Heath Ledger's Joker has been named Britain's favourite movie villain, beating some of cinema's most famous bad guys including Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and Freddy Krueger.
Film fans were asked to choose the most iconic movie villains of all time, with Ledger's performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight coming out on top.
Ledger played the Joker in Christopher Nolan's 2008 Batman film and completely blew audiences away with his performance. His unsettling portrayal of the character became one of the most celebrated performances in superhero cinema.
Ledger tragically died in January 2008, aged just 28, several months before The Dark Knight was released. His death came as the film was still being completed, meaning he never got to see the huge reaction to his performance.
The actor was later awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor posthumously for his role as the Joker. He became only the second person to receive an acting Oscar after their death.
View this post on Instagram
Coming in second was Darth Vader from the original Star Wars films.
The character was voiced by James Earl Jones, while David Prowse played Vader on screen.
In third place was Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 classic The Silence of the Lambs.
Despite appearing on screen for just 16 minutes, Hopkins' portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer became one of the most memorable performances in the film.
The research also found that movie villains may be leaving a bigger impression on audiences than the heroes they are supposed to defeat.
Almost seven in ten film fans said bad guys are more memorable than the heroes and can make better central characters.
Two in five said stories about the good guys can feel too similar or predictable, while a third said there are now too many superhero films being released.
The research shows just how many famous villains have become part of popular film culture, from classic horror characters to some of the biggest names in blockbuster cinema.
Here are the top 10 movie villains:
