History Main / VillainousValour

* "Theatre/DonGiovanni'': The titular character has no virtues whatsoever, other than a set that would be the envy of the Imperial Guard. This is a man who attempts to seduce a woman on her wedding day, and fights off a murderous former lover with one hand at the same time he is flirting with someone else. When he jokingly invites a man he has murdered to dinner and the dead man's ghost actually shows up, he plays the perfect host, and when he realises the ghost has him in a trap he can't charm or fight his way out of, he chooses to march into hell, head held high.

* "Theater/DonGiovanni'': The titular character has no virtues whatsoever, other than a set that would be the envy of the Imperial Guard. This is a man who attempts to seduce a woman on her wedding day, and fights off a murderous former lover with one hand at the same time he is flirting with someone else. When he jokingly invites a man he has murdered to dinner and the dead man's ghost actually shows up, he plays the perfect host, and when he realises the ghost has him in a trap he can't charm or fight his way out of, he chooses to march into hell, head held high.

** Pretty much the only thing [[WarGod Khorne]] [[TheBerserker worshipers]] can't be accused of is cowardice under fire, even if it's more of the FearlessFool variety. They also really hate Slaaesh worshippers, and will gladly screw up rituals that would get a victory for Chaos as a whole just to spite them.

** [[BigBad Abaddon The Despoiler]] may have a reputation as a MemeticLoser (thanks to some poor writing on the part of Games Workship), but he's still a Space Marine who can remember walking and fighting alongside the Emperor of Mankind Himself. As such, he'll face anyone who manages to directly engage him in battle head on. In-universe, he's kept scars inflicted on him on two separate occasions by particularly [[WorthyOpponent worthy opponents]]. It's also notable that when he finally destroyed the Fortress World of Cadia, he made it a point to teleport down to the thickest fighting to directly engage the Imperial forces. Those forces included [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Saint Celestine, a Living Saint]] as well as the grim forces of [[{{Undead}} The Legion of the Damned]]. He was the last living warrior of Chaos to retreat before the final conflagration and [[WorthyOpponent saluted his surviving enemies]] as he teleported away.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' has the Mutant Leader. When Batman shows up at the mutants' lair in his giant tank of a Batmobile and begins taking out his minions, the Leader discovers that he's been [[ThouShaltNotKill using rubber bullets]], which prompts the Leader to walk up to the Batmobile... and start [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech mouthing off to Batman, calling him a coward for not being willing to kill and challenging him to fight man-to-man]] and in the ensuing fight, he would have nearly killed Batman had Robin not intervened, and even in their second fight where Batman has the upper hand and begins fighting strategically, the Leader still holds his own. He may be a violent psychopath, but anyone willing to take on the goddamn Batman has some serious brass ones.

* [[Myth/CelticMythology Irish mythology]]: When Daire Donn [[GodEmperor The King of the World]] sees that Fionn Mac Cumhaill has the only weapons that can beat him, he begins visibly quaking in fear. Yet despite knowing he probably won't survive the fight, he still rushes forward and gives Fionn the fight of his life. Continuing to fight even as Fionn destroys Daire Donn's sword and shield are destroyed and cuts off one of his arms and legs, only stopping when Fionn decapitates him.

* Caliborn in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. Though he may be a petulant, [[ItsAllAboutMe sociopathic]] {{Jerkass}}, he's also a {{Determinator}} who defeats his session of Sburb despite nearly impossible odds -- including his own [[AmbiguousDisorder implied mental issues]].

* WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}} certainly qualifies, at least according to Roxanne Ritchi:
-->"The Megamind I knew would never have run from a fight, even one he knew he had absolutely no chance of winning. It was your best quality. You need to be that guy right now."
** Played with here, however, in that she says that as Megamind is about to complete his HeelFaceTurn, but it is still an accurate description of his past behavior.

Of course, fortitude in the face of adversity is not necessarily always a redeeming quality; sometimes, if the villain had slaughtered TheHero's entire family, [[ForTheEvulz driven by a desire to inflict needless suffering]], then subjected the hero's LoveInterest to ColdBloodedTorture, before explaining his evil plan to destroy the city [[SoftSpokenSadist all while maintaining an even tone of voice]], their [[DefiantToTheEnd refusal to back down]] without a fight can serve to demonstrate a stubborn refusal to allow the hero to dispense clean justice, or otherwise demonstrate that the villain does not even value their own life, let alone that of anyone else.