Women’s Day is the day we love to celebrate and lift all the women who make our lives beautiful, unique, worthwhile and whole. However, the media has a way of bringing forth dynamic characters who have much more going on about them than just being good. These evil female characters, or female villains, might be cooking up wickedness and trying to destroy people’s lives all the time, but they are just so deliciously unhinged that you can’t ignore them!
Thus, if you need some spice in your lives this Women’s Day (and get some “burn everything down” ideas in the process), check out these female villains who are full of wickedness and evil but who make things so much interesting!
Villanelle
Killing Eve‘s fictional antagonist, Villanelle is a psychopathic assassin whose mutual obsession with British intelligence agent Eve Polastri, her archenemy, is the main focus of the series and the book series that it is based on. Played by Jodie Comer, the series’ portrayal of this complex character completely devoid of humanity and empathy sets her apart from other fictional antagonists and gives her an edge. She’s oddly relatable as well as a manic pixie but in a completely opposite way than what you typically expect from those terms. Her humorous moments just make her even more scary and her fierce intelligence makes you dream to be her… sometimes.
Maleficent
Played by Angelina Jolie in the 2014 movie of the same name, our evil fairy exists in the Sleeping Beauty universe and her story is a retelling of the classic but from the villain’s perspective. Maleficent, starting out as an innocent and kind-hearted guardian of the Moors, turns into a fearful, vengeful and unpleasant fairy whom everyone is afraid of. The film is an allegory for rape and Maleficent going through these obstacles in her life to go back to who she was and reclaiming her agency is done so well that it sometimes blurs the lines between good and evil.
Cruella de Vil
The fictional antagonist of Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, is a literal poster child of greed, vanity and evil and all that is for good reason – she skins puppies in order to make fur coats! However, the dognapper is one enigmatic lady to follow and she might be hated for what she does but whatever we do, we can’t seem to forget or ignore her in any way! Becoming a mainstream villain thanks to Disney, she is easily the company’s most realistic and scary villain because what she does and how she behaves feels too close to home – there are too many people in this world like her, who’d do anything to get her way.
Regina George
The antagonist of 2004’s Mean Girls, George is an impossibly entitled, selfish and a total brat. She’s also cruel and her parents’ lack of discipline and her wealthy upbringing turned her into someone who was an expert manipulator and liar and someone who needs to be in control. Her good looks just work into her intelligent and confident personality, helping her cunning manipulative tendencies to exist without anyone’s pushback. That being said, Regina is truly memorable and much like the movie is totally “Fetch!” as a female villain in all the right ways!
Bellatrix Lestrange
Played by Helena Bonham Carter in the movies, Lestrange is one of the most well-known Death Eaters from the Harry Potter franchise and one of the first female Death Eaters to be introduced in the books. From her humble beginnings, she joins Lord Voldemort as soon as she leaves Hogwarts and eventually turns into a vile and sadistic murderer, whose thoughts on “pure blood” witches and wizards drive her to commit unspeakable acts. She is cruel and unhinged but she’s someone you can’t ignore if she’s on screen. Would we like to be in her torturing shoes? Probably not, but she does make for a mean number 2 to Voldemort and we love her for that.
Which of these female villains do you love the most? Let us know in the comments below!
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