Over the many years of its existence, Cartoon Network has provided fans with a seemingly endless array of highly memorable characters and series. Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, and Adventure Time are just a few of the megahits the channel has had. Even Star Wars: The Clone Wars started there, airing its first five seasons on the network.
A huge number of heroes have fought the good fight on Cartoon Network, meaning that they have fought a veritable litany of villains. And some of those villains have been absolutely brilliant, to the point that their intelligence was the most frightening thing about them.
10 Vilgax Was Far More Intelligent That He Appeared
Ben Tennyson became a hero by chance but that didn't stop him from leaning into the role. His Omnitrix allowed him to change into one of ten different aliens as required, each one of them with their own unique powerset. Naturally, this made him quite formidable.
That's why Vilgax wanted the Omnitrix. A powerful cosmic warlord, this device was exactly what he needed to dominate everything. While it would be easy to write him off as a mindless brute, Vilgax was much smarter than he was often given credit for. Even Ben underestimated him at times.
9 HIM Was Devilishly Smart
The Powerpuff Girls had a lot of enemies. They tended to bring that out in some people as they defended Townsville, USA from all manners of threats. And nothing slowed those three Kindergarten aged powerhouses down.
One of their more frequent enemies was HIM, which was short for His Infernal Majesty. An obvious play on the Devil, he wanted nothing more than chaos and destruction. And unfortunately for the Powerpuff Girls, he was exceptionally creative in the ways he went about it.
8 Only Dexter Questioned Mandark's Genius
A boy-genius of the highest order, Dexter was constantly trying to prove he was the smartest of the smart. He often came across as quite arrogant and obnoxious, mainly because he was quite arrogant and obnoxious. But as scary a thought as this was at the time, he wasn't the worst.
That honor went to Mandark, another boy-genius who became Dexter's greatest rival and enemy. He was the only one who could put Mandark in his place. But if it wasn't for Mandark, it would have been a lot easier to see Dexter as the villain of his own story.
7 Ice King Was Brilliant And Tortured
In the early days of Adventure Time, the major villain was the Ice King. He was constantly trying to kidnap as many princesses as possible, with Princess Bubblegum being his favorite target. Not surprisingly, this annoyed Finn and Jake.
As the series went on, Ice King became a more complicated and almost heroic character. At the very least, he was a sympathetic one. While Ice King was definitely mentally unbalanced thanks to his crown, that doesn't change the fact that a brilliant man named Simon Petrikiv wore it.
6 Aku Was Always One Step Ahead Of Jack
The warrior known as Samurai Jack had one goal and one goal alone, to destroy the shape-shifting demon known as Aku with his sword. The mission took a lot longer than Jack ever thought and also took him into the distant future where his battle continued.
But it wasn't just Aku's formidable power that made things difficult for Jack. Aku was wickedly smart and developed brilliant strategies that kept his enemy off balance at all times. Even though Jack usually came out on top, Aku was usually still one step ahead of him.
5 Gunter Earned Respect And Fear
The Ice King didn't work alone. He was backed by a team of adorable penguins that were somehow still quite menacing. While he referred to all of them individually and collectively as Gunter, the main Gunter was far scarier than even the Ice King.
As it turned out, Gunter was home to some sort of intergalactic primordial evil known as Orgalorg. The power and intelligence of this being can never be overestimated, making Gunter far more than a sidekick penguin. He was quietly brilliant and certainly ominous.
4 White Diamond Was Power Personified
Steven Universe is generally regarded as one of the most celebrated series in Cartoon Network history, alongside the likes of Adventure Time. The wars that Steven Universe and his friends fought as they defended Earth from the alien Gem race have become legendary.
The ruler of the Great Diamond Authority and the main antagonist of the series was White Diamond. Her power and brilliance were only eclipsed by her fragile ego as she was easily offended and driven to maintain control.
3 Mojo Jojo Was A Smart Cookie
During the course of The Powerpuff Girls, no one got in the faces of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup more than Mojo Jojo. This nefarious primate was constantly trying to take over Townsville, making the girls' lives unnecessarily difficult.
Mojo Jojo is easily one of the most underrated villains in animation history. While he had a lot of attributes that made him formidable, he was by far the most intelligent enemy the Powerpuff Girls had. It was Mojo Jojo's brains that gave him an edge in their battles.
2 The Lich Toyed With Finn Endlessly
Finn and Jake faced off against anyone who threatened Ooo or any of their friends. This duo lived their lives in search of adventure and battle, constantly looking for opportunities to do good and prove themselves as heroes. And the Lich gave them many opportunities.
But the Lich was absolutely in charge of their rivalry. This ancient evil was always more than Finn could handle, and any victories he found against the Lich came with an incredibly heavy price and were always more than they seemed. Simply put, the Lich playing a bigger game than Finn knew about or understood.
1 Sheev Palpatine Played The Game Brilliantly
The Skywalker Saga through all nine Star Wars movies was defined by the plans of Sheev Palpatine, the Sith Lord better known to some as Darth Sidious or Emperor Palpatine. His plot to overthrow both the Republic and the Jedi Order was masterfully executed.
It wasn't until Star Wars: Clone Wars that fans realized how brilliant he was. He orchestrated the creation of two separate armies to participate in a galactic level conflict while manipulating the Jedi and maneuvering Anakin Skywalker into being his new apprentice. Somehow, he still pulled it off.
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