Do you remember watching cartoons as a kid and turning off the television as soon as the scariest villain, in your opinion, appeared? This would, of course, be followed by a train of nightmares. If you have, then you have nothing to be embarrassed about. After all, have not we all been through similar experiences? It goes without saying that a protagonist cannot exist without an antagonist, especially in the world of cartoons. No wonder we have creators creating the most terrifying of cartoons, which give birth to villains who are not only dramatic but also memorable.
In today’s video, we will look at 11 of the scariest animated villains who are still guaranteed to make you jump!
Nergal
Imagine a villain, one that is capable of taking up just about any physical appearance that he wants to but in reality, looks like a red-skinned, beefy, bald, tall humanoid possessing very sharp claws as well as fangs and let’s not forget his wings. Well, this is just one of his many hideous forms. Another memorable form happens to be one where he looks like a string of a variety of species all blended together – this comprises of humans, dogs as well as flies. Creepy enough? Well, say hello to Nergal then!
Depicted as the god of war and disease, Nergal was the son of Enlil and Ninli. Not only was he given a rather large portion of the underworld to control, but was also identified as the god of death. The character of Nergal marked his first appearance in the sixth issue of Jamie Delano and John Ridgway’s ‘John Constantine: Hellblazer’. It goes without saying that this Babylonian god-turned demon happens to be one of John Constantine’s most notoriously persistent adversary.
A master of demon magic, to the extent of being able to create demons from corpses, Nergal possesses the powers of telekinesis, hypnotism, energy manipulation, interdimensional travel and possession. It should not surprise you at all when we tell you that he is absolutely resistant to any type of physical harm be it explosions, guns, torture or say literally being torn apart by the First of the Fallen. And, even if he is defeated and destroyed for that matter, he can actually restore himself; all it takes is just a tiny drop of blood. But the highlight of this particular character is his tongue, which he considers his most powerful weapon. He can be exceptionally deceitful and manipulative, and there’s no denying that Nergal is to be held accountable for orchestrating a plethora of disasters on Earth, over thousands of years. So much so that the character’s ranking both as a demon and God made him arrogant enough to never accept the sole fact that Constantine had repetitively defeated him. Bearing traits similar to Constantine, Nergal’s quite a player of games but unlike the former, he also possesses the strength to rip his foes apart.
The Violator
Does this supervillain by Todd McFarlane really need an introduction? Well, the answer is a bold no! Indisputably, the most recurring villain of ‘Spawn’ and also his one true archnemesis, The Violator was primarily sent as the intended mentor to Spawn on Earth. The oldest and the most notable of the five demonic brothers, addressing themselves as the Phlebiac Brothers, The Violator is personally in charge of chaperoning all of the new Hellspawns into carrying out Malebolgia’s wish of gathering an army that’s capable of destroying Heaven. The character of The Violator not only regards humans as weak but also asserts that demons should lead the armies of Hell.
The fact that he is an intermediary demon within Hell’s ranking, The Violator is shown to be an exceedingly supreme force, boasting of superhuman strength; one that is almost equivalent to that of 15 men. He is certainly not one to be treated lightly, and it’s very easy for him to tear out a Hellspawn’s heart using just his bare hands. The fact that he can sustain high-caliber gunshots and literally breathe fire shows how terrifying he can actually be. Mind you, The Violator can only be defeated by someone who is either an equal or of a higher power. And, while it’s true that his character has been killed several times, he has returned to Hell and been reanimated by his master. Each time he comes back, he’s even more powerful than before.
One of the highlights of The Violator is how he can shape-shift, and he often does that taking the appearance of an ugly-looking, 3 feet 10 inches clown to walk amongst the humans. His clown version is bald, obese, possesses four fingers in each hand, and has blue paint on his face that forms an ‘M’. The shapeshifting abilities of The Violator make him capable of taking the guise of anyone that he desires. However, he usually likes to stick to this particular form as he considers humans as disgusting as his very own clown form.
Stressing on the name, one might actually wonder how Todd McFarlane came up with the name ‘Violator’? All credits to a cold, rainy night when McFarlane was waiting inside his car for his wife. He discovered a wall sign that read, “No parking anytime. All violators will be towed.” That’s precisely when it struck his mind how cool and nasty a name the ‘Violator’ would make as a villain. And, we all know what happened next!
Sauron
Once a noble Maiar and also the mightiest, one who valued order, Sauron serves as the primary antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. He ruled the land of Mordor and wished to take control of the whole of Middle-earth. It’s because of his adulation of strength that he joined hands with Morgoth, becoming his principal lieutenant. However, post-Morgoth getting banished, Sauron still wanted power and domination and he eventually became a lot like Morgoth. Although he was not as powerful as his master, there are no second thoughts to the fact that he was way more successful.
Putting stress on the character’s personality, Sauron was exceedingly aggressive, pitiless, not to forget wrathful too, and just as happy to butcher as many as he desired. Right from loathing free will to being unsympathetic towards human life, he wanted all forms of life to be his slaves. So much so that he even wanted to slay all the women as well as children of Minas Tirith, together with the whole population of the city. The lives that he spared turned out to be slaves, who simply carried out his commands such as the Nazgûl and the Orcs.
A master of deception, Sauron more than often took the benefits, especially of the greed of others. He corrupted the Nazgûl with the Rings of Power. He absolutely loathed the human race and often wished to destroy their world. No wonder, he did fear Aragorn to quite an extent, as he was aware that he would become the king of Gondor. Sauron was also a real menace to the Elves; he was solely responsible for driving them to leave Middle-earth, making them dread him. If it was up to the Dark Lord, he would have also destroyed the Shire along with the Hobbits.
Boasting powers such as shape-shifting, pyrokinesis, necromancy, immortality, vast physical strength and scientific knowledge, this tyrannical warlord still manages to leave one shaken to this very day!
Koh the face Stealer
This wicked entity possessing the body of a humungous centipede-like creature was born to the Mother of Faces about thousands of years ago, before the Hundred Year War. Over the years, this ancient and most knowledgeable spirit of the Spirit World progressively started interacting with humans. He executed punishments against all the recognized offenders, and also answered the questions of the ones bold enough to face him. No points for guessing that his character’s self-chosen name mirrored his capability of actually stealing the faces of other beings who would express emotions, and then use them at his pleasure merely by blinking.
Addressing Koh as death-defying would be an understatement; by now, it should be crystal clear that he is someone too treacherous and perilous to even think of crossing paths with. His sadistic nature makes him continuously goad, even if it is the tiniest amount of reaction that he can get out of his visitors. He simply petrified them with his dreadful appearance. His actions suggest that he is a lot more immoral as compared to being pure evil. For instance, when Ummi and Avatar Kuruk was tying the knots, it’s true that Koh did entice Ummi to the Spirit World, stole her face and then imprisoned her for an eternity to teach Kuruk a lesson for his arrogance. But let’s not disregard the fact that he also actively spilled out the names and location of the Moon and Ocean Spirits to Aang, along with the threat they faced, as well as guiding the young Airbender to his previous Avatar lives. It is a different thing altogether that he speaks in conundrums, and is also quite cryptic and ‘chatty with humans’ at the same time.
The highlight of his character is obviously his proficiency in stealing the faces of literally anyone or anything for that matter. All he needs is for them to show him just an ounce of emotion. Those who know of his power usually try to remain as inexpressive as possible while in his presence. Though getting their faces stolen would not really kill his victims, but they would for sure enter a comatose stage between life and death and there’s a high probability that they won’t be able to come out of it ever.
One has every reason to watch out for ‘Koh the Face Stealer’ from ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’.
Utrom Shredder
Meet the main antagonist of the 2003 ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, who in reality happens to be an evil alien called Ch’rell. Conclusively the archnemesis of the Turtles along with their master, Splinter, this megalomaniac here is a personification of all things extreme – sadism, overconfidence, ruthlessness, and remorselessness. His character is someone who feels no regret for any of his actions and in fact, happens to be quite delighted about it. He loves to create disorder and devastation, so much so that he absolutely loathes anyone and anything that defies or obstructs him. It would not be wrong to say that he actually holds pathological grudges against them. Post Ch’rell taking the identity of the Shredder, his autocracy grew way more superlative to the extent of literally addressing himself as the ‘one true Shredder’. Can you beat that?
As per the Ninja Tribunal storyline, it is stated that whosoever claims the identity of the ‘Shredder’ for themselves, grows this unconscious spiritual linking with the ‘original Shredder’. No wonder, this connection made Ch’rell way more malevolent and threatening than he already was. For instance, he actually ended up attacking Karai to the extent of actually trying to kill her, after she turned against him. Even with his most dedicated henchman Hun for that matter, he showed how he meant literally nothing to him. As for the turtles, he grew so disgusted by them that he nearly attempted to annihilate the whole multiverse.
Speaking of his powers and abilities, do not make the mistake of judging Ch’rell by his tiny size and body structure. His character has exhibited extreme levels of strength, speed and craftiness. Donning the exo-suit, he has exposed his proficiency at martial arts while effortlessly defeating the Turtles – his main weapon being the claws on his armored hand. Of course, the suit did give him plenty of advantages like faking his death too many times or say using a weapon that can only be used with protective gloves. The fact that he is a Utrom makes him highly technologically advanced and it goes without saying that this villain here has a plethora of high-tech just at his disposal.
Killer Croc
Waylon Jones was born with some kind of a genetic mutation that eventually gave him grey reptilian skin, and also had his teeth filed to points. If we go back to his childhood days, he was a carnival sideshow attraction in Miami, and was eventually seen joining the Wrestling Federation under a new name, ‘Killer Croc’. Evidently, it didn’t take him much time to earn the title of a champion, and was soon addressed as the ‘meanest dude in the Wrestling Federation.’
Killer Croc eventually moved to Gotham City and became quite the terrorizing criminal. His activities got him arrested by Harvey Bullock but he fled from prison. He had his sweet revenge by framing Bullock for kidnapping convicted felon Spider Conway and small-time crook Joey the Snail. If you think he stopped at that, we urge you to think again! Of course, he did not! He even went to the extent of almost killing Bullock and he would have accomplished that had Batman not intervened.
In due course, Croc was considered stable and was transferred from the Arkham Asylum to a different prison but he managed to evade it yet again. Crossing paths with his former carnival freaks, he actually made them believe that he was a good man. While Batman did manage to locate Croc, the circus freaks tried safeguarding Croc, but he was fast enough to show his true colors to them. Croc was not only captured but also taken back to Gotham City. But did this stop him from not escaping the prison again? You all know the answer and it goes without saying that he literally went on a crime spree and even created his very own gang.
Speaking of this villain’s powers, it’s a known fact that he has a blend of both human as well as reptilian DNA, hence the reptilian skin and teeth filed to points. Having said that, he’s also highly-trained when it comes to wrestling and can even endure underwater for a very long time. It might surprise you but his character is actually way stronger than Batman and no points for guessing his assets – the razor-sharp teeth and the strength of his jaw!
Crainiac
If you think cartoons cannot be scary, wait till you see this character in the fifth episode of Extreme Ghostbusters called ‘Deadlines’. For those of you who are not familiar with Crainiac, he is the terrifying leader of a trio of bipedal interdimensional corporeal entities. He along with his henchmen, Corpuscle and Gristle, via some form of telepathy, forged an alliance with the famous children’s horror novelist, J. N. Kline. Unbeknownst to Kline, this whole union was more like a ruse to write them into existence as immortal beings, and also have him bound to his typewriter. This resulted in the author writing a series of successful novels based on these very entities. And with Kline penning down more and more novels, Crainiac along with his partners in crime went ahead with their wicked ritualistic acts of altering regular people into monsters called Vathek.
Crainiac was more than often featured as the main monster; his character was usually described as an irrational butcher, who regarded his inhuman creations as some form of art. Now, let’s get to the part of what his character looks like. He is ugly, quite heavy, boasts a buzz saw on his head, and is generally seen donning long, black gloves along with a brown apron. Crainiac also has this tan mask, which looks like it has been sewed to his face. The mask extends his mouth open and continually has his teeth on display. You cannot miss out on his signature pair of dark shades that are hooked around his exceedingly tiny ears. Otherwise, his character is wall-eyed.
Also, a quick fact that we didn’t want you to miss out on– the monsters featured in the particular episode are actually based on the villains of the Hellraiser franchise, the Cenobites to be more precise. So, as far as the designs are concerned, they were planned and executed keeping Hellraiser in mind. Pay a little more attention to the character of Crainiac, especially his appearance, and you will notice that he has a lot of similarities with the Cenobite called ‘Butterball’.
Please do watch out for Crainiac! Guess, it would not be wrong to say that this villain is quite capable of making you twitch at times. Give the episode a shot and judge for yourself.
Chernabog – Fantasia (1940)
The year is 2021, but it is still quite hard to forget this demon who had featured in ‘Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria’, the seventh and final segment of Disney’s 1940 animated feature flick, ‘Fantasia’. Addressed as Satan by the host Deems Taylor, the character of Chernabog has often been acclaimed as Disney’s most pertinent villain and the best illustration of someone pure evil. Full credits to animator Vladimir Tytla, for his spectacular work on such a terrifying character. But as far as the visualization of the character is concerned, it was the German artist Heinrich Kley, who had come up with a drawing in pen and ink, of a colossal demon coercing laborers out of a factor while jamming the chimney. Sketch artist Albert Hurter known for his morbid sense of humor was so inspired by Kley’s drawing that he ended up drawing several sketches of a gigantic, winged devil, hurling a handful of souls into a volcano.
It was Kay Nielson who achieved the ultimate look of the character as well as his world, in a series of detailed, pastel illustrations. That’s how Chernabog was created as a real model and used by Tytla during animation. Unlike other Disney villains, Chernabog does not have an overriding personality despite the fact that his character epitomizes pure evil. He does not have a sad origin story or even a cause behind any of his actions. His character is evil just for the ‘fun’ of it.
Based on the God of the night as per Slavic mythology, it is near impossible to be indifferent to the scene where he makes his appearance. The scene has on display a village, one that is overlooked by the Bald Mountain. The peak of the mountain is eventually disclosed to be the wings of Chernabog that spreads out as he looks at the hamlet below him. The next scene has him casting a dark shadow over the entire village and summoning his minions. The ghosts in due course become a single mass, dancing intensely around Chernabog.
As they assemble below him, the demon grabs a handful of them and throws them into the mountain’s fiery pit. He then makes use of these flames to create images. The flames initially resemble dancers, next they change into dancing barnyard animals and then into blue demons. The dancing becomes even more hysterical and disordered. Harpies start flying above the demons, occasionally grabbing and throwing them into the fires. The fête concludes in a blinding flash of fire from the pit, and his supremacy comes to a halt with the morning sunrise and the sound of the church bells. Chernabog raises his arms once more, closes his wings, and becomes the mountain’s peak again.
Grundel – The Real Ghostbusters
There’s a good reason why the ninth episode of the third season of the Emmy nominated cartoon is regarded as one of the most infamous episodes of the entire series. For starters, it had on display the eponymous Grundel himself. This spiteful ghost is always on the lookout for children who have the potential to go bad. The way he eventually manipulates them into destructive behavior with his hypnotic influence is nothing short of a nightmare.
This really soft-spoken maniac is quite capable of transforming corrupt children into Grundels themselves, to the extent of even taking on his ghoulish appearance, making his character all the more unsettling.
The character of Grundel simply revels when he gets to gibe children into doing bad things. He is quite determined, and is usually known to be all the more attentive and focused on children who do not answer his call by the way. While it is true that he loves to seek out children who are ready to be bad, he also takes delight in pushing good children into doing bad deeds.
And while we know that the Ghostbusters were able to trap him by the end of the episode, it is the dreadful impression of this villain that stayed with us for a long time. Last but not the least, his appearance is of an unsightly caricature of an old man, wearing a hat. Let’s not miss out on how he just loves spending time looking through the bedroom windows of children and whispering to them to come out and play – it is downright creepy!
Elisa and Eliza Stitch
Also known as The Stitch Sisters, the conjoined twins made their first appearance in the third season of the animated series, ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ in the episode titled, ‘The Quilt Club’. Going by their frightful appearance, they are two heads in one body. Elisa is the one with the right head and Eliza the left head. For years, they have managed to maintain the same look – skinny, elderly women with gaunt faces, long pointed noses, crooked teeth and hair tied in a top knot.
Speaking of their personality, the duo happens to be quite the liars. While on the outside, they pretend to be very friendly and pose as elderly saleswomen, on the inside, they are way darker; on the lookout for a potential new member to join their quilt club. Of course, there are rules; it’s an only women club and the sisters are way too particular about who will be a part of their club. Women who have forgotten their families and lives, and those who are exceptionally good at quilting – these are the requirements of the quilt, to further absorb the souls of women. It’s the quilt that ultimately decides if a woman’s worthy to be a part of the club or not. As for Elisa and Eliza, they only care about extending their lives by manipulating women and continuing to trap their souls in their magical quilt.
Going back a little in history, it’s stated that the Stitch sisters have lived since prehistoric times. At some point in their lives, they managed to chance upon the mystical, evil quilt. Using the power of the quilt, the sisters have extended their lives for endless years, simply by trapping the souls of women inside it. Their activities have made them travel to several countries and witness many eras. After years of gathering and sewing in interminable souls, Elisa and Eliza landed up in the town of Nowhere and eventually opened their quilt store there as well.
“Weave, believe, belong! Weave, believe, belong! Leave the circle never! Weave the quilt forever!” – no wonder the chanting spell of these immortality-seeking siblings is as freaky as them!
Dark Kat
Well, who does not remember the primary antagonist of the SWAT Kats animated TV series? The wanted mastermind, whose aim in life was to demolish the Megakat City and form a new town without laws called the Dark Kat City, is both intelligent and calculating. His character is often seen anticipating the actions of his enemies with accuracy. In short, even if it’s ironic, he is the main reason behind the birth of the SWAT Kats.
Be it physically or mentally, the character of Dark Kat is a conniving schemer. His greatest strength lies in his ingenuity and ability to make countless plans. It is true that he holds an extremely high opinion about himself. He is absolutely merciless and his sadistic nature will stop at nothing, to make sure that his plans are successful at the end of the day, no matter what. Let’s not forget that he is exceedingly crafty. For instance, when Razor was searching to cut the red wire of the explosive, he discovered that all the wires in Dark Kat’s bomb were red in color. Absolutely wicked, right?
His minions deserve a definite mention as well. We are stressing on the Creeplings, who are small, Gremlin-like creatures and also the chief henchmen of Dark Kat. While they aren’t physically as strong as Dark Kat or even intelligent for that matter, they are extremely dedicated to their master, quite spiteful and often tend to defeat their enemies, thanks to them always being in a group.