# Who is the best soap opera villain 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?

*By YPB Team · Published September 29, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-soap-opera-villain-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Victor Newman**
   Y&R patriarch and ruthless Newman Enterprises tycoon, played by Eric Braeden since 1980.
2. **Stefano DiMera**
   Days of Our Lives crime lord known as The Phoenix, who kept coming back from the dead.
3. **Helena Cassadine**
   General Hospital's scheming matriarch who spent decades hunting the Spencers and Quartermaines.
4. **Sheila Carter**
   Obsessive schemer who has terrorized both Genoa City and Los Angeles across several soaps.
5. **Alexis Colby**
   Dynasty's glamorous ex-wife who fought the Carringtons with wit and shoulder pads.
6. **J.R. Ewing**
   Dallas oil baron whose backstabbing made 'Who shot J.R.?' a worldwide event.
7. **Phyllis Summers**
   Y&R's serial troublemaker, a fan-favorite vixen who has schemed her way through Genoa City.
8. **Victor Kiriakis**
   Days of Our Lives mob boss with a soft spot for family and a long rivalry with the DiMeras.
9. **Todd Manning**
   One Life to Live's most notorious antihero, from convicted rapist to complicated redemption arc.
10. **Ava Jerome**
   General Hospital's mob daughter and gallery owner with a talent for scheming her way back in.
11. **Cyrus Renault**
   General Hospital's ruthless crime boss whose menace made him one of the show's scariest recent villains.
12. **Esme Prince**
   General Hospital's manipulative teenage schemer who lied and poisoned her way through Port Charles.
13. **Hayley Lawson**
   Beyond the Gates schemer and vixen who plots her way through the Dupree family, played by Marquita Goings.

Tags: tv shows, characters, villains, soap opera