The Best TV Serial Killers

Killer Instincts:  Sam Witwer of Smallville

Honestly, when doesn't Sam Witwer play a total sociopath?  Smallville has a habit of making DC fans groan by introducing plain human sides to Superman's bigger and more visually interesting enemies, but the re-imagining of Doomsday as an uncontrollable monster alter-ego to a paramedic desperately trying to hide his bloodlust is widely credited with re-envigorating the series to a ninth, and tenth season.

Killer Instincts:  Tim Matheson of Burn Notice

Polite, apologetic, and marginally honorable aiding Michael Weston in combatting cartels trying to kill him, "Dead" Larry Sizemore seems to enjoy his killing just a bit too much, proving especially troublesome when he uses Michael's name to do so! 

The guy's got enough heat under his ass.  A noticable burning, if you will.

Killer Instincts:  Doug Hutchinson of The X-Files

The always uber-creepy Doug Hutchins lent his talents to several early X-Files episodes as an inhuman serial killer coming out of hibernation every few decades with the ability to stretch his limbs and fit through most any space, feeding off human livers. 

Killer Instincts:  Trey Parker of South Park

A pastiche of killers from the Hannibal Lecter film series largely ignored by everyone, the left-hand killer manages to outsmart near all of South Park...by nailing the hands of his victims to the walls in the wrong direction.  Genius!

Killer Instincts:  Jessica Collins of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Lasting for the entire seventh season, The Miniature Killer has a nasty habit of leaving little dioramas of her murders at the crime scene, lending new and horrific light to our favorite grade school projects, particularly in the notion that I now feel responsible for the Titanic sinking.

Killer Instincts:  Dominic West of The Wire

Okay, so the serial killer isn't technically real.  But the "homeless killer" with red ribbons and denture marks staged by McNulty to increase his standing within the department succeeds wildly...in pointing out to criminal profilers what a deranged loser the alcoholic detective is.  

Killer Instincts:  Peter Weller and Ally Sheedy of Psych

Psych's highest profile case to date, who could have guessed that "Mr. Yang" would turn out to be The Breakfast Club's Ally Sheedy, while the real murderer turns out to be her father Robocop, er...Peter Weller? 

Yin and Yang proved an effective tag team of killers until Yin replaced his daughter with an apprentice, and hell hath no fury like a female serial killer scorned. 

Killer Instincts:  John Lithgow of Dexter

We know, we know.  If a serial killer from the show is going to make the list, how could it not be the main man himself?  Dexter aside, we've got to give credit where credit's due for Lithgow's horrifically creepy portrayal of Arthur Mitchell, and what that bastard took away from us in the final episode.

Killer Instincts:  Bruno Campos of Nip/Tuck

Slashing up (and occasionally murdering) his victims with Glasgow smiles and the mantra "beauty is a curse on the world, " The Carver provided the main menace for Nip/Tuck's third season and kept its mystery well, until in true plastic surgery soap fasion the killer was revealed as fellow surgeon Quentin Costa, who committed the rapes with a prosthesis and the help of secret sister detective Kit McGraw.