12 Best ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Baddies of All Time (PHOTOS)

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SVU Villains
NBC
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NBC

Robin Williams

SVU Character: Merritt Rook

Episode: Season 9, Episode 17

Why he was a good villain: Merritt was one of the most chilling villains of all time. He was creepy and constantly played mind games with the detectives. He was also responsible for the death of his wife’s doctor. Not to mention, he kidnapped Olivia Benson!

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NBC

Peter Jacobson

SVU Character: Bart Ganzel

Episode: Season 13, Episode 23 — Season 14, Episode 2

Why he was a good villain: Bart was in charge of an escort service and poisoned many women. Not only that, he also framed Captain Cragen for murder and used hitmen to kill people. He was bad, but he was also interesting.

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NBC

Brooke Smith

SVU Character: Delia Wilson

Episode: Season 13, Episode 23 – Season 14, Episode 2

Why she was a good villain: Along with Bart Ganzel, Delia Wilson used her power to drug women so they’d join her escort-service. She also used hitmen to kill people. Her back-and-forth with Bart was disturbing, but it also made for great television.

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NBC

Lou Diamond Phillips

SVU Character: Victor Gitano

Episode: Season 7, Episode 19

Why he was a good villain: Victor not only kidnapped children, he actually slashed Olivia Benson’s throat! He also held Olivia and Elliot at gunpoint. He was one of the few villains to actually seriously hurt one of the detectives.

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NBC

Andrew Divoff

SVU Character: Andre Bushido

Episode: Season 10, Episode 7

Why he was a good villain: Andre smuggled animals and was also a white slaver, which made him quite different from other SVU villains. He also shot Elliot Stabler.

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NBC

Pablo Schreiber

SVU Character: William Lewis

Episode: Season 14 – Season 15

Why he was a good villain: William is one of the most devilish villains of all time. Not only is he a rapist, a kidnapper, and a killer, he abused and abducted Olivia Benson. He also escaped jail and even kidnapped Olivia again!

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NBC

Johnny Messner

SVU Character: Lowell Harris

Episode: Season 9, Episode 15

Why he was a good villain: Along with attacking Olivia Benson (can she catch a break?!), Harris raped and murdered many women at a women’s prison. He was disgusting and perverted.

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NBC

Dallas Roberts

SVU Character: Dr. Greg Yates

Episode: Season 16 — Season 17

Why he was a good villain: It’s no surprise that the character of Dr. Greg Yates was based on Ted Bundy. Yates was a serial rapist and a serial murder who terrorized women for years. He also managed to escape prison!

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NBC

Jefferson Mays

SVU Character: Dr. Carl Rudnick

Episode: Season 9, Episode 16 — Season 17

Why he was a good villain: Dr. Carl Rudnick was a serial rapist and killer who just so happened to be based off of Robert Durst. Rudnick was creepy because he was a cross-dressing serial killer who would impersonate people, but he was also a medical examiner who just so happened to examine the bodies of women he actually killed!

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NBC

Brooke Shields

SVU Character: Sheila Porter

Episode: Season 19

Why she was a good villain: Unlike most of the other villains on this list, Sheila actually didn’t kill anybody, but she’s still one of the most conniving people to ever be on the show. She’s the biological grandmother of Olivia’s son, Noah, and even kidnapped him after Olivia won custody.

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NBC

David Harbour

SVU Character: Terry Jessup

Episode: Season 4, Episode 7

Why he was a good villain: There have been many child predators over the years on SVU, but Terry was one of the worst. In fact, he raped and murdered a little 5-year-old girl. He was sick and twisted.

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NBC

Sterling Beaumon

SVU Character: Hunter Mazelon

Episode: Season 12, Episode 23

Why he was a good villain: SVU rarely has villains who are young people, which is why Hunter was such a compelling bad guy. Hunter was a juvenile delinquent who was a serial rapist, but his back story was very interesting. Though his crimes were heinous, there was a part of you that felt badly for him because he had been molested as a child.

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While it’s easy to root for the detectives on Law & Order: SVU, it’s really the villains that keep the show interesting and fresh. Whether it’s a creepy serial killer, a malicious kidnapper, or an animal abuser, after 20 seasons this show has had no shortage of epic baddies.

Though it’s hard to narrow it down to just a select few, here are the 12 best SVU bad guys — and gals — of all time! Check out the gallery above to see the list. 

Law & Order: SVU, Season 21, Fall 2019, NBC