Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • Home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

30 Movie Villains Who Should Have Won

Features
By George Wales published 23 February 2011

We demand a rematch!

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

Mr. Freeze

The Villain: Mad scientist turned super-villain Victor Fries. “Ice to meet you” etc. etc.

Up Against: The least threatening incarnation of Bruce Wayne ever seen on the big screen. And yes, that includes Adam West.

Unfair Fight: He might have been knocking on a bit, but Freeze is still played by Arnie. On top of that, he’s got the capability to freeze his opponents in their tracks! Meanwhile, Clooney doesn’t look as though he could punch his way out of a paper bag…

How He Should Have Won: If he’d stopped punning, even for a second, he might have realised he was facing off against a man wearing nipple-enhancing bondage gear. Surely then he would have put his back into it?

Frank D'Amico

The Villain: A ruthless mob kingpin, head of New York’s dominant D’Amico crime family.

Up Against:
Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass, otherwise known as a twelve-year-old girl and a high-school nerd.

Unfair Fight:
D’Amico has a legion of trained killers on the payroll. Sure, Hit-Girl is no ordinary twelve-year-old, but surely one of his goons can aim a gun straight?

How He Should Have Won:
He should have hired some more menacing henchmen than the motley crew of loveable cockneys he appears to have assembled.

Cyrus Grissom

The Villain: Cyrus The Virus, a career criminal who claims to have “killed more people than cancer”.

Up Against:
Cameron “Hillbilly” Poe, a former US Ranger, convicted of just the one killing.

Unfair Fight: Poe has been a virtual boy-scout for most of his life, whilst Cyrus is an absolute loon, with a posse of lackeys at his disposal. He’s spent aeons meticulously planning his escape. Is a doughy-looking redneck going to stop him? Well, yes actually.

How He Should Have Won:
He should have killed everyone on that plane who wasn’t one of his trusted lieutenants. Why take any risks?

Latest Videos From
Watch full video here:

Sauron

The Villain: An all-seeing manifestation of purest evil.

Up Against:
A lowly hobbit, and a rag-tag band of rebels.

Unfair Fight: He locates Frodo on countless occasions when the hobbit dons the ring, so he’s well aware of the plot at hand. And whilst Frodo has a notable supporting presence behind him, Sauron has a home-made army of hideous killing machines at his disposal. And yet the little tinker still manages to stroll into Mount Doom without getting his head caved in…

How He Should Have Won: Only a mug would fall for the old decoy routine as practiced by Aragorn. Surely some of his resources should be stationed within Mount Doom itself?

The Wet Bandits

The Villains: Harry and Marv, house-breakers extraordinaire!

Up Against:
Little Kevin McCallister, an eight-year old boy left at home, er, alone.

Unfair Fight:
Harry and Marv are professional crims. We can assume they’ve done time in some of the less salubrious prisons in America. One of them is Joe Pesci. A small child and a bewildered pensioner should be a minor annoyance.

How They Should Have Won:
Rather than blundering from one booby trap to the next, they should have just torched the place and robbed somewhere else. Easy.

You may like
  • Scytale standing among the Fremen I can't wait to see Robert Pattinson in Dune 3 – it's about time he played a blockbuster villain
  • Antony Starr as Homelander in The Boys season 5 Who will kill Homelander in The Boys season 5?
  • Tim Roth as Beckett reading with his feet on a desk in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man villain Tim Roth starred in The Incredible Hulk to "embarrass" his kids

King Koopa

The Villain: Evil dictator of a parallel universe and descendent of the T-Rex. Yes, T-Rex the dinosaur. It’s that sort of film.

Up Against: A pair of hapless, moustachioed plumbers from Earth as we know it.

Unfair Fight:
Not only is he a ruthless dictator, but when Koopa goes up against the Mario brothers, he’s devolved into a massive dinosaur! In the other corner you have a bloke who could change a washer for you, but isn’t too handy with his fists. Hmmm.

How He Should Have Won:
He should have set up an infuriatingly difficult obstacle course for Mario to navigate, including floating platforms, protruding pipes and fire-breathing plants. Obviously.

Pinhead

The Villain: Leader of a demonic race known as the Cenobites, who promises to “tear your soul apart”. Sounds painful.

Up Against:
A precocious teenage girl with no supernatural powers whatsoever.

Unfair Fight:
Pinhead can tear a man apart without lifting a finger, thanks to his infernal powers and sadistic tendencies. Little Kirsty has a keen, puzzle-solving mind. Who will come out on top?

How He Should Have Won:
By getting hold of the pesky little puzzle box and tearing that apart instead. Or at least hiding it somewhere!

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Venom

The Villain: Eddie Brock, an average Joe under the influence of a mysterious alien parasite that gives him Spiderman’s powers and more…

Up Against:
Spiderman, newly recovered after a nasty bout of Emo sulking.

Unfair Fight: As we mentioned, the alien symbiote has bestowed Brock with all of Spidey’s abilities, as well as cranking his aggression up to the max. He’s basically a souped-up version of the man he’s trying to defeat…

How He Should Have Won: He should have gone it alone. Getting the Sandman and Harry Osborne involved was a mistake. But then, perhaps that was Sony’s fault rather than his…

Rufus Buckley

The Villain: A Time To Kill ’s oily district attorney, and the man charged with landing Sam Jackson with the death penalty.

Up Against: Jake Brigance, a penniless, heavy-drinking pretty-boy with a dearth of legal experience and a borderline-unwinnable case.

Unfair Fight: Let’s see…Buckley can call upon a close relationship with the judge, a jury full of middle-aged white people and a cast-iron case for the prosecution. Brigance can call upon good ‘ol sentimental values. Open and shut your honour! No?

How He Should Have Won: Don’t get us wrong, we love the way this one turns out, but surely Buckley should have done a little more with the fact that the defendant was proved sane when he went on his killing spree? Ah well…

Bruce The Shark

The Villain: A terrifying great white with a taste for hapless bathers.

Up Against:
An old sea-dog, a small-town cop and a nerdy zoologist.

Unfair Fight: Having dealt with Quint, the only real badass of the group, surely Bruce’s spectacular killing spree won’t be brought to a halt by this pair of chumps? Eat the boat Bruce! EAT IT!

How He Should Have Won:
He should have backed off for a while after munching Quint. And laying off the pressurized air tanks, delicious as they are, might have helped too.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Current page: Page 2

Prev Page Page 1 Next Page Page 3
George Wales
George Wales
Social Links Navigation

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.

Read more
Scytale standing among the Fremen
Sci-Fi Movies I can't wait to see Robert Pattinson in Dune 3 – it's about time he played a blockbuster villain
 
 
Antony Starr as Homelander in The Boys season 5
Superhero Shows Who will kill Homelander in The Boys season 5?
 
 
Tim Roth as Beckett reading with his feet on a desk in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Crime Movies Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man villain Tim Roth starred in The Incredible Hulk to "embarrass" his kids
 
 
Antony Starr as Homelander in The Boys season 5 trailer
Superhero Shows Antony Starr's performance as Homelander puts him in the comic-book pantheon alongside Heath Ledger's Joker
 
 
Best James Bond movies
Action RPGs Best James Bond movies, ranked! From Dr. No to No Time to Die
 
 
Austin Abrams as Bryan in Resident Evil
Horror Movies New Resident Evil movie takes place "on the periphery" of Resident Evil 2, and everything else we learned from the set
 
 
Latest in Movies
Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and David Corenswet as Superman
DC Movies Man of Tomorrow leak suggests Brainiac has Lex Luthor in his sights, not Superman
 
 
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Clark in Backrooms
Horror Movies Director of one of 2026's biggest surprise horror hits slams GenAI
 
 
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl
DC Movies Official Supergirl art includes an obscure Star Wars alien, and we're not quite sure how it got there
 
 
Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray in Star Wars: Starfighter
Star Wars Movies Hopes for a Star Wars horror movie renew as Deadpool and Wolverine director has an idea for an unlikely mash-up
 
 
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl
DC Movies James Gunn "debated" key Supergirl scenes in the editing room with the DC movie's director
 
 
Jason Momoa as Lobo in Supergirl character poster
DC Movies Supergirl's Jason Momoa teases Lobo's involvement in future DCU movies, but has crossed paths with Superman before
 
 
Latest in Features
A man with glasses stand behind someone else in Until Dawn 2, with the orange GamesRadar+ Summer Preview 2026 frame
Horror Games Until Dawn 2's campy teen slasher vibes proves there's nothing like old-school horror
 
 
Faye stands on a cliff overlooking Everwhen holding a sword with a ribbon attached and standing next to a jelly cube in key art for God of War Laufey, with the orange GamesRadar+ Summer Preview 2026 frame
God of War God of War Laufey is exactly how I want the series' combat to evolve, from classic air combos to ruthless soul-punching
 
 
God of War Laufey protagonist Laufey lying on a stone altar surrounded by butterflies, shown during the June State of Play which is recapped in this article
PlayStation 5 State of Play announcements that stole the stream
 
 
God of War Laufey
Games God of War Laufey: Everything we know about the new adventure game
 
 
Captain America leads Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, and Iron Man into battle
Tabletop Gaming I may not like mixing MTG Marvel Super Heroes with classic Magic, but from what I've seen it deserves a chance
 
 
Wingman Little Bee is in a jet in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, with blue skies behind, with the orange GamesRadar+ Summer Preview 2026 frame
Action Games Ace Combat 8 channels Top Gun Maverick's jet-powered thrills, and I can't wait to get back in the cockpit
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Wingman Little Bee is in a jet in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, with blue skies behind, with the orange GamesRadar+ Summer Preview 2026 frame
    1
    Ace Combat 8 channels Top Gun Maverick's jet-powered thrills, and after flying a few missions I can't wait to get back in the cockpit
  2. 2
    Marathon free week players who bought Deluxe Edition for $14 won't get to keep the game as they actually just paid for a bunch of cosmetics, Sony says
  3. 3
    Director of one of 2026's biggest surprise horror hits slams GenAI: "If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would"
  4. 4
    Nintendo announces new Switch 2 with replaceable battery "to meet the Regulation" set out by the EU for waste reduction
  5. 5
    Persona 6 hopefuls on high alert as Sega supposedly copyright strikes leaked screenshots of the unannounced JRPG: "The snipers are out"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...