History Main / SlidingScaleOfAntagonistVileness

Note that the below list is a very rough scale; any given character may fall higher or lower on this list depending on context, regardless of what tropes describe him. Many character types are very broad, so the positions below should represent an approximate average; some individual characters are subversions who turn out to be something significantly different from the stereotype of their type of villain.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse can either provide additional complexity to a TragicVillain AntiVillain by emphasizing their agency while still emphasizing their tragedy as genuine, or nullify any potential sympathetic characteristics of a CompleteMonster.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse can often land a villain down here if the tragedy is still given some degree of weight, though they can go lower or higher.

* CompleteMonster -- By definition, the least sympathetic character possible. The most despicable of the bunch, and their only goal is to perpetuate their own evil interests. Note that not all characters who cross the MoralEventHorizon are necessarily Complete Monsters; they must have ''no'' redeeming values; any of the tropes on the "dividing line" can make them more sympathetic even if they can't be redeemed, in a case of SympathyForTheDevil, showing that they still have some good qualities to sympathize with. The Complete Monster has no good qualities as a person. There is nothing to root for here, just an evil demon that needs to die now.

* The VillainProtagonist technically does not fall on this scale, as he is, by definition, a Protagonist, rather than an Antagonist. Nevertheless, he can likewise fall anywhere from the start of AntiVillain all the way down to CompleteMonster, [[CharacterDevelopment or even]] [[Manga/DeathNote be everywhere on the scale in the same story]]. The latter, however, is more rare. Placing a villain in the role of protagonist can make for an interesting story, but writers generally shy away from portraying them as entirely irredeemable evil bastards by introducing some redeeming traits or a SympatheticPOV to balance out their evil acts. This way the audience is comfortable enough to continue to follow them instead of constantly squirming in their seats from the protagonist's boundless heinousness.

* EvilIsSexy villains have the tendency to draw attention away from their crimes because the audience becomes fixated on their beauty rather than their evil. Even {{Complete Monster}}s will sometimes get the DracoInLeatherPants treatment because of this.

* {{Anti Villain}}s: Their actions are usually evil or at least morally questionable, but they're either fighting for an admirable goal, really ineffectual as villains, don't want to be evil, have a lot of redeeming values, or some specific reason outside their control for being evil. [[Analysis/AntiVillain A Type IV]] here would have the most affection associated with themselves, and can be mistaken as a HeroAntagonist, if they were not previously one already.

* Likewise the NonMaliciousMonster borders on being an antagonist, since however a normal animal has no understanding of its actions or their consequences it cannot be held neither morally accountable for them nor knowingly antagonistic.

* CompleteMonster -- By definition, the least sympathetic character possible. The most despicable of the bunch, and their only goal is to perpetuate their own evil interests. Note that not all characters who cross the MoralEventHorizon are necessarily Complete Monsters; they must have ''no'' redeeming values; any of the tropes on the "dividing line" can make them more sympathetic even if they can't be redeemed, in a case of SympathyForTheDevil, showing that they still have some good qualities to symphatize with. The Complete Monster has no good qualities as a person. There is nothing to root for here, just an evil demon that needs to die now.

* EvilMakesYouUgly[-/-]EvilMakesYouMonstrous Due to perceptions of BeautyEqualsGoodness, villains whose appearance starts to resemble their inner evil by becoming more ugly or more monstrous (or are ugly to begin with, such as a FatBastard) will have the audience root against them more than if they were (still) beautiful. A villain who looks like a {{Bishonen}} is more likely to gain the sympathy of at least ''some'' audience members even if it's pure MisaimedFandom, while a decrepit, inhuman-looking villain has much less of a chance of this happening. However, it can sometimes be subverted if the villain is sufficiently disturbed by what is happening to them provided the villain isn't too far down the scale to begin with, or if the villain's ugliness was what led to their ThenLetMeBeEvil moment.

See also NominalHero, for the bottom end of the Protagonist version of this list. See LikableVillain for a classification of reasons ''why'' not all villains are vile ones.