A Few of My Favorite TV Villains - Cartoon Edition

Written by Shae Rufe

Having a little sister is one of the coolest things ever, because I still get to watch Cartoons. This is probably how my dad feels with the many cartoons we all watched growing up. So how about some cartoon villains for today, yeah? Just because they're kids shows, doesn't mean they don't have some of the baddest villains around. Some of these shows have actually feature some pretty diabolical baddies.

Take for instance Vlad Masters from the show Danny Phantom. This show came out as a stand-alone following the massive success of The Fairly Odd Parents. The series follows a 14-year-old boy named Danny and his Ghost hunting family. Yep, his parents aren't crazy, they're just a bit on the incompetent side. During an experiment gone wrong, Danny gets transformed into a hybrid of sorts. Half human and half Ghost, Danny is able to transform and fight ghosts. Pretty cool, right? Except this wasn't the first of his kind created. Jack Fenton failed at a similar experiment when he was in college, transforming his then friend Vlad into a half ghost/half human. Vlad uses his powers to rise in wealth and social standing. The one thing he was never able to obtain, however, is love. Vlad dedicates his existence to winning over Jack's wife Maddie. Upon finding this, and other evil plots, our Danny is determined to stop the man. Vlad is crazy on a whole other level. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. He even clones Danny at one point, creating a girl named Dani. Can you say crazy?
 
Speaking of crazy, does anyone remember Invader Zim? If you do, we're now besties, for real. Zim is kind of a mess up among his alien race, which is why they send him to Earth in hopes he'll actually conquer it. Just kidding, they wanted Zim out of the way entirely. They give him a dysfunctional robot named Gir and send them off. The ship they're sent on transforms into a lovely little house, complete with creepy garden gnomes. Zim dresses as a human boy and attends school to learn more about the planet he's planning to take over. Gir dresses as an adorable green dog, and he's literally the cutest thing ever. Now, there have been arguments that Gir is actually the evil mastermind. That's a blog for another time. Zim has to face many challenges, one of which being a conspiracy theorist little boy named Dib and his scary sister Gaz. Zim gets my villain nod here because he actually has some crazy schemes, but also because he's a cartoon villain that has kids of all ages secretly rooting for him. Zim happens to also be our protagonist, and while he is a bit of a social outcast, he's also genuinely convinced he can be better than what others see him as. Zim is easily a likable villain because he strives to prove everyone wrong about him. And that's a pretty strong message to give kids.

Unlike Vicky from Fairly Odd Parents. Now. Vicky is so straight up evil she's the reason Timmy has magical fairy god parents. Her torturous evil ways have us always hoping Timmy escapes her. This character is so bad, a famous pop star, Chip Skylark, writes a song about her and he calls it 'Icky Vicky.' On several occasions Vicky tries to get Timmy in trouble. She succeeds in getting him grounded a few times and is the reason he runs away once. Still, Vicky also is why Timmy is so close with Wanda and Cosmo. The adventures Timmy goes on to escape Vicky are not just fun, but imaginative and downright amusing. Though, she does give babysitters everywhere a bad rap. Vicky also is good at one thing, and that's always being bad.

---