Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Difference between revisions
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Not necessarily.
Sometimes, what people call villains are just... ''misunderstood''. They aren't necessarily ''evil'' or deliberately committing bad deeds, but rather, everybody around them assume that they are the "bad guy" simply because their ideas and goals might not mesh or because they mistakenly believe them to be aiming for bad things. A villain might be misunderstood because of their appearance (for example, the Beast in "[[Beauty and The Beast]]"), as a result of family, [[Bad Powers, Bad People|by the nature of their powers]], or due to circumstances outside of their control.
[[Obliviously Evil]] is a subtrope (despite the name), when a character doesn't have the malevolent intent to really be considered an evil person, but causes serious harm anyway because they don't understand that what they're doing is wrong
▲[[Obliviously Evil]] is a subtrope (despite the name), when a character doesn't have the malevolent intent to really be considered an evil person, but causes serious harm anyway because they don't understand that what they're doing is wrong. Or, sometimes, that they're doing anything wrong in the first place.
See also [[Justified Criminal]], [[Anti-Villain]], [[Tragic Villain]], [[Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold]], and, for nonsapient creatures, [[Non-Malicious Monster]]. When the fandom makes dubious or obviously wrong claims that a villain is this, it's [[Draco in Leather Pants]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* Poor Gaara of ''[[Naruto]]'' started as this. All he wanted was to have a friend, but the entire village was convinced that he was a monster, and this upset him, which caused the ''real'' monster sealed in him to act up. Even after he finally [[Despair Event Horizon|lost all hope and gave in to Shukaku]], deep down, he was just a lonely child who lashed out at the world to protect himself.
* In the same vein as Gaara, Lucy from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' only wanted love and acceptance. However, she only received [[Fantastic Racism|bitter]] [[Orphanage of Fear|contempt]], which culminated in some kids beating a stray puppy she took care of, the only creature in the world she cherised, to death in front of her while mocking her misery. This, plus the [[Not What It Looks Like|apparent betrayal]] of [[Woman Scorned|the boy she fell in love with]], plus the murder of her best friend at the hand of the man who imprisoned her for years [[The Alcatraz|in a research facility]] that could be better described as [[Nightmare Fuel|a new Auschwitz]], lead young [[Only Known by Their Nickname|Kaede]] to become Lucy, a full-blown [[Omnicidal Maniac]] hell bent on [[Kill All Humans|the extinction of Homo sapiens]], so that nobody could hurt, betray, or abandon her again.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Lex Luthor, [[Depending on the Writer]], believes what he is doing is right and honorable. From his perspective,<ref>and the [[8-Bit Theater|Black Mage's]]</ref> he is the hero and [[Superman]] is the villain. He views Superman and most of the other heroes of the DC universe as the greatest threat to mankind, and is determined to "save humanity" at any cost.
* {{spoiler|Ozymandias}} from ''[[Watchmen]]''. Now ''there's'' a misunderstood villain. He single-handedly kills off half of New York City in order to avert a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union that would destroy the world. I'm still not sure whether Alan Moore was trying to portray him as the villain or the tragic hero of the story. If he's the hero, then that'd make Rorschach the villain, and he's definitely misunderstood as well.
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== [[Film]] ==
* Jessica Rabbit from ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'':
{{quote|"I'm not bad...I'm just drawn that way"}}
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* The Rancor in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' seems to be a horrifying and monstrous predator, at very least, but [[Expanded Universe]] sources show that they are actually docile and friendly creatures, easily domesticated by he Witches of Dathomir. Clearly, Jabba was both starving and abusing the poor beast to purposely drive it into bloodlust.
==
* Arthur "Boo" Radley, ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''. A mysterious recluse, the townsfolk believe he's a lunatic due to the rumors spread about him and a trial he underwent as a teenager. During the course of the story, however, it is implied that he is actually a lonely man, and tries to reach out to Jem and Scout by leaving them gifts in the hollow tree in front of his house. At the climax of the story he rescues them from Bob Ewell, who tries to kill them in an attempt at revenge against their father for humiliating him.
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'':
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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[LazyTown]]'s'' Robbie Rotten:
{{quote|"They want me to be nice, they want me to be good
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== [[Music]] ==
* [[P!nk]]'s song "M!ssundaztood":
{{quote|"I was taken for granted, but it's all good
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== [[Theatre]] ==
* If anyone knows anything about the musical ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'', you know that the Wicked Witch of the West was pretty damn misunderstood.
** The same could be said for the Wicked Witch of the West in ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', too. All she wanted was her dead sister's ruby slippers back. Sure, she ended up being pretty nasty towards Dorothy near the end, but could you blame her?
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* The Charr of ''[[Guild Wars]]'' have been revealed to be this in ''[[Guild Wars 2]]'', now that their side of the story has been presented. Yes, they are ruthless and militaristic, but their war against humans in the first game was a struggle to reclaim their occupied homeland, and the human propaganda painting them as [[Complete Monster]]s who love to enslave and eat humans was precisely that - propaganda.
* [[Star Fox Adventures]] has General Scales, when meeting Krystal, claiming that he's not evil.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Roan in ''[[Impure Blood]]''. The general view of him is summed up in his nickname: the Abomination. Caspian, who's the leader, agrees with it, but needs him. Fortunately, [https://web.archive.org/web/20131024215923/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib056.html Dara sympathesizes], [https://web.archive.org/web/20140101214718/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter007/ib041.html Elnor gives him some] [[Tough Love]], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20140117091633/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib061.html Mac is cheerfully oblivious].
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', the [[I Love the Dead|necrophiliac]] Tsukiko seems to believe this about the undead. In her mind, the living are bastards for being "prejudiced" against her; therefore, since the undead are [[False Dichotomy|the opposite of the living in every way]], they must actually be good. She is completely wrong on both parts, {{spoiler|as Redcloak eventually shows her}}.
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* /tg/ loves to bring this trope [[Up To Eleven]]. [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/5789941/ For example], "The [[The Juggernaut|Tarrasque]] is actually [[And Call Him George|a pretty swell guy]]".
** [[Warhammer 40,000|Kharn]]: [[Blood Knight|What]] [[Alternate Character Interpretation|a]] [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Kharn fun guy].
** The Tarrasque is at least a [[Non-Malicious Monster]] in the [[Dungeons & Dragons|source material]]: it's not ''evil'' as usually encountered (it is neither [[Made of Evil]] nor intelligent enough to hold any malice, just ravenously hungry), but it is suggested in ''[[Spelljammer]]'' material that in their natural habitat, they are docile lithovores (with the solitary aggressive consume-everything rampaging monsters of other worlds being a result of something in the atmospheres).
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the ''[[Superfriends]]'' episode "Monolith of Evil", the Legion of Doom manages to trick the heroes into uncovering a super-weapon called, uh, the [[Title Drop|Monolith of Evil]] (at least that's what ''they'' call it). At first, it seems to be an [[Artifact of Doom]] with near limitless powers of darkness, and the heroes are outmatched by the villains... Until they manage to shanghai control of it and use it against the villains themselves. How could the heroes possibly harness such dark power, Sinestro muses after they beat the crud out of them? They figured out that the thing wasn't evil at all. It was simply a manmade device, and like any weapon, it can only be considered evil if used with evil intent. Of course, it's still ''dangerous'' and the episode ends with the heroes still in possession of it; much like any loose end in that series, we can only guess what they did with the thing.
* One episode of ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'' dealt with a village of very superstitious folk who believed the mountains were the home of a Bigfoot-like creature called the Tingler. Although many had seen him and were sure he was a malignant predator, none of them could agree on any details. In truth, all they had ever seen were his eyes. The Tingler was actually just a hermit who lived in the mountains, and while he was a big, muscular guy, [[Gentle Giant|he would never hurt a fly]]; when trouble did threaten the town, he was the one who saved the day.
* ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' once encountered a ghost like this; it could not tolerate noise, and after a movie studio woke it up, it was going crazy trying to find quiet so it could go to sleep again. The heroes realized they could help it by putting it in their containment unit — it was pretty quiet in there — but the problem they had was, how do you tell an angry and powerful ghost you're trying to help it when even the sound of ''talking'' makes it mad? {{spoiler| Egon found the solution: he communicated with it using sign language.}}
* Lemongrab in ''[[Adventure Time]]''; the show's [[Word of God| creators all insist]] this Trope applies to him, despite his anti-social (and at times, sociopathic) behavior. Adam Muto claims he is "just completely unadjusted to living," while Patrick Seery says he is under the delusion that he is always right. Lemongrab is shown to be capable of actual love for his family in "It's All Your Fault" and "Mystery Dungeon" portrays him as a sympathetic, lonely fellow who just wants attention and affection. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to interact with anyone who tries to befriend him, making his attitude self-destructive.
== Real Life ==
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