Warning: Spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4 Below!John Wick has fought and overcome many different enemies over the course of the John Wick franchise. First introduced as a retired assassin mourning the passing of his wife, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) goes on a revenge mission for the killing of his dog and theft of his car in the first John Wick movie. The four movies of the John Wick series gradually reveal more and more about John and the hidden assassin world he is fighting to get out of, with assassins all living under a shadowy governing body known as the High Table.

John Wick holds a legendary status in the assassin culture, carrying the nickname of the Baba Yaga and commanding great respect by all. Despite that, John faces no shortage of opponents to overcome in the John Wick franchise's gun battles and martial arts fights, with many of them being great physical challenges for him and others being more behind-the-scenes adversaries. Here are nine major villains of the John Wick franchise and how John defeats each of them.

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9 Kirill

Daniel Bernhardt as Kirill in John Wick

When the Baba Yaga embarks on his revenge mission in John Wick, the assassin Kirill (Daniel Bernhardt) is one of his primary adversaries. Tasked with protecting John's target Iosef Tasarov (Alfie Allen) by Josef's father Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), Kirill first faces John in the movie's nightclub battle, with Kirill coming out on top and forcing John to retreat. When John is captured later, he manages to get free of the chair he is tied to, and fight Kirill again. This time, John uses the rope binding his hands to place Kirill into a lethal choke hold, killing him.

8 Viggo Tasarov

Viggo in his warehouse in John Wick

Introduced as a major crime boss in the first John Wick, Viggo Tasarov is the father of Iosef, the killer of John's dog and thief of his car. After John takes his revenge on Iosef, Viggo retaliates by killing John's close friend Marcus (Willem Dafoe), leading to his and John's final showdown on a New York City dock in the rain. John ultimately turns Viggo's blade against him to fatally stab and defeat Viggo.

7 Ares

Ares looking serious in John Wick 2

One of the main assassins hired to take out the Baba Yaga in John Wick: Chapter 2, the mute assassin Ares (Ruby Rose) battles John in the movie's climactic fight in a hall of mirrors. Though Ares is a formidable opponent against John, he manages to turn her knife against her, stabbing her through one hand and then through the chest. As John departs, Ares tells John in sign language "Be seeing you", and though this was the last time she was seen, she could still be alive due to not having a clear on-screen death.

6 Cassian

John Wick and Cassian fight on a subway train

The bodyguard of Gianna D'Antonio (Claudia Gerini), Cassian (Common) vengefully pursues John Wick after her death in John Wick: Chapter 2 (though John did not actually kill Gianna himself, despite being coerced into the assignment.) John and Cassian's second fight on a New York City subway car ends with John stabbing Cassian in the chest. Before John departs, he explains to Cassian that the blade is in his aorta and that removing it will cause him to bleed out, before telling Cassian "consider this a professional courtesy". Though Cassian is defeated, like Ares, he does not die on-screen, so he too could also still be alive.

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5 Santino D'Antonio

John Wick Blood Oath retirement

A player in the High Table's hierarchy, Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) is the main villain of John Wick: Chapter 2, forcing John (by way of an assassin marker) into the assignment of assassinating his sister Gianna in order to take her place at the High Table. After Gianna's death, Santino sends his assassin army after John, with John fighting his way through all of them to confront Santino at the New York Continental. Overcome with rage for what Santino has put him through, John shoots Santino in the head. In doing so, John Wick breaks the Continental rule of no business being conducted on Continental grounds and renders himself excommunicado.

4 Zero & His Shinobi Students

Mark Dacascos as Zero in John Wick 3

Recruited by the High Table's assigned Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, the energetic assassin Zero (Mark Dacascos) and his Shinobi students are tasked with tracking down and eliminating John with the big contract on his head. John battles Zero and his students in Parabellum's climactic showdown in the deconsecrated New York Continental, with John fatally slashing and stabbing the majority of them, including Zero in the movie's final fight. Only two of Zero's students (played by Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman) survive after being defeated by John.

3 Killa Harkan

Scott Adkins as Killain John Wick Chapter 4

In John Wick: Chapter 4, John is told he can get back in the good graces of the Ruska Roma family by taking out the killer of their family patriarch, that killer being Scott Adkins's crime boss Killa Harkan. During their fight in Killa's nightclub, Killa gives John a significant run for his money, but John ultimately comes out on top, forcing Killa to flee. After John knocks Killa off the second floor of the club, Killa's neck is shattered, killing him, with John punching out one of his gold teeth as proof of his assassination for the Ruska Roma.

2 Chidi

Chidi in John Wick Chapter 4

The right-hand man of the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) in John Wick: Chapter 4, Chidi (Marko Zaror) is hot on the trail of the Baba Yaga throughout the movie. In the final act, Chidi and his team are tasked with preventing John from reaching his High Table duel by sunrise, but John's friend and opponent in the duel Caine (Donnie Yen) helps John fight past Chidi in the climactic stairway fight. Chidi is then attacked by the German Shepherd of Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), who shoots Chidi in the head to return the favor of John saving his dog from Chidi earlier.

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1 The Marquis de Gramont

Keanu Reeves and Bill Skarsgard in John Wick Chapter 4 Edited

The arch-villain of John Wick: Chapter 4 is the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, a high-ranking High Table official tasked with eliminating John for the High Table once and for all after John kills the Elder (George Georgiou) in the movie's opening. The Marquis De Gramont sends dozens of assassins after John, until the Baba Yaga is able to negotiate a High Table duel for his freedom. However, the Marquis pulls a Machiavellian trick by forcing Donnie Yen's blind assassin Caine to be his duel opponent.

Though Caine ultimately wins the duel, John tricks the Marquis de Gramont to walking into his path to finish him off, with the Marquis not realizing until it is too late that John still has one more round. John then shoots the Marquis in the head. Though the Marquis de Gramont is not one of John's more direct physical opponents in the John Wick franchise, John's victory over him is what wins him his freedom, even if it only comes in the last moments before John Wick finally dies with the memory of his late wife Helen bringing him peace.