"Come to the dark side. We have cookies."
— Tom 3319
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Comic Books
"That's the problem with heroes, really. Their only purpose in life is to thwart others. They make no plans, develop no strategies. They react instead of act. Without villains, heroes would stagnate...Heroes have morals. Villains have work ethic."
— Narration from The Last Avengers Story
Fanfiction
Diamond Tiara: But Daddy, how could they cheer louder for her? She was the bad mare, and I was Princess Celestia.
Crazy56U: Easy, villains are cooler.
Crazy56U: Easy, villains are cooler.
— An excerpt from Past Sins MST
Asami posted on Hiroshi's wall:
D-dad? Why?
Hiroshi posted on Asami's wall:
Oh sweetie… I'm sorry you found out this way. But…
Do you not see these mecha tanks? Do you not see these gloves?
This shit's awesome, that's why.
D-dad? Why?
Hiroshi posted on Asami's wall:
Oh sweetie… I'm sorry you found out this way. But…
Do you not see these mecha tanks? Do you not see these gloves?
This shit's awesome, that's why.
— Korrabook
, Chapter 5
, Chapter 5"Jasmine stood up, smiled, and preened herself for the crowd. There were boos, but, satisfyingly, a few cheers. Lots of guys like to see the heroines take a beating, she reflected, and that's what I'm here for."
Films
"As the robots escape in the pod, a dark presence enters the ship: the ominous commander of the Imperial forces, Darth Vader, tall and threatening in his black helmet, flowing black cape, and a face forever masked by a foreboding metal breath screen.
Darth Vader, a figure who moves forever in a cloud of awesome evil."
Darth Vader, a figure who moves forever in a cloud of awesome evil."
— Roscoe Lee Browne, narrating "The Story of Star Wars" LP adaptation of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
"I think it'd be rather exciting to meet a pirate."
—Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Literature
"As a minion, it's your job to try your best and to fail... most of the time! The bad guy doesn't get to win. The bad guy's job is to take the fall and look cool while doing it. And even though you lose, people like you the best! Because you’ve got the coolest costume! You get the coolest song! You have the best scenes! But in the end, everyone else gets to win. That's... kind of the whole point. If you're a good bad guy, then everyone has fun!"
—Giovanni Potage, Epithet Erased: Prison of Plastic
Video Games
Strong Bad: You're a shady, shady character, Bubs.
Bubs: It's cool in the shade!
Bubs: It's cool in the shade!
"(I have to admit, Callie's outfit while she was missing was pretty killer...)"
— Marie, Splatoon 2
Webcomics
Tarquin: My name will be immortalized forever.
Elan: As a villain!
Tarquin: So what? Audiences always think the villain is cooler than the hero anyway.
Elan: As a villain!
Tarquin: So what? Audiences always think the villain is cooler than the hero anyway.
"You aren't really a good person, but goddamn, you make bad look awesome."
Web Original
"You think you have power because you can listen to telephone calls? This I was doing as a hobby as a small child. You want to see power? I turned Russia from democracy to dictatorship in record time. I kill people without drones. I have girlfriend who can place her own buttocks onto her head. This is powerful."
"At the end of the day, the Daleks' power doesn't come from their status as quasi-Nazis, but from a far more troubling place: the fact that they're fun. This is the "drive" portion of the death drive — our desire for it. We want to see the Daleks unleashed onto the narrative, knowing full well the effects."
"I should have guessed that Clara was a doppelganger because for some of this episode she was actually rather interesting... It's only when she's engaged with that subtle menace that you realise how good an actress she really is. Maybe she was wasted as Clara all these years? If Moffat would have the guts to send the Doctor off with a Zygon duplicate for the rest of the season I would seek him out and clap him on the back."
"It’s astonishing what a BORING GUY Clark Kent is. Lex Luthor has a sweet house and lots of talent at a lot of different things and can talk philosophy or history or music or sports or whatever. Clark can talk about life being unfair, and maybe he’ll let you hang out in his special room in the barn."
—ComicsAlliance on Smallville ("Relic")
Smallville ("Relic")"Blofeld has really decided to treat himself this time. He literally has an orbital weapon made of bling. Because if you’re going to hold the world to ransom, you might as well do it fabulously. He even has a ready prepared “battle sub”, which looks like something from Flash Gordon. You can tell this version of Blofeld is a pulp science-fiction fan. He also has a wonderful wit — this iteration of the character would certainly make an excellent dinner guest. “This farcical show of force was only to be expected: the great powers flexing their muscles like so many impotent beach boys,” he remarks at one point, as if he’s been waiting to use that one for a while now. When his giant laser ends up orbiting Kansas, he proves that you don’t get to lead an international terrorist organisation by taking yourself too seriously, “Well, if we destroy Kansas the world may not hear about it for years.”"
"Back at Bison's crib— and I'm not just being glib here, he really does have an official crib, complete with shag carpeting, velvet paintings of himself, and mood lighting— Chun-Li is trying to evoke some real emotion as she explains her backstory and why she's on a quest for vengeance against Bison. Something to do with her father getting killed, blah blah blah. I'm not really listening; instead I'm watching Raul change out of his paramilitary leatherwear and in his paramilitary eveningwear: a velvet officer's cap and the coolest smoking jacket I've ever seen. Look at Raul Julia, this pimp daddy! He's lookin' good! He might be a terrible general, his men unqualified goons, and his tactics highly ineffective but man, does he ever know how to coordinate a wardrobe. He's even got a hat tree with about eight different-colored caps so he can rotate his uniforms without clashing with only one hat. I bet he brings all the chicks up to his pad to see this. Bet you anything he's got a skull-shaped jacuzzi."
"Profion gets the remaining Council riled up for war, working the crowd like he’s cutting a promo for a steel cage match, throwing in a few good villainous gestures because he’s that awesome."
Chris: McKellen looks like he’s having an absolute blast playing such a jerk, and it’s so fun to watch.
Matt: He and Mystique just ruling the cool kids’ table, making fun of everyone else’s backpacks.
Matt: He and Mystique just ruling the cool kids’ table, making fun of everyone else’s backpacks.
—Chris Sims and Matt Wilson on X2: X-Men United
X2: X-Men United"Can you think of any other video game bad-asses whose big catch phrases are in freaking Latin? And Kain brims with charisma, in spite of his appearance. Let's face it: compared to the illustriously-dressed and silken-haired vampire Alucard, Kain looks like a doofus. However, Kain has more personality in his forehead — his big, white, egg-shaped forehead — than Alucard carries in his whole ninety-pound bishonen body."
"Whoever you pick, you are going to be the bad guy. But that's the fun of it - because being the bad guy is badass! Villains are cool! They look cool, they got cool outfits, they got cool weapons, they got cool armies - villains are cool! And when everyone is a villain, everyone is pretty cool."
Western Animation
"You've got to love to be hated,
Find the good in being bad,
Oh, the crowd is full of gentlemen,
But they've paid to see the cad!"
Find the good in being bad,
Oh, the crowd is full of gentlemen,
But they've paid to see the cad!"
— Mr Burns, "A High to be Loathed", The Simpsons
"Don't listen to that guy. He's trying to lead you down the path of righteousness. I'm gonna lead you down the path that ROCKS!"
—Kronk's Shoulder Devil, The Emperor's New Groove
Hego: We kept Go City safe from evil, but the more we fought evil, the more Shego liked it.
Ron: The fighting?
Kim: The evil.
Ron: The fighting?
Kim: The evil.
—Kim Possible, "Go Team Go"
See how much more awesome the evil side is?! You get to do cool stuff, like this!
—Dark Spyro, Skylanders Academy, "Split"
Real Life
"Evils draw men together."
—Aristotle, quoting a proverb
Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil."''
— Possibly Mark Twain, but probably Anonymous.
"Man, I love evil."
— James Hetfield of Metallica
"I sit outside, and I count my money, and I play with the animals in the desert."
—James Avery (as Shredder) on his retirement from the Foot Clan
"A villain is someone that has to fool you all the time. He has many more facets to his character, many more sides to his humor. He has to be charming, and witty, and decadent, and funny. He is much more fun to play."
"It's always more fun to play a villain. It's just a well-known fact."
— Rowan Atkinson about Blackadder.
"It was fun being the cowboy, and it's great doing the Indian... It's fun to be the power. I walk on the set, actually, when new people come in—especially new, young, pretty girls—and I go, 'You know, I'm very rich. I have a really big limousine.'"
—Sam Behrens on Sunset Beach
"Audiences remember the bad guys! Behind every great hero is a great bad guy. History remembers them. We will always remember the 'takers'; the takers write their own history...I will be remembered for playing bad guys, one bad guy in particular. Look at all the good guys I played—nobody remembers."
—Joe Pantoliano, Asylum
"In essence, he's the alpha nerd; the King of the Spazzes; and though he was doomed to their kind by right of birth, it's as though he looked around at his anxious brethren and realised “I could take this town,” hence the chemistry-set-Mafioso quality. He's not locked inside Bayside with the jocks, they're locked in with him. A superbly weasely performance from Jeffrey Asch, it's almost too good for the show, and he's an absolute joy whenever he's on screen."
— Stuart Millard, So Excited, So Scared: The Saved by the Bell Retrospective
"Thank you for writing me my Hans Gruber. But a Hans Gruber with super-magic powers. As played by James Mason...I might be biased, but I do feel as though you have written me the coolest part."
"A song which, upon first hearing, made me realize that Evil gets all the really good music."
— Mark C. Langston
"Sorry for saying this, but I really like villains. I find them very entertaining to say the least, and having the opportunity to create something that's human and connected, and being able to tell that story, I find it very interesting."
"Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power."
— Steve Bannon
"In a way, Bowser is the secret spice of the movie. He's the devil incarnation monster. He's like the Darth Vader of this universe. And that's a lot of fun to play. You're the bad boy of this movie. It's like metal, the hardest rocking character, and mischievous. I could connect to it right away."
