History RootingForTheEmpire / WesternAnimation

* Who '''hasn't''' wanted Dick Dastardly and Muttley to succeed? Whether it's at [[WesternAnimation/WackyRaces winning a race]], [[WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines stopping that pigeon]], or [[WesternAnimation/YogisTreasureHunt finding treasure]]. It helps the two bad guys always got much more screen time then the ''heroes'' in their shows, and Dastardly's alleged cheating is often considered legitimate when performed by other supposedly "fair-playing" racers. His one victory was discounted due to him extending his vehicle, something that has been done countless times before by others in the show's run. Then there was that one time he got a ticket for speeding, which makes it look like the universe is deliberately trying to keep him from winning. Of course, this ''is'' the TropeNamer for DickDastardlyStopsToCheat; his defeats are largely self-inflicted.

** In Season 3 many fans root for the [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Quadrumvirate]] of Zaheer, P'Li, Ming Hua, and Ghazan, who prove themselves endearing because of their [[VillainousFriendship obvious rapport with one another]] and [[AmbiguouslyEvil arguably sympathetic motives]], as well as being [[EvilIsCool just plain cool]].
** Many fans consider Kuvira doing what's best for the Earth Kingdom or being a better leader than the other options.

** Harley Quinn is the poster-girl for MadLove and an in-universe proponent of DracoInLeatherPants, who honestly believes that "[[ComicBook/TheJoker Mr. J]]" is a sweet guy and the innocent victim of that [[Franchise/{{Batman}} mean old bat]], and frequently helps in his schemes of murder and mayhem. Many fans claim that if given the opportunity, they would do the exact same thing in her position.

* Lord Viren from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' has gotten a few viewers rooting for him to take the throne of Katolis and conquer the lands of Xadia due to [[StrawmanHasAPoint having a better point than the writers intended about the current threat Xadia is to humanity]] and some of his opponents coming off as foolish and/or [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic unsympathetic]]. [[spoiler:Viren actually succeeds in the former goal in ''[[Recap/TheDragonPrinceS3E4TheMidnightDesert The Midnight Desert]]'' after forcing Ezran to surrender his throne to prevent Prince Kasef's siege though he is only able to ravage the Sunfire Elves queendom before his conquest is ultimately stopped in ''[[Recap/TheDragonPrinceS3E9TheFinalBattle The Final Battle]]''.]]

* A great deal of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' fans sympathize with the VillainProtagonist's goal of conquering the Earth. It helps that humans (except for Dib and Gaz) are thoroughly TooDumbToLive and probably wouldn't even ''notice''.

** An incredibly popular version of this is the New Lunar Republic - fans who resent the reign of supposed [[RonTheDeathEater "tyrant"]] [[BigGood Celestia]] and would rather [[DarkIsNotEvil Luna]] take the throne. Whether or not this counts as Rooting For The Empire depends on whether they're rooting for Luna or Nightmare Moon. Luna is not an example because she's [[HeelFaceTurn ultimately good]] (if only a little impulsive), and the legitimate arguments against her right to the throne are purely [[FishOutOfTemporalWater political]]. Those who flat out rooted for [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]]... [[OmnicidalManiac play this]] [[MadGod trope straight]]. The show itself actually acknowledged this fan interpretation (without the "Celestia is a tyrant" part, of course) in ''The Cutie Remark'' where the BadFuture ruled by Nightmare Moon was simply more gloomy and oppressive than Celestia's rule, unlike the other such bad futures that were war-torn at best or apocalyptic at worst. Also Nightmare Moon had ponies who followed her willingly, hinting that while life under her rule is arguably worse than under Celestia, it's not necessarily bad and there may even be those who ''prefer'' her rule.
** [[MadGod Discord]] enjoys enormous popularity, many of his fans wanting the fun-loving, LaughablyEvil GodOfChaos to succeed in his goal of [[WorldOfChaos eternal chaos]]. It didn't hurt that in his introductory episode, one of the main characters (namely [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Pinkie Pie]]) seemed perfectly fine with a guy who makes chocolate milk rain from the sky. To some extent those fans got to have their cake and eat it too when [[spoiler:Discord was freed and [[HeelFaceTurn reformed]] without losing his wacky personality.]]

* Given his [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood HORRIBLE childhood]], it's not hard for ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' fans to want [[JerkassWoobie Doofenshmirtz]] to win just once. It helps that most of his plans are [[PokeThePoodle pretty harmless]]. This actually happened a few times, with Perry learning the plan and just letting him do it when he realized it was either harmless or something so petty that it might as well be.

** While [[DracoInLeatherPants many tend to take it too far]] due to Lisa’s status as a BaseBreakingCharacter fans do find it easier to root for Bart over Lisa in their SiblingRivalry due to the fact that Lisa has an overwhelming advantage over Bart. Even if you ignore that Marge and Homer take ParentalFavoritism up to eleven to the point that they not only gave up on Bart at age five when his kindergarten teacher [[{{Jerkass}} crushed his spirits and told him he had no future whatsover]] [[SadistTeacher just because he wasn't as quick as the other kids to catch on to things]] (merely to make it more convenient to help Lisa) but Homer repeatedly tells him that he is an [[FutureLoser unloved accident that will never amount to anything]] (as well as laugh at him when he does try to better himself). It also doesn’t help that everyone in the family including Bart has given up what they love for her which she rarely if ever acknowledges.
** Also while Bart is presented as a BigBrotherBully many episodes show Lisa giving just as good as she gets giving her even more of an advantage since when ever they have a physical altercation she will win and her retaliations are usually DisproportionateRetribution. In the end while Bart should still be held accountable for things like destroying Lisa’s centerpiece, her career as a babysitter, etc. It is still easier to root for him over Lisa.

** In episodes made after [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie the movie]] (and some before), Mr. Krabs' schoolyard-bully gloating of Plankton's failure makes Plankton the more sympathetic character to the audience. What doesn't help is that the mass {{flanderization}} of both characters has led Krabs to have fewer redeeming aspects than Plankton. In some cases, Krabs actually goes out of his way to ruin Plankton's rare legitimate efforts or make him miserable in the same ruthless manner as vice versa, and [[DesignatedHero due to their roles]], is more likely to succeed (eg. "Plankton's Regular").
** Can happen to [=SpongeBob=] himself, especially in episodes where he goes up against Squidward. He may be a JerkAss, but Squidward is also the show's OnlySaneMan, TheChewToy, ButtMonkey, ''and'' DeadpanSnarker, so he gets sympathy from a lot of fans compared to the well-meaning, but annoying, loud, and reckless title character. It's different in episodes where Squidward picks on or tricks [=SpongeBob=], but often his motivation is just to avoid him and be left alone. Imagine if ''you'' had a neighbor like [=SpongeBob=], and this becomes a rather understandable desire.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' was less prone to this its first two seasons beyond the same general RootingForTheEmpire from the movies, as being a kids' show the villains were often either less evil or cartoonishly flat. And then Season Three imports CanonImmigrant Grand Admiral Thrawn from the Legends timeline. This is strengthened by Zahn's Canon Timeline books which make it clear that Thrawn is the OnlySaneMan in the Empire, with everyone else being corrupt, sadistic, or just plain stupid.
** Darth Maul gets this treatment too. Not just because of his cool design and unique weapon but also he at many times seems to be the only character using his head and also having a tragic backstory.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority, while not perfect by any means, isn’t nearly as horrible as the Crystal Gems make them out to be. While they do enforce a FantasticCasteSystem upon their citizens, there seems to be no rule against Gems having and expressing unique personalities, so long as they remain professional in front of their superiors and follow the rules. The colonization of planets, while they often results in the complete destruction of all organic life on said planet, also create new Gems and resources for Gemkind and the casualties usually only amount to animals and plants, as WordOfGod states Earth was the first and only world the Gems have encountered with intelligent organic life. Also, while the prosecution of “Off-Colors”(Gems who don’t meet the authorities standards of perfection) is a common point of contention amongst the Crystal Gems and viewers, there has been evidence that the discrimination against them eventually lessened to the point that Gems like Peridot and the Famethyst, who on their own would be considered Off-Colors, are able to have places within Gem society. There are also those who see the Crystal Gems themselves as extremists who are perfectly okay with hurting and killing other Gems in order to further their admittedly subjective cause, most widely evidenced by the incredibly long war for Earth, which left both sides with devastating losses. Not to mention the leaders of the Diamond Authority, the Diamonds themselves, have frequently been depicted as sympathetic characters, especially when [[spoiler: they are shown dealing with the supposed loss of Pink Diamond]] later in the series.

* Even as far back as the first season, many ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fans were rooting to the villains of the season to win. The writers seemingly picked up on this as the finale of the third season came down to [[spoiler: Heather and Alejandro, two of the series' biggest villains.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Some fans root for the Fire Nation out of the opinion they're the best candidate to [[WhiteMansBurden advance technology and bring 'progress' to the world]]. These fans also believe that the Avatar himself is a symbol of outdated superstitions and supernatural forces holding back humanity from its true potential, and that the 'Balance' the heroes are fighting to restore is merely the forced stagnation of civilization. As for all the people killed or enslaved by the Fire Nation, and for all the other people they were planning to exterminate along with their native cultures, that's apparently [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans a small price to pay]] for a one-world government and an industrial revolution. (One thing that ''can'' be said in their favour is that the other nations have a large StayInTheKitchen attitude, while Fire Nation military is open to women and no-one batted an eye at [[SheIsTheKing Azula becoming Fire Lord]].) In fact, on a character level, many Fire Nation character are sympathetic (Zuko, Iroh, Ty Lee, and Mai) or in Azula's case so good at being bad, earning them massive fandoms. The problem is that all the sympathetic characters turn against the Fire Nation and its goals, for various reasons, and that Azula is revealed to be [[FreudianExcuse severely disturbed]].

* ''[[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy Ed Edd N' Eddy's]]'' titular mainstays. Granted, their schemes are out for making a short change buck and are shoddy and shabbily-built, but considering how the rest of the kids are shown and hinted to have long been stuck up {{jerkass}}es who thrive on excluding the Eds for simply getting in their way gets you rooting for them, and celebrating escaping mass levels of DisproportionateRetribution when they can.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' Daddy Venture commonly forgets about everyone and everything important to him. Anything halfway decent he horribly abuses. The villain, the Monarch, cares about his named henchmen, cares about the emotional health of his prisoners and participates in the 'Scared Straight' program when he spent time in the slammer. If it wasn't for the Monarch's occasional efforts to outright rip apart the Ventures, it'd be hard to tell who was the villain. Many viewers will compensate by rooting for Brock, who's a friendly, cool guy that genuinely cares about the Venture boys as if they were his own sons, and yet over the course of the series racks up a higher body count than Dr. Venture and the Monarch combined. Lampshaded at one point when Dr. Venture is groomed to be a villain, and shown to be a better potential villain than heroic Super Scientist.

* Given his HORRIBLE childhood, it's not hard for ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' fans to want Doofenshmirtz to win just once. It helps that most of his plans are [[PokeThePoodle pretty harmless]]. This actually happened a few times, with Perry learning the plan and just letting him do it when he realized it was either harmless or something so petty that it might as well be.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' "[[Recap/RugratsS3E23Passover Passover]]" episode, [[BrattyHalfPint Angelica]] immediately identifies with Pharaoh and feels sorry that [[GenderFlip she]] loses.

* The villains from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' were popular even before WebAnimation/YouTubePoop caught on. In a similar vein, Eggman from ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' is also popular among the fanbase.

** More than a few fans wanted [[AntiVillain Mr. Freeze]] to save his wife, even when his plans to do so involved killing other people. It doesn't hurt that each appearance made him more sympathetic, with his canonically final appearance in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' being one of the biggest {{Tear Jerker}}s in the entire Franchise/{{DCAU}}.

** In Season 3 many fans root for the BigBadEnsemble of Zaheer, P'Li, Ming Hua, and Ghazan, who prove themselves endearing because of their [[VillainousFriendship obvious rapport with one another]] and [[AmbiguouslyEvil arguably sympathetic motives]], as well as being [[EvilIsCool just plain cool]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Herpe the Love Sore", Peter and his friends get beaten up by a grou [[KarmaHoudini allowed to get away with it]] because they're American soldiers. Afterwards, an exasperated Peter says "I can't believe I have to root for Afghanistan now."

** While [[DracoInLeatherPants many tend to take it too far]] due to Lisa’s status as a BaseBreakingCharacter fans do find it easier to root for Bart over Lisa in their SiblingRivalry due to the fact that Lisa has an overwhelming advantage over Bart. Even if you ignore that Marge and Homer take ParentalFavoritism UpToEleven to the point that they not only gave up on Bart at age five when his kindergarten teacher [[{{Jerkass}} crushed his spirits and told him he had no future whatsover]] [[SadistTeacher just because he wasn't as quick as the other kids to catch on to things]] (merely to make it more convenient to help Lisa) but Homer repeatedly tells him that he is an [[FutureLoser unloved accident that will never amount to anything]] (as well as laugh at him when he does try to better himself). It also doesn’t help that everyone in the family including Bart has given up what they love for her which she rarely if ever acknowledges.

* Many haters of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' have found themselves rooting for the series' villains, especially in episodes where the Titans are being excessively stupid and unsympathetic. Prominent examples include "Waffles", where Brother Blood is the StraightMan while Beast Boy and Cyborg are being childish [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses]], and "Breakfast Cheese", where the Titans literally beat up the H.I.V.E. for [[FelonyMisdemeanor loitering]]. This is also taken UpToEleven in "A Farce", where Brother Blood and the Brain [[CourtroomEpisode take the Titans to court]] for their [[DesignatedHero careless and reckless destruction of Jump City]]. The Titans are all found guilty at the end of the episode.

* Dorkus, the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' is this big time. This is mainly due to Sheen, the "protagonist" himself, getting hit ''hard'' with {{Flanderization}} making him stupider and much more of a selfish jerk than he was in his regular series. What started off Dorkus' hatred for Sheen is that Sheen crashed through his house with his rocket. The problem is that Sheen not only didn't apologize to Dorkus for doing this, but had the nerve to say it was [[NeverMyFault Dorkus' house that was in the way of his rocket]] even though Sheen came crashing in unannounced. There is also the fact that Dorkus' plans mainly involves trying to expose Sheen as a fraud (which is true) and get back his position as the king's right hand man which Dorkus enjoyed being (most antagonists in this role often are TheStarscream trying to usurp the throne for themselves at one point but Dorkus is indeed that loyal to the king). This has caused fans to view Dorkus as [[VillainHasAPoint in the right the majority of the time]] and it helps that he is one of ''few'' tolerable characters in this show (considering the majority of the other characters are as stupid and clueless as Sheen).