What's so great about bad guys?
- Thread starter Leroyng
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melonpieness
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Umm ...My guess is they represent the bad side in all of us,
Being the badguy seems more fun(always being able to do what you want)
but it's a pretty psychological question with alot of answers
Being the badguy seems more fun(always being able to do what you want)
but it's a pretty psychological question with alot of answers
Greg P is My HERO!
New member
It's because good guys are rarely written with bad flaws. If more animated protagonist were a mix of Malcolm Reynolds and Leeroy Jenkins, they'd have more love.
I'm not sure why other people like bad guys, but I can tell you why I like certain bad guys. I usually like the bad guys with a tortured past who act all bad even though they have a good side to them. Basically it's because it's interesting to see when they show their good side to someone. It's also interesting finding out why they turned out like that. Like when Ken from Digimon had a flashback which *spoiler* showed his relationship with his older brother Sam before he got hit by a vehicle and died. It also showed how his guilt for what happened to his brother and his hatred for his parents turned him into the monster he had become.
The Lone Wanderer
New member
And also there is sometimes where a good guy decided to get a bad guy image, more precisely a delinquent image, because maybe good is boring. Especially the case of Duncan in Total Drama Island unless he's a bad guy with a gold heart.
In Goldorak (UFO Robot Grendizer), in episode 7, Janus(Gorman), a member of the Vegan bodyguard (known in French as "Division Ruine") was the 1st serious opponent of Actarus(Duke Fleed)
http://www.maxtoons.com/Gorman.htm
But Gorman didn't check his "ally", General Hydargos (Blackie) who didn't like the idea of a promising young captain defeating Actarus and Janus was betrayed by Hydargos allowing Actarus to win the fight.
episode 29. Commandant Atlas (Haruk) was a good guy forced of being a bad guy, he had joinned the Vegan troups because his planet was an ally of the Vegan empire and was disguised as an young Earthmen.
When Mizar (Goro) discovered his secret, Atlas wanted to eleminate him but after a long hesitation, decided to let Mizar go.
Another "special bad guy guest star", was Ergastul (Gauss/Goss) in episode 34 http://www.maxtoons.com/Goss.htm
Gauss decided to let go Actarus for a duel at the night of the full moon. In the meantime he fight against Actarus (Duke Fleed) in person but fall over a cliff in a river and was rescued by Actarus. He decided to throw the final fight
In Goldorak (UFO Robot Grendizer), in episode 7, Janus(Gorman), a member of the Vegan bodyguard (known in French as "Division Ruine") was the 1st serious opponent of Actarus(Duke Fleed)
http://www.maxtoons.com/Gorman.htm
But Gorman didn't check his "ally", General Hydargos (Blackie) who didn't like the idea of a promising young captain defeating Actarus and Janus was betrayed by Hydargos allowing Actarus to win the fight.
episode 29. Commandant Atlas (Haruk) was a good guy forced of being a bad guy, he had joinned the Vegan troups because his planet was an ally of the Vegan empire and was disguised as an young Earthmen.
When Mizar (Goro) discovered his secret, Atlas wanted to eleminate him but after a long hesitation, decided to let Mizar go.
Another "special bad guy guest star", was Ergastul (Gauss/Goss) in episode 34 http://www.maxtoons.com/Goss.htm
Gauss decided to let go Actarus for a duel at the night of the full moon. In the meantime he fight against Actarus (Duke Fleed) in person but fall over a cliff in a river and was rescued by Actarus. He decided to throw the final fight
i like certain villains, not in the sense that they are likeable characters or i want to be them or hang out with them. I don't care if they have some tortured past. Freeza is a great villain and so is the Joker because of the threat they posses to the hero and their uniqueness. The better the villain, the better the hero looks.
fromthegroundup
New member
There's a lot of reasons, I think a large part of it is because villains by their very nature have more freedom as characters then their heroic counterparts.
Most heroes in mainstream animation and family entertainment tend to be slightly confined by the behavior and expectations western culture demands of it's ethical role models.
Villains on the other hand don't really have any such limitations; they can be somewhat noble like Magneto* or completely depraved monsters like the Joker, they can be badass masterminds always ten steps ahead of everybody else like David Xanatos or they can be lovable losers like Jack Spicer.
Ultimately though I don't think anyone could give you a single explanation, the reasons people like villains are as varied as the villains themselves.
*Of course that's largely dependant on whoever is writing Mags this week, he tends to go up and down the morality scale like a yo-yo.
Most heroes in mainstream animation and family entertainment tend to be slightly confined by the behavior and expectations western culture demands of it's ethical role models.
Villains on the other hand don't really have any such limitations; they can be somewhat noble like Magneto* or completely depraved monsters like the Joker, they can be badass masterminds always ten steps ahead of everybody else like David Xanatos or they can be lovable losers like Jack Spicer.
Ultimately though I don't think anyone could give you a single explanation, the reasons people like villains are as varied as the villains themselves.
*Of course that's largely dependant on whoever is writing Mags this week, he tends to go up and down the morality scale like a yo-yo.
that doesn't mean the hero has to be less interesting than the villain though. John McClaine was far more interesting than Hans Gruber and Hans was a great villain.
That variety simply means that they aren't ethical, so anything goes with them. Good guys have lines they won't cross.
That variety simply means that they aren't ethical, so anything goes with them. Good guys have lines they won't cross.
We could add to the list, the scientist who propose a scientific theory but people doesn't care about his discovery and the scientist turned evil since that moment. The 1967-70 Spider-man cartoon got some of them
-Dr. Noah Body, because J. Johah Jameson didn't believed his theory about invisibility and Jameson was jailed for crimes commited by Dr. Noah Body and threatened by him later until Spidey menaged to prove Jameson's innocence
-Dr. Magneto, unrelated to the Magneto we knew in X-Men.
-the Master Technican, a creation of Ralph Bakshi's team, later rechristened as the Radiator Specialist (and I didn't include when he got slightly redesigned to be Dr. Atlantean). First with his gravitationnal system, he hold as an hostage, the whole Manhattan Island in the sky until Spidey, saved the day. As it wasn't enough, a couple of years in jail didn't softened him and he decided to make Manhattan his "kingdom" and controlling with his radiations the minds of peoples excepts bad minds like bandits and strong minds like Captain Stacy (who re-appeared thanks to stock footage recycled from the episode "To cage a spider")
-Dr. Noah Body, because J. Johah Jameson didn't believed his theory about invisibility and Jameson was jailed for crimes commited by Dr. Noah Body and threatened by him later until Spidey menaged to prove Jameson's innocence
-Dr. Magneto, unrelated to the Magneto we knew in X-Men.
-the Master Technican, a creation of Ralph Bakshi's team, later rechristened as the Radiator Specialist (and I didn't include when he got slightly redesigned to be Dr. Atlantean). First with his gravitationnal system, he hold as an hostage, the whole Manhattan Island in the sky until Spidey, saved the day. As it wasn't enough, a couple of years in jail didn't softened him and he decided to make Manhattan his "kingdom" and controlling with his radiations the minds of peoples excepts bad minds like bandits and strong minds like Captain Stacy (who re-appeared thanks to stock footage recycled from the episode "To cage a spider")
FunFungirl
New member
Well I was speaking more in regards to mainstream animation and other so-called "family friendly" fare. Obviously something like Die Hard operates under slightly different rules.
Admittedly I'm over generalising a tad since even in mainstream animation you can find pleanty examples of heros who are at least as interesting as their villainous counterparts if not moreso. But I still think the over all trend favours the reverse.
Admittedly I'm over generalising a tad since even in mainstream animation you can find pleanty examples of heros who are at least as interesting as their villainous counterparts if not moreso. But I still think the over all trend favours the reverse.
ohiostate000
New member
This is correct imo. Villains as characters are not bound by certain morals, and this gives them flexibility and more realistic and likeable personalities. We are more like villains than heroes in that the boundaries and morals in our lives are not set in stone upon us, and we think freely. Indeed tis much nobler to be heroic as a beast of our world than as a character of an animated universe, as they have no choice and are forced by their creators to do their bidding. Thus villains are more human than heroes who are quite cold unemotional characters, or if they feel emotion are controlled by it to the extent that they become wild savage types.
IMO the best characters are normal ones, i.e not heroic or villainous. The single most annoying thing and number one reason i don't care for the superhero genre is the moral bias influencing the continuity, which creates a distortion. For education this is fine but for entertainment or a animated dimension it creates a distortion within the dimensions normalcy, a vector factor which makes the moral bias painfully obvious within the plot and allows for little realistic outcomes. Whereas pepper ann, doug or arnold are 'heroes' but are more realistic types.
But back to what makes villains great. Aside from this flexibility of character and human nature they have which we relate to more than cold hearted and static hero types, some villains are worthier than others most will agree, and indeed individual character judging is as evident within villainous circles as within those of their heroic brethren.
Thus i conclude that imo they are good characters because i dunno... lots of reasons i guess.
IMO the best characters are normal ones, i.e not heroic or villainous. The single most annoying thing and number one reason i don't care for the superhero genre is the moral bias influencing the continuity, which creates a distortion. For education this is fine but for entertainment or a animated dimension it creates a distortion within the dimensions normalcy, a vector factor which makes the moral bias painfully obvious within the plot and allows for little realistic outcomes. Whereas pepper ann, doug or arnold are 'heroes' but are more realistic types.
But back to what makes villains great. Aside from this flexibility of character and human nature they have which we relate to more than cold hearted and static hero types, some villains are worthier than others most will agree, and indeed individual character judging is as evident within villainous circles as within those of their heroic brethren.
Thus i conclude that imo they are good characters because i dunno... lots of reasons i guess.
bring erica the horizon
New member
i'm baffled by the fact that you would say "not bound by a moral code, thus more realistic and more likeable"
Not every hero is cold and static. If they are it's not because of their heroism, but because of the hack writers.
The villain is best when they serve to show something about the hero like how smart he/she is, or to what lengths they will go to keep to their code.
Batman is as least as interesting as his rogues gallery. DCAU superman was also interesting especially when confronted by someone like darkseid. Darkseid is just a tyrant, but superman doesn't kill. However, he comes dangerously close to breaking that code when around darkseid.
People aren't more like villains. The fact that they don't bind themselves to a code of ethics is what makes them dangerous. I think most people are generally good, but everyone has that fantasy of what it would be like to rob a bank, etc. It's harmless fantasy to live through those people for a few seconds.
Not every hero is cold and static. If they are it's not because of their heroism, but because of the hack writers.
The villain is best when they serve to show something about the hero like how smart he/she is, or to what lengths they will go to keep to their code.
Batman is as least as interesting as his rogues gallery. DCAU superman was also interesting especially when confronted by someone like darkseid. Darkseid is just a tyrant, but superman doesn't kill. However, he comes dangerously close to breaking that code when around darkseid.
People aren't more like villains. The fact that they don't bind themselves to a code of ethics is what makes them dangerous. I think most people are generally good, but everyone has that fantasy of what it would be like to rob a bank, etc. It's harmless fantasy to live through those people for a few seconds.