This article includes mentions of murder, cannibalism, pedophilia, rape, and other horrific crimes.
Warning: this article contains SPOILERS forCriminal Minds.Years after the original series ended,Criminal Mindsis still remembered as one of the best crime dramas of all time, with undeniably the most terrifying killers to boot. The continuation,Criminal Minds: Evolution, has attempted to recreate the magic of the original, but even the most fearsome unknown subjects (unsubs) inEvolutionfail to hold a candle to the original series.Evolution’sGold Star killers were interesting, but they pale in comparisonto many olderCriminal Mindsunsubs.
The fictionalizedBehavioral Analysis Unit inCriminal Mindsfaced hundreds of perpetrators, ranging from disturbed but easy-to-catch community members to high-profile assassins who left no trail. The uniquely disturbing villains were so memorable, that many are still waiting for a fittingalternative toCriminal Mindsto watch, and it’s easy to understand why. The original series put care into crafting realistic yet shocking characters who could evoke fear, rage, disgust, et cetera with a single opening scene. While some unsubs had more screen time inCriminal Minds, some were terrifying enough to leave an impression with just one episode under their belt.
10Randall Garner AKA The Fisher King
Criminal Minds Season 1, Episode 22
The originalCriminal Mindsran for 15 seasons, but the procedural wasted no time in creating menacing antagonists. The pilot season ofCriminal Mindsconcluded with the crimes of“The Fisher King”Randall Garner (Charles Haid and Charley Rossman), a man who treated the investigation to find him like a fantasy quest.Garner set up riddles, left convoluted clues and puzzles for the BAU to solve, and maintained his threat level by sending Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) a severed head and attacking Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini).
What made The Fisher King so frightening is his recklessness. AsCriminal Mindsseason 2 proved, Garner had no problem putting himself in harm’s way for the sake of his schemes. His delusional quest to rescue his dead daughter drove him mad, and anyone who got in the way was just collateral damage. Aside from kickstarting Elle’s exit fromCriminal Minds, The Fisher King paved the way for more creative unsubs to follow.
9Benjamin Cyrus
Criminal Minds: Season 4, Episode 3
Certain episodes ofCriminal Mindsleft a terrifying legacy for their originality, but others rose to popularity because of their realism. While tons ofCriminal Mindsepisodes are based on real cases, arguably one of the most well-known is “Minimal Loss,” inspired by the 1993 Waco siege. Similar to real-life events, theCriminal Mindsepisode focused on agents Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) as they are caught in the crossfire of a religious cult being raided.
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The episode’s unsub, Benjamin Cyrus (Luke Perry), may not have had dozens of victims from a murder spree to brag about, but his character was disturbing for a much simpler reason. Aside from leading the cult and manipulating families into agreeing to mass suicide, Cyrus married and impregnated a young teenagerwho ended up sacrificing her life to stop the BAU from ruining his plan.The real horror of Benjamin Cyrus was his ability to commit pedophilic actsand have a room full of people who believed it was God’s will.
8John Curtis AKA The Replicator
Criminal Minds: Season 8, Episode 1
Criminal Mindsincluded so many memorable unsubs, one killer was able to reference distinct fictional killers within Criminal Minds. John Curtis, aka“The Replicator”(Mark Hamill), not only replicated a unique modus operandi from the BAU’s past; Curtis also had inside information. After being scorned by his superior, Curtis made it his mission to get revenge and taunt the FBI in the process with a string of copycat murders.
The only reason Curtis was able to recreate such detailed crimes was because he was part of the organization that investigated them.
The Replicator seamlessly borrowed killing methods from many different killers, which automatically makes him one of the most unsettling unsubs inCriminal Minds. What made him truly terrifying was his connection to law enforcement. The only reason Curtis was able to recreate such detailed crimes was because he was part of the organization that investigated them. John Curtis was one ofMark Hamill’s best roles, and he was undoubtedly the scariest.
7Pablo Vargas
Criminal Minds: Season 1, Episode 19
Sometimes, simplicity can be just as unnerving as a grand spectacle killer. Pablo Vargas (Alejandro Patiño) was a two-pronged criminal:Vargas raped over a dozen womenbefore the BAU arrived in Mexico, and he then murdered his victims’ mothers. Parts of Vargas were reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’sPsycho, like Vargas keeping the remains of his deceased mother in his living room and donning dresses to attack women.
Vargas left his victims traumatized by his sexual assault, buthe took their anguish a step further by murdering their motherslong after the fact. While Pablo Vargas is a rare case of the BAU not apprehending a suspect, he was murdered vigilante-style by his own victims in clear karmic retribution. That ending may satisfy some, but the understated crimes of Vargas pack a chilling punch, especially forCriminal Mindsseason 1.
6Floyd Feylinn Ferell AKA Lucky
Criminal Minds: Season 3, Episode 8
Unsubs like The Replicator had full-season runs, but“Lucky”Floyd Feylinn Ferell (Jamie Kennedy) only needed oneCriminal Mindsepisode to turn stomachs. Ferell spent most of his life in a psychiatric hospital after taking a bite out of his infant sister, but he was released when he turned 18 and free to build a life without restrictions. After opening a barbecue restaurant,Ferell began targeting women to kill and cannibalize them. To justify his crimes, Ferell insisted he was possessed by a flesh-eating demon.
While the very concept of“Lucky”is nauseating, he blended in well enough to feed human remains to a search party without attracting notice.Ferell also fed human remains to customers at his restaurant, deriving a sick pleasure from people unknowingly committing cannibalism.Criminal Mindshas many disturbing unsubs, but the sickening acts of Floyd Feylinn Ferell stand out in all the worst ways.
5Samantha Malcom
Criminal Minds: Season 5, Episode 12
Samantha Malcom (Jennifer Hasty) is one of the saddestCriminal Mindsunsubs, due to her traumatic backstory. After the death of her mother, Samantha’s father began molesting her and apologizing with dolls. Her father also administered electroshock therapy to ensure Samantha would never tell the authorities about the abuse, fundamentally altering the chemistry of her brain. ThoughSamantha was only in her mid-20sat the time of her murders, it was obvious she had no tether to reality.
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Despite her trauma, what Samantha did to her victims was horrifying. After abducting women who resembled her dolls, Samantha would incapacitate them with drugs and play dress-up with their paralyzed bodies.Samantha essentially turned her victims into living dolls, only throwing them away when their bodies succumbed to the immobilizing drugs. Reid convinced Samantha to turn herself in by recovering her old dolls, turning “The Uncanny Valley” into one of the best but most unnervingReid-centricCriminal Mindsepisodes.
4Billy Flynn AKA The Prince Of Darkness
Criminal Minds: Season 5, Episode 23
Tim Curry’s run asThe Prince Of Darkness inCriminal Mindswas spine-chilling for a multitude of reasons.Billy Flynn worked as a Boogeyman, only killing under the cover of night.Criminal Mindsset Flynn apart by adding another terrifying aspect to his MO: Flynn would leave someone alive to witness his crimes and live with the memory. Despite being a serial rapist and killer, Flynn managed to easily evade capture for decades before the BAU took the case.
Another horrible detail from his stint onCriminal Mindswas that Flynn had been killing for so long, that he was able to target the family of his former witness, bringing his crimes full circle. Tim Curry’s masterful performance made his character petrifying, with Billy Flynn feeling like a nightmare come to life. In the two-part“Prince of Darkness”special,Criminal Mindstook what hordes of people fear most and turned it into a character with hundreds of victims.
3Roger & Anita Roycewood
Criminal Minds: Season 5, Episode 16
Undeniably one of the most memorable episodes ofCriminal Minds, “Mosley Lane” follows the killer couple of Roger (Bud Cort) and Anita Roycewood (Beth Grant).Together, the pair would abduct children and keep them captive in their home. The Roycewoods left families torn apart and consumed by grief, but the parents didn’t even know the worst part of their child’s abduction. As soon as one of their victims became too old or defiant, Anita would take them to the basement and load them into a funeral crematorium.
Anita would burn the children while they were drugged, unconscious but still alive. From the inescapable pain of not knowing what happened to missing children to the devastating revelation of the truth, “Mosley Lane” is an emotional rollercoaster and one ofMatthew Gray Gubler’s greatest directed episodes inCriminal Minds. “Mosley Lane” had one of the most deplorable killers and arguably the most heartbreaking line in the entire series. When a father learns his missing son was killed, but it was an impossible near-miss, all he can ask is:“He was alive yesterday?”
2Peter Lewis AKA Mr. Scratch
Criminal Minds: Season 10, Episode 21
Although multipleCriminal Mindscast members departed the seriesby the time Peter Lewis (Bodhi Elfman) was introduced, he was still a nightmare-inducing character. Lewis was extremely intelligent, and he even had a position at the NSA (National Security Agency). Yet, Lewis was the last person concerned with anyone’s safety.Criminal Mindshad many proxy killers, but none were as unsettling as Peter Lewis.Lewis would drug, hypnotize, and coerce people into murdering their own loved onesafter seeing“Mr. Scratch,”his alter ego.
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Lewis was able to cause mass hysteria and death without ever wielding the murder weapon, making him one of the most powerful killers inCriminal Minds, despite being by proxy. The thought of being drugged and realizing you killed your family without having any control over your own mind is a nightmare scenario, but to Lewis it was just strategy. Using“Mr. Scratch,”Peter Lewis inflicted unimaginable pain on so many people.
1George Foyet AKA The Reaper
Criminal Minds: Season 4, Episode 18
Probably themost memorable unsub inCriminal Mindswas George Foyet (C. Thomas Howell), known ominously as"The Reaper.“What made Foyet so terrifying wasn’t necessarily his brutal killing style or even the number of victims he had claimed. Rather, Foyet had a personal vendetta against SSA Aaron"Hotch"Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) and targeted him over multiple seasons.Foyet even ended up killing Hotch’s wife and nearly killing his young son, but Hotch was at least able to save his child in the tense 100th episode ofCriminal Minds.
Drawing inspiration from many well-known serial killers, including The Zodiac, The Reaper was an amalgam of the worst people to ever live.
Of course, Foyet’s fearsome presence as a standalone killer can’t be overlooked. Drawing inspiration from many well-known serial killers, including The Zodiac, The Reaper was an amalgam of the worst people to ever live.Criminal Mindswas all about good conquering evil, but Foyet’s reign of terror proved that evil can do a lot before it gets defeated. Though the continuation series is trying to step up its killers, nothing compares to the originalCriminal Mindsand the countless unsubs who left a terrifying legacy.
