The ten most evil leaders in cinematic history

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We've already covered the ten best and most butt-whipping film presidents of all time, so it's only natural that we'd also tackle a similar list for bad guys. Because just as the good side needs its figureheads to rally behind, so too does evil need some charismatic rascal to lead the way to destruction. These leaders are more than just villains - they are mirrors of our fears. The fear of abuse of power, of megalomania, of the little person given too much responsibility and no heart. But they are also incredibly entertaining to watch - as long as they stay on the screen.

They dominate and rule, with an iron fist, laser weapons, oppression and just general idiocy. The film world's most vicious leaders are often terrifying caricatures, entertaining but also occasionally quite scary. Some of them wear a cape, others a suit, but what they have in common is a burning hatred for all that is wholesome and beautiful in life. So join us as we go through the ten worst (but also) most entertaining leaders ever to plague the silver screen. A study in how power corrupts with explosive drama.

(10) Amon Goeth - Schindler's List (1993)

I'll start the list with a cheat. Call it what you will. Because even though he didn't rule any country or kingdom, he was the undisputed king of his own little world. One of the darkest holes in world history. Yep, now it's time to get all serious again and take a deep dive into the history books. Amon Goeth was, for those of you who know a little about the Second World War, one of the most unsympathetic and terrible individuals to have walked the earth. An outright Nazi officer who bubbled over with sadistic impulses at every turn. He ruled the infamous Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp with an iron fist, torturing prisoners of war as if they were lunchtime entertainment. A terrible man with a black hole where his heart should have been, played with an icy coldness and uncomfortable distance by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. But perhaps worst of all, the unpleasant portrait of Goeth we see in the film is a grossly toned-down version. Think about that for a moment.

(9) Lord Farquaad - Shrek (2001)

John Lithgow's fairytale villain may be three apples high - but Farquaad is actually a textbook example of tyranny in miniature. He banishes minorities, constructs a kingdom centred around himself and tries to marry his way into the corridors of power. In short, he is everything we normally associate with narcissism and megalomania, albeit in a very small body. The satire is as clear as it is sharp: he dreams of perfection, order and, not least, status - but behind the thin façade is a very small man with a gigantic complex. In other words, just as many of history's real tyrants are often described.

(8) General Zod - Man of Steel (2013)

The idea is certainly good, to save his own race. Unfortunately, it also happens to mean that Zod needs to wipe out humanity to achieve his goal. You know, small details. Nah, Michael Shannon's Zod is an icy, rabid and intense jerk with tunnel vision who is very reminiscent of an angry forum member on Reddit. His diatribe to Superman that it's his duty to ensure Krypton's survival is most unnerving, perhaps mainly because he really is so utterly convinced that it's his great calling in life. A messiah with laser focus and tyrannical underlings.

(7) King Edward I - Braveheart (1995)

History books tend to refer to him as Longshanks, a very real person at the time more than 700 years ago. In Mel Gibson's screenwriting hands, however, he was transformed into a sadistic tyrant. A medieval supervillain who delights in slaughtering Scots and mocking freedom fighters. Patrick McGoohan is brilliant in the role, bubbling with malice, although the portrait is a rather unfair one compared to how Edward is actually described in the history books.

(6) President Snow - The Hunger Games (2012-2015)

An accurate caricature that is so unnecessarily, excessively evil that you almost choke on your coffee. Say what you will about the films, but Sutherland throws the iron into the fire and goes for broke in the role of Snow. A tyrant who happily sips tea while bombing children's hospitals. Controlled and quietly menacing, which combined with his flashy outfit and toxic smile is just icing on the cake. President Snow is a despot for the Instagram generation.

(5) Admiral General Aladeen - The Dictator (2012)

We laugh at Aldeen in all his absurdity. Sacha Baron Cohen's caricature, where he has taken the vanity, cruelty and total disconnection from reality of all modern dictators and boiled it down to an unholy, miserable goo. He shoots people because they trump him in competitions, writes his own dictionary and oppresses his people like no other. And yet you can't stop laughing, even if it hurts a little inside.

(4) Hynkel - The Great Dictator (1940)

Probably the most definitive and famous satire of them all. Chaplin's parody of Hitler was a brave one, created at a time when it was not really safe to joke about him. Hynkel is pompous, childish, hateful and ridiculously self-righteous - which is exactly what makes him so dangerous. He symbolically plays with the globe as if it were a balloon, which is probably the most elegant middle finger to fascism in cinema history. But The Great Dictator is so much more than dazzlingly accurate satire, it's a powerful reminder that ridicule is one of the most effective and sharpest weapons you can use against tyranny.

(3) Immortan Joe - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Is this what the world would be treated to if the apocalypse arrived and a departed WWE star grabbed the crown of leadership? Well, probably. Because that's exactly what Immortan Joe is, Hugh Keays-Byrne's post-apocalyptic dictator with a god complex and a taste for inbreeding and chrome makeup. He keeps women as breeding stock and controls resources with an iron fist. A grotesque reflection of the wasteland he rules over here, complete with a rotten smile hidden behind a respirator. A genuine fool who also happens to be one of the most disgusting scumbags we have witnessed on the silver screen.

(2) Voldemort - Harry Potter (2001-2011)

The Harry Potter books (and films) may be aimed primarily at children and young people, but when it comes to the themes of the series, not to mention the main antagonist, Rowling spared no expense. She has clearly drawn inspiration from some of the most vile individuals to have walked this earth and Voldemort is nothing short of a full-fledged fascist with ambitions that would make Adolf Hitler jealous. He dreams of pure blood, takes over the media, controls those in power and sends his Death Eaters on murderous missions as if they were Gestapo soldiers with wands. His methods are eerily familiar and he is one of the most unlikable assholes in the history of cinema. Tyranny doesn't always come in uniform, sometimes rags and substandard social skills are enough.

(1) Emperor Palpatine- Star Wars (1977-2019)

The undisputed king of malice, the biggest and baddest of them all - evil personified. A manipulative senator with the most effective poker face in the universe, complete with smirking smile and 'trust me' methodology that brings people down. His rocket career would certainly have been something for LinkedIn, although his wrinkled raisin face may not have made a great first impression on those who visited his profile. But jokes aside, Darth Sidious and his masterful order 66 are a textbook example of dictatorship. That he also managed to convince the galaxy's most well-meaning and noble Jedi knight to become a child killer says a lot about his nasty charisma. Palpatine is the CEO of evil, the dark puppet master of the universe.

What is your list, who are the most malicious leaders ever in your opinion?