15 Most Nefarious TV Villains of 2016

7. Zoom (The Flash)

While not nearly as terrifying as season 1’s The Reverse Flash, The Flash‘s season two adversary Zoom managed to be one of the creepiest villains Team Flash has ever faced, thanks in large part to the vocal stylings of Tony Todd (the man’s IMDb page is a veritable list of villains from the last 20 years).

His only goal is to capture and steal Barry Allen’s speed and become the fastest man in the multiverse and if that’s not villainously selfish, I don’t know what is.

8. The Hand (Daredevil)

Originally appearing as vague threats in Season 1, The Hand became a formidably, nigh-intangible pain in Daredevil‘s derriere in Season 2 as they continue to pull the strings in Hell’s Kitchen, reaching from the dark alleys of the criminal underworld to the steel beams of the white-collar industry.

Their final act results in the death of Elektra and their final final act results in her possible resurrection. How rude. All signs point to them being even more of a threat in Daredevil’s season three as well as Marvel/Netflix’s upcoming series, Iron Fist.

9. Whitney Frost (Agent Carter)

Brilliant engineer and scientist Whitney Frost didn’t choose villain life; villain life chose her. To be fair, she isn’t quite on the up-and-up morally speaking when she first appears on Agent Carter—being subjected to a life of toxic sexism since, like, age 11 doesn’t help anyone’s mental health—but when an explosion melds her body with Zero Matter, her, uh, cracks begin to show.

Whitney, a.k.a. Madame Masque stops at nothing to attain more power, including killing an entire room of Los Angeles’ movers and shakers and risking the very fabric of the universe. Great Caesar’s ghost!

10. Papa Pope (Scandal)

No one can quite deliver a “The Reason You Suck” speech like Rowan “Papa” Pope. From his first appearance in Scandal Season 2, he’s been a government-funded mastermind responsible for the worst machinations of the political arena and generally ruining the lives of anyone that crosses his path.

Although he has a weak spot for his daughter, Olivia, he’s not afraid to throw her to the wolves for her own good. When a man shows affection by not killing you [himself], that says something about his character.

11. Lillian Luthor (Supergirl)

Just when you think that maybe Lex’s villainy begins and ends with him, in steps Lillian Luthor to show us that poor Lex never had a chance.

Her claim to fame in the Supergirl universe is as the head of the xenophobic Cadmus where she’s responsible for racketeering, illegal experimentation, and kidnapping (including our hero’s foster father, Jeremiah Danvers, whom she’s still holding hostage). As of the mid-season finale, however, we can safely add genocide to that list. Bad moms, indeed.

12. Trevor (The Good Place)

After seeing Adam Scott play the living personification of #relationshipgoals in Parks and Recreation, his appearance as a douchebag minion of The Bad Place (the antithesis of The Good Place, a place for murderers, arsonists, and people who take their shoes and socks off on airplanes) comes as one of the most entertaining turns of the year.

He’s not so much evil as he is a genuinely awful person. Though it is technically his job, his mission to literally drag Eleanor to hell (particularly how much he enjoys it) puts him squarely into villain territory.

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