Photo: Fox
A cartoon is only as good as its villain, and whether you were watching Batman: The Animated Series or DuckTales, you knew very well who your favorite villain was. When it comes to ranking our favorite cartoons character villains, we’re willing to go as light as Flintheart Glomgold and Angelica Pickles to as dark as Skeletor and The Sandman.
If you were a fan of The Real Ghostbusters and lost sleep over The Boogieman or Samhain, or if were simply a fan of The Simpsons sideshow types, we’ve got a little bit of all the best cartoon character villains for your viewing pleasure, ranked just perfectly enough to drive you absolutely nuts.
As kids of the ’80s who grew up on ’90s cartoons and still can’t stop today, we know you’ll appreciate this slideshow of Sideshow Bobs, two-faced foes and women you simply cannot trust. Who will be our number-one pick? Oh, like you don’t already know. Or wait, do you? Sit tight as we rank our 15 favorite superhero villains from cartoon history, all the way up to…oh, what’s his name?
Ranking Our Favorite Cartoon Character Villains for Your Evil-Loving Side
For more stuff you miss: We’re Drunk With (Turtle) Power Ranking Our Favorite Childhood Cartoons As ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Turns 30
Cartoon Villains
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15. Angelica Pickles
The antagonist of the Rugrats world was the older, domineering pigtails of Angelica. I knew an Angelica once; she tried to set my winter jacket on fire in first grade (when I was wearing it).
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14. NegaDuck
For every superhero duck, there must be a nega-duck. And sometimes, thanks to weird continuity errors, you were never quite sure which was which on Darkwing Duck.
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13. Clayface
This shapeshifter was a formidable foe to Batman in the animated series, which helped to make appearances from Joker and Two-Face more stunning rarities.
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12. Venom
Everyone who wanted to see Spider-Man get his ass kicked loves Venom, the darker and wilder take on web-crawling fiction hero. Believe it or not, Venom actually didn't make his first appearance until the 300th issue of Spidey's comic book. A Venom-centric movie is planned for 2018 with Tom Hardy.
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11. Poison Ivy
It was the first time we realized beautiful women were capable of terrible things. There was nothing hotter in the animated world than Poison Ivy on Batman: The Animated Series, at least until we met some of the '90s girls we hoped to lose our virginity to.
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10. Gargamel
It wasn't easy being a Smurf when Gargamel was trying to make them into stew, yet he could never seem to catch them. It was like watching your mother chase a mouse in the house. Pathetic!
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9. Dr. Claw
What was with evil bad guys having cats? Why didn't Dr. Claw have like a rescue pit bull? Then he would've had some real edge to him. Inspector Gadget, Penny and the gang are all back in a 2.0 reboot on Netflix to take on Dr. Claw, if you're into it.
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8. Two-Face
While Aaron Eckhart blew us away in The Dark Knight as Harvey Two-Face, nothing tops the animated character from the '90s, not even Tommy Lee Jones in a colorfully terrible Schumacher abomination.
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7. Darkseid
Superman's toughest opponent had to be Darkseid, an animated character scary enough my mother thought it best I change the channel, lest I wet myself at night.
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6. Krang
Krang was definitely evil, but more than anything he was comic relief against The Shredder. The best was when his big bald man suit would sit on Shredder like a bully in grade school.
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5. Skeletor
He-Man wasn't for everyone, speaking as a fan of The Real Ghostbusters, but Skeletor was for sure a badass villain, as well as my nickname throughout high school (and college, and today).
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4. Sideshow Bob
Robert Underdunk Terwilliger turned the lovable Springfield comedy The Simpsons into a bit of a thriller at times. His obsession with killing Bart and general criminal mastermind was like a cartoon version of Robert De Niro in Cape Fear.
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3. Lex Luthor
Though he didn't have the supernatural powers of Superman or his enemies, there's nothing more badass than a billionaire who wants to take over the world. Notoriously the most cunning of white-collar criminals, Lex has been reincarnated so many times that it's tough to pick which is best (as long as it's not Jesse Eisenberg's).
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2. The Shredder
This staple '90s villain needs no introduction, as his voice is burned into our brains for all eternity. What Michael Bay's company was thinking when they did that first reboot of Shredder we'll never know, but the most recent adaptation in "Out of the Shadows" was much better, even if he forgot to put on the goddamn helmet until the end.
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1. The Joker
Again, it's hard to choose which is our favorite, as we all love a little Jack, as well as what Heath did with The Joker. But we cut our teeth on this super villain through the animated series, still untouchable. The Killing Joker on HBO is perfect for anybody who misses these days.
