Christmas isn’t complete without the movies that celebrate the season. These holiday movies have moved on to be classic films, but these movies would not have reached that status without Christmas villains who wanted to spoil Christmas.

Treetime Christmas has come up with a top 10 list of Christmas villains and the stories of how they tried but failed to ruin Christmas. Some are funny, some are plain weird, but all of these characters remind us that being a grouch during Christmas does nothing good. So you might as well join in the festivities and wish everyone a happy Christmas!

10. Burgermeister Meisterburger

Making his appearance in the 1970 film “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, the Burgermeister was a town mayor of the village where Santa Claus first distributed his toys. When the Burgermeister tripped on a toy duck, he had banned toys from his village and declared Santa Claus to be an outlaw. It is said that this declaration has forced Santa to deliver gifts in secret and go down in chimneys.

9. Heat & Snow Miser

The Heat Miser and the Snow Miser are two brothers made famous from the film “The Year Without Santa Claus” (1974). The brothers possessed the power to change the weather and messed up the weather during Christmas in a show of sibling rivalry. The extreme changes in temperature put Christmas and Santa’s business of delivering gifts in jeopardy. It was only after the intervention of their mother, Mother Nature, that things were restored to normal. The duo were quite popular that they appeared in a film in 2008 called “A Miser Brother’s Christmas” where they learn the true meaning of Christmas by filling in for Santa giving gifts.

8. The Martians

The Martians are from a 1964 science fiction film called “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”. In the film, the Martians attempt to stop Christmas by kidnapping Santa Claus. The Martians fear that their children are watching too much Earth television and decide to kidnap Santa Claus. While on Mars, Santa builds a toy factory for the Martian children. Dropo, an assistant to the Martian king takes a liking to Santa. The story ends with Santa being sent back home to Earth and Dropo assuming the role of the Martian Santa. It was remade into the comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was often featured as a holiday film on Comedy Central.

7. Old Man Potter

From the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”, Henry Potter is known as the meanest and richest man in Bedford Falls. He is the man responsible for plotting against George Bailey. A businessman at core, Old Man Potter, is known for his greed and manipulative ways of accumulating money. His plots to make George Bailey’s life miserable all failed when George Bailey was shown a vision by his guardian angel. Bailey realizes how Bedford Falls would have been without him. This vision gives him a renewed resolve. Bailey returns to Bedford Falls and earns the trust and respect of the community. Bailey becomes Potter’s business rival, but he eventually triumphs over Potter because he holds the respect and admiration of the town.

6. Jack Frost

Jack Frost was a character from L. Frank Baum’s “Life and Adventures of Santa Claus”. Known as the villain who froze over anyone who did him wrong, Jack Frost’s character has been remade into the villain for various Christmas movies including “Frosty the Snowman” and “Santa Clause 3: The Escape of Clause”.

5. Gremlins

Appearing in the 1984 film Gremlins, these little green monsters make our list as the villains who brought chaos to Christmas night. A young man receives a strange creature named Gizmo and is given instructions to never wet the creature. However, Gizmo gets wet and spawns another creature named Stripe. They multiply and wreak havoc in the world. The giver of the creatures realizes that the Western World is not ready for the Gremlins and takes them back so that they may no longer be able to cause harm in the world.

4. Hans Gruber

From the movie Die Hard (1988), Hans Gruber and his group attempt to rob a Christmas party. However, John McClane, a police officer and the protagonist of the story, happened to be one of the guests in the party. McClane goes on a chase to capture Hans Gruber. McClane is able to capture Gruber and in a climactic fight scene, ends up throwing Gruber out the window. After this first movie, McClane is promoted to lieutentant in the sequel.

3. Marv and Harry

Marv and Harry are two incompetent burglars made famous from the movie Home Alone. Marv and Harry were played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci. The story follows a young boy, Kevin McAllister, who is accidentally left behind by his parents for the holidays. Marv and Harry attempt to rob the McAllister home, but fail miserably because they are outsmarted by the boy. The story ends well with Marv and Harry captured and the parents coming back home for the boy.

2. The Grinch

From the 1957 book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. The Grinch is the quintessential Christmas villain who tried to ruin Christmas by stealing all the Whos toys and decorations. Eventually, though, the Grinch’s character learns the meaning of Christmas and finds redemption.

1. Scrooge

Ebenezer Scrooge is a character from the Charles Dickens’ novel “A Christmas Carol”. His famous line is “Bah Humbug!” an expression he uses to dismiss anything he does not like. Known as a stingy, greedy businessman, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts of the Christmas Past, the Christmas Present and the Christmas Yet to Come. He is taken on a journey of his life and Scrooge emerges from the experience a changed man. The best example of a Christmas villain turned good, Scrooge becomes the ultimate icon who now lives with compassion and joy in his heart all the while believing in the magic of the Christmas spirit.