As far as soap villains go, Emmerdale has definitely had some of the best and most terrifying we’ve ever seen. There have been a wide spectrum of baddies over the years – from deranged mass murderers, to evil rapists and unhinged bunny boilers.
Most recently, it’s been the turn of twisted Tom King to inflict his terror on poor Belle Dingle and the rest of the village. At last, Tom’s crimes are about to catch up with him, but what happened to all the other bad guys and girls?
Here’s a look at 11 of the most legendary Emmerdale villains…
Emmerdale best villains: Meena Jutla
As Emmerdale’s first female serial killer, Meena Jutla has already secured her place in soap history.
She was introduced as Manpreet’s estranged sister, and at first it seemed Meena’s only crime was seducing her brother-in-law. But how wrong we were. Meena was a psychopath, who’s already committed murder before she even set foot in the Dales. Her first two victims were her best friend Nadine and her own father.
Viewers quickly realised Meena was about as unhinged as they come. This was someone who took sadistic pleasure in stalking her prey, and liked to sing to pop music before going in for the kill.
In total, Meena killed three villagers. First, she pushed teen Leanna Cavanagh to her death off a bridge, Aaron Dingle‘s boyfriend Ben Tucker was bludgeoned over the head, and Andrea Tate was beaten then left to burn alive in a maze fire. The nutty nurse would have happily carried on and almost claimed Manpreet’s life before the police captured her.
Meena’s now safely behind bars, which is good news for the locals, but we miss her evil brilliance.
Cameron Murray
Crazed Cameron Murray managed to rack up quite the body count during his two year reign of terror in Emmerdale.
The love rat turned killer when he bashed Carl King’s brains in with a brick during Emmerdale’s live 40th anniversary episode. Carl was threatening to out Cameron’s affair with Chas Dingle, so he found a way to silence him. Permanently.
Guilt-ridden, Cameron confessed what he’d done to best mate Alex Moss, but then panicked he’d tell the police. Cameron took Alex hostage before murdering him to ensure his secret was safe. Gennie Walker became his third victim when she threatened to expose his involvement in Carl’s death.
Cameron went to prison, but broke out and returned to the village, where he stormed The Woolpack with a shotgun and held the locals hostage. The dramatic siege reached a terrifying climax as Cameron tried to drown Chas in the pub’s flooded cellar. However, he ended up killing himself when he grabbed the live wire of an electric bulb.
Graham Clark
What is it they always say about the quiet ones? No one would have suspected teacher Graham Clark was a murderer at first glance.
After a disastrous marriage to cold-hearted Chris Tate, Rachel Hughes thought she’d found the one in Graham. He helped her redecorate her home, cooked her lovely meals and even alphabetised her CD collection. But these weren’t just sweet gestures – Graham had a sinister agenda.
Gradually he took control of every aspect of Rachel’s life, even getting her to dye her blonde hair red to resemble his late wife. The penny finally dropped for Rachel while the couple were out walking in the countryside. Rachel realised Graham had murdered his missus and made her death look like suicide.
She tried to flee, but there was no escape. Graham pushed Rachel off a clifftop to her death.
With his deadly secret still safe he turned his attentions to Rachel’s best mate Kathy Glover. He almost killed her in a car crash, but she managed to escape. Graham wasn’t so lucky and died when the vehicle exploded into a ball of flames.
Emmerdale best villains: Carl King
There aren’t many nice things we can say about Carl King. He was spoilt, arrogant, reckless and didn’t give a damn who he hurt.
But what tipped Carl into villain territory was when it was revealed he’d killed his own dad! Carl pushed old Tom King (who to be fair wasn’t that nice either) out of a window on his wedding day.
Carl got away with murder for years, and god knows how because practically half of the village knew he’d done it. But his big downfall came when he crossed killer Cameron Murray.
Carl was obsessed with his ex Chas Dingle, but then discovered she and Cameron were having an affair. Consumed with jealousy and rage, Carl attempted to rape Chas, but she hit him over a head with a brick and fled, believing he was dead.
He was still very much alive, and when Cameron found Carl he decided to finish off the job. Carl’s death was part of Emmerdale’s 40th live episode and was watched by an audience of 8.8 million.
Tom King
Like father, like son, Tom has shown himself to be one of the worst Emmerdale villains: a violent bully and abuser. But the vet’s disturbing behaviour began at a young age.
When he was just 13, Tom – or Thomas as he was known back then – started a campaign of harassment against Chas Dingle, the woman he believed had killed his father. The twisted teen sent Chas disturbing pictures, bombarded her with anonymous calls, vandalised her home, and even threw a glass bottle at her.
After his wicked antics were exposed, Tom fled to Saudi Arabia to live with his mum. He returned 10 years later, all grown up and seemingly a changed character. But that was all a front, as poor Belle Dingle discovered.
The young couple got married in February 2024 and appeared the picture of happiness. But behind closed doors, Tom was exhibiting abusive and controlling behaviour. He physically, emotionally and mentally tortured his wife, isolating her from her family and friends and continually gaslit her into believing it was all her fault.
Tom’s crimes have been wicked and shocking to see, but justice is finally about to be served. And we will not be sorry to see the back of him.
Kim Tate
No Emmerdale villains list is complete with out the queen, Kim Tate. She’s deliciously wicked, rather than being evil to the core.
Kim has committed so many sins over the years it’s impossible to reel them all off. But she’s been a thief, a fraudster, an abductor, a manipulator, liar and cheat. You get the picture.
But despite Kim’s catalogue of crimes, she’s only actually killed one person. And that wasn’t through violent means.
Who will ever forget that iconic moment when she stood by and watched as Frank suffered a fatal heart attack on Home Farm’s living room carpet? The look of satisfaction on Kim’s face as she saw the life fade from her estranged husband, and how she used her compact mirror to check whether Frank had stopped breathing? So terrifically twisted.
Emmerdale best villains: Lachlan White
Lachlan White went from being a socially awkward kid to one of soap’s most prolific serial killers.
The only son of Chrissie White, Lachlan was characterised as a bit of weird loner. He did strike up a friendship with Belle Dingle, and encouraged her to seek help over her mental health problems. But that’s really where his niceness ended.
Events took a sinister turn when Lachlan developed an unhealthy infatuation with Alicia Gallagher. Believing his feelings were reciprocated, Lachlan committed a sexual assault on Alicia. Chrissie called the police on her son and he was placed on the sex offender’s register for two years.
After that, things spiralled really out of control. The teenager accidentally shot his grandfather Lawrence, then deliberately caused a car crash which claimed the life of Lawrence and Chrissie.
He murdered lovely Gerry Roberts by bashing his skull in with a rock, then killed Terry Bates, a conman who was posing as Gerry’s uncle. He nearly added three more bodies to count – Robert Sugden, Liv Flaherty, and his aunt Rebecca White, but they lived to tell the tale.
Lachlan was eventually captured and sent to prison. But that didn’t stop him hiring his dad to burn down Wishing Well Cottage in a final act of revenge against the Dingles. What a lovely lad, eh?
Sally Spode
Sally was the wife of a vicar, but there was nothing holy about this dangerous woman.
After her marriage crumbled, Sally turned to her ex-boyfriend Ashley Thomas for help. He and wife Laurel took pity on Sally and welcomed her into Mulberry Cottage with open arms. But little did they know they’d invited a lunatic into their lives.
Sally developed an unhealthy obsession with Ashley. She wanted him, and therefore Laurel had to go. In scenes fit for a horror film, Sally locked her love rival in the church then set fire to the building. Somehow Laurel managed to make it out alive, but Sally wasn’t done yet.
The craziness continued as Sally drugged Ashley to try to get him into bed. She kidnapped Edna Birch’s dog, held little Angelica King hostage and even made claims that she was pregnant with Ashley’s baby. No wonder why Laurel saw red and nearly pushed her off a balcony.
In the end, Sally was declared mentally ill and sectioned.
Craig Reed
Craig was an old friend of Lydia Dingle‘s who seemed a nice enough chap when we first met him.
The former couple knew each other from their time living together at a children’s home. Lydia, then known as Jenny Finn, had become pregnant and gave birth to their stillborn son, Toby.
33 years later, Lydia and Craig reconnected and she told him about their baby. Craig offered Lydia a cleaning job, but then began to make creepy advances towards her. Frightened by his behaviour, Lydia told Craig she was quitting, but he refused to let her go. He trapped Lydia in his office and raped her.
After suffering in silence for weeks, Lydia bravely told her family what had happened. Nearly every member of the Dingles was out for Craig’s blood, so when he was discovered dead in the middle of a field it looked as if one of them had finished him off.
The truth was somewhat more shocking and bizarre. The rapist was actually killed by the hooves of Kim Tate’s horse, Ice, who got spooked and trampled Craig to death.
Emmerdale best villains: Emma Barton
Emma Barton’s problem was that she really loved her family. A little too much.
The estranged wife of James and mum to Pete, Ross and Finn came to the village looking for forgiveness for walking out on them years previously. She somehow managed to worm her way back into their lives, but the happy family reunion did not last long.
Realising James’s heart lay with sister-in-law, Moira, Emma held him hostage (while in her wedding dress). He escaped her clutches, but she then pushed him over the edge of a bridge, causing the Hotten Bypass Crash.
Emma also made out she had motor neurone disease to try and keep her boys close. She abducted Moira’s newborn baby son, Isaac, and accidentally shot and killed her youngest lad, Finn.
She also met a grisly end when Moira shoved her off a viaduct.
Pierce Harris
Widower Pierce Harris came into Rhona Goskirk‘s life when his wife, Tess, died. She had been having an affair with Rhona’s husband Paddy at the time of her death. Grieving and all over the place it probably wasn’t the best idea for either of them, but Pierce and Rhona fell into a relationship.
He seemed perfect on the surface: smart, sophisticated and handsome. But beneath the surface lay a controlling abuser. He forced himself on Rhona even though she wasn’t in the mood and grew abusive.
Rhona’s best mate Vanessa knew what he was and tried to get her friend away from him, but Rhona wouldn’t listen. She went ahead and married Pierce, but when he raped her on their wedding day, she decided she had to go to the police.
Pierce was sent to prison, but when he was released he came straight back for Rhona. He murdered her then-boyfriend Graham Foster and took Vanessa hostage. Rhona eventually set him up so the police would arrest him again.
Pierce died in prison.
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Read more: The Barton family tree
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am.
Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.
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