Criminal Minds follows the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, which works on some of the most disturbing and prolific serial killers. The team uses behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes and capture criminals. The show stood out from other police procedurals at the time by examining the psychology of the criminals and the more horrific aspects of police work.

Criminal Minds is best known for its standout villains. The BAU team calls them unknown subjects, or “unsubs,” a catchy name for some dangerous people. The unsubs are all uniquely terrifying, with a variety of backstories and motivations for their crimes. While there are many unsubs from the show’s fifteen seasons and its revival, titled Criminal Minds: Evolution, certain villains stand out as particularly dark.

Updated on March 20, 2025, by Maddie Davis: Criminal Minds first premiered nearly two decades ago, and it’s still a standout in the police procedural subgenre. It was groundbreaking for its focus on the psychology and criminology aspects of criminal investigations and highlighting the minds of violent offenders. Every episode is dark, and each has a villain character. This article is updated to include more of the darkest and most twisted Criminal Minds villains and reflect CBR’s current style guide.

35

Samantha Malcolm Used Paralyzed Women as Dolls

“The Uncanny Valley” – Season 5, Episode 12

Samantha Malcolm appeared in the season five episode “The Uncanny Valley.” This Criminal Minds villain would turn her victims into living dolls. Using a powerful drug cocktail, she sedated and immobilized them. These drugs eventually killed the victim, leading Samantha to kidnap new “dolls.”

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Dolls are freaky enough when made of porcelain, but Samantha takes things a bit further. She kidnapped several innocent women, holding three alive and incapacitated at a time. But, her tactics aren’t grisly compared to the methods used by other female Criminal Minds villains. She’s a murderer, which makes her a dark villain, but she doesn’t intend to kill her dolls, and her background makes her way less evil than everyone else.

34

Bill Rogers Was Obsessed With a Child

“Hope” – Season 7, Episode 8

Bill Rogers was a villain in the Criminal Minds episode “Hope” in Season 7. He shows up in a woman named Monica Kingston’s life around the anniversary of her daughter Hope’s abduction. They meet at a support group for the families of victims led by BAU technical analyst Penelope Garcia, and Bill approaches Monica after a meeting, claiming to know where her daughter is.

Bill did, in fact, know where Hope was, but only because he was the one who took her in the first place. Tragically, Monica finds her daughter’s long-decomposed corpse, and Bill explains that Hope took her own life after getting pregnant. What makes Bill so vile is that he views Hope, a child, as his wife, talking about her to the support group as if she hadn’t died after years of abuse. He’s so obsessed with that little girl that he kidnaps her mother, hoping to create another daughter to abuse.

33

Danny Murphy Was a Nine-Year-Old Budding Sociopath

“A Shade of Gray” – Season 4, Episode 21

“A Shade of Gray” came out close to the end of Season Four and details the events surrounding the child killer, nine-year-old Danny Murphy (Kendall Ryan Sanders). In the episode, Danny is shown to have a quick and ultimately violent temper. When he was younger, his parents bought him a puppy, which he killed, either because it annoyed him or for no reason at all. This already makes him a dark villain in fans’ minds, but what happens next is much darker.

One night, Danny’s younger brother, Kyle, sees that Danny is up late working on his model airplane. When Kyle accidentally smashes it, Danny kills him by stuffing airplane parts down his throat. What is just as shocking in this episode is that Danny’s parents try to cover up the murder because they know he will be put away, and they use their friend, Detective Bill Lancaster (Spencer Garrett), to do it. Danny feigns remorse towards his parents, but Agent Emily Prentiss adds his behavior, the fact that he tortured the family dog to death, and his fratricide together and informs the Murphy family that their son is a sociopath, and even though one can’t be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder until adulthood, a nine-year-old with that label is disturbing.

32

Floyd Hansen Preyed on Isolation

“Paradise” – Season 4, Episode 4

Floyd Hansen is the antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode “Paradise.” He owns a roadside motel that provides the perfect setting for his crimes. He takes advantage of the isolation, luring married couples in, seemingly for brief stays, but they’re trapped once they book a room.

Floyd tortures the couple in the secluded motel room, focusing most of the abuse on the women. He feels powerful by incapacitating husbands and making them watch their wives be hurt, and then he stages the deaths to look like accidents. The scariest thing about Floyd, other than his hatred for women, is how realistic he is, as it’s common knowledge that hotel rooms aren’t always the safest.

31

Shane Wyland Was a Predator and Murderer

“Into the Woods” – Season 6, Episode 9

Nine episodes into Season Six of Criminal Minds, viewers were introduced to Shane Wyland, a pedophile and murderer who was convicted in 1994 of sexually assaulting a ten-year-old boy. After prison, he lived in a motel with other sex offenders in Jonestown, Pennsylvania. When the episode “Into the Woods” picks up, Wyland has jumped parole and been hiking the Appalachian trail, abducting, sexually assaulting, and murdering children.

Any pedophile on the show–even if they’re in a non-serial killer episode— automatically becomes one of the worst villains because of how horrific crimes against children are. What makes Wyland even darker is Gill Gayle’s portrayal. He creates a threatening and heartless persona who will even trade his latest victim, Robert Brooks (Gattlin Griffith), for drugs. Finally, one of the worst things about this villain is that he gets away and evades capture, remaining at large at the end of the episode.

30

Greg Phinney Was a Disturbing Misogynist

“The Stranger” – Season 6, Episode 21

Greg Phinney (Chad Todhunter) appears at the end of Season Six in the episode “The Stranger.” As a villain, Greg brings an element of horror to the episode by intruding into victims’ homes and killing them in a place where they feel safe. His backstory also terrifies viewers because it is how Greg set down his path despite everything his father did.

Greg was a sociopath as a child who experimented with killing animals. He reveals that he fell in love with his babysitter, Kate (Heather Mazur). A year after Greg’s mother died in a car accident, his father married Kate, and Greg assaulted and threatened her several times before his father had him institutionalized. After his father’s death, the episode opens with Greg going on a killing spree of young women which ultimately takes him to Kate.

29

Ben Bradstone Was a Ruthless Serial Killer

“Proof” – Season 7, Episode 2

In high school, Ben Bradstone (Andy Milder), or Cy, had a crush on a girl named Lyla (Tracy Middendorf), who eventually married Ben’s brother, Matt. When he grew up, Cy began to abduct young blonde women, burning them with sulfuric acid, and then killing them, all the while filming it. When Cy’s brother, Matt, asks him to stay with him and Lyla and their daughter, Tammy (Johanna Brady), things take an even darker turn.

Cy’s obsession with Lyla leads to disturbing hallucinations involving him and Lyla. When Tammy goes to a party wearing one of Lyla’s old dresses, Cy kidnaps her. Meanwhile, the BAU team closes in on him and uses Matt and Lyla to get Cy to come back to their place. One of the most disturbing parts of the episode comes after Cy has been arrested and reveals to his brother where Tammy is. Matt sees him for who he is for the first time.

28

Benjamin Cyrus Was a Cult Leader

“Minimal Loss” – Season 4, Episode 3

Portrayed by Luke Perry, Benjamin Cyrus is a cult leader of a group that he was initially kicked out of for molesting girls when he was a child. Later, he returned to the group and usurped the old leader, turning it into a cult and marrying a 15-year-old girl. When the episode “Minimal Loss” opens, Benjamin already has a dangerous hold on the minds of his followers.

But after an anonymous call, Spencer Reid (Matthew Gubler) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) visit the off-the-grid compound, posing as CPS officers. The episode then turns into a protected hostage situation as Benjamin Cyrus gets word of a police raid and the cult’s followers engage in a gun battle with the SWAT team. It leads to a standoff, where Reid and Prentiss are caught in the crossfire, and Cyrus prepares his followers for death. He tests them, offering them wine he later says is poisoned, weeding out the unfaithful to lead up to a mass murder-suicide situation. Thankfully, the BAU rescues most of the women and children, but that doesn’t erase the deep scars Benjamin Cyrus left.

27

Pablo Vargas Attacked the Mothers of His Previous Victims

“Machismo” – Season 1, Episode 19

Pablo Vargas (Alejandro Patiño) is one of the earlier Criminal Minds unsubs that left a long-lasting impression on viewers. He only appears in the episode “Machismo,” where the BAU travels to Mexico to investigate a series of murders. However, they later realize these crimes are connected with a series of sexual assaults that have been unsolved, and that Vargas is now attacking the mothers of his previous victims.

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The unsub in “Machismo” doesn’t appear much, as most of the investigation revolves around the victims and the lack of action by the local police. Vargas’ last victim was able to fight him off, which compelled him to go after her mother. Yet what makes him one of the darkest Criminal Minds villains is the impunity with which he operated, attacking fourteen women before going after their mothers. Eventually, Pablo Vargas suffers the rage of the women he had victimized, proving just how much damage he had done.

26

Diane Turner’s Obsession Destroyed Reid

“Zugzwang” – Season 8, Episode 12

SSA Spencer Reid has had a rocky road in the romance department. His many fans long wondered if he’d ever find someone that’s perfect for him. That changed in Season 8 when Reid began speaking to Maeve Donovan (Beth Riesgraff) over the phone. The two got along fantastically with fans and the BAU, on the edge of their seats, waiting for the two to finally meet. The problem is that Maeve has a stalker in Diane Turner (Michelle Trachtenberg).

Diane was a former university research assistant whose thesis was rejected. Blaming Maeve for her failure, and her belief that she was a brilliant mind, Diane stalked Maeve. In the process, she began dating Maeve’s ex-fiancé, Bobby Putnam. Maeve constantly lived in fear, especially considering she nor Reid had any idea who was stalking her. Diane eventually abducted both Maeve and Bobby and used them to get Reid to provide her with the affirmation she needed, ultimately leading to Bobby’s death and a hostage situation. Reid was able to finally meet Maeve face-to-face, but the meeting was short-lived as Diane killed Maeve in a murder-suicide.

25

Ian Doyle Was a Menacing Presence

“Valhalla” / “Lauren” – Season 6, Episodes 18/19

Ian Doyle is one of the longest-occurring antagonists in Criminal Minds. Doyle, an IRA soldier and gang leader, plays a significant role in Emily Prentiss’ backstory. When she worked with Interpol, Prentiss worked undercover as “Lauren Reynolds.” Her work helped lead to his arrest. Doyle was later imprisoned in Camp 22 in North Korea – a notorious prison camp, which he eventually escaped from.

Now knowing Prentiss was undercover and believing that his son, Declan, was dead, Doyle sought revenge on the Interpol agents, which led to his arrest. Doyle was intimidating and powerful. It always felt like he was multiple steps ahead, and he began to set his eyes on the BAU to take away from Prentiss what matters to her the most. Each Doyle scene was intense as fans of Prentiss watched as her life was in constant danger, ultimately leading to her death being faked for her safety.

24

Randall Garner Was the First Major Antagonist

“The Fisher King” – Season 1, Episode 22 / Season 2, Episode 1

Randall Garner, The Fisher King, was a notable milestone in the Criminal Minds series. He served as proof that the members of the BAU were never truly safe. He stalked members of the BAU and hacked their technical infrastructure by befriending Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) in an online game. Garner set up a “quest,” so to speak, for the BAU to find a missing woman named Rebecca Bryant, Garner’s biological daughter.

He framed Elle for the murder of Marty Harris, and he sent mysterious packages to numerous other members of the BAU, including one to Gideon containing Marty’s head. The BAU was in a race against time to save Rebecca, and capture Garner so he could no longer threaten their own lives. Garner made the BAU feel vulnerable even in their own offices, giving him a lasting legacy in the series, as he’s not the last person to do so.

23

Thomas Yates Killed Over 100 Women

“Profiling 101” / “Profiling 202” – Season 7, Episode 22 / Season 12, Episode 9

Thomas Yates, known as “The Womb Raider,” was a terrifying unsub who murdered high-risk women after harboring years of disdain for his abusive grandmother. Yates was placed under the care of his grandmother after his mother died in childbirth, and his grandmother held that against him. Yates has one of the highest victim counts in Criminal Minds with over 100 victims, and he was scary even while in prison.

Each year, on David Rossi’s (Joe Mantegna) birthday, Yates provides the name of an undiscovered victim, a deal made to avoid the death penalty. It consumes Rossi so much that he dreads his birthday. Yates was later one of the unsubs who escaped prison during a prison break in a later season of Criminal Minds. That massively increases the stakes, as now he’s actively killing again. While holding a woman hostage, Rossi killed Yates. The woman’s life was saved, but many of Yates’ victims will remain undiscovered.

22

Sera Morrison Killed Her Own Mother and Sister Out of Jealousy

“All That Remains” – Season 8, Episode 14

“All That Remains” introduced audiences to Sera Morrison (Sophi Bairley), a teenage serial killer. The Morrison family was already the subject of a police investigation when Bruce’s wife disappeared, and while Bruce was the prime suspect, there was no evidence to convict him. The BAU arrives when Bruce becomes a suspect a second time after his daughters, Katie and Sera, disappear. The police eventually find Bruce’s youngest daughter, Katie, dead, but they find Sera alive.

Things aren’t so easy in this Criminal Minds episode, though. JJ (A.J. Cook) notices there’s something off about Sera, and the BAU realizes it was Sera who killed both her mother and her younger sister, and let her dad become the prime suspect. Sera’s reasoning behind the killings is that she believed her mother loved Katie more than her. Sera Morrison was a teenager, yet her crimes and lack of remorse make her extremely disturbing. She also took advantage of her father’s mental health and substance abuse issues to make him the perfect suspect, effectively taking down her whole family at just eighteen. This easily makes Sera one of the darkest Criminal Minds villains.

21

Elias Voit is at the Center of Criminal Minds: Evolution

He First Appears In Evolution Season 1, Episode 1

Bringing back Criminal Minds so soon after its original finale was a tough sell, given how good the original ending was. It needed a compelling villain that could top Everett Lynch (Michael Mosely) – the “final boss” of the original series. Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) perfectly fits the bill. Voit comes across as a normal everyday father with a perfectly normal family and lifestyle. Deep down, he’s a twisted and sick individual who created and maintained a network of serial killers.

Voit created a series of bunkers across the country and provided a means for serial killers to achieve their desires. He established a set of rules that included demands that killers commit suicide when on the verge of capture. Evolution’s first season was unique as it devoted a lot of time to Voit and his family life before slowly unraveling his past, which led him down this dark road. As the BAU began closing him, viewers watched Voit spiral and put his family in greater and greater danger. Despite his capture, Voit still maintains a prominent role in Evolution in Season 2.

20

The Tall Man Is a Layered Villain

“The Tall Man” – Season 14, Episode 5

“The Tall Man” takes the BAU to a small town in Pennsylvania called East Allegheny to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three teenage girls. They go into the local wooded area to search for the spooky legend “Tall Man,” who, according to legend, cuts up his victims until they spill their secrets. However, the BAU discovers that it’s not entirely fake, as one girl turns up with injuries consistent with the stories.

The case is more complex, too, as the return to East Allegheny is especially difficult for JJ, as she grew up and faced her first trauma there when her older sister took her life during her childhood. The case brings up bad memories for JJ, and they actually find out that JJ’s sister was a victim of their unsub Ethan Howard. He’s a sexual predator who used his position working with teenagers to groom teen girls, escalating into more life-threatening crimes against his victims as well, thus leading to the Tall Man mess.

19

Frank Breitkopf Is Prolific and Ruthless

“No Way Out” / “No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank” – Season 2, Episodes 13/23

Frank Breitkopf (Keith Carradine) is one of the most disturbing criminals the BAU has faced, one that directly influenced Jason Gideon’s (Mandy Patinkin) departure from the BAU. As if Frank, who had a victim count over a hundred wasn’t bad enough, he also took a school bus full of children hostage, promising to reveal its location if the police gave him one of his earlier victims, Jane Hanratty (Amy Madigan). Jane is “the one that got away,” as she is the only one to survive after being taken by Frank. Frank believes he is in love with Jane, so he agrees to stop killing if he can be with her.

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Frank gets away and eventually returns once Jane escapes him again. This time, Frank takes things further by posing as Jason Gideon and attacking previous victims that Jason had helped and saved. Frank’s crimes, and his lack of any feeling or remorse, make him one of the darkest Criminal Minds villains. He not only killed past survivors that Jason helped but also killed Jason’s girlfriend, Sarah, something that traumatized Jason and eventually made him leave the BAU.

18

Eric Olson Used His Victims To Find Out What He Liked

“Zoe’s Reprise” – Season 4, Episode 15

Eric Olson (Johnny Lewis) was an unsub that was hard to profile, as he seemed to be a copycat trying to emulate the crimes of past serial killers. However, the BAU soon realized that he was not doing it out of admiration or respect, like other copycats, but because this Criminal Minds villain didn’t know what he liked. Eric was using different methods, mirroring famous true crime cases to find the modus operandi that worked best for him. One of the victims was Zoe Hawkes, who died while investigating on her own after she tried to get the BAU involved after local police dismissed any concerns of a serial killer.

Eric Olson killed and took photos of the disposal sites to relive his crimes, and even took his girlfriend to those sites. Eric’s M.O. made it hard for the police to connect the crimes, meaning he could’ve continued his crimes undetected if he hadn’t found his own signature. Eric’s obsession with murder makes him a disturbing serial killer, and his need to take his girlfriend to the disposal sites for sex, using her just for pleasure, helps make him one of the darkest Criminal Minds villains.

17

Carl Buford Pretended To Be an Upstanding Community Member

“Profiler, Profiled” – Season 2, Episode 12

Carl Buford is one of the most disturbing criminals the BAU has apprehended, one who also attacked one of the BAU members, Derek Morgan. Buford pretended to be an upstanding community member, helping kids with his community center. But what others didn’t know was that Buford abused his power and position to molest the kids he was pretending to help, and even killed a few of his victims to silence them.

Carl Buford molested over fifty kids, yet somehow he was able to become a hero to the community due to his work at the Youth Center. His lack of accountability and the shameless way he pretended to love those kids make him one of the darkest Criminal Minds villains. He even went as far as to tell Derek that he could’ve “just said no,” a scene that is as heartbreaking as infuriating, as Carl Buford proves he doesn’t think he did anything wrong.

16

Mark Hamill’s John Curtis Had Inside Knowledge

“Brothers Hotchner” / “The Replicator” – Season 8, Episode 23/24

John Curtis, also known as “The Replicator,”​ appeared in several of season eight’s episodes. Played by Mark Hamill, Curtis stalked the BAU team for weeks. His M.O. was to replicate the killing styles of other serial killers that the team had dealt with. Curtis begins his killing spree to get revenge against Erin Strauss, a BAU section chief who had sabotaged Curtis’ career with the FBI.

John Curtis used his background studying and stopping serial killers to copy their styles. Curtis’ clever tactics initially led the BAU to believe the unsub was multiple copycats. This allowed Curtis to continue his crimes in secret for a while. Curtis’s versatility and personal vendetta against the BAU team made him dangerous, but his inside knowledge made him a horrifying adversary.