The Best Villain According To Bones Fans

Fox's unconventional procedural drama "Bones" aired its series finale nearly five years ago, but the hit series was part of the primetime realm for nearly 12 years, airing 245-episodes over 12 full seasons, and still dominates in syndication. Somehow, the "Bones" production team managed to keep the core of its main cast around for the bulk of the show's run. They did, however, take a bit of a revolving door approach for the series' many supporting players. That obviously includes the parade of cold-blooded killers that kept Brennan (Emily Deschanel), Booth (David Boreanaz), and the rest of the Jeffersonian crew on their toes throughout.

While the series generally took a creep-of-the-week approach to such narratives, series creatives did opt to play the long game with a handful of cases. And even casual "Bones" fans might agree it was at its best when it went serial. Still, some of those serial cases were more intriguing than others, and that fact has had longtime "Bones" fans chatting about which of the series' biggest baddies was truly the baddest. They recently took to Reddit to put it to a vote, crowning arguably the series' smartest criminal the best "Bones" villain of all time.

The "Bones" subreddit poll pit the likes of series heavies like the Gormogon killer, Pelant, the Gravedigger, and more against one another. Over 500 votes were tallied, and in the end, Reddit officially crowned the Gravedigger the best of "Bones'" worst.

That's not entirely shocking as the Gravedigger was not only one of the series' longest-running storylines but also one of its most brilliantly realized. For those in need of a refresher, the character made their first appearance during the second season of "Bones," and did so boasting a peculiar modus operandi in that they'd bury their victims with enough oxygen to survive for 24 hours, then offer to give authorities their location for a hefty, time-sensitive ransom. In one of the series' best twists, the Gravedigger was revealed two seasons later to be United States attorney Heather Taffet (Deirdre Lovejoy), whose diabolical nature and legal prowess almost helped her make a clean getaway. 

Taffet didn't get away with it, of course, because Bones, Booth, and the gang eventually found enough evidence to ensure Taffet would be locked up for a very long time — at least until a sniper's bullet ended her story for good. Suffice it to say, the Gravedigger's ending was far more satisfying than most (particularly the gut-wrenching Gormogon reveal), which is likely why she took the title of the best "Bones" villain. Whatever the case, it's hard to argue the results of that poll.