In the fictional world of Harry Potter, there has never been nor will there probably ever be another evil, existential threat like Lord Voldemort. This boy who came from even more humble beginnings than Harry went on to become the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard in the history of the wizarding world, and he nearly destroyed everything in order to take all of the power for himself.
While Voldemort is the villain to end all villains in the Harry Potter film series and absolutely one of the most powerful baddies of all time, there are still other movie villains who have Lord Voldemort's number. Voldemort may be unique in his world, but there have been many other characters who wielded unimaginable power to even darker ends. Here are 10 of those villains who are actually more powerful than Voldemort.
Magneto - The X-Men
Although Erik Lehnsherr only has the ability to control metals, he seems to make a lot better use of his ability than Voldemort does with his powers. It seems like his power in that particular arena is actually stronger than Voldemort's powers in general.
Putting aside his literal ability, Magneto is the kind of bad guy who actually has the charisma and manipulative abilities to get people to join him because they have faith in him. Voldemort's Death Eaters are formidable, but most of them aren't there for Voldemort, they're either too afraid to go against him or they just want the freedom to do bad things.
Hela - Thor: Ragnarok
Voldemort's ultimate end goal was to dominate the world and live forever, however beating death is no easy feat, especially when death looks like Hela from Thor: Ragnarok. Voldemort is only a wizard while Hela is a literal god, and she happens to be the scariest god in all of Asgard.
Hela's father Odin banished her from the realm when he realized what a danger she was, and clearly he was right since she managed to single-handedly destroy all of Asgard within a matter of days of being released. Voldemort wishes he could be half as expedient and effective.
General Zod - Superman/Man Of Steel
Although Lord Voldemort is more powerful than any human and most wizards, even he can't compete with even the weakest Kryptonian in existence. And General Zod is far from the weakest Kryptonian.
Zod is gifted with all of the abilities that come with being Kryptonian, and he's one of the most knowledgeable, capable, and ruthless warriors in the history of Krypton. On top of all of that, he has an army of other Kryptonians at his beck and call. While Kryptonians are not resistant to magic, they are also fast enough to stop Voldy before he can even utter a spell.
Pennywise - It
Both the Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgård's versions of Pennywise the clown will give any child or adult nightmares for years to come, but the movies only allude to the fact that Pennywise isn't what he appears to be.
Pennywise is actually an ancient primordial evil that has existed since the beginning of time, and the truth of "It" is something that is so grotesque and cosmically horrifying that the human brain couldn't even comprehend it. Pennywise the dancing clown is the form that "It" takes on Earth, but it's one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare On Elm Street
When it comes to creating a terrifying movie villain, writers are constantly looking for new angles and interesting twists to exploit the kind of fears that most people would never conceive of or think was possible. One of the most brilliant instances of this is with Freddy Krueger.
Freddy Krueger was the creation of horror mastermind Wes Craven, and this spirit of a deceased serial murderer is arguably the most powerful horror movie villain of all time. Why is that? Because he is literally inescapable. People can run away from something like Lord Voldemort, but no one can escape sleep. In spirit form, Voldemort did not need to sleep, which does give the Dark Lord an edge over Krueger. However, in any other state, Voldy is the underdog.
Darth Vader - Star Wars
Tom Riddle is easily one of the most gifted wizards who had ever lived. While wizards don't exactly exist in the Star Wars universe, the closest equivalent that they have is the Jedi and the Sith. If Tom Riddle was gifted as a child, then Anakin Skywalker was the Albert Einstein of the Force.
Even once Anakin has succumbed to the dark side of the Force and lost half of his physical body, he appears to be more powerful than Lord Voldemort, both when it comes to his supernatural abilities and in terms of the power that he wields in the Empire.
Sauron - The Lord Of The Rings
Harry Potter is undoubtedly one of the best and most successful magical fantasy stories of all time, but when it comes to working their magic, honestly, J.K. Rowling's characters can't compete with J.R.R. Tolkien's. The Lord of the Rings redefined what high fantasy could do, and its main antagonist Sauron is undoubtedly one of the most powerful villains in the history of film.
Sauron was one of the first beings to ever exist in his world, and this dark lord of Mordor was closer to being a god than an elf, hobbit, or any other sentient being that inhabited his land.
Agent Smith - The Matrix
Agent Smith from The Matrix series is one of the most frightening villains in film history for one simple reason. How do you fight the world that you inhabit? Yes, Agent Smith is the physical form that this computer program takes on, but the reality of Agent Smith is that he is essentially the matrix searching itself to destroy whatever could harm it.
There is a reason that every freed human before Neo enthusiastically obeyed the rule that if you ever saw an agent, run. The matrix may be an imaginary world, but you can really be killed there, and Agent Smith is literally all-powerful in this world.
Thanos - Avengers: Infinity War
Even before Thanos assembled the infinity gauntlet he was arguably more powerful than Lord Voldemort. Like many of the heroes and villains within the MCU, Thanos has superpowers of his own, but what really makes him such a threat before the gauntlet is his army. In terms of real-life destruction, Lord Voldemort's body count doesn't even hold a candle to the damage that Thanos has inflicted.
Obviously, once Thanos has achieved the near-impossible and collected all of the infinity stones, it is literally the end of the universe. Or, the end of half the universe anyway. Voldemort never came close to matching what Thanos did with just a snap of the fingers.
Sheev Palpatine - Star Wars
When it comes to the villain who can defeat all other villains, it's pretty hard to top Sheev Palpatine. Chancellor Palpatine played absolutely every one of his cards right and managed to do so while hiding in plain sight. When he destroyed the entire Jedi order and took over the galaxy in one fell swoop, Palpatine essentially managed to achieve Lord Voldemort's dream.
Palpatine has the powers to match Voldemort, but what really makes him such an exceptional threat is that he has the brains to ensure every power and ability is used to its fullest and darkest potential.