Blood, gore, and brutality take center stage in our countdown of the most violent television series ever created. From zombie apocalypses to serial killers, these shows push the boundaries of on-screen violence and leave nothing to the imagination!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most brutal, blood-filled
00:12TV series ever made.
00:14Because some footage contains character deaths, some spoilers ahead.
00:24Number 15 The Walking Dead Gore in a zombie show?
00:34Oh my stars!
00:35The survivors of a zombie-slash-walker apocalypse naturally fight their way through hordes of
00:40the undead in this series.
00:42But the undead are not the only ones getting deader by the minute in this harrowing show.
00:46Human-on-human violence is persistent as well.
00:51People are killed over resources, for revenge, or just out of good old-fashioned cruelty.
00:55Not even the children are spared.
00:57Life or death decisions are just a fact of life in The Walking Dead.
01:00It never gets easier to stomach watching your favorite character get murdered or torn apart
01:04though.
01:10Number 14 Deadwood If the frontier had been peaceful, they'd
01:19have called it the Mild West.
01:21Set in the burgeoning Dakota Territory town of the same name, Deadwood follows the various
01:25local lawmen, outlaws, scheming businessmen, and ordinary townsfolk just trying to get
01:29by stuck in the middle.
01:31With the law being more of a suggestion than hard fact, deaths are almost as common in
01:35the series as profanity.
01:45And some of them can get positively brutal.
01:48There's a certain street fight where something-something-a-guy's-eye-that-we-do-not-recommend-watching-while-you're-eating.
02:01Number 13 The Punisher
02:14Marvel isn't all capes, suits, and saving the day.
02:16Frank Castle, the eponymous Punisher, is a haunted war veteran who handles his trauma
02:21in a less-than-healthy way, killing his way through criminals and the conspirators behind
02:25the deaths of his family.
02:26And while Frank knows his guns, he isn't afraid to get up close and personal with his bloody
02:31crusade.
02:36Whether he's using glass, hammers, weights, or his bare hands, Frank always goes for broke
02:41in his fights, and they frequently get grisly.
02:44Despite how gruesome Frank's actions are, his opponents go plenty low, too.
02:49All that violence adds up to a series that's more blood-soaked than Frank's signature
02:53skull logo usually is.
03:00Number 12 Squid Game
03:08In case you haven't been paying attention lately, this international Netflix sensation
03:11is chock-full of violence.
03:13The series follows a group of people in crippling debt coerced into competing in a series of
03:17deadly games for the amusement of the rich.
03:20Squid Game sees its characters tackle each challenge in a variety of ways, from working
03:25together to betraying one another to get ahead.
03:36And the violence isn't limited to the games, either, as shady dealings happen behind the
03:40scenes and some players take it upon themselves to weed out their competition outside the
03:44games.
03:45Capitalism can be cutthroat, but Squid Game takes it to a literal extreme.
03:56Number 11 The Boys
04:06Darker takes on superheroes are everywhere these days, but The Boys is perhaps the poster
04:11child for the phenomenon.
04:12With great power comes almost no responsibility, as supes get away with murder and worse on
04:17a day-to-day basis.
04:19However, the titular group's often haphazard efforts to put a stop to rampaging superheroes
04:24are not always easy and rarely without bloodshed.
04:29And some of the deaths in The Boys are not only gory, they're also deeply, deeply weird.
04:35And we don't just mean the ones connected with the deep, either.
04:38Exploding heads, death by laser eye, and what happened to that poor dolphin or just the
04:42tip of the iceberg?
04:49Number 10 Gangs of London
04:56This gritty crime drama begins with the murder of the head of London's most powerful crime
05:00family, and it only gets more violent from there.
05:03As each of London's gangs strives for supremacy in the power vacuum, there are plenty of deaths,
05:08shootouts, and fight scenes.
05:10When all the criminals are not scheming for power or betraying each other, that is.
05:21Gangs of London is filled to the brim with some of the most visceral, bloody, and well-filmed
05:25action on TV.
05:26Of course, that's to be expected when it was co-created by Gareth Evans, the director behind
05:31the celebrated The Raid martial arts movies.
05:40Number 9 Oz
05:47Prison isn't generally known as a place of peace and kindness.
05:50Set primarily in the experimental wing of the Oswald State Correctional Facility, Oz
05:54details the lives of the staff and inmates therein.
05:57Despite attempts at balance between them, the various factions among the inmates are
06:01always at each other's throats.
06:03Murder, sexual violence, and bodily injury are the order of the day, as are vendettas
06:07and shifting alliances.
06:14As HBO's first original series, Oz solidified the network's reputation for dark, graphic
06:19series that push the boundaries of what you can show on TV.
06:28Number 8 Preacher
06:29Given that the comic it's based on shares the same creator as The Boys, it should come
06:37as no surprise that Preacher is a wild, violent ride.
06:41Jesse Custer is the Preacher in the title, and while he may be a man of the cloth, he's
06:45not exactly a law-abiding citizen.
06:48His encounters with the forces of heaven and hell, not to mention supernatural monsters
06:52and ordinary criminals, frequently result in some of the most off-the-wall bloody action
06:56out there.
07:05We can preach about Preacher's violent delights all day, but devotees of TV brutality will
07:10just have to see it for themselves.
07:17Number 7 Ash vs. Evil Dead
07:24If you know anything about the horror-comedy films on which this series is based, you know
07:28that Ash vs. Evil Dead is one rip-roaring, groovy, bloody good time.
07:33Ash has battled the Evil Dead many times, and with some new friends, he takes up the
07:37call once again.
07:41Embracing its low-budget horror movie roots, Ash vs. Evil Dead has some cartoonishly gory
07:46fight scenes.
07:47As hilarious as it is bloody, the series may not stand supreme in our books, but we still
07:52have to hail to the king, baby.
08:00Number 6 Game of Thrones
08:01Yeah, it was only a matter of time.
08:09Game of Thrones has become a byword for violent TV shows.
08:12This epic fantasy drama holds very little back when it comes to depicting the cruelties
08:16of Westeros.
08:17In the struggles for power over the Iron Throne, there are the expected massive battles and
08:21dragons burning people alive, but there's also plenty of executions, torture, murder,
08:26and all manner of depravity too.
08:31The sheer body count is impressive as well, with one Washington Post study putting it
08:35at 94 deaths per episode across the whole show.
08:39All men must die indeed.
08:48Number 5 Banshee
08:49It's just a show about a small Pennsylvania town.
08:59How much violence can there be?
09:01A lot, it turns out.
09:02Sheriff Lucas Hood comes to Banshee to clean up the streets, and is immediately killed.
09:07An unnamed criminal new in town takes up Hood's name and position, and starts wielding
09:11his badge and fists against the gangs of Banshee while pursuing goals of his own.
09:15There are shootouts galore between the various gangs of Banshee, but also some of the most
09:19brutal and downright vicious fistfights ever put on television.
09:27Nola and Burton's duel alone is a savage, expertly choreographed masterpiece.
09:40Number 4 Spartacus
09:47One part Gladiator and another part 300, Spartacus is every bit as bloody as those films.
09:53The story, based on historical events, follows Spartacus as he rises through the ranks of
09:58a gladiator house, before going on to lead a rebellion of slaves against the Roman Republic.
10:08Given that it initially focuses on a literal bloodsport, the violence throughout should
10:12come as no surprise.
10:14The frequent use of slow motion in the fight sequences lets all the gory details get plenty
10:18of focus.
10:19From the gladiator matches to the battles that follow Spartacus and company's rebellion,
10:23the brutal action illustrates that the fight for freedom often has a steep price, usually
10:28paid in blood.
10:35Number 3 Dexter
10:45Crime dramas tend to have a lot of violence, but Dexter is about a serial killer who hunts
10:49other killers, which takes it to another level entirely.
10:53Dexter Morgan's obsession with blood drives him to kill admittedly terrible people in
10:57some often creative, though usually ritualized ways.
11:00Even leaving Dexter aside, his favored victims have quite a high body count themselves.
11:05Plus, Dex's colleagues in Miami Metro Homicide get into their share of scrapes in gun battles
11:09in the course of their jobs.
11:11Dexter's killing craving proves toxic to everyone around him, though it makes for a show many
11:16have obsessed over.
11:23Number 2 Vikings
11:30With a title that calls to mind some of history's most notorious pillagers, violence should
11:34be expected in this show.
11:36And yet, the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, as well as his family and the foes he makes on his
11:40journeys, is absolutely rife with death and destruction.
11:51There are enormous battles, naturally, but given how alliances even among blood relations
11:55can shift frequently, betrayal and murder are omnipresent as well.
11:59The action is brutal, and some of the deaths are some of the most barbaric you will ever
12:04see.
12:06Blood Eagle
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12:29Number 1 Hannibal
12:36Like it's a show about a cannibal serial killer.
12:39Are you surprised?
12:40While perhaps not as consistently violent as some shows, Hannibal more than makes up
12:45for that lack by including some of the most viscerally disturbing things imaginable.
12:49Between Hannibal's specific diet and the actions of the other serial killers he and
12:53the FBI agents he works alongside pursue, the show delves into some truly dark and depraved
12:59violence.
13:08The fact that it's beautifully shot and the actors are all spectacular certainly doesn't
13:12hurt.
13:13We still can't believe this aired on network TV.
13:19Is there a brutal TV series whose absence from our list you feel like a wound?
13:23Don't leave us on the hook.
13:25Tell us your favorites in the comments.
13:27Try to keep things peaceful.
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