When you talk of kick ass cartoon heros, the 80’s had it best, with He-man, The Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and the Thundercats just to name a few. But with every hero comes a villain, and some of them were more child friendly than others. From evil nightmare inducing laughs to burning red devil eyes, some of these villains were so horrific to look at, it’s easy to forget they were made for kids. So here they are Nightmarish Villains of 80s Cartoons.

Doctor Claw – Inspector Gadget

Dr Claw is the genius mastermind behind the criminal agency MAD, who’s criminal undertakings including espionage, kidnaping and robbery. With seemingly unlimited resources and riches, Dr Claw continuously comes up with new and dastardly plans.
With his deep evil voice and creepy laugh, you only ever saw Dr Claws right metallic arm, as his face and body were always obscured. This spoofs the cat-stroking James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who was initially only portrayed as forearms and hands. You only ever saw the Docs arm smashing own on table tops and shaking his fist at monitors. But his evil voice and dedication to crime kept many children awake at nights, as his parting promise that he WOULD get you …. Next Time!

Tex-Hex- Bravestarr

corrupted by the promise of wealth and Tex Hex turned from a good boy cowboy into a ghastly creature of nightmares. Driving away the woman he loved and mortally wounded Tex was turned into a withered lavender skinned enforcer with the abilities to shoot energy bolts, destroy mountains and could even summon creatures called fire snakes. With a fickle nature and a tendency toward sadism, this red eyed menace also had the ability of transformation, meaning this skeletal cowboy was not to be messed with.

Gargamel – The Smurfs

The Evil wizard Gargamel the is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and whilst he might not be the most ghastly looking of villains, he is the most obsessive. Perpetually stooped and wearing a worn and tatty dark robe, Gargamel is a misanthrope, hating pretty much everyone. Above all else, he hates the Smurfs with an obsessive hatred. His constant attempts at trying to capture the Smurfs boarders on weird and his reasons darker than you first think. Gargamel is an alchemist and it’s it his main goal wants to make gold using a potion whose ingredients include Smurf. Yep, the cranky old humpback’s big plan is to mash up a Smurf to make himself rich.  Whilst I always wanted Gargamel to catch the Smurfs and bite their little head off Ozzy-Osbourne-Style, mushing them up into a paste is slightly more disturbing.

Doc Terror – The Centurions

Doc Terror is the cyborg antagonist of the animated TV series Centurions. He would send his Terror Bots and his cyborg minions to attack sites around the globe in hopes of conquering it.Obsessed with technology and machines, he experimented on his own men, turning them into gruesome cyborgs, before an accident forced Doc to turn himself into one. More machine than man, this red coloured creature is the thing of nightmares, with some sort of weird robot head thing on its overly-large shoulder, and a huge bone crushing claw, Doc’s deformed appearance is simply terrifying.

Hordak – She-Ra Princess of Power

Hordak is a science obsessed sorcerer with an odd penchant for bones and bats. She – Ra’s creepy nemesis stares out from behind blood red eyes and red sneering fangs, which is enough to give anyone the willies. With pointy ears and a semi mechanical jaw, this crazed lunatic wishes to rule the planet of Etheria with an army of robotic Horde Troopers. Anyone that wears a collar of bones and is emblazoned with a giant red bat means business. Whilst I doubt he gets many invites to weddings and bar mitzvahs, he sure looks bad ass enough not to give a damn.

Venger – Dungeons and Dragons

Venger is the demon like creature that hunts the Heros of the 198o’s cartoon series Dungeons and Dragons. This creepy winged being bares a single horn and sharp pointy teeth. If at this point there was still any doubt of his evilness, he would often be seen riding around on a creepy red eyed, black, flying stallion. No doubt with a creepy emo grin on his face.
Vengers only goal is to obtain six magical artefacts so that he may destroy the Dungeon Master. Whilst he looks pretty frightful and gave many children restless nights, it turns out Vengar just has a bad case of daddy issues, as it’s revealed that he is in fact the Dungeon Master’s son. Now go to your room, and don’t think about coming out until you’ve rolled a six!

Mumm-Ra – Thundercats

Surviving for centuries in a sarcophagus in the Black Pyramid, Mumm-Ra is a horrifying withered immortal determined to outright obliterate the Thundercats. Mumm-Ra, a sorcerer and demon-priest, is an ancient native from Third Earth and his dark power comes from the Ancient Spirits of Evil, who bestow upon him great power and immortality. He appears as withered, walking talking corpse, wrapped in bandages and with burning red eyes. If this is not retched enough, he can also transform into a muscular blue fiend, but one look in a mirror is enough to turn him back to wrinkly dink. Even Mumm-Ra’s reflection is scared shitless of him.

Krang – Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

Whilst Shredder is the real threat to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he is just a guy in fancy suit. Krang, however, is a horrifying tentacled brain that travels around inside the torso of a giant robot wrestler. This giant suit has a tiny little head and short stumpy arms that is more than enough to make you shiver, let alone that he’s got something nasty wedges just above his briefs. . At least in his first live action appearance, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the wrestler is covered up with armour, cartoon Krang walks around wearing nothing but a small pair of red swimming trunks. For god sakes put on some pants!
Krang was originally a warlord from Dimension X , but he was banished and stripped of his body reducing him to a brain like-form. Shredder built him his new suit, so that Krang could help him destroy the turtles, but all Krang wants is to rule all dimensions. Such big plans for such a little guy!

Skeletor – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

As Villains go Skeleton might not be the most menacing, or smart, but by god is he hideous. He-Man’s nemesis is as weird as they come, with the musclebound body of a wrestler and a freaky yellowing bare-bone skull for a head. Whereas skulls usually define something as being long dead, Skeletor keeps on ticking. The goofy villain’s history is told through comic books and cartoon series. Each telling contradictory events that led the facially deformed villain to Eternia. Mattel’s Master of the Universe toys painted Skeletor as a creature thrown through a worm hole from his own evil universe, whilst Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe saw Skeletor as a native sat at the throne of Snake Mountain. His will is firmly bent on the conquest of planet of Eternia, seemingly unaware that most people like a little flesh on their face before declaring war. And Eyes too, where the hell are his eyes?

Not the Villains you were hoping to see? Leave us a message at the bottom of the page with the bad guys you would have included.