Top 10 Evil Old Villains In Movies And TV

No sweet old grandmas and grandpas here! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Elderly Villains from Movies and TV.

For this list, we’re focusing on some of most terribly evil old folks to have ever graced the big and small screens. When we say “old,” we mean relatively not young by their species’ standards, and they must actually look visibly aged.

#10: Immortan Joe
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)

He’s the most powerful of the warlords that rule the post-apocalyptic wastelands. As leader of the War Boys and lord of a settlement called The Citadel, Joe holds a monopoly on the region’s fresh water and encourages citizens to worship him as a god to survive. An old and diseased but powerful man, Joe keeps a harem of wives locked within a mountain vault, hoping they will produce him a suitable heir. When his wives are freed by Furiosa, Joe and his War Boys embark on a ruthless hunt across the desert to recover his so-called “property” – and believe it or not, Joe’s age barely slows him down.

#9: Mom
“Futurama” (1999-2013)

This unpleasant progenitor is the CEO of the robot-creating, industrial conglomerate MomCorp. As one of the wealthiest and most recognizable faces on Earth, Mom maintains her public image as a sweet, friendly, grandmother figure concerned with good will and charity. Behind the scenes, however, she’s malevolent, foul-mouthed, and downright nasty, often using criminal methods to accumulate profits and resorting to physical abuse to force her sons to do her bidding. She’s also suspected of employing ruthless business tactics to eliminate rival companies and prevent their products from reaching the market. Hey, when you’ve been around as long as her; you pick up a few evil tricks.

#8: John Kramer [aka Jigsaw]
“Saw” franchise (2004-)

Better known as the Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer is a former civil engineer diagnosed with terminal colon cancer and an inoperable brain tumor. After surviving a terrible car crash, Kramer realizes that only in the face of imminent death is one truly able to appreciate life. He thus becomes the Jigsaw killer, deciding to spend the rest of his numbered days testing other people’s wills to survive to provide them with that same appreciation for life. As Jigsaw, Kramer engages in multiple acts of kidnapping and imprisonment, and employs death traps, while intimidating victims with his famous doll, Billy the Puppet. Old or not; John Kramer’s one seriously scary serial killer.

#7: Yzma
“The Emperor’s New Groove” (2000)

Don’t let that Disney logo fool you: Yzma is a malicious and repulsive old woman whose goal in life is to usurp the throne. A diabolical and highly intelligent alchemist with years and years of experience, she was once Emperor Kuzco’s chief advisor, but was fired for governing behind his back. Driven by vengeance and a frightening lust for power, Yzma decides to kill the emperor, choosing poison as her weapon. But her plans prove so convoluted they fail, and confuse her lovable but dimwitted henchmen Kronk. Despite her shortcomings and her advanced age, Yzma never loses her nastiness, eccentricity or her drive to seize the throne.

#6: President Snow
“Hunger Games” franchise (2012-15)

President Coriolanus Snow is the ruthless dictator of the post-apocalyptic country of Panem. That means he has full control of the government and military, and works behind the scenes of the annual Hunger Games, a televised pageant in which boys and girls are forced to fight to the death to maintain a balance of hope and fear within Panem’s twelve districts. A horrible despot, Snow shows no reluctance in using violence and intimidation to keep the districts in line, and on more than one occasion seems willing to harm innocent children and raze entire cities to the ground. Old age hasn’t mellowed this tyrant one bit.

#5: Mr. Burns
“The Simpsons” (1989-)

The prototypical elderly villain, C. Montgomery Burns is Springfield, USA’s richest and possibly most evil citizen. Owner of the local nuclear power plant and a constant thorn in the side of pretty much everyone in town, Mr. Burns is the kinda guy who’ll block out the sun to make a buck, legalize gambling even if half the citizens get hooked, pollute the local watering hole even if it means the fish have three eyes, and make an item clothing out of pretty much anything that breathes. You’ll notice his advanced age not only in the way he looks, but also by his very dated references. But as far as geezer villains go, Monty Burns is excellent.

#4: Palpatine
“Star Wars” franchise (1977-)

Called many names throughout his long life, Palpatine seems relatively harmless when he’s just a Galactic Senator from Naboo. It’s slowly revealed, however, that he’s, in fact, the Dark Lord of the Sith, who uses his deep knowledge of the Force to wipe out nearly all the Jedi and manipulate Anakin Skywalker into becoming the villainous Darth Vader. The mastermind behind the infamous Order 66, the Emperor also trains numerous Sith lords and is both directly and indirectly responsible for death and destruction across the galaxy. Sure, his aged visage may be the result of force lightning and not necessarily the ravages of time, but Palpatine’s still one old and experienced bad guy.

#3: Tywin Lannister
“Game of Thrones” (2011-)

Head of House Lannister and patriarch of the Lannister clan, Tywin turned his House into the wealthiest and most formidable in all of Westeros. A massively respected and feared military genius, Tywin is a powerful and ruthless man who’s successfully served as Hand of the King for multiple Westerosi monarchs – including his own grandson. What’s more, this Lion of Lannister was also the mastermind behind Walder and House Frey’s infamous Red Wedding, which brought an end to the War of Five Kings and led to the deaths of the noble Robb and Catelyn Stark. This military mind only seemed to get better with age.

#2: Saruman
“The Lord of the Rings” franchise (2001-03)

Perhaps none in Middle-earth was deemed wiser than the wizard Saruman, the ancient chief of the White Council that once opposed the Dark Lord, Sauron. Over time, however, his extensive studies of dark magic led him to desire the One Ring for himself, and he betrayed the White Council to ally with Sauron in hopes of one day stealing the “precious.” Becoming increasingly corrupted as years passed, Saruman tried to convince others to join him on Sauron’s side, ultimately wishing to destroy the world of men. With manipulation, magic and an army of Uruk-hai as his main weapons, Saruman eventually lived to be 2019-years-old; by far the oldest evildoer on our list.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- The Master
“Dr. Who” (1963-89; 2005-)

- Miss Finster
“Recess” (1997-2001)

- Charles F. Muntz
“Up” (2009)

#1: Magneto
“X-Men” franchise (2000-)

A master of magnetism and leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, the man once known as Erik Lensherr was just a boy during the Holocaust, when he witnessed humans committing atrocities against mutants. Because of this, Magneto believes that humankind and mutant-kind cannot live alongside each other as equals, and maintains an aggressive and often harmful approach to achieving civil rights for all mutants – in contrast to his once-friend and future nemesis Charles Xavier. As times goes on, Magneto’s distain for ordinary humans only increases and he becomes more obsessed with his goal of mutant domination. Disregarding the value of life, Magneto’s methods only become more and more ruthless the older he gets.