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They're the masterminds who always seem to be three steps ahead... Join us as we count down our picks for the most intelligent antagonists on television! These brilliant villains use their exceptional intellect to manipulate, scheme, and outmaneuver their opponents. Which cerebral villain left you most impressed with their mental prowess?
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00:00It's a shame that you can't be here to enjoy the chaos and distraction with me.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most intelligent antagonist
00:11on TV.
00:12We won't be including animated villains as those deserve their own list.
00:17From now on, you are mine.
00:25Number 10.
00:26The leader of the inhabitants of the mysterious island the show takes place on, Ben is incredibly
00:40clever and manipulative.
00:42A consummate liar, Ben has an answer for everything, even when he's seemingly helpless and held
00:47captive.
00:48Which happens a lot by the way, Ben is constantly scheming how to get back on top.
00:53If he has any weakness, it'll probably be that his desire for power or revenge can make
01:08him careless, causing him to underestimate his enemies or make costly mistakes.
01:13Still, even beaten and bloodied, Ben always has a plan.
01:17I'm gonna take care of them.
01:18And how the hell are you gonna do that?
01:21How many times do I have to tell you, John?
01:24I always have a plan.
01:26Number 9.
01:27Dr. Hannibal Lecter
01:28Hannibal.
01:29I imagine what you see and learn touches everything else in your mind.
01:33Your values and decency are present yet shocked at your associations, appalled at your dreams.
01:40No thoughts in the bone arena of your skull for things you love.
01:43Whose profile are you working on?
01:46Anyone familiar with this infamous cannibal psychiatrist should not find this surprising.
01:51Dr. Hannibal Lecter is brilliant, erudite, and a complete savage in his acquisition of
01:56his particular diet.
01:58How many people have you killed?
02:02Many more than your father.
02:09Not only is Hannibal able to hide in plain sight and evade capture, but he's also an
02:13expert at subtly influencing others to achieve his ends.
02:16Whether it's casting suspicion elsewhere, pretending to be a copycat killer, or driving his colleagues
02:21in the FBI to become as monstrous as he is, Hannibal knows exactly what makes people tick,
02:26even when he isn't turning them into his next mill.
02:29Congratulations for the job you did on him.
02:32I admired it enormously.
02:34What a cunning boy you are.
02:39Number 8 Tywin Lannister, Game of Thrones.
02:42You gonna say something clever?
02:44Go on, say something clever.
02:47As tempting as it was to include the opportunistic little finger instead, Tywin simply has him
02:53beat when it comes to consistency.
02:55Because Lannister's patriarch wields his intelligence more effectively and brutally than any of the
03:00knights of Westeros use their swords, Tywin has served several kings as their hand, acting
03:05as the power behind the Iron Throne.
03:07Because we have been told as much by the many experts who serve the realm by counselling
03:12the king on matters about which he knows nothing.
03:14But I haven't been counselled.
03:16You are being counselled at this very moment.
03:20Underhanded alliances, marriage packs, and cunning battle strategies, he can do it all.
03:25Tywin even puts a mad dog like his grandson King Joffrey in his place.
03:29I am the king!
03:31I will punish you.
03:33Any man who must say I am the king is no true king.
03:38He's arguably too ruthless though, as his willingness to do anything to advance his family's
03:43interests ends up alienating many factions, and ironically, his own family.
03:48A wise young king listens to his counsellors and heeds their advice until he comes of age.
03:54And the wisest kings continue to listen to them long afterwards.
04:01Your brother was not a wise king.
04:03Your brother was not a good king.
04:05Number 7.
04:06Gustavo Frame.
04:07Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
04:09A man provides for his family.
04:12This costs me my family.
04:15When you have children, you always have family.
04:18They will always be your priority, your responsibility.
04:22And a man, a man provides.
04:26It's debatable that Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White is even more intelligent and villainous
04:31by the end of that series.
04:32Yeah.
04:33However, the sheer pedigree and longevity of Gus Fring's plans, which span multiple shows,
04:38has us feeling Walt should tip his pork pie hat to his former boss.
04:42Salud.
04:43Salud.
04:44Salud.
04:57Salud.
04:58Salud.
04:59The unassuming drug kingpin not only has a brilliant head for the drug and fast food business,
05:05he's also nearly superhumanly cautious and patient.
05:08Gus lays contingencies months or years in advance.
05:12He organizes a secret meth lab under one of his businesses.
05:15And his ability to cajole, threaten, or outthink his rivals and underlings would be admirable
05:21if it weren't so damn terrifying.
05:23Big talk.
05:25You done?
05:28No.
05:30Not yet.
05:32Number six.
05:42Jim Moriarty.
05:43Sherlock.
05:44Kill you?
05:45No.
05:46Don't be obvious.
05:47I mean, I'm going to kill you anyway someday.
05:49I don't want to rush it though.
05:51I'm saving it up for something special.
05:53No, no, no, no, no.
05:54If you don't stop prying, I'll burn you.
05:59He's Sherlock Holmes' greatest rival and intellectual equal, if not superior.
06:04That should probably say it all.
06:06Jim Moriarty is a mercurial, brilliant criminal who assists other lawbreakers in their crimes.
06:12However, his gains with Sherlock test them both like never before.
06:16Say that again and know that if you're lying to me, I will find you and I will skin you.
06:29Moriarty crafts intricate crimes in situations that prove nearly impossible to solve, even
06:33when Sherlock knows who's behind them.
06:36Proving the truth proves incredibly difficult.
06:38As dangerous as Moriarty is for his intellect, his chaotic unpredictability is what makes him
06:43truly threatening.
06:45You just never know what Jimmy Boy will do from one moment to the next.
06:48That's your weakness.
06:50You always want everything to be clever.
06:52Now, shall we finish the game?
06:54One final act.
06:56Number five.
06:57Dr. Walter Bishop, AKA Walter Nate.
06:59Fringe.
07:00I know you can hear me.
07:02Please.
07:03Please let me out of here.
07:07I know you can hear me.
07:10You can hear me.
07:11Please let me out of here.
07:13The Walter Bishop most seen in Fringe is an incomparably brilliant, if troubled scientist,
07:18whose work in Fringe science has led to some science fiction level technology.
07:22His alternate universe counterpart, or Walter Nate, is every bit as smart as our Walter,
07:27but a great deal more vengeful.
07:29Getting your son kidnapped by your other self will do that.
07:32Nature only recognizes balance and imbalance.
07:39I intend to restore balance to our world.
07:43Walter Nate is also incredibly wealthy and the Secretary of Defense of the United States,
07:47so he has access to vast resources.
07:50He uses these resources to create and send advanced shapeshifters to our universe.
07:54Walter Nate's also prepared to destroy that universe to save his own, and with his intellect,
07:59he's certainly capable.
08:00What does that mean?
08:02You destroyed my universe, son, and I'm going to destroy yours, but not all at once.
08:09Number 4.
08:10Professor Clifford DeVoe, aka The Thinker, The Flash.
08:13If you've miscalculated by even a decimal-
08:16There is not a decimal, a fraction, an infinitesimal variable beyond my thought, beyond my mind.
08:25Sure, as a history professor, Clifford DeVoe was pretty smart.
08:29But then, he obtained metahuman abilities which enhance his intelligence to obscenely superhuman levels.
08:36As The Thinker, DeVoe can account for nearly every variable and possibility,
08:40such that it can sometimes seem like he can see the future.
08:43You could gather every genius on every planet, and you still couldn't outthink me.
08:48Thanks to his brain power, DeVoe is able to orchestrate complex plans within plans, even framing The Flash for his supposed death.
08:55The Flash may have the fastest body, but thanks to DeVoe's stupendously quick mind, he's still usually a few steps ahead.
09:02Number 3.
09:03The Master, Doctor Who
09:07Who the heck are you?
09:16Well, I am usually referred to as The Master.
09:20Oh, is that so?
09:34The Doctor has faced several formidable intellects on their travels throughout time and space.
09:39Although Davros, the creator of the Daleks, is a close second, the Doctor's oldest rival is the smartest.
09:46The Master, or occasionally the Mistress, is a Time Lord, whose travel throughout the cosmos and its history is rooted in a desire for power, recognition from the Doctor, and maybe just sadistic kicks.
09:58Don't shoot her.
09:59Don't shoot her.
10:00Do not shoot her.
10:01By the ring in his finger, he was married, and I think I detected some baby leakage on his jacket, so he had a family.
10:13Although their arrogance and propensity for betrayal frequently proves their undoing, the Master is undeniably brilliant.
10:19Their plans may skew towards the overly complex, but when your main opponent is someone like the Doctor, you either go big or go home.
10:27He can't be.
10:28Oh, he can be.
10:29I very much am.
10:30So what's going on that he's not really owe?
10:31I'm her best enemy.
10:32Call me Master.
10:33Number 2.
10:34Samaritan.
10:35Person of Interest.
10:36Because people rely so ardently on their so-called beliefs, now they only need to believe in one thing, me, for I am a god.
10:57This shockingly underrated and prescient series has plenty of clever antagonists.
11:02As much as we reluctantly love the devious mob boss Carl Elias, his mind is still only human.
11:09Meanwhile, Samaritan is an AI.
11:11Developed as a surveillance system, Samaritan soon exerts control beyond its intended purpose.
11:16Through its human agent, Samaritan can manipulate the populace on a terrifying scale.
11:21It's always required your permission because it never had your trust.
11:25And you just said it, you wouldn't cede control.
11:30That tells Samaritan that only you know the password.
11:35It just wants to protect its charges, even if it has to exert absolute control over all of them.
11:41Advanced predictions, social engineering, and near unlimited access to computer systems, Samaritan is everywhere and probably has more processing power than most of the humans on the planet combined.
11:53People have often been happy living in a lie, but I won't let you turn the whole world into one.
12:05No, but I'm making it anyway.
12:10Before we unveil our topic, here are a few honorable mentions.
12:14Otto Hightower, House of the Dragon, the mind behind the green faction.
12:18And you acceded to this, this prank without consulting me or the council.
12:25Instead of judgment, you display impetuousness and diminish us in the eyes of our enemy, ill-considered trifling.
12:34Homelander, the boys, almost as smart as he is strong and he's basically Superman.
12:40Plus, I'm a black woman who is a thousand times smarter than you.
12:44Your ego can't handle it.
12:46I'm pretty smart myself.
12:48See what I mean?
12:49Smart enough to listen.
12:52I mean, really listen to you.
12:56You can stay here reeking of Taco Bell and loneliness, or we can put some of your theories into practice on the global scale.
13:05The Man in Black, Westworld, a nihilistic genius businessman and an expert gunman.
13:10A deadly combination.
13:12When an atomic bomb detonates and the radiation knocks the electrons right out of your bones, what do you want?
13:19To know who you are?
13:21To know what it all means?
13:23You'll be too busy vomiting up your organs.
13:27Wilson Fisk, Daredevil, you don't become the kingpin with Braun alone.
13:32Stay back.
13:35Julie never would have understood you.
13:39And society won't either.
13:45It punishes people like you.
13:51Like us.
13:53Kill Greg, Jessica Jones.
13:55The power to mind control anyone is useless without smart application.
13:59You have killed innocent people.
14:02Oh, well that, that milquetoast little man boy, he interrupted me while I was leaving you a present, which apparently you didn't even find.
14:12Come on.
14:13You cannot pretend he didn't irritate you too.
14:15I wanted to slap him after 30 seconds.
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14:321.
14:33He Who Remains, Victor Timely, Loki
14:37I know it all.
14:40And I've seen it all.
14:42The TVA is an organization that polices and destroys timelines to prevent any from developing besides one.
14:48And it's all run by He Who Remains, aka Victor Timely, aka Kang the Conqueror, or one of his variants.
14:56He's a genius multiversal conqueror who outsmarted every other version of himself to basically take control of time itself.
15:03If that doesn't scream brilliant, then what the hell does?
15:07I've been dubbed many names by many people, a ruler, a conqueror, He Who Remains, a jerk.
15:21With his absolute control of time, there's really no defeating He Who Remains because he's seen it all before.
15:27And unlike nearly every other intelligent TV villain, he also technically gets what he wants, even if it's not quite how he envisioned it.
15:34But that's another story.
15:36Is there a villain whose limitless thoughts we were thoughtless for forgetting?
16:00Expand our minds by sharing your favorites in the comments below.
16:03Their powers are nothing compared to the power of limitless thought.
16:10That's your ability.
16:11Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
16:15And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
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