Hisssssssss! TV's top villains

When viewers last left Russell Edgington, otherwise known as the blood-sucking King of Mississippi, he appeared destined to die (again), but in the days before his moment in the sunlight, Russell brought a level vengeance-fueled iniquity rarely seen in a made-for-TV bad guy.

The small screen may be filled with all manner of killers, but Russell stands out even among his vampire kin. Before a recent bout of rage propelled him into super-villain territory, the 3000-year-old had no interest in playing nice with humans. They are, after all, food as far as he’s concerned.

But once a fellow vamp killed Russell’s consort of the last several hundred years, the regent turned into the sort of must-see mad monster that carries the remains of his lost love around in a crystal compote and rips open news anchors on live TV.

A cheerleading coach seems like an unlikely follow up to a murderous vampire king and a serial killer, but it works when the coach in question is “Glee’s” enthusiastically cruel Sue Sylvester.

Sure, the chief “Cheerio” hasn’t killed in the name of school spirit — well, not yet — but she’s not above lying, blackmailing and bullying to get her way. And if she crushes a few teen dreams along the way, it’s sort of a bonus.

From her pro-littering stance to her knack for using her mother’s “euthanasia” as a punch line, the Regionals winner isn’t just bad; she routinely veers into a cartoonish brand of bad.

Speaking of cartoonish, few flesh and blood TV villains bring the old school style of wrongdoing better than the animated C. Montgomery Burns.

The morals-free 104-year-old business mogul may be physically weak, but he delights in the power his money gives him. Of course, money can’t buy everything, which is why Mr. Burns also takes joy in the little things, such as literally stealing candy from a baby.

Mr. Burns is so content in his own malevolence, he would twirl his moustache if he had one. Instead he makes do by steepling his fingers and perfecting his vulture-like posture.

Mario Perez  /  ABC

Long before Ben changed his bad guy ways and became Hurley’s right-hand island man, he stood alone as the single “Lost” character scarier than an occasionally murderous plume of black smoke. At least with the smoke, it was safe to assume the worst.

With Ben and his powers of deception, there was no way to know what to expect. The man could endure torture with a smile. He could lie with his own life on the line. And his knack for ruses allowed him to pull off the Dharma Purge, killing his own father and causing the deaths of 40 or so members of his own camp.

Most bad guys have a little bit of goodness left somewhere inside. They may seem irredeemable on the surface, but there’s still little bit of humanity deep down. Well, that doesn’t apply to Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell of the Fox River State Penitentiary.

A one-man mash up of every vile trait conceivable, T-Bag’s long list of crimes included murder, rape, pedophilia, arson, kidnapping and animal abuse, just to name a few.

The one-dimensional nature of T-Bag’s badness is what made him worth the watch. There was no chance of salvation around the corner. T-Bag even lacked a sense of honor among thieves. He could be charming, but he could never be trusted.

Ree Hines gives an honorable mention to her favorite long gone TV villain, the Mayor from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Follow @ReeHines on Twitter and share you own picks.