The Young and the Restless: Genoa City's Rogues Gallery

On The Young and the Restless, there has been a bevy of nemeses, but who takes the crown for being the worst — or best, as the case may be?

The Young and the Restless: Who’s bad in Genoa City

Let's dive into the top 5 villains and villainesses and what makes them have a case to be known as the best of the worst on The Young and the Restless. Below in the comments section, you can vote for who you think is worthy of the title and the infamy. Some of these people on this list have been repeat offenders, which seems to be an almost necessary component of being a good villain.

Sheila Carter

Before this woman was obsessed with Finn, she was lighting things up in Genoa City on the B&B sister show, The Young and the Restless. Sheila snatched a baby at gunpoint from Lauren Fenmore (Tracy Bregman) and her mother, then set the cabin on fire, where she left someone for dead. Sheila then fled to L.A. and fell in love with Eric Forrester (John McCook). She inserted herself into his life by taking the nanny’s job after creating a little slip-and-fall with some detergent, causing the nanny to become a paraplegic. She tried to kill Eric’s ex-wife, Stephanie (Susan Flannery), and she’s killed to keep people from stopping her schemes, like sending a swarm of African Killer Bees into someone's room via an air vent. To top it off, she shot her son Finn, played by Tanner Novlan, who took a bullet when Sheila tried killing his wife, Steffy, played by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood. If her new husband, Deacon (Sean Kanan), isn’t scared of her, he should be…Sheila Carter is an unstoppable force.

Adam Newman

Aside from his winning personality, Adam (Mark Grossman) gaslit Victor's (Eric Braeden) wife, Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), causing her to fall a flight of stairs and miscarry their child. Wrecked with guilt over this, Adam stole the daughter of his half-brother Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) and his girlfriend, Sharon (Sharon Case), and made it appear as if the baby was Victor and Ashley’s, temporarily making Ashley feel better, but breaking everyone’s hearts in the process. He accidentally killed Billy’s daughter, Delia, but hid the hit-and-run, making the grief worse, and even though he took her from Billy, he keeps him as enemy number one, cheating with his girlfriend to break his heart and going after him with his media company to destroy him both personally and professionally. Adam has conspired with two of his dad's (Victor) most hated enemies, Jack Abbott (Peter Bergan) and Ian Ward (Ray Wise, so Adam is most certainly in contention for the best of the worst in Genoa City.

Victor Newman

Nicknames like The Moustache, the Dark Knight, and The Great Victor Newman are all so fitting, and it's no wonder they were coined by Victor's nemesis and rival, Jack Abbott. The man is known for getting what he wants by any means necessary — no matter the cost to anyone — and any method is branded as doing what's best for his family. Victor has hired a lookalike to replace Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), earning him a lifelong enemy in Phyllis as she had no idea he wasn’t her husband. He targets Billy (Jason Thompson) in any way he can, destroying his life and humiliating him in front of his kids just to cause losses so he can call him a loser. Victor used Jack's son Kyle (Michael Mealor) to steal a formula from Jabot to ruin Jack's company and relationship with his son. The list of things Victor has done for and for his family is longer than The Young and the Restless credits. While some of it is underhanded or violent, there are times when it’s to actually protect his family. But sometimes, he goes too far and uses “for family” as an excuse.

Aunt Jordan

The second lady on the list and by no means in second place, Colleen Zenk, played Aunt Jordan and is still a fan favorite despite being supposedly dead. She stole, raised, and groomed Claire (Hayley Erin) to despise the Newman family from birth. Like MacGyver’s evil twin, the police couldn't find her, no cell could hold her, and her disguises were the best in the game. Jordan used Claire as a trojan horse at Newman Media, kidnapped Nikki, and fed her copious amounts of vodka until she fell off the wagon again from a great height. She’s drugged an entire family to make them have heart attacks and cut Nick’s chest. She burned Victoria’s house down and pushed Nikki’s AA sponsor in front of a car. As for prison, she burned one jail down to escape and, more recently, switched her prison bed with someone else so no one knew she was on the outside. Her latest and final scheme (maybe) had her working with Ian Ward to go after the Newmans again. She helped kill Heather (Vail Bloom), framed Sharon (Sharon Case), and then kidnapped and drugged her. Jordan was finally cornered and drank poison to remain out of jail. But the poison was sleeping pills, so we may not be rid of Jordan Howard after all.

Ian Ward

The cultiest cult leader in all of Wisconsin, Ian Ward, is a career criminal and steroid-level ne’er-do-well. This man is the plague of Genoa City. Wherever he pops up, a Newman or friend of theirs is in grave danger. He’s worked with Victor's son Adam and set Newman Tower on fire. He’s been part of the plan with Aunt Jordan to kill Heather and frame Sharon while keeping her dosed up on PCP. You could say he was the brains behind the schemes. He’s tried to manipulate everyone he encounters, and he may just be behind the disappearance of Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) and Aria (Millie Ingle). He was recently shot, but we’ll see if he’ll keep up the tradition and survive.

Is there someone you feel is missing from this list? Who do you think is worthy of the title of The Stain of Genoa City? Cast your vote and thoughts below in the comments, and let’s find the best of the worst Y&R villains of all time.

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