Designated Villain: Difference between revisions
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''To entertain these fair well-spoken days,''
''I am determined to prove a villain''
''And hate the idle pleasures of these days."''
|'''[[William Shakespeare]]''', ''[[Richard III]]'', Act I, Sc. i.}}
A [[Big Bad]] is a common driving force behind conflict in stories, so it makes natural sense to write one in. But villainy requires villainous acts...so a villain who doesn't really perform those is a bit hard to swallow.
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In fact, this may only prove a character a [[Jerkass]], [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|especially in regards to the protagonist.]] This isn't a case of a deliberately over-the-top villain, it's a personification of being an ass for its own sake. That being said, there ''are'' cases [[Villainy-Free Villain|where just being a jerk can qualify one for being the antagonist by itself]].
Alternately, it might be a character that could fall under [[Hero Antagonist]]... except, since they're an antagonist, they can't possibly be on the side of good. Keep in mind that antagonists and villains are very different things.
Compare and contrast [[Designated Hero]], [[Poke the Poodle]], [[Villain Ball Magnet]], and [[Villainy-Free Villain]]. Compare with [[Plot Irrelevant Villain]], who ''does'' have legitimate acts of villainy but those are mostly irrelevant for plot purposes. Also see [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]. Not to be confused with [[Designated Evil]].
Not to be confused with [[Offstage Villainy]], which is where the bad guy did bad things... but not on screen.
Please note that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], as this can sometimes be done on purpose to add more shades of grey to a story, or to show that the heroes are not completely perfect.
{{examples}}
== Media in General ==
* In most movies about saving the old theater, school, ball field, etc, the villain is someone who wants to tear down this location to put their own business there, a completely legal and understandable (if somewhat tragic for the protagonists) way to make a living. Often they're corrupt or try to achieve their goal of obtaining the property through dishonest or illegal means, but sometimes the movie has no other way to paint them as an outright villain than to make them kind of a jerk.
* Similarly, landlords (or bankers, etc.) get this treatment simply for demanding that protagonists pay them the money they're rightfully owed or vacate the premises. If the "creditor" figure is not outright portrayed as a jerk or involved in some underhanded scheme, they still get painted as "fabulously wealthy landowner being merciless and unforgiving to characters' hardships."
== Anime and Manga ==
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* ''[[Star Driver]]'' has a bit of this. Yes, the Glittering Crux Brigade kidnapped the maiden to allow them to summon giants to Earth for some reason that probably involves fighting, since we never see anything else happen, but when they aren't wearing their masks, they're pretty nice guys. Even the leader of Adult Bank, President, who is a schoolgirl wife who kisses men other than her husband through the glass because her husband is never around - Openly! Like, ''in class''! - only has a massive boat to live in, not because she's uber rich and spoiled, but because she's pretty sure that {{spoiler|volcanoes will explode when they succeed, and wants to evacuate everyone off the island, so no one dies.}} After asking why else she would possibly have such a thing, both of her subordinates - who give her drinks and massages whenever she wants - simply stare at her, bewildered.
* The Computer Club President from ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' could be considered this. Yes, he cheated in the RTS game, but it was only to get back the computer that Haruhi essentially ''stole'' via some rather cruel blackmail.
* In ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' (the anime), {{spoiler|Faldio's}}
* This is ultimately what {{spoiler|Lelouch's}} Zero Requiem aims for in ''[[Code Geass]]''. {{spoiler|With Lelouch deliberately making himself the focal point of the world's hatred, and with his death, usher in the better world his sister always hoped for.}}
* The official ''[[Touhou Project]]'' manga ''Forbidden Scrollery'' has the very infamous case of the Fortune Teller, a man from the Human Village who turned himself into a youkai and was presumably killed by Reimu for this reason alone, as it is apparently considered the greatest sin a human can commit. Apart from that, he didn't do anything reprehensible, his only crime was being a pro-human advocate in a world that caters to the needs of the youkai (who generally treat humans as their playthings and their food), and even when taking [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]] into account, human magic users voluntarily turning into magicians (also a type of youkai) were never considered a problem, so condemning him for virtually the same thing seems very arbitrary.
== Comic Books ==
* In [[The New 52]], DC tried to make fans see [[Harley Quinn]] as a cruel and heartless villain in a story where she rigged video games with bombs, mass-murdering hundreds, including many children. Didn't work. [[Draco in Leather Pants| Harley is just]] [[Evil Is Cold| too likable]] [[Laughably Evil| for fans to stay mad at her for long]], and the story was forgotten quickly.
== Fan
* ''[[My Immortal]]'':
** Anyone who opposed [[Designated Hero|Ebony]].
** Dumbledore is apparently a very mean and cruel teacher who tortures Ebony for being gothic. He was rightfully angered to see her ''having sex in the middle of the forest''. He laughed at Draco being kidnapped by Voldemort, but you have to admit, [[So Bad It's Good|it was pretty hilarious.]]
** Britney. She's this and a [[Butt Monkey]]. Preps in general are treated as monsters, despite not even doing anything mean.
* Generally common in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fics that try to portray Dumbledore as a cruel, manipulative man (as opposed to [[The Dumbledore|the ''benevolent
* ''[[For Your Eyes Only (fanfic)|For Your Eyes Only]]'': Sakura largely the result of [[Die for Our Ship]]. She's labeled as a "slut", even though she does nothing more than brush off Naruto. And when she gets killed by Sasuke, no one mourns her death.
** Sakura gets this alot to the point people makes her parents evil just because.
*
** The situation is a bit more complex than this because in canon, every adult member of the Uchiha Clan other than Itachi—most especially including the elders<ref>And remember, the Narutoverse is a world where simply being 90+ years old still doesn't stop you from being a combatant death machine on legs, if you're a ninja. Just ask Sarutobi.</ref> -- ''actually was'' a traitor to the village and plotting murder and revolution. (Furthermore, ''are'' there non-ninja Uchihas? They are a bloodline clan, after all. Everybody with the right genes would be expected to use them in ninja service). You're entirely correct about 'what, so Sasuke was the only child then?'
* Most of the antagonists in ''[[Christian Humber Reloaded]]''. If you're not familiar with the source material, they hardly seem evil compared to Vash, since apart from marshaling their forces to attack the good guys, their canon misdeeds are rarely described in detail. This especially goes for one group of "snobs" that Vash attacks, killing thousands and doing trillions of dollars worth of damage in the course of doing so. And while there is no apparent reason for this, they are apparently meant to be seen as evil enough to deserve it.
* ''[[How I Became Yours]].'':
** Poor, poor Mai in the infamous fic. True, she does one legitimately villainous thing: {{spoiler|killing Katara's baby through poisoned fruit}}, as opposed to [[Designated Hero]]es Katara and Zuko who really have nothing to back up their "hero" status. However, she is [[Jerkass Has a Point|right]] when she hides Katara's letters and eventually confronts Zuko about them, and is truly sad when Zuko tells her that he never loved her. Then {{spoiler|[[Nightmare Fuel|Katara kills her.]] With ''bloodbending.'' In the middle of the day.}}
** Oh, and the [http://iroh.org/screencaps/ep61/ep61-1131.png healthy glow]{{Dead link}} was [http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx265/ReneeLuvsZutara/HIBY%20Chapter%201/028.jpg removed from her skin], just in case we needed help deciphering who is evil in this comic.
* Orochimaru and Madara in ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'' don't come off nearly as badly as Ronan does. Even though Madara has quite a few [[Kick the Dog]] moments (using slave labor to harvest rice and eating the people whose work isn't good), at least he hasn't had people put to death for liking modern music. Edfred in particular stands out, since he is supposed to be seen as a jerk for not liking Ronan for assaulting him, but [[Ensemble Darkhorse|the fanbase likes him]] for actually standing up to Ronan.
* ''[[Final Stand of Death]]'' has [[Marilyn Manson]] as this, given his track record.
== Films -- Animated ==
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* High School Dean Edward R. Rooney in ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]'' is presented as a villain, even though it is his job to enforce school rules. The film makes him rather crazy about his job, resorting to breaking and entering, to make him the villain.
** It also makes it clear that his problem with Ferris [[It's Personal|is more a personal one than a professional one]], and rather than trying to get Ferris back into school for his own good, declares gleefully that he intends to "put one hell of a dent in [Ferris's] future".
*** Ferris has committed frequent and serious enough offenses to legitimately be a candidate for expulsion, so we cannot fairly fault the principal for intending to expel him. As for his obvious personal satisfaction at the thought of busting Ferris -- while it is a definite character flaw on the principal's part that he is getting this personally involved in the issue for reasons of personal spite, it still does not automatically make him ''wrong'' about the justness of Ferris' attempted expulsion. Indeed, the dissonance between 'is not likeable to the audience' and 'is not ethically wrong on the issue' is what this trope is about.
* The disaster film ''Meteor'' had an American general be portrayed in a bad light for objecting to Russians getting access to a top secret American command center during the height of the Cold War. [[Straw Man Has a Point]].
* Mrs Tingle in ''[[Teaching Mrs. Tingle]]'' is really the only sensible and likable character. Most of the movie involves the [[Designated Hero|jerkass protagonist]] and her friends trying to torture and murder her because she accused the protagonist of cheating when she had every reason to believe that the protagonist had, in fact, been cheating. The movie also heavily implies that Trudy, the protagonist's competitor for the stipendium, deserves to be killed [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|merely for being studious]].
* Dr. Jarret in ''Man's Best Friend'' is an interesting case of this. He is performing unethical & illegal research on animals (bad) and he created the genetically engineered killer dog that causes all the trouble in the movie (also bad, but keep reading). His purpose was to build the ultimate guard dog after his wife and child were killed; he figured it would be a good product to sell. He also kept Max on a strict regiment of drugs designed to keep him from going berserk and insane. When the [[Designated Hero]] steals Max from the laboratory, the police and others don't seem too interested in taking Dr. Jarret seriously, despite the fact that he has explained that his dog is a ticking time-bomb that's ready to explode in a shower of mayhem...He made the monster, but he kept it under control, and it was only due to the acts of others that it escaped and was able to kill people. And we're supposed to believe that he's bad.
* The human villains in ''The Lost World: [[Jurassic Park]]'' (the movie, not the book of the same name but a completely different plot) have this trait specifically so that their arguments can be dismissed. While they were shown to be quite ruthless when dealing with the dinosaurs, the [[Designated Hero]]es were directly or indirectly responsible for every human death in the movie. The 'villains' keep going out of their way to save the protagonists' lives, while the 'heroes' continue to heckle and sabotage them. While a Tyrannosaurus is rampaging through the hunter group, the leader suddenly finds out that one of the heroes stole the bullets from his gun. They're even partly responsible for the Tyrannosaurus rampage in San Diego. The villains wouldn't have even considered bringing it to the mainland until the heroes released all of the herbivores they had captured already, forcing them to take the T-Rex to cover their losses, ''which were all caused by the heroes''.
:The film also falls headfirst into [[Straw Man Has a Point]]. The antagonists are supposed to be evil because they claim that the dinosaurs were property of the local [[Mega Corp]], when ''that's exactly what they are''; they wouldn't even exist if they hadn't been deliberately created, which also nicely shatters the protagonists' argument that they should be left alone to live naturally, nature having nothing to do with it. A clear example of the "villains" being more like jerks than actually evil people.▼
:A [[Deleted Scene]] would have thrown the Designated Villain trope out the window and thrown the movie into [[Grey and Gray Morality]], showing the [[Great White Hunter]] character (who never does anything immoral in the rest of the movie besides [[Crazy Awesome|wanting to hunt a T-Rex]]) defend a waitress from sexual harassment by beating the ever-loving crap out of the drunk idiots harassing her. Thus, Designated Villain happens by 'accident' by film-makers who had hoped to avoid it. The audience probably would have rooted for the [[Great White Hunter]] - much of them [[Ensemble Darkhorse|already did.]]▼
▲The film also falls headfirst into [[Straw Man Has a Point]]. The antagonists are supposed to be evil because they claim that the dinosaurs were property of the local [[Mega Corp]], when ''that's exactly what they are''; they wouldn't even exist if they hadn't been deliberately created, which also nicely shatters the protagonists' argument that they should be left alone to live naturally, nature having nothing to do with it. A clear example of the "villains" being more like jerks than actually evil people.
* In the "Kick the Can" segment of the ''[[The Twilight Zone|Twilight Zone]]'' film, the apparent villain is a man whose only concern is for the welfare of a bunch of octogenarians who shouldn't be engaging in physically strenuous activity. How's ''he'' supposed to know that it's really magic at work that will keep them safe?▼
▲A Deleted Scene would have thrown the Designated Villain trope out the window and thrown the movie into [[Grey and Gray Morality]], showing the [[Great White Hunter]] character (who never does anything immoral in the rest of the movie besides [[Crazy Awesome|wanting to hunt a T-Rex]]) defend a waitress from sexual harassment by beating the ever-loving crap out of the drunk idiots harassing her. Thus, Designated Villain happens by 'accident' by film-makers who had hoped to avoid it. The audience probably would have rooted for the [[Great White Hunter]] - much of them [[Ensemble Darkhorse|already did.]]
▲* In the "Kick the Can" segment of the ''Twilight Zone'' film, the apparent villain is a man whose only concern is for the welfare of a bunch of octogenarians who shouldn't be engaging in physically strenuous activity. How's ''he'' supposed to know that it's really magic at work that will keep them safe?
* The villain of the 1996 made-for-TV horror movie ''The Beast'' is Schuyler Graves. He's the bad guy because: 1) He's richer than the hero, and 2) He has a less manly first name.
* Parodied in ''[[Mystery Team]]'' with Old Man McGinty.
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* The Machines in ''[[The Matrix]]'' become this in the [[All There in the Manual|fluff]]. {{spoiler|It turns out that their "genocide" of humanity was ''an act of self defense'' after humanity randomly decided to become bent on destroying ''them'', unprovoked, purely out of prejudice. And this was ''after'' humans had used them as routinely abused slave labor for years.}}
* ''[[Christmas with the Kranks]]'' places the Kranks at the same level as [[A Christmas Carol|Ebenezer Scrooge]] simply because their only flaw in the movie is that they do not want to celebrate the commercialism of Christmas for one year.
* In ''[[Patch Adams]]'', anyone who expects Adams to conform is an antagonist. Adams's nonconformity includes [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|practicing medicine without a license, stealing from a hospital, and ignoring background history.]]<ref>If you're wondering why [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|that last one]]</ref> is bad, {{spoiler|it causes people to die.}} No one specifically calls him out on those three, but they call him out on other things [[Straw Man Has a Point|which are also good reasons for Adams to conform]].
** Adams' roommate (played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is particularly bad for this. The audience is expected to hate him because he's a stick in the mud and insufferably smug, but it's clear he tries earnestly to get good grades and we can understand why he might feel jealous of Patch (who gets the highest grades in the class without studying at all). He accuses Patch of cheating on his tests, and since we never see him study (whenever he's with the other med students, he just goofs off while ''they'' try to work), it does seem suspect for Adams to have such high grades. We can also understand why having a roommate as annoying as Patch might make one a little snippy, especially when the guy disrupts your tests by cracking jokes.
* Another example involving [[Robin Williams]]' movies, Second Lieutenant Steven Hauk in ''[[Good Morning Vietnam]]'' is considered a bad guy because... he has bad taste in music? He may prefer to adhere to strict Army guidelines in terms of humor and music programming, viewing Cronauer as an unorthodox upstart, but then, that is what he's ''supposed'' to do. Indeed, when Cronauer's style proves popular, he does nothing to stop it until Cronauer ''truly'' breaks the rules.
** Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson, too. Maybe he could be considered slightly worse than Hauk seeing as he's abusive to subordinates in general, but even when he has the authority to throw Cronauer in the brig for aiding a terrorist, he shows leniency by offering an honorable discharge and a warning.
== Literature ==
* Author Peter David, in his ''[[Star Trek:
* Jill in ''[[The Girl Who Owned a City]]''. Her arguments in favor of voting and collectivism seem rather reasonable, but are dismissed in favor of the [[Mary Sue]] objectivist main character.
* For those who wonder what Clifford Simak was up to before writing ''Skirmish'', seek out an old work known as ''The Goblin Reservation''. [[Offstage Villainy]] is taken to the greatest extreme ever seen, with a single remark about rumors of atrocities combined with [[Beauty Equals Goodness|a hideous appearance]] being enough to condemn the entire species of the Wheelers as [[Exclusively Evil]]. [[It Got Worse|To top it off]], {{spoiler|we find out towards the end that the Wheelers were a former slave race who [[Turned Against Their Masters]], but said masters are never shown in anything other than a positive light.}}
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* {{spoiler|Mr Rochester's wife, Bertha Mason}}, could be ''[[Jane Eyre]]'''s only real Designated Villain, because she is the main reason why Jane and Mr Rochester cannot be together. However, {{spoiler|she was insane and her erratic behaviour came from what [[In the Blood|spread in her family]] and Mr Rochester locked her up for ten years in the third story room with no one to see but a maid.}} One cannot help but pity her.
* Similar to the Leah example, Kayla in ''[[The House of Night]]'' makes a whopping two appearances and is promptly branded a man-stealing jealous bitch by Zoey as a result. Kayla's crime, really, is hooking up with Heath after Zoey tells her several times, in no uncertain terms, that she's broken up with him. In ''Betrayed'', Zoey acts like Kayla was being horribly spiteful and irrational in going to the police after witnessing Zoey drinking Heath's blood, and then having Zoey threaten to do the same to her. To really hammer this point in, Zoey's friends (who never even met Kayla before) begin referring to her as "skank-bitch Kayla" after learning that she went to the police.
* Although it's probably not very nice to pick at a story written by a 12-year old, critics of ''[[Swordbird]]'' by Nancy Yi Fan have complained that the main villain isn't really evil, just annoying.
* In the [[Fairy Tale]] [
* [[They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste|Done deliberately]] in ''[[Rosso Malpelo]]'', a novel written by Giovanni Verga. In fact, the child miner protagonist is portrayed by the narrator (who embodies the Sicilian mentality of the nineteenth century) as a malicious and bad bully...[[Values Dissonance|due to his red hair.]] However, it is made pretty clear that Malpelo is just a poor [[Jerkass Woobie]], brutalized by the cruel society where he lives, who sometimes even borders on a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]], especially when he interacts with his ill friend, Ranocchio. (And no, this is not a case of [[Villainy-Free Villain]]: all the other characters, [[Wide-Eyed Idealist|with the exception of his father and Ranocchio]], are far bigger jerks than him, if not outright evil).
* [[Michael Crichton|Michael Crichton's]] ''[[Timeline]]'' features a [[Jerkass]] corporate executive Robert Doniger whose quantum teleportation experiments kickstart the plot. He supports all possible safeguards for his technology, all accidents and disasters are caused by people refusing to follow his orders, and he does everything in his power to help the protagonists. As thanks for this, they murder him at the end by sending him back in time to die of the Black Plague. For being a jerk.
* Even if Claudia weren't a member of
* Most of the 'monsters' in mythology are never actually shown to do anything evil, and a lot of them are treated horribly anyway. Medusa and the children of Loki especially come to mind.
** Through only Jörmungandr was treated that way. Odin tried to drown him for... well being a snake. Hel was put in charge of Hel and given control over
** Likewise, depending on which versions of a fairy tale you read, the evil stepsister/rival to the heroine doesn't do anything evil in general, besides being pushed to replace the heroine by her mother. In some stories, the stepmother even forces her own daughter(s) to mutilate themselves, inflicting worse pain on them than the heroine goes through! And yet most of those tales end with the rival being humiliated or brutally murdered.
* Karen Traviss seems determined to do this to Dr. Catherine Halsey in her ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' novels ''[[Halo: Glasslands]]'' and ''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]'' (prequels to ''[[Halo 4]]''), putting the blame for the SPARTAN-II program's shadier aspects squarely on Halsey's shoulders. Almost everyone suddenly starts seeing Halsey as a monster who shouldn't be allowed to live. The specific act that earns the hate is the flash-cloning of the kidnapped children in order to convince the parents that the kids aren't really missing. The clones fall ill and die a few months later. The head of ONI, Admiral Margaret Parangosky, personally blames Halsey for this. The kicker is, nothing happens in ONI without Parangosky's say-so, so there's no way she could not have known about the flash-cloning, especially since it hardly could have been accomplished by Halsey alone. Nobody seems to consider that making parents think their kids are dead may be more merciful than living with the constant fear of any parent whose child was kidnapped. Alternatively, the SPARTAN-III program (using orphans from glassed planets) is seen as the better alternative, as the orphans agreed to take part in it. However, the SPARTAN-III program is meant to produce a mix of Super Soldiers and Cannon Fodder. Besides, all those orphans are teenagers and, thus, cannot be mature enough to make the decision to agree. Another argument is that the SPARTAN-II program was started many years before the war with the Covenant, so there's no justification for it. However, the Insurgents who plagued UNSC for years did so using terrorist tactics, such as suicide-bombing (in ''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', Sergeant Johnson's entire squad is wiped out trying to stop an Insurgent woman, who ends up blowing up several city blocks with her bomb-purse). Basically, while Halsey's actions may be seen as deplorable, they can also be seen as justified and in no way placed on her shoulders alone. Worse, the author shows no sympathy for Halsey, even when it's revealed that she cries herself to sleep every night with the name of her dead daughter (Miranda Keyes) on her lips.
** Traviss just barely skirts the line on this with the Jedi and the Republic in her [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] material. Granted, she does have a point about an army of cloned, 10-year-old cannon fodder being led by 13-year old commanders, with both Jedi and Clone Troopers trained as emotionally detached killers with no messy "attachments" from infancy, and a Republic that sees no problem with this being very dodgy with ethics at best and no better
* In ''[[The Inheritance Cycle]]'', for the first two books at least, King Galbatorix can come across as this. During his centuries-long reign, we never actually see or hear about him doing anything truly evil. The worst he does is imposes hard taxes on his people (acceptable as his Empire is in a state of war) and sends an army against the rebels attacking his reign. Despite this, every good person in the books seems to see him as a tyrant.
* Bishop Patricius in ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]''. Granted, he was very lawful and by-the-book. And he was the head of Christianity, which was the new "invading" religion, as compared to the Druidism that the Lady of the Lake and the Merlin were the heads of. But did he really deserve such a horrendous portrayal?
* [[The Bible]] has numerous examples of misunderstood people whose actions make them out to be villains. Potiphar, for example, may have had Joseph jailed on trumped-up charges, but he's portrayed as a faithful husband to his not-so-faithful wife nonetheless, and he apparently wasn't thinking very clearly.
* Marietta Edgecomb and Cho Chang in ''[[Harry Potter and
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Helena Peabody in series 2 of ''[[The L Word]]''. Viewers are supposed to dislike her because she chose to give money to help poverty-stricken families rather than Bette's art gallery, and because she winds Bette up even though she only did this after Bette was very rude to her (telling her that she was unwelcome when she came to Alice and Dana's party just because she didn't like her dating her ex). Tina has sex with Bette while she's supposed to be Helena's girlfriend and this is depicted as an okay thing to do, but after this, Helena starts dating other women while going out with Tina and is made out to be a villain for it. The main characters stand her up after she goes to a lot of trouble to organize a meal for all of them, and this is depicted as acceptable behavior. Granted, Helena could be bossy and a little stuck up, but no more so than Bette, and she never got any credit for her many acts of charity and generosity.
* The Odyssey episode of ''[[Wishbone]]'' dealt with the main characters wanting to save a park from being bulldozed by a developer who wanted to build a slushee bar. The developer was labeled a greedy bastard for daring to pave the way for progress. He was not a good, honest person because the sign announcing the bulldozing wasn't in plain sight. (When really, there are numerous explanations as to why that sign could have been on the ground.) At the end of the day, the tree was saved, the developer had been humiliated in court. Many of the villains in the original work were like this, though it's doubtful that played into the original considerations.
* In [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the new ''
* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', Bates, Kavanaugh, and Ellis tend to end up in this role. [[Straw Man Has a Point|They usually have legitimate concerns or complaints]], but because these are against the main cast of characters (Bates seeing Teyla as a security risk, Kavanaugh complaining to Weir about Weir degrading him in public, Ellis wanting McKay to cut the exposition and get to the point), the characters are presented as reactionary jerkasses. There is also a trend of portraying Kavanaugh, in his few appearances, as a coward, even though, every time, he is up against a situation in which his fear is perfectly understandable.
* In ''[[The Office (2005 TV series)|The Office]]'':
** Charles was brought in to act as a buffer between [[Pointy-Haired Boss|Michael Scott]] and upper management, which was a valid action given that Michael really should have been fired for lying about a risky sales scheme he engaged in (or kidnapping a pizza-boy, or any number of others). When Michael quit, Charles took his place and took a hard line with the office, cutting a number of activities to save money and asking the employees to actually sit down and do their work.
** This can also be the case for the conflict between Andy and Dwight: both were trying to get each other fired, but we're supposed to side with Dwight.
** [[The Office (UK series)|The UK version of ''The Office'']] features this trope in regards to Neil Godwin (Brent's boss) who, according to [[Word of God]], we are not supposed to like. His crimes are neatly summed up in [[The Other Wiki]] as "He is dismissive towards David's dog and shared a joke with Chris Finch at the expense of David's Christmas party date, Carol." That Christmas Party doesn't happen until the very last episode.
* ''[[iCarly]]'':
** Nevel starts out this way by [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|trying to steal a kiss]] from Carly (which is apparently pretty bad if you’re not into [[Gonk]] nerds). Then, he [[Took a Level in Jerkass|unbecame this trope]] when he decided that revenge was in order.
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*** Sterling's case is further hurt by one scene in which as a cruel joke, the bookworm's wife asks him to read poetry from one of his books to her; he eagerly obliges, only to find that she has drawn lines over the text on every page. Is it any wonder he prefers books to people?
* ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]'':
** In the episode "Broken", Cara is on trial for the atrocities she committed as a Mord'Sith. To her defense, it is revealed that Mord'Sith are actually abducted as young girls, [[Break the Cutie|then horribly tortured and brainwashed]] [[Being Tortured Makes You Evil|until they become heartless killing machines]]. They were unwilling victims of the D'Haran more than anything else. Cara is ultimately forgiven for this reason. However, during the trial, they arrest another Mord'Sith hiding in the assistance: Cara's mentor, the one who abducted and trained her. They then proceed to condemn this woman to what is described as [[Cold-Blooded Torture|the most painful death in existence]]. [[Values Dissonance|Everybody seems oblivious that, as a Mord'Sith, this woman endured the same fate as Cara, and so is every bit as much of a victim...]] (It could be argued that Cara was forgiven because she was a victim
** Cara also helped overthrow the evil overlord who was in charge of the brainwashing. So, it could be argued that she had broken her brainwashing and was already helping people without anyone forcing her to. Cara was also happy for them to kill her.
* Possibly used in ''[[Survivor (TV series)|Survivor]]: Heroes vs. Villains'', where people like Sandra and Coach could hardly be considered villains ([[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Jeff asks if anyone thinks they were put on the wrong team); and Rob, who (shockingly) played the game more heroically than most of the Heroes. The episode where {{spoiler|he gets voted off}} is even titled "I guess I'm not really a good villain". Also subverted with Parvarti and Russel, who said "what did I do that was so bad?" and ended up being the primary antagonists season after season.
* Diana Marshall (played by Jane Badler of ''[[V (TV series)|V]]'') was heavily publicized as a villain prior to her introduction on ''[[Neighbours]]'', on the basis of her ruthlessness in her quest to bring down Paul and Rosemary. But given that Paul was responsible for embezzling thousands of dollars from his business and Rosemary's willingness to let her nephew get away with it, it's not hard to see Diana as justified in her actions and to want her to win.
* ''[[Smallville]]'':
** [[Lex Luthor]] is an infamous example of this, performing many selfless (and debatably noble) acts throughout the first few seasons (including risking his life to save Clark's class from a hostage taker and saving his semi-abusive father from a tornado), only to be persistently described as having negative motivations all along when very few have actually been observed in him during his screentime...In later seasons, he regularly commits murders and performs unethical experiments, having crossed the line into ''actual'' villain.
** More [[Egregious]] is the way Clark himself was depicted vis-a-vis Lana. While Clark was certainly never depicted as a ''villain'' in canon, the show ''did'' seem intent on convincing viewers that Clark being uncomfortable with revealing his secret to Lana somehow makes him a horrible, nasty [[Jerkass]] who needs to learn how to "be open about [his] emotions". Worst of all, whenever Lana did something manipulative or bitchy towards Clark, the show would try to portray her as being ''justified'' simply because Clark was uncomfortable with revealing his secret to her, and the showrunners would try to portray this as being an appropriate punishment for Clark's so-called crime.
* A particularly controversial character in the ''[[Star Trek: The
* ''[[Heartland]]'' had a rather idiotic example in their Christmas movie. We're supposed to cheer for the heroes who, among other things, rallied a town against the old man who's trying to stop them from rescuing a bunch of horses trapped by a landslide, while they mount a rescue effort. Except, the old man ''owns'' the horses in question, so he
* ''[[Glee]]'':
** It had a rather frustrating example during their [[Gay Aesop]] episode. Long story short, Finn and his mom move in to live with Kurt and his dad. Kurt happens to be [[Flamboyant Gay]] and has an unrequited crush on Finn, and he organized all of this to happen, including sharing rooms with Finn, in hopes of turning him gay so they can be boyfriends. Eventually, after suffering mockery from classmates and having to deal with his prejudice, he lashes out at Kurt using a gay slur. The rest of the episode is Finn having to learn how to respect others' differences. The problem, however, was that the entire altercation was based off the fact that [[Broken Aesop|Kurt had been blatantly trying to seduce him in hopes of turning him gay]], Finn even let him down gently (explaining that he was flattered, Kurt was great and a good friend, but he's just not into guys and Finn was uncomfortable with that and all the other changes going on), yet only Finn is treated as being in the wrong.
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** Morgause as well. What exactly has this woman done besides try to expose Uther's lies to Arthur and then win back what she thinks rightfully belongs to her half-sister? In one episode, she puts the entire castle to sleep in order to assassinate Uther and claim Morgana without any innocent lives being lost - the writers must have realized that this put her in ''too''' good a light, and later [[Word of God|stated]] that the sleeping spell would have eventually proved fatal for everyone were it not broken in time.
* Morgan from ''[[Camelot (TV series)|Camelot]]'' starts out this way. Sure, the second thing she does is kill her father—but that seems to be over a legitimate grudge, and the ''first'' thing she does is try to forgive him for it; it's only when he hits her in the face and tells her "[[I Have No Son|I have no daughter]]" that she moves into murder mode. After that, she spends several episodes trying to claim her throne from what, so far as she can see, is a pretender plucked out of thin air by a manipulative sorcerer. And her methods for winning the throne? Well, after an alliance with the local warlord (a matter of necessity in the absence of an army of her own) falls through, she sets to work bringing justice to the kingdom, trying to demonstrate to the people that she's a better choice for ruler than Merlin's puppet.
* Sheriff Don Lamb on ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' can come across like this. While certainly a deeply unpleasant man who has done some shocking things (
* Former Vice President John Hoynes on ''[[The West Wing]]'' . The writers obviously want us to view him as a sleazy backstabber desperately clinging
** His successor, "Bingo Bob" Russell, fares no better and for even less cause. At least Hoynes caused a sex scandal (that is, he did something wrong) which could justify the main cast's hatred of him (if they'd known about it before it was exposed). Russell didn't even have that much. He was a choice forced on the West Wing by other Democrats because he had a reputation as a lightweight, and it was hoped wouldn't be much competition to Democrats wanting to run for President in the next election. Russell is aware of his bad reputation and is determined to rise above it, but the rest of the cast doesn't care. While trying to write the speech announcing his Vice Presidency, Toby rants a mock speech on how much they all genuinely despise him that [[Irrevocable Message|accidentally winds up on the teleprompter.]] Russell sees it, but is remarkably good-humored about it. Russell does manage to rise above expectations and be an effective Vice President, and (to the dismay of those
* The treatment of [[Internal Affairs]] (aka "The Rat Squad") in ''[[Law and Order]]'', especially ''[[Law
* In ''[[Little House On the Prairie]]'', Harriet Oleson, her daughter Nellie, and sometimes son Willie are all designated villains. The stories are so predictable that if you watch them, if you want to know what the wrong thing to do is, watch Harriet. She's always wrong.
== Professional Wrestling ==
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** His feud with [[Randy Orton]] may be worse. To put it in Punk's perspective, Orton is putting members of your stable on the shelf with the same move with which he stripped you of the biggest accolade in the sport. So you want revenge on him for this, but you're treated like the villain, and the [[Complete Monster]] who said he wants to break your neck and paralyze you is treated as a hero.
* This also occurred in the classic feud between "Macho Man" [[Randy Savage]] and [[Hulk Hogan]]. The former accused the later of stealing his spotlight and copping a feel of his wife; both of these things were clearly seen to be true by millions watching at home, but the glory-hounding, marriage-wrecking Hogan still wound up as [[Designated Hero|the hero of the story.]]
* Happened in a feud between Jillian Hall (a heel) and the Bella Twins (faces). Brie Bella used the twin switch to beat Jillian in a match. Jillian had wrestled the match cleanly and yet was apparently supposed to deserve it somehow. Next week, Nikki Bella did the same thing. The feud was the Bellas one-upping Jillian
* ''[[Ron Killings]]'':
** R-Truth's heel turn. He won a match to earn a shot at the WWE title. Next week, [[John Morrison]] convinced Truth to put his opportunity for the title on the line in a match against him. Morrison won the match and Truth attacked him afterwards, thus turning heel. So, apparently, in WWE logic, he's a bad guy when Morrison is the one who manipulated him into giving up his title shot.
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** Truth wasn't manipulated. Morrison tried to manipulate him but it backfired. Ultimately, Truth left it up to the audience who cheered at the idea of him and Morrison having a rematch. The fact of the matter is that him losing his title shot was his own fault and he was a sore loser about it. The heel turn could've been handled better, but WWE immediately [[Flanderization|used him being a sore loser to show how much of an evil person he is]].
* In [[TNA]], [[Girl Posse|The Beautiful People]] had a match where, on their way to the ring, they reunited with founding member Angelina Love. At the end of their match, Angelina joins them in the ring to celebrate, only for her to attack them (Leaving BFF Velvet Sky in tears). Why did she turn on them? Because she was replaced with Lacey Von Erich (done because [[Real Life Writes the Plot|she was having issues with her Visa that kept her from returning to the states]]). Yet the Beautiful People are seen as the bad guys for wanting revenge against a cheap attack by someone who they thought was their friend.
* Muhammad Hassan was definitely this. He was reviled and hated in
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'':
** The Ventrue are the ''de facto'' Designated Villains, although that isn't fair, as ''all'' vampires are villainous despite their best efforts. The Daeva, who have the explicit weakness ''of'' inevitable moral decline have far more reasons to actually ''be'' the Designated Villains, only the fluff of the manuals and supplements just don't write them that way. The Daeva are sympathetic, as being evil is not really their fault, they're just morally decadent. The Ventrue, however, are always portrayed, every last vampire jack of them, as conniving, cackling, sadistic, and ''evil'' sons of bitches who are evil because that's what the Ventrue are and do.
** As far as fluff goes, the Nosferatu and Gangrel tend to get Designated Hero slots, but if an NPC in a supplement is marked "Ventrue Invictus", you can guarantee that the character is going to be portrayed in a villainous light.
** Mekhet, however, are the Designated Morally Ambivalent. They might as well be Vulcans for all the White Wolf writing staff cares.
** Could be somewhat of a [[Justified Trope]] in regards to the Ventrue. It isn't so much that they are any more evil than other clans, but they make much more interesting villains than most other clans. With the [[Exclusively Evil]] aspect to the clans, most clans really can only be a villain through being a [[Complete Monster]]. The Ventrue can be [[Complete Monster]]s, but they can easily be antagonistic without it.
* Similarly, the Technocracy from ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' are largely Designated Villains, by ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'' standards, given that there are expansion books to play technocrats and the core books note that the rivalry is somewhat one-sided, with the technocracy not so much hunting you down as reacting with vague surprise that you're still around when you bust into their laboratory.
** Also, its sometimes difficult to convince people who live in the modern world with all of its conveniences and life-saving technologies -- i.e., the people who actually buy and play this game -- that the faction who are, in-setting, responsible for the ''existence'' of said modern world are supposed to be the bad guys and should never have existed.
* Vlad von Calerstien in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' borders into this, [[Alternate Character Interpretation|depending how you look at him]]. While his successors were defiantly evil, the most he did was try and take over [[The Empire]], which its Elector Counts are trying to do all the time, and if his enemies surrendered to him, he let them live. Though all the undead he kept around would take some getting used to.
== Theatre ==
* In the play ''[[Alcestis]]'', King Admetus is the villain. He wins the favor of Apollo so that when it's time for him to die, another may take his place. The only person willing though was his wife Alcestis so that her children will know him and not be fatherless. Since she is the one dying for a noble cause, he is the de facto villain.
* Shylock from ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]''. As such, he's one of the most popular [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s in history from roughly the 19th century on. He's been driven to what he's done by the persecution he endures as a Jew, including from the protagonist. [[Values Dissonance]] means anti-semitism was actually common in Shakespeare's day.
* Dick Deadeye in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[H.M.S.
* A [[Double Subversion]] happens in ''[[Fools]]''. Count Yousekevitch is set up to be the villain by the other characters and is presented in a ridiculous "bad guy" outfit. His only real crime is trying to marry a pretty girl. Later, he even lampshades this. He then seemingly has a [[Pet the Dog]] moment...only to turn it into a [[Kick the Dog]] and prove himself to be just as bad as everyone else said.
* Ellen in ''[[Miss Saigon]]'' is often perceived as this by fans of the show, as she is seen as the obstacle to Kim and Chris reuniting.
* The Bad Baronets of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Ruddigore'' are obligated by a family curse to commit one evil deed each day, or else die in agony. The reigning Baronet, Sir Despard Murgatroyd, is a [[Punch Clock Villain]], who gets his daily crime over early in the day and does good afterwards. After the hero is unmasked as Despard's elder brother, Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, he emerges from his [[Face Heel Turn]] as a [[Harmless Villain]], who [[Poke the Poodle|commits misdemeanors so small]] that the ghosts of his ancestors rise up to torment him until he agrees to prove that he can do [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|something more nefarious]].
* ''[[A Doll's
** Magnificently subverted in Ibsen's story with Nils Krogstad, who is repeatedly demonized as an unpleasant and weak [[Kick the Dog|dog kicker]], but is, upon closer inspection, just trying to secure his job so he can feed his children, and is eventually talked into a total [[Heel Face Turn]]. The ''real'' villain turns out to be [[Knight in Shining Armor]] Torvald Helmer.
** Of course, Torvald's crimes include wanting to have a stable home, not wanting the family name slandered (it's ~1890), and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|wanting his wife to ease off the cookies]]. He'd be perfectly fine if he hadn't been such an [[Ungrateful Bastard]] to Krogstad in the first place...
* The Giantess in ''[[Into the Woods]]''. Her only real crime is not being human. She treated Jack kindly and protected him from her husband, and, in return, he robs her and kills her husband. If she was a human, Jack (who admits that he did it) would have been hauled off to jail, if not the chopping block. All the deaths in the second half are either accidents (because she can't see without her glasses) or caused by humans. There is even a scene in the second act deconstructing this, and discussing why she deserves to live less than Jack does. Eventually, none of them can tell who is supposed to be the hero anymore.
* ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'': subverted by Colonel De Guiche [[In-Universe]]. The audience of the play identify him as the villain because he wants to bully Roxane into being [[The Mistress]], but the Gascon Cadets who serve under him never call him out on this: they think he is the villain merely because he doesn’t want to be an [[Idiot Hero]], has [[Ambition Is Evil|villainous motivations]], and [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections|prefers to thrive by his connections]] in the [[Deadly Decadent Court]]...[[Murder Arson and Jaywalking|and he dresses like]] [[The Dandy]]. In summation, De Guiche is the villain because he is [[No True Scotsman|No True Gascon]]. Observe that not one of the cadets even complain when De Guiche informs them of the [[Last Stand]].
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Age of Wonders]]''. We're told that the Elves, Halflings, and Dwarves are good, and the Orcs, Goblins, and Dark Elves are evil. While the good races are described briefly as having peaceful, wholesome habits and the evil races are supposed to be violent and aggressive, we don't really see any of this in action. In gameplay, the difference doesn't show up at all: both sides are equally warlike, and have the option of fighting or buying off neutral races. Furthermore, a central gameplay mechanic is the ability to repopulate captured cities with a population of a friendly race; it's plain cultural imperialism at best and the good and evil races do this with equal impunity.
* ''[[Arc Rise Fantasia]]'' gives us {{spoiler|Eesa. There doesn't seem to be any real reason why she shouldn't help bring about L'Arc's Law to save the world since she makes it clear that she only wants to choose the Laws that are best for everyone, yet she's still the final boss. Umwat?}}
* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy|Dissidia Duodecim]]'' reveals through Chaos backstory that {{spoiler|he really isn't evil at all—he's just doing what Garland, Cid, Cosmos and Shinryu have told him to do, and as such this is an Invoked Trope. It just happens he looks like a monstrous demon, and most of the warriors he calls to serve him are villainous.}}
* ''[[Touhou]]'' runs on this:
** The [[Loads and Loads of Characters|massive]], [[Chaotic Neutral|borderline psychotic]] cast very eager to pulverize ([[Non-Lethal KO|non-lethally]], granted) each other for the most flimsy of reasons. While there are those that don't invoke this, nearly all of the [[Excuse Plot]]s are based on one of the two [[Designated Hero]]es being annoyed and endeavoring to beat up the person responsible, regardless of what they're actually doing. ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' is the worst by an enormous margin: the antagonists were merely attempting to release their friend from her ''millennium'' of imprisonment, who is herself [[The Messiah|almost saintly]], but no, they're [[Youkai]] and therefore must be stopped.
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** They arrested Faith's sister after ''framing her in the first place''. Also, they killed people who protested that the city was becoming totalitarian, including the protagonist's mother.
* Most of the Portrait Ghosts in ''[[Luigi's Mansion]]'' don't even attack, and seem fairly content with just hanging around the mansion.
* While this is debatable, in ''[[
* Cao Cao and the Wei forces in ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'', in keeping with his characterization from ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]''. The game runs on this. No matter who you play as, the other 2 kingdoms (and minor forces) tend to be painted as the bad guys (which makes sense, since they're trying to unite china under their rule too), so it's a conflict of interest. Except [[Complete Monster|Dong Zhuo]] and, to a lesser extent, [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Lu Bu]].
* Played with in ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]''. During the search for Amelia, you run into Rodger, and then run into a bandit leader. He was willing to ignore you and go about his way, but the party members kept saying he looked 'evil'. The only reason you fight him is because they wouldn't stop saying that and the bandit snapped.
* The Dark Ones in ''[[Metro 2033 (video game)|Metro 2033]]''. Whether or not you choose to treat them as villains is central to the plot.
* Simply going by what the players see, the [[The Empire|UED]] in ''[[Starcraft|Starcraft: Brood War]]'' turn into this. They don't come off as particularly evil when you're playing as them in the Terran campaign, and many players were glad that you force Mengsk off his throne playing as them. Yet in the Zerg campaign you find [[The Hero|Jim Raynor]], who loathes Mengsk with passion, and the Protoss, who the UED barely have any contact with, helping Kerrigan try push them out when she ultimately proves to be the worse of two evils.
* In ''[[X (video game)|X3: Albion Prelude]]'', the Terrans are evil for {{spoiler|demanding justice for a terrorist committing an act of ''genocide'' purely out of racism.}}
* [[Designated Hero|Hawke]] can become this to Inquisitor Cassandra Pentagon in ''[[Dragon Age II]]''. No matter how nobly Hawke acts throughout the game, Cassandra will still be certain that he is the culprit she is looking for. The game being a deconstruction of the [[Big Bad]], she is told multiple times that there is no one at heart to blame. {{spoiler|Although [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Anders]] might count, given the events of Act III}}
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[PvP (webcomic)|
** Max Powers. Even though he seems to be a nice, cheery, and outgoing person to everyone around him, the entire magazine crew seems to hate him, especially Cole, constantly saying how "evil" he is even though we have almost never seen him do anything objectionable. When the website [https://web.archive.org/web/20140723024710/http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/10/because_i_keep.html Websnark] did its analysis of Powers, it came to the same conclusions. Kurtz himself admitted that this was close to the truth. Max [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis|isn't supposed to be an actual villain, but instead, one of those guys who is so nice and perfect and successful that it inspires jealous hatred]]. The closest he comes to "evil" is that he can't see Skull, and only "innocents" can see him. That said, he managed to motivate [[Those Two Guys|Roby and Jase]] into becoming physically fit and productive people. [[Status Quo Is God|It may not have lasted]], but it was a fairly beneficial change [[Pygmalion Snapback|without nasty consequences]].
** Recently{{when}} addressed in the comic after a [[Mistaken for Gay]] brief storyline:
{{quote|'''Cole:''' It's not because of a girl, or because you always succeed where I seem to fail. It's just that, well, you're a better person than I am, or ever will be.
'''Max:''' Stop it.
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{{quote|"Wunnybun is the house for bad guys. Reward them amiably? Treat them with respect? They may become good. And ''then'' our paperwork would be all screwed up."}}
* If the heroes of ''[[Sonichu]]'' are the definitions of [[Designated Hero]], then many of the villains are easily in the Designated Villain spot. Due to a massive case of [[Life Embellish]], the author paints various characters this way. The worst case of this is the entirety of issue 10 which has the main characters murder people who amount to nothing more than simple Internet [[Troll]]s.
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'':
** In the corner, the Goodkind family. The richest family on earth, they run Goodkind International, Goodkind Research, the Goodkind Trust, etc. They uniformly take the position that they don't hate mutants, they merely understand that mutants represent a terrible threat to baseline humans. Since the Whateley Academy is a [[Super-Hero School|high school]] for mutants, run by mutants, this makes the Goodkinds the bad guys. Only problem? It's clear that many mutants ''are'' a terrible threat to baseline humans. The Goodkinds do provide a lot of money for Humanity First! which is full of bigots, but they also subsidize the MCO and direct the Knights of Purity. Still, when all the main characters are mutants, anti-mutant = bad.
** They claim that they don't hate mutants, but when you see CEO Bruce Goodkind in private, it's clear that he does. And funding bigots is the least of their crimes against mutants. They also
** Ayla—nee Trevor, son of the selfsame Bruce—Goodkind, a.k.a. Phase, is a mutant, a member of Team Kimba, and one of the main protagonists. This is relevant because the stories written from his perspective seem to make it fairly clear that the Goodkinds do believe in using their considerable wealth and power responsibly and aren't necessarily bad people at all...so long as you're a baseline human, anyway (it doesn't help the mutant cause that Ayla's own mother is clinically mutophobic thanks to a particularly monstrous [[Super Villain]] eating her sister alive in front of her when she was six).
** As for the Knights of Purity, they're demonised by Chaka for going after Jolt, an emergent mutant, when Jolt could have easily killed someone (electricity powers). Chaka also points out that they have huge casualty rates, but the
* Spoofed (to a degree) with Blue Laser in the ''Cheat Commandos'' shorts at ''[[Homestar Runner]]''.
** Blue Laser is frequently staked out and attacked by the Commandos (Gunhaver in particular) no matter what they're doing, including [[Villains Out Shopping|shopping or having Thanksgiving dinner]]. Gunhaver makes a point of exaggerating the "evil" potential of every action Blue Laser takes. Occasionally, Blue Laser does do evil or pseudo-evil things, but more often than not, they're only opposed to the Commandos because the Commandos are the heroes and Blue Laser are the villains.
** Sometimes, it turns out that whatever innocuous thing Blue Laser was doing actually was meant to help them crush the Cheat Commandos. Like the time the Cheat Commandos busted in on their grocery shopping; they were out shopping because a computer analysis had determined that the moldy grout in the shower was the reason they hadn't yet crushed the Cheat Commandos. Blue Laser is that kind of villain.
* The appropriate ''[[Cracked.com|Cracked]]'' list for this page: [http://www.cracked.com/article_18417_9-famous-movie-villains-who-were-right-all-along.html "Nine famous movie villains who were right all along"].
** Although several of their picks entirely make sense, the part where the #1 guy on their list is [[The Lord of the Rings|''Sauron'']] makes you have less than total faith in their accuracy.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[American Dad!]]'': He borders a Villain Protagonist at times, but a lot of other cases those he opposes are enabled to act even worse. "Bollocks To Stan", "Stan Time" and "The Kidney Stays In The Picture" are perhaps the most ludicrous cases where he is "the bad guy" to his family's immoral actions, despite his approach, while still flawed, being at least somewhat justified. "The People vs Martin Sugar" out and out Lampshades Roger as a Designated Hero to Stan.
** Perhaps the best example of this would have to be "Less Money, Mo Problems". In short, after Jeff uses up all of the things that Stan paid for, Stan, Jeff, and Haley get in an argument, wherein a bet is made that if Stan and Francine can live on minimum wage for a month, then Jeff and Haley will leave, however if they cannot, then Jeff and Haley get to stay with Stan and Fran indefinitely. The bet proper ends after two days, when they are flat broke, and Francine calls it quits and goes home. The episode drags on for another 15 minutes, with the typical blundering by Stan, until he is forced to break into his own house, looking like a bum, and is almost stabbed by Jeff, who, BTW, is eating a sandwich that Stan basically paid for. Even if you consider that Stan was a complete idiot in the latter half of the episode, he was 100% right at the beginning: his wife (who consents to being a non-working housewife) and Steve are entitled to use the stuff he works for, being a housewife and minor. Jeff and Haley are adults, and quite honestly, he's doing them a big solid by allowing them to stay there in the first place. That said, the idea that Stan could be wrong simply because he asks Jeff to not use inordinate amounts of supplies that Jeff is not working for, or paying for in any way...it could only happen in a Mac Farlane cartoon.
*** In addition no one mentioned the fact that Hayley and Jeff stole the families life saving and pissed it all away so he is basically working paycheck to paycheck now. Plus eating all of his food wasn’t the only thing Jeff was doing; he comes in 3 in the morning blasting the TV keeping Stan up, so not only is he struggling to pay the bills he’s dead tired. Most of Mac Farlane's points are made by over-exaggerating the stupidity of the opposing side and/or attributing things to them that they don't actually believe: that is to say, they're poorly made. It has already been firmly established that Stan knows very well how hard it is to survive on minimal wage. His father abandoned him and his mother as a child and his mother blatantly told him it was his fault and forced him to do all the things she should have done. Paying the bills, doing the taxes, fixing the house, etc. In A.T. the Abusive Terrestrial they even showed that when Hayley was a baby Stan and Francine collected cans for extra money. Stan knows how hard it is in fact it is his most defining characteristic. The stress of taking care of his mother caused him to grind his teeth and develop horrible acne, which in turn caused to be ridiculed at school. This is why he so obsess with appearance, popularity, perfection, and his aggressive personality. He’s such a devote republican because his dad told him some bulls**t lie about a spy. His mother was so narcissistically focused on herself that she never even bothered to teach him about sex. He learned about it from some random stranger which is why he is so repressed. Unlike Peter, Stan had a very good Freudian Excuse and to try and make a point the writers ruined it.
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** Chad's turn to evil was also in part due to his own ego and selfishness. As the best KND agent and oldest (he's being decommissioned after all) he felt he put too much time and effort into his accomplishments to let the organization just kick him out to the point that he was betraying anyone he could. He eventually starts directing his anger away from the cruelty of he decommission rule toward the whole organization itself. That said, they do say that aging in their world is some sort of super universal disease that can make people crazy...
*** While a [[Jerkass]], it turns out he was a double agent secretly working against the teenagers and adults.
** Done intentionally in earlier episodes, where the KND were more self
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'':
** Plankton in recent episodes, in which he's become much more of an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]], and Mr. Krabs is more of a [[Jerkass]] [[Designated Hero]]. The only reason he doesn't become a completely undeserving target of the show's increasing [[Comedic Sociopathy]] is the few stray episodes where he actually acts like a villain, and [[Complete Monster|the role he takes]] in [[Big Damn Movie|the movie]].
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* [[Doctor Doom]] in Season 5 of ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]''. He's created a utopia in what is otherwise a wasteland and helped out one of the heroes by improving his powers. True, he has ultimate power over the place, but there are no signs that he has abused it. To be fair, he later obtains power he can't handle, but it's not like the heroes knew that would happen.
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'':
** It has the unique distinction of having Designated [[Villain Protagonist]]s, in the form of the Eds. They [[Butt Monkey|always lose
** Though Eddy's main schtick is [[Ambition Is Evil|scamming the other kids and being exceptionally greedy]], he's often forced to pay the price for attempting legitimate business ventures. More often than not, he (or the other Eds) put a lot of effort into these businesses. An example of this is an incredibly elaborate theme park ride that showcases the sort of [[Bamboo Technology]] we might expect from the future, not unlike the kind people ride frequently at Disney World. {{spoiler|They eventually manage to break out of their role in [[The Movie]].}}
* There's a few cases on ''[[The Fairly
* Tom from ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' is usually attacked by Jerry unprovoked. Jerry is portrayed as the hero. No matter what happens, Jerry is viewed as being right and Tom is always punished. The worst examples are when Tom is, in an episode set in the past, ''executed'' when he was ''just doing his job.'' Tom's job in this short was simply defending his home's supplies and nothing malicious. To be fair, the shorts had plenty of other instances where Tom would [[For the Evulz|pick on Jerry for fun]].
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'':
** Wile E. Coyote
*** He is just trying to get a bite to eat; in some cartoons, he's so desperate for food that he is seen eating shoes, cans, and flies, and he is almost always depicted as the villain despite the Roadrunner not being very heroic. Sometimes, the Roadrunner can be quite mean to him, like causing him to hit his head on the cliff walls, scaring him into jumping off the cliff, and he once got him to eat a stuffed toy of himself which was filled with metal, causing him to get caught in a magnet. The Coyote
*** Indeed, one of the rules the writers always followed was that the audience should always sympathize with the coyote. If not for his motivations,
** Sylvester:
*** A better case in "Canned Feud" where he's '''not''' trying to hurt the mouse; he just wants the can opener that the mouse is spitefully keeping from him so he can '''eat cat food'''. Naturally, [[Downer Ending|he fails]].
*** Also, when Sylvester is pitted against Speedy Gonzales. Usually, like [[Tom and Jerry]], he's just defending a food stockpile.
*** The large majority of times Sylvester, similar to Tom, is treated in universe as a monster and a bully for going after "innocent" little animals, with many middle parties fending him off and punishing him harshly. This only happens when said animal isn't an invading pest, at which point, the very same people often lashing out at the cat for not doing his job. Adding to that how Sylvester has fewer vindictive moments than Tom and is almost always motivated by food or duties, and the guy comes off as highly sympathetic, but he's arguably one of ''[[Looney Tunes]]''' most consistent [[Butt Monkey]]s because, well, [[Cats Are Mean]].
*** This is thankfully averted in Sylvester's most famous rivalry with
* The Giant in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Benderama", whose only "crime" was getting mad that everyone was being ridiculously douchey to him. Though he likely wasn't meant to be seen as antagonistic as much as everyone else was meant to be the [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]. Worse off, Bender, who had been a real douche to him, eventually has his clones absorb and kill him.
* A great many cartoons feature a slow-witted, loyal dog trying to defend some valuable property from a thief. We're supposed to take the thief's side. Probably the most obvious example is [[Chilly Willy]], though ''[[Underdog (animation)|Underdog]]''{{'}}s Klondike Kat also qualifies.
* A possible deconstruction of this trope: in the pilot episode of ''[[Justice League]]'', an American Senator has a proposal to rid the world of nuclear weapons by having Superman work round-the-clock to dismantle the nukes of every country on Earth (it's implied that all the countries agreed to this). While he's outlining the proposal, an angry American General stands up and declares that he shouldn't do it because "Those weapons are our only defense against aggression!" (In this continuity, the Earth had just barely escaped an alien invasion by [[Darkseid]]...and a [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] [[Superman]] as well...only a few years earlier) The American general is accused of warmongering and shamed into silence and the nuclear disarmament begins. Then, after all the nukes in the world are disarmed, it turns out that the Senator was actually an evil alien in disguise and the disarmament plan he proposed was intended to keep the nations of Earth from destroying the alien ships that were about to invade. Oops. Guess you should have listened to the warmongering American General in the first place, eh?
* In
** He is, however, stated to be prideful and obsessed with winning. It's implied he may have pulled similar tricks before.
* The Urpneys of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'', who are essentially [[Slave Mook]]s to the far more malicious Zordrak, ordered into stealing the titular stone with threat of [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]] or death if they fail. The heroes are generally apathetic to this situation and have no problem punishing them equally anytime they invade the Land Of Dreams (even using somewhat greyer solutions such as [[Heel Face Brainwashing]] or placing them in certain death situations, on a few occasions). Add to that their highly affable demeanor and camaraderie, and the Urpneys really linger as genuine antagonists.
* [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] in ''[[My Little Pony:
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Mr. Burns shows some shades of this in "The Old Man and the Lisa". While attaching millions of six-pack holders together into a net which he used to catch tons of sea life, in order to make animal slurry is bad action, Mr. Burns wasn't evil in that episode as said by Lisa. Mr. Burns ''didn't know'' that he was doing something that is considered wrong and
** Homer in "Homer's Enemy". [[Word of God]] said their goal was to show that a real person could not survive in the show, [[Broken Aesop|but they did it by making Homer]] [[Took a Level in Jerkass|look worse]] [[Flanderization|than he really was]] in order to make [[Only Sane Man|Frank Grimes]] look better.
* Happens all the time in Rugrats, often deliberately due to the skewed naive perspective of the babies:
Line 303:
** Some of the babies' theories on "villains" run so much on Insane Troll Logic that it's lucky some of them aren't even real. For example they hear the story of the Sand Man, and worry about the off chance that he may accidentally bury them with too much sand while putting them to sleep. They ultimately come to the conclusion they must kill the Sandman. Naturally there is no Sandman for them to murder, though they spend most of the episode mistakenly beating up Chuckie's dad in the process.
* Wacky Races has Dick Dastardly as the designated villain because of his cheating, but, in this race, cheating is often the only way for any of the racers to win. Sure, Dick's schemes involve taking out the other racers, but the rest of them do the same thing (though the majority of the other racers' attempts involve jumping a few places ahead or lifting another racer up and driving under them, while Dick Dastardly's plans are more deadly). Dastardly's one victory was reversed after finding out he extended his vehicle when crossing the finishing line. He is disqualified and booed vigorously, despite the fact other episodes featured another racer using the same tactic and winning legitimately.
* Ranger Smith to [[Yogi Bear
** Reasoned in one episode, where Ranger Smith finally gets sick of Yogi's antics and delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech on all the felonies he's caused. Yogi defends himself by pointing out the forest belonged to the animals first, then humans such as himself took over and tried to enforce rules onto them. Yogi steals food, but Smith stole his entire habitat.
* Played for Laughs with The Beekeeper from ''[[Johnny Test]]''. Unlike the other villains, who want to take over or destroy the world, The Beekeeper just wants to get kids to eat healthier. The characters even lampshade that this wouldn't be a bad thing if he wasn't so crazy about it.
** Luckily, by "Johnny Holiday", The Beekeeper is no longer an antagonist, as both he and the Tests team up to create a holiday in which free candy (or rather, honey bars) are given out. Thus, after this episode, The Beekeeper hasn't been seen since.
** Played straight in, among other episodes, "Johnny Test in 3D" - the hotel manager is the bad guy simply for trying to enforce the no-pets policy.
** Sunblock Mom is an antagonist in "Sunshine Malibu Johnny" for trying to get Johnny to put on sunscreen.
* Played for Laughs with Melvin in ''[[Duck Dodgers]]''. The episode where he appeared suggested people should hate him for opening a rival restaurant next to I.M. Neighborly's and taking Neighborly's customers away by offering them free sodas. It also suggested that it was okay for Dodgers and Neighborly to sabotage Melvin's in a way that, in real life, would get them arrested for not only damaging private property but also endangering the lives of everyone inside. Dodgers treated it like a space battle.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Villain Ball]]
[[Category:No One Respects the Spanish Inquisition]]
[[Category:Bad Writing Index]]
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