A lot of these run the risk of not really illustrating the hero/villain part.
23 is the only Batman example I think works without myopia since Batman's design is more traditionally heroic there, and being threatened by two monster clowns with guns is pretty clearly villainous.
26.2 and 26.3 are also pretty okay. You look at those lions and you can tell who is heroic and who isn't. Ditto Samurai Jack. The devil guy is clearly not the nice one here.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.Wasn't notified of this discussion; there are lots of good images, so perhaps a crowner is due. Also, if Good Is Not Soft is being kept, I definitely think the current better quality image for Hammy Villain, Serious Hero should replace it.
Personally 23 is my favourite
Edited by Ellipsicle on Oct 25th 2023 at 10:30:05 AM
Nuts!My issue with the Good Is Not Soft image is that there is no indication of Batman being "good", but we'll cross that bridge after we cross the "Hammy Villain Serious Hero" one.
Edited by Paperfly on Oct 25th 2023 at 2:39:25 AM
Image Pickin' Backlog
I know we try to avoid Fan Myopia but I think the Pop-Cultural Osmosis of Batman is possibly enough to avoid that issue. However, my issue with current is it's still not illustrative because Batman looks more like Good Is Not Nice to me in that image. Whereas Good Is Not Soft is more when someone like Superman who usually has a genial disposition and is a good guy goes cold / harsh towards an enemy. Whereas Batman is in most continuities intentionally harsh and scary towards his enemies, even with his code against killing.
If I may make my own suggestion for Good Is Not Soft, I feel like we're ignoring someone who fits the "Good" aspect more than Batman.
Optimus Prime.

And for some caption ideas:
Edited by Theharbo on Oct 26th 2023 at 10:37:10 AM
For Good Is Not Soft, should we wait till after Hammy Villain, Serious Hero is crownered before proposing images?
Also,
for
, as it doesn't indicate how Optimus is good. If anything, Optimus comes across more like a "Complete Monster"
Edited by Paperfly on Oct 26th 2023 at 2:00:37 AM
Image Pickin' Backlog
You've got a point. The preceding line from Optimus from the prior panel of the comic would make it clear that optimus considers it Dirty Business - but that's not going to stop him.
"If I were like you. If I could think only of myself. I could never do this."
I'll see what can be done to add that later.
For now though, you are right that we've got a bit of conumdrum on our hands: From my reading of this thread, it seems the general consensus is that the current image works better for Hammy Villain, Serious Hero than it does for Good Is Not Soft, but the thread is titled for Hammy Villain, Serious Hero.
So if we could get someone to clear this up: Is this now a thread for picking a new image for Good Is Not Soft, or Hammy Villain, Serious Hero, or both? I'm not an avid forum poster by any means, so I don't know what the correct way to proceed is.
Edited by Theharbo on Oct 26th 2023 at 11:37:56 AM
The thread could decide that the current Bats/Joker image is fine for Hammy Villain, Serious Hero and replace Good Is Not Soft instead, so I think it's fine to continue discussion here for the next couple of days.
In any case, let's deal with Good Is Not Soft after the discussion on Hammy Villain, Serious Hero is done
Image Pickin' BacklogGotcha, in that case.. to give my two cents on every picture suggested so far for Hammy Villain, Serious Hero
The current: It's... fine. Though it is reliant on the viewer recognizing Batman and The Joker and assigning morality based on that - at least without a caption. But given that Pop-Cultural Osmosis is a thing... maybe that's okay?
17: I like it. And because of the ordering of the two panels, it is "Hammy Villain" and "Serious Hero" respectively. My one complaint is that the Joker's colours is nowhere near as flamboyant as most of his incarnations - but I think the laugh is enough.
19: This works better as a Dark Is Not Evil / Light Is Not Good illustration. Neither of them looks particularily Hammy in this image
23: Personal favorite - I'd say it works even without knowledge of who Batman/Joker/Harley is because of one thing: Guns. The central figure is unarmed and dour while the other two has weapons and are clearly having fun whereas the central figure does not. That gets my vote.
24: This one.. I don't get, at all.
26.1: Both are quite flamboyant - I don't know a thing about One Piece, and I have no idea who the villain is here.
26.2: Good serious expression on Mufasa! But leaving aside his design, Scar doesn't come off as villainous here.
26.3: Very good. Easy to note how only Aku seems to be having any fun, and he is easily peggable as the villain for a multitude of reasons (Dark Is Evil, Evil Is Angular, Evil Is Bigger, Evil Makes You Monstrous). If not for 23, I'd go with this one.
Edited by Theharbo on Oct 26th 2023 at 6:00:17 PM
How about this? Has Ursula acting over the top to Triton's relative stoicness and shows Ariel is trapped and even it it doesn't show Ursula casting the trapping spell (as would be too many panels) it makes it clear she's revelling in it so is evil so it's probably her doing or she's at least enjoying seeing someone else suffer:
I get that, but I don't particularily feel the latter two panels do a good job of it. Playing Devil's advocate here as though I was someone who doesn't know the first thing about the little mermaid:
1st panel: Two opposing figures. One is softer, clad in black, and clearly not taking seriously the fact that the second person is armed with a pointy glowing (presumably magical) weapon. Looks like a villain going You Wouldn't Shoot Me. Going from the trope title alone.. yeah, I can see how this looks like a hero being much more serious than the villain if the dark-clad figure is the villain.
2nd panel: A central third figure with something golden happening to her? Must be something the trident-wielding person is doing, it's the same golden glow. Is he the bad guy? Wait, what are those eels?
3rd panel: What is going on here? The stern figure looks softer, holding out a beckoning hand towards the figure glowing, and the trident no longer is. Meanwhile the black-clad figure is.. lounging? Still smiling, but.. Wait, what was this trope again?
Edited by Theharbo on Oct 28th 2023 at 3:09:45 PM
Crown Description:


For Hammy Villammy Serious Herious, There's also Doflamingo vs. Law
Or Mufasa and Scar
(Either just one of these two or a Collab)
Or Jack and Aku
(I'm sure these two have WAY more images to suggest and I just haven't found them yet)
Edited by KoshaVinka on Oct 25th 2023 at 12:33:58 PM