Underrated Prestige TV Villains That Truly Get Under Your Skin

Unlike many villains on this list, Mindhunter’s Ed Kemper is chilling due to one simple fact: he is a real person. Dubbed the Co-ed Killer, Kemper killed a total of 10 women, including his own mother. Kemper was also known to engage in necrophilia with the bodies of his victims.

As if simply knowing a real person committed those crimes wasn’t enough, Mindhunter somehow makes his fictional portrayal even more disturbing. His mild-mannered chats with main character Holden Ford understandably take a serious psychological toll on the FBI agent. This gives Kemper weight in the ongoing narrative, which, coupled with his real life crimes, makes him stick out in the minds of viewers more than other killers featured on the show.

When it was announced that the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo would be loosely adapted into a TV show, many people doubted it could recapture the same magic as the movie. The first season made it clear that Fargo worked just as well, if not better, as a series. One of the big contributing factors to this successful debut was Billy Bob Thornton’s intimidating Season 1 villain Lorne Malvo.

Malvo is a hitman who is just as skilled at controlling lives as he is at ending them. He kills so casually that it’s clear he barely even thinks twice about it anymore, and anyone who gets mixed up with him is in serious danger. Malvo makes a strong first impression by killing a man solely because he wasn’t told not to - and he only gets scarier from there. Even with plenty of notable antagonists in later seasons of Fargo, Malvo deserves mention for the fear he brought to the show.

Between Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, there are plenty of bad guys involved in the drug trade throughout New Mexico - even Walter White can be considered a villain to some people. While masterminds like Gus Fring with his meticulously managed meth cartel may get the most attention from fans, his equally impressive rival Lalo Salamanca deserves the same.

Lalo may be the most charming villain between the two shows, appearing cheery and good-natured right up until he pulls his gun. His clever methods are deliver some excellent scenes from Better Call Saul, like when he climbs through the ceiling tiles to get the drop on an unsuspecting employee that he needs information from. Though Gus comes out on top in their long-term rivalry, Lalo is a clever and compelling character every minute he's on screen.

While J.K. Simmons is famous for his ability to play terrifying characters, like his Oscar-winning turn in Whiplash, Vernon Schillinger in Oz ought to be remembered as one of his scariest roles. Schillinger is the head of the white supremacist gang in Oz and frequently uses slurs to refer to inmates that don’t fit his idea of the perfect Aryan.

Yet Vern’s cruelty goes even further than his hateful ideology: he sexually assaults other inmates several times, supposedly to “initiate” them into prison life. He grows furious at the smallest slights, like someone pronouncing his last name incorrectly, and uses his gang to establish himself as one of the biggest threats in the series. Though it's hard to be a “fan” of this character given his horrible actions, Schillinger haunts viewers long after they stop watching the show.

Boyd Crowder may be Justified’s main villain, but some of the supporting antagonists on the show are just as compelling with less screen time. Neal McDonough’s cunning Season 3 villain, Robert Quarles, definitely makes a case in that regard.

Quarles is introduced as a mob enforcer coming to collect a debt from Emmitt Arnett, though it's apparent from the start that he has much more planned. Quarles makes sure Emmitt can’t pay back his debt so that he can take over Emmitt’s territory himself, allowing him to traffic drugs through the area. Quarles is one of the smarter criminals on the show, so it's satisfying when his scheming finally catches up with him and multiple characters join forces to take him out at the end of Season 3.

With so many players in the New Mexico drug scene throughout both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, it's tough for individual baddies to stand out. While Marco and Leonel Salamanca might not carry the same cachet as some of the bigger names in the cartel game, they are undoubtedly intimidating when they turn up in Albuquerque to avenge their fallen cousin Tuco.

These twin brothers don’t have to say a lot to be scary - in fact, they hardly speak at all. Their silent, unflinching presence is enough to communicate that their enemies are in trouble. The Cousins are not subtle in taking care of business, either: after killing Tortuga, they cut off his head and strap it to a tortoise along with a bomb to kill DEA agents reporting to the scene. The theatricality of this scene alone is enough to make the Salamanca twins worthy of remembering.