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People Explain Which Villains Were Far More Interesting Than Their Story's Hero

People Explain Which Villains Were Far More Interesting Than Their Story's Hero
Ember Navarro on Unsplash

Who doesn't love the bad boys? And girls?

They are the most delicious. The most fun I ever had on stage was the few times I got to play the villain.


And in my personal writings, my more shady characters are just helplessly intriguing, and their development comes easier. Which tends to make my challenge great and my work better because I have to make sure the villain doesn't outshine the hero.

In the end though, villains are far more complex.

Now don't get me wrong I adore a good hero, and we need our heroes. But a strong villain always makes the good guy that much more compelling.

Evil is just so seductive.

Redditor sodibit wanted to compare notes on the battle of good vs evil.

They asked:

"What villain is 10x more interesting than the hero?"

I love all the villains.

Even the weekly ones on shows like Criminal Minds.

Figuring out the bad guy keeps me invested.

How could they not?

Forget Clarice

"Hannibal Lecter is onscreen for 15 minutes of a 2 hour Silence of the Lambs. But he's the character that haunts everyone for life." ~ onajurni

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Deceit is Fun

"All of the Decepticons. Psychologists were deeply concerned that the kids watching the original cartoons liked the bad guys."

"Turns out they were more interesting and more realistic. They failed and tried again."

"Unlike the autobots that were always winning." ~ GunnerForeman

Bad Instructions

"HAL 9000. He was basically given conflicting instructions." ~ FinestTreesInDa7Seas

"It's important to remember that when you're fighting a machine, you're really fighting the person who designed and controls that machine."

"HAL is the cold, clinical manifestation of an anonymous committee who decided that the mission objective was more important than human life." ~ L1P0D

The God Complex

"Dr Doom." ~ OldHolly

"The thing that makes him most interesting these days is that time travelers (more than one) have visited Doom and said 'I just wanted to meet the man who saved the planet and brought peace to earth when no one else could'."

"So if he's got a big head about being in charge, at least there's fairly competent reasoning behind that. People come from the future to say thanks and ask to meet you, it's kind of hard NOT to develop a God complex."

"And he already had one BEFORE the visits." ~ LochNessMansterLives

Evil

"Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men." ~ WhenTardigradesFly

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Javier Bardem in that movie haunts people's dreams.

And Anthony Hopkins?

There are really no words for that performance. It was flawless.

It's like Clarice who?

Scream

"90% of all horror movie antagonists, seriously why would I want to know about some entitled kid who serves no purpose other than to scream."

"I wanna see how the killer came to be." ~ BaconLover500

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He has Reasons

"Pagan Min, from "Far Cry 4". Not only was he more interesting, but he gave you the option for the best ending." ~ SilverSpotter

"Seriously Pegan Min sometimes felt to me like the least worst option between the 3. Sabal wants a religious and traditional region but also a not progressive one and Amita wants a progressive place but without care for the people and she relies on drugs to progress." ~ nave1235

you're a total witch...

"Handsome Jack." ~ AstroZombie29

"City's burning, people are dying left and right, yada yada yada. This jackhole rushes me with a spoon."

"A FRICKIN' SPOON! And I'm dying laughing, right?"

"So I scoop his stupid little eyeballs out with it and his kids are all like WAAHHHH! And he's runnin' into stuff and... hahaha!"

"And, oh... I don't know, maybe you had to be there. Anyway, the moral is you're a total witch." ~ Puzzleheaded_Rate_73

Oh Lord

"Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2." ~ Stitch_03

"I know that it's been done to death, but I still found his prophecy motivation compelling. He was already a jerk, but when he overheard the prophecy, he was driven to desperation to save his own life, leading a genocide that ultimately engineered his own defeat."

"And then he just knew he was going to die and accepted it in the final scene. Just way too good." ~ botbattler30

Oh Alan...

"Hans Gruber."

"John McClane was probably my favorite action movie hero when I was a kid, but honestly Gruber is actually a much more interesting character." ~ spatialflow

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Alan Rickman!

How he didn't earn an Oscar for his villains alone, is a travesty and miscarriage of justice.

And as far as horror goes...

there is only one...

Michael Myers!!

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