If there’s one thing AMC’s The Walking Dead has given us in spades, it’s a plethora of cruel and twisted villains. Like the comics, the show has held little back, ensuring these sinister figures add even more tension, suspense and, through their murderous actions, horror to the franchise.

Atop the list, fans would definitely single out Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan, but the actor was playfully irked this week when executive producer Greg Nicotero actually declared Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers, the show’s greatest villain. It’s a hard assessment to make, seeing as we’re yet to truly see Samantha Morton’s Alpha unleash hell, but when we take in her comic background, Nicotero’s claim starts to sound a lot more convincing.

Now, don’t get us wrong, Negan truly is a bastard. We grew to hate David Morrissey’s the Governor, but we did sympathize with him a bit when the show detailed his background and how he lost his family in this zombie apocalypse. Everywhere he went he faced death, as well as untrustworthy humans, so when the time came for him to build a new world order, he did so with an iron fist.

Of course, seeing him still trying to have emotional moments with his zombified daughter in captivity made us tear up, but ultimately we enjoyed the Governor’s death, as he did behead Hershel. Then, along came Negan, who took over the mantle of the series’ main antagonist, a merciless killer who loved brutality and bloodshed just for the sheer fun of it.

Morgan’s bravado really made the character jump off the pages, exemplified by how he’d proceed to make an impactful debut by bashing Glenn’s brains in with his barbed-wire bat, Lucille. He added Abraham to the fatality list for good measure, moving well past his depiction in the books. The show carried on with Negan’s dark ways, demanding tributes as a dictator and the leader of the Saviors, taking half of everything Alexandria, Hilltop and Kingdom grew and ensuring his reign was that of a vindictive government.

Seriously, you can’t help but think of the nastiest politicians when it comes to Negan. Also, seeing how many of Rick’s people he killed, plus how he tried to corrupt Carl, we can’t fault anyone for thinking that he’s the walking, talking epitome of the devil. He embodies hatred in the way he keeps gloating about how he killed Rick’s companions, especially to make Glenn’s wife, Maggie, squirm. Honestly, it’s hard to think there’s a villain sicker than him, but rest assured: Alpha has even more unforgivable traits under her skin.

Characters like the Governor, and even Shane (who simply wanted to be with Lori Grimes as he was in love with her and wanted to protect her), all had some altruism ingrained in their selfish ways. Negan himself is a sadist, but we understand him as a simple-minded creature who gets off on torture, control and power. Alpha, on the other hand, is heartless to her own and has no method to her unpredictable madness.

The Whisperers wear the skin of the undead to blend in and go about murdering to mark and protect their territory, but Alpha’s mind is beyond broken in a way Negan could ever be. The show already had the Whisperers kill Jesus, but trust us, once it kicks into high gear with the midseason premiere of “Adaptation,” we expect to see more of Alpha’s gory brand of justice fleshed out.

In the books, when Rick and Carl tried to bring her daughter, Lydia (to be played by Cassady McClincy), back to Alexandria with them, it was revealed that Alpha let the males in her camp rape the teen. In fact, unlike Negan, she endorsed rape as a way to make females stronger and more empowered in a dog-eat-dog world. Yeah, that’s pretty messed up, and it’s something she remained unapologetic about.

Hopefully the show doesn’t take it this far but, if so, then Alpha will easily stand out as the most vile and reprehensible character in its history. And make no mistake, her way of living claimed a lot of lives as well. Her doctrines led to the Whisperers putting the heads of Rosita and Ezekiel on spikes to mark their borders. With Eugene possibly in their grips, these three could be fated for the same grisly death on TV.

Alpha’s second-in-command, Beta, even ushered a herd of walkers — the show’s term for the undead — that the leader kept corralled onto Alexandria, marching them down into the Whisperer War, which would claim Father Gabriel, too. The point is, even if she doesn’t shoot or cut someone’s throat herself, her philosophies have truly made her people akin to the zombies that infest the series, indirectly leading to tons of blood being spilled.

Comparing her and Negan is tough, as it’s two peas in a pod, but if the show allows him to escape Alexandria and stare her down, it’ll be like looking in the mirror. But as messed up as Negan is, he had some minor stability surrounding him, albeit via intimidating means.

With Alpha, we just couldn’t figure out her lust for blood in the books, which led to Negan killing her to redeem himself to Rick. With that in mind, once the show starts developing her more, believe it or not, she’ll outclass Negan and have you squirming when you weigh both on the sin scale.

Being a master of disguise and the way she showed contempt for her daughter after she cried about being sexually assaulted says it all. Alpha promotes a lifestyle even Negan thinks is awful, and that alone should answer Morgan’s qualms, reminding us the devil you know is indeed better than the zombie-skin-wearing one you’re about to.