The biggest and most lucrative franchises in the industry are marketed and sold on the strength of their heroes, and in many cases, the villains are of little concern, because the creative team is safe in the knowledge that people are going to show up regardless of who the faces on the poster are fighting.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has massively improved the quality of their antagonists, but there’s still plenty of work to be done, while the DCEU needs to move as far away from the dire CGI-assisted likes of Steppenwolf, Ares, Incubus and Enchantress as soon as possible. Even the James Bond series, which has been going strong for almost 60 years, boasts just as many awful bad guys as it does iconic ones.
However, in terms of both volume and legacy, Star Wars has always done a great job with nefarious figures. Ever since the supremely evil duo of Darth Vader and Darth Sidious made their debuts over 40 years ago, the expanded universe has delivered a constant stream of villains that swiftly reach cult status among the fanbase.
Recently, a poll sought to name the greatest Star Wars villain ever, and there are no surprises for guessing who came out on top. Vader obviously won by a landslide, but a quick glance at the list just goes to show the strength in depth that the franchise has assembled when it comes to posing threats to the good guys, as you can see below.
- Darth Vader – 33%
- Emperor Palpatine – 18%
- Grand Admiral Thrawn – 6%
- Darth Maul – 6%
- Boba Fett – 6%
- General Grievous – 4%
- Greedo – 4%
- Moff Gideon – 4%
- Kylo Ren – 3%
- Grand Moff Tarkin – 3%
- Count Dooku – 2%
- Supreme Leader Snoke – 2%
- Captain Phasma – 2%
- Asajj Ventress – 2%
- The Grand Inquisitor – 2%
- Jabba the Hutt – 2%
The Mandalorian may have turned Boba Fett into a hero, but he was first introduced as an ally of Darth Vader, while Grand Admiral Thrawn will be keen to make his way even further up the rankings after Ahsoka Tano basically confirmed he’s on his way into the live-action realm of Star Wars. Still, at the end of the day, nobody will ever knock Darth Vader off his perch.