History RootingForTheEmpire / WesternAnimation

* ''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.

** One-shot character Hank Scorpio is a Bond-style super villain, but he's such an AffablyEvil BenevolentBoss that he's genuinely likeable, to the point that him taking over the east coast in the end is considered a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. For the record, this guy was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost]] the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''.

** There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority 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.

** There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority 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 has 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.

** There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority 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. 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority 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. 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.

* There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' 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. 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.

* There are some who believe Great Diamond Authority from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' 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. 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 they are shown dealing with the supposed loss of Pink Diamond later in the series.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' gives us the Great Diamond Authority, the RepressiveButEfficient intergalactic empire that governs all of Gemkind.

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a RepressiveButEfficient society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoiler:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, it’s hard not to feel bad for them when they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member. Taken UpToEleven when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of her that Pink faked her shattering and abandoned them in the first place, leaving them completely devastated]]. [[spoiler:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a VillainousBreakdown over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

** Harley Quinn is the poster-girl for MadLove and an in-universe proponent of DracoInLeatherPants, who honestly believes that "[[SelfDemonstrating/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.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E9AndImJoyceKinney And I'm Joyce Kinney]]," many viewers were rooting for Joyce to get back at Lois due to a humiliating prank Lois pulled on Joyce when the two were teenagers. This is due to the fact that Lois became an unlikable character in post-cancellation seasons, and became an abusive mother towards her kids.

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a RepressiveButEfficient society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoiler:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of her that Pink faked her shattering and abandoned them in the first place]]. [[spoiler:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a VillainousBreakdown over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a RepressiveButEfficient society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoiler:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of her that Pink fake her shattering and abandoned them in the first place]]. [[spoiler:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a VillainousBreakdown over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a RepressiveButEfficient society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoiler:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of Pink that caused her to fake her shattering and abandon them in the first place]]. [[spoiler:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a VillainousBreakdown over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a RepressiveButEfficient society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoilers: Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of Pink that caused her to fake her shattering and abandon them in the first place]]. [[spoilers: It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a VillainousBreakdown over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a [[{{RepressiveButEfficient}}]] society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoilers:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of Pink that caused her to fake her shattering and abandon them in the first place]]. [[spoilers:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a [[{{VillainousBreakdown}}]] over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a [[{{Repressive but Efficient}}]] society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoilers:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of Pink that caused her to fake her shattering and abandon them in the first place]]. [[spoilers:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a [[{{Villainous Breakdown}}]] over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better]].

* The Diamonds of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are the matriarchs of Gemkind who run a [[{{Repressive but Efficient}}]] society that discourages individuality and exterminates "Off-Colored" Gems who can't fit their ideas of perfection. [[spoilers:Despite this, when one of their own, Pink Diamond, fakes her shattering to save the Earth from the other Diamonds, they are shown to be genuinely heartbroken by the loss of their family member and are completely devastated when they realize that it was because of their neglect and mistreatment of Pink that caused her to fake her shattering and abandon them in the first place.]] [[spoilers:It's also revealed that the Diamonds themselves are victims of their own oppressive regime, being constantly kept to ludicrously high standards of perfection by White Diamond, the leader of Gemkind, who herself believes she is a perfect being and that all Gems must strive for the same. In the series finale however, she ends up realizing that even she is not perfect and has a [[{{Villainous Breakdown}}]] over all the terrible things she's done before Steven is able to convince her to heal their damages and change Gem society for the better.]]

** Many fans comsider Kuvira doing what's best for the Earth Kingdom or being a better leader than the other options.

** In the ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'' continuity, Megatron was initially a gladiator who rebelled against an oppressive, caste-based society ruled by the Autobots, so initially it was the Autobots themselves who were the Empire and you should have rooted against. But Megatron became too prideful and ruthless, to the point his ideal of a caste-less society was buried by his desire to rule. Transformers seems to have been moving over the years from "Decepticons evil, Autobots good" to an almost ''Franchise/StarWars''-like setup, where Cybertronian society badly needed shaking up but the Cons went too far and the necessities of war turned the Autobots into the casteless society the Decepticons wanted, while the Decepticons [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget became too obsessed to remember their original intentions]].

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

* Trent Boyett from the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Pre-School". The then-preschool aged boys coax Trent into starting a fire with the assumption that they can put it out by urinating on it. The fire gets out of control and their teacher, Miss Claridge, becomes severely burned when she tries to extinguish the flames. The boys scapegoat Trent for the accident which gets him sent to juvenile hall for five years. Some fans feel Trent should have succeeded in giving the boys their just desserts since what happened was a freak accident.

* According to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20554_5-ways-g.i.-joe-taught-us-to-be-evil.html this Cracked article]], Cobra, the main villain in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'', was much more popular with the target audience (boys) than the actual Joes, both in the cartoon and in the toyline.

* Baron Draxum of ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' is starting to get this treatment because he's generally [[SurroundedByIdiots smarter and more competent than everyone else on the cast]] and his end goal: turning humanity into mutants isn't really so bad within the confines of the setting. There is already a vast and thriving mutant culture that converts can join and magical items that can hide one's appearance and blend in are commonplace.

* Trent Boyett from the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Pre-School". The then-preschool aged boys coax Trent into starting a fire with the assumption that they can put it out by urinating on it. The fire gets out of control and their teacher, Miss Claridge, becomes severely burned when she tries to extinguish the flames. The boys scapegoat Trent for the accident which gets him sent to juvenile hall for five years. Some fans feel Trent should have succeeded in giving the boys their just desserts since what happened was a freak accident.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E9AndImJoyceKinney And I'm Joyce Kinney]]," many viewers were rooting for Joyce to get back at Lois due to a humiliating prank Lois pulled on Joyce when the two were teenagers. This is due to the fact that Lois became an unlikable character in post-cancellation seasons, and became an abusive mother towards her kids.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

** One-shot character Hank Scorpio is a Bond-style super villain, but he's such an AffablyEvil BenevolentBoss that he's genuinely likeable, to the point that him taking over the east coast in the end is considered a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. For the record, this guy was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost]] the villain of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie''.

* ''[[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 Kevin and 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 being "dorks" gets you rooting for them, and celebrating escaping mass levels of DisproportionateRetribution when they can.

** [[TerribleTrio The Dazzlings]] from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' have an ample amount of fans rooting for them to win, despite their [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]] goal. They do get a VillainHasAPoint moment in the movie when they orchestrate the BattleOfTheBands (what's so wrong with a little competition, indeed?). The rest of it stems from EvilIsCool and EvilIsSexy tropes, which the Dazzlings exploit for all they're worth (being {{Enthralling Siren}}s and all). Other factors include [[BigBad the leader of the group]] being one of the most effective antagonists in the franchise, another member is a hilarious, adorable [[TheDitz ditz]] comparable to Pinkie Pie, many people think [[VillainSong their songs]] are by far superior to the main characters', they are only the second villains in the franchise to have a battle scene (Tirek was the first), firmly cementing the EvilIsCool factor, and the ''Equestria Girls'' series is polarizing in the first place, so some would rather have the villains win instead of the heroes.