The Most Evil Fictional Athletes Ever

Most heroes have a foil. Batman had The Joker, Luke Skywalker was defined by Darth Vader and Superman is nothing without Lex Luthor.

This fact holds true in the world of sports fiction, too. With competitive sport comes intense drama, and with drama comes great conflict. From it all, some of the world’s best villains have taken shape.

Below we explore television and film’s most evil villains, with special attention paid to the athletes of the bunch.

Some make us laugh, while others give us nightmares. Regardless, they all made our Top 11 Evil Fictional Athletes.

Close, but No Cigar

Screen Shot from YouTube

Big Lebowski's Jesus Quintana was not quite bad enough.

Below is our list of (dis)honorable mentions. For one reason or another, these accomplished villains narrowly missed the cut: 

J.D. McCoy (Friday Night Lights)

Iceland's Gunnar Stahl (Mighty Ducks 2)

Spike (Little Giants)

Jack Parkman (Major League)

Jesus Quintana (The Big Lebowski)

Jean Girard (Talladega Nights)

Sidney Dean (White Man Can't Jump)

Bull (Over the Top)

Billie “The Blue Bear” (Million Dollar Baby)

11. Ernie McCracken

Sure, Bill Murray’s character in the 1996 classic Kingpin brings us all plenty of laughter, but let’s not forget that—via a scam gone wrong—Ernie McCracken also brought beloved bowler Roy Munson a mutilated right hand.

In the film, “Big Ern” has countless opportunities to make things right by Munson, but takes the sleaziest route at every turn.

We are led to believe he’s wronged others, too, as seen in his flippant approach to a paternity suit that has apparently been filed against him. 

While McCracken may crack up the audience, those he comes in contact with experience far fewer laughs. 

10. Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago

There was just too much evil elsewhere, and way too much similarity here, for us to split this Rocky threesome apart. Of course, these legends of the ring had their differences, too.

First came Apollo Creed in 1976’s Rocky. Creed’s pretentious and overall arrogant persona—when juxtaposed with Rocky’s simple, workman-like attitude—is something to behold and easy to detest. He disrespects our favorite Italian Stallion, and it rubs us all the wrong way.

Clubber Lang punches things up a notch in 1982’s Rocky III, taking the trash talk boxing made famous to a new level—which includes an uncomfortable sexual advance on Rocky’s innocent wife, Adrian.

It was not, however, until Rocky IV was released in 1985 that viewers got a real look at evil. Hulking size, superhuman power and a not-so-subtle language barrier: Ivan Drago has it all, marking every box on the villainous checklist. And that was before he brutally murdered the aforementioned Creed.

9. White Goodman

Dodgeball’s lovable White Goodman is as creepy as he is evil. 

Committed to putting his rival gym—Peter LaFleur’s Average Joes—out of business, Goodman stoops to all sorts of lows to see his dream realized.

When LaFleur defaults on his gym, his quirky group of misfits enter a dodgeball tournament in attempt to save Average Joes (the winning prize is $50,000). Goodman, however, has other ideas, attempting to foil Peter's plan with a world-class dodgeball team of his own.

The "fitness guru" goes on to spy on LaFleur, attempts to get his love interest—Kate Veatch—fired from her law firm, and even tries to pay Peter off.

Of course, in the end, everything falls into place for LaFleur while White simply falls off the wagon.

8. Kenny Powers

Jack Plunkett/Associated Press

The protagonist in HBO’s Eastbound & Down, Kenny Powers (played by Danny McBride, pictured) is every bit as offensive as he is entertaining. Powers, an excessively egocentric sexist, just so happens to be a manipulative, dishonest, drug-using racist as well.

From Major League Baseball star to high school gym teacher and back to MLB star, Powers finds a way to use and abuse just about everyone in his life, including his brother, two nephews, best friend and the woman he supposedly loves (April), as well as his Mexican baseball team.

In the end, Powers sees the light and reconciles with April, but not before abandoning her at a gas station and faking his own death.

7. Shooter McGavin

Another villain we love to laugh at, Happy Gilmore’s Shooter McGavin is the most evil golfer on our list.

From the very start, Shooter’s irrational hatred of Happy is unnecessarily cruel, even if equally humorous.

It’s the progressive way in which Shooter’s evil grows, however, that earned him a spot on the list.

From vindictively trying to buy Happy’s grandma’s house—while admitting he eats poop for breakfast—to paying another man to run his rival over with a car, Shooter stops at nothing to remain atop the game of golf.

Unfortunately for Shooter, Happy is no ordinary golfer. 

6. Hollywood Hogan

If you still think wrestling’s real, you should probably read no further. We, however, acknowledge its place in fiction and couldn’t help but include Hollywood Hogan as a result.  

Simply put, his betrayal of wrestling fans was as evil as his transgressions in the ring.

On July 7, 1996, Hogan made an unthinkable move from hero to heel. He traded in his red and yellow for black and white and became utterly ruthless in his pursuit of world domination.

In the ring, Hollywood Hogan broke all the rules, which in turn broke our hearts.

5. Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg

In 2002’s Blades of Glory, Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy take the figure-skating world by storm, becoming the first-ever same-sex team to compete in pair skating, and just in time for 2002 World Winter Sport Games.

Threatened by their competitor’s power and showmanship, the elite duo of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg take a page out of the Tonya Harding playbook, first attempting to brutally assault Michaels  before trying to cripple both he and MacElroy.

Played brilliantly by Will Arnett and Amy Poehler, Stranz and Fairchild bring a totally new kind of bold and psychotic creepy to the sports world.

4. Chong Li

It would be nearly impossible to make a list of evil athletes without including Bloodsport’s Chong Li. The best word to describe Mr. Li: Scary!

In his pursuit of defeating U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme), Li is as mysterious as he is dominant in the ring, leaving the audience to wonder what will come next.

With every passing fight, his bloodthirsty nature is increasingly revealed.

Li's “silent killer” approach make him all the more frightening.

As this video so comprehensively demonstrates, Li isn't happy winning unless he also inflicts devastatingly permanent damage on his opponent.

Dux manages to put a stop to Li in the end, but not before his evil is on full display.

3. Vince McMahon

As far as the sport of wrestling is concerned, Vince McMahon has done it all. The current Chairman and CEO of WWE has also served as commentator, promoter and, of course, as a wrestler, too.

At every turn, McMahon has embodied nothing but evil.

From screwing over the great Brett Hart in the infamous (and aptly named) “Montreal Screwjob” to having his own daughter kidnapped and offered as a sacrifice to the Ministry of Darkness, McMahon’s evil has no bounds.

Even to this day, the villainous "Chairman" continues to oversee wrestling in his own oppressive way.

2. Tong Po

For the heinous crimes he commits in both Kickboxer and Kickboxer 2, you could argue Tong Po belongs in our list’s top spot.

In an effort to lure Kurt Sloane—played by Jean-Claude Van Damme—into the ring, Po goes a bit overboard, to say the least.

In the first movie, Po cripples Sloane’s older brother before beating and raping his girlfriend. When Sloane defeats Po to end the first edition, it only intensifies the latter’s lust for evil, if you can imagine that. 

In Kickboxer 2, then, Po takes things up a notch, this time killing Sloane’s brother before burning down his gym—starting a fire in which one of Sloane’s students dies—and murdering yet another of Sloane’s loved ones—his most promising student.

There’s really nothing left to say here other than Tong Po was one bad man.

1. Johnny Lawrence

The Karate Kid’s Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka) is perhaps the most iconic villain of them all, despite really being nothing more than a high school bully. But attacking a defenseless adolescent during his formative years is really as low as it gets. 

When Daniel LaRusso is at his most vulnerable—forced to move with his single mother from New Jersey to Los Angeles—Lawrence goes out of his way to embarrass, beat up and pick on the new kid in town.

LaRusso’s fragility is lost on no one, and Lawrence pounces like a rabid hyena.

He really embraces evil when—dressed as the scariest of skeletons—he assaults a battered, beaten and defenseless LaRusso.

In the end, Lawrence sees the error of his ways, but only after the Karate Kid kicks some sense into him.

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