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Aren't there villains you find yourself kind of rooting for? Maybe because there is something to their personality, or some kind of an appreciation of their outlook?

Maybe they straddle a line between villain and anti-hero, so that shade of grey brings you in...

I don't think I really want them to win, but I'm always interested in seeing Thanos & Darkseid achieve their goals.

Doom.

Doom
Bullseye
Joker
Helmut Zemo
Luthor
Kang

Black Adam & Sinestro have been around that anti-hero strata for some years now: Geoff Johns deserves credit for finding different sides of their personality.

Maybe Dr. Doom is the best example. His 1990's comic was terrific.

Doom and Kang for me.

Also, am I the only one who thinks Thanos is more interesting as an anti-hero than outright villain?

Thanos, but like Harbinger, I prefer him as an anti-hero.
Does Galactus count? If so, I root for him too.

DC: Captain Nazi.
Marvel: Red Skull.

Originally posted by Galan007
DC: Captain Nazi.
Marvel: Red Skull.

lawl.

Originally posted by Galan007
DC: Captain Nazi.
Marvel: Red Skull.

Seriously?

Rhino. I find him a very sympathetic villain and IMO he has some of the best villaincentric stories (ie Flowers for Rhino, and Joe Kelly's Rage of the Rhino / Endangered Species from the Gauntlet a few years ago).

That's funny, considering is one of the few characters hear to get a disrespect thread, for being such an underachiever.


Juggernaut - let him be the biggest ego in the room, and you can get along with him.

Originally posted by roughrider
That's funny, considering is one of the few characters hear to get a disrespect thread, for being such an underachiever.


Juggernaut - let him be the biggest ego in the room, and you can get along with him.

He terribly ineffective as a villain and even a human being... but he has been the focus of some great stories.

Norman Osborn. Watching him almost succeed, get thwarted, then have a complete mental meltdown never gets old.

Loki. It seems like he always gets some small redemption from his schemes.

Red Hood. Been liking the series a lot. His deeds always end up on the side of good.

Black Adam. Dude's just a badass.

I honestly think of Adam as an anti-hero more than a villain, but if he counts then yeah, he'd be on my list.

Others:

Catwoman.
Jason Todd.
Sinestro at times.
Arkillo.
Darkseid at times.

On the Marvel side, tbh I don't really like the villains in the sense that I would root for them at times. Galactus doesn't count either, not sure Thanos does.

The Anti-Reg side?

Catwoman and Jason Todd are barely villains, if they are at all IMO. Could make a better case for Punisher being a villain and he is pretty much universally considered and anti hero.

Always rooted for... *sob* The Secret Six. RIP.

Originally posted by Badabing
Norman Osborn. Watching him almost succeed, get thwarted, then have a complete mental meltdown never gets old.

Originally posted by srankmissingnin
Catwoman and Jason Todd are barely villains, if they are at all IMO. Could make a better case for Punisher being a villain and he is pretty much universally considered and anti hero.

Always rooted for... *sob* The Secret Six. RIP.

That's why I was unsure.

The Joker, Atrocitus and Doom

Bane, because he's such a complicated man.

Add Larfleeze to my list.

Originally posted by Badabing
Add Larfleeze to my list.

Oh, right on.

Larfleeze roxx

Darkseid, Doom, Vector, Deadpool, Magneto, Lobo, Loki, The Fatal Five, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Zod, Shuma-Gorath, Kang, Super Skrull, Juggernaut, Galactus, High Evolutionary, Ronan the Accuser

Originally posted by Galan007
DC: Captain Nazi.
Marvel: Red Skull.

You forgot Tyrannosaurus Reich.

No one mentioned Magneto? He's probably the definition of the type of villain I admire: one that has justification for his actions. You know what he is doing is wrong, but you can understand where he is coming from.

Kang has a justification to his actions: Conquest.

Juggernaut - Dude is just fun to read when written right. He isn't trying to really kill people or take over the world he is just trying to get a goal done and make money.

Bane - I love his back story

Dr. Doom - Depending on circumstances.

Loki - Most of the time he's just playing a game.


Honestly most of the time it depends on the motivations of the villains at the time as to whether I root for them or not.

If the stakes aren't very high and I think the hero could use a good loss I'll root for the Villain only if I think they are cool.

Also I've never rooted for Magneto to win mostly because at the end of the day his way of doing things involves killing a lot of innocent people so at that point and time he has no more justification for his actions imo.

I don't think you could consider Magneto a true villain since the 1970's, really. He's had so many layers added to his character since. He's not really a hero, but he's an important leader of mutantkind. Grant Morrison tried to return him back to hard villain days (though he was influenced by Sublime), but thankfully that was retconned.

Lex Luthor is interesting, in that he could be one of the great leaders of humankind - if only Superman hadn't come to Metropolis and inadvertently taken the spotlight from him.

Doom
Juggernaut
Dex-Starr

I always rooted for Marvel Drac in his heyday.
It was always a desperate dash and grab to stay ahead of his hunters.

Modern Drac is a disgrace to the character.

Thanos

Originally posted by Blair Wind
No one mentioned Magneto?

I did

Magneto.

Even mores after having read X-Men: Magneto Testament.

Originally posted by Blair Wind
No one mentioned Magneto? He's probably the definition of the type of villain I admire: one that has justification for his actions. You know what he is doing is wrong, but you can understand where he is coming from.

I honestly rarely if ever root for the guy...

Loki, Magneto, Sabertooth, Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse, Carnage, Joker, Larfleeze, Atrocitus, Surtur, Dr. Doom and sometimes Venom when he's the villain.

Thanos
Darkseid
Juggernaut
Lobo
Venom
Black Adam

I found myself rooting for Mr. Gone when reading The Maxx.

When I used to read the Larry Hama Wolverine's, I found myself cheering for Cyber because he was just insane to me. He was hilarious and I thought it was so badass when he broke wolverine's claws off.

I absolutely cheered for Thanos during Infinity Gauntlet, and he wasn't an anti-hero at that point in time.

I honestly can't say I really root for any villains of DC, unless you count Black Adam. MAYBE Sinestro, but I don't really know if I root for him, I just like his character. It's not like I want him to win or anything. There's never been a point in time where I was like "You know what? I think Joker should win this time."
The only thing I CAN say is that I sometimes ADMIRE the badguy's brilliant plans, like Luthor in 52; but I don't really root for them.

Apocalypse
Joker
Black Adam when he's rampaging
Thanos when he's villianing
Cainneraut
Loki
Doom
Omega Red

Deathstroke.

Deathstroke isn't really a badguy anymore, just a mercenary.

Unless you mean you rooted for him when he was a badguy.

Originally posted by Blight
Deathstroke isn't really a badguy anymore, just a mercenary.

Unless you mean you rooted for him when he was a badguy.
"Mercenary" and "bad guy" aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Originally posted by vince_slice
"Mercenary" and "bad guy" aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
I know, but Generally the idea is that the "bad guy" of a comic book is the "antagonist". Deathstroke is the "Protagonist" of his own comic, making him in direct opposition to the "Bad Guy".

He's always been a mercenary, but he hasn't always been a badguy.

Originally posted by Badabing
Norman Osborn. Watching him almost succeed, get thwarted, then have a complete mental meltdown never gets old.

Loki. It seems like he always gets some small redemption from his schemes.

Red Hood. Been liking the series a lot. His deeds always end up on the side of good.

Black Adam. Dude's just a badass. Originally posted by Badabing
Add Larfleeze to my list. And Deadpool.

Originally posted by Blight
I know, but Generally the idea is that the "bad guy" of a comic book is the "antagonist". Deathstroke is the "Protagonist" of his own comic, making him in direct opposition to the "Bad Guy".

He's always been a mercenary, but he hasn't always been a badguy.

Has Deathstroke ever performed a good deed? He's so amoral, can he even be classified as a villain, hero, or anti hero?

To some, Punisher would be a villain. Depends on your view of the justice system. But he gets my OK.

Originally posted by roughrider
Has Deathstroke ever performed a good deed? He's so amoral, can he even be classified as a villain, hero, or anti hero?

To some, Punisher would be a villain. Depends on your view of the justice system. But he gets my OK.
That's essentially my point.

Originally posted by Blight
I know, but Generally the idea is that the "bad guy" of a comic book is the "antagonist". Deathstroke is the "Protagonist" of his own comic, making him in direct opposition to the "Bad Guy".

He's always been a mercenary, but he hasn't always been a badguy.
A protagonist is just the main characters of a story, traditionally they're the "good guys" but not always. There's such a thing as villain protagonists, e.g., Thanos in Thanos Quest. He was definitely a bad guy, but he was still the protagonist, and the antagonists were the Elders (some good, some bad).

Deathstroke can be seen either way (good or bad), but the role he takes usually depends on which ever brings in the bigger paycheck. And usually it pays more to be a bad guy especially if the main thing you're selling is murder.

Originally posted by vince_slice
A protagonist is just the main characters of a story, traditionally they're the "good guys" but not always. There's such a thing as villain protagonists, e.g., Thanos in Thanos Quest. He was definitely a bad guy, but he was still the protagonist, and the antagonists were the Elders (some good, some bad).

Deathstroke can be seen either way (good or bad), but the role he takes usually depends on which ever brings in the bigger paycheck. And usually it pays more to be a bad guy especially if the main thing you're selling is murder.

I repeat what I said earlier: He's not really a bad guy anymore, just a mercenary.

Unless you mean you rooted for him when he WAS the badguy.

You can trade Badguy for Villain if you feel so inclined, but my point still stands its ground.

Iron Man acts like a borderline villain sometimes. Look at how he was acting during Civil War and during his time as SHIELD director. (By contrast, Reed Richards acted very weak willed during Civil War.)

Originally posted by Badabing
And Deadpool. Wouldn't call him a villain. When well-written he's just a douche. Although I like it when he plays a role of antagonist in somebody else's book.

For me it's Joker and Osborn.

Also Mr. Negative. I miss this guy. Wish he had more appearances in Amazing SM. One of the coolest villains in years. Most writers try too hard to make villains all deep and meaningfull. IMO it's not always what makes a great villain. That's why i'm not crazy about "Killing Joke". The idea that Joker is a sad little man who deep down inside wishes to be a nice person is ridiculous. Sometimes bad guys should just be bad for the sake of being bad. Mr. Negative is a pretty basic character but makes an awesome villain.

Originally posted by roughrider
Iron Man acts like a borderline villain sometimes. Look at how he was acting during Civil War and during his time as SHIELD director. (By contrast, Reed Richards acted very weak willed during Civil War.) Ha, yeah he was acting close to a villain, but I wasn't rooting for him in the slightest.

Reed Richards... As an arrogant, dangerously mad scientist, he still seems pretty cool. It's mostly Sue Storm that pulls it for me though.

Darth Vader.

I root for Blackheart.Simply put, he pissess off his dad Mephisto.And the fact that his defeat were always via plot device after plot device.And I also hope to see him soon.