Haman the Agagite

Haman (also known as Haman the Agagite) was the main antagonist of the Book of Esther. He was King Xerxes' former second-in-command and prime minister who had a deep hatred for the Jews and Mordecai (but for an unknown reason).

In the story, Haman arrives riding on a camel, being introduced as King Xerxes' right-hand man. Then Haman orders the Jewish people to get on their knees and bow to him, except one Jew named Mordecai, who knows Haman does not honor God.

This angers Haman and he tells King Xerxes that the Jews wouldn't obey the law and that he must make a new order saying to kill all the Jews; especially Mordecai, whom Haman plans to hang.

Finally, when Queen Esther explains to Xerxes that she's part of Haman's plan, a Jew, and Mordecai's cousin, the angered and betrayed King yells at Haman that he lied to him, and he then orders the guards to hang Haman on the gallows that he'd prepared for Mordecai. Afterwards, after Haman's death, the King hires Mordecai to be his new second-in-command.

Trivia

 * Haman was also parodied in the VeggieTales episode "Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen," played by Mr. Lunt.
 * In the stage musical "Malice in the Palace", Haman's execution was going to happen, but he begs that he doesn't want to do this, and so his life is spared, and is still prime minister (that is, in some versions, while in others, he gets fired). Here, his only musical number was "It Would Take a Miracle" with his wife, Zaresh.
 * In the South Park episode Jewbilee, an anti-Semitic sect led by Garth tried to get Haman into power by trapping Moses in a conch shell. He briefly made an appearance as a demonic entity but was ultimately defeated when Kenny freed Moses from the conch shell.