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* Some ''[[Captain Planet and
** Some of the characters did have genuinely sympathetic reasons for their actions, insane or
▲* Some ''[[Captain Planet and The Planeteers (Animation)|Captain Planet and The Planeteers]]'' fans find the show so [[Anvilicious]] that they like the Eco-villains better. Draco in Leather Pants may ensue, but it's mostly either tongue-in-cheek or a conscious [[Take That]] to how [[For the Evulz|pointlessly nasty]] they are in canon.
▲** Some of the characters did have genuinely sympathetic reasons for their actions, insane or not--Verminus Scum is a mutant rat-man who, basically, wants to make more of his own kind and his method of doing so is, for obvious reasons, not deadly just devastating to the environment; Duke Nukem was, according to some throwaway dialogue, a scientist whose experiments turned him into a monster and has to pollute his environment just to live.
*** But the problem is, did the show ever ''explore'' these ideas? "Throwaway lines" seem to be the most development they ever got, with the show then going out of its way to paint their actions as totally [[For the Evulz]]. This just intensifies the issue, when fans sense that these characters ''could'' be more developed but the show refuses to let them be.
* Mozenrath from the Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' TV series. For many fangirls, his hotness outweighs the fact that he's a sadistic psycho, turned his father-figure into a zombie, devoted his life to ruining Aladdin's, and wants to take over Agrabah just "because it's there". Oh, yeah - and the fact that, as Iago put it, he's married to his work. (Mozenrath: "It's so true! I love it!")
** Also, the belief that [[Word of Dante|Mozenrath was intended to be Aladdin's brother]] seems to be an unfortunate (and persistent) side-effect of this trope.
** There have been some very well written fanfic's that do put Mozenrath in a more sympathetic light. Since we don't know much about his "father figure" many fans have basically flanderized him into being this evil, abusive bastard. At worst it comes off as being horribly narmy but there is the rare gem where Mozenrath's youth is explored in detail where we see how it shaped him into what he is during the series. Many fans also use the plot line that Mozenrath was really Aladdin's brother to help redeem him. It isn't all ways instantaneous, most of the time, but it gives us some good reading.
* Not old enough to make it [[Older Than Radio|you know what]], though it is [[Older Than the NES]]: in the old ''[[Voltron]]'' cartoon, many girls adored the [[Card-Carrying Villain|self-proclaimed evil]] Prince Lotor, despite his attempts not only to kidnap Princess Allura, kill the Voltron Force and raze her planet to a smoldering pile of ash, but also (and repeatedly) to force her into marriage, brainwash her, or commit various other despicable acts; he has never shown an ounce of remorse for any of this. Many fans will attempt to argue that he was forced to do this by his father, even though he hatched and enjoyed half these plans, and even though he continued making them after he usurped his father. Others will say it's all out of love for Allura, even though he was willing to throw her away for another princess that looked just like her. But he's just so pretty...
** Sincline's mother was a kidnap victim from Altea (over a century ago, since Sincline has his 106th Birthday in-series) who bored Daibazaal/Zarkon when she begged for better treatment for the other slaves and then was killed. Sincline once shoved Fala/Allura's face into his crotch, and while the abuse is never shown on screen, one gets the serious impression he did ''something'' to her lookalike, Princess Amue/Romelle. Even in Lotor's case, in the final Voltron season, the one made new for WEP by Toei, he uses a woman's love for him and openly mocks ideas of his redemption in the final ep. A [[Take That]] at this trope?
* ''[[Transformers]]'' fans have quite a few of these; [[The Starscream|Starscream]] (who they feel is correct in becoming the leader of the Decepticons), Ravage (especially after his upgrade in ''[[
** Starscream's fanbase is somewhat justified in his ''[[Transformers Armada]]'' incarnation which portrayed him in a more sympathetic manner with inner conflicts, a quasi-romantic relationship with Alexis and even a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
** Decepticons as a whole can be called Robots in Leather Pants. A lot of fans like them(some like them even more than the Autobots) and tend to downplay their villainy.
*** ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' does play with this a bit. The Decepticons in that series ''are'' scrappy resistance fighters trying to overthrow a corrupt regime, but they're less "Rebel Alliance" and more "Al Qaeda". Fans tend to miss this, because Megatron is awesome, Blitzwing is funny, and Starscream is, well, Starscream.
*** Same with ''[[
** Part of the Decepticons' popularity for this in [[Transformers Generation
*** G1 Autobots, on the other hand, tend to get [[Ron the Death Eater]] treatment much less than the Decepticons get the [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment. Probably because they are also stated to have been created as consumer
** [[Transformers Prime]] has Knock Out, [[Even the Guys Want Him|who even has some men in the audience wishing they could drive a car like that]]. On [[YouTube]], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ppDo5kp888 he's pretty much also been turned into] a [[Memetic Sex God]].
*** Starscream's usual [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment is taken [[Up to Eleven]] in ''Prime''. Because of his skinny physique and how badly he tends to get punished, fangirls are quick to paint him as a [[Jerkass Woobie]] and some even write [[Hurt
* Vlad Masters/Plasmius from ''[[
** Dark Danny (AKA: Dan Phantom) receives this trope less than Vlad, but is all the more notable when it appears. Apparently, a buff body and hypnotic voice are enough to forget that he's one of the worst villains in the series, a mass murderer who destroys everything in his path [[For the Evulz|purely for fun]].
* Scarab from the morning cartoon series ''[[Mummies Alive]]''. Never mind that he was something like a cross between [[The Simpsons (animation)|Mr. Burns]] and [[
* The Brotherhood of Mutants in ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]''. Though they were portrayed somewhat sympathetically, and shown at times to be manipulated, they still were jerks that often caused lots of trouble. Their numerous fangirls usually defend anything [[Jerk
** A possibly more rational alternative is the sentiment of fans who would rather ''be in'' the Brotherhood (assuming they were mutants, of course). A standard element to the plot of most X-Men adaptations is that any mutant who wants to use his powers for good is going to face an uphill battle, because much of humanity will hate him regardless. The Brotherhood thus can be seen as the way for people to abide by [[The Caligula|Caligula's philosophy]]
*** There's also the general sentiment in much of Marvel fandom that the Jerkassness of the general population has reached such a height that its honestly hard to remember why Magneto is supposed to be the villain, seeing as how humanity seems bound and determined to prove him right on every substantial point.
** Avalanche himself is an enigma, similar to Terra from ''Teen Titans'', in that while the comics version of the character was indeed an asshole, the show version was an [[Anti-Villain]], and ends up getting both Leather Pantsed and [[Ron the Death Eater|Deatheatered]]. It's virtually impossible to find a fanfiction these days where he isn't either a [[Possession Sue|saint]] or a [[Complete Monster]], and anyone who dares to even try to take middle ground will be torn apart for 'bashing' or 'purifying' them. Some people refuse to see any good in him, and others refuse to see any flaws in him, and trying to do both [[Unpleasable Fanbase|is dangerous to your sanity.]] It doesn't help that some of the show's writers fall to this as well, [[Depending
* Sideshow Bob from ''[[The Simpsons]]''. While his [[Wicked Cultured|intelligence]], menacing aura, and highbrow/[[Deadpan Snarker]] attitude, combined with the perpetual clown-like mishaps to which he's subjected, make him a cool and funny villain, there is a considerable fanbase determined to overlook the fact that his life pretty much revolves around murdering Bart and those who stand in the way of his murdering Bart, instead making him into an angster hiding his suffering under an antisocial exterior. Extra annoying in that they overlook the canonical explanation for any angst (his being Krusty the Klown's [[Butt Monkey]] for years), instead giving him a depressingly cliched tragic backstory.
** Bob's leather-pantsing is even more suspect as being fueled by fangirl attraction due to his being voiced by Kelsey Grammer.
** Some fanfics go so far as to explain that Bob actually tries to kill Bart because he ''loves'' him, and that since Brother From Another Series, he's been on a crusade to protect Bart from his brother Cecil.
** It helps that the show has displayed Bob's occasional genuine attempts at a [[Heel Face Turn]], usually always destroyed by the exploitation or bumbling of his enemies. Even in universe, people were unable to admit not having the desire to kill [[Asshole Victim|most of the people Bob targets]].
* Lahwhinie from the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* Demona from ''[[
** While Xanatos (yes, [[Trope Namer|that]] [[Xanatos Gambit]]) ''does'' get a whole slew of [[Pet the Dog]] moments and arguably evolves into an [[Anti-Villain]] by the end, he still commits a lot of ruthless or downright evil acts (especially early on) and never seriously regrets any of them (except maybe Thailog). There are nonetheless a disturbing amount of fans who portray Xanatos as little worse than a brilliant trickster, with more than one declaration that he isn't really evil or villainous. This probably wouldn't happen half as often if he didn't look like a physically-idealized Jonathan Frakes.
** The only recurring villains who aren't in some way sympathetic are [[Even the Guys Want Him|Tony Dracon]] and [[Tim Curry|Sevarius]], and even ''they'' sometimes gets the DILP effect simply because of the former's looks, and the latter because he reminds us of a certain... ''familiar'' mad scientist with a suspiciously similar voice.
* Fanfics about ''[[Batman:
** Likewise, and perhaps even worse off about this trope, is the more recent ''[[
** It may be worth noting that in the late ''New Batman Adventures'' (a continuation of the first one) episode "Mad Love", Dr. Quinzel goes through ''exactly'' this process and falls in a twisted "love" with the Joker. A disturbing amount of fans see no problem with this. Meanwhile, on ''The Batman'''s side, Riddler's third appearance did give him a sympathetic backstory... but he also has a thin physique, a goth look, and the voice of Robert Englund, so that might have something to do with it.
** Disturbingly, there are clips from the show on Youtube that show Joker being verbally and physically abusive to Harley with comments sections filled with glowing adoration of Joker and jealousy of Harley.
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* [[Villain Protagonist|Zim]] from ''[[Invader Zim]]''. It turns out all those [[Too Dumb to Live|ridiculous failed plans]]? They mean nothing; Zim is really a totally badass genius. But don't worry, he's not really evil; he would seriously regret destroying humanity, and would probably give it up if a kind-hearted human or Irken girl would [[Love Redeems|just show him some love]]. Oh, and also, [[Ron the Death Eater|isn't Dib just such a]] ''[[Sarcasm Mode|bastard]]'' for trying to defeat him so much?
** There's a bit of this for other Irkens too, particularly the Tallests. Apparently galactic conquest and repeated genocide and enslavement of the survivors is a-okay.
* Norm from ''[[The Fairly
* The ''[[South Park]]'' fandom does this a fuckton, especially with characters like Cartman, Damien (who ''set Pip on fire and turned Kenny into a duck-billed platypus''<ref>[[Just Following Orders|he was doing his father's bidding, he didn't have a choice]]</ref>) and Craig (who's probably a borderline example).
* There's a subset of ''[[Teen Titans (
* ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'' deconstructs this trope in one episode. There's a villain called the Magnificent Rogue who basically terrorizes people, yet is worshipped because he's so attractive. Even when he flat out admits that he is indeed Insane. Porky snaps out of it and ultimately thwarts his plot. IQ also states that being beautiful doesn't give you the right to terrorize people. It could easily be trying to mock this trope.
* Many of the Fire Nation in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', usually Zuko, Azula, Zhao, and Ozai. Sure, Zuko is an [[Anti-Villain]] and Azula gets a [[Freudian Excuse|sympathetic]] portrayal towards the end, but that doesn't excuse their evil actions. Zhao and Ozai have no redeeming qualities whatsoever, with the latter being a flat-out dyed-in-the-wool [[Complete Monster]], but [[Evil Is Sexy|they ARE good-looking...]]
** Some might consider Mai and Ty Lee this, as they are (at least in Ty Lee's case) likable [[Punch Clock Villain
{{quote|
'''Zuko''': He had a complicated past. [[It Runs in The Family|Family tradition I guess.]] }}
** Recurring character and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] Jet had a lot of fans rationalising his act of [[Kick the Dog|flooding a village that was filled with civilians to kill a few Fire Nation soldiers]] (to the point where only a handful seem to remember that it was an ''Earth Kingdom'' village, not a Fire Nation one), which is missing the point. Even Jet himself later seems to realize he went too far there and that his psychological desire for revenge ''really'' overcame his heroic desire to be a freedom fighter, and works [[The Atoner|to atone for it.]]
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** Sozin gets this treatment quite a bit, another case of his fans focusing on the "well-intentioned" and ignoring the "extremist" aspects of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] . They see nothing wrong with him wanting to spread the fire nation's glory, power, and advanced civilization with the rest of the world. Apparently, that more than justifies 100 years of war, the first act of which after disposing of the only man who could stop him was a complete genocide, and many other genocidal actions to follow...
* ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' fandom does this to hell and back with Evil Flippy, insisting that he's really just misunderstood and needs the TRU WUV of [[Shrinking Violet|Flaky]], [[Mary Sue|some terrible OC]], or [[Screw Yourself|his good side]] in order to become an upstanding member of society. Never mind that [[Fan Dumb|they've already got Good Flippy to toy with.]]
* Dag from ''[[Back
* [[Card-Carrying Villain|Mojo Jojo]] from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' is often given a [[Freudian Excuse]] for his villainy. He then gets [[Shipping|paired]] [[Foe Yay|with]] [[The Cape (trope)|Blossom]] or turned into a [[Cool Big Sis|cool big brother]]. Either way, he makes a [[Heel Face Turn]] and everyone just ignores his hundreds of onscreen - much less offscreen - rampages.
* Duncan from ''[[
** Gwen and Courtney also have this problem. Some fans on different sides of the CxDxG conflict believe the girl they support is entirely blameless while demonizing the opposing character as a [[Complete Monster]].
** Sierra. She is often toned down when paired up with Cody, losing almost all stalker traits and just becoming a normal girl who happens to like him. Never mind that her stalking habits ''were her entire purpose for the majority of the third season''.
* Marceline the Vampire Queen from ''[[
** And finally, there's the fact that Jake and Finn, heroes by trade, now consider her one of their closest friends (Finn even sang a song about it), so pretty much that means "Finn and Jake approve of all she does, which makes it objectively okay".
* Van Kleiss of ''[[Generator Rex]]'', largely because of his [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] claims and the fact that his opposing number [[Big Good|White Knight]] is an asshole.
** The rate of Van Kliess being given leather pants has died down, mostly becuase he's gotten more [[Kick the Dog]] moments while white Knight has been more sympathtic and gotten character development. More people are fans of him becuase he's a good villain than becuase of sympathy now. His new powers, disregard for his subordinates, massive use of the [[Mind Screw]] / [[Hannibal Lecture]] and intent to have EVOs rule the world while he rules the EVOs becoming clear have made him more the type of villain you love to hate.
** Breach too. She isn't without sympathetic qualities, but sometimes people forget that she's completely insane and has happily kidnapped people to use them as toys in her "playhouse," throwing them away when she gets bored of them.
* Tom of ''[[
* Many [[Fan
* Murdoc of the ''[[Gorillaz]]'' is often seen this way, despite being a canonically alcoholic, exhibitionist, verbally and physically abusive megalomaniac.
** The trope is even employed in-universe, since despite many of these traits being publicly known, Murdoc does not lack for bedmates.
* Plankton in ''[[
** It sometimes seems that the ''writers'' forgot all the evil and nasty stuff he did in earlier seasons. Plankton's evil schemes once involved him trying to [[Take Over the World]], but in later episodes all he wants to do is compete with the Krusty Krab. Not even destroy them or run them out of business; just ''compete''. As in, do something that would economically benefit all of Bikini Bottom. Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs is the one trying to monopolize business, and has gone as low as charging money from applicants who want to work with him for the fist couple of sessions, and charging money for ([[Fridge Logic|presumably fresh, otherwise nobody would pay for it]]) water. Who's really evil, here?
** A lot of his sympathy arises from the episode "Plankton's Regular" which established Plankton's ambitions as being so low he'd gladly call a truce with Krabs if he could have just one regular customer, something Krab's rebuffs, either out of spite or obsession with his product's popularity (the supposed regular Plankton gains despises Krabby Patties). Adding to that this episode largely establishing his computer wife Karen's Flanderization from a frustrated but caring assistant to a apathetic verbally abusive snarker, it's easy to see where some of the fan sympathy comes from. Thankfully most episodes tone things back down at least a little, though this story comes ''really'' close to a canonical use of the trope.
** Squidward gets some, too, although he's a neutral [[Butt Monkey]] rather than a villain. Though obviously he's a short-tempered and rather unpleasant person, he's the only one on his block who doesn't go out of his way to be unpleasant ''in people's faces''.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Gilda the Griffon from "Griffon the Brush-Off" is an obnoxious bully who thinks all the ponies of Ponyville (except her old friend Rainbow Dash) are "lame-o", and who literally scares Fluttershy to tears at one point. When her true colors are exposed at a party thrown by Pinkie Pie in an effort to get her to lighten up, screaming her head off at her so-called best friend and refusing to take her own medicine, she's quick to turn against Dash for being a "flip-flop" by sticking up for the other ponies, and leaves town in a huff. Fans were quick to portray her as a [[Jerkass Woobie]] wracked with guilt and self-hatred over alienating her oldest and best friend, despite there being little to even hint at such a thing.
*** Now [[Hilarious in Hindsight]], given that season 5 revisited Gilda and made that canon.
** The Great and Powerful Trixie from "Boast Busters" had fans protesting she was just a travelling entertainer (true) whose audience was being unneccessarily mocking and hostile (arguably true), and that she was justified in humiliating Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash in front of their friends and neighbors, largely ignoring that she's a boastful, lying egomaniac both on- and off-stage. She did seem guilty about her one of her lies indirectly leading to [[Everything's Worse
** Princess Luna resented that Celestia's day received more attention from the ponies than her night, and, literally [[Green-Eyed Monster|consumed with jealousy]], becomes [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Nightmare Moon]] and threatened to enact [[The Night That Never Ends]]. Celestia was forced to [[Sealed Evil in
*** And then, even amongst the fans that consider Nightmare Moon to be a separate entity (thus absolving Luna of the former's cruel and evil deeds), there's at least [[Past Sins|one very notable example]] where the Nightmare Moon entity itself gets the Leather Pants treatment, and is actually just a misunderstood woobie that needs a hug despite being the source of everything evil that Luna did while under its possession.
** On a more subtle level, the few times [[Memetic Bystander|Bon Bon]] has ever actually done anything on-screen, she was, to be blunt, [[Jerkass|a bitch]]. The fandom tends to ignore that and make her a generally cheerier [[Straight Man|Straight Mare]] to Lyra.
*** She's gotten better—although amusingly, ''Lyra'' is the Straight Mare to ''Bon-Bon's'' wacky.
** Discord
*** This even happened on a meta level: [[Deviant ART]] user CrappyUnicorn made a series of webcomics detailed their thoughts on Discord's "origin", beginning with Celestia rejecting him as a young mare as part of a [[Freudian Excuse]]... and fans went wild with it. In spite of CrappyUnicorn's insistence that Celestia didn't "make" Discord a chaotic bastard, he already was, ''and'' the story being told from Discord's own point of view (which leaves it open to [[Unreliable Narrator]]), many take Discord's claims at face value.
*** He also manages to get this ''during his actual appearances''. Despite Celestia's warnings and the seriousness with which she and the other ponies treat his return, Pinkie Pie was ecstatic about eternal chaos coming with things like chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds, and until she was [[Mind Rape
*** Characterization marches on. As of the end of season 4 Discord has face turned, fallen to evil again, face turned ''again'', and this time it seems very likely to ''stick'' (among other things, the entire plot point with the Tree of Harmony in the s4 finale would not have worked had Discord not meant what he said about friendship with utter sincerity). Meanwhile, the franchise has introduced villains who actually ''were'' worse, such as Tirek—who is incidentally not only the villain that lures a conflicted Discord back to the Dark Side temporarily, but then plays him like a fiddle, uses him up, and throws him away. (In an aversion of this trope, nobody's making any leather pants for Tirek. Of course, being the Gen 4 version of the very original MLP villain and the original Satanic Archetype of the franchise, as well as a guy who makes Darkseid look positively fluffy, doing so would be quite an undertaking.)
** Fans latch onto the Flim-Flam Brothers' stylishness, [[Ear Worm|catchy]] [[Villain Song|song]], and the fact that their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 can actually produce quality cider. The fact that they are also a pair of aggressively capitalistic jerks who tried to completely and utterly drive the Apples out of business and gloated about it when they seemingly succeeded, and who are perfectly willing to sacrifice any semblance of quality in the name of quantity, tends to escape the minds of some fans.
** The Season 2 Finale gives us the new [[Big Bad]], Queen Chrysalis. "She just wanted to feed her children!" say the fans. And she wanted to do that by {{spoiler|1=destroying Canterlot, enslaving the populace, keeping Shining Armor [[Mind Control]]led for who knows how long to the detriment of his health, imprisoning the real Princess Cadence in the caves underneath the castle, and imprisoning Princess Celestia;}} And that was just ''the start'' of her [[Evil Plan]]. She doesn't display the slightest shred of remorse for any of her actions and seems [[Lack of Empathy|entirely incapable of empathy]].
** Meanwhile, over in ''Equestria Girls'', the second movie (Rainbow Rocks) brings us the Dazzlings. In canon, they rival '''Tirek''' for remorseless, horrifying, and intelligently planned and effective evil.<ref>Well, OK, its mostly Adagio that's the "intelligently planned and effective" part. Celestia knows it ain't Sonata.</ref> In fanfic? They're getting as many excuses made for them as Chrysalis is.
* The Urpneys from ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' often maintain a higher popularity than the heroes, due to an excessive [[Sympathetic POV]], their [[Minion
* [[Mega Man (
* Hexxus, the Spirit of Destruction and pollution embodied in ''[[Ferngully the Last Rainforest]]'' gets this (similarly to the ''Captain Planet'' examples above), even though he's trying to level a rainforest full of plant and animal life as well as sentient fairies that depend on its existance to survive. It doesn't help that the movie is [[Anvilicious]], the protagonists (save maybe for [[Crazy Awesome|Batty]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|Koda]]) are bland and rather uninteresting, and Hexxus himself is voiced by [[Tim Curry]], with all the implications this entails. And he gets one of the best [[Villain Song
* [[Big Bad|Father]] from ''[[Codename
** Especially baffling is that the same people who give him this treatment tend to [[Ron the Death Eater]] the KND.
* Kevin 11 from [[Ben 10]], despite being an [[Axe Crazy]] [[The Sociopath|Sociopathic]] [[Enfant Terrible]], was often this among fangirls, even though the show flat-out presented his [[Freudian Excuse]] as not being valid enough for his unreptentant villainy. Amusingly enough, some [[Running the Asylum]] seems to have taken place when [[Ben 10: Alien Force]] was made and had him actually committing a [[Heel Face Turn]], having his history retconned, becoming part of the main cast, and developing a [[Strangled
** After ''Alien Force'' made Kevin a good guy, this trope went to his new [[Evil Counterpart]] Darkstar instead. Darkstar is a pure creepy [[Jerkass]] stalker who had no scrupple manipulating innocent schoolgirls and turning into zombies to increase his powers and is never portrayed as sympathetic in ''any'' way, even during his [[Enemy Mine]] with the heroes. Other villains like [[Noble Demon|Vilgax]], [[Anti-Villain|Charmcaster]], [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Albedo]], and [[Knight Templar|the Forever Knights]] at least have varying shades of nobility and moral ambiguity to them. [[Card-Carrying Villain|Darkstar has none.]]
* [[Mad Scientist]] Dr. Viper ''[[
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