The most satisfying part of a story is often the villain's downfall. Audiences love when heroes triumph. After countless trials and tribulations, they finally vanquish the antagonists who've been working against them. While the big screen has offered plenty of highlights in this area, villain defeats are arguably more fulfilling on TV, particularly serialized TV.
Here, the villains commit the usual deeds to earn viewers' ire, but they also make you wait for their comeuppance. That wait can last for several episodes and, therefore, several hours. For these baddies, such a long time seems all the more agonizing due to how hateful they are.
8 Aethelwold- The Last Kingdom
Few motivations are more effectively twisted than delusions of grandeur. The irresponsible Prince Aethelwold never forgives his uncle, Alfred, for being a better choice for King of Wessex. Viewers think he moves past his vengeance during his adventures with the heroic Uhtred, Unfortunately, the old lust for power resurfaces, and Aethelwold turns it on the very people who took him in. What's more is he does so an underhanded way.
During The Last Kingdom's third season, the little leech stokes hostilities between Danish settlers and Saxon natives. This not only undermines Alfred's work in achieving peaceful unity, but results in the death of Uhtred's sister. He also recruits Uhtred's brother, Ragnar, and an army of Danes to conquer England. However, Aethelwold fears for his life and kills Ragnar in his sleep. According to Viking beliefs, this prevents him from ascending to Valhalla. By this logic, killing Aethelwold is not only retribution for his traitorous actions; it ensures Ragnar finds peace in the next life. Most of all, it allows Uhtred some redemption after forsaking his brother.
7 Theodore Swift- Ripper Street
In the words of Edmund Reid, "evil men need evil ends." Theodore Swift is one of these men. A corrupt American business tycoon, he sees only what he can exploit, a policy which extends even to his own family. When he bleeds dry a poor and crime-ridden place like Whitechapel, it's all the more shameful. Of course, he feels none of that shame, and he has enough goons and friends in high places to make sure he never answers for his dirty dealings.
That's why Reid's police team (and Swift's own daughter) take matters into their own hands. They lock him in the cellar of one of the very buildings he's condemned. On one hand, it's sad that they can't bring him down using the law. However, they can only do so much in a morally bankrupt place like Victorian-era Whitechapel. As such, it's refreshing to see them finally play by the same rules as their enemies, granting Swift a slow, agonizing death he can't bribe or strong-arm his way out of.
6 Carmilla- Castlevania
One would think the most satisfying death in a Castlevania show would be Dracula, but he only wages war on humans here in retaliation for his wife's brutal death. His vampire peer, on the other hand, wants to subjugate mortals for her own ambition. What's more is she doesn't care whom she steps on to make that happen.
Carmilla uses and/or double-crosses everyone around her. She stages a coup against Dracula and enslaves his servant. Afterwards, she treats her own allies like simple tools in her arsenal, coming up with plans and saddling them with making those plans a reality.
When Dracula's former follower, Isaac, catches up with her, it makes for a long overdue reckoning. However, it's more fulfilling than simple revenge. Isaac wants to build a better world instead of taking one by force; it's only right for a backward-thinking despot like Carmilla to fade away.
5 Ashur- Spartacus
It's easy to hate the Roman oppressors in this series, but the bigger scum is the slave who turns on his own kind. Concepts like honor and brotherhood mean nothing to Ashur. He couldn't cut it as a gladiator, so he throws others under the bus for the smallest shred of power. This makes him responsible for much of the misfortune befalling the characters. He undermines Spartacus at every turn, but that's just the beginning. He also engineers Naevia being sent away to a torturous position in the mines.
Finally, he helps the Romans hunt down the revolting gladiators. He can't resist flaunting his supposed superiority during a parley with the fugitives, but Naevia fittingly proves him wrong. She brutally decapitates Ashur, reinforcing the season's theme of exacting vengeance. More importantly, it sends a clear message that these freedom fighters have no place for those they can't rely on. The audience is invested in such bonds at this point, so they're just as eager for this faithless snake to get his just desserts.
4 Mason Verger- Hannibal
Mason runs a family pig farm, so he views human beings as livestock: equally as disposable. Few know that better than his sister, Margot, whom he torments to no end. To ensure she never produces an heir, he even removes her uterus. His subsequent disfigurement by Hannibal Lecter only makes him more twisted. What he doesn't count on are these parties working together.
The third season sees Margot conspire with Alana Bloom to release Hannibal from Mason's captivity. They get his DNA to produce an heir (don't ask) and feed him to his own pet eel. In short, he's undone by both the people and animals under his thumb. There's a beautiful irony in that, contrasting with the disturbing imagery. To add insult to injury, he can't even keep his sister from claiming the family fortune. This thankfully negates any spiteful satisfaction he would have enjoyed beyond the grave.
3 Ramsay- Game Of Thrones
After Joffrey's death, Game of Thrones needed a new target for fans' ire. What little depth the bloodthirsty boy king had, Ramsay utterly lacks. He tortures and murders people for no reason, and his subjects are often mainstay characters. That's because the writers deliberately stack the deck against those characters.
Ramsay goes without any major loss for most of his time on the show. He's not any brilliant strategist or deserving of such highs; he wins because the showrunners say so. It's a relief when these contrivances cease, as it means fans can finally be rid of this one-note creep.
2 Father Hughes- Peaky Blinders
Despite his wicked ways, John Hughes is a man of the Cloth. He believes himself above worldly beings and treats them with annoying condescension every chance he gets. Fueling his ego is his continuous ways of thwarting the Peaky Blinders. One would think audiences are on his side against crooks, but that's far from the case.
This priest proves far more despicable than his underworld opponents. He constantly manipulates the unhinged Russian revolutionaries against Tommy Shelby and the others. When this doesn't work, he kidnaps Tommy's infant son as collateral. That's not his only sin against young boys, though, as he previously molested the orphans in his flock. This included Michael Gray. Hughes commits all these evil deeds with the same smug self-righteousness. Polly Gray may want to keep her son out of the Shelby family business. However, he can't contain his thirst for revenge, and nor can viewers.
1 King Aelle- Vikings
The Northumbrian ruler is the first English king the Vikings encounter. He swears revenge on Ragnar Lothbrok for affronts to his kingdom, but he does so to satisfy his own pomposity. When the more cunning King Ecbert hands Ragnar to him on a silver platter, Aelle can't accept it gracefully with a quick execution. Instead, he tortures the Viking before tossing him into a pit of snakes. Little does he know that it's all part of the plan.
Ragnar lets himself be captured and killed, knowing his sons will avenge him. Sure enough, they invade England with a massive army. Their first act is to inflict the worst execution imaginable on Aelle: the Blood Eagle. It's always gratifying when a plan comes together so perfectly. Moreover, this death offers sweet revenge for offing a beloved character in such a classless way.