Pixar Villains Ranked Worst To Best

The geniuses over at Pixar have been pioneers of storytelling for well over two decades now, and that extends to the vast array of characters they've created for their award-winning films. In their quest to make intelligent, well-crafted features for the whole family, these animation writers and directors have invented a brilliant set of protagonists to take charge of each story. And of course, they've also dreamed up some formidable villains to make things difficult for our beloved heroes.

From arrogant race cars and misunderstood critics to sheer, outright supervillains, the world of Pixar villainy is one filled with humor, deviousness, and some of the strongest nemeses to ever shine upon the silver screen. But in fairness, there are also a few baddies who probably won't stand the test of time. So come journey with us to infinity and beyond because we're here to give you our comprehensive ranking of every Pixar villain from worst to best!

Simplicity can definitely be a good thing on occasion, but when it comes to Pixar villains, the simple approach can sometimes mean a character's ultimate downfall. Take Thunderclap, for example, a not-so-nice pterodactyl who, given the few other options present in this prehistoric adventure, acts as the de facto villain character of Pixar's cinematic runt of the litter, The Good Dinosaur.

Thunderclap, voiced by Steve Zahn, is a deranged, wise-cracking beast that leads a pack of fellow storm-chasing pterodactyls in their quest to try and eat Arlo the dinosaur's human companion, Spot. That's really it, honestly, which leads to Thunderclaps low position on this list, a character so forgettable partly because of his lack of any real powerful motivation within the world of The Good Dinosaur. Outside of a few deranged inspired line readings here and there, Thunderclap leaves little to no impression in an already forgettable entry in the Pixar canon.

The Cars cinematic universe is majorly wanting when it comes to major baddies, but perhaps the least terrible of these vehicular villains is Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen's initial rival, voiced by Michael Keaton. As Lightning rests up and recovers in the small town of Radiator Springs, it's Hicks' jerkish nature that gives McQueen the constant motivation to take him on in the film's final race centerpiece. And to give Keaton the credit he most definitely deserves, he certainly gives it his all here as the arrogant race car whose only glory can be found in a racing trophy.

Though still occupying a simple, archetypal antagonistic role against Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks comes equipped with a memorable design (that green paint job with the mustache is priceless) and a quippy-enough performance from Keaton to make his presence as enjoyable as it can be within the trappings of a film about talking cars.

The only character on this list voiced by Pixar's "good luck charm," John Ratzenberger, the Underminer is some form of mole man living beneath the city streets of Metroville. And he provides the perfect cap to the first Incredibles film, teeing off yet another villain for our super family to face off against together. His cliched monologuing about reemerging from the depths of the city to take his revenge is right out of the classic villain textbook, and Ratzenberger provides him with enough humorous gravitas to turn him into a memorable minor bad guy.

Thankfully for all of us, the Underminer digs right back into things in the opening of Incredibles 2, the sequel that picks up literally moments after the end of the first film, with the Parr family locked in combat with the devious mining foe. His clever design, kooky backstory, and altogether mischievous nature makes for a fun villain that only needs a moment to capture your attention.

If you can trust the Incredibles films to have anything, it's going to be exciting, successful villains, and the long-awaited sequel to Brad Bird's acclaimed film delivered just that with Incredibles 2's devious and overlooked Evelyn Deavor. Voiced by Catherine Keener, Deavor is one of the two heads of the DevTech telecommunications company, with her brother Winston (Bob Odenkirk) taking on the face and branding of the company, leading Evelyn to deal with the actual technology at play.

But Evelyn, still bearing a grudge against supers for the death of her father, uses her technology to take down the superheroes and turn society against them through an act of violent hatred. Even if it's messaging gets a tad muddled near the end of the film and her true villainy isn't as much of a shock as the film wants it to be, Evelyn is still a noble villain for the Parr family to face in this most wonderful super sequel.

With all our eyes focused on the menace of Randall Boggs, few would suspect the CEO of Monsters Incorporated, Henry J. Waternoose (James Coburn), was the true mastermind behind the devious plan at the center of Monsters, Inc. Waternoose, in fear of the scare shortage plaguing Monstropolis, turns to nefarious means of trying to potentially murder children in order to provide enough screams to fix their energy crisis. Luckily, Sully and Mike (Billy Crystal) are able to work together to take down their frightening boss.

With enough paternal energy to convince you of his saintliness but with a creepy, bug-like design that only becomes more menacing as the film progresses, Waternoose is a classic example of a villain who thinks he's doing what's right. And he leaves a memorably terrifying mark in a film filled with too many memorable moments already.

Another visit to the world of toys was inevitable, and Toy Story 4 – the final adventure in the Toy Story saga — was able to rise to the occasion with not only the lovable Forky but also a new villain. We're talking about Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), who turned out to be a complex and terrifying (in her own charming way) character.

Gabby Gabby, an old-fashioned doll with a broken voice box, just wants to be played with, and she knows that Woody's voice box is the only thing that stands in her way of finally being picked off the shelf from the antiques store. It's this ultimate desire for affection (and its emotionally resonant aftermath) that brings her up so high on this list. Perhaps that's a surprise to many, but it's just as surprising that the fourth entry in this long-running saga could still wring tears out of our eyes.

Oh, Sid Phillips. Poor, misunderstood Sid Phillips. Toy Story, Pixar's feature-length premiere, wants you to believe that Sid — an extremely creative child who expresses himself through highly imaginative Frankenstein-esque toy operations — is some kind of terrible, evil person. He wears shirts with skulls on them and rides a skateboard, so clearly Sid is a monstrous young adult who's not to be trusted.

Leaving aside the fact that Sid has no idea the impact he's having on these assumed-to-be-inanimate objects until they rise from the ground to traumatize him, Sid is the complete opposite of the charming, playful, all-around joyful Andy from across the way. Where Andy sees toys as perfect objects to be played with in pristine condition, Sid sees them as blueprints for his own array of experimentation. And even though Sid is positioned as Woody and Buzz's worst nightmare, there's still something charming about his own unique version of playtime.

In Pixar's sophomore cinematic effort, the studio moved from the world of toys to the world of bugs in their fanciful, hilarious fable, A Bug's Life, where a colony of ants must face off against the oppressive grasshoppers who've been abusing them for years. And no grasshopper is held in more fearful than the leader of the pests himself, Hopper, the Kevin Spacey-voiced demonic insect with a huge distaste for ants and a hunger for whatever food he can get his hands on.

In the storybook world of A Bug's Life, Hopper is the perfect villainous foil needed to inspire the ants (and other assorted bugs) to face him in the film's climactic final showstopper of a performance, where our heroes take Hopper's only true weakness (his debilitating fear of birds) and use it against him. Even a few decades on, this early creepy-crawly villain is still an absolute standout.

Oftentimes, the best villain is the one who sheds their villainy by the film's end and even provides some sense of enlightenment for us to bask in as we're leaving the theater. So it goes with Anton Ego, the skeletal food critic positioned as the one to bring ultimate doom to Chef Gusteau and his restaurant in Ratatouille. Voiced by an ever-so-droll Peter O'Toole, Ego sends fear and menace through the likes of everyone who crosses his path, including Chef Gusteau himself, who dies in the wake of a vicious negative review from Ego.

But when Ego tastes the food cooked by the film's rodent protagonist, Remy, his attitude changes, leading to a glowing review for Gusteau's restaurant and one of the most elegant and beautiful odes to the art of criticism ever seen in cinema history. Anyone can cook, and as Anton Ego shows, anyone can turn their villainy into pure heroism by a story's end.

Perhaps it's most fitting that, in this list's estimation, the best Pixar villain is the one who turns the act of villainy right on its head. Syndrome (Jason Lee) — aka Buddy, aka IncrediBoy — was just a mild-mannered superhero obsessive, rejected by his all-time idol, Mr. Incredible. That rejection hit him right in his core, leading him down a tech-obsessed path towards outright maniacal villainy and turning him into the red-headed, hyper-villainous, super-killing Syndrome that commands both The Incredibles and this very list.

Syndrome represents a complex figure within the world of The Incredibles. He's an ordinary citizen trying to stand up against the supers who rejected him, but he's using unjustifiably monstrous means to get his "justice." A perfect villain is usually the one who thinks they're the real hero of the story, and that can certainly be said for Syndrome, as classic a villain as they come in the Pixar universe ... or any other cinematic universe for that matter.