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Sep 1, 2024 · This list of the most evil Harry Potter villains includes everything from dark wizards to treacherous followers, with each character providing a stark contrast to the bravery and goodness of the heroes we cheer for.
- 10 Draco Malfoy
- 9 Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley
- 8 Gilderoy Lockhart
- 7 Lucius Malfoy
- 6 Quirinus Quirrell
- 5 Peter Pettigrew
- 4 Barty Crouch Jr.
- 3 Bellatrix Lestrange
- 2 Dolores Umbridge
- 1 Lord Voldemort
Played by Tom Felton
Draco Malfoy was more of an obnoxious and petty brat than a genuine threat to Harry. Their dynamic was not the best largely because they were children encouraged to fight each other by almost every adult around them; even the Hogwarts House systemprompted them to compete, with one being a courageous Gryffindor and the other a resourceful Slytherin. However, Draco proves himself far from an evil person as time passes. He reluctantly becomes a Death Eater but is incapable of inflicting any real...
Played by Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, and Harry Melling
Harry's first major obstacle is growing up with the Dursleys. Aggressively conventional and desperate to fit in, the family loathes anything that steps out of the ordinary. They mistreat Harry, taking advantage of him and forcing him to act like a house cleaner while abusing him psychologically. Still, the Dursleys are far from the worst. They are mean-spirited and abusive, but they care about Harry, albeit in a weird and highly unconventional way. Petunia demonstrates something close to conc...
Played by Kenneth Branagh
Oscar-winner Kenneth Branagh stepped into the flamboyant shoes of Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Lockhart is Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a bumbling buffoon who is supposedly a bonafide hero and author of multiple monster-fighting books. However, Lockhart is nothing but a poser, stealing the tales of better witches and wizards and claiming them as his own. Lockhart makes for an entertaining secondary antagonist in the story, but he is sti...
Played by Jason Isaacs
The underrated but familiar TV and movie actor Jason Isaacs plays Lucius Malfoy in the Pottersaga. Lucius is Draco's father and a high-ranking, highly influential member of the wizarding community. Malfoy is far crueler and snobbish than his son, believing in blood purity and wizarding supremacy. Lucius is a genuinely dangerous presence in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; he even tries to kill Harry in the Hogwarts hallway, albeit only in the movie. However, he becomes more meek after...
Played by Ian Hart
Unlike Malfoy, Quirinus Quirrell is a true believer. He, too, is a cowardly man who Voldemort manipulates by exploiting his insecurities and power lust. Quirrell's spirit is so weak that Voldemort easily takes over, even convincing him to share his body, essentially living inside Quirrell throughout Harry's first year at Hogwarts. Still, what he lacks in strength, Quirrell makes up in allegiance and ruthlessness. He obeys Voldemort's orders without question, killing everyone who gets in his w...
Played by Timothy Spall
The Harry Potter series has a lot of foreshadowing, but hardly anyone anticipated the reveal that Ron's rat, Scabbers, was actually an animagus named Peter Pettigrew. Furthermore, his reveal as a former friend of Lily and James Potter, who eventually sold them out to Voldemort, was equally shocking. Pettigrew is among the series' vilest characters. A deeply opportunistic and embarrassingly cowardly man, Pettigrew always looks for someone stronger to defend him. Like Malfoy, he is with Voldemo...
Played by David Tennant
David Tennant might be best known for Doctor Who, but the beloved British actor also tried his hand in the Potteruniverse. Tennant played Barty Crouch Jr. in the fourth film, leaving a strong impression on fans. The film does a poor job explaining Crouch Jr.'s plans compared to the book, but Tennant remains a fascinating presence. Crouch Jr. is among Voldemort's staunchest supporters, with blind and complete loyalty towards him. He spends years waiting for Voldemort's return and acts without...
Played by Helena Bonham Carter
Played by two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter, the complex Bellatrix Lestrange is among the series' most chilling characters. Like Crouch Jr., Bellatrix is wholly committed to Voldemort, to the point of devotion. There are several hints that she might actually be in love with him, making her character all the more disturbing. A pure sadist, Lestrange loves to kill and torture, taking pleasure in her wicked actions and harboring a genuine, consuming hatred for those she deems inferior....
Played by Imelda Staunton
Contrary to popular belief, Voldemort isn't the Potter saga's best villain. Instead, that honor goes to the odious Dolores Umbridge, the main antagonist in the fifth film. Played to perfection by the mighty Imelda Staunton, Umbridge is someone whose awful behavior makes her uncomfortably similar to many real-life figures fans could easily meet at school or work while still being a character with zero redeeming qualities who exists solely to provoke the audience's hatred. And yet, Umbridge is...
Played by Ralph Fiennes
Lord Voldemort is the scariest villain in Harry Potter, if only because he is the series' overreaching villain who successfully evades death more than once. Voldemort is self-hatred embodied, gloating about blood purity while being a half-blood himself and desperately trying to ascend within the wizarding world's ranks to make up for his lack of birth status. Voldemort's evil is precise and relentless. He kills indiscriminately, holding no affection for anything or anyone but himself. He is t...
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- Senior Editor
- Richard Harris
- Julia Seales
- Lord Voldemort. Yeah... he's the worst. Images: Giphy (18), Warner Bros (1)
- Dolores Umbridge. Umbridge is proof that, as Sirius says in Prisoner of Azkaban, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters."
- Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix killed Sirius, so that gets her a spot in the Top Three Worst Villains. She loved torture, was creepily devoted to Voldemort, and was just plain crazy, but in the end she was no match for the best: Molly Weasley.
- Fenrir Greyback. Greyback was a werewolf who liked biting kids, so that automatically earns him a spot as one of the most evil villains in the HP world.
Sep 22, 2015 · Lord Voldemort. Tom Marvolo Riddle started both Wizarding Wars, created the Death Eaters and killed Harry Potter’s parents. We could go on – he was the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time – but we won’t. His horrific achievements are well known.
- The Dementors. These robed, evil beings couldn't Avada Kedavra you, even if they wanted to. What they can do is probably even worse, though: they can take your very soul.
- Voldemort. To some, he was known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. To others with more evil inclinations, he was the exalted Dark Lord. Across the Wizarding World, Voldemort's magical prowess and penchant for evil were so feared by most witches and wizards that they spoke of him only in whispers, even when he was long-assumed to be dead.
- Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix Lestrange murdered Sirius Black. She tortured Hermione -- and countless other characters, including Neville's parents -- for fun.
- Dolores Umbridge. At first, this simpering, stringent Ministry of Magic official and Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor was just annoying. In the end, she turned out to be one of the scariest foes that Harry Potter ever faced.
Be they Delores Jane Umbridge, Bellatrix Lestrange or Lord Voldemort himself, bad guys are some of the best characters in the Harry Potter franchise, but of all the villains, which one is the most despicably evil of them all?
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Apr 30, 2022 · As it turns out, Voldemort is indeed the most evil character in Harry Potter. The Dark Lord is the saga's main antagonist, the most powerful dark wizard of all time, hellbent on cleansing the magical world of impurity. Voldemort has a great deal of self-hatred, especially because he is a half-blood.
