Top 30 villains in television history

Photo Credit: BBC

8. Moriarty 

Professor Moriarty has had a couple of incarnations on television in The Librarians and Elementary but the version that makes this top villains list is from Sherlock. While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle originally created the antagonist as a professor, the BBC adaptation decided to make him the complete opposite of Holmes. He’s been revisioned as a “consulting criminal” compared to Holmes’ title of “consulting detective and he’s built quite the network as a global mastermind.

Part of what makes Moriarty so impressive is how he can remain a compelling villain despite working behind the scenes for the first two seasons. He’s Sherlock’s ultimate enemy, someone who can match the genius with every step.

There are a few things that Holmes hates more than anything and that’s when his beloved partner, Watson, is pulled into the crosshairs of an investigation. Moriarty does just that, wiring Watson with explosives and training snipers on him as proper motivation to see if the famous detective can defeat him. Multiple times throughout their encounters John is put in harm’s way in the service of destroying his one true rival.

Moriarty even explains why he bests Sherlock so many times: it’s because the detective is vain. His one true weakness is wanting the world to know how smart he is and Moriarty is the only one who knows how to properly exploit that. It’s not very often that a villain can go toe to toe with history’s greatest detective which makes Moriarty one of the best.