Summary
The world oftelevisionhas always been a fertile ground for complex characters, and 2024 proved no exception. This year gifted us a captivating collection of villains who weren’t just evil for the sake of it but layered, nuanced, and often disturbingly relatable. Whether driven by vengeance, ambition, or sheer chaos, these characters grabbed our attention and refused to let go. They blurred the lines between right and wrong, making us question our moral compasses as we found ourselves strangely rooting for them—or at least captivated by their journey. From conniving political masterminds to supernatural entities with chillingly human motivations,TVvillains of 2024 showcased the kind of storytelling that leaves a lasting impact. Their schemes, betrayals, and moments of vulnerability often rivaled or even outshone the heroes they opposed.
What sets this year’s villains apart is the depth and creativity brought to their stories. Writers have increasingly embraced the challenge of crafting antagonists who resonate with audiences on more than just a superficial level. Some of these villains defied stereotypes, bringing fresh perspectives to classic tropes, while others leaned fully into the chaos, reminding us why we love a good antagonist. These characters weren’t just obstacles for the protagonists—they were forces of nature in their own right, shaping their respective narratives in unforgettable ways. Whether you love to hate them or secretly cheer for their schemes, these TV villains of 2024 deserve a standing ovation for keeping us on the edge of our seats. Let’s dive into the most unforgettable antagonists of the year and what made them so captivating.
Cooper Howard (aka the Ghoul) - Fallout
The first villain on the list is really probably more of an anti-hero, but while the audiencesmeets Cooper Howard whenhe’s facing a bit of a crisis of confidence, make no mistake about the fact that he’s one of the baddies of theFallouttelevision show. Cooper Howard, as it turns out is a ghoul who has managed to live for hundreds of years after the bombs fell by using chemicals that turn him into a kind of noseless monster. And he used that longevity to serve as a kind of bounty hunter in this world.
Walton Goggins plays Cooper Howard, the Ghoul so well that audiences want to like him. Especially when they see his backstory as someone who was mostly in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he’s not really a “good” person any more and the fact that he’s willing to do very bad things to innocent people makes him a villain in the strictest sense of the word. He’s just a very likable bad guy.
Homelander - The Boys
To some extent, this pick is just a little too easy. He makes the listpretty much any timeThe Boysis actuallyon the air. But he did also take what was a kind of just pompous jerk villain and made him really and truly evil over the last few years. Now that’s actually trying to take over (and apparently succeeding) the entire US government, The Homelander is taking his villainy to another level.
One of the things that has made Homelander such an interesting villain is that it always seems like he’s no the cusp of being defeated. The good guys seem like they’ve come up with a plan. And while he’snot anything resembling a genius, he is cunning and powerful and those traits make him someone who always finds a way to win. The real question is whether that will be the case when the show finally bows.
What makes Eve Stripling such a good villain is that she does a very good job of looking like a victim, or at the very least, an accomplice, rather than thebig bad ofBad Monkey. That she’s young, blonde and pretty helps feed into the stereotype of someone who is just kind of dumb and greedy.
However, as the series goes on, the audience finds out that she’s behind more of the bad stuff going on in theVince Vaughn starring seriesthan it seemed at the time. It turns out that while some of the bad people she tricks into helping her are far from innocent, she’s the one taking them from corrupt to murderer. By the time the Apple TV+ show wraps up, the audience sees she’s a sociopath if not a psychopath and she goes from being someone who is sort of likable to someone the audience is rooting to see go down. Unitl that moment though, she does have charisma, in spades.
Margo - No Good Deed
Margo inNo Good Deedis actually quite similar to Eve Stripling inBad Monkey. Linda Cardellini plays the character of the Netflix series that doesn’t have a ton of good people but has some that are worse than others. Meredith Hagner’s Eve and Cardellini’s Margo are both such impressive villains because just how bad they are sneaks up on the audience.
Like Eve,No Good Deedgoes from makingMargo a sympathetic character to her increasingly more evil, and it becomes easier to root for her downfall. And of course, the other characters in the show are often fooled by her seemingly innocent and sometimes borderline stupid act. Even if the viewer likes or cares about Margo, they’re ready to watch her burn by the end of the season. It’s a sign of effective writing and an actor who knows how to add layers.
Sheriff Roy Tillman - Fargo
Fargois quite famousfor offering up impressive characters, even when they’re villains and on the show’s fifth season, villainy looks an awful lot like Don Draper, thanks to Jon Hamm playing a rather different character than what a tv audience has seen before.
Hamm plays Sheriff Roy Tillman, a far-right authoritarian holding a rural county in his powerful grip. The character is a rather striking echo of real-life radicals, but in Hamm’s hands, he takes on charismatic power that shows just how these kind of people can gain a following. Unlike some of the other villains on this list, it’s not hard to see the real evil early on. Hamm plays Roy ramrod-straight, all piercing gazes, Bible verses, and macho commands. The sheriff is so convinced of his own rightness—and so successful in violently enforcing his ideals—that viewers start to see him as unstoppable. He’s also different from villains like Eve and Margo in that he never really tries to hide what he wants or who he is.
