10 Best Twin Peaks Original Series Villains, Ranked

The villains of Twin Peaks are often more than just one-dimensional evil characters. They are driven by complex motivations, shaped by their experiences and entangled in relationships that define both the politics and the atmosphere of mistrust in the town. Some are driven by greed and power, while others are consumed by darkness and despair. Regardless of their motives, they all contribute to the unsettling atmosphere that permeates the series, as well as the unsolved mysteries of Twin Peaks.

Twin Peaks is renowned for divisive characters, not least its complex and multifaceted villains. From the sinister machinations of business tycoons to the haunting presence of supernatural entities, the show offers a diverse array of antagonists that drive the show’s narrative.

10 Jacques Renault

Played By Walter Olkewicz

Jacques Renault – or “Re-nolt,” as pronounced by Andy Brennan – left a memorable mark on Twin Peaks. His iconic line, “Bite the bullet, baby,” for instance, is among Twin Peaks’ many memorable quotes. This scene was used for the late and great Walter Olkewicz’s audition for the show and his line delivery, emphasized by the extreme close-up of his mouth, is chilling.

Jacques also plays a significant role in the Twin Peaks prequel movie Fire Walk With Me. As if his “bite the bullet” anecdote as told to Dale Cooper is not enough to portray him as an odious lesser villain in Laura’s world, FWWM features horribly prophetic lines such as, “Guess what? There’s no tomorrow!” This is particularly sinister, knowing Laura’s story can only end one way. Additionally, without Jacques, there would not have been Andy’s heroic scene where he unexpectedly shoots Jacques in the arm, later recounted to impress Lucy.

9 Hank Jennings

Played By Chris Mulkey

Hank Jennings is not the main villain in the town, but he always seems to appear near trouble. He has a redemptive storyline following his release from prison that is obviously artificial and his scenes with his wife Norma during this part of the show are imbued with dread. The backstory about him being a Bookhouse Boy in the past contributes to the overall theme of corruption in Twin Peaks, painting him as a dark mirror to Harry Truman.

Another scene that bumps Hank into the villain ranking is a phone call where he is creepily sucking on a domino for reasons unknown. Perhaps the domino is a metaphor for the effect of a small action, showing Hank is methodical in his villainy, unlike less intelligent villains like Leo. On the other hand, it reflects many of Hank’s scenes in the show – his actions don’t betray an obvious motive, making him all the more sinister. Sometimes he makes a point of doing immoral things for no good reason, like stealing Shelly’s Zippo Venetian lighter.

8 Josie Packard

Played By Joan Chen

Josie Packard is an uncomfortably ambiguous character. She has a tragic backstory, having been trafficked – however, the way she wields her victimhood is disturbing throughout the show, and it’s unclear what her true intentions are. She manipulates Harry Truman and uses her connection to the Sheriff’s Department to her advantage in her power play with Catherine Martell. In these scenes with Truman, she is believably fearful about what Catherine and Ben have planned for her – however, in other scenes in the show, she is shown to play the game of double-crossing that’s so prevalent in the town.

It’s in Josie’s scenes with Benjamin Horne that her mask falls and she provides a glimpse at the skills she has honed to survive. This makes her a compelling villain because, for a long while, she can hold her own with the smarmy men of the plot. Another reason Josie ranks well is revealed in the Twin Peaks book by Jennifer Lynch, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. In her diary, Laura reveals that Josie is one of the many people using Laura. The English language lessons seem to be an excuse to be close to her.

7 Catherine Martell

Played By Piper Laurie

Catherine Martell’s villain ranking owes a lot to Piper Laurie’s brilliant acting of this shrewd character. Her sass and sharpness are reminiscent of old movies, revealing Lynch’s distinctively noirish sensibilities. Laurie’s memory is honored by Twin Peaks viewers, who appreciate what her character adds to the show. She is practical and cold until her redemptive development, highlighted especially by the fire at the sawmill – as Shelly panics at the fire closing in, Catherine says, “Quiet – I’m thinking.” She is calculating at every turn, and watching her outfox Benjamin Horne is satisfying viewing.

Another part of her brilliance is her mysterious disappearance after the fire and reappearance in an unrecognizable disguise that fools even her husband, Pete, who she has a love/hate relationship with. Catherine is consistently captivating throughout the show and her double-crossing machinations in the mill subplot add to the town’s overall atmosphere of deception.

6 Benjamin Horne

Played By Richard Beymer

Ben Horne is an example of an unexpected character transformation, especially in The Return. Viewers would be forgiven for viewing his redemptive arc in season 2 of the original series with some suspicion – however, it continues into season 3, with Ben seemingly having changed his ways. Regardless, he remains one of the best villains of the original series and his dialogue is among the most charismatic and hilarious in the show. This humor makes it jarringly easy to forget how evil he really is, with his heavy involvement with One Eyed Jacks.

The Horne brothers are loosely based on brothers who owned a brothel in the vicinity of a real-life murder case that inspired Twin Peaks. Their fictional counterparts are the backbone of the trafficking and corruption in the underbelly of the town. Richard Beymer does an excellent job of playing Ben to his full villainous, yet ridiculous, potential. His humor is goofy and childlike, which provides an ingenious contrast to his actions throughout the show. Plus, his Confederate cosplay is funny enough to make the underrated Twin Peaks season 2 more palatable for critics.

5 Leo Johnson

Played By Eric Da Re

Leo Johnson’s fate is unresolved in Twin Peaks, but his villainy ranks highly among viewers. There are layers to how high on the list he is. First and foremost is his simple cruelty toward Shelly. This is represented in the show with unrelenting starkness and also makes him the ultimate red herring. In one scene, he is about to beat Shelly with a bar of soap inside a sock, deliberately on-the-nose with how domestic violence is presented in the show. Shelly staggers back and lands in a pile of plastic, drawing parallels to Laura Palmer’s body “wrapped in plastic” – a false clue pointing to Leo as the main villain.

More layers are added after Leo has been shot. Shelly and Bobby find a way to exploit Leo’s brain injury, like Windom Earle does later. This complicates Leo’s villainy because it adds an element of sympathy to this abusive criminal. It also adds extreme discomfort to scenes between Bobby, Shelly, and Leo – at points, it is unclear how lucid Leo is, adding volatility to those situations, a reminder of his role in Laura’s suffering and how dangerous he is left unchecked.

4 Windom Earle

Played by Kenneth Welsh

Windom Earle is a terrifying villain because of his past with Dale Cooper, according to whom his “mind is like a diamond. It’s cold, and hard, and brilliant.” At many points in the Windom Earle storyline, he is shown to have the calculation of a chess player but with an unhinged unpredictability in the mix. After the reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer in Twin Peaks, it seems the show needed another major villain inserted other than the abstract villains of the Lodge – Earle fits the bill as a character arrogant enough to think he can take on Twin Peaks‘ Black Lodge with no consequences.

The subplot with Windom Earle and the Miss Twin Peaks contest is brilliantly done and portrays the newly-introduced baddie as a major threat to the women of the show. The playing cards motif is a throwback to the One Eyed Jacks storyline in season 1 and continues to establish that, similarly to the chess motif, Earle is playing games with the residents of the town and they’re pawns in his plan. Ultimately, his power is only overshadowed by Killer BOB, who wants Dale Cooper for himself and defeats the season’s supervillain like he is a common pest.

3 Leland Palmer

Leland Palmer is not only a compelling villain but also one of the best Twin Peaks characters overall, embodying the cyclical nature of abuse. Some viewers felt that the original series absolved him of responsibility for his actions, suggesting that the evil spirit BOB was to blame. The prequel, Fire Walk with Me, offers a more nuanced portrayal. While acknowledging the influence of BOB, FWWM ultimately places the blame on Leland, highlighting his awareness and culpability in the abuse of his daughter. This shift aligns more closely with the complexities of trauma, avoiding the simplistic trope of external evil as the sole cause of harmful behavior.

One of the most sinister scenes in Twin Peaks is when Leland has Maddie’s body in his trunk. When pulled over, he shows Cooper the golf clubs that he also keeps in his car. Knowing he is the killer adds a new tension. Ray Wise does an incredible job of playing the two sides of Leland. Although he was revealed too early as Laura’s killer due to network pressures, the scenes when he is at the height of his possession by BOB are among the best – especially as the other characters wonder if it is a part of his grieving.

2 Mr. C

Played By Kyle MacLachlan

Mr. C is Cooper’s doppelgänger in season 3, Twin Peaks: The Return, and is rated very closely behind Killer BOB by viewers. His are among the scariest scenes in Twin Peaks. He is a cold and ruthless character originating from Black Lodge, where Dale got trapped at the end of the original series. This doppelgänger escaped the Lodge and ran amok for over 20 years before the events of The Return. Unlike the maniacally laughing possessed Cooper from the original series finale, Mr. C has had years of villainy to harden him, even bore him, making him expressionless and stoic. This is emphasized by his black eyes.

The Return’s Mr. C embodies the darker, more selfish side of humanity. While everyone possesses a blend of selfless and selfish qualities, Cooper’s dark doppelgänger’s actions are driven primarily by self-interest. As Mark Frost noted in an interview, Cooper has failed to integrate with his shadow-self, a crucial concept in Jungian psychology (via 25YL). In the surreal world of Twin Peaks, this shadow-self has manifested physically, wreaking havoc and highlighting Cooper’s internal conflict.

1 Killer BOB

Played By Frank Silva

Inevitably, Killer BOB is the best villain of Twin Peaks – and with good reason. The backstory of the casting of Frank Silva, who was originally a Twin Peaks set decorator, is fascinating. The fact that one of the scariest villains in Twin Peaks was an accident adds to Lynch’s magic. He was solidified as a mainstay when archival footage of BOB was used in The Return. David Lynch is an expert at getting under the viewer’s skin and Killer BOB’s scene where he climbs over a couch toward the camera is a prime example. The scene is drawn out and has a limited POV, adding to its sense of dread.

Frank Silva died tragically young in 1995, but his unplanned portrayal of Killer BOB forever made him a legend. Killer BOB is pure evil in the show, thriving on other characters’ pain and suffering. He is “the evil that men do” personified – and his killing of Laura is all the more brutal for having made her suffer for years prior, through her own father no less. His relishing in evil and cruelty with his laughter makes him the scariest villain in Twin Peaks by far and part of why Twin Peaks changed TV forever.