Horror films often make use of villains as primary antagonists. Some such characters have become iconic in their own right due to their roles in film.
| Name | Film | Actor(s) | Description | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anguirus | Godzilla Raids Again |
| A dinosaur-like kaiju and enemy of Godzilla. | [1] |
| Art the Clown |
|
| A demonic evil clown. | [2] [3] |
| Ash | Alien | An android science officer on the Nostromo. | [4] | |
| Baragon | Frankenstein vs. Baragon | A dinosaur-like kaiju and enemy of Frankenstein. | [5] | |
| Patrick Bateman | American Psycho | A psychopathic and homicidal yuppie and investment banker. | [6] [7] | |
| Norma Bates | Psycho franchise | The abusive mother of Norman Bates. | [8] [9] | |
| Norman Bates | Psycho franchise | A man with dissociative identity disorder and a murderous alter that takes the form of his mother. | [10] [11] | |
| Billy | Black Christmas franchise |
| A mysterious murderer that taunts and kills a group of students during the Christmas season. | [12] |
| Billy the Puppet | Saw franchise | A puppet used by Jigsaw. | [13] | |
| Biollante | Godzilla vs. Biollante |
| A plant-like hybrid kaiju and enemy of Godzilla. | [14] [15] |
| Black Phillip | The Witch | A Puritan family's black he-goat which is actually the disguise assumed by the Devil. | [16] [17] | |
| Seth Brundle | The Fly | A scientist that turns into a fly-human hybrid monster due to an accident. | [18] [19] | |
| Max Cady | Cape Fear | A criminal with an obsessive grudge against an attorney named Sam Bowden. | [20] [21] | |
| Candyman | Candyman franchise |
| The vengeful ghost of an African American man murdered for an interracial love affair. | [22] [23] |
| Billy Chapman | Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise |
| A toy store employee that embarks on a murder spree on Christmas Eve. | [24] [25] |
| Chop Top | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 | A cannibalistic Vietnam veteran. | [26] [27] | |
| Chucky | Child's Play franchise |
| An evil possessed toy doll. | [28] [29] [30] |
| Clover | Cloverfield | — | A giant infant kaiju . | [31] [32] |
| Daimajin | Daimajin | A giant warrior god kaiju . | [33] [34] | |
| Jerry Dandrige | Fright Night | A murderous vampire. | [35] [36] | |
| Death Angels | A Quiet Place franchise | — | A blind alien species that hunts by sound. | [37] [38] |
| Francis Dolarhyde | Manhunter and Red Dragon | A serial killer that murders entire families every full moon. | [39] [40] | |
| Count Dracula | Various |
| An archetypal vampire inspired by Vlad the Impaler. | [41] [42] |
| Ebirah | Ebirah, Horror of the Deep |
| A giant lobster kaiju . | [43] [44] |
| Frankenstein's monster | Universal Monsters franchise | An undead monster created by the mad doctor Victor Frankenstein. | [45] [46] [47] | |
| Angela Franklin | Night of the Demons series | A young woman possessed by a demon. | [48] [49] | |
| Gamera | Gamera, the Giant Monster |
| A giant turtle-like alien kaiju . | [50] [51] |
| Ghostface | Scream franchise |
| An identity used by multiple killers. | [52] [53] [54] |
| Gigan | Godzilla vs. Gigan | A cyborg alien kaiju and enemy of Godzilla | [55] | |
| Godzilla | Godzilla franchise |
| A giant dinosaur-like kaiju . | [56] [57] [58] |
| Jame Gumb | The Silence of the Lambs | A serial killer that murders women to wear their skin. | [59] [60] | |
| Hedorah | Godzilla vs. Hedorah | A kaiju made of sludge. | [61] | |
| Mark Hoffman | Saw franchise | An apprentice and successor of Jigsaw. | [62] [63] | |
| Igor | Universal Monsters franchise | The laboratory assistant of Victor Frankenstein. | [64] | |
| Imhotep | The Mummy | An undead Egyptian mummy. | [65] [66] | |
| Pennywise |
| A malevolent entity that takes the form of an evil clown. | [67] | |
| Kharis | The Mummy's Hand | An undead Egyptian mummy. | [68] [69] | |
| King Ghidorah | Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster |
| A three-headed alien kaiju and enemy of Godzilla. | [70] [71] [72] |
| King Kong | King Kong franchise |
| A giant ape. | [73] [74] |
| John Kramer | Saw franchise | A serial killer that tortures victims in elaborate traps. | [75] [76] | |
| Freddy Krueger | A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise | The evil spirit of a child killer that haunts nightmares. | [77] [78] | |
| Leatherface | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise | A cannibal that wears the faces of his victims. | [79] [80] | |
| Hannibal Lecter | Hannibal Lecter franchise | A brilliant forensic psychologist and cannibalistic serial killer. | [81] [82] [83] | |
| Mechagodzilla | Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla |
| A robot version of Godzilla. | [55] [84] |
| Megaguirus | Godzilla vs. Megaguirus | A giant dragonfly-like kaiju and enemy of Godzilla. | ||
| Megalon | Godzilla vs. Megalon |
| A giant beetle-like kaiju and enemy of Godzilla. | [85] |
| Mothra | Mothra | A giant moth-like kaiju . | [86] [87] [88] | |
| MUTO | Monsterverse franchise | — | A giant bug-like species of kaiju . | [89] [90] |
| Michael Myers | Halloween franchise | A mute murderer that kills teenagers on Halloween night. | [91] [92] | |
| Count Orlok | Nosferatu | A vampire based on Count Dracula. | [93] [94] [95] | |
| Rustin Parr | Blair Witch franchise |
| A serial killer that murdered seven children on instructions from the Blair Witch. | [96] |
| Pearl | X series | A psychopathic killer. | [97] | |
| Rhoda Penmark | The Bad Seed |
| A child serial killer and psychopath. | [98] |
| Pinhead | Hellraiser franchise |
| An extradimensional leader of the demonic Cenobites. | [99] [100] |
| David Powers | The Lost Boys | The head of a gang of vampires. | [101] [102] | |
| Predator | Predator franchise |
| An alien species that trophy hunts other species for sport. | [103] [104] |
| Rodan | Rodan |
| A giant pterosaur-like kaiju . | [105] |
| Kayako Saeki | Ju-On franchise | The vengeful ghost of a woman killed by her husband. | [106] [107] | |
| Toshio Saeki | Ju-On franchise |
| The son of Kayako Saeki, a vengeful ghost. | [106] |
| Slappy the Dummy | Goosebumps | An evil ventriloquy dummy. | [108] [109] | |
| Slender Man | A tall supernatural being with no face. | [110] [111] | ||
| Captain Spaulding | House of 1000 Corpses | A vulgar and murderous clown. | [112] [113] | |
| T-1000 | Terminator franchise | A time-travelling robot assassin. | [114] | |
| Larry Talbot | The Wolf Man franchise | A werewolf. | [115] [116] | |
| The Thing |
| A shapeshifting alien that mimics its prey. | [117] [118] | |
| Damien Thorn | The Omen franchise | The Antichrist. | [119] [120] | |
| Sweeney Todd | A barber that kills his customers with a straight razor before giving their flesh to his partner Mrs. Lovett to bake into pies. | [121] [122] | ||
| Jack Torrance | A writer that goes insane and tries to kill his wife and son. | [123] [124] | ||
| Tall Man | Phantasm franchise | An extradimensional being posing as a mortician. | [125] [126] | |
| Judge Turpin | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) | A cruel and corrupt judge. | [127] | |
| Terminator | Terminator franchise | A time-travelling robot assassin. | [128] [129] | |
| Tiffany Valentine | Child's Play franchise | An evil possessed toy doll. | [130] [131] [132] | |
| Varan | Varan the Unbelievable | A giant gliding dinosaur-like kaiju . | [133] [134] | |
| Mason Verger | Hannibal | A wealthy, sadistic pedophile disfigured by Hannibal Lecter. | [135] [136] | |
| Jason Voorhees | Friday the 13th franchise |
| An immortal, undead murderer. | [137] [138] [139] |
| Pamela Voorhees | Friday the 13th franchise | The murderous mother of Jason Voorhees. | [140] [141] | |
| Harry Warden | My Bloody Valentine |
| A miner that kills people on Valentine's Day. | [142] |
| Annie Wilkes | Misery | A nurse and serial killer. | [143] [144] | |
| Xenomorph | Alien franchise | An endoparasitoid species of alien. | [145] [146] | |
| Sadako Yamamura | The Ring franchise | The vengeful ghost of a young psychic that was murdered and thrown down a well. | [147] [148] | |
| Yonggary | Yongary, Monster from the Deep |
| A large dinosaur-like kaiju . | [149] [150] |
| Amanda Young | Saw franchise | A victim and apprentice of Jigsaw. | [151] [152] [153] | |
| Zilla | Godzilla franchise |
| A large dinosaur-like kaiju . | [154] [155] |