Villains that steal the show

Man, there are so many of them, so I'll list here the ones I can think of right off the bat:

Tai Lung, from Kung Fu Panda- When I took my little cousin to watch this movie, I admit I went in with zero expectations. I was not disappointed, and even today refuse to watch the sequel. And yet in my dislike of it, I never expected a character like Tai Lung. He was a great character on every level, but I will say now, I do not see him as a villain. Antagonist, yes, but not a villain. His story's compelling, he's very sympathetic, Ian McShane nails the role, and he has a lot of potential to become a far deeper character than he already is. That is, if the writers of the franchise actually care, because they shamefully turned him into a complete joke in the final part of the movie. We'll see how this goes, but for now, he is to me the one bright spot in what I consider a horrible franchise.

The Joker from Batman: TAS- Sure, there are many versions of the Joker out there, but Mark Hamill's is to me the big stand-out, and to me, the best Joker.

Xanatos and Demona, from Gargoyles- A good case of when the villains totally overshadow the heroes. Demona is a very interesting character in every level, and Xanatos just oozes charm, smarts, excellent one-liners and also has depth all his own. That and their voice actors totally work to give them that extra oomph that makes them all the better.

The Misfits, from Jem- Sure, they may be quite reckless, but they're overall more fun that Jem and the Holograms, and their songs are catchier.

Yzma and Kronk, from Emperor's New Groove- Far more hilarious than the heroes, their entire chemistry is comedic gold.

Don Karnage and Shere Khan, from Tale Spin- Well, Karnage does have his nice moments and Shere Khan is not all-out villainous either. Anyway, here's another example of a franchise I hate, but will watch because of certain characters. Karnage is flat-out hilarious, whoever wrote his lines is one talented person, and Jim Cummings was perfect for the role. Shere Khan just oozes cool and sophisticated with a very dangerous aura to him that he doesn't need to go all-out to display, you just feel it. Plus he's voiced by Tony Jay, that's a win right there.
 
Edit: Oop Rembrant beat me to it with Tai Lung. I agree with you that Tai Lung is a hugely sympathetic villain and he certainly does steal the show. I know plenty of people like yourself who enjoy the original KFP simply for his involvement (myself not included).

For me Magic Man stole the show of his episode in Adventure Time. He was just so weird and cool looking.

Also Mandark from Dexter's Lab literally stole an episode or two of his own. He was a cool villain.
 
If I can defend Ash and company a bit. First of all I seen mostly the dub, so maybe they were more funny and interesting in the original, but reguardless I thought Ash and company could hold their own with Team Rocket in Indego and the Orange League arcs, when they got to Johto it went down hill. And I think Ash and his group have much more of a personality in Best Wishes / Black and White. Granted not as funny and interesting as Team Rocket, but still the good guys have more personality now than they have had in a long time.



The Misfits are defentely show stealing characters, they have most of the comedy stuff, and have most of the best lines. And they are way more fun than Jem and the Holograms. But I don't catagorise them as villains. Early in the series antagonist yeah, but in the second half of the series they were less antagonistic. There were some episodes like "Middle Of No Where" and "Journey To Shangra - La" they were co protagonist. And they way the toyline presented them were as an alternative to Jem and the Holograms, not enemies like the Decepticons, Cobra, the Footclan, etc.But the toyline doesn't matter here, just saying.

That being said I think I have to reconsider Zuko, even though his arc in the second season were so much more interesting, if I go by those standards.

Shere Khan is for the majority of the franchise is a villain, but just happens in this part of the franchise, he was not really a villain in Tale Spin.

Not saying your wrong on your chocies, just my opinion.
 
Well, I did mention that I consider Tai Lung as an antagonist and not a villain, so I agree and would definitely include Shere Khan in there. The Misfits I will definitely count them as antagonists later on during the series, but I do believe they were fairly villainous at first. To me, an antagonist is just someone who is in clashing with the hero or heroes due to the circumstances, but is not making it his main goal to defeat or kill the hero. A villain, to me, is someone who will do bad things just for the heck of it and will go out of their way to make the hero's life miserable.

Tai Lung just wanted the Dragon Scroll, and to battle the Dragon Warrior (he never says destroy or kill, just battle). He didn't go on another rampage through the Valley, he technically didn't start his fights with The Furious Five and Shifu, they just got in his way. Even by the end, he was interested in just grabbing the scroll, not on beating down Po, that just happened after he totally lost it when he saw the scroll was blank. When it comes to Shere Khan, it's not personal, it's just business. With him, if you get in the way of his goals, you'll regret it, but if you're useful to him in any way, he will reward you quite well. Like he said, his motto is "always repay your debts, and never break a deal". He's not a villain, but he can show traits of one, making him more of an antagonist.

The Misfits, though? Their main goal was to be the #1 band and upstage Jem and the Holograms, but they did go out of their way quite a bit to sabotage Jem and her band. Like it's been mentioned, it's funny how they never call the cops on the Misfits. That's why I do see the Misfits as villainous, at least during the first half of the series.

So yeah, I do see villain and antagonist as having their differences, but when it comes to this list, I'll count both villains and antagonists in my list, since they're both the opposites of the heroes.
 
Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
I am WAAAAYYYY more interested with Azula than any of the other characters. Though there was a lot wrong with her methods, her loyalty to her father and her country were never in doubt. I loved her tenacity and intellect since her very first appearance.

The Monarch (The Venture Brothers)
The guy is a lot more likeable than Dr. Venture. He was a jerk, but a very likeable jerk.
 
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