In Saw, John Kramer is a civil engineer dying from an inoperable brain tumor who decides to help others appreciate the value of life. Instead of giving them a pep talk however, he builds complex torture devices that they can only escape through self-sacrifice. Typical engineer.

Dr. Decker is the slasher villain of the cult classic fantasy/horror film Nightbreed (played by legendary horror director David Cronenberg) and the novel Cabal by Clive Barker of Hellraiser and Candyman fame. He is a serial killer psychologist who convinces his patients that they are serial killers before reporting them to the police and having them killed.

Jeff the Killer is a classic meme originating from a creepypasta post in 2008. He is a young boy who, after being badly beaten and burnt, goes insane, cutting his eyelids and mouth and becoming a deranged serial killer. He tells his victims “Go to sleep” before murdering them.

A blood splatter analyst by day and a serial killer by night, Dexter Morgan walks the line between super villain and superhero. Whether you see his lifestyle choice as good or evil, you can’t deny he looks good doing it.

In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface is a chainsaw-wielding, psychopathic murder who has a taste for human flesh. He and his inbred family hunt down victims and turn them into practical items like housebuilding materials and meat for BBQ and chili. Probably the scariest thing about Leatherface is that the fact that he was inspired by real life killer Ed Gein, who wore a mask of human skin.

In the Australian horror film Wolf Creek, Michael “Mick” Taylor (John Jarratt) is a cold, calculating, and sadistic man. His m.o. is to gain the trust of tourists traveling the outback before kidnapping, torturing, and murdering them. He’s loosely based on a real life serial killer nicknamed the The Backpack Killer.