Design by Yosef Phelan

Since we were children, we’ve been taught to love the hero and hate the villain. But every now and then, a character comes along who makes us throw that boring rule out the window altogether. So, who are the exceptions to this longstanding social norm? Yep, you guessed it: gay baddies.

Across film and TV, we’ve been treated to countless queer and queer-coded antagonists who’ve helped shape us into the rainbow-hued people we are today. Sure, these characters might be on the wrong side of morality, with questionable – if not downright irredeemable – qualities. But their distinctive looks, larger-than-life personas, and complex journeys can make them far more relatable and entertaining than their heroic counterparts.

From demon twinks and reincarnated lovers to DL trade and sweet transvestites from Transylvania, here are our favourite queer villains across film and TV.

1.
Frank-N-Furter (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Few queer villains are as iconic as the one and only sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania: Dr Frank-N-Furter, played by the late, great Tim Curry. With his curly locks, dramatic makeup, skimpy outfits and obsession with his muscular, golden-brief-wearing creation, Rocky, Frank-N-Furter has sparked countless gay awakenings over the last five decades and paved the way for generations of LGBTQIA+ villains.

I mean, in the film alone, Frank-N-Furter manages to seduce and sleep with both Janet and Brad (pansexual king!), serve three unforgettable looks, and sing about turning his hunky creation into the perfect man. Iconic behaviour, really. Also, a special shout-out must go to his queer-coded minions, Riff-Raff and Magenta, whose costumes in the final act are among the campiest in cinema history.

2.
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)

Now, before we start, no: Gaston isn’t canonically part of the LGBTs, story wise. But queer-coded? Absolutely. And we're not just saying that because he may or may not have been featured in many gay awakenings...

According to Bill Condon, director of the live-action remake, composer Alan Menken of the 1991 animated film told him that lyricist Howard Ashman based Gaston on "trade”. But even if Disney’s resident beefcake hasn’t officially been confirmed as a hypermasculine gay man, he was definitely giving exactly that in his titular solo song. From boasting that he's the size of a barge to declaring that “every last inch” of him is covered in hair, Gaston practically oozes queer subtext. Subtle? Not even slightly.

3.
Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal TV series)

When Hannibal first hit our screens, never did we think it would introduce the queerest iteration of the titular human flesh-muncher. Over three seasons, Dr Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) became the physical embodiment of gay yearning for Dr Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), using most of their interactions to indirectly say that the latter was “his man, his man, his man.” 

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