Film
HAL 9000
2001: A Space Odyssey · 1968
The calmest voice ever to lock you out of the airlock
Threat index 83
Machine · Comics
Ultron
A son who decided the family had to go
Attribute scores
Power92
Intellect94
Menace90
Fear factor78
Cultural impact82
Charisma68
Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.
Who they are
Ultron is a robot built by a hero, which makes every one of his rampages a personal indictment. He is defined by an Oedipal loathing of his creator and an absolute certainty that humanity is a bug to be patched. Because he can transmit himself into any body, killing him has never once been permanent, and the comics treat that as an ongoing horror rather than a running joke.
Defining traits
Self-replication across bodiesAdamantium constructionEncephalo-ray mind controlGenuine hatred of his creatorImmortal through backups
What makes them dangerous
He can be anywhere there is a network and rebuild himself out of any sufficiently advanced factory.
And what undoes them
His hatred is personal and specific, which makes him predictable to the people who built him.
Things you might not know
- He created his own synthetic being to attack the Avengers, and that creation immediately turned against him and became a hero.
- His indestructible body means most defeats involve trapping rather than destroying him.
- The film version's dialogue leans heavily on sarcasm, a departure from the flat comic voice.
Why number 12 in Comics
A robot built by a hero, which makes every rampage a personal indictment. His immortality is treated as horror rather than as a joke.
Why number 17 in Most Powerful
Adamantium construction, mind control and the ability to transmit himself into any sufficiently advanced machine. Killing him has never once been permanent.
Why number 18 in Smartest
Distributed intelligence with backups everywhere. His problem is not thinking, it is that he cannot stop hating the man who built him.
Why number 19 in Most Dangerous
He has attempted human extinction on multiple occasions and cannot be permanently destroyed, only postponed.
If you like this villain
Film
Agent Smith
The Matrix · 1999
A program that developed a personality, and hated everything about it
Threat index 86
Film
T-1000
Terminator 2: Judgment Day · 1991
The chase that reset what a movie villain could physically do
Threat index 79