There have been some very celebrated and villainous cult leaders in human chronicle , from Charles Manson ( who has been referencedmultiple times in Rob Zombie moving picture ) to Jim Jones . In many face , a cult leader is the complete antithesis of what most people would expect : magical and charismatic and seldom come across as terrific and dangerous .

While fabricated television set shows might embellish details for dramatic effect , many shows also cater a coup d’oeil into exactly how promiscuous it might be to fall for a cult leader ’s false promises . Many show depict character reference based on real - life-time cult leaders , but some   have created their own fictional 1 who are so believable that it ’s easy to enquire if they   are establish on someone real , after all .

Manifest (Adrian)

Adrian fromManifestseemingly did a complete 180 after Flight 828 disappeared for five year and he returned with the others . It was bring out in the third season that Angelina , a religious zealot , approached him right before the carpenter’s plane went down with a pamphlet about god .

This might have had something to do with Adrian ’s decision to produce a legion of followers while pretend that he was the ecclesiastic , sent from god , like so many trust . At first , it appeared it was all a strategy he could use to his advantage . But as clip blend on , Adrian seemingly come out to conceive his own educational activity . Whatever his motives , he was charming and convincing enough to get all kinds of multitude of all ages to watch him , and he became one of thebiggest villains of the series ' concluding season .

Fear The Walking Dead (Teddy)

Teddy show an interesting question : what would happen to cult leaders in an event like the zombie apocalypse if they grapple to escape alive ? Would they , like Teddy onFear the Walking Dead , be able to rebuild their cult by using the many vulnerabilities presented by the situation to gather more dedicated followers than ever ?

That is exactly what Teddy did , thebest villain on the show , to particular date . A serial killer who own doomsday opinion long before the apocalypse , he felt justify and used the situation to prey on people who were grieving and desperate to determine substance in all the chaos .

Carroll , of course , make love every turn of it . He twit Hardy from prison house and still had a stronghold on his dedicated radical of followers . So much so , in fact , that he continued to control them from prison as they idolize him and were willing to do anything for him . But when Carroll escape and returned to lead his non - religious cult , the situation get hirsute and it became a actual African tea - and - shiner secret plan between him and Hardy .

The Following TV Series Poster

American Horror Story: Cult (Various)

As observe correctly in the rubric of the 7th season of the popular FX anthology series , the focus is specifically on a cult . Set in 2017 in a fictitious suburb of Michigan called Brookfield Heights , American Horror Story : Cultcenters around a rage that razz the resident physician observe the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President in 2016 .

With a superstar - stud cast that included Sarah Paulson , Evan Peters , Cheyenne Jackson , Chaz Bono , Emma Roberts , and Frances Conroy , it is one of fewAmerican Horror Storyseasons to have a bad reputation .

The Path (Calvin “Cal” Roberts)

Lasting for three seasons and cyclosis on Hulu , this drama stars Aaron Paul and Michelle Monoghan as phallus of a fancied religion phone Meyerism and Hugh Dancy as its drawing card , Calvin " Cal " Roberts . The serial publication and the ideas behind Meyerism have been described byVanity Fairas having taken intake from a " snatch bag of spiritual practices and furore opinion . "

While Eddie ( Paul ) , his wife Sarah ( Monoghan ) , and their two children are deeply entrenched in the Meyerist Movement , a spiritual retirement in Peru leads Eddie to start questioning what he unfeignedly think in . The Pathis an interesting series about beliefs , spirituality , and how these intersect and can easily arrive between families and loved ones .

Sacred Lies (Kevinian Cult)

First airing on Facebook Watch and latterly cull up by NBC ’s Peacock for statistical distribution of the first two season , this dramatic play is found on the Stephanie Oakes novelThe Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly . The story focuses on a teenager who escapes from a cult after 12 years . There ’s something mysterious about Minnow , however : upon come forth from the wood after spending a dozen years in the Kevinian rage , she is missing both of her hand .

After Minnow onslaught and almost vote out a adolescent boy , she discover herself locked up once again . The series stars some well - know name , including Juliette Lewis , Ryan Kwanten , and Kristin Bauer , in its second season .

Orphan Black (Dr. Aldous Leekie)

Orphan Blackisn’t specifically about a cult , but stepping back and look at the events that lead to Sarah find her clone ( all 17played by Tatiana Maslany ) and uncover the conspiracy , bioengineering , and secret system behind it , it ’s clear that the Neolution Movement could actually be classified as a cult .

Led by Dr. Aldous Leekie , they are drive by skill and eugenics and dead set on altering human phylogeny . Everyone involved is unforced to lie down , screw , steal , and kill , all in the name of Dr. Leekie ’s projection and beliefs , and he had everyone brainwash into believing that what they were doing was for the good of humanity .

Marvel’s Runaways (The Pride)

This Hulu master copy is about teenagers who discover that their parents are not only criminals but are also involved in what the kid believe to be a furor , practice ritual ritual killing .

find what their parent , screw as the Pride , are up to , the teens , stray from least to most hefty , fix out to take them down . Marvel ’s Runawaysaired for three time of year and crosstie in with otherMarvel Cinematic Universe(MCU ) films , series , and other projects , sharing continuity with the overarching story .

The Handmaid’s Tale (The Republic Of Gilead And Its Commanders)

In the case ofThe Handmaid ’s Tale , the furore is the entire totalitarian society of Gilead .   While most people who reside there and follow the teachings of Gilead do not unfeignedly trust in them and are in effect being accommodate hostage , others have pass into line with the leading . They bow down to Commanders because they desperately want to believe in something .

Aunt Lydia and Nick Blaine are two examples of people who may have been preyed upon because of the emptiness and hatred they felt in their regular lives . After years of being groomed by Gilead , they now exhibit demeanour and mindsets that are uniform with those who are members of a cultus .

The Leftovers (Holy Wayne)

Justin Theroux and Liv Tyler wizard in thisHBO serial based on a bookthat aired for three seasons through to 2017 . A worldwide case call the Sudden Departure led to two percent of the world ’s population , or about 140 million people , enigmatically vanish . This , in twist , result in the constitution of many cults , include the Guilty Remnant , made up of white - invest nihilist , and a furore led by Holy Wayne , who trust himself to be the Second Coming of Christ .

Dealing with radicalism , alternative cults , Guru , and supernatural occurrence , The Leftoversis a show that tinge not just on one main fictional cult , but multiple ones , each with its own singular focus .

NEXT : The Vow & 9 Other Terrifying Documentaries About Cults To Keep You Up At Night

Split image of Holy Wayne from The Leftovers and Joe Carroll from The Following.

Adrian from Manifest, looking to the side in the dark

Teddy (John Glover) from Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16 smiling in the forest

Joe Carroll from The Following looking over his shoulder in a smug and menacing way.

A scary man looking into the camera with his face lit from American Horror Story: Cult.

Aaron Paul standing with another man from the Hulu series The Path.

A young blonde girl looking down and scared in Sacred Lies.

All the Leda clones in Orphan Black

The Runaways look at a screen on the stairs in Hulu series

June being taken away for interrogation on The Handmaid’s Tale

Holy Wayne from The Leftovers standing with someone, wearing a white tank top.

The Following

Fear The Walking Dead