Television's Favorite Villains

What guarantees that we, as television viewers, will continue to tune every week to watch our favorite shows? Of course there are the special effects, and the romances, and everyone loves to identify with the hero of a show. Those are all important ingredients to a great episode but the one thing that can not be overlooked is a great villain. Following is a list of the top ten television villains of all time in no particular order.

Alan Tudyk as Alpha in Dollhouse (2009)- Joss Whedon, the creator of the show has always been adapt at creating villains and Alan does a fantastic job of personifying a sociopathic serial killer, with multiple personalities. He is wholly bad but with his use of witty humor and cleverness the audience can't help but to root for him, even if it is only somewhere in the backs of their minds.

Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester in Glee (2009)- She may not be the stereotypical bad guy of a story but that is what makes Jane Lynch's portrayal of Sue makes you want to love to hate her. She had one of the best lines of the show when she said, "I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then on some dark, cold night I will steal away into your home and punch you in the face!"

Stephanie Romanov as Lilah Morgan in Angel (1999) - Another Joss Whedon creation, Lilah Morgan was strong, ambitious, and knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. Even if it meant that others might have to lose their head in the process.

Richard Marcus as Mr. Raines in The Pretender (1996) - No one else could have pulled off looking more sinister pulling an oxygen tank behind them than Richard Marcus.

Frank Vincent as Phil Leotardo in The Sopranos (1999) - Phil proved to be an ambitious and unforgiving rival of Tony Soprano. His ambitions may have gotten the better of him in the end but it was fun to watch him try to rise above the Soprano mafia.

Kelsey Grammer as the voice of Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons (1989) - Everyone favorite cartoon bad guy. He is by far the most talented and stubborn criminal on this list but he also had the worst luck. After all who else could end up in a field of rakes?

Robert Knepper as Theodore 'T-Bag' Bagwell in Prison Break (2005) - Considering that this show was full of "bad guys" it might have been difficult for some to figure out who to root for. Bagwell might not have been one to many of us were cheering on to survive but you have to hand it to the guy. He was an impressive when it came to making things up as he went along.

Michael Emerson as Ben Linus in Lost (2004) - Ben is one of the more troubled villains on this list. His original intentions were to only help his people but somewhere along the way he ended up on the twisted path as an enemy of everyone on the Island.

Red John from The Mentalist (2008) - Part of what makes this murderous villain so scary is we are part way in to season two and he still doesn't have a face. Our hero's can't stop something that they can't see coming. And it is quite clear that Red John is enjoying the game that his is playing with Patrick Jayne (Simon Baker) and crew.

John Lithgow as Arthur Mitchell in Dexter (2006) - Introduced in season four as a tutor to Dexter Morgan it seems as though our favorite serial killer was meant to learn how to co-exist with family and his "dark passenger". Arthur proves to be one of the more creepy villains, not because he is a killer, but because of what else laid under the surface.