most sinister childhood villains of all time

This pint sized profligate tried talking Princess Fiona to become his queen and wouldnt take no for an answer. Known throughout the land for his cruelty to fairytale creatures and disliked by most of his subjects, everyone cheered when the dragon swallowed him whole.

This half dragon, half witch is arguably the darkest Disney villain of all time. Her exclusion from Auroras christening disappointed her. After all, not even the most evil among us enjoys being rejected. However, I think punishing the princess with death by spindle needle was a little extreme.

Scar wanted to be king no matter what the cost. He killed his own brother and tricked his nephew so he could rule over the Pride Lands.

Worming her way into childrens affections with gifts of hot cocoa and Turkish delight, the White Witch charmed her young victims before revealing her truly wicked nature.

Whether you know him as He Who Must Not Be Named, The Dark Lord, or dare I say it? Lord Voldermort, he was the darkest wizard who ever lived.

There have been a million inanimate objects possessed in the history of horror fiction but none more horrifying than the Good Guy doll that plays host to serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Chucky is purely nasty and it still feels surreal seeing a childrens toy do such things and all the time he maintains that hideous glare in his scary eyes. Everything from his look to his voice is spine chilling and before the doll is possessed it still looks like the creation of the Devil.

It takes an almighty force to put fear into the ultra macho group of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura and Richard Chaves but thats exactly what the Predator is. The Predator lives by a moral code of sorts as he only attacks those carry weapons which is what leads to the killing of the team apart from Schwarzeneggers Dutch who is the last man standing. The Predator is a brutal hunter and in that big, overbearing forest you wont find a more intimidating adversary. He may go out in disappointing fashion but up until then the Predator is an enthralling beast.

The parallels to Shakespeares Hamlet are well noted with Scars characterisation closely following that of Claudius in Shakespeares epic of violence, death and insanity. Scar is a character with no redeeming features. Brutal, cunning and ruthless, he will stop at nothing to claim the throne of his own. The pursuit of that goal involves the murder of his brother and attempted murder of his orphan son, showing that family means nothing to him. The Lion King is one of Disneys very finest and the most disturbing thing about its antagonist is the unrestrained glee he shows as he watches Mufasa die.

Max Schrecks iconic performance in the silent classic has been imitated countless times in the 90 plus years since its release but not even Klaus Kinski (who played Count Dracula in Werner Herzogs stylised remake) matches the fright of Schreck. Everything from the shape of his face to his eyes makes him an almighty fright that has gone underappreciated in the modern era of cinema. Schrecks performance as the infamous vampire is a triumphant masterclass in horror and its all done without saying a word.

Roy Batty is another tragic villain, he is bruising and relentless but all he really wants is to know why he has to die. Hes the punchline of a harsh, unforgiving world and whilst he commits some truly horrible crimes it is impossible to not sympathise with him as although he is a machine, he is one of cinemas most human characters. An excellent speaker and his famous speech does not need repeating and the most interesting thing about the character is his wondering about morality whilst continuing to commit so many immoral acts. He is not the personification of evil and hes not even the most sinister thing in the movie with his capacity for empathy but he is a ruthless killer and would not hesitate to bring death upon anyone who gets in his way.