Best villains of 2021
Not all shows are good vs. evil, but for those that are, having a great villain is as big a deal as having a heroic protagonist. These are the scariest of the scaries of this year's crop.
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Chang Ryul
South Korean
The bigger villain according to the story of "My Name" was Park Hee Soon's Moo Jin but he was a tree stump next to the electricity generated by Jang Yool's Gang Jae. Frighteningly out of his mind? Check. Deranged appearance? Check. Ruthless? Very much check. Super creepy vibes? OMG CHECK. Would have loved for him to send Moo Jin for a nap with the fishes so the ultimate Ji Woo Showdown was with Gang Jae. Ah well...
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Kim Hye Joon
South Korean
Not your typical villain. She likes kittens and pizza. She has a lovely smile. She also knows how to poison someone with antifreeze. As for the performance, Kim Hye Joon follows up her performance as the power-mad queen in the "Kingdom" series with an even more riveting baddy. It is the chef's kiss of 2021 evil characters.
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Cha Seung Won
South Korean
Drop Cha Seung Won's Director Ma in to any gangster flick and he's immediately the most menacing, chill dude in the room. Beating someone to a bloody pulp? Outwitting a fellow criminal? Killing someone? Being killed? It's all just business. His indifference towards the damage he wreaks so long as it advances his business interest is absolute. And it's this unwavering frigidly cold blooded attitude that sets him apart.
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Yoon Park
South Korean
If there's a character that gives off "That's some sort of slimy human eating alien lizard creature under the skin", it's Yoon Park's Dr. Ian Chase from "You Are My Spring". It's not what's featured as the show progresses, but when he's on screen, it's impossible not to be superglued to his antics.
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Shin Seung Ho
South Korean
Two things make Shin Seung Ho frightening in "D.P." One is how easy it is to think that this kind of relentless bullying and hazing really happens in a military context. The other is just how menacing his physical size and strength are. Toss in his utter disregard for his fellow soldiers and hints of a damaged psyche and he's a very dangerous powder keg of a human being.
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Kim Yeo Jin
South Korean
For a bad guy that loves to be bad in 2021, no one outshone Kim Yeo Jin's Myung Hee in "Vincenzo". She's likely to follow up ordering a hit on an adversary with a zumba routine. She's well paid but seems that she'd be just as happy to sow chaos on a pro bono basis. Like a couple others in this list, she might not have been the big baddy according to the script, but Kim Yeo Jin's portrayal made Myung Hee the ace of the evil Team Babel.
