Every Call of Duty Villain Ranked by Threat Level, From Barkov to Makarov

Call of Duty has given us a lot of villains over the years. Some were dictators, some were terrorists, some were incredibly angry men who apparently decided starting World War II was the best way to deal with their personal problems. Not all of them are created equal, so I'm ranking every major Call of Duty villain by threat level, meaning how much damage they were actually capable of doing rather than how memorable or well written they were. A few villains are left off entirely because they're just kind of lame. Does anyone remember the main villain of Vanguard or Call of Duty World War II? Me neither. This list is about the most iconic and devastating villains the series has produced.

I'm starting with someone who doesn't get enough credit even though everyone remembers him.

Barkov's Chemical Arsenal in Modern Warfare 2019 Never Matches His Small-Scale Ambitions

Barkov is a nasty guy. He's responsible for chemical attacks, executions, and torture, and he commands a significant portion of the Russian military while also controlling a chemical weapons stockpile. He's obviously capable of a lot of damage, but compared to villains later on this list, his ambitions are pretty small scale. He wants to maintain his position in Russia, but he isn't trying to conquer the world.

As good as the campaign was, I don't think this villain was all that threatening on a large scale, which is why he opens the list rather than sitting near the top.

Al-Assad's Stolen Nuke in COD4 Makes Him Deadly but Only a Regional Threat

At number 11 is Al-Assad from Call of Duty 4, the original Modern Warfare villain. He's significantly more dangerous because of the resources he has access to. He's the leader of a revolutionary faction in the Middle East, and his forces manage to overthrow the government of an unnamed country. His real superpower comes from the fact that he secures nuclear weapons, and he actually uses one to destroy a major city, which immediately makes him one of the deadliest villains in the franchise.

The problem is he doesn't have the same global reach as some of the villains ranked above him. He's a regional warlord with access to a weapon capable of catastrophic destruction, but he's not running a global criminal empire the way several other Call of Duty villains are. Call of Duty 4's campaign is excellent, but on his own, this villain isn't that threatening compared to what comes later.

Jonathan Irons Tries to Replace Democracy With a Corporate Army in Advanced Warfare

At number 10 is Jonathan Irons from Advanced Warfare, who has honestly the best villain name in the franchise. He's interesting because he doesn't start off as an obvious villain, which was kind of unique for Call of Duty even though everyone knows he's going to turn evil eventually. He's the CEO of Atlas Corporation, which has advanced weapons, drones, exoskeletons, soldiers, and enough resources to compete with actual governments.

Eventually Irons decides that democracy is inefficient and attempts to establish Atlas as a global superpower. Looking back, the plot may have been a little goofy because a corporation successfully overthrowing the entire world seems unlikely, but think about how catastrophic things could have gotten if he had actually pulled it off. Could you imagine if a corporation actually managed to conquer the planet? That would be a very different planet.

Zakhaev Gains Nuclear Weapons in COD4 But Still Depends on Other People

At number nine is Zakhaev from the original Modern Warfare in Call of Duty 4, a Russian ultranationalist who wants to restore Russia to its former power. He has the resources to attempt it, funding a terrorist organization, manipulating political events, and eventually gaining control of nuclear weapons. His ultimate plan is to use those weapons to create chaos and help trigger a new global conflict.

He's dangerous because he's not just a guy with a gun. He's an influential figure with military connections, political influence, and access to weapons of mass destruction. The only reason he isn't ranked higher is that most of his plans still depend on other people carrying them out. There's another Modern Warfare villain who takes that same concept much further.

Shepherd Manipulates an Entire War to Rewrite His Own Legacy in Modern Warfare 2

At number eight is Shepherd from Modern Warfare 2, and this might be a hot take because people probably expect him higher. He's one of the most dangerous people in the Call of Duty universe because nobody suspected him. He's a decorated American general who commands enormous military resources, has access to international intelligence, and most importantly, people trusted him. He didn't need to build an army because he already had one.

After the death of 30,000 American Marines in the opening events of Modern Warfare, Shepherd becomes obsessed with restoring America's reputation, so his solution is to manipulate the conflict between Russia and the US to establish himself as a hero. He essentially starts a world war so he can write himself into the history books. That's an insane level of influence, but Shepherd still isn't the biggest threat in Modern Warfare 2.

The Rebooted Shepherd in 2022's Modern Warfare Is Scarier Because He's Realistic, Not Grand

At number seven is Shepherd again, this time the 2022 version, and he deserves his own entry because Infinity Ward took a different approach to the character. This Shepherd isn't trying to trigger a world war for personal glory. Instead, his biggest threat comes from his willingness to cover up catastrophic mistakes. He authorizes a weapons deal that eventually results in American missiles falling into the hands of terrorists.

Rather than admitting that, he sends soldiers to clean up the evidence. That makes this Shepherd less of a traditional supervillain and more of a walking geopolitical disaster. He wasn't trying to destroy the world, he was just willing to let an enormous number of people die to protect his reputation, and that's way more realistic, which makes him way more scary to me. But compared to villains who deliberately tried to start global wars, his threat level is kind of low.

Graves Turns Shadow Company Into a Private Army With No Accountability

At number six is Graves from the rebooted Modern Warfare 2. That series has produced a lot of villains, but Graves deserves a shout here. He commands Shadow Company, an incredibly well equipped private military force, and when Shepherd gives him an order, Graves is more than willing to turn Shadow Company against America and allied forces, take control of a city, and hunt down Task Force 141.

He demonstrates just how dangerous a modern private military organization could be. I thought he was terrifying because he's basically a military commander with no meaningful accountability. Give someone like that enough money, weapons, and soldiers, and you don't need a nuke to cause enormous damage. But Graves is ultimately a subordinate, not the person pulling the strings.

Reznov Weaponizes Alex Mason's Own Mind in World at War and Black Ops

At number five is Reznov, from World at War and Black Ops 1. He's not a traditional villain, but if I'm ranking threats in Call of Duty, it's impossible not to mention him, because he represents one of the most interesting kinds of threat in the series: manipulation. Reznov spends years manipulating Alex Mason's perception of reality, convincing him he's carrying out a series of assassinations against powerful figures when in reality those targets are being pursued by Reznov himself.

Reznov effectively turns Mason into a weapon without Mason understanding what's happening. He wasn't commanding an army, and he didn't launch any nukes. He was manipulating one of the most capable soldiers in the world from inside his own head, which is terrifying. But there are still villains with significantly more literal power.

Menendez Builds an Ideology in Black Ops 2 That Survives Even His Own Death

At number four is Menendez. Once you actually look at what he accomplishes in Black Ops 2, the scale is pretty insane. He creates a global movement with millions of followers, manipulates governments, launches cyber attacks, steals military technology, manipulates the US and China into conflict, and hijacks autonomous military drones, all while being personally hunted by some of the most capable soldiers on the planet.

What's even worse is that Menendez doesn't necessarily need to survive for his plan to succeed. He built his movement around an ideology, which means killing him doesn't chop the head off the snake or destroy what he created. It actually makes him a martyr, which is a bigger threat than simply killing the villain at the end of the game.

Perseus Is an Idea More Than a Person in Black Ops Cold War

At number three is Perseus from Black Ops Cold War, and this is a villain who's almost impossible to stop. The entire game revolves around the CIA attempting to track down Perseus, a Soviet intelligence figure who has supposedly infiltrated Western governments. The objective is to manipulate the global balance of power by acquiring nuclear weapons and using them to reshape the Cold War.

What's particularly frightening to me is how little is actually known about him. Perseus wasn't one person, it was an idea, and the CIA spends much of the game trying to figure out who they're even fighting. If you choose the wrong ending, Perseus succeeds: nuclear weapons are detonated across Europe, Western Europe is devastated, the balance of power collapses, and the Soviet Union effectively wins the Cold War. That's an enormous amount of consequence for one person's plan.

Dragovich's Nova 6 Chemical Weapon and Brainwashing Make Him a Biological Threat

At number two is Dragovich from Black Ops 1, arguably one of the most dangerous villains in the franchise because of the weapon he develops. Nova 6 is a chemical weapon capable of killing enormous numbers of people, and Dragovich doesn't want to just possess it, he wants to use it as part of a broader plan to destroy the US. He spends years manipulating American intelligence operations using sleeper cells and agents to advance his goals.

The most disturbing part is the psychological conditioning. Dragovich turns American soldiers into potential weapons against their own country, and Mason himself is subjected to brainwashing. So his threat wasn't just military, it was biological.

Makarov Tops the List Because He Talked the World Into a War He Didn't Even Lead

There was one villain who arguably caused more global destruction than anybody else, and that's Makarov, from Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3. By the end of the original Modern Warfare trilogy, Makarov has helped cause a global war. Cities are destroyed, millions of people are killed, nuclear weapons are used, Europe is devastated, and the US and Russia are pushed into one of the largest military conflicts in modern history.

What's insane is that Makarov isn't the leader of a superpower. He was a terrorist. He managed to manipulate entire countries into destroying each other. That's why, to me, Makarov has the highest threat level on this list. He doesn't have to be the strongest person in the room, he just needs to convince everyone else to start shooting, and he does.

Where do you think I got this ranking right, and where do you think I got it wrong?