30 of American Horror Story's Most Twisted Characters Ever

If there's one thing that American Horror Story excels at, it's superfluous gore. But if there are two things it specializes in, they're superfluous gore and disturbing characters that will haunt you for the rest of your days. While there have only been five seasons of the show, there are way more than five villains. You've got your big, overarching bad guys, but then there are lots of evil characters that only appear in one or two episodes. Take a look here to see all the horrific baddies, ranked from "meh" to "holy sh*t this thing is terrifying."

01
Edward Mordrake, Freak Show
FX

Edward Mordrake, Freak Show

While Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) does have a monstrous deformity, he's not an evil man at heart. Sure, his second face is traumatizing, but he spends his days rescuing wayward freaks and giving them a family. Plus, once you read about the real Edward Mordrake, you might have a hard time thinking of him as a villain at all.

02
The Minotaur, Coven
FX

The Minotaur, Coven

Coven's minotaur (played by Ameer Baraka) is another tragic figure. Aesthetically, he's an absolute monster, but once the human lover of Marie Laveau, he has the soul of a man. However, he does become Laveau's pawn and has a bizarre tryst with Queenie.

03
Infantata, Season 1
FX

Infantata, Season 1

Poor little Infantata (Ben Woolf). Thaddeus, the child of Nora and Charles Montgomery, never really has a chance to live. He's dismembered by the disgruntled boyfriend of one of Charles's patients, and even when Charles puts him back together, he's never really the same. By that I mean he lives in the basement and has an unquenchable bloodthirst.

04
The Bed Monster, Hotel
FX

The Bed Monster, Hotel

We really don't even know what the Bed Monster (Alexander Ward) is about yet, but we do know that he lives in a bed, and he is terrifying.

05
Moira, Season 1
FX

Moira, Season 1

Moira is a strange beast. To Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott), she's a beautiful young girl (Alexandra Breckenridge), but to everyone else, she's an older woman with a blind eye (Frances Conroy). She is manipulative and tries to seduce Ben until he finally passes her test.

06
Spalding, Coven
FX

Spalding, Coven

Spalding (Denis O'Hare) is weird. There's no other way to put it. He's a weird guy who is obsessed with his massive collection of dolls — and Fiona Goode. Not only does he keep Madison's corpse all to himself, but he's so devoted to Fiona that he convinces her not to kill herself, even though she definitely should have.

07
Stanley, Freak Show
FX

Stanley, Freak Show

Stanley (O'Hare) may look unassuming, but he's one twisted guy. The only reason he's so low on the list is because he has the oldest motivation in the book: money. He kills freaks and sells their bodies to a museum, and while it's cruel and awful, it's rather bland.

08
Papa Legba, Coven
FX

Papa Legba, Coven

Papa Legba (Lance Reddick) is based on a real legend, and he's a bit of a mixed bag. He sends Fiona to live in her own personal hell, but since she's pretty evil, does that actually make him a hero?

09
Constance Langdon, Season 1
FX

Constance Langdon, Season 1

Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange) is a real snake in the grass. She's horrible to her daughter, Adelaide, and she ends up raising the Harmons' baby. Doesn't sound too terrible, right? She also lets the little tyke murder his nanny.

10
Dell Toledo, Freak Show
FX

Dell Toledo, Freak Show

In the present day, Dell (Michael Chiklis) isn't so bad. However, in a flashback we see him letting people watch his wife, the bearded lady, give birth up against a tree for money. He's disgusting on a very subhuman level.

11
The Axeman, Coven
FX

The Axeman, Coven

The Axeman (Danny Huston) has two loves: Fiona Goode and murder. He's based on a real person, and his desire to kill unsuspecting people in cold blood is chilling.

12
Hank Foxx, Coven
FX

Hank Foxx, Coven

Remember Hank Foxx (Josh Hamilton), Cordelia's husband? Something feels off about him from the start, and it turns out that he's part of a society that murders witches. What's sad is that he's not even appreciated by his father, the head witch hunter.

13
Fiona Goode, Coven
FX

Fiona Goode, Coven

Fiona (Lange) is sneaky and dangerously power-hungry. She begins her career as the Supreme with murder, and she's not afraid to kill again to maintain her title — just as Madison.

14
Elsa Mars, Freak Show
FX

Elsa Mars, Freak Show

Like Fiona, Elsa (Lange) also craves power, but she also wants legions of admiring fans. She dreams of being a star, but stuck in a prison (er, carnival tent) of her own making, she settles for emotionally torturing her minions. Lest you think she's not so bad, recall the time she shows Penny the tape of her own gang rape.

15
The Countess, Hotel
FX

The Countess, Hotel

We don't yet know the extent of the Countess's (Lady Gaga) evil, but we do know that she's killed several people with a flick of her silver finger. Some of them are garbage anyway (like Liz Taylor's former co-workers), but most are innocents.

16
Charles Montgomery, Season 1
FX

Charles Montgomery, Season 1

Charles (Matt Ross) is delightfully twisted. He has a bit of a Frankenstein complex (see the Infantata slide) and an addiction to ether. He's not straight-up evil, but he's absolutely mad.

17
Johnny Morgan, Asylum
FX

Johnny Morgan, Asylum

Johnny (Dylan McDermott) is the biological son of Oliver Thredson, aka Bloody Face, and Lana Winters. He essentially inherits his father's insanity and continues his reign of terror.

18
Joan Ramsey, Coven
FX

Joan Ramsey, Coven

Joan Ramsey (Patti LuPone) is the next-door neighbor of the girls at Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, and she's one bad b*tch. She essentially keeps her son prisoner, and she's responsible for that infamous Clorox enema. (We're still weeping for poor Luke.)

19
Leigh Emerson, Asylum
FX

Leigh Emerson, Asylum

Leigh Emerson (Ian McShane) isn't a major villain, but he leaves a huge mark on Asylum. The Briarcliff inmate dresses up like Santa on Christmas and terrorizes the staff. Sister Jude barely escapes with her life — not that she's particularly worth saving.

20
Twisty, Freak Show
FX

Twisty, Freak Show

It's hard not to have mixed feelings about Twisty (John Carroll Lynch). At first he seems like a cold-blooded killer, but the more we get to know him, the sadder he becomes. While his murders are vicious, he doesn't actually understand the pain he's inflicting on people.

21
Alicia Spencer, Coven
FX

Alicia Spencer, Coven

One villain I'd rather forget is Alicia Spencer (Mare Winningham), Kyle's mother. Not only is she a rapist, but she rapes her own son. Her crimes are truly next-level, and she does understand them.

22
Sister Mary Eunice, Asylum
FX

Sister Mary Eunice, Asylum

Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) is one of the only kind-hearted people at Briarcliff . . . until the devil takes over her body. She becomes Asylum's primary villain, wreaking havoc at the institution. The only reason she's not higher up on this list is because she's not in control of her own body.

23
The Addiction Demon, Hotel
FX

The Addiction Demon, Hotel

We don't know much about the Addiction Demon (Alexander Ward) yet, but the fact that he rapes Gabriel with a drillbit dildo on Hotel's premiere is enough to earn him a high-ranking spot.

24
Dr. Arden, Asylum and Freak Show
FX

Dr. Arden, Asylum and Freak Show

Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) is one of American Horror Story's few crossover characters, and he's evil in both cases. He's responsible for slicing off Elsa Mars's legs years before he reigns over Briarcliff with an iron fist. Oh, he also mercilessly tortured captives during WWII.

25
Rubber Man, Season 1
FX

Rubber Man, Season 1

The name "Rubber Man" should make you shudder. Eventually we learn Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) is under that suit, but that doesn't make the fact that he rapes Vivien Harmon any better. He'll always be one of the most twisted of the show's villains.

26
The Ten Commandments Killer, Hotel
FX

The Ten Commandments Killer, Hotel

We're still waiting to find out the identity of Hotel's Ten Commandments Killer, but we do know he's sick. So far, he's sliced and diced his way through several dozens of victims, all in the name of the Bible's commandments. Nothing like opening a door to find two men crucified to their bedposts with their guts hanging out, right?

27
Dandy Mott, Freak Show
FX

Dandy Mott, Freak Show

When Twisty passes to the great beyond, Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) takes over his post as the world's creepiest clown. The major difference is that Twisty is confused and sad, while Dandy is bored, spoiled, and fully aware that he's murdering people in a horrific fashion.

28
Madame Delphine LaLaurie, Coven
FX

Madame Delphine LaLaurie, Coven

Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) is a villain for the ages, but she does slightly redeem herself by the end of Coven. Still, she starts off as a racist murderer who drinks the blood of her slaves. The woman is madness personified.

29
James March, Hotel
FX

James March, Hotel

How great is Mr. March (Evan Peters)? He kills with abandon, and he really doesn't care if someone catches him. Why? He'll just kill them, too! He seals people in walls, slices them to death while raping them (OK, that one is particularly disturbing), and even shoots his loyal maid in the head. He's unforgettably twisted!

30
Dr. Oliver Thredson, Asylum
FX

Dr. Oliver Thredson, Asylum

Don't even bother arguing about this. Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) is the crown jewel of American Horror Story villains. He appears to be the only truly good person on Asylum but turns out to be the incomparably evil Bloody Face. He has severe mommy issues, hand-crafts his furniture out of the bodies of his victims, and is a straight-up rapist. There's nothing kind or good about Thredson, and that makes him the ultimate villain.