When television shows have heroes and villains, it is expected that the heroes are good guys who have moral values and wear white hats. Meanwhile, the villains are the ones who will do anything and everything to win in the end, mostly scary folks who have no moral values. When things are switched around, it can really create exciting television.
When the scariest characters on the show aren't the villains, but the heroes, it creates a new dynamic. Usually, this means that the heroes are not genuine good guys, but they are still fighting villains who threaten peace and the security of characters in the show's world. Even if the heroes eventually go to the dark side, they proved while fighting evil that they were scarier than even the darkest antagonists.
The Devil - Reaper (2007)
Stream On ABC
It is often strange to see the Devil in a television show and not be a villain. The best example is in Lucifer, but in that series, the Devil had quit his job and was helping the police solve crimes. However, Ray Wise's Devil in Reaper was still the guy in charge of Hell.
However, while the Devil wasn't a villain, he also wasn't a good person and he was very scary. There was one scene in the series where a demon threatened his son and the Devil lost it and disintegrated the demon instantly. Luckily, he gave Sam more pep talks while joking around to make him popular, even though he was still very scary.
Angel - Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997)
Stream On Hulu & Amazon Prime
Angel was a hero for most of his existence in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe and was even the hero on his own show. However, while he was a vampire with a soul and worked tirelessly to help people in need while fighting demons big and small, he was a scary hero.
In his many appearances on Buffy, Angel lost his soul and reverted to Angelus, where he almost destroyed Buffy's life in cruel and inhumane ways. Even as a hero, when someone tried to hurt people he loved, he was ruthless and would destroy a demon without even breaking a sweat.
Gemma - Sons Of Anarchy (2008)
Stream On Hulu
Gemma was a very dangerous woman in Sons of Anarchy, and while she did some horrible things, she was never really considered a villain. Everything Gemma did was, in her mind, to protect her family and the people she loved. As the widow of the SAMCRO founder, the wife of its president until he died, and the mother of its future president, she had her hands in everything.
However, what made Gemma scary was the lengths she would go to protect her people. She lied, she stole, and she murdered, but she was no worse than most of the people on the show, and she at least believed she was doing things for the right reasons.
Tony Soprano - The Sopranos (1999)
Stream On HBO Max
On The Sopranos, the hero of the series was the leader of a mafia family. However, what made The Sopranos so interesting was that the show was not just about Tony leading his mafia family to great riches. It was about Tony trying to balance his real family as well.
As the show wore on, Tony started to lose sight of his real family and made decisions that pushed him closer and closer to the edge. He killed members of his real family, members of his mafia family, and he became a very bad person, but in the end, he was the hero of this story, not its villain.
Billy Butcher - The Boys (2019)
Stream On Amazon Prime
There are some scary people on The Boys, with Homelander as one who has stepped over the line in almost every episode. However, one of the heroes is just as scary, and if the Prime Video series follows the comics closely, he will grow even scarier before it all ends.
Billy Butcher is the head of The Boys, and his job is to stop heroes who have gone over the line. However, Billy has no problem killing any hero, no matter what they did, and he does it on The Boys in the goriest ways possible. He also uses his allies and is not a good person, even as the man who is supposed to be doing the right thing.
The Man In Black - Westworld (2016)
Stream On HBO Max
The Man in Black is one of the scariest characters on Westworld. In the start, it seemed like he was a villain, coming in and killing as many hosts as he could if they got in his way. However, he wasn't the villain, as it turns out he was looking for the real villains.
As he searched for the truth, the Man in Black killed more people than almost anyone else on the show. He almost seemed superhuman at times and very scary, proving to be a massive threat to Delos.
Walter White - Breaking Bad (2008)
Stream On Netflix
There might not be a more striking character change and arc than that of Walter White on Breaking Bad. It was clear, by the end, that Walter did what the title suggested and became a very bad person. However, along the way, he was conflicted and was trying to do the right thing for his family.
The problem is that he didn't know when to stop. Walter White hurt so many people throughout the series, and in some cases, he did it in terrifying ways. He went from a good hearted science teacher into a brutal killer at times, and by the end, he was scarier than even some of the villains on the show.
Daenerys Targaryen - Game Of Thrones (2011)
Stream On HBO Max
For most of the time that she spent on Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen was a very good person. Compared to everyone else on the show, who lied, cheated, and killed their way to the top, Daenerys wanted nothing more than to help injustice and regain her ancestral throne.
When Daenerys believed she had lost everything and saw the world for what it really was, she became something scary and deadly. Daenerys did the worst thing possible, having her dragon slaughter countless people in King's Landing, killing non-combatants, and becoming a vicious and deadly woman. The death count at that point was millions and it was time for someone to stop her.
Guerrero - Human Target (2010)
Buy On Apple TV
Human Target is based on a DC Comics series about a man who clients hire to protect them, and by doing so he integrates himself in their lives, becoming a human target for the bad guys. One of his associates is a man named Guerrero, played by Jackie Earl Haley.
What makes Guerrero so scary is that he is unassuming. He is a computer hacker who doesn't look threatening and speaks in a low and level way. However, he is also an elite assassin. The first time he is seen on the show, two thugs try to strong-arm him, but he simply tells them he knows their names and who their families are and says he will just kill them at a later time, causing both men to change their minds and leave.
Vic Mackey - The Shield (2002)
Stream On Hulu
One of the best antiheroes in television history was Vic Mackey from the FX series The Shield. Vic was a cop, and he was someone who did everything he could to stop the bad guys. He was violent and dangerous, but he cleaned up the streets the best he could.
The problem is that he was also a dirty cop. This was a TV show that had people cheering for a police officer who sold drugs, killed other cops, and did anything he could to get ahead in life. He murdered a man on his own team in the premiere episode, showing how scary and disturbing he was, and then turned around and won the audience over again.