Over the years my favorite cartoons have naturally been cartoons that had good versus evil. There were heroes and there were villains. Heroes are easy to portray. I’ve always thought that in movies, television show, video games, comic books or whatever the villain was always harder to portray. Every successful cartoon must have a great villain and these are the 15 best.
15. Negaduck
Darkwing Duck is one of the more underrated cartoons. Darkwing Duck had many villains but none of them better than his greatest villain and arch nemesis Negaduck.
14. Gargamel
Gargamel might have to be the least successful villain of all-time. Seriously, how hard is it to just walk into the Smurf Village and start squashing them all? Gargamel’s cat Azrael should have at least caught a few of them too.
13. Bluto
I never understood why Popeye liked Olive Oyl but I guess if you like somebody you have to fight for them. Bluto was always getting in the way of Popeye’s true love. That is one of the easiest ways to make a greatest cartoon villain list.
12. Chairface Chippendale
The Tick was one of my favorite cartoons so I had to include at least one villain. It was tough to make a decision but ultimately I went with Chairface Chippendale. Carving your name into the surface of the moon so that everybody will see it forever is one of the greatest plans ever. Unfortunately The Tick stopped him and now everyone will only see “CHA.”
11. Bowser
Bowser might be the greatest video game villain of all-time but for cartoons he doesn’t quite make the top of the list. The Super Mario Brothers cartoons always had a good portrayal of Bowser though.
10. Mumm-Ra
Honestly Mumm-Ra was kind of strange but after GI Joe, Transformers and He-man the Thundercats were the most popular cartoon of the time so he has to be considered for the greatest cartoon villain list.
9. Destro
Destro may have never been the leader of G. I. Joe like Cobra Commander or Serpentor but Destro ruled anyway. Destro was strong and tough, has a metal face plate and he’s the only bad guy that had a chick. Everybody knew that if Destro wanted too he could’ve pummeled Cobra Commander at any time and taken over Cobra.
8. Starscream
Starscream is the best type of cartoon villain; he’s a weasel. Not only was Starscream a thorn in the side of the Autobots but he was also a thorn in his side of his own leader Megatron because he was always threatening to take over the Decepticons. Starscream is one of the few cartoon villains that was hated by the heroes and the villains guys.
7. Lex Luthor
I was never a big fan of the Superman Animated Series but the Justice League cartoon is one of the best adaptation of a comic book ever. Since Lex Luthor is probably the lead villain of that cartoon series he has to be pretty high on the greatest cartoon villain list.
6. Mr. Freeze
The Batman comic book and movie fans will probably recognize the Joker as Batman’s greatest villain of all-time and the Joker was portrayed well in the Batman animated series. But Mr. Freeze was the best Batman villain in Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond.
5. Skeletor
Skeletor has a skeleton face, a magical staff, a pet panther, an awesome hideout and lots of freakish minions. That’s a pretty good resume for the greatest cartoon villain list.
4. Mojo Jojo
It’s very difficult to make a cartoon villain that is funny but should still be taken serious. Mojo Jojo from the Powerpuff Girls was exactly like that. Even though Mojo Jojo is a maniacal genius he still cracks me up every time.
3. Aku
The villain from the cartoon Samurai Jack gets tons of bonus points for being the only successful villain. Aku had a plan to open up a portal to the future and throw Samurai Jack into the future. Meanwhile, Aku would take over the world and when Samurai Jack ended up in the future Aku would be in charge. The plan worked and for the first time ever the cartoon villain did take over the world.
2. Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander is the best example of the typical cowardly cartoon villain with all sorts of complicated schemes. The only debate about the number two greatest cartoon villain is whether masked Cobra Commander or helmet Cobra Commander is better.
1. Megatron
If somebody polled people my age they would probably say Transformers is the best cartoon of all-time so naturally the villain is one of the greatest villains. Megatron was different from most villains because he wasn’t cowardly or stupid. Megatron had no problem going toe to toe with Optimus Prime and even kills him in the Transformers movie.
