Stephen King Created Some Truly Vile Characters, But I Hate These 10 The Most

This article contains mentions of murder, abuse, and sexual assault.

Of the many qualities he is recognized for, coming up with and developing interesting characters is certainly one of Stephen King’s most extraordinary gifts in his craft. His protagonists are always multidimensional and well-developed, with a unique voice and a fascinating backstory. His villains can occasionally be even better. King is excellent at giving life to iconic monsters like Pennywise or tragic figures like Arnie Cunningham, often evoking a varied range of emotions in the reader.

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Regardless of their significance to the plot, some of his characters are so intrinsically vile that it’s hard to feel even an ounce of sympathy for them. Although King certainly knows how to create terrifying monsters, his most loathsome characters are often the ones grounded in reality—humans. Because there are so many, choosing the most dreadful is no easy task; at some point, it becomes a matter of personal preference. Some of them have stuck with me for all the wrong reasons, and I haven’t stopped hating them since.

10

Ace Merrill

Stand by Me (Based On The Body)

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Bullies are often difficult characters to like, but with an interesting redemption arc or some background information that can shed light on their actions, I might end up appreciating them. Most of the time, they are simply kids. But Ace Merrill goes beyond typical teenage arrogance. He exhibits a level of cruelty that transcends any age.

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Ace is a 16-year-old (in the cinema transposition, even older) adolescent who spends his time tormenting Gordie and his friends, a group of middle-school children. He shows little to no regard for anyone, sometimes even for himself. Contrary to many bullies, his actions do not seem to come from insecurity or a need for belonging—rather, they hint at a sadistic nature. It doesn’t help that, in the film adaptation, Kiefer Sutherland captures his disturbing nature a little too well with his cold stare and an unsettling glint.

9

Annie Wilkes

Misery

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She might be too obvious a villain to earn her place among the most insidious antagonists written by Stephen King, but to me, Annie Wilkes represents a truly terrifying kind of monster. Her character feeds off of obsessions and delusions and, although she is clearly unstable, there is little sympathy I have for her. Because of her attachment to the character of Misery, Annie believes she has the right to a story that was never hers to begin with.

She doesn’t see herself as an antagonist to Paul Sheldon, but as his savior. There is a streak of arrogance and self-righteousness that fuels her increasingly unhinged behavior. While her actions are extreme, there’s an unsettling realism in the way her fanaticism builds. She is the embodiment of unchecked devotion and, in many ways, the toxic extremes that fandoms can sometimes reach. The deranged nurse is definitely one of Stephen King’s best-written villains.

8

Alvin Marsh

IT

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It has a significant number of despicable characters, yet between killer clowns and various monsters, the vilest antagonists are humans. Alvin Marsh is one of the most awful creations of King. Unlike Pennywise, who represents a fantastical, surreal threat, Alvin is a domestic one. Alvin is Beverly Marsh’s father, but he has no paternal instinct toward her. On the contrary, he abuses his role as a caregiver to exert psychological and, although mainly implied, physical and sexual abuse of his daughter.

With his character, King confronts us with a harsh truth: sometimes the most terrifying monsters don’t lurk in sewers or supernatural dimensions—they live under the same roof.

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Alvin masks his abuse beneath a grotesque facade of love, fatherhood, and protective instincts. He is deeply misogynistic and violent. With his character, King confronts us with a harsh truth: sometimes the most terrifying monsters don’t lurk in sewers or supernatural dimensions—they live under the same roof. And that horror is all too real.

7

Margaret White

Carrie

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Perhaps King is so adamant about crafting bigoted characters as villains that he understands how profoundly unnerving they can be. Margaret White, for example, is one of his most disturbing creations—her presence sparks far more hatred in me than the child-eating monster that is Pennywise. Maybe it is because she is human, and not so dissimilar—albeit more extreme—from others I have encountered. Her brand of cruelty is not born of supernatural evil but of deeply ingrained ignorance.

What makes Margaret White so problematic, however, is not merely her bigotry, but the way her fanaticism completely devastates her daughter’s life, veering dangerously close to abuse. Her extreme zealotry manifests in every aspect of Carrie’s existence. Instead of helping her daughter grow into a curious and independent young woman, she raises her in fear and paranoia. Her total incompetence as a mother is what eventually leads to Carrie’s tragic destiny.

6

Warden Norton

The Shawshank Redemption (Based On Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption)

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Like the bigot who justifies their misdeeds beneath the veil of religious righteousness, many individuals hide their cruelty and greed under the guise of legal righteousness. King is particularly adept at unmasking the hypocrisies of such figures. For me, few acts are as unforgivable as using one’s position of authority and perceived moral superiority to oppress others. For this reason, Warden Norton stands out as one of my most hated characters.

Norton presents himself as a man of faith and justice. However, he understands nothing of the compassion and forgiveness discussed by the Bible, and completely dismisses the proof of Andy’s innocence, even having an inmate murdered to cover it up. Bob Gunton did a brilliant job at bringing him to the big screen. Unsurprisingly, he is one of the most hated characters in the history of cinema.

5

Greg Stillson

The Dead Zone

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Greg Stillson is not only one of the most wicked characters of Stephen King, but also one of the most terrifying. At first glance, he appears as a charismatic individual, a man capable of appealing to the masses with fervor under promises of change and prosperity. And that is perhaps the scariest part of it all. Stillson is not so far from many real-life villains we encounter on a daily basis.

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There is little that this deranged politician seems unwilling to do in order to have his way. Some might speculate that his behavior borders on that of a psychopath—however, a psychopath who, though devoid of empathy, has perfectly adapted to society. Stillson craves power and does not stop at anything to obtain it. However, this same power makes him completely detached from the world around him, depriving him of any interest or sympathy for anyone but himself.

4

Big Jim Rennie

Under the Dome

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Big Jim Rennie might be one of the most well-written antagonists of Stephen King, and, as such, I appreciate his significance to the overall story. However, he was also the character who almost made me stop reading Under the Dome. What truly caused me to loathe his presence so fiercely was not simply the deviousness that defined him, but the unbearable fact that he kept getting away with everything.

The more corrupt he became during the story, the more power he obtained. Simultaneously, the leader of Chester’s Mill operated under the ridiculous impression that he was a hero. He saw himself as a godly presence in the town. His power-hungry and opportunistic nature, coupled with an inflated ego and complete lack of self-awareness, turns him into a despicable villain who is, disturbingly, all too realistic. That realism is precisely what makes him so repellent—and so hard to look away from.

3

Mrs. Carmody

The Mist

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No one likes a fanatic. More importantly, no one likes a fanatic in a horror story. A puzzling and scary situation might lead an already very committed bigot to come up with the most absurd, and occasionally dangerous, theories to solve the problem. Mrs. Carmody exemplifies this. At first, she seems like a profoundly religious and slightly eccentric woman. However, as she comes to see the strange mist engulfing the town as God’s punishment, she shifts from eccentric to terrifying.

In the enclosed, high-stress environment of the supermarket, Mrs. Carmody becomes increasingly unhinged in her quest to appease God’s wrath. What makes me despise the character so intensely is the way she manipulates other people’s fears to soothe her own, driven by nothing more than a fake sense of self-righteousness that finds its roots in ignorance.

Her call for human sacrifice is one of the most chilling moments in the story. In another context, few would pay attention to her, but in the grip of chaos, she finds her power. Her authority feeds off despair. There is something profoundly disturbing about someone whose influence only grows as others break down. Mrs Carmody is one of King’s most underrated vile antagonists.

2

Percy Wetmore

The Green Mile

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Any individual who even dares to harm a hair on an animal, for me, crosses into unforgivable territory, especially when it comes to a creature as defenseless as a mouse. And Percy Wetmore does it without blinking. In one of his most brutal moments, the cruel man carelessly stomps on Mr. Jingles, the innocent pet of one of Cold Mountain Penitentiary’s inmates, Eduard Delacroix. Fortunately, Coffey resurrects the mouse, but it does not cancel the sheer viciousness of the gesture.

Wetmore is not an intriguing villain worthy of recognition but a pathetic and dangerously real man-child.

As much as animal abuse is enough to earn me, and I’m sure many others, hatred, Wetmore’s sadism does not stop there. He thrives on causing pain, especially when his victims are powerless. Like many cruel individuals, he is also a coward. As a prison guard, he should uphold justice, yet he constantly abuses his authority. Wetmore is not an intriguing villain worthy of recognition but a pathetic and dangerously real man-child. The antagonist of The Green Mile embodies some of the worst traits in human nature.

1

Patrick Hockstetter

IT

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I usually give teenagers the benefit of the doubt. Adolescence is, after all, a nerve-wracking time. But regardless of his age, Patrick Hockstetter does not deserve an ounce of empathy from me—or anyone else. Some might immediately think of Henry Bowers when discussing the human villain of IT. The 2017–2020 films certainly spotlight him as the main bully. However, as the book makes disturbingly clear, Patrick is far more deranged and significantly less sympathetic than his leader.

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If Bowers is disturbed and malevolent, he is also a troubled and unfortunate kid plagued by a difficult childhood. Patrick’s upbringing does not seem to have had much effect on his nature. He is an inherently sadistic individual, responsible for murdering his baby brother at only five years old, and who hurts animals for fun. Few chapters in the history of literature have been as revolting and infuriating as his. His torture of innocent creatures, one of which is a puppy, through starvation and cold, is what made him, in my eyes, King’s vilest creation.

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