Why We Like (Some) Villains or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bad Guy

What is it about certain bad guys that makes the audience turn and begin rooting the other way? Why do some villains become more celebrated than the heroes they are working against? To me it comes down to a few simple elements and how these characters are introduced to the audience.
The most popular villains in recent screen history are Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, the Joker in The Dark Knight, Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and Hans Gruber in Die Hard (you may argue with me on this point but I will stand behind Hans "any day of the week and twice on Sunday" as my Dad used to say). 
*Quick Note - there will be spoilers following regarding The Dark Knight, The Silence of the Lambs, and Die Hard.*

What makes these characters so endearing when they’re clearly against our heroes? Charisma, great lines, a certain degree of unpredictability and a ruthlessness that everyone secretly longs to be able to satisfy but rarely can in real life. However, I think the trait that tops all of these is resourcefulness. The villain’s ability to be one (or sometimes ten) steps ahead of our hero and subsequently the audience as well, makes us admire that character. Yes, we do admire people who are morally suspect. Perhaps that’s not right. A more accurate statement would be that we admire when anyone, good or bad, can overcome adversity in a way that is not obvious to us the audience.  It’s the element of surprise and uniqueness that all these villains had when they first came into theaters that was one of their most endearing qualities. However, they are villains and the introductions of all the characters are intended to show us the fearful side first and the original/charismatic side second.

Take the Joker in Dark Knight. The entire bank robbery sequence we’re waiting for a peak at him and it’s fairly obvious he’s in the mask of the non-talking clown but when his plan is fully realized, all his accomplices are dead and he pulls off his mask, we see how horrific his face is, we instantly know this character is a danger to everyone around him. When we get a proper introduction to the Joker later, he is funny, clever, resourceful (the "pencil trick" is such a perfect example of this) and able to get what he wants from a room full of people who don’t give anyone what they want. So in two scenes the villain has been endeared to the audience and made to fear him. Fearful endearment is the best quality to have in a villain because the audience, even if they do not like the character, respects the role the character plays in the story as a worthy (and sometimes superior) foil to the protagonist.

Another great example of this is Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Hans's intro is a little different from the rest in that he is not the one making people fear him per se but he is the leader of the terrorist group that takes over the Nakatomi Christmas party, so it works out to the same effect. His intimate knowledge of Takagi and the last line concerning how many children he has shows that he is a man to be feared because he knows what he wants and more importantly, how to get it. In the following scene he gets to be the charismatic, funny, endearing villain that audiences eat up. While Takagi is not a lesser antagonist as in the other examples, he is a roadblock that Hans needs to get around. In true villain fashion, when the roadblock refuses to move, Gruber blows it up (or more specifically shoots it in the head). So there are two scenes showing his resourcefulness right off the bat. This continues throughout the film but is most evident in the scene where McClane catches Gruber without his gun and Gruber instantly recognizes the situation for what it is and begins to act his way out of it. Halfway through the scene the audience is unsure if they are rooting for McClane to find him out or for Gruber to get away with it. 
Same deal with the Joker dealing with the mob bosses in his second scene. We don’t want the Joker to succeed in his overall plan against Batman, but we do want him to succeed against the other less endearing characters. With Gruber, we almost want him to get away and keep pulling tricks on the idiotic cops and FBI but we don’t want him to succeed against McClane at the end. The key here is that both villains have other lesser characters to battle and defeat without upsetting the protagonist/antagonist main relationship. The audience still wants the Joker and Gruber to lose in the end but we want it to be at the hands of Batman and McClane respectively.  Same holds true for Vader and Lecter.

In Silence, Hanibal is not even the villain! He’s actually the mentor disguised as an antagonist because of how he behaves towards the other characters around him. However, his actions towards our heroine are definitely not those of a foe but of a helpful teacher, trying to get the most out of his student. Granted Lecter is using the situation for his own ends as well but that is simply another trait of what makes him such a fascinating character. Getting back to my main points though, his first interaction on screen is one of fear and it is clear that he is a dangerous character to those that do not respect him or conversely that he does not respect. In the next scene he is defeating a lesser opponent who “wronged” our hero and as an audience we love him for this. Also, specifically with Lecter, the fact that he could make someone choke and die of their own free will just by talking to them, knowing exactly what buttons to push and how hard to push them, makes him earn our respect as a formidable character. For anyone who crosses Lecter or Clarice, we as an audience know, they are in for a nasty surprise.

Lastly, Vader. Perhaps the most iconic villain of all time for many reasons, none the least of which is his simple presentation, all in black and clearly evil. However, we STILL love him as an audience because of this same pattern or fear and resourcefulness against a lesser opponent. His first scene when he walks onto Princess Leia’s ship is definitely meant to inspire fear in the audience. He kills a crew member, kidnaps the Princess, yells (rare for Vader for the rest of the series) and then instructs his men to perform a cover up to hide the kidnapping. Not a nice guy. However, the next scene in which we see him, he is using the Force to choke out an annoying , arrogant underling that the audience roundly hates instantly. His stance against this kind of arrogance/annoyance/any other non desirable quality puts him squarely on our side and shows at the same time that he is not to be messed with.

So to wrap up, arguably the four biggest villains of the past 40 years of film making all share a common element as to why we as an audience end up caring for and rooting (in certain spots) for the bad guy. They are introduced as an element to be feared, because after all they are the antagonist and must prove themselves a worthy foil to our hero or we won’t care when they are defeated at the end (if in fact they are). The very next time they appear, they are endearing themselves to the audience by defeating a lesser antagonist in a resourceful or interesting way. These two things combined set up these characters to be the greatest of villains and they continue this balancing act throughout the film of being feared and then admired for their resourcefulness, although later in the film it pertains to defeating our hero in the battles leading up to the final showdown. 


If you are writing a script (like I am) then I would strongly suggest considering adding these elements to the introduction of your main antagonist. Your audience will thank you for it.