Criminal Minds' Most Memorable Killers

Over the past 13 seasons there have been hundreds of killers that have shaken viewers to the core. Only a select few have given us glimpses into pure evil and are the first ones to appear in our minds when asked, "Who is the worst killer in Criminal Minds?" The list is short, the crimes are horrendous, and it makes the show the way it is. Here are the top 10 most memorable serial killers from the show.

10. Ian Doyle

One of the best subplots in the show. Ian Doyle came to be as a background story from Emily Prentiss' past. Midway through season 6 he enters and it embarks on this back story into Emily's time in Interpol. For 3 episodes he haunted his way back into her life, targeting everyone who Emily worked close with, until she was all that was left. In season 6 episodes, it all boils over; Emily takes the fight to Doyle and the reason behind it all, the reason why he wants to torture Emily is revealed: because she staged the death of his son and took him from Doyle. He burns his way into our memory as at the end of the episode he stabs Emily with a wooden spike and escapes, leaving her for dead. At the time he was the only killer to ever come into the show with a vendetta towards one of the BAU members, giving him something different compared to the others.

9. Tobias Hankel

Back in the second season, this killer becomes memorable not only for starting the brief downward spiral of Dr. Spencer Reid, but also for being one of the team's first, and one of the only, true representations of multiple personality disorder. What makes him memorable is not only the fact that he takes and tortures Reid, but also the fact that one of him did not want to do any of this. His personalities were so diverse that it made it interesting to watch and see who Tobias was. Also, what makes Tobias (Charles and Raphial) so memorable was the religious aspect of all the murders, that he believed that he was killing sinners in the name of God.

8. Carl Buford

One sick, twisted man who appears in season 2 and again in season 8 shows us the past of Derek Morgan and makes us feel sorry for him (Derek, not Carl). The phrase "look up to the sky" will haunt us to this day as this community leader, someone whom the people trust, turns out to be molesting and killing innocent boys. He made the boys he molested feel like they owed him for what he did for them, giving us all the major creeps. He was one of the first child molesters to appear on the show; to begin with, that makes him memorable. What really sells it is that he tells Morgan at the end of the episode that he could have said no to what was happening. Like, really, a little boy who has everything to lose is going to stand up to the one person who can help him make a better life for his family...

7. The Romani Family

This killer dynamic has never been recreated in any other episode of Criminal Minds, leaving the Romani Family from season 4 one of the most memorable killing teams, perhaps. This killing family dates back generations, as the killing is really used as a ritual for the son of the family to find a wife. In the episode it was discovered that the mother was actually killed by the father and his parents after her husband sliced her own mother's throat. There has never been a killer family so disturbing like them, taking Romani culture and twisting it like they have. The most troublesome part of it all is that at the end the team discovers that it is not just their family who does this, but their extended family as well.

6. Floyd Feylinn

Out of all 254 episodes of Criminal Minds, there has not been an individual more disturbed than Floyd who appears in season 3, episode 8. At the beginning of the episode, you hear about how disturbed he is, biting a chunk out of his little sister's arm. After his release from a hospital for the criminally insane he goes out into the world killing women. The issue, and what lands him on this list, is the fact that he eats them; even worse, he has recipes of what to do with their meat (I guess that's what you would call it). Perhaps the most memorable thing he did was, at the end of the episode, declare that he had everyone eat one of the victims... which unfortunately is true, as during a volunteer search, he volunteered as a cook. Gross... He appears again in season 13, when this time he once again makes others eat human. If you want more detail about the human eating, look up the episode called "Lucky Strikes."

5. Thomas Yates

Probably a killer with one of the largest body counts in Criminal Minds history, Thomas Yates claims to have murdered over 101 women through out the years leading to his capture. The notorious "Womb Raider" was famous for a few things, ripping out the vocal chords and removing the reproductive system of his female victims, and making agent David Rossi come visit him every year on Rossi's birthday to get the name of a new victim. The hatred and the fashion in which he killed women is unique in the show as he is one of the only killers to date who is seen alternating the class of victims, going between low risk and high risk victims for 17 years. Most killers stick to one type or the other. The way in which he killed his victims was also unique, as he not only attacked the vocal chords but the reproductive system as well. In removing the reproductive system he was more saying that he wished he had never been born, which is a rare trait for a psychopath as they are ego driven and do not feel remorse for what they have done. For him to make this list as memorable was due to the fact he has the FBI coming back every year on Rossi's birthday to get another victim's name. He also is killed in memorable fashion as well. In his sequel episode 201, after escaping from jail and resuming killing, he forces Rossi to make a very hard decision. Either Rossi shoots and kills him, or he stabs the girl that he has a knife point. It would be an easy decision, but Rossi is forced to consider the deal that was made to get the original 101 names from him. The final power play. In the end Rossi does kill Yates and thus ends the deal, but leaves behind a memorable killer.

4. Billy Flynn

The notorious Prince of Darkness. Memorable for not only his killing spree but also for leaving us with a huge cliffhanger at the end of season 5 having to wait until the season premier of season 6 to find out what had happened. He had one of the highest body counts in Criminal Minds, having killed an estimate of over 216 people starting in 1984 and ending in 2010. He is not only a killer, but a rapist, also making him worse than a regular killer. He is named the Prince of Darkness as he uses the rolling blackouts in L.A as a window of opportunity to break into a home and kill. What makes him unique, unlike other serial killers, is that in his delusion, he felt that his killing made the LA detective, Matt, who he was. Billy felt that him killing Matt's parents is what catapulted Matt to become such a successful detective. His return to LA was to take credit for creating the loved, and star detective. He is also memorable because he does something totally random and that no one saw coming. He kidnapped Ellie (Matt's daughter), thinking again that she was born because of him. He tried to use her to help him with his routine of murdering people, which did not work out too well. Mostly, people remember him for what he did to Morgan in beating him up. As many fans of the show know, anything happens to Morgan and people remember it.

3. Karl Arnold

The Fox. A family psychiatrist who turns out to do more than just council families. He kills them as well. The families he would target were always ones similar to the one he lost. A husband, wife, and two children, always a boy and a girl. His logic was to prove how weak the fathers are and how much better of a father he was. He stalked the family for weeks, learning their routine, then when he felt ready, he would break in, kidnap them in a sense, and take over in the father position. He would kill the family after being in their home, the youngest first and the father last, just to demonstrate his power. He was an obsessive individual who only confessed to the other murders upon being outraged by a photo being misplaced on the evidence board. After being captured and convicted, Hotch continues to search his office and in a wall finds 8 other wedding rings, from 8 families that Karl murdered as well, keeping the rings as a trophy for what he had done. What makes Karl so memorable is not only the taking of the wedding rings, but also the creepy fact that he would get the little girls to paint a black and white drawing of their homes to represent his view. He returns in the episode in season 5 called "Outfoxed" as the team comes to him after he receives letters from the unsub in that case. In this episode he was used by another member of this list, George Foyet, to taunt Hotch in the whole debacle with Hotch's family. He was the first example from the show of a family annihilator and still gets mentioned now and again.

2. Frank Breitkopf

As Gideon called him, the most prolific serial killer ever. This may still hold true as Frank spent years traveling the US from east to west killing in every state. Once Frank picked someone to kill, there was no escape. Except for Jane, a lady from Golconda that Frank claimed to love. What Frank did was unique, not only in driving across the country killing, but in the level of torture he inflicted on his victims. He used ketamine to paralyze his victims so they were unable to move, however they were awake for everything being done to them until they lost too much blood and died. What he did to them was equally terrible, as he would remove their organs, then cut their limbs off one by one, always taking a right rib bone as a souvenir to give to Jane. He created a portable killing chamber in a trailer, designed so that the victims could watch what he was doing to them. He came back again in season 2 after Gideon, this time killing Gideon's "friend/girlfriend" Sarah, making it seem like Gideon actually committed the murder. To further his legacy in the Criminal Minds bad guy hall of fame, he went after survivors that Gideon had saved. He pretended to be Gideon with some of them, to get their guard down, claiming that no one else would get hurt if he had Jane back. As he did in the first time we saw Frank, he made the BAU make a tough decision, using a child as bate for his escape. This time, however, his escape was a suicide mission, as he took Jane and jumped with her in front of a moving train. He becomes so memorable in that he is the reason why Gideon leaves the BAU as he cannot handle the stress of the job anymore.

1. George Foyet

The most memorable killer in all of Criminal Minds, no questions about it. The Reaper is an iconic killer in the show and cannot be beat. Appearing in 6 episodes, he is also the most seen killer in the show (even though once was in a dream). He comes into the show in a very memorable way, having made a deal with a former police chief in Boston, saying that if they stop hunting him, he will stop hunting them (a.k.a. the public). When the officer died, he resumed killing. The next memorable thing that he did was pretend to be one of his own victims. As the victim, George Foyet gave the police everything they had on the Reaper, putting him at the center of everything. When he was caught, he made a brilliantly evil escape plan to be able to get away, cutting his own wrist and drinking his blood to be moved to a hospital where he knew the layout to escape. After his escape he turns to tracking down Hotch and then targets Hotch's family. The saddest moment in Criminal Minds history, Hotch calls Hailey as he drives to their old home, talking to her while Foyet has a gun placed behind her head. As Hotch was talking to Hailey, Foyet shoots and kills her, prompting the team who was listening in to all shed a tear (and us watching). What happens after is too much of a spoiler to those who have not seen the episode (season 5 episode 9: 100). From the first moment he came into the show, he would never be forgotten. Forever on the show there will never be another killer to cause so much grief and hate like George Foyet.

If you would change someone on this list who would it be?

All additional information about the killers was found via Criminal Minds Encyclopedia.