Entertainment

The 16 Best 'American Horror Story' Characters From All 3 Seasons

They're baaaack. American Horror Story: Coven returned last night after a three week hiatus, which means that we're back obsessing over our troublesome witches once again. Part of the reason we're so obsessed with this show? The amazing cast. While everyone on American Horror Story kills it week to week (no pun intended) we love watching what the cast members from all three seasons — Sara Paulson, Lily Rabe, Evan Peters, and, of course, the dazzling Jessica Lange — do with their new parts each new season. This cast has created some pretty memorable characters and we've loved to love and others we've loved to loathe.

So which characters played by these returning actors have been our favorites? Click through to read about those we'd put in the American Horror Story Hall of Fame, from best to most best.

Images: FX

by Kaitlin Reilly

Nora Montgomery (Lily Rabe)

On American Horror Story: Murder House, Lily Rabe played Philadelphia socialite Nora Montgomery whose marriage to mad scientist (and illegal abortionist) Charles Montgomery goes sour when she learns that he has reanimated their murdered child. Nora shoots her husband — and then herself — and is forced to reside in the murder house for the rest of her days.

Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe)

On American Horror Story: Asylum, Lily Rabe plays a goody-two-shoes nun who soon becomes the vessel for the devil to reside in. Though Sister Mary Eunice was a sweetie pie, the devil inside of her makes a game of seducing men of the cloth and murdering inmates.

Misty Day (Lily Rabe)

Though we don’t yet know if Misty Day is the Supreme on American Horror Story: Coven, we do know that there is something special about this swamp witch. Gifted with the power of resurrection, Misty Day has brought back some notable players in the season. This Steve Nicks worshipping witch has a sweet nature that separates her from the backstabbing, power-hungry witches in New Orleans. Perhaps her greatest gift, however, is her fashion sense — how a swamp girl can afford so much Free People clothing, I’ll never know.

Winner: Sister Mary Eunice

The coolest part about Lily Rabe’s roles on American Horror Story is how vastly different they are from one another. Though we loved the WASPy ghost and would definitely be friends with Misty Day, we couldn’t get enough of Sister Mary Eunice (or, rather, the demonic being living inside of Sister Mary Eunice) and her sinister smile.

Tate Langdon (Evan Peters)

Tate Langdon was the ultimate bad-boy-next-door (or, rather, bad boy who is tethered for all eternity in your home). Another ghost of American Horror Story: Murder House, Tate was the guy your parents warned you about, times a million. He murdered his classmates in a school shooting rampage and went on to light his mother’s boyfriend on fire. Even dead, this kid couldn’t stay out of the darkness — he murdered several residents of his eternal home, not to mention impregnated his girlfriend’s mother, leaving her to birth the Anti Christ.

Kit Walker (Evan Peters)

Evan Peters (and his terrible, fake Boston accent) took on a very different role for American Horror Story: Asylum. In this installment of the series, Evan Peters played Kit Walker, an innocent man charged with horrendous murders — including the one of his wife. He gets thrown into Briarcliff where he is protected by aliens from the horrors of the asylum (yeah, just go with it).

Kyle Spencer (Evan Peters)

Poor Kyle. This frat boy barely had any lines on American Horror Story: Coven before a bus crash caused by the young witch, Madison, took his life. Kyle was resurrected, only to become a shell of his former self — a shell that happens to have slightly different parts (the girls had to, umm, “reassemble” Kyle post-crash). Perhaps the worst part of being resurrected, Frankenstein-style? You have to live with the leg of the frat brother with a tacky tattoo.

Winner: Tate Langdon

Tate is by far the darkest, most troubled character on this list — which is why Evan Peters making us care about him is so impressive. Throughout every episode of American Horror Story: Murder House we discovered a new layer of Tate’s personality. Is he a good guy at heart, tainted by the murder house, or was he attracted to the house because he was just as evil? It’s still up for speculation, but one thing is for sure: Evan Peters nailed this role.

Moira O'Hara, (Frances Conroy)

Frances Conroy played the role of the older Moira O’Hara on American Horror Story: Murder House. Though Moira was murdered when she was a young maid working in the house years ago, she has the appearance of an old, wise woman to most of the characters. Moira was a protector of the Harmon family and perhaps one of the few mostly “good” ghosts living in the home.

Angel of Death (Frances Conroy)

The Angel of Death was a small, but incredibly creepy, role in American Horror Story: Asylum. The Angel of Death — complete with black wings and red lipstick — would kiss each person who was about to die and allow them to pass through to the other side.

Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy)

A powerful witch on American Horror Story: Coven, this eclectically dressed member of the witches’ council feuded with the Supreme, Fiona Goode, and even ended up burned at the stake after Fiona tricked the Council into believing she blinded another witch. Since being resurrected (noticing a theme, here?) Myrtle seems like a different witch — she’s no longer playing by the rules and even murdered her fellow council members in order to give her friend her sight back.

Winner: Myrtle Snow

Myrtle is kind of a badass. While this was a close call between the mild mannered Moira and Myrtle, ultimately Myrtle takes the cake, if only for the melon baller scene alone.

Billie Dean Howard (Sarah Paulson)

This was a limited role for Sarah Paulson in American Horror Story: Murder House, but she certainly made an impression as the pearl-wearing psychic who contacts the spirits within the murder house.

Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson)

Sarah Paulson had the starring role on American Horror Story: Asylum. As a journalist whose sexual orientation lands her in Briarcliff, Lana swears to do everything that can to bring the place down… while fighting off serial killers, mad scientists, and the wrath of the head nun along the way.

Cordelia Foxx (Sarah Paulson)

On American Horror Story: Coven this mild-mannered witch holds together the coven that her mother, the Supreme, couldn’t care less about. Though Cordelia may be trusting, she also has a fierce loyalty to her coven and protects the girls that she brings in as though they were her own family.

Winner: Lana Winters

Cooly ambitious and strong-willed, Lana fought tooth-and-nail to get out of the asylum. She was a force in shutting Briarcliff down after she was let out of the asylum and went on to become a famous journalist. Her most badass moment? Closing the chapter on Briarcliff and all its evil once and for all by shooting her serial killer son.

Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange)

This American Horror Story: Murder House character looks like she just walked out of a Tennessee Williams play. This born-and-bred Virginian came to Hollywood to become a star, but that didn’t work out too well. Instead, she became the world’s worst mother, an incredibly nosy neighbor, and a jealous murderess. We have to say that we do blame her juuuust a little bit for the way that her son, Tate, turned out.

Sister Jude (Jessica Lange)

This nun ruled over Briarcliff in American Horror Story: Asylum. Though Sister Jude used to be a wild child — hitting on much younger men and singing in smoky bars in a red dress — once she donned the habit she was the toughest nun in the place. She encouraged shock treatment and canings for misbehavior and was downright cruel. Luckily, Sister Jude redeemed herself by the end of the season — but only after she became a patient at Briarcliff herself.

Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange)

Who’s the baddest witch in town? In American Horror Story: Coven, that would be the Supreme, Fiona Goode. The coke-snorting, youth-obsessed leader of the witches of New Orleans may be more interested in staying young and beautiful than in teaching the young witches how to control their magic, but she still has a magnetic charm that you can’t help but love.

Winner: Fiona Goode

It’s no contest. This soulless witch is so fun to watch we sometimes forget just how corrupt of a person she really is. Plus, she’s friends with Steve Nicks AND Eminem. Need we say more?

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