Top 10 Iconic Villain Deaths in Animated Shows
#10: Silco
“Arcane” (2021-) As the major antagonist in the “League of Legends” based TV show “Arcane”, the cold and cruel Silco committed many acts of evil. But he was consistently kind to the troubled Jinx. After Silco mentored her for years, she went rogue and captured both him and her sister. Unable to choose whether to ally with her old or adopted family, she lashed out and unintentionally wounded Silco. Surprisingly, the usually sharp tongued villain was surprisingly gentle with his last words. Silco wanted Jinx to know that she meant the world to him in the end. Although he was unquestionably a notorious villain, his death made us see him in a whole new light.
#9: Slade
“Teen Titans” (2003-06) We knew Slade was a manipulator and foe of the Teen Titans. But having the young Terra infiltrate the team as part of his masterplan was especially evil. After pushing her to her limits, Slade threatened to kill her if she didn’t destroy the Teen Titans. Thankfully, Terra finally rebelled against Slade in a very epic way! After tapping into the fullest extent of her power, she knocked the villain into lava. This led to the incredible visual of Slade’s mask melting into the fiery magma. And while Slade did eventually come back, this scene took the villain out of commission for quite some time.
#8: Simon Laurent
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“Infinity Train” (2019-21) Simon Laurent’s death in “Infinity Train” sent chills down the spines of kids and adults everywhere. The show’s villain was driven mad by his devotion to the train. Over time, he committed heinous acts against other passengers in the hopes that he’d gain a special reward. But his journey on the train didn’t end the way that he could have anticipated. After a fight with Grace, Simon met trouble in the form of a deadly Ghom. The roach-like monster quickly pounced on the human and disintegrated him! While we had a feeling karma would come back for Simon, we couldn’t have anticipated such a gruesome and unforgettable death.
#7: Bill Cipher
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“Gravity Falls” (2012-16) This seemingly all-powerful entity tormented the fictional town of Gravity Falls and seemed virtually unstoppable! At first, no one really knew how to crack the code of stopping Bill Cipher. But everything changed for the series finale. Bill met his end after he was tricked into going into the wrong person’s mind. By the time the powerful being realized his unfortunate mistake, it was too late. Bill could do nothing as he was sucker punched right out of existence! We expected the triangular being to be dispatched through some incredible magic means. In the end, seeing Cipher get punched into nothing made for a more interesting death.
#6: Satan
“South Park” (1997-) While Satan was a fairly recurring character on “South Park”, the ManBearPig was more of a joke character that only appeared in a handful of episodes. That’s why it was so surprising to see the two of them collide in an episode. After ManBearPig started to torment the citizens of the town, Satan stepped up to fight him. But the wildest moment came when the creature killed the recurring character. The death of Satan here was actually treated with sensitivity and gravitas. And as a bonus note, he actually ends up getting into heaven due to his heroism. The death made for one of “South Park”’s most notable scenes.
#5: Solomon Grundy
“Justice League Unlimited” (2004-06) Since Solomon Grundy has a distinct knack for coming back to life, fans were never too worried whenever he was seriously wounded. That’s why his final death in “Justice League Unlimited” caught everyone off guard. When Grundy is resurrected by amateur occultists, he goes on a violent rampage that the Justice League can barely counter on their own. In order to stop him, Hawkgirl reluctantly returns to put Grundy down for good. It’s a gut wrenchingly sad moment that served as an emotional sendoff for the former villain. Even though Grundy had lost his soul, fans still carried lots of love for the tragic character.
#4: Admiral Zhao
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” (2005-08) Even for a firebender, Admiral Zhao was a real hot head! This reckless and egotistical villain did anything he wanted to take down challengers. He even slayed Tui, the spirit of the Moon. This incredibly bone-headed decision had serious consequences! While Tui was later revived, the Ocean spirit La took revenge against Admiral Zhao. When he was dragged towards the water, he refused to accept help and accepted his dark and watery fate. The fact that Zhao wasn't seen again for the rest of the series confirmed the villain had indeed died. And as “The Legend of Korra” confirmed, he continued to pay for his crimes after death.
#3: Joe Chill
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"Batman: The Brave and the Bold" (2008-11) This antagonist is infamous for being the man who executed Bruce Wayne’s parents. When Batman finally catches up to Chill, the hero deals out some serious punishment. But we knew the dark knight wouldn’t cross the line to take out his old nemesis personally. However, the show still gave us a full circle ending to this plotline. After a gun Chill was trying to sell is fired at the ceiling, he’s fatally wounded by falling rubble. There’s an implication that the supernatural Spectre may have made this death happen. But either way, seeing Chill indirectly cause his own death with a gun made for an ironic and karmic end for Bruce Wayne’s very first villain.
#2: Darth Maul
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“Star Wars: Rebels” (2014-18) Darth Maul’s death at the hands of Obi-Wan was short, but bitterly sweet. Maul was like the little Sith that could. No matter what, he just refused to die, and we all love him for that. During “Star Wars Rebels”, Maul tracked down and attempted to finally kill Obi-Wan on Tatooine. And the fight honestly didn’t go anything how the fans expected. Maul was struck down in a matter of mere moments. Fans would’ve loved a long-winded and epic clash, but honestly, this subdued and methodically brief battle arguably worked better. This marked the end of a long journey that began on film. Despite everything he did, seeing a tired Maul get to rest felt peaceful.
#1: Aku
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“Samurai Jack” (2001-04; 2017) It was only a matter of time until Aku finally met his end at the hands of the Samurai nicknamed Jack. Their beef started when the villain sent the hero far into the future. After Jack kept fighting Aku and his forces for five decades, he finally got a chance to go back to his original time. Once there, the samurai didn’t hesitate to finish the villain once and for all. Seeing Jack make the final moves against Aku was cathartic in more ways than one. Originally, the series came to an abrupt end in 2004. The fact that the series returned 13 years later to finally show us the end of the big bad cemented his death as an iconic animated moment.
