Villain Appreciation Thread

[DarkDesertFox]

MUAHAHAHAHA! We love them and hate them. Share some of your favorite fictional villains. Emphasis on fictional obviously. These can be villains from a movie, game, show, book, etc. I made a list of some of my favorites below!

 

[skarmoury]

The very first villains I had in mind were the Fatui Harbingers from Genshin LMAO. I hate that I love them, they’re all conniving and sneaky people working for an absolutely sketchy organization, but the mystery surrounding them just makes me like them all the more interesting imo. Childe is tethering between “You’ll love me” and “You’ll hate me”, Signora has a heart-wrenching backstory despite being an unpleasant person, and Scaramouche (being the scoundrel he is) is just missing from the face of the Teyvat at the moment. You’d think they’d all be in cahoots with each other since they’re all from the same organization, but no, they’re all out destroying each other as well for some reason. What the hell is happening? I have no idea. Are the harbingers in a car crashing in slow motion? Probably. Am I hooked regardless of all this mess? Absolutely.

(Someone asked me if I‘d like Thoma just as much as Childe since they look the same, but I’d say nah. Thoma just doesn’t have that villain flavor.)

On a more silly note, I also love villains with comedic relief. Team Dim Sun from Pokemon Ranger (Shadows of Almia) are a funny bunch. I don’t remember the whole story anymore, but I do remember the grunts sometimes being really funny. I know some of them were also like. Confused with the whole thing? Some felt petty? Idk I love them, I don’t need to think too deep about their goals. LMAO.

 

[S.J.]

Mewtwo was always my second favourite Pokémon (behind starter bulbasaur), since I was maybe 8 or so?

I also watched the anime a lot, so I loved Jesse and James (but as hard as they tried, they weren't really villainous).

I can't think of a single other villain I liked, but I'm certain as other people post, I'm going to realise they do exist.

 

[LadyDestani]

I oftentimes love the villains more than I do the heroes in stories. Here are a few of my favorites, although I struggle with this because I don't actually consider a few of them to be villains, but they are at odds with the protagonists of their stories so by definition that does make them the villains.

- Gollum
- Chucky
- Hannibal Lecter
- Poison Ivy
- The Penguin
- King Shark

 

[Dwayne Johnson]

theres something so funny to me about the thought of some random ass US senator just genetically modified to be basically indestructible, i love it

 

[Midoriya]

I know people regard My Hero Academia season four as a subpar season, but Gentle Criminal is really an interesting and depressing villain. Depressing not in the sense that he’s depressed, but in the sense that watching his backstory and how he turned out to be who he is is depressing. Like really depressing. The whole point of him being in the show and the ending during the arc is to show what happens to the people in the show who don’t become heroes. The ones that aren’t cut out for it and are cast aside in society either learn to live with it and do non-hero work, or they become villains. And I think that’s somewhat relatable in today’s society as well.

My point is just proven when Midoriya says, “You were harder to fight than anyone I’ve fought up until now”. He didn’t say that because Gentle Criminal is overwhelmingly strong. He said it because Midoriya could actually relate to him (in the sense that he could have ended up like him), and that makes it even more sad imo.

Obviously other fans will just bandwagon on someone who’s absolutely tough like All For One, Shigaraki, or someone else, but Gentle Criminal takes the cake for me personally.

 

[nyx~]

I tend to like "villains" more than the "heroes" a lot due to their back stories that are often times more intriguing and show why they are the way they are, not necessarily their strength or powers. My two personal favorites, although I like a lot of villains other than them as well, are Rui from Demon Slayer (he stands out to me the most but honestly all the demons' back stories are interesting to me) and Dabi from My Hero Academia (his backstory is a really big anime spoiler so I'm not gonna go into why lol).

 

[DarkDesertFox]

The very first villains I had in mind were the Fatui Harbingers from Genshin LMAO. I hate that I love them, they’re all conniving and sneaky people working for an absolutely sketchy organization, but the mystery surrounding them just makes me like them all the more interesting imo. Childe is tethering between “You’ll love me” and “You’ll hate me”, Signora has a heart-wrenching backstory despite being an unpleasant person, and Scaramouche (being the scoundrel he is) is just missing from the face of the Teyvat at the moment. You’d think they’d all be in cahoots with each other since they’re all from the same organization, but no, they’re all out destroying each other as well for some reason. What the hell is happening? I have no idea. Are the harbingers in a car crashing in slow motion? Probably. Am I hooked regardless of all this mess? Absolutely.

(Someone asked me if I‘d like Thoma just as much as Childe since they look the same, but I’d say nah. Thoma just doesn’t have that villain flavor.)

View attachment 428412

On a more silly note, I also love villains with comedic relief. Team Dim Sun from Pokemon Ranger (Shadows of Almia) are a funny bunch. I don’t remember the whole story anymore, but I do remember the grunts sometimes being really funny. I know some of them were also like. Confused with the whole thing? Some felt petty? Idk I love them, I don’t need to think too deep about their goals. LMAO.

I love Childe so much... He's my favorite Genshin character because of his devious nature. He was the first playable villain/antagonist character in the game which I thought was super cool.

I know people regard My Hero Academia season four as a subpar season, but Gentle Criminal is really an interesting and depressing villain. Depressing not in the sense that he’s depressed, but in the sense that watching his backstory and how he turned out to be who he is is depressing. Like really depressing. The whole point of him being in the show and the ending during the arc is to show what happens to the people in the show who don’t become heroes. The ones that aren’t cut out for it and are cast aside in society either learn to live with it and do non-hero work, or they become villains. And I think that’s somewhat relatable in today’s society as well.

My point is just proven when Midoriya says, “You were harder to fight than anyone I’ve fought up until now”. He didn’t say that because Gentle Criminal is overwhelmingly strong. He said it because Midoriya could actually relate to him (in the sense that he could have ended up like him), and that makes it even more sad imo.

Obviously other fans will just bandwagon on someone who’s absolutely tough like All For One, Shigaraki, or someone else, but Gentle Criminal takes the cake for me personally.

Dude, I frickin' love Gentle Criminal. That was probably one of, if not the best villain backstories shown in the anime. I wish he got more screen time, but I guess I'd rather have it be short and sweet to not ruin the beautiful story they created with him.

 

[smudge.e]

These aren’t in any specific order:
Negan from the walking dead
Voldemort from HP
General grievous from Star Wars
Bane from Batman
Pennywise from the original IT
And Loki

 

[Croconaw]

I love Mewtwo and Meowth, if that counts. I’m not sure if Meowth counts, but I loved him. I loved the Pokémon episode about Meowth’s backstory and we got to learn more about him. I actually wanted a game where you could join Team Rocket for real, and not that part where they ask you and even you accept, they don’t let you. I think a Pokémon game from the Team Rocket perspective could be a lot of fun. The closest we got to it without Roms and such, I think was with Pokémon XD Gale of Darkness and Pokémon Colosseum where you could get shadow Pokémon and purify them.

 

[Kitsuragi]

theres something so funny to me about the thought of some random ass US senator just genetically modified to be basically indestructible, i love it

everything about the game is a masterpiece. every single boss is. and the outfits.

 

[your local goomy]

Ok, I LOVE Bowser. Moreso the Bowser that Nintendo portrays outside of the games other than the "graaaahhhh Imma kidnap Peach hehe" type of Bowser. In my opinion, Bowser's not a bad guy. He's a good father to Bowser Jr., adopted all of the Koopalings, and genuinely seems to be in love with Peach despite...not pursuing her in the most conventional methods. He reminds me of the Wreck-It-Ralph meme that Bowser IS LITERALLY IN

And on the Star Fox side, there's Star Wolf, but more specifically, the Assault/Command Star Wolf; Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, and Panther Caroso. Like, they're criminals, I get it. Wolf is a butthole. But that's not what I love them for. I love them for their chemistry with the main Star Fox team. They're not true enemies, moreso rivals. Wolf is the type of person who would say "God I hate Fox" but would be absolutely DEVASTATED if something happened to him, as shown in Assault when Wolf saves Fox's life and makes up the bs excuse of "I only did this so I can kill you later" ok sweetie whatever you say. And Wolf never explicitly TRIES to kill Fox in their fights, moreso just shoot him down to stop him from achieving his goal. It's more of a "Hmm, I think I'm going to go and be a slight inconvience to Fox" mindset. Even with other team members, it shows. Leon and Falco operate more on teasing and banter than true hostility. It's why I can't consider them enemies. Honestly, if they weren't notorious criminals, I'd consider them antiheroes over villains. I seriously love these guys.
also wolf looks really cool in smash and i love watching people who are skilled with him play

 

[DarkDesertFox]

Ok, I LOVE Bowser. Moreso the Bowser that Nintendo portrays outside of the games other than the "graaaahhhh Imma kidnap Peach hehe" type of Bowser. In my opinion, Bowser's not a bad guy. He's a good father to Bowser Jr., adopted all of the Koopalings, and genuinely seems to be in love with Peach despite...not pursuing her in the most conventional methods. He reminds me of the Wreck-It-Ralph meme that Bowser IS LITERALLY IN
View attachment 428525

And on the Star Fox side, there's Star Wolf, but more specifically, the Assault/Command Star Wolf; Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, and Panther Caroso. Like, they're criminals, I get it. Wolf is a butthole. But that's not what I love them for. I love them for their chemistry with the main Star Fox team. They're not true enemies, moreso rivals. Wolf is the type of person who would say "God I hate Fox" but would be absolutely DEVASTATED if something happened to him, as shown in Assault when Wolf saves Fox's life and makes up the bs excuse of "I only did this so I can kill you later" ok sweetie whatever you say. And Wolf never explicitly TRIES to kill Fox in their fights, moreso just shoot him down to stop him from achieving his goal. It's more of a "Hmm, I think I'm going to go and be a slight inconvience to Fox" mindset. Even with other team members, it shows. Leon and Falco operate more on teasing and banter than true hostility. It's why I can't consider them enemies. Honestly, if they weren't notorious criminals, I'd consider them antiheroes over villains. I seriously love these guys.
also wolf looks really cool in smash and i love watching people who are skilled with him play

I honestly should have thrown Wolf on my list because he was definitely up there. I agree that the chemistry with Star Fox team makes them all the more interesting. I always played as him in the Star Fox Assault multiplayer and play as him in Smash.

 

[ChocoPie22]

I absolutely love Toga from My Hero Academia, she is so pretty and her quirk is amazing. There are a few other villains that I like, but I don't remember them. If I do I'll update this post!!

 

[MapleSilver]

Hades from Kid Icarus: Uprising is one of my favorites. He's basically a Disney villain who has literally no motivation except being evil, and his dialogue is hilarious.

 

[-Mars-]

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[Nunnafinga]

Here's a few movie and television villains:

Hans Gruber: Die Hard (1988)

Frank Booth: Blue Velvet (1986)

Jadis The White Witch: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005)

Burgermeister Meisterburger: Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (1970)

The T-Rex: Jurassic Park (1993)

 

[CrazyMario64]

Bowser, Marx, and Magolor