Highlights
- Moff Gideon plans to use Grogu's blood for cloning, showing his evil intentions amidst the pursuit of the adorable creature.
- The Grand Inquisitor not only betrays his own Jedi brethren but also uses their secrets to hunt them down and ensure their extinction.
- Darth Vader's path of devastation is fueled by his inability to control his emotions, leading him to slaughter Jedi, including younglings, and ravage the galaxy with his pure hate.
Any film fan who has ventured off into Star Wars' galaxy far, far away has come across some of the most notorious villains in pop culture, enough to give even Thanos, Norman Bates, or Hannibal Lecter a run for their money. Whether it’s Disney’s canon films or the "Legends" stories, it’s incredible how evil some Star Wars characters can become when the fate of the galaxy is at stake.
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Since George Lucas introduced the world to Star Wars, countless stories have been set in his incredible galaxy, from films and TV shows to comics and video games. Besides Jedi using the Force and plucky droids full of personality, one element Star Wars viewers have come to expect is evil characters, and Star Wars boasts some truly evil characters that fans love to hate.
10 Moff Gideon
Scourge Of The Mandalorians
It takes a special sort of evil to look at something as adorable as the internet-dubbed Baby Yoda, AKA, Grogu, and see an opportunity for experimentation and cloning. Yet, that’s what Moff Gideon has in mind during his relentless pursuit of Grogu to use his blood to create an army of Force-sensitive clones.
As if being an Imperial officer for Emperor Palpatine wasn’t bad enough, Moff Gideon shows his evil as he hunts the Mandalorians to extinction, proudly taking part in the Great Purge of Mandalore and the Night of a Thousand Tears. Even after Bo-Katan surrenders the Darksaber, a symbol of leadership among the Mandalorians, to save her people, Gideon allows the Purge to continue anyway.
9 The Grand Inquisitor
Traitorous Former Jedi Turned Hunter
The Grand Inquisitor is one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Rebels. As Leader of the Inquisitorius, he is a cold and calculating Jedi hunter who enjoys using fear and intimidation to get his way. Using his terrifying double-bladed red lightsaber, he serves Darth Vader, seeking out any Jedi or Force sensitives who survived Order 66.
He might not be the only Jedi to turn to the Dark Side, but there’s still not much that's more evil than betraying one's own. What makes the Grand Inquisitor’s betrayal even more heinous is how he takes advantage of his past, using knowledge of their secrets to hunt the remaining Jedi to extinction.
8 Grand Admiral Thwarn
A Strategic Genius Who Sees Lives As Pawns
Personally promoted to Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine himself, Mitth’raw’nuruodo (better known as Thrawn) is a military strategist who uses his genius in service of the Empire. A cold and emotionless man with little in the way of a moral compass, he is able to out-think and outmaneuver any opponent, manipulating others like the Noghri and bending them to his will.
Introduced in the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, Thrawn doesn’t necessarily take delight in evil acts. In fact, he shows a degree of respect for his subordinates, sometimes even mentoring those like Eli Vanto and using mistakes as teaching moments. Nevertheless, although he’s more loyal to the Chiss Ascendancy than the Empire itself, his actions result in the deaths of countless innocent people, all in the name of tactics and strategy.
7 Orson Krennic
Cruel Man Who Lusts For Leadership
Seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Orson Krennic is the Director of the Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research. Although, he’s best known as the man behind the construction of the Death Star, a weapon capable of destroying billions of lives at once. Krennic is so proud to oversee such a weapon that he tests it out by destroying the holy city of Jedha, committing mass murder just to send a warning to the Rebels.
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Ultimately, though, Orson Krennic is unusual when it comes to Star Wars villains. He’s not physically powerful, strong with the Force, or even a particularly strong supporter of the Empire. Yet, what makes him so evil is how everything he does is for himself. Krennic is happy to manipulate, betray, and murder just to be commended and recognized for his own personal glory.
6 Grand Moff Tarkin
Ruthless Imperial Who Destroys Planets For Information
Although Darth Vader is often considered the main villain of the first released Star Wars film, Grand Moff Tarkin is arguably still the joint antagonist by serving as the commanding officer of the Death Star. Even outside the events of this film, his evil nature is evident. For example, as a child, he abandoned his injured brother, leaving him to be eaten by wild animals.
Determined to spread fear as he seizes control of the galaxy, Tarkin is no stranger to cruelty. He takes particular pleasure in toying with Leia Organa by destroying her home planet of Alderaan, killing millions in the blink of an eye just to show the might of the Empire. He hardly even cares when Vader begins to Force-choke one of his subordinates.
5 Darth Plagueis
Sith Lord Obsessed With Cheating Death
Even if fans have only ever seen the films, they’ve still heard of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, the shady figure whose story led to Anakin turning to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader. Darth Plagueis' desire for power and knowledge is so all-encompassing that he kills anyone in his way.
Obsessed with eternal life, he studies how to use the Force to cheat death and create new life, experimenting on those like Darth Venamis whom he repeatedly killed and resurrected. What’s more, his apprentice is none other than Darth Sidious, later known as Emperor Palpatine. After manipulating him into murdering his family, Darth Plaugueis is the one who taught the future Emperor the ways of the Dark Side, encouraging him to seize control of the galaxy for the Sith.
4 Darth Vader
Slaughtered Younglings & Ravished The Galaxy With Pure Hate
The real tragedy of Darth Vader is how he is not truly evil. Instead, Anakin’s love for Padmé and his inability to control his emotions lead him down a dark path, going so far as to exterminate the Jedi and slaughter younglings in the Jedi Temple. Even after this, once he becomes Darth Vader, he continues to serve Palpatine, committing countless heinous acts for the next two decades.
As fans can see during the infamously brutal scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Vader is rage personified. Yet despite this, Vader is able to stay calm and in control of a situation while committing such evil acts. Force-choking those he interrogates is second nature to him, and he doesn’t even seem to think twice when striking down his mentor or trying to turn his own son to the Dark Side. Nevertheless, there are still glimpses of the old Anakin; for example, one comic shows Vader’s dismay when he finds out the Empire uses slaves, although he fails to do anything to stop it. Even though Vader redeems himself in the end and overthrows the Emperor, it can’t undo all the harm he causes.
3 Darth Nihilus
The Sith Who Devours Entire Planets
Featured in Knights Of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, the mysterious and eerily silent Darth Nihilus is also known as the Lord of Hunger, and for very good reason. Darth Nihilus is a threat to the entire galaxy, famous for destroying planets and killing billions as he Force-drains them to satisfy his hunger. Katarr was one such planet that Nihilus single-handedly obliterated during the First Jedi Purge.
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However, Darth Nihilus is almost a tragic figure seeing how the Dark Side corrupted him, making him a shadow of the man he once was. Although Nihilus didn’t start off as an evil character, he became a wound in the Force after surviving the destruction of Malachor V at the end of the Mandalorian Wars, leading him to drain life energy from people and start his journey to becoming a Sith. Nevertheless, Nihilus since became considerably evil, draining life from millions and even possibly torturing Kreia.
2 Emperor Palpatine
The Sith Who Destroyed The Jedi & Ruled The Galaxy
Palpatine might not be the most dastardly or powerful villain in the galaxy’s entire history, but he certainly is in the Skywalker Saga. Also known as Darth Sidious, he orchestrates the Clone Wars, overthrows the Galactic Republic, eradicates the Jedi, and leads the Empire as it spreads terror throughout the galaxy. His ambition for power results in the suffering, oppression, and death of millions.
What makes Palpatine particularly evil is how manipulative he is. Worming his way into the Senate and molding the Republic into his Empire is just the tip of the iceberg. He extorts Anakin’s weakness to sway him to the Dark Side, so he can control him and even tempts Luke, gleefully excited at the prospect of having father and son at his command. Palpatine’s evil runs through every element of the Skywalker Saga of films, and the galaxy struggles to rid itself of his influence even after his supposed death.
1 Vitiate
The Most Ruthless Sith Emperor In The Galaxy's History
It’s impossible not to be shocked at the thought of a six-year-old using the Force to snap their stepfather’s neck before torturing their mother and going on a killing spree, feeding off fear and pain as they enslave their home planet. Yet, that’s just the start of Vitiate’s story. Also known as Tenebrae and Emperor Valkorion, Vitiate is the main villain of the Old Republic era and one of the most evil characters in the Star Wars franchise.
As one of the strongest Force users in history, he dominated the minds of eight thousand Sith Lords in order to absorb the life force of the planet Nathema, killing all Sith Lords in the process too. In fact, this is something he hoped to do on an even bigger, galactic scale to amass the power of a god. While Darth Sidious mastered the Dark Side and ruled over an Empire for two decades, Vitiate (or Valkorion) went even further, rebuilding the Sith Empire and ruling over it for a hundred years while he embodied the Dark Side to be perhaps the most powerful and evil being in the galaxy’s history.
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