they're big they're bad and they're
smarter than you because it's all part
of the plan
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're
counting down our picks for the top ten
smartest movie villains I'm glad to have
your board mr. Bhalla for this list
we're looking at big screen bad guys
with brains you must break through the
fog of Lies the Jedi have created around
you while they might know how to throw a
punch these ingenious evildoers rely
primarily on their super smarts and
complex plots just so you know there are
some pretty big spoilers ahead so look
out but until then we do not alter the
plan number 10 Colonel Hans Landa
inglorious basterds
well I'm very familiar with you and your
family I have no way of knowing if you
are familiar with Who I am
are you aware of my existence a shrewd
detective like officer who speaks
multiple languages senior
j'tia this nefarious Nazi is an evil
version of Sherlock Holmes complete with
his classy pipe sitting in your chair
would probably say the same thing only
instead of solving crimes Landa uses his
powers of deduction to hunt down runaway
jews an expert interrogator who reads
people instantly you're sheltering
enemies of the state not Landa is smart
enough to never let patriotism get in
the way and knows when it's time to
switch sides I would like the United
States of America to purchase property
for me in a Nantucket Island as a reward
for all the countless lives I've saved
by bringing an attorney of the National
Socialist Party to a swift death and
imagined in do you have all that Seth
while he occasionally struggles with
English expressions bingo this sly SS
officer is definitely the cleverest
character Quentin Tarantino has ever
created is that the way you say that's a
bingo you just say bingo
bingo how fun number nine
Khan Noonien Singh the Star Trek
franchise while you don't want to meet
the Borg Queen or general Chang in a
dark alley
neither comes close to Khan I'll chase
him round the moons of nubira and round
the antares maelstrom and round
perdition's flames before I give him up
a genetically engineered dictator this
deep-space super human is brainy beefy
and isn't big on forgiveness in the
Wrath of Khan he goes full out a hab in
his quest to kill Kirk using everything
from a terraforming device to brain
parasites you see very young enter
through the ears and wrap themselves
around the city brew cortex this has the
effect of rendering the victim extremely
susceptible to suggestion over 30 years
later he returned as a one-man army
trying to take out Starfleet in star
trek into darkness a smokescreen to
conceal my true identity
my name is whether young or old Khan is
the most evil Einstein the enterprise
ever encountered if you want to know why
I did what I did go and take a look
give me one reason why I should listen
to you I can give you 72 and they're on
board your ship captain they have been
all along
number eight John Kramer also known as
the jigsaw killer the Saw franchise
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after learning he has an inoperable
tumor John Kramer tries to end it all
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but when he survives his suicide attempt
Kramer decides to help others stop
wasting their lives by building death
traps an educated killer with a civil
engineering background jigsaw puts his
degree to use building machines out of
rube Goldberg's worst nightmares from
razor wires to shotgun collars jigsaws
traps are sadistically clever forcing
victims to make life-changing decisions
that's a problem you're gonna have to
solve before it's too late and either
you learn your lesson or this crafty
killer says game over most people are so
ungrateful
but not anymore
number seven hans gruber diehard
impeccably dressed and incredibly suave
this culture criminal killed as easily
as he quoted classic literature leading
a team of hackers and thieves Hans
Gruber planned on drilling into a
high-tech vault and stealing six hundred
and forty million dollars in negotiable
bearer bonds and this German mastermind
came prepared with his heist planned to
a teeth Gruber masqueraded as a hostage
taking terrorists conning the FBI into
playing along with his elaborate scheme
who said we were terrorists if only a
certain cowboy cop hadn't gotten a
machine gun this stylish super villain
would have gotten away clean do you
really think you have a chance against
us at mr. cowboy number six the Joker
The Dark Knight what do you believe
whatever doesn't kill you simply makes
you
stranger in this superhero spectacle
Bruce Wayne is equipped with the latest
crime-fighting gadgets and still has
trouble
outwitting the Clown Prince of Crime the
most philosophical baddie on our list
the Joker doesn't care about money he's
playing for bigger stakes like Harvey
Dent introduce a little anarchy this
self-proclaimed agent of chaos is a
first-rate trickster bluffing and
besting Batman at every turn while he
hates making plans this conniving crook
is more than a match for the Caped
Crusader
I took Gotham's White Knight and I
brought him down it wasn't hard see
madness as you know is like gravity all
it takes is a little push
number five auric Goldfinger Goldfinger
you expect me to talk James Bond has
battled some fearsome foes but none was
as wily as auric Goldfinger why saw
paths have crossed let's leave it at
that
as crafty as he is greedy this double-o
scoundrel is an inventive smuggler with
an outlandish plot to contaminate Fort
Knox's gold supply with a radioactive
bomb an invisible nerve gas which
disperses 15 minutes after inducing
complete unconsciousness for 24 hours in
addition to his extravagant schemes
Goldfinger is one spectacular showman
using everything from gas to lasers to
gold paint to Isis enemies he might
monologue occasionally but this
brilliant bond baddie has certain
we earned the right this is gold Mr Bond
all my life I've been in love with its
color its brilliance number four Emperor
Palpatine the Star Wars saga look up the
word manipulative in the dictionary and
you'll find a picture of Emperor
Palpatine the son of sky must not become
he seems like an upstanding senator but
he's secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith
you will not stop me strong in the dark
side of the force as well as politics
Palpatine builds an army declares
himself Emperor and seduces Anakin
Skywalker and does all of this right
under the nose of the Jedi if you wish
to become a complete and wise leader you
must embrace a larger view of the force
over 20 years later he's still the
smartest guy in the galaxy tempting Luke
and controlling Darth Vader who's no
intellectual slouch himself what is thy
bidding my master
there is great disturbance
in force I have felt it number three
Hal 9000 2001 a Space Odyssey good
afternoon how how's everything going
good afternoon mr. Raymer everything is
going extremely well he's efficient
effective and super intelligent let me
put it this way mr. aymer the 9000
series is the most reliable computer
ever made unfortunately he's losing his
mind
yes it's puzzling I don't think I've
ever seen anything quite like this
before
at first glance Hal 9000 is the perfect
choice to run a spaceship on its way to
Jupiter how despite your enormous
intellect are you ever frustrated by
your dependence on people to carry out
actions not in the slightest bit I enjoy
working with people but when he starts
to malfunction astronauts Dave Bowman
and Frank Poole decide to shut him down
unfortunately Hal reads lips and starts
killing off the crew
with his creepy calm voice courtesy of
Douglas rain pal emits an aura of calm
and superiority that makes it all the
more disturbing when he won't let Dave
inside all I would argue with you
anymore open the doors and this
conversation can serve no purpose
anymore goodbye
number two Roger verbal Kint the usual
suspects
his name is verbal verbal Kint verbal
yeah Roger really people say I talk too
much yeah I was just gonna tell you to
shut up Kevin Spacey stole the show in
seven as religious Psychopaths John Doe
but he was at his bad guy best as verbal
Kint at that point I wasn't scared I
knew I hadn't done anything they could
give me four besides it was fun I got to
make like I was notorious a petty crook
with cerebral palsy Kent is one of the
few survivors of a heist gone very wrong
the driver didn't see anybody but
somebody [ __ ] up when interrogated by
police he tells an incredible story
about how his crew was manipulated by a
mythical gangster named Keyser söze the
street outside stuff somebody working
for a guy work for a guy I got some
money from Keyser Soze you know [ __ ]
like that
timid and naive it's hard not to trust a
verbal story he becomes a myth a spook
story that criminals tell their kids at
night rat on your pop and Keyser Soze
will get you until the last scene when
we learned the smartest villains always
hide in plain sight
greatest trick the devil ever pulled was
convincing the world he didn't exist
before we unveil our top pick here are a
few honorable mentions I had to kill him
then I neutralized John no easy
at product Li two billion dollars in the
Tachyon research to pluck john's vision
of the future how do you choose to
congratulate the greatest criminal mind
of our time huh you tell me that I'm
brilliant
it's been decided that you will be
dressed as a priest to help you get away
in the pandemonium afterwards Chun Jin
will give you a two-piece Soviet army
snipers rifles it fits nicely into a
special bag you know what the scariest
thing is to not know your place in this
world to not know why are you here why
do I think there's never been a Ripley
rain today
I know it was number one dr. Hannibal
Lecter The Silence of the Lambs
monie he was only on screen for 16
minutes but that was plenty of time for
Hannibal Lecter to terrify audiences
with his psychopathic brain power that
expires in one week an entree an FBI a
psychiatrist with a flair for fine
dining
this cannibal loves playing mind games
with FBI agent Clarice Starling and with
his keen understanding of the criminal
mind Lecter is the only man who can help
catch serial killer Buffalo Bill I'm
offering you a psychological profile of
Buffalo Bill based on the case evidence
I'll help you catch him carry but
Hannibal's brilliance truly shines when
he uses brains and brawn in one of the
scariest jail breaks in cinema history
do you agree with our list who's your
favorite smart movie villain for more
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