The 50 Greatest Animated Villains of All Time (Part 3)

So the readers have spoken, how about the 3rd installment of the 50 Greatest Animated Villains of All Time?

Here's Part 1
and Here's Part 2

I'll wait for you to catch up. Ok, let's get on with it already!

This time around, we're counting down #'s 30-21

I'm through playing around, we're finally getting to the true greats of Villainy. Let's get started, shall we?


#30: Dr. Claw - Inspector Gadget



Voiced by: Frank Welker

We start off Part 3 with Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. The head of MAD, he was the plotter behind all of the evil plans on the show to take over the world and/or destroy Gadget. You know this guy was menacing when despite never committing any of his plans himself, the agents of MAD carried out his plots in fear of what he actually looked like behind that chair. All we ever saw of him was his right hand, his cat, and his deep, gravelly voice. It's that mystery factor that worked in his favor. As such, he was never caught. If Robot Chicken and a split-second freeze-frame gag in the Get Smart movie are any indication, he's still out there.

He also had the distinction of having the last line of every episode: "NEXT TIME GADGET...NEXT TIME..." I also can't leave out that howling screech that MAD Cat makes immediately afterwards. I think it was "RAAAWWWEEEAAARRRR!" I'm trying to prove that everything makes more sense in Italics. It seems that Dr. Claw had managed to get the last laugh when Don Adams passed away several years ago. I'm pretty sure his cat was long dead by then.

I always imagined that Dr. Claw was exactly how we saw him in the opening sequence: Simply his right hand, attached to nothing, and that it was MAD Cat doing all of the talking.


#29: General Grievous - Clone Wars



Voiced by: John DiMaggio, Richard MacGonagle

I'm not talking about that CGI'd Grievous that we saw in Revenge of The Sith, I'm talking about the kickass animated version that we saw in the 2-D animated Clone Wars series produced by Genndy Tartakovsky. One of the only downsides to that great series was that it was in the official Star Wars canon, meaning that his appearance in Revenge of The Sith was pretty much a letdown if you hadn't watched this show.

I'll fill in the background: For all those who wanted to see the Grievous as a ruthless Jedi Hunter who kicked all kinds of ass and kept his victim's light sabers as trophies, this was the place to be. There was one moment where, with his hands full, he grabs a blaster with one of his feet and then starts letting loose. He gained that awful wheeze when he fought Mace Windu, who used the force to crush his chest plates as a last-ditch effort to stop him from kidnapping Palapatine, which didn't work.

And now you know...The rest of the back story.


#28: Gargamel - The Smurfs



Voiced by: Paul Winchell.

Turning the 80's Nostalgia Machine™ back on, we have the villain of the Smurfs, Gargamel. Besides cats, carnivorous birds, and boots, Gargamel was the one thing that the Smurfs feared that would ruin their existence. Like many 80's villains, Gargamel never had a clear plan at what he would do to the Smurfs. In some episodes, he wanted to eat them, in others he wished to use them in a potion to create gold. Unable to find the village, his plans mostly involved using henchman like his cat Azrael to lure them out of hiding.

When it didn't work, he used his magic to create Smurfette to raise the question of how Smurfs reproduce. Do they all have sex with Smurfette and gives live birth or does she/they lay eggs? There are Smurflings too, but they were also created via magic. Furthermore, how were the original Smurfs created? Only they know the answer.


#27: Sideshow Bob - The Simpsons



Voiced by: Kelsey Grammer.

I'm a Simpsons fan (as if that surprised you), so there's obviously going to be a few Simpsons entries on this list. But fear not, their places are rightfully earned.

After Mr. Burns, Sideshow Bob is the series' most reoccurring villain, with 10 appearances, with 9 of them with the trademark speaking role. He started out as Krusty the Klown's sidekick, and would later frame him for robbery in order to take over his show to bring culture to children. After his plan was exposed by Bart and sent to jail, nearly every subsequent appearance involved him seeking his revenge.

His other crimes involved him attempting to murder Bart's Aunt Selma (which Homer approved of), rigging Springfield's mayoral election and using Bart as a brainwashed suicide bomber to kill Krusty. There were actually two (well, technically two and a half) episodes were Bob was NOT the villain, which include season 8's "Brother From a Different Series" (which involved his brother Cecil framing Bob for embezzlement and flooding Springfield with a shoddy dam) and season 14's "The Great Louse Detective" (where Bob helps solve the mystery of who was trying to murder Homer).

In several episodes, we also learn of his family and their intentions. Aside from the aforementioned brother Cecil (voiced by David Hyde Pierce), he also has a wife, Francesca, his son Gino, his father Robert Terwilliger Sr. (voiced by John Mahoney) and his mother Dame Judith Underdunk. In last season's "Funeral For a Fiend," they were all involved in an elaborate scheme to help Bob murder Bart once and for all. As expected, it failed and they all share a jail cell, with me hoping that they'll someday return.


#26: Magneto - X-Men



Voiced by: David Hemblin

Certainly with all the DC animated love, we can't leave out Marvel's representation with Magneto from X-Men. Especially the Magneto that appeared in the X-Men Animated Series in the 90's.

Magneto was the enemy of the X-Men, but in some circles (including his own mind), he was simply angry and bitter for the hatred and bigotry that he felt during the Holocaust and how the mutants of the world were receiving the same treatment. In a way, he is simply defending his fellow mutants with deadly force and the occasional war against the normals to have Mutants be the dominant race. But that doesn't stop the X-Men from stopping him and his allies from committing one of their "diabolical" acts.

In some way, he certainly didn't get stuck with a short straw when it came to mutant superpowers. Controlling magnetism, and in turn metallic objects, would be kind of cool. But you'd have all sorts of crap stuck to you and you'd have to learn how to control yourself from not doing that. I'd also like to imagine that you also wouldn't be able to use credit cards, although there have been plenty of times where I've wished to have been able to destroy the cards of a few belligerent retail customers.


#25: Cobra Commander - G.I. Joe



Voiced by: Chris Latta

Passing the halfway mark of the list is Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe. I seem to be having a theme with this section of the countdown with Leaders and Ultimate Villains, but it's mostly due to the reoccurring villains being more interesting and have called on these upper echelon villains to help them out and/or fight because they're so damn powerful.

Not so much the case with Cobra Commander. Although he is the leader of COBRA, the villainous organization that fights American Heroes G.I. Joe, he certainly holds as the best and most well-known villain of the series & toy collections. Unlike Dr. Claw, this leader was the one that got shit done. Not only would he plan his schemes, he would be right up on the front lines with his Trouble Bubble or COBRA Figure Command Vehicle™ to make sure that COBRA is the dominant faction at Toys R Us...I mean The World. Even if he was always the first to retreat, he looked menacing doing so. Sort of.

One of my favorite schemes of his was the absurdity of finding a chemical formula that would be able to ignite the world's oceans. Also, if Family Guy is any indication, he's also the head of the FCC. Good for him, I figured as much.

There's also his trademark raspy voice provided by the late Chris Latta that aids to his mysteriousness and infamy. Along with either his hood or helmet variant, you have no idea what is under that mass on top of his neck. I would suggest that it's probably a snake, but we already have Serpentor, who is in stores now.

In case you wanted to know what the Other Half of The Battle was besides Knowing, it's ass kicking with toys priced $9.99 or more.


#24: Darkseid - Super Friends, DCAU



Voiced by: Frank Welker (Super Friends), Micheal Ironside (DCAU)

This ultimate Superman villain has certainly had his share in the animated spotlight. He first appears in animated form during the 80's Super Friends series The Legendary Super Powers Show, where unlike the "Villain of The Day" that the Super Friends had previously faced, Darkseid was actually menacing and a serious threat to the universe. As such, the other villains of the show worked for him, lest they get vaporized or simply written off the toy line, as was the standard of 1980's cartoons.

Like in the comics, Darkseid was a New God who sought out the Anti-Life Equation, which would erase all free will in the universe and would allow Darkseid to have complete control over the thoughts and emotions of every living being. If anyone got in his way, he would use his Omega Effect, insanely powerful beams that shot out of his eyes that were able to vaporize anything, save for powerful beings like Superman. Hell, in an age where you can't really show violence on a kid's show, it was always amazing to see Darkseid and Superman bare knuckle each other on equal footing until Superman snaps and finally beats him into the ground.

When Bruce Timm was producing the Superman animated series in the 90's, he introduced Darkseid to give Superman a powerful adversary, and boy did he deliver. Like in previous stories, he sought to conquer the universe, find the Anti-Life equation, etc. until he was eventually killed along with Braniac. If any of you remember the finale of the Justice League series, you could imagine the "hell yeah" reaction I had when the sorceress Tala had not resurrected Braniac, but rather an enhanced Darkseid, bringing an absolute reaction of fear to Luthor's face.

You know you're a great villain when your mere presence scares other villains.


#23: Unicron - Transformers: The Movie



Voiced by: Orson Welles

Taking the #23 slot is Unicron, the planet eating monster from Transformers: The Movie. It helps that he was the size of a planet so he was able to satiate his demonic apetite by being able to easily destroy any planet in his wake. His primary target was Cybertron, the home of the Transformers. As later revealed in various Transformers back stories, Unicron is the Devil to Primus's God, as Primus is the true form of Cybertron and the creator of the Transformers. Don't believe me? Those horns and that booming Orson Welles voice (in his last performance) are a clear giveaway.

For what he's worth, he's the Transformers equivalent of Galactus, but can Galactus transform from a planet into a an even larger robot? I don't think so.

Unicron is also responsible for reformatting Megatron from a near-fatal state into Galvatron, a stronger and more insane version of himself who forcibly served as Unicron's Herald to destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which would eventually bring forth the end of the universe at Unicron's hands. As the story went, Unicron was obviously destroyed and only his head remained, but, of course, that didn't stop him.

Due to his immense size, it took almost 20 years to bring him to toy form when it was finally released in 2004. With a $50 price tag, it didn't disappoint, because it would have led to a minor Nerd uprising if it did.


#22: Bluto - Popeye



Voiced by: William Pennell, Gus Wickie, Billy Bletcher, Pinto Colvig, Jackson Beck

Going back to the classics, we come to Popeye's rival, Bluto. A classic archetype villain: Big, dumb, strong, and able to morph into a whistling wolf upon sighting the skinniest woman ever put on celluloid.

In most of Popeye's adventures, Bluto was usually a rival sailor who only fought the Sailor Man when Olive Oyl crossed their paths. He'd usually kidnap Olive to kiss her or play patty cake until Popeye intervened. The fights that they always managed to get into always manage to depress me in that we'll never see that type of cartoon violence ever again. There have been quite a few times where Popeye had punched someone so hard that they immediately turned into a tombstone.

They taught me that an implied violent death in a cartoon was funny, because it's not me.


#21: The Wicked Queen - Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs



Voiced by: Lucille La Vern

Once again exemplifying that there's no school like the old school, we end part 3 with The Wicked Queen from Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs. She's most notable of being the villain in the very first feature-lenght Disney film, and she certainly set the standard for every Disney Villainess that followed her. We'll see a few of them later in the countdown.

Lets see: Jealous of protagonist, usually female? Check. Transforms between beautiful and ugly? Check. Lured said protagonist into a trap that basically kills them? Check. Dies by falling off of a cliff or some other high altitude? Double check.

Taking a page from the fairy tale that the movie adapts from, one of the most noteworthy qualities about her that everyone remembers when she's in the Ugly Witch form. Hardly anyone remembers/recognizes her when she's just the Queen. She's actually pretty good-looking, but, like any other Stepmother, she becomes murderously jealous once it's revealed that her Stepdaughter is the fairest in all the land.




So it's come to this, the Top 20! Who made the list? Find out...eventually.