‘American Horror Story’: All of Evan Peters’ ‘AHS’ characters ranked worst to best

Evan Peters has been in more seasons of FX’s “American Horror Story” than any other male actor, appearing in all of them except for Season 9, “AHS: 1984,” and the upcoming Season 11, “AHS: New York City.” (Sarah Paulson matches his track record for female actors.) Soon after winning an Emmy in 2021 for HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” Peters returned to “AHS” during the long-awaited pandemic-delayed Season 10, “Double Feature: Red Tide.” Over the past decade, nearly all of his characters have stuck with viewers (we’re going to pretend Jeff Pfister didn’t exist).

Read on for our listing of Evan Peters’ “American Horror Story” characters ranked worst to best. (Or scroll through our gallery for photos.) Agree or disagree with our picks? Be sure to sound off in the comments section. Peters is currently getting awards buzz for playing the titular serial killer in Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”

12. Jeff Pfister (“Apocalypse”) — Yikes. Jeff Pfister is a robotics engineer who has sold his soul and plots the end of the world, all while sporting a horrid blonde bowl cut. Jeff was truly an irritating presence with little, if any, redeeming qualities.

11. Rory Monahan (“Roanoke”) — As Rory Monahan, the actor playing Edward Mott in “My Roanoke Nightmare,” there wasn’t much for Peters to do. He gets married to one of his co-stars, Audrey (Paulson) and quickly meets his demise while filming “Return to Roanoke,” without much of a character to explore.

10. Edward Mott (“Roanoke”) — It’s unfortunate that Edward Mott had such a small presence in “Roanoke” because he was full of great story potential. As a gay slaveowner and lover of fine art, he was a mess of complications.

9. Kyle Spencer (“Coven”) — Blonde-haired frat boy Kyle Spencer was often used as a tool by the powerful witches of “AHS: Coven.” As the resurrected Kyle we got to see Peters rely mostly on his physicality, which was fresh but didn’t always make for the most riveting character.

8. Jimmy Darling (“Freak Show”) — In the fourth edition of “AHS,” Peters portrayed Jimmy Darling a.k.a. Lobster Boy, a performer in the freak show with deformed hands who dreams of living a “normal” life. Even though his story wasn’t as enthralling as other characters he would play, there was a protectiveness to Jimmy that made him easy to root for.

7. Mr. Gallant (“Apocalypse”) — Peters clearly had a lot of fun playing Mr. Gallant, a snarky, well-tailored hairdresser trying to make the best of a bad situation after surviving the apocalypse. We didn’t see a lot of him in this “Coven” and “Murder House” crossover, but what we did was great comic relief for an intense installment.

6. Various Cult Leaders (“Cult”) — Peters proved his incredible versatility by playing numerous cult leaders from history including Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ. However brief these characters may have been in the season, Peters was utterly transformative as each and every one of them.

5. Austin Sommers (“Double Feature: Red Tide”) — Peters fully embraced his wacky side as Austin Sommers, a playwright who travels to the small New England town of Provincetown, Massachusetts every winter for a little R&R&B — rest and relaxation and blood-sucking. He and his partner in crime, novelist Belle Noir (Frances Conroy), gain their immense talent by taking black pills, but a side effect causes them to need to drink human blood. Austin also has a penchant for singing karaoke and performing as a drag queen.

4. Kit Walker (“Asylum”) — Unlike the other performances mentioned above where Peters was the main villain, he portrayed a victim in “Asylum,” a man falsely accused of killing his wife. Kit was sentenced to a sanitarium where he quickly earned the sympathies of his fellow inmates as well as audiences at home. The character became best friends with journalist Lana Winters (Paulson) as they struggled to survive, with his journey bringing him face-to-face with monsters and aliens.

3. James Patrick March (“Hotel” & “Apocalypse”) — The vampire-and-ghost-themed “Hotel” offered Peters his first chance to be a purely unsympathetic villain, as serial killer March. The privileged oil businessman enjoyed twirling his mustache as he killed his way to the top, including his own wife The Countess (Lady Gaga) when she betrayed him. Peters truly got a kick out of playing this character, thanks no doubt to March’s unique transatlantic accent.

2. Kai Anderson (“Cult”) — For his role as an alt right-inspired cult leader with blue hair and a Cheetos fixation, Peters earned lead actor nominations at the Critics Choice Awards and our own Gold Derby Awards. “Cult” was a unique installment in that it relied more on realistic scares (killer clowns, killer bees, killer cult members) than supernatural horrors, which made Kai all the more frightening. Can you imagine this powerful egomaniac as your next-door neighbor?

1. Tate Langdon (“Murder House” & “Apocalypse”) — The original ghost with a heart of gold, Tate was fans’ big introduction to Peters in the first cycle of “American Horror Story.” Even though Tate was a sociopath who died while shooting up his school, we just couldn’t get enough of his love story with Violet (Taissa Farmiga). Viewers were reunited with the lovebirds nearly a decade later when the witches of “Apocalypse” traveled to the “Murder House” to try to learn how to kill the antichrist.