A survey was conducted on the American portal Ranker, which resulted in a list of the most prominent villains of world cinema.
The first place, which is not at all surprising, was taken by the Joker performed by Heath Ledger from the film “The Dark Knight” by Christopher Nolan. He received 17 thousand votes.
The villain has been a crowd favorite for decades, just like Batman. Ledger was able to make something truly scary and uncontrollable out of the clown, thanks to which it became firmly rooted in the audience’s consciousness. For this, the actor was posthumously awarded an Oscar in 2009.
Darth Vader had 1,000 fewer votes, taking an honorable second place. And closing the top three is Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lambs.
Viewers chose not just mean and evil characters, but also those who were truly interesting due to their charisma, intelligence and cunning.
The list of the 10 best villains in movie history is as follows:
1. Joker “The Dark Knight”
2. Darth Vader “Star Wars”
3. Hannibal Lecter “Silence of the Lambs”
4. Lord Voldemort “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter”
5. Freddy Krueger “A Nightmare on Elm Street”
6. Jack Torrance “The Shining”
7. Emperor Palpatine “Star Wars”
8. Agent Smith “The Matrix”
9. Terminator “Terminator” (1984)
10. Magneto “X-Men”