NCIS has a history of featuring horrible villains, many of whom are even worse than Carla Marino, who was first introduced in NCIS season 22. The NCIS season 22 finale revealed Marino was ruthless when she killed Parker’s father, Roman, in cold blood. However, that is not the worst thing a villain has done on NCIS.
NCIS has been on the air for over 20 years and has featured a major villain in every season. However, among the MCRT’s cases, some villains are definitely worse than others. Marino’s actions may be unforgivable, but they follow a long line of tragic stories behind some of NCIS’ most terrifying villains.
10
Harper Dearing
Among the worst of NCIS’ major villains is Harper Dearing, who had a significant role during NCIS seasons 9 and 10. Similar to Marino, Dearing also had an emotional reason behind his violent rampage. He, too, lost his son years earlier.
What made him worse than Marino, however, was his weapon of choice. Dearing used explosives to get his message across, which added a level of intensity to his crimes. His terrifying spree cements him as one of NCIS’ worst villains.
9
Sergei Mishnev
Sergei Mishnev also had emotional reasoning behind his violence, as he was fueled by the loss of his half-brother, Ari Haswari. Sergei appeared in NCIS season 12 and left a memorable note on the characters due to the nature of his work. He was angry and terrifying.
What makes Sergei particularly worse than Marino is the lengths he went to get back at Gibbs and the MCRT for Ari’s death. Marino’s full rampage is not clear yet, so there is still potential for her to match Sergei’s anger. However, so far, Sergei remains the worst of the two.
8
Trent Kort
Trent Kort is one of the only villains in NCIS’ history to have a very slow build. Where most villains do something horrible from their first appearance on screen, Trent took a slow route to reveal the true extent of his evil. It is this element of surprise that makes him worse than Carla Marino.
Trent first appeared in NCIS season 3, but it took more than 10 seasons for him to become a villain. Similar to Marino, he also helped the team at times before turning around and betraying them. He remains one of the most fascinating characters and also one of the most dangerous ones.
7
Michael Rivkin
Michael Rivkin was a highly untrustworthy villain whose close ties with Ziva David made him a particularly complex character. He first appeared as a neutral, if not helpful, character in NCIS season 6. However, that changed very quickly as the true nature of his character was revealed.
Rivkin’s danger largely lay in his corruption. He committed murder several times and put the MCRT members in danger. While he may not have been one of NCIS’ most dangerous villains, his close connection to Ziva made him an unsuspecting character from the start, unlike Marino, who was labeled a criminal from the beginning.
6
Kyle Boone
No doubt one of the worst NCIS villains, Kyle Boone remains one of the creepiest criminals in the history of NCIS. Boone was a terrifying serial killer with no remorse who exclusively targeted women. Marino may be dangerous, but at least her crimes often have a logical explanation.
Kyle may have only appeared once in the long-running procedural, but he remains a significant villain in NCIS because of the dark aspects of his crimes. His legacy also makes him a worse villain than Marino simply because he is scarier. Marino carries power, but Kyle causes terror.
5
Rachel Barnes
Rachel Barnes also only appeared once in NCIS when she had a significant role in season 12. She is the youngest villain in the history of the show and also one of the scariest. At such a young age, she killed her mother and tried to trick the NCIS team to stop questioning her.
What makes her worse than Marino is her age. Marino has killed and has had many people killed over the years. However, she is still an adult who understands the consequences of these actions. Rachel was just a young girl when she committed the crime. The fact that murder even crossed her mind is horrifying.
4
Mamoun Sharif
Mamoun Sharif is another one of NCIS’ scariest villains. What makes him particularly worse than Marino is that his crimes and attempted crimes were absolutely terrifying because Mamoun used biological warfare to execute his threats. At least Marino kept her crimes limited to physical weapons and theft. Biological warfare is a whole other level.
From her few appearances on NCIS, it is clear that Marino kills and commits crimes to obtain power. She wants to become the strongest mob boss in the area and the country. As a result, she uses her resources to climb into power. Mamoun was different because he committed crimes to incite terror. The two villains are not comparable.
3
Karen Bright
Karen Bright is another one of NCIS’ smaller villains that still left a lasting impression on the screen. Another murderer, Bright appeared in NCIS season 4 when the investigation into her murdered husband left the NCIS team to suspect Bright’s late husband of being a serial killer. Later, the team discovered that Bright was the killer all along.
Her crimes were much worse than Marino’s because her victims were chosen out of poor circumstances. Bright killed women who looked like her in a twisted surprise. Marino may be a horrible villain, but at least her crimes were never the result of uncontrollable circumstances like superficial looks.
Marino’s worst crime seems to be the murder of Roman from the NCIS season 22 finale, but even that had a somewhat logical explanation, as Marino felt like she did it out of retaliation. In comparison, Bright killed women just because of their faces. Her crimes seem much darker than Marino’s with this revelation.
2
Jonas Cobb
One of NCIS’ best villains, Jonas Cobb remains one of the most memorable criminals in NCIS’ long history. Also known as the “Port-to-Port killer” due to the nature of his crimes, Cobb was an infamous serial killer who terrified the MCRT and sailors around the world in NCIS season 8. Cobb also killed one of NCIS’ best characters.
What made Cobb a horrible villain was the extent he would go for his crimes. He particularly had it out for Gibbs and targeted and killed the legendary mentor, Mike Franks, as a result. In a way, Jonas Cobb is similar to Carla Marino, who also has a personal vendetta against the MCRT’s leader.
Both Cobb and Marino killed someone close to their prospective antagonists. Cobb killed Franks, and Marino killed Roman. Gibbs’ vengeance following Franks’ death was unforgettable. It is very likely that NCIS season 23 will follow the pattern as Parker hunts down Marino.
1
Ari Haswari
Without a doubt, Ari Haswari remains the best NCIS villain and also the worst one in terms of his crimes. Ari set the stage for what NCIS villains could be like, inciting terror and suspense through NCIS seasons 1 and 2. He is similar to Marino in the way both villains would stop at nothing for their ambitions.
Marino has the potential in NCIS season 23 to match Ari’s passion and hatred for Gibbs and the MCRT. Roman’s murder has already established the relentless nature she carries, similar to Ari. However, Ari still remains superior for the moment.
