Peaky Blinders: The 10 Most Vicious Antagonists

Whether they are seen murdering, assaulting, or being plain heartless, there is a certain level of viciousness in most Peaky Blinders antagonists.

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Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault and acts of extreme violence.

One of the biggest reasons for the success of Peaky Blinders is the many great characters throughout the series. The likes of the Shelby family members are just some of the amazing characters in the series. The villains that oppose them in the show, the antagonists looking to take them down or use them to achieve their goals, are also consistently great.

Over five seasons, many villains come through the show, and most of them have a serious edge. Whether they are seen murdering, assaulting, or being totally heartless, there is a certain level of viciousness in most Peaky Blinders antagonists.

10 Vincente Changretta

Vincente Changretta only appears in two episodes of Peaky Blinders but makes a colossal impact on his time in the series, showcasing viciousness even if he never gets his hands dirty himself.

After John beats up his son Angel and disrespecting Vincente, he hires the assassin who kills Grace Shelby, dying as a result – too quickly for Tommy’s more vengeful, violent side’s liking. The whole family of Changretta’s have their code and way of doing things but are also vicious when need be, and even though fans do not see it much from Vincente, he obviously had his hands dirty more when he was a young man.

9 Billy Kimber

Billy Kimber was one of the first enemies of the Peaky Blinders and one of the first victims of Tommy’s ambition as he sought to expand and take control of what Kimber had.

Fans do not get to see Kimber be too vicious. He attempts to rape Grace, an abhorrent act, and shoots Tommy in their big gang face-off at the end of season 1. However, beyond that, Kimber does not showcase any viciousness; at worst, he gets vocally angry at the likes of the Shelby brothers for fixing races, planned by Tommy in the show’s very first episode.

8 Darby Sabini

Darby Sabini only appears in season 2 of the show, although he plays a small role in season 4 also. Fans do not see too much from Sabini, but there are definite instances of cruelty from the Italian gang leader.

Not only does he plan and attempt to kill Thomas and the rest of the Peaky Blinders, but he and his men also slice up Thomas’ face, he has Digbeth Kid’s throat slit in prison, he shamelessly betrays Alfie, and he helps give access to Tommy to the Changretta’s. Sabini is certainly not the best or most popular villain, but he has some moments.

7 Michael Gray

At first, Michael Gray was an ally of the Peaky Blinders and the Shelby’s, family in fact, as the son of Polly Gray. By the time of season 5, Michael had morphed into the secondary villain of the show, set to be a much more prominent antagonist in season 6.

All of the Peaky Blinders have a certain level of viciousness to them, and while Polly does her best to prevent this, Michael quickly becomes eager to get his hands dirty when he meets the Blinders in season 2. Michael has killed multiple people, most notably stabbing Father Hughes in the neck after demanding he is the one to kill the villain, understandable from his point of view. He is currently seeking to oust Tommy and most others from the Shelby Company LTD. and take over business himself to work with the Americans. A fairly ruthless move in terms of family and business, if nothing else.

6 Oswald Mosley

The main antagonist of season 5, is Oswald Mosely, a British MP who forms the British Union of Fascists. That says all there is to say about the character and his scary personality which is performed pretty amazingly by Sam Claflin of The Hunger Games.

Fans have not seen Mosley kill anyone, but he unashamedly hires the Billy Boys to perform such actions and considering his racism, sexism and the fact that Tommy Shelby himself calls Mosley the devil says a lot. After the failed assassination attempt, fans are looking forward to finding out his role in thwarting it, as well as his overall fate in season 6.

5 Luca Changretta

Seeking vengeance for the death of his father, Vincente, Luca Changretta arrives in England to kill Tommy Shelby and the rest of the family in season 4 of the show. He is a fan-favorite character in terms of those opposing the protagonists.

Luca and his men manage to kill John Shelby and try ever so hard to get the rest of the Shelby’s too. Luca threatens but keeps alive Polly and Michael Gray and is persistent in sending men to kill Arthur, nearly doing so at the boxing match between Bonnie Gold and Goliath. Luca does not perform as many heinous acts as some other villains. However, his obsession and persistence in ruthlessly killing Tommy and the rest of the Shelby family is more vicious in nature than what fans have seen from others thus far, especially with how riled up and arrogant he got when he had Tommy on his knees.

4 Inspector Campbell

Inspector Chester Campbell is the villain for the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders, sent to Birmingham to clean up the city, spiraling thanks to Tommy Shelby and his crush on Grace as the show went on.

Campbell shows his viciousness right off the bat in torturing Arthur Shelby for information back in the first episode when he arrives in Birmingham. He does try to do things by the book for a while but gets increasingly angrier and uncaring for his actions when he realizes Grace loves Tommy. Campbell has Arthur and Michael arrested, sets up a gang war between the Blinders and Billy Kimber, and hires the Red Right Hand to assassinate Tommy. Campbell may not have been hugely murderous, but his obsession with Tommy made him lackadaisical regarding the law and treating people decently.

3 Alfie Solomons

There are few more popular characters in Peaky Blinders than Alfie Solomons – the best character to debut after the first season – who switches allegiance from ally to villain multiple times over the course of the show, betraying Tommy numerous times.

Solomons is an intelligent and eccentric personality, but he most definitely has a vicious side, demonstrated as early as his beating one of Tommy’s workers because another made a joke. Alfie point blank shoots Billy Kitchen in the head and frames Arthur for it, betraying Tommy for Sabini. In the next season, he betrays Tommy for a fabergé egg. Then in season 4, he nearly gets everyone killed when he helps Luca Changretta infiltrate the boxing match between Bonnie Gold and Goliath. Not much of this is hugely vicious, more so villainous, but Alfie even admits to Tommy in a passionate monologue that he has killed many innocent people, just like Tommy has.

2 The Billy Boys

Led by Jimmy McCavern, the Billy Boys make their Peaky Blinders debut in season 5, and they by far had the most sadistic, twisted debut of any villain or any character in the show.

As the two are peacefully resting in the forest, Aberama Gold and his son Bonnie are ambushed by the Billy Boys, who beat Aberama to a pulp, destroying his arm, as they crucify and kill his son in cold blood, all to send a message to Tommy Shelby. Fans did not get to see too much more of this from the Billy Boys since they made a truce with Tommy – despite constant threats to kill him and Arthur. But they still work for Oswald Mosley, are still incessantly violent, and are sure to showcase that more in season 6.

1 Father John Hughes

Member of the Economic League, double-agent, and the primary antagonist of season 3, Father John Hughes is an undoubtedly disgusting and abhorrent villain in the show, even if most of his viciousness is not in the form of razor caps and crucifixions.

A big plot point of season 3 is Michael’s hatred for Father Hughes and his need to be the one who kills him, which Tommy approves. This is because Father Hughes is heavily insinuated to be a child molester, and Michael was one of his victims. That is enough to put him well above most villains in the show, never mind throwing in the kidnapping of Tommy’s son, having him brutally beaten, and overall being a twisted individual with false righteousness.

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