Who is your favorite anti-villain?

[Underseer]

I finally started watching  Death Note, and I've already decided that L is my favorite anti-villain ever.

http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/L_(character)

The protagonist of the series acquires a supernatural means of killing anyone he likes, and immediately goes on a vigilante killing spree trying to rid the world of evil. By the first episode he has already developed delusions of godhood. By the second episode he tries to kill what he thinks is a member of the police who is investigating him (after all, anyone who would try to stop his righteous crusade must be evil, right?).

L is clearly patterned after Sherlock Holmes: a brilliant police consultant who only takes on cases he finds interesting. L differs from Holmes largely by being young and far more eccentric. Batshit eccentric.

Both the protagonist and antagonist are morally ambiguous, intelligent, emotionally unstable, and convinced that they are the ultimate champion of justice. Honestly, they could have flipped the protagonist and antagonist roles and still had a darned interesting story. Since the protagonist is essentially a deranged serial killer and the antagonist is technically a good guy (well, certainly more good than the protagonist), L qualifies as an anti-villain.

Anyway, who's your favorite anti-villain?

 

[beero1000]

I finally started watching  Death Note, and I've already decided that L is my favorite anti-villain ever.

http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/L_(character)

The protagonist of the series acquires a supernatural means of killing anyone he likes, and immediately goes on a vigilante killing spree trying to rid the world of evil. By the first episode he has already developed delusions of godhood. By the second episode he tries to kill what he thinks is a member of the police who is investigating him (after all, anyone who would try to stop his righteous crusade must be evil, right?).

L is clearly patterned after Sherlock Holmes: a brilliant police consultant who only takes on cases he finds interesting. L differs from Holmes largely by being young and far more eccentric. Batshit eccentric.

Both the protagonist and antagonist are morally ambiguous, intelligent, emotionally unstable, and convinced that they are the ultimate champion of justice. Honestly, they could have flipped the protagonist and antagonist roles and still had a darned interesting story. Since the protagonist is essentially a deranged serial killer and the antagonist is technically a good guy (well, certainly more good than the protagonist), L qualifies as an anti-villain.

Anyway, who's your favorite anti-villain?

Magneto?

Also, it might just be because I am mid re-read, but: many (but certainly not all) of the villains from Worm. I guess anti-villains are to be expected when the heroes are such assholes.

 

[Playball40]

Inspector Javier

 

[Keith&Co.]

Scorpius from Farscape. Like Magneto, he's trying hard to protect his people. of course, the people he's protecting them from are also his people. he's just chosen the side that didn't rape his mother, for some odd reason.

 

[bigfield]

Sergeant Schulz

 

[Underseer]

I finally started watching  Death Note, and I've already decided that L is my favorite anti-villain ever.

http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/L_(character)

The protagonist of the series acquires a supernatural means of killing anyone he likes, and immediately goes on a vigilante killing spree trying to rid the world of evil. By the first episode he has already developed delusions of godhood. By the second episode he tries to kill what he thinks is a member of the police who is investigating him (after all, anyone who would try to stop his righteous crusade must be evil, right?).

L is clearly patterned after Sherlock Holmes: a brilliant police consultant who only takes on cases he finds interesting. L differs from Holmes largely by being young and far more eccentric. Batshit eccentric.

Both the protagonist and antagonist are morally ambiguous, intelligent, emotionally unstable, and convinced that they are the ultimate champion of justice. Honestly, they could have flipped the protagonist and antagonist roles and still had a darned interesting story. Since the protagonist is essentially a deranged serial killer and the antagonist is technically a good guy (well, certainly more good than the protagonist), L qualifies as an anti-villain.

Anyway, who's your favorite anti-villain?

Magneto?

Also, it might just be because I am mid re-read, but: many (but certainly not all) of the villains from Worm. I guess anti-villains are to be expected when the heroes are such assholes.

Yeah, Magneto is pretty epic. Magneto and Xavier both see themselves as the saviors of their race, and both men are motivated by a fear of genocide. Magneto points to the Holocaust and argues that if humans are willing to do that to each other, they will inevitably do worse to mutants, therefore conquest is the only way to prevent genocide. Xavier points to Gandhi and King and argues that they are proof humanity is changing and that the only way to prevent genocide is to work towards peaceful coexistence. The deliciously sickening thing is that Magneto may very well be right about humans.

Another irony: Xavier styles himself as the Martin Luther King of mutants, but seems to have completely missed the point of nonviolent resistance.

 

[credoconsolans]

Magneto?

Also, it might just be because I am mid re-read, but: many (but certainly not all) of the villains from Worm. I guess anti-villains are to be expected when the heroes are such assholes.

Yeah, Magneto is pretty epic. Magneto and Xavier both see themselves as the saviors of their race, and both men are motivated by a fear of genocide. Magneto points to the Holocaust and argues that if humans are willing to do that to each other, they will inevitably do worse to mutants, therefore conquest is the only way to prevent genocide. Xavier points to Gandhi and King and argues that they are proof humanity is changing and that the only way to prevent genocide is to work towards peaceful coexistence. The deliciously sickening thing is that Magneto may very well be right about humans.

Another irony: Xavier styles himself as the Martin Luther King of mutants, but seems to have completely missed the point of nonviolent resistance.

When did Xavier get violent with someone?

 

[Underseer]

Yeah, Magneto is pretty epic. Magneto and Xavier both see themselves as the saviors of their race, and both men are motivated by a fear of genocide. Magneto points to the Holocaust and argues that if humans are willing to do that to each other, they will inevitably do worse to mutants, therefore conquest is the only way to prevent genocide. Xavier points to Gandhi and King and argues that they are proof humanity is changing and that the only way to prevent genocide is to work towards peaceful coexistence. The deliciously sickening thing is that Magneto may very well be right about humans.

Another irony: Xavier styles himself as the Martin Luther King of mutants, but seems to have completely missed the point of nonviolent resistance.

When did Xavier get violent with someone?

Uh, the X-Men do almost nothing but fight. Nonviolent resistance involves very different tactics from anything the X-Men do.

 

[beero1000]

When did Xavier get violent with someone?

Uh, the X-Men do almost nothing but fight. Nonviolent resistance involves very different tactics from anything the X-Men do.

That's only cuz Gandhi couldn't shoot laser beams out of his eyes.

 

[KeepTalking]

Anyway, who's your favorite anti-villain?

Deadpool.

Since he is one of my favorite Marvel characters to begin with, he definitely tops the list of anti-villains. There have been some pretty terrible incarnations of Deadpool, both in the comics and the movies, after he became popular, but his original appearances in the 90's show off his anti-villain chops very well. Driven insane during his time in the Weapon X program, he generally wants to do good, but nearly always fails and is viewed as the villain in whatever situation he ends up in. It doesn't help matters that he really does some pretty bad things to those closest to him, like Blind Al, and Weasel.

 

[Jayjay]

Uh, the X-Men do almost nothing but fight. Nonviolent resistance involves very different tactics from anything the X-Men do.

That's only cuz Gandhi couldn't shoot laser beams out of his eyes.

Actually Gandhi could shoot laser beams out of his eyes, but he only chose not to.

Anyway I second Deadpool. Also the cast of characters from recent Superior Foes of Spider-Man.

 

[Underseer]

Anyway, who's your favorite anti-villain?

Deadpool.

Since he is one of my favorite Marvel characters to begin with, he definitely tops the list of anti-villains. There have been some pretty terrible incarnations of Deadpool, both in the comics and the movies, after he became popular, but his original appearances in the 90's show off his anti-villain chops very well. Driven insane during his time in the Weapon X program, he generally wants to do good, but nearly always fails and is viewed as the villain in whatever situation he ends up in. It doesn't help matters that he really does some pretty bad things to those closest to him, like Blind Al, and Weasel.

Wouldn't Deadpool be more of an anti-hero than an anti-villain? I mean, he has his own comic book, so he's a protagonist rather than an antagonist.

 

[dystopian]

My absolute favorite: Gasai Yuno, from Mirai Nikki (Future Diary)

Spoiler:

She switches between hero and villain pretty often throughout the series. The basic plot is the main character, along with 11 other people, get chosen by the god of time and space to play a fatal survival game to determine who gets to be the next god. They each get cellphones with special abilities that lets them forecast parts of the future. Yuno is a girl who was severely abused by her parents and is obsessed with the main character because he gave her hope for the future; and repeatedly saves him from getting killed... by brutally murdering everyone in her way. Throughout the show it's hinted that she's lying about something, and the viewer is made to think she's out to kill him last so she can become the new god. She's also constantly portrayed as being completely mental; carrying her parent's decapitated heads with her as she kidnaps the main character and keeps him tied up in a basement somewhere in one episode for instance.

Major major spoiler

In actual reality, she's already the new god, just of a different timeline in which she and the main character fell in love and joined into a suicide-pact. But because he died seconds earlier from the poison they took, she became the new god and was heartbroken as a result. So she jumped timelines, killed the version of her that was already there, just so she could do it all over again to be with him again. So in the end she becomes the heroic villain of show; saving the day by being a murderous stalker.

 

[credoconsolans]

When did Xavier get violent with someone?

Uh, the X-Men do almost nothing but fight. Nonviolent resistance involves very different tactics from anything the X-Men do.

I didn't say the Xmen, I said XAVIER.

 

[Jayjay]

Deadpool.

Since he is one of my favorite Marvel characters to begin with, he definitely tops the list of anti-villains. There have been some pretty terrible incarnations of Deadpool, both in the comics and the movies, after he became popular, but his original appearances in the 90's show off his anti-villain chops very well. Driven insane during his time in the Weapon X program, he generally wants to do good, but nearly always fails and is viewed as the villain in whatever situation he ends up in. It doesn't help matters that he really does some pretty bad things to those closest to him, like Blind Al, and Weasel.

Wouldn't Deadpool be more of an anti-hero than an anti-villain? I mean, he has his own comic book, so he's a protagonist rather than an antagonist.

A story's protagonist isn't necessarily the hero, just the main character of the story. Likewise the antagonist isn't necessarily a villain.

 

[Potoooooooo]

 

[Underseer]

Uh, the X-Men do almost nothing but fight. Nonviolent resistance involves very different tactics from anything the X-Men do.

I didn't say the Xmen, I said XAVIER.

Since Xavier is the leader of the X-Men, this is a meaningless distinction. The X-Men are ideological fanatics following their leader's teachings. He shaped the ideology, he shaped the strategy, he shaped the tactics.

 

[Underseer]

Wouldn't Deadpool be more of an anti-hero than an anti-villain? I mean, he has his own comic book, so he's a protagonist rather than an antagonist.

A story's protagonist isn't necessarily the hero, just the main character of the story. Likewise the antagonist isn't necessarily a villain.

I stand corrected, but what then is the difference, and why is Deadpool an anti-villain rather than an anti-hero?

 

[credoconsolans]

I didn't say the Xmen, I said XAVIER.

Since Xavier is the leader of the X-Men, this is a meaningless distinction. The X-Men are ideological fanatics following their leader's teachings. He shaped the ideology, he shaped the strategy, he shaped the tactics.

Not at all. That is HIS personal philosophy. His group doesn't follow his personal philosophy, his group is there because of other personal loyalties and goals. He's not a cult figure.

 

[Underseer]

Since Xavier is the leader of the X-Men, this is a meaningless distinction. The X-Men are ideological fanatics following their leader's teachings. He shaped the ideology, he shaped the strategy, he shaped the tactics.

Not at all. That is HIS personal philosophy. His group doesn't follow his personal philosophy, his group is there because of other personal loyalties and goals. He's not a cult figure.

He kinda is, and most of the X-Men are quite dedicated to his vision of peaceful coexistence.