49 free Villain trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This villain trivia quiz covers the great antagonists of film, television, comics and literature. You will get questions on the American Film Institute's ranked screen villains (Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, Darth Vader, the Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched, HAL 9000, Annie Wilkes, Hans Gruber, Keyser Söze), the slasher icons (Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Pennywise), the comic-book heavies (the Joker, Thanos, Magneto, Lex Luthor, the Green Goblin, Killmonger) and the literary ones (Voldemort, Sauron, Gollum, Moriarty, Dracula, Captain Hook, Count Olaf, Dolores Umbridge). The questions ask who played them, who created them, what real people or earlier works inspired them, and the production details behind their most famous moments: which mask was really a William Shatner face cast, which villain's name came from a Turkish idiom, and which actor's terrified fall was genuine. It works as a movie-night round or a solo test, with difficulty running from easy to expert. Every answer was checked against a reference page before publishing, so the credits, dates and origin stories hold up.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which character tops the American Film Institute's 2003 list of the 50 greatest screen villains?
Hannibal Lecter
Anthony Hopkins's Oscar-winning turn ranked first, ahead of Norman Bates and Darth Vader.
Q 02The cannibal psychiatrist Dr Lecter first appeared in a small role in which 1981 Thomas Harris novel?
Red Dragon
That book was filmed as Manhunter in 1986 with Brian Cox as the doctor, spelled 'Lecktor'.
Q 03Thomas Harris's cannibal psychiatrist is written as having been born in which country?
Lithuania
Harris said the inspiration was Alfredo Ballí Treviño, a convicted murderer he met while reporting in Mexico.
Q 04Norman Bates was loosely based on which real-life killer?
Ed Gein
Robert Bloch created the character for his 1959 novel Psycho, and Freddie Highmore later played a young Norman in Bates Motel.
Q 05Who physically played Darth Vader in the original trilogy, with James Earl Jones as the voice?
David Prowse
The former bodybuilder wore the suit; Sebastian Shaw appeared as the unmasked Anakin in Return of the Jedi.
Q 06Which actress played the Wicked Witch of the West in 1939 and introduced her green skin?
Margaret Hamilton
In L. Frank Baum's book she rules the Winkie Country and is killed by Dorothy with a bucket of water; the green skin was Hollywood's invention.
Q 07Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, was created by Ken Kesey in which 1962 novel?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fletcher won an Academy Award, and Sarah Paulson later played the character in the Netflix prequel Ratched.
Q 08According to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which Illinois city did HAL 9000 become operational?
Urbana
The film dates HAL's activation to 12 January 1992, while Arthur C. Clarke's novel says 1997.
Q 09Which actor voiced HAL 9000?
Douglas Rain
The name stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer, and Rain voiced HAL in both film adaptations.
Q 10Which 1928 silent-film character was shown to the Joker's creators as inspiration for his grin?
Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs
Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson each told a different story of who came up with the character for Batman #1 in 1940.
Q 11Heath Ledger's Oscar for The Dark Knight was the first acting Oscar for what kind of movie?
A superhero film
Joaquin Phoenix later won Best Actor for the 2019 film Joker, making the character a two-time Oscar winner.
Q 12"I am Lord Voldemort" is an anagram of what?
Tom Marvolo Riddle
Translators often had to change his name so the anagram would still work; the name Voldemort itself echoes the French vol de mort, 'flight of death'.
Q 13Voldemort was the son of the witch Merope Gaunt and a Muggle father named what?
Tom Riddle
The father abandoned Merope before the birth, and she died shortly afterwards, leaving the boy to a Muggle orphanage.
Q 21Pennywise returns to prey on the children of Derry, Maine roughly how often?
Every 27 years
Tim Curry played the clown in the 1990 miniseries and Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 and 2019 films.
Q 22Thanos creator Jim Starlin conceived the character during college classes in which subject?
Psychology
The name nods to Freud's death drive, Thanatos; the character debuted in The Invincible Iron Man #55 in 1973.
Q 23In the 1991 comic The Infinity Gauntlet, why does Thanos wipe out half the universe?
To woo Mistress Death
The films swapped in an overpopulation motive; Josh Brolin took over the role from Damion Poitier in 2014.
Q 14Sauron was originally the chief lieutenant of which first Dark Lord?
Morgoth
He was one of the Maiar, angelic spirits, and in The Hobbit he is known only as the Necromancer.
Q 15Gollum obtained the One Ring by murdering whom?
His cousin Déagol
The victim had found the Ring in the River Anduin; the Ring stretched Gollum's life far beyond natural limits.
Q 16Which actor gave Gollum his motion-capture performance in Peter Jackson's films?
Andy Serkis
Brother Theodore voiced the character in the Rankin-Bass cartoons and Peter Woodthorpe in Ralph Bakshi's film and the BBC radio version.
Q 17Freddy Krueger's parents-turned-vigilantes did what to him before he became a dream demon?
Burned him to death
Wes Craven's child killer welded his own bladed glove; Robert Englund played him for eight films.
Q 18Jason Voorhees first wore his trademark hockey mask in which film?
Friday the 13th Part III
In the 1980 original he appears only as a boy in his mother's memories, played by Ari Lehman.
Q 19Michael Myers' white mask in the original Halloween was made from a cast of which actor's face?
William Shatner
It was a Captain Kirk mask left over from The Devil's Rain; Nick Castle wore it for most of the film, credited as The Shape.
Q 20How old is Michael Myers when he murders his sister Judith on Halloween night 1963?
Six
Fifteen years later he escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, to stalk Laurie Strode.
Q 24Which weapon, normally used to stun livestock, does Anton Chigurh carry in No Country for Old Men?
A captive bolt pistol
Javier Bardem won an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for the role and joked his bowl haircut would keep him single for months.
Q 25Cruella de Vil first appeared in a 1956 novel by which author?
Dodie Smith
Disney's animators based her mannerisms on Tallulah Bankhead and her long lanky frame on actress Mary Wickes.
Q 26Magneto's backstory as a Holocaust survivor was created by which writer?
Chris Claremont
Claremont compared him to Menachem Begin, though later commentators reached for Malcolm X; his birth name is Max Eisenhardt.
Q 27In his earliest 1940 comic appearances, Lex Luthor was drawn how?
With a full head of red hair
The famous bald look came later; Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, Jesse Eisenberg and Nicholas Hoult have all played him on film.
Q 28Holmes's 'Napoleon of crime' phrase was lifted from a Scotland Yard description of which real criminal?
Adam Worth
Moriarty appears directly in only two stories, 'The Final Problem' (1893) and The Valley of Fear.
Q 29Count Dracula claims descent from which historical conqueror?
Attila the Hun
Stoker probably did not know that his inspiration, Vlad III, was also called Vlad the Impaler.
Q 30Captain Hook's dying words in J. M. Barrie's play are the motto of which school?
Eton
'Floreat Etona' fits a villain implied to have gone from Eton to Balliol; in the novel his last words are simply 'bad form'.