For more than three seasons, Chuck has had his share of enemies. Some of those enemies have, however, been more memorable than others. Chuck’s top 20 opponents are those truly worthy to fight the Buy More’s greatest hero.
#20 Brad and Sylvia
Sylvia made potato salad. Brad sold stationery. Obviously, they were evil. In addition to their domestic bliss, Brad and Sylvia were secretly agents for Fulcrum and looking for subjects to test for an evil Intersect. They ended up brain-dead — not much different from suburban life anyway.
#19 Hugo Panzer
Chuck’s first solo opponent made the list due to his Energizer Bunny-like ability to come back over and over. After beating him (repeatedly) during a flight to Paris, Chuck had to face Panzer yet again when prison transport stranded the criminal at Castle.
#18 Packard, T.I. and Mackintosh
The evil A-Team almost got away with kidnapping Chuck and Sarah, desecrating Casey’s corpse and stealing piles and piles of gold. Thank goodness Morgan was there to save the day!
#17 Craig and Laura Turner
Supposedly role models for the newly dating Chuck and Sarah, Craig and Laura Turner were actually bickering, bitter traitors out to steal valuable information for re-sale. Chuck and Sarah were more than a match for the pair, but their relationship confidence suffered a shattering blow.
#16 Mr. Colt
A mercenary working for Fulcrum, Mr. Colt’s evil was obvious from his incredible size, strength and intelligence. Having stolen the Cipher (part of the new Intersect), Colt switched the real device with a fake one. When plugged into the new Intersect, the words “Fulcrum thanks you” appeared before the computer exploded. Chuck was thus left as the only working Intersect.
#15 Heather Chandler
A villain that can make Sarah squirm? That’s pure evil. Sarah’s high school rival initially appeared to be no more than an immature post-teen horror until we found out she was an arms dealer too. Heather did redeem herself with information on Frost in the fourth season, but we can still hate her for Sarah’s sake.
#14 Colonel James Keller
Colonel Keller recruited a young Alex Coburn to an NSA black ops team in the 1980s. He conveniently forgot to mention that Coburn would have to give up his identity and pregnant fiancee to become the John Casey we knew. Years later, Keller returned as the Ring operative that threatened Casey’s daughter and got Casey fired from the NSA.
#13 Harry Tang
Harry Tang was Chuck’s rival for the position of assistant manager at the Buy More, a position he won. Tang used his power mostly to annoy everyone else. Fortunately for all, Tang was shipped off after stumbling upon spy activities.
#12 John Casey
Although he eventually became one of Chuck’s strongest allies and supporters, John Casey was initially a much more ambiguous figure. Casey was a man who followed orders, and those orders were to kill Chuck as soon as a new Intersect was built. Fortunately, this never happened.
#11 Vincent Smith
The Fulcrum agent sent to track down and kill Orion (later known as Stephen Bartowski) wasn’t much of a mastermind, but he could carry out Fulcrum’s evil plans like no one else. Ted Roark was the brains behind much of Vincent’s very bloody actions.
#10 The Director
The man responsible for luring Daniel Shaw to the dark side was played by veteran bad guy, Mark Sheppard. He also pretty much ran the Ring. So he was bad.
#9 Sarah Walker
No, she’s not a villain (most of the time). But don’t forget, Chuck first “met” Sarah when she played ninja and broke his computer. Also, anyone who messes with Chuck’s heart as much as Sarah did (seasons 1-3) deserves a high ranking among Chuck’s nemeses.
#8 Dr. Justin Sullivan
A CIA agent, a Doctors without Borders plant and a Ring operative, Justin Sullivan may not have been the most memorable of season 3 villains. Still, Sullivan not only set up Stephen Bartowski’s murder, he also messed with Ellie. You don’t mess with Ellie.
#7 Jill Roberts
Jill was Chuck’s college girlfriend until abruptly dumping him, supposedly in favor of Bryce Larkin. Jill’s return seemed wonderful, until it turned out that she was a Fulcrum agent. Although somewhat remorseful for her actions, Jill was not above turning a gun on her former boyfriend. Repeatedly. Also, she broke his heart. Repeatedly.
#6 Emmett Milbarge
Emmett arrived at the Buy More as an efficiency expert and then managed a promotion to assistant manager. His wimpy demeanor belied a rabid ambition and ruthlessness that would become apparent when he manipulated his way into Big Mike’s job. Emmett made work life nearly impossible for Chuck and the other Nerd Herders. But then he was gunned down by an evil operative, so that’s all right.
#5 Bryce Larkin
Chuck’s college roommate and former best friend got our hero kicked out of Stanford. Then Larkin sent Chuck the Intersect in an e-mail. And then Larkin made a bid for Sarah. What a jerk! Turns out that Larkin actually was one of the good guys, but did he have to make Chuck’s life so horrible?
#4 Ted Roark
Stephen Bartowski’s former partner and lifelong rival might have been based on Steve Jobs, so of course he’s evil. Roark attempted to create a new (evil) Intersect for Fulcrum, kidnapped Stephen Bartowski and threatened Ellie’s life on her wedding day. And he just seemed so happy about it all!
#3 Daniel Shaw
Upon his arrival, Shaw appeared to be the anti-Chuck. Cool, suave and in every way the perfect spy, Shaw’s demeanor hid darker emotions. Shaw’s tentative romantic attachment to Sarah turned to homicidal betrayal when he learned of Sarah’s involvement in his wife’s death. With this motivation, Shaw turned to The Ring and became an evil Intersect. To top it all off, Shaw came back from the dead to coldly murder Stephen Bartowski.
#2 Mary Bartowski
For her brilliance in messing with Chuck’s mind, Mary Bartowski has a claim on the number one villain position. But we still don’t know exactly how evil she is. She happily spent two decades dealing arms and kicking butt with Volkoff, so she’s not a nice person. On the other hand, she concealed Chuck’s relationship to her and made it possible for Sarah to save him. But what did she do to the Intersect? Was that good or bad? Ack!
#1 Alexei Volkoff
Previous major villains on Chuck have been criminal organizations. Volkoff is one man. One man who stole Chuck’s mother away to a life of evil. One man responsible for arms trafficking and secret prisons. One man who can convincingly play a rumpled, nervous MI-6 handler. We don’t know exactly how dangerous Alexei Volkoff is, but the most dangerous villain is the unknown.
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
