Beowulf/YMMV

Poem

 * Complete Monster: Out of the three main villains in the poem, Grendel certainly is this. Unlike his mother who was at least shown to be angered by her sons' death or the dragon who was simply angered due to having his rest disturbed, Grendel is a sadistic beast who constantly breaks into Hrothgar's mead hall and happily slaughters the men inside. He's also condemned multiple times by the narrator throughout the poem, and it's mentioned that even God himself is disgusted by Grendel and condemns him to hell.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: A lot of adaptations, such as John Gardner's Grendel, the 2005 film Beowulf and Grendel, and the 2007 film, tend to portray Grendel sympathetically, despite the fact that in the poem, out of the three monsters, he's the one the narrator condemns the harshest and the most often.
 * First Installment Wins: The first portion of the story is the most familiar to the layman, including such well-known elements as Beowulf's having the strength of thirty men and ripping Grendel's arm off.
 * Ho Yay: In Seamus Heaney's translation, Hrothgar's farewell to Beowulf seems extremely... intimate.
 * Values Dissonance: To the Anglo-Saxons, Beowulf would be a perfect hero, representing all that the Anglo-Saxons stand for. To modern readers, Beowulf would probably come off as a selfish, arrogant person who perpetually seeks fame.
 * Although the text repeatedly conveys that Beowulf's defeat of Grendel was a noble act, the description of the scene is so bone-crunchingly brutal that it makes Beowulf look downright sadistic. You almost feel sorry for Grendel, despite him already having been established as a Complete Monster.
 * The Woobie: Poor, poor Hrothgar. You just want to build the next wonder of the world, and for years to come a monster is feasting on your men, and you know you can't do anything about it. When you finally get rid of the monster, another one comes and kills one of your best warriors. When that one is taken care of, you're so grateful towards the hero that did it that you hope to meet him again, but know that you won't because you're dying, and after you're dead, your prized hall is destroyed and your nephew, who you hope to watch over your sons, ends up killing them. Hrothgar's life sucks.