5 Memorable Sci-Fi Villains That Leave Darth Vader Far Behind

Every movie has its own protagonists and antagonists, but even if it seems like an obvious choice who to root for, sometimes it's the villains that make the movie so much more interesting.

One of the villains who have earned the reputation of the ultimate cruel guy is Darth Vader of Star Wars, but there are many more supervillains that deserve attention – especially in sci-fi.

Here are 5 movie villains that are just as bad as Vader – or even badder.

1. Oscar from Colossal (2016)

We'll start with something you'd least expect. Colossal is a 2016 sci-fi comedy starring Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a party girl who discovers that she is some sort of supernatural being who can control a giant monster.

The film also stars Jason Sudeikis as Oscar, her friend-turned-enemy. After one night, he discovers that he has his own robot and gives in to the dark side of his personality. He becomes a manipulative person who threatens Gloria and forces her to do what he says or he will destroy Seoul and the innocent people in it.

2. David from Prometheus (2012)

When we first meet David in Prometheus, he is introduced as an android who was commissioned and built by Peter Weyland. He serves as a butler on the ship, and one day he infects Charlie Holloway with a certain bacteria. But that was just the start of it all.

In the movie’s sequel called Alien: Covenant David is trapped alone on a planet and eventually starts killing the other inhabitants, especially the engineers. But what makes David even more terrifying is the performance from Michael Fassbender.

“Michael Fassbender is awesome in Alien Covenant. It's one of the cases where the movie is carried hard by one single performance. Although I do like Covenant more than most, Michael Fassbender is the biggest reason. He plays 2 androids who are very different from each other and there isn't a single weak moment from hum,” Redditor Boss452 said.

3. Clarence Boddicker from Robocop (1987)

Another legendary bad guy is Clarence Boddicker from Robocop, a classic sci-fi movie from the late eighties. He works as a paid assassin for a man named Dick Jones who is a corrupt OCP senior president and also owns the police force. He is the one he tortures (for fun) and later brutally kills Officer Alex Murphy, who will later become the Robocop himself.

But besides this one, Boddicker is responsible for thousands of other deaths. And what makes it all so much worse is that he does it all for his own pleasure, which makes him a terrifyingly selfish villain.

4. Carl Stargher from The Cell (2000)

The Cell features another brutal killer. The character's name is Carl Stargher and he is amazingly portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio, who delivers the shocking actions of his character in a terrifying manner.

The guy is in a coma, and an FBI team enters his subconscious to find his last victim before it’s too late. Needless to say, the mind of the man is full of brutal deaths and tortures of many different kinds. We see him as a cruel killer who has his own sadistic way of dealing with victims.

5. Colonel Richard Strickland The Shape of Water (2017)

The Oscar-winning film has one of the most terrifying villains of recent years, which once again proves that the worst monsters are usually humans. Strickland is played by Michael Shannon, and he is the head of the Occam Aerospace Research Center.

He was the one who captured an amphibious humanoid, who was previously worshiped and now ended up in a lab where the villainous Colonel wants to kill him. He is a cold-blooded murderer who remains a bad person deep inside, not even worthy to be called human.