Every great martial arts movie has a cool, butt-kicking hero at its center. Whether it’s Jimmy Wang Yu doing his one-armed vigilante thing or Bruce Lee fighting to protect the innocent, mythical heroes with specialized fighting styles dominate the genre. But what good is a hero without a dastardly villain to foil their plans? Fortunately, another hallmark of the martial arts genre is the presence of bold and boisterous bad guys.
A ferocious villain can help immensely in ratcheting up a movie’s tension and getting the audience to scoot to the edge of their seats. Many martial arts movies have plots instigated by the actions of iconic evildoers, who usually have a corrupted martial arts philosophy and a specialized, sadistic combat style of their own. In the following list, we’ve counted down the 12 toughest thugs and meanest masterminds in all of martial arts movie history!
12 Mr. Tin – Yes, Madam! (1985)
One of Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh’s best action movies, Yes, Madam! is a Hong Kong action classic and a defining movie in the popular “Girls with Guns” subgenre. It stars Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock as a pair of mismatched detectives on a dangerous international investigation.
The highly-successful film earned a number of sequels, though the original was hard to top. A major reason for that is the film’s great bad guy – the smarmy Mr. Tin (played by James Tien). A ruthless and diabolical businessman, Mr. Tin’s sadism is matched only by the pomposity of his laugh and the gaudiness of his shirts.
Although most martial arts movie fans adore the 1994 sequel, Legend of the Drunken Master, the original 1978 Drunken Master is just as good, and one of the first films that made Jackie Chan a global sensation. The movie made famous a particular style of kung fu – “drunken kung fu” – which is characterized by wildly unpredictable moves and a lot of stumbling around. According to Collider, the just barely-controlled chaos of the style “gives Jackie Chan a perfect excuse to show off his physical comedy skills whilst also fighting, especially when the training involves actually getting drunk to learn the unique moves of drunken martial arts.”
Besides Chan’s gloriously unhinged performance, one of the best things the kung fu comedy has going for it is its villain. He is Thunderleg Yen Tie Hsin (or simply “Thunderfoot” in some versions), and he is played to pitiless perfection by Hwang Jang-lee. The guy’s careful and calculated fighting style serves as the perfect foil to Chan’s loose footwork, and his bouncy, Beatles-inspired hairdo makes him an icon among ‘70s villains.
10 Pirate King Lor Sam Pau – Project A (1983)
One of Jackie Chan’s greatest movies, Project A is an action-packed 19th-century-set adventure that pits Chan against a clan of vicious pirates. The memorable villain from this flick is the leader of said pirate clan, Lor Sam Pau (called Sanpao in some versions), who is played by the inimitable Dick Wei.
Dick Wei is renowned for his villainous roles in martial arts movies, and the Pirate King is one of his very best. He’s barbaric yet crafty, and always one step ahead of the heroes. Wei portrays the character with just the right amount of crazy in his eye, and supplies tons of martial arts expertise too. Adding another interesting layer to the character, some English-dubbed editions of Project A have the villain voiced by none other than legendary tough guy Danny Trejo!
9 Jack Wilton – The Man From Hong Kong (1975)
Golden Harvest
An underrated '70s B-action classic, The Man from Hong Kong is an explosive, stunt-fueled adventure featuring martial arts icon Jimmy Wang Yu as a cop tasked with taking down a drug lord using his kung fu skills. A co-production between Australia and Hong Kong, the film is a satirical blend of James Bond-style spy movie tropes and kung fu movie shenanigans.
Its chief bad guy is played by former James Bond star George Lazenby, who excels in the role of a pretentious and positively sadistic crime boss who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. In fact, Lazenby performs admirably in a number of one-on-one duels with Wang, and becomes a villain truly worthy of the audience’s contempt.
8 The Storms – Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Big Trouble in Little China is one of director John Carpenter’s best films, and an East-meets-West comedy action extravaganza for the ages. It stars Kurt Russell as a tough but clumsy truck driver who becomes ensnared in an evil, supernatural plot under the streets of San Francisco.
Although its main villain, David Lo Pan, is a fantastic bad guy, for this list we had to go with his trio of magical henchmen, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning. Together, they are referred to as “The Storms,” and are three expert warriors who specialize in elemental combat. These fearsome fighters put up a helluva fight, and are ‘80s icons with their oversized straw hats and legacy of inspiring character designs in Mortal Kombat.
7 Chong Li – Bloodsport (1988)
Bloodsport is a martial arts classic about a tough-as-nails American soldier who signs up for an underground fighting competition in Hong Kong.
Although it's one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s most iconic movies, it’s also a signature movie for iconic villain actor and martial artist Bolo Yeung. Yeung portrays the hulking combatant Chong Li, who’s notorious for killing many of his opponents in the ring. Aggressive and animalistic, Li doesn’t care for “warrior’s honor,” and instead finds immense satisfaction and sadistic pleasure in hurting (and killing) his challengers.
6 Jade Fox – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a martial arts masterpiece about a skilled warrior who decides to put his violent past behind him, starting by giving up his legendary sword. When the sword is stolen by a dangerous thief, an action-packed chase to reclaim it ensues.
The movie is full of wonderful and complex characters, and its villains are no exception. Although the fierce and thieving Jen Yu is terrific as the primary antagonist, the title of best villain in the film must go to Yu’s murderous mentor, Jade Fox. Portrayed by the legendary actress Cheng Pei-pei, who’s considered to be cinema’s first female action star, Jade Fox is a fearsome warrior and an utterly tragic character with a lot of depth.
5 General Tien Ta – The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a kung fu classic – universally considered one of the best ever made – about a young man who flees a village massacre and seeks shelter in an isolated Shaolin Temple, where he becomes a disciple of the famous monks who practice martial arts there.
The big bad guy in this movie is General Tien Ta, a ruthless warlord with a penchant for slaughtering the innocent. He is played by the incomparable Lo Lieh, who was once the preeminent villain actor in Hong Kong cinema. His turn as the brutal Manchurian general is among his very best performances.
4 The Scorpion, the Snake, and the Centipede – Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
Five Deadly Venoms is a beloved kung fu flick that tracks the exploits of a band of five legendary martial arts disciples who have turned their backs on their code of honor, now utilizing their special skills for selfish gain.
Eventually, it is revealed that two out of the five titular “Venoms” are heroic after all, while the remaining three – the Scorpion, the Snake, and the Centipede – have been irrevocably corrupted. This trio of evildoers is among the most iconic in the martial arts movie canon, thanks to their unique and highly-specialized fighting styles and unforgettable appearances.
3 Madam Yeung – Iron Angels (1987)
Iron Angels is a relentlessly entertaining “Girls with Guns” film about a special forces unit that is called in to help bring a deranged drug lord to justice. Starring genre legends Moon Lee and Elaine Lui as the titular “Angels” and directed by the great Teresa Woo, this movie punches way above its schlocky subgenre siblings.
While Lee and Lui play a brilliant pair of heroes, their arch-nemesis, Madam Yeung arguably steals the show. Played by martial arts queen Yukari Ōshima, Yeung is a vicious villain who murders her way to the top of her crime organization, and proceeds to kidnap cops and torture them (usually to death) in her basement. What’s more, she’s got the kickboxing skills to match her maniacal laughter.
2 Colt – The Way of the Dragon (1972)
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The Way of the Dragon is a defining kung fu flick from Bruce Lee. It follows Lee’s goofy hero on a quest to save the owners of a Chinese restaurant in Rome from a mafia don who wants their real estate.
Lee faces off against a variety of opponents throughout the movie, but hands-down the most memorable of his enemies is Colt the karate master, played by none other than one-man-army Chuck Norris. According to Screen Rant, “Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris's fight in The Way of the Dragon is widely seen as one of the best martial arts movie fights in history and among the personal bests of both Lee and Norris.” Indeed, their climactic fight is nothing short of legendary.
1 Han – Enter the Dragon (1973)
Warner Bros.
Enter the Dragon is another classic from Bruce Lee, and follows Lee on a mission to bring down the evil crime lord responsible for his sister’s untimely death.
That evil crime lord is named Han, and he’s brought to life by Shih Kien, whose hateful sneer is just as unforgettable as Lee’s determined glare. He owns a private island that’s crawling with thugs willing to lay down their lives for him, and from which he carries out his nefarious global operations. When the time comes for him to fight one-on-one with Lee, he proves himself to be an expert at combat, and uses a variety of terrifying weapons – the most notable of which being a claw hand that he attaches to the stump where he lost his real hand at some point in the past. In short, from his iconic look to his deadly fighting ability, Han is the ultimate martial arts movie villain.
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