20 Teen Drama Villains, Ranked From "Made Some Points" To "Literal Definition Of Evil"
Alexa, play "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish.
BuzzFeed Staff
BuzzFeed Staff
Every good story needs a villain, and teen dramas are no different.
There's always one evil parent. Three, if you're watching Riverdale.
But some villains are definitely worse than others.
And some TV villains you actually kind of root for, or at the very least understand.
Because we are your resident Teen Drama Experts™, we have decided to present you with the absolutely inarguable ranking of teen drama villains, from "kind of rooted for them" to "absolutely evil."
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assault, school shootings, abuse, and violence.
Spoilers ahead!
20. Georgina Sparks, Gossip Girl
Hannah: Georgina may have pretended to be someone else, blackmailed Serena with her snuff film, and told Dan that Milo was his son when he wasn't, but is that really worse than what the other characters did? She was honestly more entertaining than evil.
Kelly: Look, Georgina did some messed up stuff, but someone had to keep Blair and Serena's crew humble. She kept the Upper East Siders on their toes and made things interesting.
19. Klaus Mikaelson, The Vampire Diaries
Hannah: Klaus killed Jenna and tried to kill a lot of our main characters. But in the end, most of the things he did, he did for his family, or in order to "create" a family through hybrids after feeling abandoned. He clearly still had empathy and cared for people. Plus, he literally got his own show where he was the protagonist.
18. Polo Benavent, Elite
Kelly: Okay, I know Polo killed his best friend's sister — albeit accidentally, sort of — and lied about it for more than a year, and it was incredibly wrong. But it was hard for me to not get attached to him and I couldn't help but sob when he died. He did a horrible thing, but he felt genuine remorse and wished he could take it back.
17. Dan Scott, One Tree Hill
Hannah: Dan was a horrible person and father, but THAT ARC THO. The fact that Nathan and Haley even let him be in Jamie's life was proof enough that Dan had changed. I truly felt he was rehabilitated by the end and deserved his redemption.
Kelly: I have mixed feelings about Dan getting a redemption arc, but I do think he genuinely changed in the end. He was a horrible father to Lucas and Nathan growing up (and let's not forget he killed Keith!), but his scenes with Jamie still make me emotional.
16. Peter Hale, Teen Wolf
Hannah: Peter killed his own niece and then went on to bite and later psychologically torture Lydia, which I will NEVER forgive. But...in the end, it was clear he really did care for his daughter Malia and he helped get Stiles back from The Wild Hunt, so I'm letting him off easy here.
15. Nanny Carrie, One Tree Hill
Hannah: Nanny Carrie was clearly not in her right mind, and she did some messed up things, like trying to ruin Nathan and Haley's marriage, kidnapping Jamie, and kidnapping and torturing Dan. But let's be real, who wouldn't want Jamie as a son? Still a villain, but not as evil as most of the other characters on this list.
14. Oliver Trask, The O.C.
Kelly: Oliver was incredibly manipulative and toxic, and his whole arc is still infuriating to rewatch. He was clearly super unwell and needed serious help, but it doesn't make what he did to Marissa and Ryan okay.
13. Jasper Herman, 90210
Hannah: Jasper manipulated and blackmailed Annie into being with him, then threatened to kill himself if she left. Annie had done a bad thing, but she still didn't deserve the messed up form of torture Jasper inflicted on her.
Kelly: I think Jasper especially scares me because he feels realistic. We all know someone like him. He was incredibly manipulative, but he doesn't rank too high on this list since he didn't, like, kill anyone.
12. Kevin Volchok, The O.C.
Kelly: Okay, so I had initially ranked Volchok much lower because I tend to think of him as more of a horrible boyfriend than a genuine villain. But we can't ignore that he's responsible for Marissa's death, so here we are.
11. Rick Murray, Degrassi: The Next Generation
Kelly: Rick was bullied really badly and I'll admit it was hard to watch at times. However, him being abusive to Terri and literally putting her in a coma made it hard for me to sympathize with him. The school shooting was tragic for everyone involved, but Rick was still ultimately the one behind the trigger.
10. Bart Bass, Gossip Girl
Hannah: Oh, boy. Bart was just a bad dad before his "death," but when he showed up again in Season 5, he became truly evil. He shut Chuck out from his own company, threatened Blair, tried to have Chuck killed, and then actually tried to kill Chuck himself before falling to his own death. Good riddance!
9. Hal Cooper, Riverdale
Hannah: Hal was a literal serial killer and a pretty bad father, but at the very least seemed to care for Betty in his own messed up way. Still, teaming up with Penelope and killing a bunch of students at prom was a new low.
Kelly: It feels weird not ranking a literal serial killer higher on this list, but Hal was hard to take seriously as a villain. Alice said it best when she told Betty, "Your father can't do anything right, not even be a serial killer."
8. Hiram Lodge, Riverdale
Hannah: Hiram is a crime boss who's had multiple people killed. He tried to have his own daughter's boyfriend killed, too, then continued to manipulate and try to control Veronica. He was fun at first, but I'm ready to see Hiram GTFO.
Kelly: I was so excited when Hiram first made his debut on the show, but now I'm just so ready for him to leave town and leave everyone ALONE. His obsession with Archie is honestly so creepy.
7. Cece Drake, Pretty Little Liars
Hannah: It's heartbreaking that Cece was not accepted and spent her entire life at Radley. But...then she spent years psychologically torturing her sister and her friends, eventually kidnapping them and putting them through messed up "games" where they had to decide which of their friends deserved water that day. That's some Saw shit right there.
6. Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas, Veronica Mars
Kelly: The roof scene in Season 2 is heartbreaking for a lot of reasons, and I can't help but feel distraught when Beaver jumps, even though I hate him. He was a victim of sexual abuse as a kid, and it was horrible — but absolutely nothing excuses him killing an entire bus full of kids and raping Veronica at that party.
5. Aaron Echolls, Veronica Mars
Kelly: Veronica Mars may have at least tried to humanize Beaver, but I have absolutely NO sympathy when it comes to Aaron Echolls. Not only did he murder Lilly, he was sleeping with his own son's girlfriend, a teenager! Plus, he abused Logan, drove his wife to suicide, and didn't show an ounce of remorse for any of his actions in court. Good riddance.
4. Kai Parker, The Vampire Diaries
Hannah: Look, I loved Kai as a villain in the sense that he was so much fun to watch. But...he was a complete sociopath who murdered his entire family, and he stabbed a pregnant Jo in the stomach to kill her DURING HER WEDDING VOWS. He put Elena in a coma as long as Bonnie was alive just to torture her and Damon, and then he worked with Katherine in Hell itself.
3. Montgomery "Monty" de la Cruz, 13 Reasons Why
Hannah: The scene where he assaulted Tyler in the bathroom was by far the most disturbing scene I have ever seen on television, and you guys, I watch a LOT of television. I hope he is burning in fictional character hell.
Kelly: I feel like we were supposed to feel bad for him after he died, but I have no sympathy. Like, okay, he didn't kill Bryce, but he was still a rapist and an abuser. He was a horrible human being and no amount of flashbacks with Winston will change that.
2. Nate Jacobs, Euphoria
Hannah: Nate is absolutely terrifying. He's toxic, manipulative, and blackmailing, and the way he treats Maddy is utterly horrendous. It was so disturbing to see him choke her at the carnival, and then literally beat a man and make him falsely confess to rape so he could still be with her.
Kelly: Nate is truly horrible not just because of his actions, but also because of how easily he gets away with everything and shows zero remorse. His physical and psychological abuse of everyone is genuinely terrifying.
1. Bryce Walker, 13 Reasons Why
Hannah: Bryce was a serial rapist and the main cause of Hannah's trauma and eventual suicide. The scariest thing about Bryce was how real he was: there are so many good-looking, charming, well-to-do young white men out there who are capable of doing the things Bryce did. This makes him the most realistic villain, earning him the #1 spot.
Kelly: I don't have much else to add except that Bryce got what he deserved.