7 Soap Opera Villains We Love To Hate

Without soap opera villains, there would be no conflict on daytime television. Plots would lack drama, intrigue, and interesting twists. Soap opera villains add so much depth to storylines, and offer the classic ‘good versus evil’ struggle all soap opera fans love to watch. Without villains, soap operas would not have heroes, and without our beloved soap opera heroes…where would daytime television be? This list pays homage to the bad guys and girls that grace our daytime screens to make the shows a little more interesting. Here are the top seven villains fans love to hate.

7. Helena Cassadine – General Hospital

Originally played by the late (and great) Elizabeth Taylor in 1981, General Hospital’s (GH) Helena Cassadine has been wreaking havoc on the Spencer family for well over 30 years now. Ever since Luke, Laura, and Robert Scorpio stopped her husband’s plan to freeze the world, and killed him in the process, Helena has vowed revenge. She started by cursing Luke and Laura’s wedding (from the sidelines) when they got married in November of that year, and that seemed to work in her favor. Other terrible deeds include: kidnapping Laura and forcing her to marry her son Stavros, kidnapping Lucky and brainwashing him, and then stealing little Jake Spencer and making his family believe he was dead. This list could easily continue.

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6. Clyde Weston – Days of Our Lives

A fairly new soap villain to arrive on the scene, Days of Our Lives’ (DOOL) Clyde Weston is a bad as they come. Let’s see, he was a drug dealer, a physically and emotionally abusive father, and Weston was the one who shot and tried to cover up killing E.J. DiMera. All around slimy villain, he continues to threaten and blackmail all those around him, including his step daughter Jordan. He also has been a negative influence on his son Ben, and what Kate Roberts ever saw in him is beyond explainable.

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5. Adam Newman – Young and the Restless

Handsome, charming, with a twisted side, Young and the Restless’ (Y&R) Adam Newman is a villain, with a conscience. Much like his father Victor, Adam does hurt people for his own selfish intentions, but more often than not, he does have and show regret…when the proverbial poop hits the fan. Unfortunately, he’s done some pretty terrible things, which has ultimately landed him on this top villains list: he purposely drove Ashley Abbott (literally) crazy, stole Sharon’s baby, and helped Jack forge a diary to get his father convicted of murder. More recently, he accidently hit and killed young Delia Abbott. Once he realized what had happened, he tried to hide evidence and didn’t come clean about the incident until it was too late. He also spent the past year or so, convincing family and loved ones he was dead, parading around as Gabriel Bingham. As it seems, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

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4. Cesar Faison – General Hospital

Emerging on the GH scene in 1990, Cesar’s terrible motives have always centered around Anna Devane. With an unhealthy obsession on the beautiful superspy, he’s tried to kidnap her countless times and has been behind many terrible happenings in Port Charles. He helped kidnapped Lucky Spencer, held Robin captive so that everyone around her thought she was dead, kept Duke Lavery away from Anna for years, and there is simply not enough space for all his dastardly deeds. One thing about Cesar is that no matter how many times he dies or leaves the show, he always comes back, with an even bigger plot of revenge. Sure, he’s off GH right now, but that could all change at the drop of a hat.

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3. Vivian Alamain – Days of Our Lives

Vivian is a villain to her core. She’s tried to poison people, she’s stolen an embryo and implanted it in herself, switched paternity tests and blackmailed others in Salem. She’s also probably the only villain in history to bury a soap hero alive, not once, but twice. Who could forget the infamous burial of Carly Manning, six feet under in the ’90s? No one would have ever thought Vivian would try and pull that stunt again, but she did, years later, when she buried sweet Maggie in a sarcophagus. To add to her villainess stature, she also took Isabella’s ashes (her late daughter-in-law at the time) and placed them in a pet cemetery to empty out the sarcophagus, to solidify Maggie’s alive-burial. Who would look there, right?

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2. Victor Newman – Young and the Restless

The patriarch of Newman Enterprises hits number two on this list because as he has done terrible things over the years in Genoa City, he also has a little bit of heart, and has done some truly incredible things as well. Unfortunately, the good simply cannot outweigh the bad. He’s faked his own death, blackmailed people, manipulated to gain more control and power within his company, had his daughter arrested on her wedding day, and shot Jack Abbott. He loves his family dearly, and would do anything to help them, but his constant need to control their lives can be over the top. His rivalry with Jack Abbott is also an unhealthy obsession. While he does have a sensitive side when it comes to his grandchildren (or any children for that matter), at least we definitely know he has a heart thanks to Colleen Carlton (he was given her heart to save his life in 2009).

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1. Stefano DiMera – Days of Our Lives

Was there any doubt that Stefano would top the list? The man with nine lives, who never dies, holds the number one spot for many reasons. Unlike some of the other villains on this list, Stefano has made enemies within the entire town of Salem, for one reason or another. His main target is the Brady clan, but it seems he also likes to torture the Hortons, has a weird rivalry going on with other bad-guy Victor Kiriakis, and is considered public enemy #1 by the Blacks (John Black, specifically). He’s an all-around terrible person, brainwashing John and Hope, meddling within the lives of his children, helping Satan get into Marlena’s head, and kidnapping most of Salem (having town residents think they are dead) and placing them on an island (Melaswen, that is). If that doesn’t scream top soap opera villain of all time, we’re not sure what would!