History IneffectualSympatheticVillain / Film

** Captain Hook. Unlike other Disney villains, he has an understandable reason to want to destroy his nemises (who seems to continually make his life miserable for no reason). He's constantly humiliated throughout the movie, seems unrespected by everyone in Never Land (besides Mr. Smee), and isn't feared despite being clearly murderous. And there's the fact that the narrative oddly takes sadistic liking making him the butt of the many comical injuries.

** Captain Hook. Unlike other Disney villains, he has an understandable reason to want to destroy his nemises (who seems to continually make his life miserable for no reason). He's constantly humiliated and seems unrespected and not feared by everyone in Never Land (besides Mr. Smee). And there's the fact that the narrative oddly takes a sadistic liking making him the butt of the many comical injuries.

** Captain Hook. Unlike other Disney villains, he has an understandable reason to want to destroy his nemises (who seems to continually make his life miserable for no reason). And there's the fact that the narrative oddly takes a sadistic liking making him the butt of the many comical injuries.

** Captain Hook. Unlike other Disney villains, he has an understandable reason to want to destroy his nemises (who seems to continually make his life miserable for no reason). That and there's the fact that Captain Hook suffers the most abuse not just in the Disney movie but in the Disney villains franchise as a whole

** Captain Hook. After a while, you just start to hate Peter for being so darn mean to the Captain.
*** He WouldHurtAChild, though. Wendy and Tiger Lily can prove that.

* Inspector Clouseau, originally intended as an incompetent version of InspectorJavert in the original ''ThePinkPanther'', managed to be so much more sympathetic than protagonist Charles "The Phantom" Lytton that he was retooled into the hero of the film's sequels.
** In the following film, ''A Shot in the Dark'', Clouseau transmitted this ISV condition to his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus (soon to become the ''former'' Chief Inspector Dreyfus). Dreyfus is actually a good detective who, it's implied, would never have gone AxCrazy [[NiceJobBreakingItHero if it hadn't been for Clouseau.]] After his FaceHeelTurn, poor Dreyfus has to look on helplessly as Clouseau survives all of Dreyfus' numerous murder attempts solely due to [[TheFool the dumbest of dumb luck.]]
** And THEN, in Son of the Pink Panther, ''Dreyfus'' gets a reboot into sympathetic, if not protagonist, at least TheWoobie status, as his complete descent into AxeCrazy has apparently been {{retcon}}ned out of existence and him back INTO existence. He even gets the girl [[spoiler: with the down side of now being the stepfather to his late nemesis Clouseau's long-lost son.]] Still the ButtMonkey, if not the ISV.
* Jerry Londegaard in ''{{Fargo}}''. You can't help but feel something for him when you understand his situation, [[spoiler:although, considering ended up getting his wife murdered, he's not entirely sympathetic.]]
* VincentPrice as Shelby Carpenter in ''Laura.'' This is how his ''own girlfriend'' sums him up:

* Sol and Vince, the loser duo of pawnshop crooks who try their hand at the big(ger) leagues, in ''{{Snatch}}''. [[TheChewToy It does not go well for them]].

* Nux from ''Film/MadMax: Fury Road''. He [[DeathSeeker wants to die and ascend to Valhalla]] thanks to the brainwashing of Immortan Joe, but Nux just fails at it so miserably that he enters a VillainousBSOD. [[spoiler:He finally makes a HeelFaceTurn, and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] as a result.]]

* "Bowler Hat Guy" in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons''. He becomes dramatically more sympathetic as the movie progresses, [[spoiler:and by the end of it he isn't even the villain anymore]].

* "Bowler Hat Guy" in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons''. He becomes dramatically more sympathetic further into the movie.

* Jerry Londegaard in ''{{Fargo}}''. You can't help but feel something for him when you understand his situation, [[spoiler:although, considering he did send two guys to murder his wife, he's not entirely sympathetic.]]

* On the other hand, Elisha Cook, Jr. made Peter Lorre look lucky. At least Lorre survived most of the above examples (and in ''ArsenicAndOldLace'', he even pulled off a KarmaHoudini). The same can't be said for poor Elisha in ''Phantom Lady'', ''Film/TheBigSleep'', ''BornToKill'' (where, shortly before his character's death, he tries to menace a little old lady, only to have the little old lady kick his ass!), or ''Film/TheKilling''. In ''{{Shane}}'', [[InvertedTrope he's practically a good guy version of this trope.]] But the best example of how much worse off Cook is compared to Lorre is in ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'', where they're both [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain ISVs]]. Sam Spade disarms and humiliates Cook's Wilmer far more often than he does Lorre's Joel Cairo, despite the fact that Wilmer's a multiple murderer and Cairo isn't. And at the end, their mutual boss ([[HoYay and possibly more]]) Casper Guttman sells out Wilmer to the authorities while happily walking off arm in arm with Cairo (although they all end up in jail). Joel Cairo may be more pathetic than you, but Wilmer is even more pathetic than Cairo.

*** He WouldHurtaChild, though. Wendy and Tiger Lily can prove that.

-->"He's no good, but he's what I want. I'm not a nice person, Laura, and neither is he. He knows I know he's just what he is. He also knows that I don't care. We belong together because we're both weak and can't seem to help it. That's why I know he's capable of murder.[[hottip:*:Keep in mind that she says he's ''capable'' of murder. [[spoiler:He doesn't actually do it.]] He's like me."

-->"He's no good, but he's what I want. I'm not a nice person, Laura, and neither is he. He knows I know he's just what he is. He also knows that I don't care. We belong together because we're both weak and can't seem to help it. That's why I know he's capable of murder.[[hottip:*:Keep in mind that she says he's ''capable'' of murder. [[spoiler:He doesn't actually do it.]]]] He's like me."

* [[Disney/PeterPan Captain Hook]]. After a while, you just start to hate Peter for being so darn mean to the Captain.

*** And THEN, in Son of the Pink Panther, ''Dreyfus'' gets a reboot into sympathetic, if not protagonist, at least TheWoobie status, as his complete descent into AxeCrazy has apparently been {{retcon}}ned out of existence and him back INTO existence. He even gets the girl [[spoiler: with the down side of now being the stepfather to his late nemesis Clouseau's long-lost son.]] Still the ButtMonkey, if not the ISV.

* "Bowler Hat Guy" in ''MeetTheRobinsons''. He becomes dramatically more sympathetic further into the movie.
* Muerte ("name for death!") in ''UndercoverBlues''. Muerte's reputation on the streets is hinted at as being formidable, but his utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of Jeff Blue quickly turned him into one of these. Every lost tooth just makes him that much more lovable.

* {{Megamind}}. You start to root for him since, despite his ''numerous'' failures against BoringInvincibleHero Metro Man, he never gives up. He always bounces back from his latest plot being foiled, ready to go at it again.

** Fortunately, things have turned around for him by the time he plays the mobster Icepick in ''Magnum P.I.''

** Fortunately, things have turned around for him by the time he plays the mobster Icepick in ''Magnum P.I."

* Peter Lorre in ''Film/{{M}}''. And again in ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. And in ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''. And ''ArsenicAndOldLace''. In fact, PeterLorre in general.
** Peter Lorre in ''Film/MadLove''; all of the sympathy, three times the creepiness. Fairly efficient, given how nuts he was.
** Exception: he was pretty unsympathetic and effective in ''CasinoRoyale1954''. And as Mister Moto, he's a two-fisted detective hero.
** Further exception: he's [[PlayingAgainstType the hero]] in the film of ''The Mask of Dimitrios'' (aka ''Literature/ACoffinForDimitrios''), and Sydney Greenstreet, who was usually the more competent villain to Lorre's ISV, is the ISV of this film.