1) Sergeant Andrew Scott/GR13 (played by Dolph Lundgren) – Universal Soldier (1992)
We’ve reached the top spot, and I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of the title. By the time Universal Soldier graced our screens back in 1992, both Jean-Claude Van Damme and the ever so awesome Dolph Lundgren were at the absolute top of their game, and bless the producers for thinking of pitting them against each other for this spectacle of a movie. The top spot of most awesome villain in a Van Damme film can’t go very lightly and without exceptional reasons, but Dolph Lundgren’s most recognized and beloved character of Sergeant Andrew Scott/GR13 more than lives up to the revered title.
The story goes that JCVD plays soldier Luc Deveraux, who is fighting in Vietnam and Dolph is his commanding officer. Scott loses his marbles due to far too much traumatic stress, kills majority of his platoon and then turns on Deveraux when he tries to stop him from executing innocent prisoners. They kill each other and are subsequently re-animated by an off-the-book government program with no memory of their past lives. Of course, their memories start to get jogged once the first act comes to a close and then it’s on like Donkey Kong!
Dolph reprised this role in the two direct sequels, Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, and hasn’t lost a step in the twenty years that this franchise has spanned over.
Scott is deranged in a very wacky way, and while he is played with just the right amount of camp, he does have moments of pure terror as well. He is physically jacked to the max and provides a very formidable challenge for JCVD. Many memorable moments and dialogue are littered throughout the film, and had Dolph not been cast as the lead villain, Universal Soldier would have suffered greatly. And that’s exactly why he belongs on the top of the list, because Scott is one of the most larger than life villains ever created for an action film, and he is right at home in one of the pinnacles of 90s action cinema!
So, there you have it, we’ve reached the end. Tell us, though, who were your favorite villains that Jean-Claude Van Damme had to go up against? Did we miss anyone here? Sound off below!