What to Watch When You Want a Good Villain

The villain in Pinoccchio was interesting. Seeing how they truly believe they have good intentions. - u/thatgirldreams

The brother from My Love from Another Star just oozes creepy hawt evilness.  - u/thatgirldreams

For a villain who is just over the top, woah dude you are bat shit crazy is the one from City Hunter. Talk about a Batman complex. - u/thatgirldreams

City Hunter - My personal favorite when it comes to villains. They aren't some mafia corrupts, in fact very basic corrupt politicians but that's the beauty of it. They're ordinary people in the name of villains and the way the ML kicks their a** and throws punches and exposes them is the best. It's an action crime drama and although it's pretty old, I call it one of Lee Min-Ho's good works. - u/Fatooz

The mom from High Society is a sociopathic bitch.  - u/thatgirlruns

I thought the bully girl on School 2015 was one of the most terrible human beings ever. She made a person attempt suicide and didn't even care. She was SO hateful. I loved (to hate) her.  She played the part perfectly.  - u/ImTheBestManIDidIt

The mother from Marriage, Not Dating was really realistic. You end up hating her until the end, they did a really good job of making her seem pitiful and showing why she's like that.  - u/HoneyedOasis

I Remember You has a fantastic villain because half of the drama you don't know who it is, you only know what he was like when he was younger. Plus D.O.'s portrayal of a sociopath was amazing.  - u/silverbluefox

Hello Monster There are two villains in this one actually. Well written characters that are nuanced with shades of gray that both creep you out and make you feel empathy for the choices they've made. You don't like those choices but on a level you can understand why they do some of the things they do.  - Gdansk19

Liar Game's villain is great for a few reasons:

1. It's Shin Sung Rok, king of unsettling characters.

2. He plays psychological games with the characters (figuratively).

3. He plays psychological games with the character (literally).

4. All the contestants and people involved with the game show are at his mercy, and no one even realizes it. - u/silverbluefox

Ahn Doo Hoon from 'Secret' remains one of the most interesting drama characters for me, even though I didn't love 'Secret' as much as the others did. - u/nerfherder01

I also loved the villain from 'I Can Hear Your Voice', he was SUPER CREEPY, and the story left you hanging on why is he so evil, and then it got revealed and the story got even better.  - u/nerfherder01

I can Hear your Voice Jung Woong In slayed this character. Maybe it's the fact I was so glued to this one week by week but there were times he made me jump. Again, he was a layered character that was human and not just the big bad boss to defeat at the end. Choices needed to be made and along the way you were allowed into his head and saw him wrestle with, but ultimately, choose to continue down his path instead of changing. I love Lee Jeong Suk but his struggles and the strength of his choices would not have been as great without Jung Woong In as the foil, IMO  - u/Gdansk19

I Can Hear Your Voice - one of the few dramas where the villain's motives were clearly defined and explained - u/deviantrockstar

Vengeful, hating, murderous villain in I Hear Your Voice, a romantic comedy wrapped in a thrillo-melo-drama, with an extra-strength noona romance.  - unknown

The second lead female in Come! Jang Bo Ri. She was unbelievably singularly focussed on her own self advancement. And then indignant when confronted. Even though she was a fictional character, I kinda had an itch to slap her.  - unknown

Rooftop Prince's dastardly duo is pretty hard to top in my book. Hong Se-na is the worse of the two, mainly because Yong Tae-mu was grossly incompetent in his schemes.  - u/ClosetYandere

THIS smug bastard, Jo Gwan-woong from Gu Family Book, is a villain.

Like. One of my favorite antagonists. - u/life-finds-a-way

The K2 - I can only think of Song Yoon Ah as Choi Yoo Jin in The K2. She was captivating on the screen. - u/dxfaa

Yes, she truly grabbed my attention, too! My skin crawled for her because of the apparent hopelessness of her feelings of attraction outside of her marriage. Also, the many conflicts, subtle and overt, in her love-hate relationship with her husband, made her life that much more like a head on collision between limousines -- impossible to look away from. I admired her as an actress for keeping all that intensity going.  - unknown

The K2. Honestly the most complex antagonist I've seen in a kdrama.  - u/ferdy_bc

Bitter chaebol antagonist lady with killer depth in K2, a solid action series, despite its weak romance.  - unknown

The best villain I've ever watched Choi Yoo Jin from the K2. She is ruthless and cruel but you find yourself rooting for her regardless. She's such a complex character, my appreciation for her grows with every rewatch. Special mention: her incredible chemistry with the male lead. - u/forgetfuldoryy

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon - Has a super creepy villain who kidnaps women and keeps them in a dungeon. - u/eroverton

Suspicious Partner - Villain is a pretty-faced serial killer hiding in plain sight. I don't know if he's a good villain exactly but he's definitely a creepy villain! - u/eroverton

Healer I haven't seen anything in 2016 or 2017 as creepy, multifaceted, and suspenseful as Park Sang Won in the role of Kim Moon Shik in Healer, a 2015 drama. Early on, the audience gets the suspicion that something doesn't add up with this guy, and it slowly dawns that despite his utter charm, he has to be hiding some terrible secret. His internal motivations had me stumped until the last episode. The fact that his mystery is so impenetrable makes his potential actions that much less predictable, and his transitions between sunny warmth and matter of fact, brutal practicality were legend. Plus, he has an evil henchman! - unknown

Smiling villain whose lies have infinite layers in Healer, a supremely pleasurable combo of love, action, and karma.  - unknown

My ID is Gangnam Beauty - compelling female villain who is a product of the toxic environment we all live in - u/minimirth

Secret Forest/Stranger - incredibly likable cast and relatable antagonists where everyone is morally grey. The first time I ever liked and cared about the antagonists as much as the main leads.  - u/eggmelon

Prison Playbook: How to turn enemies into friends, slice-of-life edition. Hilarious, down to earth, relatable, and a bittersweet story of prison life. An ensemble cast with the creator of the Reply series makes another must-watch show.  - u/eggmelon

Voice - you'll never look at the angelic face of the actor who portrayed the villain the same again. Ever.  - u/deviantrockstar

The hottest kdrama villain. The only thing I remember about this drama is the villain..but the writer really makes a good job for telling the background story on how he turns as a villain.  - u/Chahaya

Girl Who Sees Smells - The turning point of Nam Gong Min's acting(Remember, Beautiful Gong Shim , Chief Kim). He is a villain who is a famous chef and loves books! He also has prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces). - u/Chahaya

Save Me - A high school girl's family joins a cult and as the years go by they trap her and prevent her from leaving. Cult leader plans to marry her so the church members can descend into heaven. u/silverbluefox

Mother -  A substitute teacher kidnaps one of her students because she is being abused. The mother and her boyfriend are relieved that they don't have to care for the child anymore, and try to hide the abuse while being investigated after the child's disappearance. They will do whatever means necessary so the abuse is not revealed. - u/silverbluefox

Frustrated, resentful business dude's deceptions spiral, triggering his descent. Also, he's married to the female lead's frenemy from hell. As a couple, they're a rat's nest of superficiality and greed in Tomorrow With You, which apart from them is a moving, lyrical, intricately plotted romance.  - unknown

Telling you who the villain is in White Christmas would give everything away. And that wouldn't be any twisted, sick fun at all.  - unknown

The villains in Joseon Gunman undergo a development that makes them engrossing and sympathetic without compromising their villain status. Make no mistake - they deserve the ire of the hero in this drama, but even so, they are also victims of an unjust circumstance. It makes their defeat both satisfying and tragic - making them, in my opinion, the most memorable aspect of this drama. - u/ClosetYandere

Arthdal Chronicles (multiple seasons) - Jang Dong-Gun is riveting as Ta-Gon, a ruthlessly ambitious warrior who wants to be king -- and will kill anyone who gets in his way. As you learn his backstory, discover that he is concealing a major secret, and appreciate his genuine love for Tae Al Ha, you'll find it harder and harder to hate him even as he is forced to take even more drastic measures to seize control of Arthdal.  - u/setlib

SKY Castle has the cast full of morally gray characters which makes you think really hard about who is really evil. The main villainess is absolutely psycho and so fun to watch.  - u/Egg-mont

Queen Seondeok - I’m not sure if Mishil could really be considered a villain rather than an antagonist type of existence, but Mishil was the character that made the whole drama soooo interesting and compelling. Mishil and the titular main character competes and she even admits that Mishil is the one who helped her grow to be how she was. Truly one of a kind.  - u/hexanosis

Pegasus Market - the villains here are a different class. Whereas others might increase your blood pressure, these guys diffuse their own tension and will give you stomach cramps from laughter. Hysterical expressions, caricaturesque villainy at its best! - u/Xocobo

"Squad 38" is a story of seeking retribution and a seemingly cold hearted revenge, led by a young conman together with one public official and a group of thieves. The group sets out to destroy the ones behind his father's imprisonment and we can see his intricate plans unfold in front of us. However, you end up rooting for the young man and his friends - a bunch of really likeable and warm hearted people. The drama is fast paced and revolves around financial issues, property ownership and such with a very generous sprinkle of light hearted humor and jokes. - u/imerremi

Remember : War of the Son - This is a revenge drama about a guy who becomes a lawyer in order to save his father after he was wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, and bring to justice the people who were responsible.

Any revenge drama is incomplete without a proper villain, and I don't think I've seen a villain in Korean dramas yet who made my blood boil like Nam Gyu Man (played by Namgoong Min) did. An extremely wealthy and twisted man, and someone who lacks any remorse, Gyu Man commits acts upon acts of violent and heinous crimes throughout the series, and manages to get away due to the enormous wealth and influence that his father possess. Every instance of him on screen makes you wanna reach into the screen and strangle him. Which is what also makes Remember the most satisfying revenge drama I've seen since it is the goal of the hero to take down such a man. - u/TotoroTheGreat

Memorist - A superpowered cop, with the ability to read people's memories, teams up with a brilliant profiler to take down a mysterious serial killer. As they venture out to catch the killer, they soon realize that the killer is someone who can erase people's memories, and is dubbed as the Eraser. The Eraser is a powerful and fearsome villain that keeps both the heroes and the viewers on edge as he brilliantly and skillfully counters anything and everything the heroes do to try and catch him.  - u/TotoroTheGreat

Vincenzo - This drama portrays the fight between a Mafia consigliere and a hot-headed female lawyer, and the corrupted, psychopathic leader of Babel Group and his posse sidekicks. The good guys cross the boundaries between what is legal and what is not in their many attempts to stop the villains. I will say that the villains are no match for our consigliere, but they still made good villains that made my blood boil.  - u/bluelephantz_jj  

Moon Embracing the Sun - Kind of an oldie now, but a goodie. Crown Prince Lee Hwon loses his first love, Crown Princess-to-be Heo Yeon Woo, due to palace politics and the villains' greedy attempts to stay in power. Even as a King, he must be careful as he investigates the mysterious death of his first love, since the villains include his own family members: his grandmother, the Grand Queen Dowager; his younger sister, Princess Minhwa; his father-in-law, as well as his own current Queen, who took over for Yeon Woo. - u/bluelephantz_jj  

365: Repeat the Year - If you like villains who're psychotic and there are too many of them to finally know who's the real one then this is the perfect drama for that. The suspense is great until the very end and it's also just 12-episodes long. - u/Fatooz

Beyond Evil - Another one of those dramas that have quite a few villains to finally know who's the real villain but it has one of my all time favorite villains. It's a crime thriller with great cast and one of the best writing and direction. Will keep you invested for the entirety of it and at the end you're most likely going to praise it for it's excellence.  - u/Fatooz

Crash Landing on You - One thing I liked in this rom-com that is heavily loved by people, is the villain. I personally liked this drama for its supporting cast, the natural slice-of-life aspect and the soundtrack. I think it's a must watch if you're just getting into KDramas.  - u/Fatooz

Flower of Evil - Although most people didn't like the villain's acting, I just liked how his character was written, not very complex but also quite interesting although predictable. It's a crime thriller romance and it's a must watch if you like villains, crime and romance all in one. - u/Fatooz