‘Outlander’: Ranking 16 of the Show’s Villains
Outlander may be all about Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser’s (Sam Heughan) love story, but throughout their journey they’ve encountered quite a few bad apples.
In other words, it wouldn’t be Outlander without its villains. Ranging from big bad Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) to more recent foes in Ed Speleers‘ Stephen Bonnet, we’re taking a look back on the individuals who have brought the most trouble into the Fraser family’s lives and ranking them from least bad to worst.
Scroll down for a peek into our ranking and let us know which foes are your favorite in the comments section, below.
Outlander, Season 7 Premiere, Friday, June 16, Starz
16. Geneva Dunsany (Hannah James)
A wealthy woman, Geneva (Hannah James) forces Jamie to sleep with her, essentially raping him under the threat of revealing his secrets and bringing harm to his family if he didn’t comply. She may be the mother of his only son, William, but Geneva is not innocent, despite her tragic fate, and that’s why she makes the list.
15. Governor Tryon (Tim Downie)
Sure, the Governor (Tim Downie) helps Jamie and Claire get settled in North Carolina, but there are always exceptions attached. Tryon enters real villain territory when he forces Jamie to wear a red coat at the Battle of Alamance, ultimately driving the conflict which leaves the man’s beloved godfather Murtagh dead. There’s no forgiveness for such actions in Jamie’s eyes, and neither for viewers.
14. Laoghaire MacKenzie (Nell Hudson)
Enamored with Jamie, Laoghaire (Nell Hudson) is an early foe of Claire’s as the young woman takes issue with the object of the Highlander’s affection. When she learns that Jamie and Claire have been married, Laoghaire puts a curse on them and their relationship and even makes a pass at Jamie. While she doesn’t appear to be a major threat in Season 1, we later see in Season 3 that her entanglement with Jamie in the years of Claire’s absence has caused a definite problem. Learning that he married Laoghaire, Claire is betrayed, but she’s even more horrified when Laoghaire ends up shooting Jamie. While the couple gets away from her upon heading to America, Brianna (Sophie Skelton) gets a taste of Laoghaire’s villainous streak when the woman learns of her identity. Sure, she may not be the most threatening antagonist in the show, but she’s nothing if not consistent.
13. Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones)
A foe of Jamie’s, Tom (Mark Lewis Jones) shows up at Fraser’s Ridge in hopes of turning his life around, and although he doesn’t agree with the settlement’s leader at all times, he does mostly show respect. Instead, his true respect is aimed at Claire, who he clearly has a lot of kindness for, but his belief that the Frasers may be guilty of Malva’s (Jessica Reynolds) death makes him an adversary nonetheless.
12. Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds)
A villain in the sense that she made false claims about the Frasers, Malva seems to be a victim of circumstances more so than a really bad person. Mistreated by her family, and a pregnancy seemingly forcing her hand in the matter, Malva’s charge that Jamie is the father of her bastard child is enough to cause serious problems for the Frasers, landing her on the list.
11. Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish)
A formidable figure, Dougal’s (Graham McTavish) mostly well-intentioned regarding his nephew Jamie, but he’s strategic as well. Unaware of Claire’s future knowledge, he overhears her and Jamie as they discuss changing the future. Upon learning that Claire and Jamie hope to squash the impending battle at Culloden, Dougal intends to kill Claire, forcing him and Jamie into a fight that ultimately leads Claire to help Jamie murder the MacKenzie.
10. Buck MacKenzie (Graham McTavish)
The illegitimate son of Dougal and Geillis (Lotte Verbeek), Buck, takes issue with Roger (Richard Rankin) when he finds him chatting with his wife amid the impending Battle of Alamance. We later discover that he’s responsible for having Roger hanged in Season 5, which leads to a lot of PTSD for the man. Worsening the matter is knowing that Roger is a descendant of Buck and the MacKenzies.
9. Alan Christie (Alexander Vlahos)
While in Season 6 Alan (Alexander Vlahos) puts on a front of innocence, there’s something malevolent about the son of Tom Christie as he openly blames Claire for the death of his sister Malva. His actions lead the settlers around Fraser’s Ridge as well as Richard Brown to attack and ruin the home Jamie and Claire have worked so hard to build. Needless to say, he’s rising in the ranks as we await Season 7.
8. Gerald Forbes (Billy Boyd)
Collaborating with pirate Stephen Bonnet, lawyer Gerald Forbes (Billy Boyd) seeks compensation that he believes will come in the form of Jocasta’s (Maria Doyle Kennedy) River Run. There, he meets with the woman to go over the details of her will, and as she prattles on about giving away her fortune, he gets angrier and angrier. He lets it slip that she’s giving away his money and realizing his error, he jumps into action, attempting to smother the partially blind woman. Thankfully, she’s saved by her servant Ulysses (Colin McFarlane), but Forbes is one of the reasons that Bonnet is able to get a hold of the Fraser family once again, making him an evildoer for sure.
7. Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow)
A cold-hearted man, the Duke of Sandringham only has his best interests at heart as an ally to Black Jack Randall. His swaying loyalties make Jamie and Claire believe he could support the Jacobite cause, but the Duke’s actions would say otherwise. When Claire and Mary Hawkins (Rosie Day) are attacked in the streets of Paris, it is later discovered that the man to do so was paid by the Duke. The intention was to kill Claire, but with Mary there, she ended up defiled, and Claire hurt, but Murtagh takes revenge by cutting the man’s head off with an axe in one of the show’s most brutal scenes.
6. Comte St. Germain (Stanley Weber)
A bitter and angry businessman, the Comte St. Germain exacts revenge against Claire after her actions force him to lose a shipload of goods. He does so by poisoning her, and that action is only made worse by understanding that she’s pregnant at the same time. Ultimately, the Comte appears to die from poison before Season 2 is through.
5. Richard Brown (Chris Larkin)
Richard Brown (Chris Larkin) takes issue with Jamie and Claire after they refuse to join his Committee of Safety and turn over his brother Lionel’s dead body. Noting that he’ll seek revenge, it’s unclear how that will come until Season 6 played out. While appearing from time to time in a threatening manner, Richard and his cohorts attack Fraser’s Ridge when they believe Claire is responsible for the death of Malva Christie. His misplaced hatred for the Frasers leads to more trouble for the couple as their lives are once again on the line.
4. Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek)
At first, Geillis appears to be a friend to Claire, albeit strange, she seemingly sacrifices herself for Claire when they’re both brought to court on suspicion of witchcraft. Believing Geillis has been dead all these years, Claire is shocked to re-encounter her decades later in Jamaica. While she’s seen in the second season during the 1960s, Claire, Brianna, and Roger discover what she’s capable of as she sacrifices her 1960s husband to travel through the standing stones at Craigh Na Dun. It shouldn’t surprise Claire that Young Ian (John Bell) has been kidnapped by her for the purpose of traveling in time once again, this time to kill Brianna, believing it will give her new powers. Her conniving behavior forces Claire’s hand as she tries to protect Young Ian and her daughter’s future, murdering Geillis with a machete.
3. Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers)
A pirate, Stephen Bonnet could scarcely be trusted, but his charismatic nature appealed to Jamie and Claire as they aided in freeing him from the gallows at the beginning of Season 4. That ultimately didn’t pay off as he robbed the couple. Shaken up with one of their first real evil encounters in America, Jamie and Claire don’t hear his name until much later once their daughter Brianna joins them in the 18th century. Upon her arrival in the colonies, she runs into Roger who has come after her. When they decide to take the next step in their relationship, a night of exciting firsts turns into a dark memory as the couple has a spat and she returns to her inn only to be raped by Bonnet. The event leads to a lot of pain and upsetting uncertainties as Brianna eventually discovers she’s pregnant but unsure of who the father could be. In Season 5, Bonnet is encountered once more, kidnapping Brianna in hopes of fostering a bond and meeting his potential son. Thankfully, he’s stopped when Brianna is rescued and he’s turned in for his crimes. Brianna gets to deliver a final blow with a bullet to Bonnet’s head as he is helplessly tied to a wooden pole in a rising tide.
2. Lionel Brown (Ned Dennehy)
Claire and Jamie first encounter Lionel while passing through Brownsville on their way back from a terrifying encounter at the Beardsley house. Throughout Season 5, Lionel becomes a more antagonistic figure, taking issue with Claire’s medical practices and anonymous memos as “Dr. Rawlings.” The mean-spirited man takes things even further by attacking Fraser’s Ridge, primarily having his men harm a pregnant Marsali and kidnap Claire. On the road leading away from the settlement, Lionel and his men attack and rape Claire repeatedly as she’s subjected to some of the worst brutality seen on the show. The end comes for Lionel in the form of a lethal injection administered by Marsali after Claire is saved by Jamie and their family.
1. Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies)
The biggest and baddest of them all, Black Jack Randall is the original villain of Outlander and by far remains the worst. While his long-running history with Jamie remained a throughline throughout the first season, his likeness to Claire’s first husband Frank (both played by Menzies) also served to further highlight the juxtaposition between the kind-hearted 20th-century historian and his evil ancestor. Brutalized more than once by the man, including raped in exchange for Claire’s freedom, Jamie finally got his revenge on the Culloden battlefield at the beginning of Season 3, putting Black Jack Randall down forever.
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