1. Principal Mullins – School of Rock (2003)
Principal Mullins is probably the least villainous villain on this list, and that probably goes a long way towards explaining why she’s sitting comfortably here at number one on the list.
When lovable slacker Dewey Finn is kicked out of his band and hounded by his roommates to actually contribute in a monetary sense (i.e. be a responsible adult), he seizes an opportunity to impersonate his friend and take a job he isn’t qualified for. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but not only does Dewey commit fraud, he does so in order to gain access to a class full of children.
Upon realizing the children have a talent he can exploit, he makes some pretty radical decisions about their education that he insists they cannot tell their parents or other teachers about. He lies in order to take the children off of school premises, and enrolls them in the Battle of the Bands without their parents’ consent.
Principal Mullins is the administrator whose job it is to protect the children and prevent incidents like this from occurring. While School of Rock presents her as a real stick in the mud, she’s actually just doing her job (which is to stop unauthorized weirdos from infiltrating the school for their own selfish purposes), and Dewey’s actions are both entirely inappropriate and wildly illegal.
While no one should ever stop Jack Black from rocking, Mullins’ suspicion of his character is entirely justified, and she really should have been the hero of the story.
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