People love a good villain.
Without them, there's no conflict in a story and there's no point in telling a tale that doesn't go anywhere.
Besides, isn't it fun to be bad?
Curious to hear from those who enjoy mayhem in a book or movie caused by blood-thirsty stalkers with drop-dead gorgeous looks and supernatural psychos who do us a favor by culling some really boring characters, Redditor Sparkjoy4everoy4ever asked:
"Who is a villain you ROOTED for rather than the protagonist and why?"
These classic toons featured some very naughty characters.
Sly Pussycat
"I don’t know if Sylvester is supposed to be the bad guy and Tweety is supposed to be the good guy, but wow is that Tweety Bird annoying af. Maybe it’s the voice, I hate that voice."
– Mushrooming247
So Mischievous
"The Coyote."
– Orpheline10
"And Tom too. Jerry was 90% an a**hole before Tom started."
– Invictum2go
"As a child I would always stop whatever I was doing when this came on the tv because I was convinced it would happen eventually and didn’t want to miss it."
– Garrick75
Such A Doof
" Heinz Doofenshmirtz - He had a rough childhood. His parents didn't even bother showing up for his own birth but he managed to grow up to be a loving father who simply wants to take over the tri-state area. If it weren't for that pesky platypus."
– boanxi
"I remember hearing a theory that Perry was actually meant more to be kind of an emotional support animal. OWCA knew Doof wasn't actually *evil* and that he was actually a genius."
"But due to his own upbringing and bad life and such he was effectively in a bad spot mentally. So they assigned him Perry to keep Doof from going truely evil while, at the same time, letting him work it all out so he could finally reform into becoming an actual force for good."
– Snowtwo
Misunderstood
"Mojo Jojo, he never really seemed like he wanted to do anything super evil, but the PPG repeatedly beat the stupid out of him for pretty much no reason."
– DrD3adpool
"It's been a while, but I remember one episode where he was just minding his own business, not doing anything to anyone and the PPG just showed up and beat the living sh*t out of him."
– nola_throwaway53826
The Curmudgeon
"Squidward."
"The guy hates his job, hates his noisy neighbors and overenthusiastic co-workers, wants to leave work on time, needs his quiet time, wishes that he has a sculpted body and dares to dream despite being bad at the skill-a clarinet virtuoso."
"We are Squidward.oo"
– anon
Poor Foxy
"Swiper, he was just a sly fox raised on the wrong side of the fence and wanted to be included but noooooo Dora had to keep the fun for herself."
– TowerFluffy1426
"My husband is convinced he swipes because he needs the money to feed his wife and 4 kids at home. He's just trying to be a good father...."
– SleepyPoodleMomma
Cat And Mouse
"I always wished Tom would win in Tom and Jerry."
– Dangerous-Bar-2451
"Remember it's Tom and Jerry and not Tom vs Jerry. I love the theory that people say both of them are friends and that they have to pretend fight so that the Toms owners keep him."
– 3StarsFan
You can't blame them for acting on instinct.
Innocent Creatures Of The Deep
"The Sharks in Deep Blue Sea. They were being tortured and experimented on. They just wanted to escape and live their lives."
– Mackinacsfuriousclaw
"It's funny someone should mention this. I just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and it occurred to me that it's basically just Deep Blue Sea from the perspective of the sharks."
– mettrolsghost
Keep The Peace
"In Jaws 2, near the end, there is this girl who won’t stop screaming hysterically, and I kind of want the shark to eat her so it will stop."
– stu-padazo
There is so much more behind a villain we don't know about when we're first introduced to them.
The X-Men
"Magneto. His family was ripped apart by Nazis as a child. Then he watched governments hunt down his people again as a mutant..."
– DogUsingInternet
"Damn was he the best part of First Class. 'I agree with every word you said. We are the future. But... unfortunately, you killed my mother.'"
"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders... never again."
– amican
"IIRC, part of the point of Mags was that you can have a good justification for what you do, but that doesn't mean you can do bad things 'for the greater good'. I.E. Mags saw his life destroyed by the ultimate incarnation of racism, discrimination, and evil for the time and was determined to both ensure mutants had a future *and* to never be a victim again."
"The only problem is that he used this as justification to do a ton of evil stuff and act horribly in return. I remember reading some comic years back where they showed a future where Mags *had* realized that 'two wrongs don't make a right' effectively and had shaped up to become not only the leader of the X-men but a champion for equality."
"But it was only once he recognized that he was effectively still living in his own past and seeing everyone who stood against him as no different than the nazi's and took steps to change that that he could turn into a force for good."
– Snowtwo
Seeing Vulnerability
"In the last few episodes of The Clone Wars, I was rooting for Darth Maul. I'd seen Ahsoka get out of trouble dozens of times before, but seeing Maul scared for his life made me really feel for him."
– pulpexploder
"I wish he would've been able to keep living and transition into a neutral party type of character (since there was no chance of him being a jedi and he already had a hatred for Palpatine) but his death was just perfect. Couldn't have been any better. If he had to die, that's the way to do it."
"There's a universe where Obi-Wan doesn't kill him and rehabilitates him, mentally, and Maul takes on something of a protector role to young Luke out of respect for Obi-Wan."
"Edit: No, I'm not saying he should turn away from his darker side and opt for the Jedi way. However, Maul is a perfect example of his type of character—a miserable life that doesn't end in happiness."
"Characters like that are needed for certain things. He died at peace, and I think that's perfect for him. If he had lived, I would've liked to see him explored more beyond the Sith. It almost certainly would've happened, given his predicament with Palpatine in comparison to Obi-Wan."
"Palpatine was never going to allow him to live with the knowledge that he was still alive. Obi-Wan didn't hate Maul, he only did what he could do."
"I believe that of Maul had lived and spent a little time with Obi-Wan, he would've eventually resigned himself to isolation similar to Yoda."
– Excellent_Coyote6486
These classic monsters got a shout-out.
Just Bloodthirsty
"Dracula, every movie, because he should never be that easy to kill."
– anon
"Tbf he was difficult af to kill in Van Helsing the movie. Dude had to change into a werewolf to fight him and even then it was hard."
– DentrassiEpicure
"At least the Netflix castlevania series needed a magician, vampire hunter from a legendary line of vampire hunters and also Dracula's son to kill a Dracula who had been starving himself for months."
– Unclecheese23
The ultimate anti-hero for me is Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith's 1950s crime novels.
One of her novels, The Talented Mr. Ripley, was made into a film of the same name starring Matt Damon and most recently in the Netflix limted series, Ripley, starring Andrew Scott.
You don't know much about Ripley's background, but he is a masterful con-artist who manages to get out of a tricky situations that could expose many of his misdeeds, which are not limited to fabricating stories convincingly, taking on the identities of other people, and murder.
There is nothing redeeming about him, yet, when watching his elusive character get in a sticky situation on the screen, you can't help but root for him to evade annoyingly inquisitive law authorities.
Now that's the mark of a great antagonist.
