The 23 Best Soap Opera Villains of All Time

Scheming matriarchs, crime lords and tycoons from decades of daytime and primetime soaps, plus a few newer faces. Who gets your vote?

1. 1
   J.R. Ewing

   Dallas oil baron whose backstabbing made 'Who shot J.R.?' a worldwide event.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Victor Newman

   Y&R patriarch and ruthless Newman Enterprises tycoon, played by Eric Braeden since 1980.
   838pts
3. 3
   Helena Cassadine

   General Hospital's scheming matriarch who spent decades hunting the Spencers and Quartermaines.
   535pts
4. 4
   Adam Chandler

   All My Children's ruthless Pine Valley tycoon, played by David Canary from 1983 to 2010 in a role that won him five Daytime Emmys.
   535pts
5. 5
   Victor Kiriakis

   Days of Our Lives mob boss with a soft spot for family and a long rivalry with the DiMeras.
   485pts
6. 6
   Kristen DiMera

   Days of Our Lives' obsessive schemer played by Eileen Davidson, Stefano's adopted daughter whose disguises and plots have tormented Salem for decades.
   428pts
7. 7
   Sable Colby

   The Colbys and Dynasty's scheming socialite played by Stephanie Beacham, the cousin who matched Alexis Colby in venom and glamour.
   428pts
8. 8
   Alexis Colby

   Dynasty's glamorous ex-wife who fought the Carringtons with wit and shoulder pads.
   362pts
9. 9
   Erica Kane

   All My Children's glamorous, much-married diva played by Susan Lucci for four decades, daytime television's most famous scheming leading lady.
   362pts
10. 10
    Richard Hillman

    Coronation Street's murderous financial adviser, played by Brian Capron, whose killing spree ended with him driving his family into a canal in 2003.
    362pts
11. 11
    Ava Jerome

    General Hospital's mob daughter and gallery owner with a talent for scheming her way back in.
    362pts
12. 12
    Janine Butcher

    EastEnders' scheming gold-digger played by Charlie Brooks, who pushed husband Barry Evans off a cliff on their wedding day in 2004.
    362pts
13. 13
    Hayley Lawson

    Beyond the Gates schemer and vixen who plots her way through the Dupree family, played by Marquita Goings.
    285pts
14. 14
    Kimberly Shaw

    Melrose Place's unhinged doctor played by Marcia Cross, who came back from the dead and blew up the apartment complex in a 1990s cliffhanger.
    285pts
15. 15
    Cyrus Renault

    General Hospital's ruthless crime boss whose menace made him one of the show's scariest recent villains.
    285pts
16. 16
    Phyllis Summers

    Y&R's serial troublemaker, a fan-favorite vixen who has schemed her way through Genoa City.
    285pts
17. 17
    Esme Prince

    General Hospital's manipulative teenage schemer who lied and poisoned her way through Port Charles.
    285pts
18. 18
    Nick Cotton

    EastEnders' original bad boy, played by John Altman from the show's 1985 launch, a con man and killer who kept returning to Albert Square for thirty years.
    285pts
19. 19
    Sheila Carter

    Obsessive schemer who has terrorized both Genoa City and Los Angeles across several soaps.
    285pts
20. 20
    Todd Manning

    One Life to Live's most notorious antihero, from convicted rapist to complicated redemption arc.
    195pts
21. 21
    Stefano DiMera

    Days of Our Lives crime lord known as The Phoenix, who kept coming back from the dead.
    195pts
22. 22
    Angela Channing

    Falcon Crest's iron-willed vineyard matriarch, played by Jane Wyman, who fought her own family for control of the Napa Valley estate throughout the 1980s.
    195pts
23. 23
    Cain Dingle

    Emmerdale's brooding hard man played by Jeff Hordley since 2000, a thief and brawler whose violent streak has shaken the village for decades.
    0pts

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