Highlights
- Despite being portrayed as a villain, Sirius Black was actually innocent, betrayed by his friend and condemned by a flawed system.
- Draco Malfoy served as a compelling rival to Harry, with their hatred and rivalry driving the story forward.
- The Dementors were unique and horrifying villains, playing a pivotal role in the series and inspiring a sense of terror in viewers.
Reservations about the author aside, Harry Potter is a fantastic franchise. Seven books, eight movies, and a couple of spinoffs later, we’re now getting several seasons focusing on that same young wizard.
Throughout the books and movies, the audience was treated to numerous villains, each possessing a special pizzazz and personality that made them quite memorable.
10 Sirius Black
The main ‘antagonist’ of the third book and movie, Sirius Black, was introduced as the right-hand man of the Dark Lord. He was portrayed as a horrible, wretched man out for revenge after the downfall of his master. The switcheroo later on in the movie was quite surprising, and it made sense too!
Instead of Sirius being the villain, he was the innocent party, betrayed by his best friend and condemned by the overtaxed criminal system of the wizarding world due to circumstantial evidence and his fraying sanity; he escaped Azkaban when he saw the evidence that his traitor friend was alive. Though he wasn’t actually a villain, his presence nonetheless inspired great terror and mystery in the viewers.
9 Draco Malfoy
Nothing hits quite like a good rival in a franchise. Whether it’s Kacchan and Deku or Batman and the Joker, an antithesis or rival of the main character is a true and tried trope that’s stood the test of time. Draco was Joker to Harry’s Batman.
They were similar in many ways, though different in many more. What’s important was that the chemistry between the two was palpable from the start. The hatred festered, the rivalry continued, and the story flourished as a result.
8 Dementors
Not one singular villain in the traditional sense, the Dementors are a race of literal soul-sucking creatures that inhabit the prison of Azkaban. They were introduced in the third movie and were a pivotal part of the story moving forward.
The unique powers of the Dementors make them quite interesting to read about and experience in the franchise. Nothing else quite inspired the same level of horror as them in the series, and they played a key part in the third and sixth movies.
7 Lucius Malfoy
The father of Draco Malfoy, Blood Supremacist, and loyal servant to the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy, is one of the ringleaders of the Death Eaters. Highly skilled in combat and political intrigue, he fought on the side of Voldemort openly during the first war and planted himself firmly by the side of the minister after his downfall.
With an extremely unlikeable personality and overbearing confidence, his appearance in the second movie was quite memorable. He kickstarted the events that led to the opening of the Chamber of Secrets and nearly ended up reviving the Dark Lord, all by accident. After the return of the Dark Lord, he served him as his lieutenant and pushed his son to serve him as well.
6 Barty Crouch Jr.
Arguably the most conniving Death Eater of them all, Barty Crouch Jr., managed to escape Azkaban undetected, purely due to his circumstances. His own father enslaved him in a sociopathic attempt to honor his mother’s wishes, leading to his escape during the fourth movie.
During this time, he regrouped with the wraith of his Lord, assumed the identity of Mad-Eye Moody, and taught the entirety of Hogwarts for a full year. Later on, he helped teleport Harry and Cedric to the graveyard, where Voldemort was revived.
5 Voldemort
The big baddie of the Harry Potter franchise, Voldemort, was everything you’d want in a stereotypical villain. A blood supremacist at heart, a hypocrite at best, and an evil overlord most of the time, Voldemort is the template for a villain in fantasy media.
His attempts to kill a child ended in failure due to a mother’s love. Assumed dead, he returns to life through great effort and does his very best to take over the world once more. Though he almost succeeds, he is, of course, stopped by the main cast and ends up dying at the hands of the very child he failed to kill once.
4 Bellatrix Lestrange
The crazy, deranged lady with a penchant for the torture of the Harry Potter universe, Bellatrix Lestrange, is extremely unlikeable and inspires disgust and hatred in all who have seen the movies.
She’s the cousin of Sirius, who later kills him in the sixth movie. After the first war, she was also one of the two people who tortured Neville’s parents to insanity, causing a great tragedy even after their ultimate loss.
3 Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew was the trusted friend of James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. Therefore, his betrayal was felt all the more when he sold out his brothers-in-arms for a chance to serve under the Dark Lord.
Until the events of the third movie, he was considered a great hero who died fighting Sirius Black. However, all he did was frame Sirius and proceed to live his life as an Animagus rat in the Weasley family. After Sirius’ escape and subsequent venture into Hogwarts to capture and maybe kill him, his ruse was revealed to the main cast of the show.
2 Professor Snape
Professor Snape’s allegiance is hard to pinpoint in the movies. He seems to be working with Dumbledore, and Dumbledore does seem to trust him, but his actions constantly paint him in a bad light. Combined with his unapproachable demeanor and bully-like behavior, he was never the fan-favorite by any means.
He was revealed to be a double-spy, a reformed Death Eater working under Dumbledore to spy on Voldemort, who also spied on Dumbledore for Voldemort, with Dumbledore’s approval. During the last act of the final movie, his actual allegiance was revealed, which divided the fanbase in half.
1 Dolores Umbridge
Dolores isn’t a big bad villain out to get revenge. She isn’t a part of Voldemort’s entourage that dreams of world domination and the purge of ‘Mudbloods,’ at least not until Voldemort takes over during the last two movies. She’s the worst kind of villain, a politician and a bureaucrat.
Her portrayal in the movies was absolutely perfect. The intonation of each word, the disgustingly sweet smile that didn’t reach her eyes, and her supremacist attitude made her one of the least likable characters and best villains in the entire franchise.
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