History RootingForTheEmpire / AnimeAndManga

*** After he helped Cell to become perfect by attacking his own son, [[KickTheSonOfABitch fans wanted Vegeta to pay for his arrogance]].

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'': Quite a few fans side with Haman Karn over AEUG and believe she makes good points. And then there are the ones who just root for her because [[EvilIsSexy they find her attractive]].

* In ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor'', Mikan takes Yuko out to a horror movie. [[GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies Mikan is a nervous wreck for half the movie]]...and unconscious for the other half. Yuko enjoys the movie, roots for the zombies, and cries at the end when the heroes win.

*** Considering how obnoxious Chichi is in the anime continuity, it's hard not to root for Majin Buu when he kills her.

* In ''Manga/DGrayMan'' a lot of fans root for the Noah family over the Black Order. This is helped by the fact that most Noah are AffablyEvil. This is only increased when, by the events of D.Gray-Man Hallow,[[spoiler: ''very nasty'' stuff is revealed about the already gray Black Order that make some readers completely loose any sympathy for them and outright wanting the [[KillAllHumans humanity wiping]] Noah to win. Even further, the hero is revealed to be a noah himself and is imprisoned, branded for treased and forced to go AWOL by the Black Order]]

** The ultimate example of this comes in the later parts of the story, where [[spoiler:Eren has unleashed the Wall Titans with the intent to commit genocide upon the world to protect Paradis, while his former friends and allies have joined up with their enemies to stop him]]. Many fans hope that [[spoiler:Eren]] succeeds in his plan, largely because they cannot see a way to resolve the conflict [[spoiler:between Paradis and the world]] peacefully without an AssPull and believe that [[spoiler:Eren]]'s victory would make the most narrative sense, but a contingent of fans ''genuinely support'' [[spoiler:Eren's genocidal actions]] as well due to [[spoiler:the outside world's seemingly relentless prejudice against Eldians]].

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' - A number of people supported the Holy Empire of Britannia, some because they began to dislike [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]], some because they believed that Britannia actually had sensible (if cut-throat) policies, and others for shallow EvilIsCool reasons. Then there's the British fans who root for their own country ([[AlternateHistory sort]] [[ExpandedStatesOfAmerica of]]), barely veiled expy though it is.

** Look no further than [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Principality of Zeon]] from the original Universal Century timeline. The franchise ''does'' do its best to show that WarIsHell, [[GreyAndGrayMorality there IS no "right" and "wrong" side]], many of their grievances and (questionable) justifications ''are'' based on some in-verse context, and has introduced sympathetic Zeons like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Bernard Wiseman]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam Aina Sahalin]]. However, later writers seem to have missed or outright ignored Creator/YoshiyukiTomino's very deliberate parallels between Zeon and Nazi Germany, including their [[DragonInChief de-facto]] leader [[InsultBackfire being PROUD to be compared to]] UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler by his own father. While Tomino did feature some sympathetic Zeons in his stories, the "Zeon as LaResistance" attitude didn't really hit its stride until the productions that didn't involve him, in particular ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gundam 0083]]'', where the Zeon remnants '''do''' style themselves as LaResistance even as they try (once more) to drop a colony on Earth, and the soldier who was [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal inspired to defect after being hated and abused by her fellows]] is treated as the lowest of scum. In fact, as of stories like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO MS IGLOO]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', being a fan of the ''Federation'' is pretty well treated as this trope.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' - A number of people supported the Holy Empire of Britannia, some because they began to dislike [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]], some because they believed that Britannia actually had sensible (if cut-throat) policies, and others for shallow EvilIsCool reasons. Then there's the British fans who root for their own country, barely veiled expy though it is.

* A common complaint of ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars''; thanks to the Abh being {{Designated Hero}}es, many complain they are TheEmpire and the author is rooting for them, so fans instead decide to cheer on the United Humankind faction, who are the DesignatedVillain and play TheEmpire straight -- even though they're the ones with the polity of attempting to enslave or eradicate a sentient species. The work was designed to invert classical stereotypes of authoritarian empires and liberal democracies in the first place.

** While the Gjallarhorn of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' is a supposedly corrupt military organization, several officers in the organizations, such as Crank Zent, Gaelio Bauduin, Carta Issue and Julieta Juris are incorrupt, honorable and valorous soldiers who [[BornInTheWrongCentury behaved like Pre-Calamity War knights]], their lives are inadvertently ruined by a group of [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatic]] [[ChildSoldier Child Soldiers]]. It helps that it also displays a lot of SympatheticPOV onto them rather than having Tekkadan as entirely heroic. A bit of MisaimedFandom can be claimed here for the organization as a whole, as aside from those four characters, all we've seen are either {{Mook}} Soldiers who blindly follow orders without thinking of the morality of their actions, corrupt officers that just don't care for what they are doing and just care about their positions, or the people in charge who want to preserve the status quo regardless of how right or wrong it is. And out from the four characters, Julieta is the only one who not only stayed alive in the end but also became critical of the people who she served and realized that not everything is black or white. By the time the ending rolls in, [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Rustal Elion crushed Tekkadan from existence]], [[TheExtremistWasRight reformed Gjallarhorn into a democratic organization and gave Mars their independence]] which also includes helping Kudelia abolishing the Human Debris system. Many viewers considered this the best scenario not only because it's realistic but it's unlikely for Tekkadan for win against the largest fleet in the entire system. Many also considered Rustal as a better leader than [=McGillis=] because despite using illegal weapons and black propaganda, he never attacks any civilian and never bothers to go after Kudelia regardless of her affiliation with Tekkadan which is also implied in the epilogue that he's aware of the Tekkadan survivors working for her but has no intention on going after them]].
*** On the other hand, some viewers support [=McGillis=] Fareed due to his intent to reform Gjallarhorn despite getting his two childhood friends killed and manipulating several people along the way. Then, his DarkAndTroubledPast was revealed [[spoiler:where he was a child prostitute adopted by Izanario Fareed who also sexually abused him]]. It was there that [=McGillis=] had a condescending view on the people in power and desired to change Gjallarhorn on his own way which many viewers considered him as an "iron-blooded orphan" like Tekkadan.
* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' seems to have rubbed some fans the wrong way -- there are quite a few of them who want the [[DesignatedVillain Computer Club]] [[ButtMonkey President]] (who was the victim of {{Blackmail}}) or [[EvilCounterpart the Anti-SOS Brigade]] to succeed. In the case of the Computer Club President, it's justifiable and even [[InvokedTrope Kyon has sympathy for him in-universe]], because he is a victim of Haruhi's mad whims. The Anti-SOS Brigade are actually villains, however, yet back in the day they had a sizeable fanbase convinced that the Anti-SOS Brigade members deserved Kyon's friendship (and [[spoiler:Haruhi's powers]]) more than the SOS Brigade and Haruhi, whom they saw as an unstable lunatic.

* ''Anime/IsekaiQuartet'' sees [[LightNovel/KonoSuba Aqua]] try to kill [[LightNovel/Overlord2012 Ainz Ooal Gown]]. Aqua is a [[JerkassGods jerk]] who is [[DumbassHasAPoint simply attacking Ainz under the assumption he is evil, and she is right]]. Ainz is a VillainProtagonist with '''MANY''' atrocities under his belt so [[AdaptationalHeroism even though he doesn't do anything evil in this series]], audiences overwhelmingly cheered for Aqua. Also helping things is that Ainz is an InvincibleVillain who almost [[NoSell never takes damage in his own series]]. Between these two factors, Aqua actually hurting Ainz is regarded as one of the best scenes in the show.

* In ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', most of our main characters are [[VillainProtagonist evil]]. '''Very evil'''. They consider [[HumansAreInsects human life to be worthless]],, think nothing of eating humans, using them as livestock, or simply torturing them [[ForTheEvulz for no reason other than because they feel like it]]. They are also a bunch of [[InvincibleVillain Invincible Villains]] who face no challenges. The result is that becomes hard to root for them since either because seeing them win so easily all the time gets repetive and the auidence wants to see them get knocked down a peg, or because the audience wants to see them get punished for their villainy, or both.

* In season 3 of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', many fans started supporting the Crimson Denizens instead of the Flame Hazes once war broke out between the two. Considering that the final light novel reveals [[spoiler:Snake of the Festival Yuji and his Crimson Denizen followers not only win, but were absolutely right in believing that their dream of a paradise where Denizens and humans coexist could work and would not destroy the world, this is one of those occasions where this trope is supported by canon]].
** On the other hand, [[spoiler:some people found Snake Yuji’s actions so [[MoralEventHorizon unforgivable]], ''especially'' [[BreakTheCutie towards Shana]], that they side with Shana and the Flame Hazes, despite them technically being in the wrong]].

* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': Garou used to watch cartoons and found the villains and monsters were more likeable than the Heroes. His "Human Monster" persona is based on the idea that he wants to become a being of [[UltimateEvil Absolute Evil]], the ultimate monster that no hero can defeat. It's gradually revealed that [[spoiler: he doesn't actually like real life monsters, and projected his feelings of being bullied onto fictional characters because he feels that "the unpopular lose and the popular win."]]

''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': Garou used to watch cartoons and found the villains and monsters were more likeable than the Heroes. His "Human Monster" persona is based on the idea that he wants to become a being of [[UltimateEvil Absolute Evil, the ultimate monster that no hero can defeat.]] It's gradually revealed that [[spoiler: he doesn't actually like real life monsters, and projected his feelings of being bullied onto fictional characters because he feels that "the unpopular lose and the popular win."]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' had five years' worth of dealing with the Soul Society as the antagonists during a conspiracy arc, so it exposed a lot of the crimes, inequality (deceased humans' souls are relegated to slums) and bureaucracy evident in the Soul Society. While the Arrancar [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority aren't exactly a nice bunch]], several fans were quite annoyed at the archaic, aristocratic depiction of the supposed afterlife, and it was not uncommon to see fans view disappointment at whenever an Espada lost a fight with a captain. It's easy to feel ''some'' sympathy for the Hollows (and, by extension, the Arrancars) who are hunted by the Shinigami, as they need to feed on souls in order to survive, so although they need to be killed because of the threat they pose to humans they themselves see their actions merely as self-preservation, and all of them are just corrupted souls who have forgotten what they originally were, who aren't so much killed as absolved as their sins and allowed to move on to the afterlife naturally. And the author apparently ''listened'' to those rooting for the Arrancar, with the Soul Society undergoing a culture change that makes them closer to ALighterShadeOfGrey, while the Arrancar are going through such a species-wide BreakTheHaughty moment that [[EnemyMine they're actually more open to HELPING their former enemies than before]].

* ''{{Manga/Hellsing}}'' starts to have this in its later volumes where some readers root for characters fighting against Alucard due to how he is [[InvincibleHero invincible for most of the series]]. Paladin Alexander Anderson especially has a large fandom due to his SlasherSmile, cool powers and weapons, and [[SinisterMinister creepy priest]] vibe. InUniverse, Alucard appears to ''agree'', considering Anderson a WorthyOpponent and seeming to actually ''want'' [[DeathSeeker him to be victorious]].

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', most of our main characters are [[VillainProtagonist evil]]. '''Very evil'''. They consider [[HumansAreInsects human life to be worthless]],, think nothing of eating humans, using them as livestock, or simply torturing them [[ForTheEvulz for no reason other than because they feel like it]]. They are also a bunch of [[InvincibleVillain Invincible Villains]] who face no challenges. The result is that becomes hard to root for them since either because seeing them win so easily all the time gets repetive and the auidence wants to see them get knocked down a peg, or because the audience wants to see them get punished for their villainy, or both.

* Manga/FairyTail:

* This is the IntendedAudienceReaction in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' due to it's nature of GoodVersusGood. The Wolkenritter are ''incredibly'' sympathetic {{Woobie}} [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]] with a ThouShaltNotKill policy. You're supposed to want them to succeed in filling [[ArtifactOfDoom the Book of Darkness]] to save [[MoralityPet Hayate's]] life, at least until [[spoiler: it's revealed that completing the book will result in Hayate's death and the destruction of the entire planet (something the Wolkenritter are completely unaware of).]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
Tomura Shigaraki and his League Of Villains have their share of fans and then some, particularly after [[ADayInTheLimelight the Meta Liberation Army Arc]] was entirely dedicated to fleshing out their backstories to the point where some of them now come across as [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]]. Combine that with a heaping dose of EvilIsCool and the way the League is shown to become TrueCompanions winning sympathy from many, and more than a few fans weren't so sure whose side they were on anymore.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Tomura Shigaraki and his League Of Villains have their share of fans and then some, particularly after [[ADayInTheLimelight the Meta Liberation Army Arc]] was entirely dedicated to fleshing out their backstories to the point where some of them now come across as [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]]. Combine that with a heaping dose of EvilIsCool and the way the League is shown to become TrueCompanions winning sympathy from many, and more than a few fans weren't so sure whose side they were on anymore.

* A common complaint of ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars''; thanks to the Abh being {{Designated Hero}}es, many complain they are TheEmpire and the author is Rooting For The Empire, so fans instead decide to Root For The Empire by cheering on the United Humankind faction, who are the DesignatedVillain and play TheEmpire straight.
** In as much as there is a 'hero' and a 'villain' in the universe, the polity attempting to enslave or eradicate a sentient species very definitely qualifies for the traditional role of villain, this being the United Mankind Alliance rather than the Humankind Empire of Abh. As such, fans of the United Mankind fall under this category, if only due to the fact that the work is designed to invert classical stereotypes of authoritarian empires and liberal democracies.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' has a truly massive amount of Rooting For The Empire, spread across its multiple series. The series' antiwar message makes sure that the villains are never completely evil and have realistic motivations.
** Look no further than [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Principality of Zeon]] from the original Universal Century timeline. The franchise ''does'' do its best to show that WarIsHell, [[GreyAndGrayMorality there IS no "right" and "wrong" side]], many of their grievances and (questionable) justifications ''are'' based on some in-verse context, and has introduced sympathetic Zeons like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Bernard Wiseman]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam Aina Sahalin]]. However, later writers seem to have missed or outright ignored Creator/YoshiyukiTomino's very deliberate parallels between Zeon and Nazi Germany, including their [[DragonInChief de-facto]] leader [[InsultBackfire being PROUD to be compared to]] UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler by his own father. While Tomino did feature some sympathetic Zeons in his stories, the "Zeon as LaResistance" attitude didn't really hit its stride until the productions that didn't involve him, in particular ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gundam 0083]]'', where the Zeon remnants '''do''' style themselves as LaResistance even as they try (once more) to drop a colony on Earth, and the soldier who was [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal inspired to defect after being hated and abused by her fellows]] is treated as the lowest of scum. In fact, as of stories like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO MS IGLOO]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', being a fan of the ''Federation'' is pretty well treated as Rooting for the Empire.

* In season 3 of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', many fans started supporting the Crimson Denizens instead of the Flame Hazes once war broke out between the two. Considering that the final light novel reveals [[spoiler:Snake of the Festival Yuji and his Crimson Denizen followers not only win, but were absolutely right in believing that their dream of a paradise where Denizens and humans coexist could work and would not destroy the world, this is one of those occasions where Rooting For The Empire is supported by canon]].

** This is actually Subverted for most of the villians, such as [[CompleteMonster Prime Minister Honest]], Syura, and [[AxCrazy Seryu]]. Considering how almost everyone in the empire is a [[CompleteMonster Complete Monster]], this is understandable.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' is the textbook definition of this trope. Even Yang Wen-li, the military leader for the democratic government fighting the Empire, has a [[EvenTheGuysWantHim mancrush]] on Reinhard von Lohengramm, the leader of the monarchic Galactic Empire. Yang Wen-li and another wise military leader on the democratic side muse casually about how they would fight for Reinhard without a second thought if they were born in the Empire and seem to fight on behalf of a corrupt democracy with a resigned "what else can we do?" attitude. This show is also the textbook definition of GreyAndGrayMorality so Reinhard isn't exactly [[AntiHero bad]]...

* ''{{Manga/Hellsing}}'' starts to have this in its later volumes where some readers root for characters fighting against Alucard due to how he is [[InvincibleHero invincible for most of the series]]. Paladin Alexander Anderson especially has a large fandom due to his SlasherSmile, cool powers and [[KnifeNut weapons]], and [[SinisterMinister creepy priest]] vibe. InUniverse, Alucard appears to ''agree'', considering Anderson a WorthyOpponent and seeming to actually ''want'' [[DeathSeeker him to be victorious]].

* When it comes to evil organizations to root for, look no further than Agastia from ''Manga/MissKuroitsuFromTheMonsterDevelopmentDepartment''. While their ultimate goal is to take over the world through their monsters, the evil schemes is basically limited towards dealing with various hero groups. In reality, the monsters [[PunchClockVillain are actually nice beings when they are not fighting Blader]], the DragonInChief is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has a good understanding of what makes a business successful, and the group has [[EvenEvilHasStandards a morale code]] that makes them more noble than not only other evil organizations (i.e. Black Lore, which is run like a "black company"; Zet Arc, which ulitizes hostile takeovers UnwillingRoboticisation on its monsters), but also some hero groups (i.e. the Magia group, which is more focused on money than heroics, uses ChildSoldier [[MagicalGirl Magical Girls]] for infiltration missions, and attacks monsters even if they aren't doing anything evil).

* When it comes to evil organizations to root for, look no further than Agastia from ''Manga/MissKuroitsuFromTheMonsterDevelopmentDepartment''. While their ultimate goal is to take over the world through their monsters, the evil schemes is basically limited towards dealing with various hero groups. In reality, the monsters [[PunchClockVillain are actually nice beings when they are not fighting Blader]], the DragonInChief is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who has a good understanding of what makes a business successful, and the group has [[EvenEvilHasStandards a morale code]] that makes them more noble than not only other evil organizations (i.e. Black Lore, which is run like a "black company"; Zet Arc, which ulitizes hostile takeovers UnwillingRoboticisation on its monsters), but also some hero groups (i.e. the Magia group, which is more focused on money than heroics, uses ChildSolider MagicalGirls for infiltration missions, and attacks monsters even if they aren't doing anything evil).

** Yoshikage Kira from [[Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable Part 4]] is a SerialKiller who targets young women and [[ALoveToDismember keeps their severed hands as keepsakes]]. Despite being an unrepentant murderer, Kira is extremely popular due to his grounded, yet oxymoronic goal of [[IJustWantToBeNormal living a quiet life]] while being a serial killer, his cool style and personality, his powerful Stand, Killer Queen, which is one of the most popular Stands in the series, and the occasional {{Villain Episode}}s he gets which serve to get us to sympathize with him.

*** In Season 2, Celestial Being was presented as an almost messianic LaResistance group that was always right in their cause; even the [[MoralMyopia wanton acts]] they committed in Season 1 were all but completely forgotten[[note]]they were brought up once in S2 - by Saji in the first few episodes, and he was looked upon as a {{Jerkass}} for doing so[[/note]], in spite of Celestial Being's interventions being the reason the ESF and the A-Laws came into existence. Setsuna's transformation into an Innovator literally gave him cosmic superpowers (ones that made the psychedelic Newtype stuff from the Universal Century look tame) and a full on messiah complex (such that even supporting characters compare Setsuna to a savior at times). Combine that with the usual {{Anvilicious}} writing that plagues any and all ''Gundam'' series at the end of their respective runs, and you can see why certain viewers were rooting for whoever was fighting CB at the time.