Female characters historically haven’t received that much complexity on screen, and even the way we think about the “bad guy” frames the character as a man. But women bring so much depth and style to roles like evil genius, vicious murderer, or brutal bully. They also tend to have killer wardrobes, which helps! Usually, there also tend to be intricate origin stories that complicate our feelings for these villains, even if what they do is absolutely atrocious.
So, from the attractive to the sartorial, from the fearful to the fantastic, click through to see some of the best female villains to have ever appeared on screen.