List of villains

This list is incomplete.

Fictional characters depicted as villains

X

X.A.N.A - evil computer from Code Lyoko
Xan Kriegor, Unreal Tournament
Xenia Onatopp, GoldenEye

Y

Yautja (a.k.a. Predators), Predator and Predator 2
Yuri, Leaving Las Vegas
Yuri, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

Z

Zenith the Albino nemesis of Sexton Blake
Zed and Maynard, Pulp Fiction

Historical figures who figure as villains in fiction

Many writers of fiction have looked to history to furnish characters and story lines; when they do so, it is likely that a historical figure will be cast in the role of a villain. Some historical figures are bandits or murderers; when these criminals appear in fiction, few will quarrel with their villainhood.

On the other hand, some figures may be cast in the role of villain by virtue of reputations as tyrants, dictators, or because as leaders they are supposed to have pursued deeply misguided policies. Here, one writer's villain may well be another person's hero. In some cases, the reputation given a historical figure by a widely circulated fictional treatment may come to overshadow that figure's historical reputation; some say that William Shakespeare's treatment of Richard III made his present reputation much fouler than it needs to be. It may be possible for an actual historical figure to become so shrouded in legendary accretions that some uncertainty may be generated as to if or when they lived and what they did. Finally, a historical figure of some notoriety may be used as a namesake of a wholly fictional character, just to signify that this character is one of the bad guys.

Criminals

Gilles de Rais (1404 - 1440), alleged historical basis for the Bluebeard fairy tale.
Captain William Kidd (1645 - 1701).
Titus Oates (1649 - 1705).
Blackbeard (c. 1680 - 1718).
Black Bart ( 1682 - 1722)
Dick Turpin (1706 - 1739).
William Burke (1792 - 1829).
Jesse James (1847 - 1882).
Billy the Kid (c. 1860 - 1881), many appearances, including Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and The Outlaw.
Lizzie Borden (1860 - 1927).
Jack the Ripper (active in 1888 or 1887 - 1891, depending on canon of victims); many fictional appearances, including From Hell.
Dalton Gang (active 1890 - 1892), villains in Lucky Luke comics.
Al Capone (1899 - 1947).
Leopold and Loeb (1904 - 1971 and 1905 - 1936 respectively).
Charles Manson (1934 - ).
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal) (1949) - Appeared in the Jason Bourne series of novels by Robert Ludlum.

Military leaders

Gaius Julius Caesar (102 BC - 44 BC), villain in Asterix comics.
Dong Zhuo (139? - 192), appears in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Cao Cao (155 - 220), appears in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Attila the Hun (c. 406 - 453), appears as Atli in the Volsunga Saga.
Genghis Khan (c. 1162 - 1227)
Tamerlane (1336 - 1405), appears in Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and II by Christopher Marlowe and Tamerlano from George Frideric Handel.
Oda Nobunaga (1534 - 1582)
Captain William Bligh (1754 - 1817); see Mutiny on the Bounty (fiction)
General Esteban Huertas (1896 - 1943), villain in The Sharpie of the Culebra Cult, a Scrooge McDuck comic from Keno Don Rosa.
Ilse Koch (1906 - 1967), appears in Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS and sequels.
Trinh Minh The (1922 - 1955), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American.
Ratko Mladić (1942 - )

Monarchs

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (c. 215 - 163 BC), appears in the Books of the Maccabees and many fictionalized treatments.
Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Empire of China (de facto ruler 195 - 180 BC
Caligula (12 - 41), appearing oa in Caligula and I, Claudius.
Messalina (17 - 48).
Nero (37 - 68), appears in The Monk's Tale from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, many more.
Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus (161 - 192), appearing in Gladiator and The Fall of the Roman Empire.
Macbeth of Scotland (c. 1005 - 1057), villain in Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
John of England (1166/1167 - 1216), villain in several stories about Robin Hood (for example Ivanhoe).
Kublai Khan (1215 - 1294), villain in Time Squad; see also What Would Brian Boitano Do?
Vlad III Dracula (1431 - 1476), first depicted as villain in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and many movies.
Richard III of England (1452 - 1485), villain in Shakespeare's plays and other Tudor propaganda.
Ivan IV of Russia (1530 - 1584).
Erzsébet Báthory (1560 - 1614).
Charles I of England (1600 - 1649).
James II of England (1633 - 1701).
George III of the United Kingdom (1738 - 1820).
Nicholas I of Russia (1796 - 1855).
Alexander III of Russia (1845 - 1894).
Nicholas II of Russia (1868 - 1918).
Emperor Hirohito (1901 - 1989) appears in South Park.

Politicians

Draco the law-giver ( Archon of Athens in 621 BC), appears in Xena: Warrior Princess.
Alcibiades (c. 450 - 404 BC).
Catiline ( 108 - 62 BC).
Pontius Pilate, 1st Century AD, appears ao in Monty Python's Life of Brian,.
Judge George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1648 - 1689), appears in Lorna Doone
Boss Tweed (1823 - 1878), appears in the film Gangs of New York
Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924).
Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953).
Benito Mussolini (1883 - 1945).
Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945), many fictional appearances. Notable examples are The Great Dictator, Hitler: The Last Ten Days, and The Germans episode of Fawlty Towers.
Dr. Ante Pavelić (1889 - 1959.
Tomás Garrido Canabal (1891 - 1943), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Power and the Glory.
Francisco Franco (1892 - 1975).
Mao Zedong (1893 - 1976).
Nikita Khrushchev (1894 - 1971), the leader of Brutopia in several Donald Duck stories is a caricature of Khrushchev.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900 - 1989).
François "Papa Doc" Duvalier (1907 - 1971), appears in Graham Greene's novel The Comedians.
Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908 - 1957), allegorized in The Crucible.
Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908 - 1973), in MacBird
Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004), literally, was villain in many movies in his filmography.
Richard Nixon (1913 - 1994).
Ferdinand Marcos (1917 - 1989).
Henry Kissinger (1923 - ), 'put on trial' for war crimes, crimes against humanity and conspiracy to commit murder in The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens.
Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918 - 1989).
Fidel Castro (1926 - ).
Yasser Arafat (1929 - 2004).
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu Sese Seko (1930 - 1997), appears in In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz.
Saddam Hussein (1937 - ), appears in South Park, cohabiting with the Devil
Kim Jong-Il (1942 - )
George W. Bush (1946 - ),the speeches of Palpatine in Star wars had been based on the speeches of George W. bush.

Religious figures

Tomás de Torquemada (1420 - 1498), namesake of a villain in the Nemesis the Warlock series.
Pope Alexander VI (1431 - 1503), appears in The Family by Mario Puzo.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452 - 1498), appears in The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant.
Cardinal Richelieu (1585 - 1642), appears in The Three Musketeers
Matthew Hopkins (witchhunter active 1644 - 1647); appears The Conqueror Worm
Grigori Rasputin (1869 - 1916), appears in Anastasia, Hellboy
Pope Pius XII (1876 - 1958), appears in The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth

Scientists

Dr. Josef Mengele (1911 - 1979), oa appearing in The Boys from Brazil and Marathon Man.

Traitors

Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio (85 BC-42 BC), appearing oa in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Dante's Divine Comedy and Asterix comics.
Judas Iscariot (died c. 29 - 33), the Bible and other religious texts; fictionalized in Jesus Christ Superstar and The Divine Comedy, many more
Benedict Arnold (1741 - 1801).
Vidkun Quisling (1887 - 1945), his name has become synonym for collaborator.
Lord Haw-Haw (radio show active 1939 - 1945).

Other villains

Osama bin Laden (1957 - ).

List of villains

Fictional characters depicted as villains

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Historical figures who figure as villains in fiction

Criminals

Military leaders

Monarchs

Politicians

Religious figures

Scientists

Traitors

Other villains

Biblical and mythological villains

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