The 16 Best Cartoon Network Villains, Ranked From Memorable To Forgettable (2024)

The Lich - 'Adventure Time'

Backstory: The Lich is the living manifestation of the inevitable demise of all things. First dropped on Earth by a comet, the Lich gained its form after possessing a mutant after the Mushroom War. The Lich has existed since before time began and is said to be responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs. He was sealed in a tree momentarily after being defeated by Billy, and was later transformed into a giant baby with almost no memory of his previous villainy.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:The Lich is horrifying. Wherever he goes, lifeforms rot. He's basically immortal and impossible to destroy. He could probably get by without doing much of anything else, but he can also shoot fire and possess others through mind control.

Stand Out Appearance: In “The Lich” (Season, 4 Episode 26) the Lich finally unleashes his master plan with the intention of destroying all life. This is a prelude to the next episode, where Finn wishes the Lich had never existed to begin with, and has to experience the unexpected consequences of that wish coming true.

HIM - 'The Powerpuff Girls'

Backstory: HIM is a demonic figure with no clear origin story or motive - he just loves being evil. He's powerful enough that he could easily destroy the whole planet if he wanted to, but he'd rather spend his time playing mind games and making people miserable for his own amusem*nt. He does have an actual name, but nobody is willing to speak it because of how intensely evil he is.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:While he can do things like change size, transform, use telekinesis, and spit acid, he prefers to manipulate peoples' emotions. He isn't trying to accomplish anything in particular, he just wants to make people miserable. His strength, his sad*stic approach to life, and his flamboyant attitude all combine to make him a genuinely compelling villain.

Stand Out Appearance: In “Speed Demon” (Episode 23, Season 2) the Powerpuff Girls are transported 50 years into the future, where they discover that life in Townsville has been totally ruined by their long absence. Behind this event is HIM, who appears in one of his most evil and terrifying forms.

Backstory: In the Teen Titans TV series, Slade's behavior doesn't really have an explanation. He's a malevolent person whose goal is to defeat the Titans, annihilate Jump City, and possibly take over the world. But in the original DC comics, he does have a reason for his behavior: he's a former soldier in the US military who was modified to become a super soldier. He was loyal until an incident cost him his son, his eye, and his vocal chords.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:Slade commands vast financial and military resources, so he barely even has to do anything himself. But he's also incredibly intelligent and an excellent fighter with enhanced reflexes, super strength, and extensive knowledge of fighting.

Stand Out Appearance: “The End - Part 2” (Season 4, Episode 12.)Though he has generally been a thorn in the Teen Titan's side, in this episode, he decides to actually help them try to defeat Triton. Sure it's for his own reasons, but it's still cool to see him try to work with them. This is also the episode where the Titans get to see his real face.

Backstory: The Beast is a malevolent creature who seems to have manifested from the misery of others. His only goal is to keep himself alive, which he does by feeding souls to a lantern. He manipulates others into helping him acquire souls, often by convincing them that their deceased loved one is alive inside the lantern.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:The Beast primarily relies on his ability to manipulate others and appear sinister, but he's actually quite fragile since his life depends on the existence of a lantern. This contradiction makes him a uniquely unsettling force, which fits the vibe of the series well.

Stand Out Appearance: “The Unknown” (Episode 10.) Throughout most of the series, the Beast is a presence that the protagonists are only vaguely aware of. In the finale, the Beast nearly turns Greg into an Edelwood tree and tries to convince Wirt to keep his spirit alive in the lantern. The Beast is defeated in the finale, but the major conflict of the episode revolves around him.

Aku - 'Samurai Jack'

Backstory: Aku is a shapeshifting demon who is the incarnate of all evil. Originally, he was a formless black mass of evil floating through space. Three gods - Odin, Ra, and Rama - all tried to destroy the mass and they mostly succeeded. However, one small piece of the mask escaped and landed on Earth. Jack's father, the Emperor, tried to destroy the ever-growing mass with poison, but the poison transformed it into a sentient being - Aku.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:He has pretty much every supernatural power you could think of: shapeshifting, near immorality, regeneration, massive eye beams, the ability to rip portals through time and space, control over the elements, psychic visions, the ability to corrupt other living creatures and turn them into evil versions of himself - the list goes on. It's hard to imagine how he could possibly be defeated, which makes it even cooler when Jack does manage to make some headway.

Stand Out Appearance: In "Aku's Fairy Tales" (Season 1, Episode 13) Aku tries to convince a group of children to hate Samurai Jack by telling them elaborate fairy tales in which Jack is the bad guy. This doesn't exactly work, but it's hilarious. It also shows off some of the best work of his first voice actor, Makoto Iwamatsu.

Backstory: Katz doesn't have some tragic backstory that turned him into a villain. He's just evil because being evil is fun. When he first appears, he runs a motel designed to collect people so that he can feed them to his giant pet spiders. During another scam, he runs a club where he turns people into half-machines and makes them fight to the death for his own entertainment. He's Courage's nemesis, and the main villain in the series.

Why He's A Top-Tier Villain:He's slick enough to trick basically everyone except for Courage. What's more, he never lets his morals get in the way of conning people. That makes him deeply entertaining, and makes him a major problem for Courage to contend with.

Stand Out Appearance: "A Night At The Katz Motel" (Season 1, Episode 1) is the episode where Katz tricks people into staying at his motel so that he can feed them to his spiders. It does an excellent job of both introducing Katz as a villain and of setting the overall tone of the series.