25 Weirdest Cartoon Villains

Posted by , Updated on March 24, 2024

Cartoon villains typically serve as counterpoints to the heroes, often characterized by their power, fearfulness, or intimidating presence. They engage in classic villainous activities such as crafting intricate traps and causing widespread destruction. These are the villains we have grown accustomed to. However, once in a while, an incredibly strange and somewhat frightening cartoon villain emerges, causing us to wonder what the creators were possibly thinking. Their peculiarity may be subtly infused in their unusual design, while some are blatantly strange, like a villain dwelling in your navel (we’ll discuss this one soon). Regardless of their form, they invariably leave a lasting imprint on our young minds. So, here are 25 of the Strangest Cartoon Villains.

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25

Megavolt

MegavoltSource: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Megavolt

If you were a fan of Darkwing Duck as a kid in the 90’s, you probably know Megavolt. A rat with electrical plugs and a giant battery as his villain costume, he wasn’t exactly intimidating. In fact, he was kind of just a kooky and weird nerd that couldn’t do much right and was easily foiled by Darkwing Duck. 

24

Dr. Claw

clawSource: http://inspectorgadget.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Claw

In the Inspector Gadget cartoon, this main villain’s face or body is never seen. All we get is a gloved hand with a gold spiked bracelet. Isn’t it just a little weird we never see this guy? Usually, keeping villains shrouded in mystery leads to an eventual reveal, but not so in this case. For an entire generation, this villain was a hand and a glove.

23

Gargamel

gargamelSource: http://smurfs.wikia.com/wiki/Gargamel_(character)

Infamous villain on The Smurfs cartoon show, Gargamel is a crotchety old man who hates everyone, including the Smurfs. Why does he hate the Smurfs so much? It all kind of depends on the episode, but usually he intends to eat them, destroy them, or turn them into gold. Of all the villains the Smurfs could have, it’s a little odd a crotchety old bald man is it.

22

Megatron

megatronSource: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Megatron_(Animated)

While the later versions of Megatron transformed into jets and tanks, the original wasn’t nearly as cool. He transformed into a gun that could be used by his minions. Which, when you think about it, is really, really weird.

21

Prince John

prince johnSource: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Prince_John

The younger brother of King Richard, Prince John is also the antagonistic lion to Robin Hood, helping steal from the poor to feed the rich. Though, for a lion, he sure is a cowardly baby. Case in point, he sucks his thumb and hides at the first sign of danger. Not really a worthy opponent to Robin Hood.

20

Chairface

chairfaceSource: http://tick.wikia.com/wiki/Chairface_Chippendale

It’s probably not hard to see why this villain is really weird. He is, after all, on The Tick. On the show, he’s a criminal mastermind, plotting and scheming, rarely doing any of the work himself. Understandably, his greatest motivation is the anger he feels over his chair-life deformity.

19

Duke Nukem

duke nukemSource: http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Duke_Nukem

Don’t confuse this Captain Planet villain with the video game hero of the same name. They’re nothing alike. This villain has yellow rock-like skin and wears a Hawaiian shirt, swimming trunks, and white flip-flops. By the looks of him, his primary goal should be to catch some sick waves, but instead, it’s to totally cover the world in radiation.

18

Skeletor

skeletorSource: http://he-man.wikia.com/wiki/Skeletor

Nothing says Saturday morning kids show like the villain Skeletor from He-Man cartoons. An evil demon from another dimension with the face of a skull and a body from a P-90X commercial, his annoying hyena-like cackle only made him weirder and perhaps more annoying.

17

Majin Buu

majin buuSource: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Innocent_Buu

Of course, there are many variations of Majin Buu, so which one are we talking about? We think you already know. Also called Innocent Buu, or Buu, or Pink Michelin Man (Okay, we made that one up), this villain is a big baby with a high-pitched voice and an affinity for ice cream. Of course, despite his childish ways, he’s also incredibly strong.

16

Plankton

planktonSource: http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Sheldon_J._Plankton

Formally named Sheldon J. Plankton, this tiny sea creature is the villain on the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon and regularly tries to scheme against his rival, Mr. Krabs. Despite being small enough to fit in your hand, Plankton is somehow the main nemesis on the show. Though crafty, he usually ends up failing miserably against Spongebob. Also, he’s married to his computer system named Karen. So, there’s that.

15

Mumm-Ra

mumm raSource: http://thundercats.wikia.com/wiki/Mumm-Ra

The main villain to Lion-O of the Thundercats, Mumm-Ra must have easily scared tons of kids in the 80’s. And you know they were really going for the ugly factor with Mumm-Ra because even in the show, his one weakness is his hideous reflection. Not even he can stand his ghastly face.

14

Clayface

clayfaceSource: http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Clayface_(DC_Animated_Universe)

Speaking of faces, this villain in Batman: The Animated Series was so bizarre. An actor who was disfigured in a car accident, he starts to take a cream called RenuYou until he’s forced to eat an entire vat of the stuff which transforms him into a walking sludge pile of facial cream. Creepy, weird, and nightmare-inducing, one must ask how in the world it ended up on a kids’ cartoon show.

13

Sid Phillips

sid phillipsSource: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Sid_Phillips

It’s one thing to have a mean kid as your villain, but quite another when your villain is a psychotic, child version of Dr. Mengele. He fed toys to his dog, tortured toys, and disfigured them with so much pleasure you wonder what the writers were thinking when they penned the script. Needless to say, he left quite an impression and likely scarred kids for life.

12

Krang

krangSource: http://turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Krang

In a world where turtles can transform into anthropomorphic teenagers with serious ninja skills, this villain might not be so much of a stretch. Still, if a disembodied evil brain sitting inside the stomach of a robotic bald man isn’t weird, we don’t know what is.

11

The Joker

joker fishSource: http://batmantheanimatedseries.wikia.com/wiki/Joker

This villain, particularly from Batman: The Animated Series, is one of the most recognizable of all time. We’ve become very familiar with him, but in the cartoon, he had some very strange moments, including the time he wrapped up people into Christmas presents and slapped a guy with Joker fish.

10

Cobra Commander

gi joeSource: http://gijoe.wikia.com/wiki/Cobra_Commander_(RAH)

This villain’s main weapon was yelling at everyone and everything that moved. There are many variations of him, of course. His first form had him wearing a helmet with an iron-like plate for a mask. In the second variation, he wore more of a loosely fitted, ghost-like hood. Regardless of his costume, yelling in a scratchy smokers voice was his favorite past-time.

9

Brain Aliens

brain aliensSource: http://renandstimpy.wikia.com/wiki/Brain_Aliens

The show Ren & Stimpy was the epitome of weird, and their villains were no exception. While these villains were minor, only appearing on the episode “Marooned,” their three-eyed and elephant-nosed appearance took the cake.

8

Mr. Smitty

smittySource: http://rockosmodernlife.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Smitty

In the cartoon Rocko’s Modern Life, Mr. Smitty is Rocko’s boss at the comic book store. He usually makes Rocko’s life a nightmare. However, what makes him weird are the cigar butts coming firmly out of his head and the stogie sticking out of his mouth. It’s a little surprising toad smoker made it on a children’s cartoon.

7

HIM

HIMSource: http://powerpuffgirls.wikia.com/wiki/HIM_(1998_TV_series)

This grinning, crab-handed, and devil look-a-like, is one of the Powerpuff Girls most sinister villains. Trying to describe the terrifyingly bizarre nature of this character is almost impossible. In a colorful and cute show like the Powerpuff Girls, you don’t really expect a sinister and demented villain like HIM to show up.

6

Hexxus

hexxusSource: http://ferngully.wikia.com/wiki/Hexxus

Similarly, in a cartoon movie about woodland fairies trying to save the rainforest, ala. FernGully, it’s unlikely any kid saw Hexxus coming. Essentially the black-souled embodiment of pollution, this villain is like combining the Deepwater Horizon oil spill with the voice of Tim Curry.

5

Freaky Fred

freaky fredSource: http://courage.wikia.com/wiki/Fred

With a menacing grin and a creepy demeanor, this villain on Courage the Cowardly Dog is the nephew of Eustace and Muriel and a barber with Trichotemnomania, an obsession with cutting hair. On top of that, he reminisces in three rhymed sentences with the last word being, “Naughty.”

4

Rasputin

rasputinSource: http://anastasia.wikia.com/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin

In the animated film Anastasia, Rasputin is the main villain who tried to kill the royal Romanov family, but he’s killed instead and comes back to life ten-years-later after existing in Limbo. He’s unable to die until Anastasia is dead. Putting aside the gross historical inaccuracies in this movie, there’s a bizarre musical number where the corpse of Rasputin breaks into pieces and his head hops around on the ground while he’s singing.

3

Condiment King

condiment kingSource: http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Condiment_King

Out of all the villains Batman has faced, Condiment King has to be the most bizarre. Yes, his character is primarily for comic relief, but still, that doesn’t negate how truly weird he is. To add insult to injury, this baddie makes frequent condiment-based puns.

2

The Mooninites

mooninitesSource: http://aqua-teen-hunger-force.wikia.com/wiki/The_Mooninites

Most of the villains on Aqua Teen Hunger Force are weird. That’s a given. However, of them, the Mooninites are the most frequently appearing and often most bizarre out of all of them. Looking like 2D pixelated video game sprites, they usually come to Earth to taunt the character Meatwad and take advantage of him.

1

Adonis

adonisSource: http://renandstimpy.wikia.com/wiki/Adonis

This villain on the show Ren & Stimpy is also called “The Lord of Choas” and is a porkchop monster that lives in Stimpy’s belly button. Initially, this villain was named Jerry, and he grew offended when Stimpy tried to serve him lint loaf. Eventually, Adonis catches both Ren and Stimpy and eats them off-screen.



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