More and more television shows don’t seem to have a shortage of sexy TV villains, making their characters all the more compelling to watch. Coupled with smart writing, intriguing stories and perfect cheekbones and you have yourself a tantalizing moral dilemma with bad guys.
Billy Hargrove, the latest in “hot” TV villains, has stunned us all in seasons 2 and 3 on the widely-successful Netflix series Stranger Things. In season 2, we are introduced to the suave, fast-car driving, mullet-having, quintessential 80’s bad-boy, complete with an earring and a cigarette perpetually stuck between his teeth. Need I mention he never wore a shirt? While he came off as bully and borderline abusive in season 2, he was also a charming ladies man, but Billy goes through a transformational experience (to say the least) in season 3.
Spoiler Alert if you haven’t watched season 3 of Stranger Things!
While up until the last few minutes, Billy was nothing but a grade-A douchebag (albeit a gorgeous looking one), but then he saved the fucking world! Can we really call him a villain anymore?
Ivar is the ultimate TV villain in the History Channel’s widely successful drama-epic, Vikings. Played by Alexander Hoegh-Andersen, Ivar is a character which you can’t look away from no matter how despicable his actions are, or the ruthless things he says. Ivar is more than just a warrior, a Viking, or a greedy heir to the throne; he is manipulative, conniving and violent man, but you can’t get enough of this mesmerizing character. One look at his piercing blue eyes and you can see all his pain, and anguish that he channeled into anger and carefully thought out plans to exact his revenge on anyone who wronged him.
Fans swooned over Evan Peters in American Horror Story: Murder House, and they haven’t stopped since, but for many, the all-time favorite Evans’ AHS character will always be the dreamy sociopath, Tate Langdon. While at first we fell in love with his shy, troubled nature, and his sweet-romantic gestures towards Violet, fans grew to realize what a monster Tate really was.
Despite all the atrocities he has committed and lives he has ruined, fans can’t help but fall in love with his adorable smile, his mop of sandy blonde hair and when he utters the phrase “I painted it black. I know how you don’t like normal things”, upon gifting a black rose to Violet.
Seriously Tate was made for all us emo kids who never really stopped being emo.
Just one of the many latest bad guys to wreak havoc in Riverdale, portrayed by Chad Michael Murray, is a cult leader, luring young women to join The Farm. The “town with pep” is met with fatal consequences as Edgar Evernever lures more and more young people to join his cult, and its no surprise that with his strong jawline and incredible physique, women are flocking to his side.
He is sure to be one of the sexiest TV villains of 2019, and as much as we want Betty and Jughead to take down Edgar and The Farm, we’ll be beside ourselves when that day comes.
Spike, a legendary TV villain, from Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a beloved character of TV history with his typical 90’s bad boy getup: bleached blonde hair, all-black leather, painted nails for extra edgy aesthetics, his super sharp cheekbones, and not to mention he is the king of dirty talk. In addition to Spike’s flirtatious one-liners, he is a freaking poetic vampire.
While initially an enemy to Buffy, a vampire who kills the slayers of his kind, Spike proves to be a dynamic character, much like Billy from Stranger Things who sacrifices himself for the greater good, where Spike proves his love for Buffy, whom he intended to kill in the beginning, by sacrificing his soul.
This antagonist from Marvel’s Jessica Jones portrayed by David Tennant, employs sociopathic behaviors and use psychological force to inflict pain and suffering onto others who cause him even the slightest inconvenience. Being played by Tenant however, somehow you can’t help but feel Kilgrave is a charming and likable man.
Spoiler Alert if you haven’t watched Vikings seasons 2-4
Another antagonist from History Channel’s Viking series we see is Erlendur, played by Edvin Endre, son of King Horik. When his father is killed by Ragnar, and the entire Lothbrok family, Erlendur secretly sets out to avenge his father’s death by making an alliance with Lagertha’s usurper, Earl Kalf. While it’s perfectly reasonable for Erlendur to want to seek out revenge for his father’s death, he set his sights on Ragnar’s son Bjorn Ironside, but instead of trying to kill Bjorn himself, he threatens his estranged wife Torvi with the murder of her son, if she does not do his bidding.
As far as hot villain goes, the Swedish actor Edvin Endre isn’t hard to look at with his youthful, fair-skinned face, well-defined cheekbones (my ultimate weakness), his curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Not to mention he plays evil, ruthless warrior to a T; making bloodshed look surprisingly sexy.
Another American Horror Story alum, we are introduced to Emma Roberts in season 3, Coven, in which she plays, (extremely well), a bitchy, spoiled girl who couldn’t care less about anyone or anything, but herself. Her character Madison isn’t the villain trying to take over the world or kill anybody, but she also doesn’t make an effort to save anyone when the time comes. But as always, she looks stunning with her large dark, judgmental eyes, and untamed sex appeal. She is the girl you love to hate, but love to watch even more.
In the British crime drama The Fall we see serial killer Paul Spector, portrayed by Jamie Dornan (yes Mr. Grey), who is stalking and killing professional women in the city of Belfast. Because Spector is a sexually-motivated killer, the audience is given this sense of heightened thrill, especially coupled with such an alluring actor as Dornan.
He has an athletic-built physique, giving off a strong-masculine presence and his dark hair and eyes, shrouded in mystery make him an even more fascinating character because the audience can’t tell if at any point his emotions are real or just a façade. Add all that to a sexy accent and some seriously charged scenes and you have a case of hybristophilia.
Played by Mike Vogel in Season 1 of Bates Motel, we are introduced quickly to Deputy Shelby who seems like a nice guy with boyish good looks and a great hair-as well as being a strong, protective cop. However, he finds evidence linking Norman to a murder, and to protect Norma he deliberately hides it, using it to blackmail her. We see this destructive relationship between them unfold, leaving the audience to think this good-looking cop is going to help Norma and take care of her.
That is until Norman and Dylan uncover Deputy Shelby running an underground sex trafficking ring in his basement. The confrontation of such escalates, causing Shelby to hold Norman and Dylan at gunpoint, while he verbally and physically assaults Norma in her own house. Talk about a bad-cop routine, gone bad.
In Fox’s critically-acclaimed series Gotham we see a young Joker played by Cameron Monaghan. The Joker is the quintessential movie or TV villain, and there have been many portrayals of him over the years. Monaghan’s roles as Jerome, and the Joker origin story in this series, gives a haunting performance as the maniacal Clown Prince of Crime. Not a conventionally sexy TV villain, but Monaghan’s version of the Joker is so alluring, how it draws you in, leaving you wanting more and more. It feels more like a forbidden fascination watching his performance of someone whose becoming unhinged.
Not to mention what a sweet-talker Jerome is, and when he isn’t terrifying-looking he is adorably baby-faced and innocent looking.
One of the reasons people are attracted to psychopaths, murderers and serial killers, is the desire to feed off the fame they find. Another reason for hybristophilia is the desire to nurture a person who they perceive to be the victim, thinking they can change their violent ways. Sounds a lot like the relationship between Mistah J and Harley-Quinn in other Batman-related stories.
One of the most morally ambiguous characters in television was Roman Godfrey, portrayed by Bill Skarsgård in Hemlock Grove. He was an Upir (vampire) who killed people and drank their blood, he also raped women, and that should make him a quintessential villain, but he wasn’t all bad. He loved his sister Shelley and doted upon her, he never hurt his daughter, he made efforts to be a good friend to Peter and prior to killing that homeless man he vowed to financially take care of the man’s estranged kids. He could be worse right?
Roman receives more of an honorable mention, because he is the main character of this show, and while he has done horrible things no doubt, he still had some redeeming qualities. And do I need to say he is played by Bill-effing-Skarsgård, one of the sexiest actors alive right now!? Every soul-piercing stare he gives in Hemlock Grove could cut through your soul and obliterate your ovaries.
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