Bill. The California Mountain Snake, as Driver was known as part of the Deadly Vipers is a remorseless killer and relentless in her pursuit of her intended victim.
Elsa Schneider – Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Elsa Schneider is the worst kind of traitor, she’s a Nazi traitor who turns on one of cinema’s great heroes, Indiana Jones. It’s an unforgivable sin that earns her place on this list. Allison Doody’s performance is great, as the surprise twist is something few saw coming.
Catherine Tramell – Basic Instinct
It’s unfortunate that Basic Instinct is really only remembered for one scene, surely you know which one. It’s sad because Sharon Stone’s work in the film as the calculating Catherine Tramell deserves to be remembered for more than just that interrogation scene. It’s arguably the finest performance of her career.
Jadis The White Witch – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Jadis The White Witch (Tilda Swinton) is, in the end, really nothing more than a dictator and a bully. She just has powerful magic to help her in her mercurial schemes and grievances. Not only does she delight in turning her enemies to stone for even the most minor slights, but she also plunges Narnia into winter for decades.
Madison Lee – Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Traitorous villains, like Madison Lee (Demi Moore) in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle are the worst kind of people, but they make for some epic baddies in movies. A former Angel, Madison turns to the dark side after she thinks Charlie disrespects her and goes after her old friends with total abandon.
Ursula – The Little Mermaid
It’s hard to narrow down all the great Disney female villains for this list, but we had to include Ursula from The Little Mermaid. She’s the epitome of everything that makes Disney villains great. Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?
Mallory Knox – Natural Born Killers
Like many others on this list, Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis) in Natural Born Killers is in some ways a victim of circumstance. Her upbringing was shocking, and her husband Mickey (Woody Harrelson) is the catalyst for their crime spree. Neither of those things gives her a pass though. Instead she makes this list as an all-time great villain.
Frau Farbissina – Austin Powers
One of the great Bond villainesses. Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love is the inspiration for another great, Frau Farbissina in the Austin Powers franchise. Mindy Sterling’s performance as Dr. Evil’s right-hand woman is just pitch-perfect as a parody and she absolutely deserves to be on this list.
President Alma Coin – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) is the classic bad guy in The Hunger Games movies, but after Snow is finally deposed and Alma Coin (Julieanne Moore) takes over as President, it turns out she’s just as ruthless as Snow. Her pettiness towards Katniss doesn’t do much to endear her to anyone, either.
