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Then, instead of making serious efforts to clean up his life, he decides to make her look like the bad guy and disguise himself to sneak back into her home.
In the end, the movie makes the mother look like she learned a lesson, when it should have been him.
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Every story has a protagonist—the main character—the one that the people consuming the story should care about the most.
Then, there’s the antagonist—the character that opposes the protagonist. While the antagonists are usually viewed as the villains of the story, they do not always have to be. Sometimes the main character is the evil one.
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It’s called the anti-hero trope. This character lacks traditional heroic qualities, such as a strong moral code, making them far from a good person. Such characters include Walter White from Breaking Bad or The Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Vastly different examples here, but they show how varied anti-heroes can be.
Yet, even if the protagonist is considered to be the good force in the story, that doesn’t mean that the antagonist is bad. In fact, from time to time, antagonists are portrayed as the villains of the story, but when you consider their actions and motivations, you realize they aren’t so bad.
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That brings us to today’s topic. A few days ago, a Reddit user went to r/AskReddit and asked: “What's a story where the 'bad guys' are actually, completely, 100% right, to the point where it's weird the story keeps calling them the bad guys?”
Apparently, there are many characters like this, as the comment section was filled pretty quickly by netizens giving their answers. So, we compiled a list of the most intriguing examples given.
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Without giving too much away, we can say that the list includes the man from the infamous Bee Movie, The Wicked Witch of the West (or simply Elphaba) in The Wizard of Oz, and many others. Check it out for yourself and upvote those you agree with!
At the same time, in many stories, the villains are actually villainous, and still, people love them, sometimes even more than they do the hero. Here, just remember that characters like The Joker, Maleficent, and Pennywise are such a variety, right?
But why are people drawn to “the bad guys”? Well, sometimes villains are simply fun. They are shameless, confident, and have a flamboyance that the protagonists lack, so the people consuming their stories are more entertained by watching them than by the boring main character.
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No! You just denied a grieving woman an heirloom that belonged to her sister, you absolute monster. Glinda's the real villain of The Wizard of Oz.
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Jack black is a sponge who takes advantage of her fiance. He then steals his identity and puts his whole career at risk, but then she calls the police she's portrayed as some kind of major a*****e. .
In other cases, some people find villains more relatable, and more similar to themselves. If you’re worried about people who can relate to villains, don’t be. The study found that while they tend to like fictional bad guys, choosing real-life criminals doesn’t seem appealing to them.
Tragic backstories that make viewers/readers sympathize with them, iconic dialogue lines that people remember for a long time, and many other things make the villains likable. After all, to each their own when it comes to the kind of people we find charming on screen (or on the page)—and it’s completely okay, as long as the crimes in the story remain there and aren't brought to reality.
In your opinion, which story portrays a reasonable character as a villain? Share with us in the comments!
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Edit: most of you understood what I was trying to say here, so thank you. For those who didn’t, I was actually trying to defend the giant as not a bad guy- I should have been more clear. And yes, I know this does not apply to all versions of the story: some actually depict him as a more evil character.
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She worked hard at Runway Magazine and lived and breathed fashion. She still deserved to go to Paris.
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Loved it growing up. As a kid you think bob is harmless and funny.. as an adult.. i would have punted him of a cliff. And the movie paints the therapist as the bad guy for not wanting to obsessed over by his mental patient with no boundaries .