The Blacklist’s 10 Best Villains, Ranked

From overarching antagonists to characters who only appeared in one episode, The Blacklist had no shortage of villains over the course of its 10 seasons. The premise of the show ensured that Raymond Reddington (James Spader) always had his eye on criminals that he and the FBI task force needed to go after. In every season of The Blacklist, there were episodic villains, but they often tied into more formidable threats that Reddington and the task force were facing.

While there often ended up being considerable conflict between Reddington and Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), they were the protagonists for the majority of the show, and the villains were characters who opposed them. Elizabeth’s husband, Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold), was also not included in this list as he was an ally to them for most of his time in the series. The best villains in The Blacklist were those who were most memorable and who posed a significant threat to Reddington, Elizabeth, and the task force.

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10

Wujing

Played by Chin Han

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With his debut in season 1, episode 3, Wujing (Chin Han) was one of The Blacklist‘s earliest villains. In season 1, Wujing did not make too strong of an enough impression to cement himself among the most memorable Blacklisters. He only gained that recognition at the end of season 9 when he escaped from prison and began carrying out a plan to team up with other surviving Blacklisters and to work together to take down Reddington.

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Wujing went from being a one-off villain to being the primary villain in the first half of season 10. It was through him that Blacklisters like Dr. Laken Perillos (Laverne Cox), Robert Vesco (Stacy Keach), and the Troll Farmer (Aaron Yoo) were able to come back in the final season. On his own, Wujing was not as intriguing as many of the show’s other villains, but his role in season 10 gave him a spot on the list.

9

Lord Baltimore

Played by Krysten Ritter

Lord Baltimore (Krysten Ritter) was only in one episode of The Blacklist, but she still managed to be one of the show’s most memorable villains. This was a case where Reddington knew the alias of the Blacklister, who was an information broker that hired someone to kill him, but he did not know who Lord Baltimore was or what they looked like. This made it all the more surprising when it was revealed that Lord Baltimore was Nora Mills, who was initially believed to be a victim named Rowan Mills who was questioned by the task force.

Nora was an operative who developed dissociative identity disorder after killing her twin sister, Rowan, and went on to become the hacker and information broker known as Lord Baltimore. As a one-episode villain, she did not end up being as much of a threat as many of the other Blacklisters that Reddington, Elizabeth, and the task force faced, but she was one of the most surprising. Her backstory made her more tragic than many of the series’ other antagonists.

8

The Osterman Umbrella Company

Played by multiple individuals

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The Blacklist villain group known as the Osterman Umbrella Company only appeared in one episode, yet they were a distinct threat that forever changed the threat. They were a group of mercenaries hired to assassinate government agents who had become liabilities. Since they were hired by government agencies from across the globe, they were a danger that was backed by powerful authorities. This made it all the more difficult to stop them when they were hired to kill Samar Navabi (Mozhan Marnò), who the Mossad believed was a security risk due to her vascular dementia.

They were formidable enough villains that they could not simply be stopped, and the only way to combat the situation was for Samar to leave the country.

The idea of a mercenary organization protected and utilized by countless governments was equally terrifying and fascinating. They were formidable enough villains that they could not simply be stopped, and the only way to combat the situation was for Samar to leave the country. The Osterman Umbrella Company are the in-universe reason that Samar left The Blacklist, which was a shocking and permanent change to the show. Not bringing the Osterman Umbrella Company back again did feel like a missed opportunity, though, given their extensive reach.

7

Anslo Garrick

Played by Ritchie Coster

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When he was introduced in The Blacklist season 1, Anslo Garrick (Ritchie Coster) quickly established himself as being one of the show’s most dangerous villains yet when he and his team were able to infiltrate the Post Office, which was the black site where the FBI task force was stationed. Garrick further solidified his threat level by taking most of the team hostage and killing Luli Zheng (Deborah S. Craig), a member of Reddington’s security detail, in front of him.

Garrick was bold enough to attack a government black site, take FBI agents hostage, and kill one of Reddington’s closest allies in front of him, all so he could get to the criminal mastermind himself. This was the first instance in the show where two episodes were needed to deal with a single Blacklister because of how dangerous they were. Having a prior history with Reddington, which they reference throughout the episodes, was also compelling. Garrick ended up just being a pawn in a larger scheme, but he was still quite a memorable and daunting villain.

6

Neville Townsend

Played by Reg Rogers

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Neville Townsend (Reg Rogers) was a main villain in season 8 who made a lasting impression. When Elizabeth waged her war against Reddington in season 8, she turned to Townsend and his extensive resources for help, but this decision backfired as his unhinged nature endangered far more than just Reddington. Rogers’ performance made Townsend feel more unpredictable and frightening than many of The Blacklist‘s other villains.

The Blacklist Tomatometer Score	The Blacklist Popcornmeter Score
91%	79%

He was someone who could not be reasoned with and who would not make compromises, and was impactful enough to be a common enemy that ended up bringing Reddington and Elizabeth back together despite the rift that had formed between them. While many aspects of the story worked well for Townsend, it was frustrating how his vendetta got in the way of finally exposing the ongoing mysteries about Reddington’s identity and the whereabouts of Elizabeth’s mother, Katarina Rostova. In this sense, Townsend stalled the story instead of pushing forward.

5

Tom Connolly

Played by Reed Birney

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Tom Connolly (Reed Birney) was a member of the Department of Justice and a good friend of FBI Assistant Director Harold Cooper (Harry Lennix). Connolly was one of the key characters who helped introduce the larger threat of the shadow government known as the Cabal, which was the show’s primary villain in the second half of season 2 and the first half of season 3. What made Connolly one of The Blacklist‘s most despicable villains was that he betrayed the trust of the likable and honorable Cooper in service of the Cabal.

Tom Conolly became the United States Attorney General.

It was through Connolly and the Cabal that Cooper came to believe that he had cancer, only to later learn that the diagnosis had been faked. Connolly made the unforgivable choice of weaponizing his longtime friendship with Cooper, their connection, and the cancer diagnosis to manipulate him. Connolly’s personality was not as entertaining as some of the other villains, but his sinister impact on the story was enough to earn him a respectable spot on the list.

4

Tatiana Petrova

Played by Laila Robins

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At the end of The Blacklist season 6, the real Katarina Rostova finally seemed to resurface, with the character being played by Laila Robins. It was later revealed that this was not Katarina, but a former KGB spy named Tatiana Petrova. Nevertheless, she had a strong introduction by stabbing Reddington in their first scene together, and she continued to be captivating as she moved next door to Elizabeth, pretended to be a friendly neighbor, and later on pretended to be her mother.

Robins brought a sense of calculated control to the character that made her enthralling to watch, regardless of her true identity. The amount of time she spent with Elizabeth’s daughter, Agnes, added another layer to her that was not present in most of The Blacklist‘s other villains. However, this character not being Katarina ultimately made her story less interesting, and retroactively took away some of the weight from her various scenes.

3

Peter Kotsiopulos

Played by David Strathairn

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The Cabal was arguably the most powerful villain in all The Blacklist, and Peter Kotsiopulos (David Strathairn), the Director of the National Clandestine Service, was at the head of the shadow government. Through Kotsiopulos’ ruthless leadership, the Cabal proved to be a massive global threat whose presence was felt as early as season 1, and who required multiple seasons to be defeated.

While the Cabal was a vast shadow government with global influence, Kotsiopulos was arguably the most important in ensuring that the organization continued to thrive in the shadows for so long, but he was also integral to their downfall. Strathairn made him seem disarmingly confident, even when things were going poorly for the Cabal. Kotsiopulos was a successful villain, even if his organization was sometimes more interesting than him.

2

Berlin

Played by Peter Stormare

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Milos Kirchoff, better known as Berlin (Peter Stormare), was The Blacklist‘s first major overarching antagonist. Many of the Blacklisters in season 1 and in the first half of season 2 connected back to Berlin, including Elizabeth’s husband, Tom. Between cutting off his tattooed hand so he couldn’t be identified, and one of his men killing the task force’s Meera Malik (Parminder Nagra), Berlin proved he was a real threat and was willing to go to extreme lengths to protect himself and to get revenge against Reddington.

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Berlin set the precedent for the rest of The Blacklist‘s overarching villains, ensuring that the show would be built on long-running storylines instead of just being a procedural with a different villain every week. Believing that Reddington was responsible for his daughter’s death, only for Berlin to learn that his daughter was alive after all, also helped set the precedent for things never being what they seemed to be in The Blacklist. Berlin was an effective villain, but even he could not live up to the best of The Blacklist.

1

Mr. Kaplan

Played by Susan Blommaert

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The Blacklist season 1 was the show’s best, but the best villain was in season 4. Mr. Kaplan/Kathryn Nemec (Susan Blommaert) was in the show from season 1 as Reddington’s cleaner and close ally, but it wasn’t until he tried to kill her in season 4 that she became an antagonist. By digging up all the bodies she disposed of for Reddington and the other secrets she knew from years of working with him, she was able to dismantle his criminal empire and to be a true threat.

What made Mr. Kaplan a particularly compelling villain was that she was easy to root for, arguably even more so than rooting for Reddington. The audience had already known and liked her since season 1, and there was an even greater understanding of her after the backstory revealed in season 4, episode 17, “Requiem.” Mr. Kaplan was formidable, but it was easy to see where she was coming from, and this combination made her the best villain of The Blacklist.

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Release Date

2013 – 2023-00-00

Network

NBC

Showrunner

Jon Bokenkamp

Directors

Jon Bokenkamp

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Jon Bokenkamp

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  Harry Lennix

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