Archetypes | Villains

 

The following chart is a work in progress. I add villains to it as I come across them. If you have some suggestions to add, please email me.

Archetype
Character/Movie
Movie

TV

Books/Plays

Tyrant (Chief)

He wants power /money at any price

Khan from Mulan

Mr. Potter fromIAWL

Die Hard I

Christof from The Truman Show

Wall Street

Goldfinger

Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)

Dr. Evil from Austin Powers

Sheriff from Rambo

 

Sheriff of Nottingham

Voldemort from Harry Potter series

Claudius from Hamlet

Bastard (BB)

The dispossessed son -- He wants what he can’t have

Khan from Star Trek

Commodus from Gladiator

Spike from Buffy

Lohr from ST-TNG

Male evil twin

Devil (Charm)

He gives people what they deserve.

Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate

Plant from Little Shop of Horrors

Witches of Eastwick

Satan

Tom Ripley

Villain from End Game

Dr. Frankenfurter

JR Ewing

Q from ST-TNG

The Master & Margarita

Dracula

Traitor (BF)

He attacks those who trust him most

Ghost

Big Easy

The Fugitive

 

Brutus

Iago

Outcast

He’s wants desperately to belong but cannot admit it

Phantom of the Opera

American Beauty

Judd from Oklahoma

Taxi Driver

Jason

Marquis De Sade

Grinch?

King Kong

Godzilla??

Norman Bates

LeStat

Abominable Snowman from Rudolph Chauvelin in The Scarlett Pimpernel (the musical)
Evil genius (Prof)

Lex Luther

Hannibal Lector

Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects

The Island of Dr. Moreau

Mr. Frost?

Die Hard III

Many Batman and Superman villains

 

Prof. Moriarity from Sherlock Holmes

Sadist

He likes being cruel for its own sake.

Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic & Old Lace

Kruge from ST:III

Caligula

Reservoir Dogs?

Down by the River?

Natural Born Killers

Freddie Kruger

   
Terrorist Captain Hook

Frollo Hunchback from Notre Dam

Colonel and General from Die Hard II

Darth Vader

Frollo

Inspector Javert les Miserables

Archetype
Character/Movie
Movie

TV

Books/Plays

Bitch (B)

She wants power at any price

Working Girl

Mommy Dearest

Maleficent

Bette Midler’s Witch in Hocus Pocus

Wicked Witch of the West

Cruella Deville

Livia (I, Claudius)

Glory from Buffy

Evil Queen from the 10th Kingdom

Queen of hearts

Nurse Ratched

Black Widow (S)

She use sex to get ahead/wants to be adored

Black Widow

Body Heat

Maltese Falcon

SJP’s witch in Hocus Pocus

Ursula, the Sea Witch

Cat Woman

Bedazzled

Erica Kane

Cat Woman

Delilah

Evil Queen in Snow White

Becky Sharpe

Backstabber (SK)

She uses her friends

Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding

Villain in All of Me

Wives in Total Recall and The Truman Show

Nina from 24

Harmony from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

Lunatic (FS)

She walks to the crazy beat

Arsenic & OL

Betty White’s character in Lake Placid

Witch in Robin Hood:Prince of Theives

Death Becomes Her

   

Parasite (W)

She clings like a poisonous vine – she’ll collaborate for the sake of her own comfort

Natural Born Killers

Bonnie Parker

Scarsdale Diet Murder

Play Misty for Me

  Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude?

Schemer (L)

She plots her evil pan

Marquise de Vermeil

Entrapment

Wild Things

Cruel Intentions

Borg Queen Morgan Le Fey

Fanatic (C)

She wants revenge

Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Die Hard with a Vengence

What Lies Beneath?   Medea

Matriarch

She knows what’s best for everyone

Serial Mom

Cinderella’s stepmother?

Texas Cheerleader’s mom

Misery

The mother in Wild at Heart

MTM in Ordinary People

 

Misery

Mama Rose from Gyspsy

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