There are plenty of murderers who have kept TV viewers up at night, but these killers are a cut above the rest.
There are many great shows out there that involve death and bloodshed, but murder is intrinsically different. Television shows with murder involved are almost endless. Shows like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones both have had people killed, but neither has a character like A from Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Murderers make some shows what they are. From the whodunits of Only Murders in the Building to the TV show continuation of Child's Play, a murderer is a murderer no matter how small. However, not every killer can make a claim to fame, which simply means that some murderers are just better than others.
Only Murders in the Building's first season was an electric rollercoaster ride that expertly delivered the season's reveal of the killer. Jan Bellows's friendly demeanor and love story with Charles-Haden Savage made her evil ways hard to spot, just as the show intended.
While she does exude that wonderful facade, Jan's murder was found out by three amateur sleuths. The murder of Tim Kono had so much passion behind it that her slip-ups could not be ignored and led the Only Murders Podcast Gang straight to her in the end.
With his charm and pretty face, Joe Goldberg from You is able to assume the role of boy-next-door with ease. The way Joe is able to disarm so many people into a false sense of security through his manipulations is positively diabolical.
Yet even with all that manipulating talent, Joe still gets exposed for being a stalker and creep. His solution to keep from being found out is to kill anyone who knows and threatens to tell others. This has led to police investigations, cover-ups, and almost his own demise. All that to say, Joe is still alive, out of jail, and ready to move on to the next victim.
Scream Queens was a dark comedy that involved sorority girls at Wallace University getting picked off one by one. Hester Ulrich was only one of three killers in the first season of the show, but she was by far the evilest.
Hester gained and broke the other girls' trust by infiltrating The Chanels and becoming Chanel #6 to prove her loyalty to the co-president Chanel. At the end of the season, Hester even gets away with framing Chanel, Chanel #3, and Chanel #5 for the murders committed at their university.
The Netflix original series Insatiable was many things, but including a murderer was a strange yet intriguing decision. Patty Bladell went from being bullied to being a murderer by the end of the show's first season.
After killing her stalker of a boyfriend and covering it up successfully, Patty then went on to kill five more people. Her constant success in getting away with these crimes led to her embracing this darkness so much that Patty eventually revealed that "Nothing tastes as good as killing."
Pretty Little Liars was more drama than anything else, but when Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin announced that it would be a thriller, fans were very excited. The A from Original Sin had an intense and terrifying aura.
A, or Archie, was domineering in every step he took. His height, his mask, and his silent communication all gave way to making him fear personified. Archie's murders were hardly unique, but the way he emulated other horror icons like Michael Myers led him to be one of the best.
When it was announced that Don Mancini would be creating a Child's Play TV show, fans and casual viewers alike knew they had to tune in. Chucky explores the past, the present, and the terrifying future Chucky himself has in store for the world.
The murders in Chucky are stylistic and wonderfully convey the uncanny nature that is a murderous child's toy. Charles "Chucky" Lee Ray is seen killing multiple people in different stages of his life in the span of eight episodes and will no doubt continue his reign of terror.
Dexter: New Blood revitalized the old Dexter, to the surprise of many fans, but it really reminded viewers of just what type of guy Dexter was. The blood splatter analyst by day and vigilante murderer by night came back in full force.
Dexter's attachment to killing, his "Dark Passenger," and his son both come out to play in New Blood to re-invite him to the world of murder. While the pull of the murder world would inevitably get Dexter killed, his influence lives on through his son as well as his legacy as the Bay Harbor Butcher.
The series Killing Eve introduced audiences to the brutal assassin that was Villanelle. Villanelle was beautiful and stylish, and it might be assumed that her victims would take on a similar aesthetic composition, but that is not entirely true.
Villanelle definitely had a flair for the dramatics, but even when she killed, her only priority was to shed blood and have fun. Because of this prerogative, Villanelle's victims were dealt with quickly and painfully or prolonged and violently, depending on her mood. All that mattered to her was the job got done and that she felt good doing it.
Homelander, from the Amazon Prime series The Boys, showcases so much irrational emotion and entitlement that he is just itching to laser people in half. Homelander is a man drunk on power that strikes fear in everyone's hearts.
Yet even at his scariest, viewers and characters in The Boys both see what Homelander really is: a man desperate for some semblance of parental love. While a lot of people are aware of where Homelander's violence is born from, it doesn't make this unkillable god any less scary.
The Chesapeake Ripper, aka Hannibal Lecter, haunted Baltimore for quite some time, taunting the public while simultaneously infiltrating the investigation. NBC's Hannibal showed Hannibal before his incarceration and presented him as a surprisingly emotional man.
However, even at his most emotional, Hannibal Lecter was shown to be indifferent to people's feelings, especially the ones he murdered. Hannibal saw his victims as pigs, thinking of them as nothing but dinner and a new art piece. Not only that, but Hannibal Lecter's lack of remorse shines even brighter once he decides it's time to crack a cannibal-related joke.
Yasmin is an art historian in progress and playwright with a passion for intertextuality. Their love for storytelling has bled into everything they are and inspires them to write as well as consume stories with the utmost attention to detail.
10 Best TV Murderers – CBR – Comic Book Resources
