Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight has been named Britain’s favourite movie villain in a recent poll conducted by the Freeview TV channel Great! Action. Ledger’s performance, widely regarded as iconic, received 22% of votes from film fans, narrowly edging out Darth Vader, the Sith lord from the original Star Wars trilogy, who garnered 21%.

The survey also ranked other well-known screen antagonists, with Anthony Hopkins’ cannibal Hannibal Lecter from the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs placed third at 17%. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator obtained 15% of the votes, while Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber from Die Hard received 7%. Other notable villains included Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series with 6%, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street at 5%, and Norman Bates from the 1960 classic Psycho, who ranked lowest with 2%.

The poll reflects a strong public interest in villainous characters, with 70% of respondents agreeing that villains are often more memorable than heroes. Kate Gartland of Narrative Entertainment, which owns Great! Action, noted that although heroes traditionally take centre stage in action films, audiences are increasingly drawn to the complexity and charisma of "the dark side."

The poll results come ahead of the October 23 premiere of Clayface, a DC Comics-based film exploring the backstory of one of Batman’s shape-shifting enemies. In line with the channel’s focus on complex anti-heroes, Great! Action will also air the 2018 film Venom on October 27 at 9 p.m. The movie, featuring British actor Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist who becomes host to an alien symbiote, taps into the trend of exploring morally ambiguous characters who operate between heroism and villainy.

Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award, remains a defining example of a compelling cinematic villain. His untimely death in January 2008, six months before The Dark Knight’s release, added a poignant note to his performance’s legacy. The poll results reaffirm the enduring cultural impact of his Joker alongside other legendary villains in film history.