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TV’s Top 10 Villains: The Biggest Baddies Currently on Air, From Gotham to Game of Thrones

TV's top 10 biggest villains
Gotham's Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), Game of Thrones' Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), and The Walking Dead's Gareth (Andrew J. West) make up some of the biggest villains currently on TV.

Zombies, superheroes, and Hamptonites are no match for these dastardly villains! With Halloween right around the corner, Us Weekly has rounded up a list of the top 10 Big Baddies currently on TV that make our spines tingle, throw a wrench in everyone’s plans, and just generally get in the way of our favorite protagonists.

Related: PHOTOS: TV's most shocking deaths

10. Snow Queen (Once Upon a Time)

Once Upon a Time — Snow Queen
Elizabeth Mitchell plays The Snow Queen on ABC’s Once Upon a Time.

Is it getting chilly in here? Royals with the power to produce ice don’t always sing hit Idina Menzel songs. The Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell) first stepped her frosty heels into Storybrooke in season 4 of the ABC fairytale drama, but she’s already made a lasting impression. Using her powers to freeze to turn the town against her niece Elsa (Georgina Haig), the queen (or her alter-ego Sarah Fisher) has already racked up a list of enemies.

9. Victoria Grayson (Revenge)

Revenge — Victoria Grayson
Madeleine Stowe plays Victoria Grayson on ABC’s Revenge.

Sorry, Emily Thorne, there’s only one queen of the Hamptons! She may have fallen from grace when Emily (Emily VanCamp) got her locked up in an insane asylum at the end of season 3 of the ABC drama, but Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe) is back now and her vengeance is more personal than ever. She managed to warp David Clarke’s mind against Emily, poisoning the Revenger’s own father against her after more than 17 years apart. Now that’s twisted.

Related: PHOTOS: TV shows gone too soon

8. Henry Parrish (Sleepy Hollow)

Sleepy Hollow — Henry Parrish
John Noble plays Henry Parrish on Fox’s Sleepy Hollow.

Someone’s got daddy issues! Jeremy Crane, the son of Ichabod and Katrina Crane, was forced into an abusive orphanage early on and eventually trapped in a grave for two centuries. He came back as Henry Parrish (John Noble) on the supernatural Fox series and became War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Now he spends his days toying with his father and mourning over the loss of his Golem … which seems to be his “precious.”

7. Rowan Pope (Scandal)

Scandal — Rowan Pope
Joe Morton plays Rowan Pope on ABC’s Scandal.

Papa Pope packs a punch! Sure, he loves his daughter Olivia (Kerry Washington), but in an effort to save her (and himself) on the ABC political drama, Rowan Pope (Joe Morton) has killed off her close friend Harrison (Columbus Short) and the son of her boy toy President Grant. If that’s love, he could probably love Olivia a little less and make everyone’s lives easier.

6. Queen Catherine (Reign)

Reign — Queen Catherine
Megan Follows plays Queen Catherine on The CW’s Reign.

Talk about a tough mother-in-law! Queen Catherine (Megan Follows) wants to keep Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) away from her son at any cost on The CW royalty drama. But considering she’s occasionally forced to team up with her daughter-in-law, that can get tricky. Just don’t get on her bad side, or your throat might be slit next.

Related: PHOTOS: TV characters' Halloween costumes

5. Jack Randall (Outlander)

Outlander — Jack Randall
Tobias Menzies plays Jack Randall on STARZ’s Outlander.

If “Black Jack” Randall and lead heroine Claire Fraser had a relationship status, it would read “It’s Complicated.” The time-traveling nurse was almost raped by this redcoat baddie several times on the STARZ adaptation series, and considering he’s the ancestor of her husband Frank (both are played by Tobias Menzies), things are even more confusing. Plus, he digs brutal floggings a little too much.

4. Twisty the Clown (American Horror Story: Freak Show)

American Horror Story — Twisty the Clown
John Carroll Lynch plays Twisty the Clown on FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show.

A psychotic clown killer who haunts a carnival … do we really need to say more?

Related: PHOTOS: TV pregnancies, stars work around their bumps

3. Cersei Lannister (Game of Thrones)

Game of Thrones — Cersei
Lena Headey plays Cersei Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Now that her tantrum-happy son Joffrey is dead (spoiler alert), Cersei (Lena Headey) has taken her rightful place as Game of Thrones’ public enemy no. 1. Arguably, the Queen Regent has always been the HBO series’ biggest villain, but in season 4, she kicked things up a notch. Blindsided by the death of her son, Cersei adamantly condemned her brother Tyrion for Joffrey’s murder, sentencing him to death. Plus, there’s that whole having-sex-with-her-brother-next-to-their-dead-son’s-corpse thing.

2. Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Gotham)

Gotham — The Penguin
Robin Lord Taylor plays Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a The Penguin on Fox’s Gotham.

Forget Batman! Gotham, the Fox prequel show to the superhero franchise, is all about the villains. And while some, like Jada Pinkett Smith’s Fish Mooney, have more power, no one is more ruthless than Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). The club-footed baddie takes pleasure out of slitting as many throats as possible on his rise to the top. He’s a fungus, clinging onto those more powerful to get where he wants to be, and, rest assured, he will get there by any means necessary.

1. Gareth (The Walking Dead)

The Walking Dead — Gareth
Andrew J. West plays cannibal Gareth on AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Wait, aren’t the zombies supposed to be the ones eating human flesh? Not according to Terminus leader Gareth (Andrew J. West) on the creepy AMC post-apocalyptic series. This demented cannibal lives by the motto “a man’s gotta eat,” and doesn’t mind taking a few lives (or Bob’s leg) to do it. He gives off more heebie-jeebies than any walker ever could.

Tell Us: Who is your favorite villain currently on TV?

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