1) Darth Vader
Well, of course, he has to come top. Few – if any – villains in cinema’s long history made the impact on pop culture that Darth Vader has. Everything came together – the design, getting James Earl Jones to do the voice, the character development – to form a true icon, a term that is often overused but is totally apt here.
In the original trilogy, from his jaw-dropping first scene in A New Hope, he was a formidable, terrifying force. Yet, over time, we learned about his past tragedies – how he went from being the hope of the galaxy to the dark side’s poster boy. In actual fact, Vader is probably best described as an anti-hero – especially as he gets to redeem himself by the end – but he’s a villain for most of the movies, so that description sticks.
Yes, we would rather that we didn’t have to watch his younger years as an annoying kid or a dopey lovesick Padawan in the prequels, but not even they can diminish the power of that look and that voice. A villain who once seemed to be black-hearted but then developed shades of grey, Vader’s tragic nature is what makes him unquestionably the best Star Wars villain. Nay, the best Star Wars character period. His supporting role in Rogue One was probably the highlight of the film, but we hope we haven’t seen the last of him yet.