Top Ten YA Villains You Love To Hate

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature from The Broke and the Bookish. This is TTT REWIND week and my topic choice is YA Villains that you love to hate (or just hate).

Here are the baddies that top my villain list:

1. President Snow from The Hunger Games seriesย  – He’s cruel, he threatens, he manipulates, he kills – he holds all the power in Panem and abuses it to the fullest extent. Plus the smell of blood on his breath and his trademark rose makes him an even creepier villain.

2. Valentine Morgenstern from The Mortal Instruments series – Valentine is psychotic, evil, and devious and will take down anyone who gets in his way. Can’t wait to see Jonathan Rhys Myers in this role!

3. King Leck from Graceling – He’s a sociopath who uses his Grace to manipulate others. He also inflicts harm to animals and small children and is just all around bad.

4. Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter seriesย  – I only know her from the films, but she is crazy scary! She’s a witch who does Voldemort’s bidding and has committed many dastardly deeds.

5. Housemaster Vaughn from The Chemical Garden series – The cruel father of Linden who orchestrates all the evil plans. He’s trying to find the cure to the virus and will harm anyone who gets in his way.

6. Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles – In Cinder, wicked Levana is the Lunar Queen who wants to marry Prince Kai for her own gains.

7. Warner from Shatter Me – I know Warner is supposed to be the villain, but I think he steals the book, and I like him better than the actual love interest. He is crazed and power hungry and obsessed with Juliette. He wants to use her powers for his evil plans, though I think he does have real feelings for her too.

8. “A” from Pretty Little Liars – “A” is more in the mean girl category, but she is quite a devious villain with eyes and ears everywhere.

9. Jeanine Matthews from the Divergent series – She’s the leader of the Erudite faction who wants to take down Abnegation and uses mind control to force people to help make her plans a reality.

10. Blast from the past: The mother from Flowers in the Attic – The grandmother is pretty reprehensible as well, but I think the mother is the villain in this story for failing her children so miserably (to put it mildly) and letting them rot in the attic for years on end.

What villains do you love to hate?

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55 thoughts on “Top Ten YA Villains You Love To Hate

  1. Leck, ohmygosh. He seriously freaked me out! I HATE him and he’s probably my favorite villain.

    1. Lucy says:

      He is the worst, isn’t he? I haven’t finished Bitterblue yet so I don’t know if his evil is represented in that book too.

  2. marissa says:

    Oh hi friend it looks like we have totally the same tastes, or distaste. I did villains too and I have so many of the same ones. ANd a few on your list I were my number 11 and 12! I love it

    1. Lucy says:

      Loved your list! Yay for villains!

  3. Merin says:

    Oh, man, the Flowers in the Attic mom! She is definitely a villain, and I’d agree that her children’s fate rested solely in her hands. Great list!

    My TTT Rewind post ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Lucy says:

      She creeped me out when I read it as a kid. Just the worst!

  4. I love your list so much! I couldn’t agree more with President Snow, Leck, and Bellatrix.

    1. Lucy says:

      Those are the first ones I thought of, and they are bad to the bone!

  5. We did a similar one today! ๐Ÿ™‚ I totally agree with all of them especially King Leck from Graceling! I love A from pretty little liars though I have only seen the show at this point..need to read the books! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Lucy says:

      I stopped watching PLL after season two, but in the books A is pure evil. A different category than Leck, but still…
      I enjoyed your list too, thanks for stopping by!

      1. picturemereading says:

        Hmms maybe I should check out the books instead if they are much better ๐Ÿ™‚
        Love your blog it is so much fun ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. BermudaOnion says:

    Oh, I love to hate Bellatrix too.

    1. Lucy says:

      She’s a frightening one, isn’t she?

  7. tinalinatime says:

    Oh my gosh King Leck I by far the scariest of all the villains! He is horrible and it seems
    like he actually gets pleasure from others’ pain! Plus I listened to the audiobook of Fire and the voice for him was sooooo creepy! Also, I love Bellatrix…she’s majorly bad but she’s sooo cool!

    1. Lucy says:

      I haven’t listened to the Fire audiobook – how scary!

  8. King Leck was aweful. ughhh!!!

  9. Oh yeah, A is evil! She’s the best villain ever! ๐Ÿ™‚

    J’adore Happy Endings

  10. Wait a minute…the real issue at hand is that you’ve not read HARRY FREAKING POTTER! I mean, what?!?!?! You think Bellatrix is bad in the films, read the books. Holy freaking scary crazy woman. You should read the books. They are so good and so much was left out of the films you won’t be bored. You couldn’t be bored reading HP. Well worth it.

    1. Lucy says:

      I know, I know- I set myself up by admitting that one. I’ll be listening to the audiobooks at some point. Thanks for the rec! Although, I’m scared to think about how much scarier Bellatrix could get!

  11. This is the second time I see President Snow and I totally agree. Bellatrix is an awesome villain, you totally should read the books. Housemaster Vaughn scared the crap out of me! Jeanine from Divergent was evil indeed, but I truly believe that she thought she was doing the right thing – in a twisted way in her own mind. It does make her a villain, but one with a background and I loved that ๐Ÿ™‚

    TTT @thedailyprophecy.

    1. Lucy says:

      That’s a good point about Jeanine, and maybe she’ll be redeemed in Divergent #3. We shall see…

  12. Candice says:

    Fabulous list! I commented on someone else’s wall about President Snow and how Donald Sutherland wrote the letter to the director describing him. Just made him all the more chillier and creepier! What I love most about all these villains isn’t that they’re bad but that they have reasons for being evil – there’s always some darker background to them. And that makes a baddie even worse!

    1. Lucy says:

      True, there’s always a reason for their badness. I didn’t know about the Donald Sutherland letter to Gary Ross. I’ll have to look it up. (OK, I looked it up- he has great insights into the character, wow!)

      1. Candice says:

        I know, right?! I was BLOWN AWAY when I watched that little tid-bit. Definitely gave me a different perspective on Snow!

  13. Brittany says:

    WOW, really great list! We actually have quite a few of the same!! ๐Ÿ™‚
    I forgot all about Jeanine! She was a pretty mean villain. That’s a great choice.
    And wow, total rewind to Flowers in the Attic, but so true!

    Great choices, Lucy! I had a lot of fun reading them!

    1. Lucy says:

      Thanks, Brittany, I enjoyed your list too! Jeanine is so cold and calculating I had to include her.

  14. Elizabeth says:

    The Harry Potter villain that upsets me the most is Dolores Umbridge. *shudder* That woman is pure evil wrapped in a pink suit.

    1. Lucy says:

      YES! Umbridge is the worst, so scary and hateful in the film.

  15. The mother in Flowers in the Attic! That story still haunts me today. I can’t believe how many times I watched that movie as a child. Many other greats on this list as well!

    Oh Warner. I wish he’d stay a villain, but I have a feeling you’re going to get your wish for him in the next book. I still prefer Adam for Juliette though, and I hate love triangles.

    1. Lucy says:

      The Flowers in the Attic movie is pretty scary isn’t it, kind of campy too, but I still liked it.

      We’ll have to see about Warner, I’m eager to read the next book to find out what happens. I know what you mean about love triangles though. Thanks for stopping by, Lauren!

  16. fishgirl182 says:

    this is a fun topic. bellatrix is definitely up there for me. she’s evil. also agree with jeanine. ugh hate that woman. i haven’t read some of the other series but i will have to check them out.

  17. Michelle says:

    Cool list!! “A” is definitely evil, good call. Housemaster Vaughn was a good one too! Flowers in the Attic was such a throwback… love it!! Thanks for stopping by My TTT

  18. I did villains too, and we have some of the same answers. President Snow has a REALLY high creep factor in my opinion. He just made my skin crawl… ick.

  19. vmcarswell says:

    Yes, so many horrible villians! I hasn’t read the book for Flowers in the Attic, but I saw the movie and I wanted to stab that mother and grandmother in the eye. Another great Harry Potter villian I couldn’t stand was Umbridge. She really made my skin crawl. And Vaughn gives me the heebie jeebies!

    1. Lucy says:

      I know just what you mean about Flowers in the Attic. And ugh about Umbridge and Vaughn too- so evil!

  20. Such a fun list – and thanks for adding the Flowers in the Attic mom – she was truly the “Mommy Dearest” of our generation. Still gives me shivers to think of how horrible she was!!

  21. Haha everyone seems to agree on Leck!

    I was *this* close to putting Valentine on my list. Bellatrix is another great one! I can’t tell you how much I hated her, especially in Order of the Phoenix. President Snow’s blood breath and the whole rose thing creeped me out like no other when I read the HG.

    Great list!

    1. Lucy says:

      I remember everyone speculating about Snow’s weird blood breath and roses before Mockingjay came out. So creepy!

  22. Katie @ Inkk says:

    loooove this list. so true, i would tottaly have snow, queen levanna, warren, A, and flowers in the attic is an amazing pick, i would have totally forgotten that one!
    great list!

    Katie @ Inkk

  23. sterlingsop says:

    Flowers In The Attic….oh wow I’d forgotten that! Deeply disturbing yet strangely compelling at the same time. I agree with you about the mother…..grrrr……still makes me angry even after all this time.

  24. squee1313 says:

    I think you’ve inspired me to do a post on “Villains I love to love” or something like that. I would have Snape from H.P. He’s more tragic than Henry the 5th, or King Lear, or Hamlet. I just loved him. Of course, his villainy is disputable. How about Damon Salvatore from Vampire Diaries. Moget, the cat of questionable loyalties in the Abhorsen series. Hmm. I think I’ll get started.

    1. Lucy says:

      Awesome, I’m looking forward to your villains post! Yes, I definitely considered Damon from Vampire Diaries, especially in the early books.

  25. Some great choices! President Snow is one of the villains that affected me the most, every time he was in a scene, I would become furious, lol. Valentine Morgenstern is another one I love to hate!

    Totally agree about the Flowers in the Attic mother. She made the choice to go back there and she allowed it to happen!

  26. My first thought was Voldemort, but Bellatrix is awful too!

  27. elena says:

    WORD on Warner! He was the most interesting character to me in Shatter Me and my favourite to read about by a long shot. I’m curious to learn more about him in Destroy Me + Unravel Me!

    1. Lucy says:

      Glad to find another Warner fan! I started reading Destroy Me, and I hope I still like his character in Unravel Me. Thanks for stopping by, Elena!

  28. Shelver506 says:

    Ugh! Leck makes my skin crawl. He was bad enough in Graceling, but I LOATHED him in Bitterblue. He reminds me of Billy Dent from I Hunt Killers. Or, I guess I should say Billy Dent reminds me of Leck, since IHK came out later.

    My TTT: http://shelversanon.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-10-tuesday-rewind-top-ten-bookish.html

    1. Lucy says:

      I haven’t read Bitterblue yet, and didn’t realize Leck was still a problem – oh, no! I have I Hunt Killers on my TBR and it sounds amazing. Thanks for stopping by!

  29. Leck is SO creepy. Ugh. And if you only know Bellatrix from the movies, READ THE BOOKS. Everything you loved from the movies, but so, so much more.

    I love this topic. Now I want another freebie week so I can do it too ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Lucy says:

      Scary to think that Bellatrix is worse in the books! I will absolutely read them at some point. Looking forward to your villains post! Thanks for your comment, Lauren!

  30. Ooooooh AWESOME list. ๐Ÿ™‚ A big yes to Warner, A and Bellatrix!! I hated Jeanine Matthews tho.. lol.. not in a love to hate kinda way… I might’ve put Umbridge there, but I think she’s also a hate to hate… ๐Ÿ˜›
    I need to re-read the Mortal Instruments, so I don’t remember Valentine.. BUT I do know that Jonathan Rhys Meyers is cast as him and it’s all the more awesome now that I know that the character’s a baddie! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT!

    Michele | Top 10

    1. Lucy says:

      Thanks for your comment, Michele. I think JRM will be an amazing Valentine- and he’s definitely a villain.

  31. Oh man, these are some good answers! Levanna, Leck, and Vaughn are ones that really stand out as terrible.

    1. Lucy says:

      Thanks, Ashley! I hope Vaughn gets his in Sever, and I’m curious to see what happens with Levanna in the next books. So many baddies to choose from!

  32. Rianna says:

    Drake Merwin from Gone is scare me a lots! He is just so twisted and evil!

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