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Forums - General - Games, Movies, TV-Series, etc. where you actually rooted for the villain

Villains are the usually evil antagonists in movies, TV shows, games, cartoons, comics... And most of time we want to see them getting what they deserve. But sometimes we just can't help but root for the villain to win over the hero or protagonist.

Do you have some example? Let's discuss.



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Gremlins 2

It was soooo fun watching the little creeps tear down Trump... errr I mean Clamp Tower.



I always root for Godzilla even in the films where he is the villain, since I love the character so much.



Fair bit of overlap with this meme:



The Super Mario Bros. Movie



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In no particular order:

  • Avatar (James Cameron movie) - Part of it is that the humans are portrayed as doing what they do largely out of self-preservation, part of it is that humans actually make at least some efforts to be peaceful, and part of it is that the Navi are really unlikable.
  • Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - So basically, the game's story is trying to be about how escapism is tempting but bad. Maybe it's the English translation, but the story does a pretty poor job at showing why escapism is actually a bad thing, and instead makes the protagonist look like a dick who wants to rob his friends of happiness for no particular reason.
  • Jaws - Part of my feelings are due to the fact that I sympathize with IRL sharks. But ultimately, the shark's big crime in Jaws was being hungry in the ocean and fighting back against a boat of humans trying to kill it.
  • Pokemon (anime) - Sometimes, you just want to see Team Rocket get some W's.
  • Pokemon Ruby - Team Magma was right, Hoenn has too many boring water routes.
  • Slasher Movies - Frankly, you don't watch these types of movies if you're unwilling to watch the villains perform horrible deeds upon the protagonists.
  • Star Wars (prequel era stuff) - No, I do not want to root for the increasingly authoritarian government that uses slave armies and commits war crimes.
  • You know the cereal Trix, with the rabbit mascot? They should give the rabbit his damn cereal.


The only time I ever did that was when those snotty little bastard kids wouldn't let the Trix bunny get his cereal. Lord, how I wished swift death upon them. Other than that, it was always the hero for me. Still is.



Wile E Coyote, I just want to see him beat the Road Runner once.



Tober said:

Wile E Coyote, I just want to see him beat the Road Runner once.

This. Road Runner is annoying and the poor coyote is due for some catharsis after all this time.

Now, for my hot take. I actually started rooting for Abby by the end of TLOU2. She's not supposed to be a villain actually, the game was about perspective and familiarity bias, but she became regarded as one pretty widely.

Ellie turned into something very different from the first game and I started to dislike her gradually. I loved Joel of course, but it is not unplausible nor unprecedented that a loved protagonist is lost in such a setting to evoke strong emotions and drive the plot forward. Stories don't need unlimited plot armor or cozy safeness to be great.



Dante9 said:
Tober said:

Wile E Coyote, I just want to see him beat the Road Runner once.

Ellie turned into something very different from the first game

I actually hated her in the first game, at least through most of it. That whole teenage, whiny, don't-tell-me-what-to-do-dad thing just drove me nuts.